The former Waubonsee Community College building in downtown Aurora is set to become a arts center. (Photo by Jack McCarthy / Chronicle Media)

COUNTY

Kane is place to be for trick or treating

Kane County is the place to be for trick-or-treaters.

Aurora and Elgin have placed in the top 10 nationwide places to trick-or-treaters, according to the third-annual study by SmartAsset, which based its findings on metrics including crime rates, average precipitation on Halloween and housing density.

Aurora was the No. 4-ranked best place to trick-or-treat and Elgin was No. 9 in the nation.

Aurora dropped one spot in last year’s analysis. The City of Lights is generally a safe place to trick-or-treat, according to SmartAsset’s data. Aurora had a top 25 percent lowest violent crime rate and the seventh-lowest property crime rate in the study.

The city also stuck out as a relatively housing-dense place to trick-or-treat.

“That means running from house to house and filling up your bucket with candy will be a breeze,” SmartAsset’s Kara Gibson said.

Elgin fell two spots from last year. Many of its scores were similar, but there was a slight uptick in home value and a slight increase in violent crimes. Elgin has the lowest property crime rate in the study.

“Plus, the average temperature around Halloween is 56 degrees, which is a nice, crisp temperature for trick-or-treating,” Gibson said.

The No. 1 trick-or-treating city in the U.S. is Nampa, Idaho. The community took the top spot in all three years of the contest.

AURORA

Groot takes over city curbside waste contract

The city of Aurora has announced that Groot, Inc. has acquired some of Republic Services assets, including the city of Aurora’s refuse contract. As a result, Groot will be responsible for all residential curbside solid waste services in Aurora.

“All of the services and programs Republic Services were required to provide in the contract will be provided, in full, by Groot,” said Aurora Deputy Mayor Chuck Nelson.

Residents will see minimal change as the employees, service and trucks will remain the same. However, the names on the trucks will be updated over the next six months to reflect the change in ownership.

All contact and payment information will also remain the same:

SUGAR GROVE

Waubonsee welcomes 300,000th student

Waubonsee Community College has enrolled its 300,000th student in its 51st year serving the district.

Hannah Polhill, from Yorkville, is a freshman and a Gustafson Scholar majoring in business at Waubonsee. She intends to transfer to a four-year institution and study both business and psychology.

A competitive dancer while in high school, Polhill is now learning how to teach dancing to others, when she’s not in class. She wants to combine her education with her love for dancing to help people use dancing to improve their lives.

“I like to help people and someday want to own a dance studio and use it to teach dancing as a therapeutic escape,” said Polhill.

As part of the Gustafson Program, Polhill participates in community service projects throughout the school year. Earlier this year she volunteered at the Fox Valley Marathon. She plans to do future community service projects with the Kendall County Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS), a program that provides services for the homeless or those otherwise in need of services.

In addition to recognition at the October meeting of the Board of Trustees, Polhill received a Director’s Scholarship of $1,000 from the Waubonsee Community College Foundation.   

GENEVA

New location, same goal for Cultural Arts fundraiser

The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission’s annual fundraiser may have a new location, style and charm this year, but the mission to promote artistic endeavors in the community remains unchanged.

The Commission will host Art Affair from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10 at the Geneva Golf Club, 831 South St. The event will celebrate the local cultural arts scene as well as the wealth of artistic talent in the city. Tickets are $50 per person and include an evening of live music, performance painting, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction and a cash bar.

Annual programs sponsored by the Commission include the Geneva Film Festival, Shakespeare in the Park, RiverPark Summer Concert Series, Steeple Walk, Bike + Rack = Art functional sculptures, Gimmie Shelter bus stop murals and select public art projects. The Commission also supports the Geneva Foundation for the Arts, Greater Geneva Art Guild and the Orion Ensemble Chamber Group.

The Art Affair fundraiser also advances the Commission’s goal to establish a Geneva community arts center.

To purchase Art Affair tickets online and for more information, visit www.geneva.il.us.

AURORA

Irvin names Evans as public art director

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has announced the hiring of regional artist, Jennifer Evans, as the city’s new Director of Public Art. 

Evans will take the helm of the division formerly led by retired director Rena Church.  

Evans is the former Interim Executive Director of Water Street Studios in Batavia where she worked to professionalize and redesign the trajectory of the agency while overseeing its gallery, gift shop and art school. 

A former adjunct professor of Art at Waubonsee Community College and the Art Institute of Illinois, Evans also previously taught at the Aurora Public Art Commission and the Art Flow program, an outreach arts education program for under served students.

Evans is a seasoned artist whose artwork has been on exhibit at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Fermi Lab in Batavia, the Ishikawa International Salon in Japan and at more than 30 other exhibitions over the past 13 years.  Having lived and worked in both America and Japan, Evans brings a global perspective of art and culture to the City.

“As an Auroran and as an artist, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to serve my community in this capacity,” said Evans. “I look forward to collaborating with organizations throughout the city, using the arts as a tool for innovative and culturally diverse community-building.”

Evans earned an Associate of Arts at the College of DuPage, and both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Fine Art from Northern Illinois University. 

WINFIELD

Cantigny welcomes speaker on recent First Division history

The First Division Museum at Cantigny Park welcomes Col. Gregory Fontenot, U.S. Army (Ret.), on Wednesday, Nov. 1 to discuss “The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed,” a narrative history of the “Big Red One” from 1970 through the Operation Desert Storm victory celebration in 1991.

The free presentation inside the Cantigny Visitors Center begins at 7:30 pm. Parking also is complimentary.

Published in June and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of First Infantry Division’s formation, Fontenot’s book closes a gap in the historiography of the late Cold War U.S. Army and is crucial for understanding the current situation in the Middle East.

The author commanded a tank battalion in Operation Desert Storm and an armor brigade in Bosnia. A former director of the School of Advanced Military Studies and the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, Fontenot is the co-author of “On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Kansas State University, commissioned in 1971 as an armor officer.

Doors open at 6:30 pm on November 1. Copies of “The 1st Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Transformed” will be available for sale and a book signing will follow the program. Le Jardin will offer a cash bar and limited food menu. Coffee is complimentary.

ELGIN

ECC offers job search help for people over 50

Elgin Community College’s office of Workforce Development & Continuing Education, in partnership with the AARP Foundation, is offering Back to Work 50+, a job coaching program for people 50 years of age or older who are unemployed or underemployed.

The free program, available at ECC’s Spartan Drive Campus, 1700 Spartan Drive, will provide participants with the information, support and training they need to regain employment and advance in the workforce.

The AARP Foundation’s Back to Work 50+ initiative offers Seven Smart Strategies information sessions and a coaching program where job candidates aged 50 and older can learn how to update their personal marketing tools and networking strategies, target their job search on in-demand jobs, get job leads, and find resources to help them stay strong while they’re looking for their next work opportunity.

To get a free job search guide and register for a local Back to Work 50+ Seven Smart Strategies session, call toll-free 1-855-850-2525. Upcoming sessions are on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at ECC and Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Gail Borden Library, 270 N Grove Ave, Elgin, IL. Pre-registration is required in order to attend. For additional information on the program, visit elgin.edu/plus50.

–Kane County News Briefs–