From the clubs

To list your club's meetings, e-mail to mchenry@dailyherald.com or fax to (847) 608-0849.

McHenry County Chapter of AARP: The McHenry County Chapter of AARP will meet at 1:30 p.m. today at the Fountains of Crystal Lake, on Route 31, one mile north of Route 176.

The program will be on identity theft. February's program will be about safe travel.

The group meets the second Thursday of the month and refreshments are served.

For chapter information, call Glenn at (815) 477-1952 or Fran at (847) 658-7222.

Am Vets Post 245: Am Vets Post 245 of Cary is moving its monthly meeting location beginning this month.

The meetings are scheduled at 8 p.m. the last Thursday of the month at Algonquin Township, 3702 Route 14, Crystal Lake. This month, the date is Jan. 31.

For details, call (847) 639-2700 ext. 408 or Sr. Vice Commander Bob DePaul at (847) 639-0267.

The post will hold its annual Meat Raffle at 1 p.m. Jan. 20 at Oberheide's Soft Landings, 203 E. Main St. Cary, (847) 516-8327. Proceeds will go toward hospitalized veterans at North Chicago Hospital.

Friends of the Fox River: The largest environmental film festival in North America is coming to McHenry and Kane counties.

Join Friends of the Fox River as they host the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival Tour at McHenry County College from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 31 and Elgin Community College from 2 to 5 p.m. Feb. 2. Different films will be featured at each venue.

The Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival Tour brings together award-winning environmental films in the spirit of inspiration and education.

On Jan. 31, doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts 6:10 p.m. at McHenry County College Conference Center, 8900 Route 14, Crystal Lake.

On Feb. 2, doors open at 2 p.m. with the show starting at 2:05 p.m. at the Advanced Technology Center auditorium, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. For details, visit friendsofthefox.org.

Pack 457: Cub Scouts from Cary Pack 457 are seeking alumni Scouts and leaders to help celebrate the pack's 50th anniversary during various activities throughout 2008.

The oldest Cub Scout pack in Cary, Pack 457 was formed in June 27, 1958. Since then, hundreds of children and adults from Cary have participated in activities through the pack.

The pack wants alumni to help celebrate by participating in 2008 pack activities, including the 50th Pinewood Derby and the 50th Blue and Gold Banquet.

Those who have previously participated in Cary Cub Scout Pack 457 as a Scout or a leader are urged to contact Teresa Sheehan, chairman of the Pack 457 50th Anniversary Committee, at (847) 639-3601 or Sheehan.scouting @comcast.net.

Baby Boomers Singles Club: Baby Boomer Singles Club for singles over age 45 offers social activities such as wine tastings, restaurants, theater and sports activities.

There are no membership fees and participants can pick and choose their outings based on their schedules and interests. Social activities are being planned and will be announced soon.

For more information, visit the Web site www.babyboomersinglesclub.com or call Steffens at (815) 529-8138.

Kishwaukee DAR: Kishwaukee Trail Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, will hold its next gathering at 10 a.m. Jan. 21 in the Community Room at Home State Bank, Main Street and Route 14 in Crystal Lake. (This is the larger building behind the bank's one-story facility, and there is an elevator to the lower level's Community Room.)

The business meeting will be followed by the program "The DAR, Then and Now" presented by Jeannine Kallal, DAR's District IV director. Members and prospective members are urged to attend. Call Cathy Carlton at (815) 337-1818 to reserve a $9 box lunch.

The Daughters of the American Revolution, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing America's future through better education for children.

For more information about the group call regent Cathy Carlton at (815) 337-1818. For membership information, call registrar Marcia Flanagan at (815) 648-4941.

FCC Book Group: Jenny Lee, CTS seminarian and FCC intern, will lead a book group for those who like to read and those who want to start reading. Groups meet at 11 a.m. or at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month for reading, discussing the work and having fellowship together.

The club meets at First Congregational Church, 461 Pierson St., Crystal Lake. For more information, call (815) 459-6010.

January: "Love in Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

February: "90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life" by Don Piper.

March: "Snow Flowers and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See.

April: "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia" by Elizabeth Gilber

May: "One Thousand White Women: The Journal of May Dodd" by Jim Fergus.

BNCA: The Barrington/Northwest Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago is offering its members a wonderful treat for Valentine's Day -- a lecture and lunch at the renowned Medinah Country Club in Medinah.

Lillian Carrara, Adjunct Professor at the Art Institute, will illuminate fashion trends in history. Her topic, "Aesthetic and Artistic Dress in Britain and the U.S.," will focus on 19th-century beliefs, which were much more restrictive. Only the most confident, assertive woman dared to display her unique personality in her dress. Carrara's discussion will explore those who dared be unique and how trends eventually changed.

Carrara is director of the Fashion Resource Center at the Art Institute and proffers extensive knowledge and carefully selected visuals to enhance her informative discussion.

Lunch is at 11:30 a.m. and lecture at 1 p.m. on Feb. 14. The cost is $50.

This event is for B/NWCA members only. Reservations are due by Feb. 3.

Members should send checks to Day Chair Lenore Elsener. For more information, call (847) 255-9492 or (847) 508-9510.

Recovery International: A 70-year-old mental health association has opened new group meetings in Crystal Lake under a new name.

Recovery International will hold open meetings at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the National Association for the Mentally Ill of McHenry County offices, 330 Commercial Drive, Suite 900A, Crystal Lake.

Recovery Incorporated was founded in 1937 by 30 ex-patients who regained their health after receiving treatments -- including shock treatments -- at the Psychiatric Institute of the University of Illinois.

Dr. Abraham Low, a psychiatrist at the Institute, became the group's medical director. Three years later the group expanded its work to include the outpatient department.

Low's cognitive and behavioral self-help methods were explained in his 1950 book, "Mental Health Through Will Training." When Low died in 1954, his patients kept the association running using the book as the basis of their "Recovery Method."

Today there are about 600 weekly meetings throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland and several other countries. Last May members changed the name of the group to Recovery International to reflect its global composition. The change also was intended to correct the misapprehension that it was a for-profit operation. Like all Recovery International meetings, the Crystal Lake meeting is open to the public. There is no charge, although a free will offering is taken.

For details, call (815) 338-5609, or visit the Web site at www.recovery-inc.org.