All about crystal lake 10 05 16

ALL ABOUT

CRYSTAL LAKE NORTHWEST HERALD

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

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WELCOME ...

TO ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE Welcome to All About Crystal Lake, a special section dedicated to McHenry County’s largest municipality.

In this section, you can read about Crystal Lake’s rich history and traditions, its vibrant downtown, strong business community and more.

We feature one of the city’s longest-standing businesses, and go On The Record With a local business owner celebrating his 20th anniversary.

As a homeowner here for 12 years, I’m proud to call Crystal Lake home. I hope you’re able to spend some time with this section today to read All About Crystal Lake.

– Dan McCaleb

Executive editor, Northwest Herald

ABOVE: Evan Billimack (left), 10, of Crystal Lake and Elise Emery, 10, of Crystal Lake ride on a carnival ride while attending the 37th annual Lakeside Festival June 30, 2016, in Crystal Lake.

BELOW: Heather Killian, of Northbrook, 10-year-old Kane Swisher, of Crystal Lake, and Kelly Wilson, of Des Plaines, take off at the start of the 32nd annual America’s Cardboard Cup Regatta June 18, 2016, at the Crystal Lake Park District’s Main Beach.

ABOVE: Ashley and Hannah Cross, both 8, of Crystal Lake, cheer during the annual Crystal Lake Independence Day Parade July 3, 2016, in Crystal Lake.

Shaw Media file photos

VIEWS Mary Margaret Maule locally owned operations.

Crystal Lake also has a large number of multi-generational operations that have been part of the fabric of family memories – Julie Ann’s Frozen Custard, Countryside Floer Shop, Country Donuts, Heisler’s Bootery, Fox Valley Veterinarian, Nelson’s Jewelers, Charles Copley Roofing, Gulgren Appliance, to name a few.

Companies that are part of their customers’ collective childhood memories and a critical part of building traditions.

And we have major employers who got their start right here in Crystal Lake: Knaack, General Kinematic and TicketsNow, to name a few. And more importantly, they have stayed here. These companies do business all around the globe, but know their roots and their workforce are in Crystal Lake.

A web of connectivity: A community that is an interconnected web tends to be healthier – the impact of deci-

sions, to expand, to close locations, to introduce or withdraw a product offering – all viewed against the lens of the community leads to more panoramic decision-making.

It is quickly apparent how interconnected the business community, the social service community and the community at large are. This unique element of interdependence that exists in this community is what fosters a successful community and a vibrant economic landscape. Crystal Lake has an incredibly high number of independently owned businesses – retail, service, manufacturing and product development – who understand that having an engaged community is good for business.

It is a “take care of your community and your community will take care of you” scenario.

Key Partnerships and collaboration: Crystal Lake has an educated workforce. The recent partnership with local business leaders for the District 155 internship and entrepreneurship program shows Crystal Lake has an educational system that works closely with its business community to anticipate skill gaps and the future needs of their workforce.

Crystal Lake has good municipal

resources and leadership – the city of Crystal Lake Economic Development Committee is made up of business leaders who help provide input and outreach to other business leaders.

The City Council has three council members who are business leaders and employers in the market, which provides a business perspective to discussions. The Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce is one of the largest chambers in the state of Illinois. It is comprised of 950+ businesses, nonprofits, service organizations and manufacturers.

The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors represents major employers, independent business owners, and social service board members, lending a unique overview of the community.

Crystal Lake is a community that gets involved. Crystal Lake is a community that takes responsibility for the health and well-being of the community, work and play. Crystal Lake is a good place to do business for the same reasons that it is a good place to raise your family. Crystal Lake is a community that cares.

• Mary Margaret Maule is president of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce.

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Crystal Lake is a great place to live and do business. It has great schools, wonderful options for recreation and a wonderful downtown that is as picturesque as it is functional. Crystal Lake is a destination for shoppers, diners, craft brew aficionados and wake board enthusiasts. But I would say, the most unique characteristic of Crystal Lake is how invested local business is in the community and vice versa.

A strong base: I have been fortunate in my life to have lived and traveled to many places; both international and domestic. I only share that to provide context for my next statement. Crystal Lake is a good place to do business.

Crystal Lake has been extraordinarily blessed with the high presence of vibrant examples of business successes, business that have a history here and are invested in the community as a whole. We have unique retail offerings that provide a wide variety of product offerings, but also provide a sense of belonging and familiarity.

It is a different experience to shop a store that is owned and operated by a member of the community versus a national chain. Fortunately for Crystal Lake, we have the best of both worlds – large national chains and

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ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Why Crystal Lake is a good place for local businesses

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

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Collaboration keeps downtown Crystal Lake thriving

By NATE LINHART nlinhart@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – With so much to see and do, downtown Crystal Lake is still as vibrant as ever.

“There’s bars, restaurants, boutiques, toy stores, specialty retailers and coffee shops. Everything that everyone needs is right downtown,” said Melanie Hiser, owner of Mellie’s Chocolate and Co., 2 N. Williams St. Hiser is just one of the many store owners downtown who said their business is doing well because of the location.

Since craft store Fabric, Fiber and Finds, 37 N. Williams St., moved to downtown Crystal Lake in early July, there have been no retail vacancies in the area.

“The foot traffic alone now is so much better than where I was before,” said Louise Steinbach, owner of Fabric, Fiber and Finds.

Steinbach said one key to downtown’s success is collaboration.

“We know how hard it is to be in business, so small businesses here are teaming up with one another to keep downtown thriving,” Steinbach said.

Shaw Media file photo

See DOWNTOWN, page 5

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• DOWNTOWN

Shaw Media file photo

Sara Gussie and Josh Lamberg walk down Williams Street in Downtown Crystal Lake.

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One of the most enduring, family-owned and operated auto body repair businesses serving Crystal Lake and its neighbors, Herrick continues to achieve exceptional customer satisfaction levels of over 95%!

On Dec. 1, 1948, Walt Herrick opened a car repair business at 77 E. Woodstock St. in Crystal Lake, in the Bauer Garage, which previously was the local Studebaker dealership. In 1953, he moved the business to its current location at 634 W. Terra Cotta (Route 176) near the intersection of Route 14.

Walt’s dedication to excellent repair work, customer service and community involvement built a solid reputation and business. Today, Herrick Auto Rebuilders remains family-owned and operated

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• Wednesday, October 5, 2016

And Steinbach isn’t the only downtown business owner who feels that way. Heisler’s Bootery owner Jim Heisler said the downtown area is like a big family.

“It’s not a drive-by place,” Heisler said. “It’s a get out and walk around destination that has so many friendly, local owners to meet.”

Over the past several weeks, Heisler’s Bootery, 50 N Williams St., has hired companies to restore the shop’s terra cotta facing since the original terra cotta was cracking and missing in certain places. Heisler said he wanted to repair the building to not only make his business look better, but downtown Crystal Lake as a whole.

“We’re on a main corner, so it needs to look nice for the whole area,” Heisler said.

Diana Kenney, executive director of Crystal Lake Downtown/Main Street, said she believes that Heisler’s Bootery’s restoration project has generated interest from other downtown businesses to follow suit and repair their buildings in the near future as well.

“It’s nice to see downtown businesses not only doing well, but also doing well enough to invest in the infrastructure of their building,” Kenney said.

Downtown Crystal Lake recently hosted its Johnny Appleseed Festival, and has more events planned this fall.

“There’s just a lot of energy in downtown right now,” Kenney said. “It’s such a great destination for people to be at with all the businesses and events going on. I want to thank people from the Crystal Lake Public Works Department for helping us setup for Johnny Appleseed Festival. We’ve been so successful partially because of the city department’s collaboration with one another.”

ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Continued from page 4

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

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From its El Tovar roots to today, Raue Center vital to downtown

By JAMI KUNZER jkunzer@shawmedia.com They call her the docent of the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake.

It’s always a good day for Judy Minsley of Lakewood when she gets to clip on her gold “Tour Guide” tag.

“I can go on forever,” she said as she talked about one of her favorite topics – the history of the theater in downtown Crystal Lake, originally known as El Tovar when it opened in 1929.

As far as anyone knows, the original name didn’t come from anywhere specific. It is believed it simply seemed exotic to El Tovar Theatre founder Edward Kirchberg and to fit well with the architectural and style of the building, designed by architect Elmer F. Behrns. Behrns designed eight other theaters in Illinois, including the Arcada in St. Charles, the Egyptian in DeKalb and the Woodstock Theatre.

“It had an atmosphere of Mediterranean, a Spanish Villa. It was designed to bring you into Spain, and you got that feeling immediately,” said Minsley, who started out volunteering as a substitute usher and found herself intrigued by “so many

Shaw Media file photo

Audience members watch the opening of the “Nothin’ Up My Sleeve” 10th anniversary show in 2012, benefitting the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake. little things” about the history of the place.

Out of a love for theater and the building, she took over about six or seven years ago for another volunteer who’d been giving tours. She’s since spent countless hours researching the history of the building, pouring over

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microfiche of old newspaper clippings.

“There’s something magical about this place,” she said, pointing out a photo display in the theater’s lobby depicting the building’s stages through the years and other significant events.

As the El Tovar, the building’s arched openings, stained glass win-

dows, detailed ironwork and clay mosaic tile floors greeted visitors, along with a sky full of twinkling stars, once powered with lightbulbs and later restored using LED lighting.

At the time, the cost to build was about $165,000 – about $2.2 million today, according to McHenry County Historical Society records. The society plaqued the theater in 2014, giving it landmark status as part of the building’s 85th anniversary celebration.

A story Minsley likes to tell is of a bombing of the front facade of the theater when it first opened. The culprits never were caught, but it is believed a union dispute was the root of the conflict, Minsley said.

Back in the 1930s, the theater hosted movies, with vaudeville shows on the weekends and acts only known at the time through WLS radio, Minsley said. Among them were Gene Autry – in his 20s at the time – and George Goebel, who at age 13 was a ukelele-playing child prodigy.

It was a feeling then and now of appreciation throughout the community to have such an elegant theater in a town the size of Crystal Lake, Minsley said.

See RAUE, page 7

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Shaw Media file photo

A crowd gathers under the Raue Center for the Arts marquee in Crystal Lake. included a performance by Livingston Taylor, Minsley said, who actually had to step over holes in the stage as he sang. And audience members sat on seats with springs sticking out, she said.

Those seats were repaired and reupholstered and returned to the theater, along with detail after detail

of the building’s facade and interior to ensure it would match to its original form. The back stage area expanded to include a green room and private dressing rooms – once housed under the stage – and a larger fly tower.

And in 2001, the newly named Raue Center for the Arts opened. It since has become home to in-house professional

theater group Williams Street Repertory and hosted Tony, Academy and Grammy award winners, comedy acts and more.

“To me, it’s vital to this area,” Minsley said. “It’s an escape. There’s always something wonderful to see. …

It’s a treasure of this town, and I hope it continues.”

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“People who have been here say they’re amazed we have a theater like this… They’re just shocked to see the beauty of it and the way it was so meticulously renovated,” she said.

Some who came to the theater’s musicals and plays filling the stage on the weekends remember when it had two retail stores – where its lobby now stands – and five upstairs apartments, which have become a private bar and bathrooms, Minsley said.

The El Tovar eventually became The Lake, then turned into the downtown Showplace, with fewer viewers than years past. It showed its last movie in 1994 – “Forrest Gump” – before it was shut down in need of restoration.

People have liked to tell ghost stories about the theater, but Minsley said she has yet to find anything significant in that regard, other than a story about a meter reader who’d hear footsteps in the shuttered theater’s basement.

“It was a creaky old building,” she said. “To me, that’s just a young kid’s imagination.”

It wasn’t until 1999, after a gift from the Lucile Raue Family Estate and with the help of matching funds, that restoration began on the building. A kick-off concert for the renovations

ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Continued from page 6

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

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Two villages become one to create city of Crystal Lake NORTHWEST HERALD Note to readers: A version of this story first published in 2013.

CRYSTAL LAKE – The village of Crystal Lake was established in 1836 when Beman and Polly Crandall came by way of covered wagon from New York and built their home in an area that is now Route 14 and Van Buren Street.

The area initially was divided into two separate and distinct communities – Crystal Lake and Nunda (pronounced Nun-day, according to local historians). Nunda, later named North Crystal Lake, was christened after an area in New York from where many local settlers came. It became North Crystal Lake in 1908.

An election in 1914 officially incorporated the two villages. But it was not without an uphill battle – both communities had to approve it, and for years neither wanted to.

“I think they liked having their own identity – that was probably the biggest thing,” Crystal Lake Historical Society President Diana Kinney said

See HISTORY, page 9

Photo provided by the Crystal Lake Historical Society

Downtown Crystal Lake looking south from the railroad station.

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The question of whether or not to annex North Crystal Lake into Crystal Lake was on the ballot four times, starting in 1894. Each time voters rejected it.

The railroad, which still runs through modern day downtown, helped expand North Crystal Lake, and the namesake lake was a boon for

Crystal Lake. (It’s worth noting that the train depot that still stands today was built in 1914).

In the lead up to the 1914 vote, the local newspaper called the annexation question “a momentous one.” The Crystal Lake Herald – on its front page – cited the advantages of joining forces. Perhaps the biggest was connecting North Crystal Lake residents to Crystal Lake’s water well, which

ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Photos provided by the Crystal Lake Historical Society

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Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

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ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

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Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

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• HISTORY Continued from page 9 was said to provide water that was far superior.

In 1914, the Crystal Lake Herald looked much liked what one might expect of a newspaper at the time – long, meandering columns running up and down the page. Society and farm news and school sports were front-page stories, and ubiquitous headlines often proclaimed “death takes old resident.”

But the impending election stole headlines that year. It was historic on several fronts: Not only would it be the one to eventually unite the twin villages, it also was the first election in which women were allowed to vote.

The newspaper dedicated column inches to promote seminars to “teach the ladies how to vote.” Nearly as many women as men voted in that election – 479 women to 504 men.

Villagers in North Crystal Lake were far more supportive of the measure, where it won by a wide margin.

After the landslide victory, subsequent elections were held to elect village officers, and Crystal Lake officially became a city on Sept. 23, 1914.

Two years ago, the city held its centennial celebration, to commemorate the historic event.

Photo provided by the Crystal Lake Historical Society

Looking down North Main Street in Crystal Lake, circa May 1923.

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ON THE RECORD WITH: Play It Again Sports owner Bob Ruer NORTHWEST HERALD Bob Ruer is celebrating his 20th anniversary as owner of Play It Again Sports, a new and used sports equipment retailer located in the Crystal Lake Plaza Shopping Center off Route 14 and Main Street in Crystal Lake.

The Barrington High School graduate was born in Chicago, and moved to the suburbs when he was 5. He met his wife, Amy, at the University of Iowa.

The couple has two daughters, Sarah and Samantha. They’ve lived in Fox River Grove for 22 years.

Ruer went On the Record With Northwest Herald Executive Editor Dan McCaleb to discuss his business success, Crystal Lake and more.

Dan McCaleb: Bob, Congratulations, Play it Again Sports is celebrating its 20th anniversary. How have you been able to persevere in such a competitive environment for two decades?

Bob Ruer: I am fortunate to have a very strong community that supports us and remains loyal. We offer a unique option to our customers in the fact that we buy, sell and trade used sports gear. In addition, we offer a

Photo provided

See RUER, page 15

Bob Ruer has owned Play It Again Sports in Crystal Lake for 20 years.

Kevin Presbrey

• RUER tremendous assortment of quality new equipment at very competitive prices. We have great pride in serving the community and being involved in it in a very personal way. It is very important for us to have our customers feel at home and provide service to them that exceeds their expectations. Our team and uniform business has also been really growing. We also have the ability to adapt to the changing needs of the sports landscape, and can do special orders on just about anything.

McCaleb: Play it Again Sports is unique in that it buys and sells gently used sports gear in addition to new. How did that come about?

Ruer: I wish I could take credit for the concept, however, it was started by a woman in Minnesota who blossomed it into franchises throughout the country and Canada. The concept really works for growing kids and their parents who can create their own discounts with the gently used sports gear they can bring in to trade. The fact that we are a franchise allows us to compete with the big boxes with our new gear pricing.

chise so thus a territory. With that said, I love having my business in Crystal Lake.

McCaleb: Tell our readers a story about why being a small business owner can be so rewarding despite the demands.

Ruer: There is no doubt owning a busi-

ness requires a tremendous amount of time. You are really on call 24/7. However, the benefits outweigh the challenges.

Just having the knowledge that you are helping the community and are a part of it is rewarding. I have had the flexibility to create my own hours at times and thus spend time with my family and watch my kids grow up. As an owner, you also can watch your staff develop into amazing men and women. My manager Jim has been with me for all 20 years and now has a wonderful family of his own.

McCaleb: What’s your favorite sports and sports team?

Ruer: I grew up a fan of all Chicago

teams but I am a diehard White Sox fan and live and die with my Iowa Hawkeyes.

McCaleb: Favorite sports movie?

Ruer: So many great ones but if I had

to pick one, I would say “The Natural.” It gets me every time.

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McCaleb: Why Crystal Lake and not another suburban community?

Ruer: Well, I bought an existing fran-

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ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Continued from page 14

The residents are very active in sports of all types and the area is not so large as to be overwhelming. We feel we really know our customers, many by name, and that really is a great source of pride. Although the landscape has changed in 20 years, the core remains full of good and friendly people in our area.

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

16

Heisler’s Bootery celebrates 108-year history in CL

By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – John Heisler Sr. in 1908 had already come a long way since getting to town from his native Hungary with no knowledge of English.

He saved enough money from cutting ice for the Knickerbocker Ice Co. to buy some tools and open up a shoe repair and horse harness business of his own. Heisler’s Harness and Shoes opened up the same year that the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series.

One hundred and eight years and three generations later, Heisler’s Bootery still sells shoes, under what could arguably be downtown’s most recognizable name.

Downtown businesses have come and gone over the past century. Some, like the supermarkets and the drug stores, relocated to Route 14 to take advantage of the space and traffic.

Others went the way of the dodo bird with technological advancements, hence why winters no longer mean workers cutting out huge blocks of ice from Crystal Lake to keep our perishables cold.

See HEISLER’S, page 17

H. Rick Bamman - hbamman@shawmedia.com

Heisler’s Bootery owner Jim Heisler talks about the 100 percent occupancy in downtown Crystal Lake. The shop has been in Crystal Lake since 1908.

Thank You Crystal Lake for letting us serve you for 32 years!

“

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• HEISLER’S

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17

• Wednesday, October 5, 2016

But Heisler’s Bootery has stayed on. It survived two world wars, a Great Depression and several bad recessions, and stayed in business, said grandson Jim Heisler.

“We just don’t give up. It’s in our blood. We have to think positively, and here we are, just finishing a huge renovation of our terra cotta on the side [of the building],” he said.

Heisler’s father, Leonard, moved the shop in 1964 to its current location at 50 N. Williams St., in a historic building built in 1910 by former local real estate mogul Charles Teckler.

When Leonard died in 2000, his wife, Dorothy, continued to own the shop, which was run by sons Jim and John, until her death in 2012 at age 94.

John Heisler started stocking factory-made shoes. Some time later, a shoe repair business began leasing space in the building that the family owned, and the Heislers dropped shoe repair to prevent competing against a business paying them rent. That business still lives on next door, under different owners, as Angelo’s Shoe Repair.

In an age of big-box, online and franchise retail, Jim Heisler said the business’ local roots have helped it survive.

“We live in the same town where

IT’S NEVER TO LATE TO

ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com

Continued from page 16

we have the store. It’s not that we’re two, three states away. What happens to our neighbors happens to us,” he said.

Customers seem like they feel the same way, the business’ longevity aside – the store is a regular in the annual “Best of the Fox” business rankings, as picked by the Northwest Herald’s readers.

Several McHenry County officials convinced Heisler in 1992 to run for County Board – 24 years later, he is the board’s longest-serving member, and was selected several times as the board’s vice-chairman. His fellow downtown business owners have elected him president of their business association several times.

“It’s a great big family downtown – it’s not just something to drive through, and it’s so pretty during the holdiays,” Heisler said.

The family shoe store is not the only one that Heisler owns. Along with his son, Jason, he owns two Red Wing Shoes dealerships – one on Randall Road in Crystal Lake and the other on Route 120 in McHenry.

Heisler said he hopes that the bootery continues to stay in downtown, and stay in the family.

“I just hope it keeps going as long as there’s a need. If something needs to get fixed, whether it’s shoes or something political, I’ll be here,” Heisler said.

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

18 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN CRYSTAL LAKE

help abused and neglected children. Tickets: OCT. 13 $75 to $90. Tickets and information: GET LIT(ERARY), 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 13, La Petite 815-363-5920 or https://e.gesture.com/ Marché Café, 19 N. Williams St., Crystal events/591.

Lake. A reading series presented by Wilduring the event. Tickets: $35 in advance, $40 ONGOING liams Street Repertory where poetry, prose at the door. Tickets and information: Michelle, "PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE," through OCT. 19 and plays are read and performed across 815-444-8800 or www.horizons-blind.org.

Oct. 23, Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. the street from the Raue Center for the Arts. "LAUGHS AT THE LAKE," 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 19, "DANGEROUS LULLABIES," Oct. 7-26, Williams St., Crystal Lake. A comedy written Crystal Lake Brewing Company, 150 N. Main Free. Information: 815-356-9212 or www.

Lakeside Arts Park, 401 Country Club Road,

by Steve Martin in 1993 which imagines a St., Crystal Lake. A stand-up comedy show rauecenter.org.

Crystal Lake.

A group fine art exhibition that meeting between two of history's greatest and silent auction fundraising event for the Oct. 14 explores the curious allure of things that minds, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, who Boy Scouts of America in McHenry County.

"DEARLY DEPARTED: A SWEET DEMISE," frighten us. Artists from across the country meet at a gritty bistro called the Lapin Agile Featuring comedian matt Drufke and seventh annual, 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 14-15, have conspired to fill a historic mansion with in Montmartre, Paris where they muse on the friends. There will be a raffle of many items Colonel Palmer House, 660 E. Terra Cotta paintings, sculptures and fine art creations century's achievements and other fanciful donated by McHenry County businesses Ave., Crystal Lake.

A story based on real-life which examine the beauty found in the ashes topics. Produced by Williams Street Repertory. including hotel stays, restaurant gift certifcircumstances.

Hosted by the Crystal Lake of terror and the magnetic pull of things that Schedule: 8 p.m. Oct. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22; 3 p.m. icates, art, climbing wall passes and more.

Historical Society. It is the fall of 1915 and are disturbing, on-edge or dark. Opening Oct. 9, 15-16, 23. Tickets: $32.50-$38.50. TickMust be age 21 or older to attend. Tickets: mystery is in the air in the small close-knit night is 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 with complimentary ets and information: 815-356-9212 or https:// $35 per person, $50 two tickets. Tickets town of Crystal Lake. A young bride receives food and a cash bar. Admission is free, but rauecenter.ticketforce.com. and information: http://laughsatthelake. threatening letters and a suspicious packdonations are appreciated ($5 suggested). Exbrownpapertickets.com. age in the mail.

The event starts every 15 hibit viewing hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday OCT. 7 minutes.

It has sold out annually so get tickthrough Friday.

Information: 815-455-8000, 1ST FRIDAY ART SHOW, 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. OCT. 21 ets early. Advance tickets required. Tickets: www.lakesidelegacy.org or www.xculturearts.

7, Lakeside Legacy Arts Park, 401 Country $8 at 815-455-1151 or www.cl-hs.org. Check JOE DIAMOND – "PARANORMAL," 7:30 com.

Club Road, Crystal Lake. Enjoy an evening p.m. Oct. 21, The Listening Room at Lakeside the website for slots already sold out. consisting of viewing art, meet and mingling Legacy Arts Park, 401 Country Club Road, OCT. 11 with artists and the opportunity to purchase Crystal Lake. Mind Reader Joe Diamond OCT. 15 CRYSTAL LAKE AREA CROP HUNGER WALK, 1 original works. Cash bar. Admission: $5 sugstars in a one-hour tour through the unp.m. Oct. 11, First Congregational Church, 461 CASA CUP: A NIGHT AT THE RACES, sevgested donation. Information: 815-455-8000 known. Take a tour through Joe Diamond’s enth annual, 6:30 to 11 p.m. Oct. 15, TurnPierson St., Crystal Lake. Families to walk a or www.lakesideartspark.org. life, as he shares real life ghost stories from berry Country Club, 9600 Turnberry Trail, one-mile or four-mile route in Crystal Lake to 2ND ANNUAL WINE & BEER TASTING his life, reads minds, and perform acts that Crystal Lake. A unique broomstick horse raise awareness and donate funds to alleviate FUNDRAISER, 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 7, Horizons for defy explanations. Recommended for ages race including appetizers, auction items and poverty and homelessness. Funds will benefit the Blind, 125 Erick St., Crystal Lake. Featuring 13 and older. Tickets: $18 in advance, $20 at live entertainment by local band Hudson PADS of McHenry County and the Crystal Lake a variety of wines and beers for sampling. the door. Tickets and information: 815-455McCoy to benefit Court Appointed Special Food Pantry. Information: 815-459-5712 or Nonalcoholic beverages and appetizers will 8000 or www.lakesideartspark.org.

Advocates (CASA) of McHenry County to www.crophungerwalk.org/crystallakeil. also be served. A live auction will take place

At Mercyhealth, passion drives everything we do to deliver medical excellence with a compassionate touch to everyone who walks through our doors.

We do whatever it takes to make you feel better and keep you well.

We’re dedicated to the Crystal Lake community because touching lives invigorates, inspires and drives the best in all of us—doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff. Nothing is ever too small or taken for granted. Everything matters.

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ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE | Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com • Wednesday, October 5, 2016

| ALL ABOUT CRYSTAL LAKE

20

October 21-23

SAGE YMCA Friday, October 21, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Free to Community

Join us for a frighteningly fun filled event for the whole family. Bring your friends and neighbors too! This event is open to the community.

Event includes: • Haunted Trail • Games • Bounce house • Snacks

• Costume contest • Crafts • Ghoulish Gaga • Outdoor movie

• Halloween stories • Magician • And bonfire!

For details and to RSVP visit:

sageymca.org/halloween SAGE YMCA | 701 Manor Road, Crystal Lake, IL 60014 | 815.459.4455 |

/SageYMCA