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Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Mark your calendars now for Elgin-area fests, fireworks shows and other events set for this summer
This summer, the Elgin area is chock-full of annual festivals, parades and other events. Here's a rundown of things you can add to your calendar. June 1: Elgin Valley Fox Trot begins and ends just north of the Gail Borden Library at Grove Avenue and Kimball Street in downtown Elgin. The 10-mile run starts at 7:30 a.m. followed by a 5K starts at 7:40 a.m. Registration is $60 for the 10-mile and $45 for the 5K. A free post-race party, featuring music, food and beverages, is open to the public. June 6-8: St. Sophia Greek Fest, taking place on parish grounds at 525 Church Road in Elgin, celebrates Greek food, music and culture. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. June 7: Elgin's family-friendly LGBTQ+ Pride Parade will step off from the South Riverside Drive parking lot at 11 a.m., and make its way to Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. A related fest with music, vendors, food and beverages will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the park. June 7-8: Rails to Victory World War II reenactment rides be held at10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m Sunday at the Fox Valley Trolley Museum, 365 S. LaFox St., South Elgin. Bob Marshall, a 100-year-old Marine veteran who served in World War II, will be the guest of honor from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $24. June 14: Flag Day will be celebrated with a 9 a.m. ceremony outside Carpentersville Village Hall, 1200 LW Besinger Drive. June 14: East Dundee will hold a Flag Day ceremony at 11 a.m. outside The Depot, 319 S. River St. June 14: Elgin's Flag Day ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park along the Fox River, north of the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. June 19: The Elgin Symphony Orchestra and local church choirs will present a Juneteenth concert at 6 p.m. Friday on the outdoor stage at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. June 20: Prior to an after-dusk screening of 'Soul,' the School of Rock Elgin will perform in the Wing Park Bandshell, 1010 Wing St., Elgin. June 22: The Micheleros Festival will be held from noon to 11 p.m. in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove, Ave. Elgin. More than a dozen bands will perform, and food and drinks available, including the michelada, which is a Mexican-style Bloody Mary. Tickets are $30 and $40. June 27-28: Duke's Blues Fest will be held from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave., Carpentersville. Live blues music will be performed and barbecue and southern vendors onsite. June 28: Carpentersville's annual Independence Day parade through Old Town starts at 10 a.m. June 28: From 6 to 9 p.m., the Dundee Township Park District will be hosting a festival featuring food, vendors and entertainment in Meadowdale Park, LW Besinger Drive and Maple Avenue, Carpentersville. A fireworks display will be held at dusk. July 4: A Fourth of July pet parade starts at 8:30 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Ann Street and ends at Douglas and Highland avenues, near Elgin City Hall. July 4: Elgin's annual downtown Independence Day Parade will start at 9 a.m. at the intersection of Douglas and Slade avenues and end about 11 a.m. at Douglas and Highland avenues. July 4: From 5 to 10 p.m. there will be music, vendors, food and beverages in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave, culminating with a Fourth of July fireworks display. July 4: Sleepy Hollow is planning Fourth of July events from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Sabatino Park, 1 Thorobred Lane. July 6: Sleepy Hollow Service Club will present a fireworks show slated to start sometime after 9 p.m. at Sabatino Park, 1 Thorobred Lane. Parking in fields near the park will open at 7 p.m. costs $20 per vehicle. July 12: A free Classic Car Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Elgin History Museum, 360 Park St. Vehicle entry fee is $15. July 12: Blind Flights, a picnic-style outdoor craft beer tasting event hosted by the Carpentersville Rotary Club, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave.. Tickets are $43.40. July 18: West Dundee River Challenge bike races and related events take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in and around Grafelman Park, 112 N. 5th St., and downtown outside VIllage Squire,125 Washington St. July 25: Dennis Jurs Memorial Elgin Classic bike race and related events will be held from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Elgin's northeast side, with a staging area at Cooper Avenue and Spring Street. Aug. 1: South Elgin will hold a combined Back to School and National Night Out event from 6 to 8 p.m. in Panton Mill Park, 9 N. Water St. Aug. 2: Side Street Studio Arts holds its second Area 22 Arts, Crafts and Oddities Fair from 1 to 7 p.m. along Riverside Drive in downtown Elgin. Aug. 9: Elgin's End of Summer Bash will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. Aug. 30: Love on the Lawn music festival will be held in Festival Park, 132 S. Grove Ave. The event features music from deejays and food. Hours, schedule and admission rates not posted. Aug. 30-31: We In The Basement will present 'The Community Get Down Fest,' a free music and wellness event, from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday in Elgin's Wing Park, 1010 Wing St.
Khaleej Times
27-02-2025
- Health
- Khaleej Times
UK military vets rebuild lives carving Viking longboat
Made from solid oak using authentic Scandinavian plans, a Viking longship built by military veterans battling mental health issues is finally ready after a long labour of love. "It is not about a boat, it's not about wood. We're making boats, but we're actually rebuilding people," Bob Marshall told AFP at the project's workshop in Darlington, northeastern England. A former soldier who served in both the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland, he has kept the project running through every setback since it was launched in 2019 to support veterans' mental health recovery. Now like a phoenix, a longboat christened "Stormbird" measuring 30 feet (nine metres) went on view for the first time at a Viking festival in northern England last week. The project was originally run by the Help for Heroes charity from a rehabilitation centre at the army's Catterick Garrison in northeastern England. It began using wood donated from an oak tree chopped down in 2018. But when the Covid pandemic hit and funding was cut in 2020, it looked as if its future was doomed. Faced with walking away or somehow finding new premises and working on an unpaid basis, Marshall opted to "get on with it", pouring his own funds into the project to keep it afloat. "Stormbird", which is seaworthy though so far untested, is one of the star attractions at the JORVIK Viking Festival in York. Visitors can marvel at its historical accuracy and expertly crafted woodwork, including decorative features such as carved roses and a mythical dragon-like creature. More than 60 veterans have worked on the boat, some of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "Every time I come down here I just crack on and I just forget," said Angie Reid, 58. The former army medic, who has added decorative work to the boat's gunnels, said issues of mental health and even suicide were very real for ex-service personnel, though she declined to elaborate on her own experiences. - Destructive thinking - Marshall said difficult "mega" projects like the longboat helped crowd out the destructive thinking that plagues PTSD sufferers. "If you get PTSD... it's a big powerful thing. It needs knocking out, it's got to be moved aside, so the only way you can move it is taking a bigger target," he said. "It's such an engaging project that they think about it at night and if you're thinking about woodwork at night it's putting bad thoughts to one side." Veteran Kevan Blackburn recounted how his wife always says he's in a "better place" after being in the workshop. "It's just getting out and mental health-wise it's just helped so much... you feel in a happier place than you were before," he told AFP. Marshall said the project also offered the camaraderie many veterans missed from their time in the forces. One, the sole survivor of a helicopter crash, had been "transformed" by the project, said Marshall, recalling how he gradually opened up after refusing to engage with people around him. Others had successfully seen their confidence restored, opening the door to lasting new job opportunities. But he remains on tenterhooks if participants stop coming. "You think you haven't heard from them for a week, you don't know if they are in a ditch somewhere. "We've got three that we brought back from there this year and they're doing ok, as far as ok can be." His sense of humour has been crucial to the project's success. "You just can't let them down -- because every time veterans get a promise, that gets broken. Once the cordite leaves the battlefield, soldiers are soon forgotten," Marshall said. - 'How we get on from there' - After a 26-year army career, Marshall instinctively knows how to connect with ex-service personnel. It's a style of straight talking -- combined with "rude language" and "dark humour". "They want to be told it as it is. And we say 'we can't fix it, but we can fix the next 20 minutes and see how we get on from there'." Signs on the workshop wall sum up the no-nonsense approach. "If something here offends you, please let us know -- we can all use a good laugh," reads one. Although the boat is finished, the project is far from over. After the York festival it will be used for a planned fundraising blitz so that another heritage boat can be built.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado lawmakers advance bill to cut tipped minimum wage in Denver, Boulder
An employee at the Briar Common Brewery + Eatery in Denver pours a beer for a patron on Jan. 7, 2021. (Moe Clark/Colorado Newsline) Tens of thousands of servers, bartenders and other tipped workers in Denver and Boulder could face a significant pay cut under a bill being advanced by Colorado lawmakers who say the change is necessary to help a struggling restaurant industry. Members of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee voted 11-2 in favor of House Bill 25-1208 on Thursday night, after nearly six hours of testimony from supporters and opponents. Democratic state Reps. Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch and Sheila Lieder of Littleton were the only 'no' votes. The bill would dramatically increase the 'tip offset' — the dollar amount that employers can subtract from the minimum wage paid to tipped workers, as long as tips make up the difference — in cities and counties that have raised their local minimum wages above the statewide level. For a tipped restaurant employee in Denver, the minimum wage would fall from $15.79 to $11.79 per hour; at 40 hours a week, that could mean over $7,000 a year in lost pay. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Restaurant owners and business groups, who have lobbied for the change for years, say that high labor costs, combined with pandemic disruptions and inflationary pressures, have caused hundreds of local restaurants to close their doors and pushed many others to the brink. 'Labor costs, which used to be 25 to 30% of restaurants' costs, are now 50 to 60%,' Sonia Riggs, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association, told the committee. 'Menu prices can't keep pace or consumers stop dining out. It's like death by a thousand increases.' Workers, labor unions and progressive groups, however, say the bill is a misguided, and potentially counterproductive, effort to help an industry that faces a variety of economic headwinds. The average restaurant server in the Denver metro area makes a little over $39,000 annually including tips, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. HB-1208's 'huge overnight pay cut' for those workers, said Caroline Nutter of the Colorado Fiscal Institute, attempts to balance the industry's books on the backs of its most vulnerable employees. 'We need to consider what slashing wages by almost $140 million a year might due to consumption, demand and revenue,' Nutter said. 'There are ways to address the issues that restaurants are facing. There must be a way to do this with workers at the table and without starting (by) cutting the wages of some of the lowest-paid workers in the state.' The state's labor department says there are roughly 21,000 tipped employees who could be affected by the change. No amendments to the bill were made in Thursday's committee hearing, though several Democrats on the panel said they expected changes at a later stage. State Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, said he would continue talks with opponents, but something must be done to help an industry in 'crisis.' 'We have ideas on how we can make the policy more labor-friendly,' Woodrow said. 'We are looking for partners on the other side to have those conversations with. At this point, we've run up against fairly stiff opposition.' Two major changes to Colorado's wage laws enacted over the last 20 years set state and local policymakers on a collision course with the restaurant industry. In 2006, Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment to raise the statewide minimum wage and adjust it annually based on inflation. The measure also fixed the state's tip offset at $3.02 per hour. Over time, the flat $3.02 tip credit has shrunk to a smaller and smaller percentage of the overall minimum wage — from over 40% in 2007, when the minimum wage was $6.85 an hour, to just 20% today, with the minimum wage set at $14.81. And in 2019, Democratic lawmakers repealed a preemption law that banned cities and counties from setting their own, higher minimum wages. A handful of local jurisdictions — the cities of Denver, Boulder and Edgewater, along with unincorporated Boulder County — have done so. If passed, by October of this year, HB-1208 would effectively exempt tipped workers from local minimum wage hikes, by requiring local governments to increase their tip credits by an amount equal to the difference between the local and state minimum wages. For example, in Denver, which has raised its minimum wage to $4.00 above the state's level, the tip credit would rise to $7.02. After one year, cities could raise or lower their tip credits by no more than 50 cents annually, within a certain range. HB-1208 has divided local elected officials in cities with higher minimum wages. Denver City Council has taken a position against the bill, and several council members testified in opposition in Thursday's hearing. 'This is one of the most flawed pieces of legislation I've ever seen come through this building, and I don't say that lightly,' Denver City Council Member At-Large Sarah Parady told lawmakers. 'I am astounded, and as a local legislator insulted, by the idea that the state of Colorado would force its biggest and most expensive city to directly cut worker pay by thousands of dollars per year.' But Mayor Mike Johnston supports the change, said Dominick Moreno, a former state senator and the mayor's deputy chief of staff for strategy. Moreno was a sponsor of the 2019 legislation allowing local governments to raise their minimum wage. The tip credit issue should have been settled at the time, he said, but the sides weren't able to come to an agreement. 'I think everyone understood at that time that we were kicking the can down the road, and that eventually something would need to be done to address this issue,' Moreno said. 'I think now you're seeing quite an untenable situation for the restaurant community.' Marshall took issue with the abrupt wage cuts the bill would force, floating the possibility of a 'glide path' for local governments to comply with. 'This issue has been a long in coming, over eight years, piece by piece,' he said. 'And yet we're trying to cram down the workers in one year.' While there's little doubt that restaurants have faced a variety of challenges in recent years, some opponents of HB-1208 dispute the prevailing narrative from bill sponsors and industry groups that Colorado's dining scene is in free fall. 'The restaurant industry in Denver isn't dying,' Matthew Fritz-Mauer, director of the labor division at the Denver Auditor's Office, told lawmakers. 'The sky is not falling. There is no reliable empirical support for this claim.' A widely circulated statistic showing a 22% decline in the number of restaurant licenses in Denver since 2022, Fritz-Mauer said, is based on 'incomplete data' and doesn't account for a significant change in the city's licensing system in 2023. He cited BLS data showing stable employment figures for the industry as a whole. Moreno acknowledged that changes to licensing procedures 'may have disrupted the numbers a little bit,' but said the mayor's office still finds the figures 'quite concerning.' Other proponents of HB-1208 said the BLS data, which includes workers in commissaries used by food trucks, caterers and online-only 'ghost kitchens,' doesn't accurately reflect the health of the hospitality industry. Democratic state Rep. Alex Valdez of Denver, another HB-1208 sponsor, cited the recent closure of familiar spots around the state Capitol as proof that the bill is necessary. 'It's astounding to me that we had testimony from the auditor's office that there's no problem,' Valdez said. 'Everyone in Colorado can see the problem. Everyone in Denver can see the problem. It's a major problem.' Analysts say per-person restaurant visits have steadily declined from their peak in the 1990s, part of a broader trend towards American adults spending more of their time alone or at home. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those trends, and while revenues and employment in the foodservice sector at large have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, that bounceback has been achieved through a shift away from full-service, independent restaurants towards large chains and expanded takeout and delivery service. Dozens of local restaurant owners testified in support of HB-1208 on Thursday. Many of them said that changing the tipped wage would help their bottom lines, but not by much. 'It's everything. It's rent, cost of goods, labor,' said Jeff Osaka, a Denver restauranteur who said he's been forced to close one of his two remaining restaurants, Osaka Ramen. 'So this bill would help a fraction of that. This is a good stepping stone.' But Jesse Thornton, an airport bartender and member of foodservice union Unite Here Local 23, said that after decades of extremely low pay, minimum wage hikes over the last decade have finally meant 'real wages' for restaurant employees for the first time. Rolling back those gains would be 'devastating' for workers who live paycheck to paycheck, he said. 'Restaurant owners would profit from this bill, and working Coloradans would not,' said Thornton. 'Tipped workers don't get raises unless the minimum wage goes up. That's a fact of the industry.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
MTV Lebanon
19-02-2025
- Health
- MTV Lebanon
UK Military Vets Rebuild Lives by Carving Viking Longboat
Made from solid oak using authentic Scandinavian plans, a Viking longship built by military veterans battling mental health issues is finally ready after a long labour of love. "It is not about a boat, it's not about wood. We're making boats, but we're actually rebuilding people," Bob Marshall told AFP at the project's workshop in Darlington, northeastern England. A former soldier who served in both the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland, he has kept the project running through every setback since it was launched in 2019 to support veterans' mental health recovery. Now like a phoenix, a longboat christened "Stormbird" measuring 30 feet (nine metres) went on view for the first time at a Viking festival in northern England this week. The project was originally run by the military Help for Heroes charity from a rehabilitation centre at the army's Catterick Garrison in northeastern England. It began using wood donated from an oak tree chopped down in 2018. But when the pandemic hit and funding was cut in 2020, it looked as if its future was doomed. Faced with walking away or somehow finding new premises and working on an unpaid basis, Marshall opted to "get on with it", pouring his own funds into the project to keep it afloat. "Stormbird", which is sea-worthy though so far untested, is one of the star attractions at the JORVIK Viking Festival in York. Visitors can marvel at its historical accuracy and expertly crafted woodwork, including decorative features such as carved roses and a mythical dragon-like creature. More than 60 veterans have worked on the boat, some of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "Every time I come down here I just crack on and I just forget," said Angie Reid, 58, although she did not want to elaborate on her experiences. The former army medic, who has added decorative work to the boat's gunnels, said issues of mental health and even suicide were very real for ex-service personnel. Destructive thinking Marshall said difficult "mega" projects like the longboat helped crowd out the destructive thinking that plagues PTSD sufferers. "If you get PTSD... it's a big powerful thing. It needs knocking out, it's got to be moved aside so the only way you can move it is taking a bigger target," he said. "It's such an engaging project that they think about it at night and if you're thinking about woodwork at night it's putting bad thoughts to one side." Veteran Kevan Blackburn recounted how his wife always says he's in a "better place" after being in the workshop. "It's just getting out and mental health-wise it's just helped so much... you feel in a happier place than you were before," he told AFP. Marshall said the project also offered the camaraderie veterans missed from their time in the forces. One -- the sole survivor of a helicopter crash -- had been "transformed" by the project, said Marshall, recalling how he gradually opened up after refusing to engage with people around him. Others had successfully seen their confidence restored, opening the door to lasting new job opportunities. But he remains on tenterhooks if participants stop coming. "You think you haven't heard from them for a week, you don't know if they are in a ditch somewhere. "We've got three that we brought back from there this year and they're doing ok, as far as ok can be." His sense of humour has been crucial to the project's success. "You just can't let them down -- because every time veterans get a promise, that gets broken. Once the cordite leaves the battlefield, soldiers are soon forgotten," Marshall said. Rebuilding people After a 26-year army career, Marshall instinctively knows how to connect with ex-service personnel. It's a style of straight talking -- combined with "rude language" and "dark humour". "They want to be told it as it is. And we say 'we can't fix it, but we can fix the next 20 minutes and see how we get on from there'." Signs on the workshop wall sum up the no-nonsense approach. "If something here offends you, please let us know -- we can all use a good laugh," reads one. Although the boat is finished, the project is far from over. After the York festival it will be used for a planned fundraising blitz so another heritage boat can be built.
