Shedding her locks again for Locks of Love
We've all heard the cliché: Give em' an inch and they'll take a mile.
Devin Perucco, a 9-year-old from unincorporated Elgin, hopes to give 10 inches to make a smile.
For the second time in two years, the soon-to-be fourth grader at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in Elgin, had her long blonde hair cut to help make wigs for Locks of Love.
The Florida-based not-for-profit group provides hairpieces to kids under 18 who have lost their hair from cancer.
"I feel that my childhood is probably the greatest time of my life," she said. "For the kids without hair, it shouldn't be ruined."
Devin said she was not scared or apprehensive of going under the scissors again.
"With my long hair, summers are really hot. So I'll think it's fall because it's cooler," she said, adding she'll probably donate her hair again once it gets long enough.
Each time she donated hair, the barber took off 10 inches.
Vicky Perucco, Devin's mom, said they were riding the Metra train to Chicago a few years ago when a stranger suggested she give up part of her hair.
Devin, who was already considering a cut, asked her mom to look into it.
"We were thinking of cutting it short because (long hair) is a lot of work," Vicky Perucco recalled.
The younger Perucco didn't receive promises of a new Nintendo Wii or tickets to Hannah Montana to visit the barber.
"She's happy to help," the elder Perucco said. "I'm just so proud. She thinks of others and tries to help other children out."
For more information about Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org or call (888) 896-1588
Pretty in pink:
Don't be surprised if you see more than red, white and blue at South Elgin's 4th of July parade.
Village leaders are encouraging people to wear pink to recognize women fighting breast cancer and in memory of Pam Rosenbohm, a former village employee who died from breast cancer in November 2007.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. July 4 at the corner of West Spring Street and Wedgewood Drive.
It proceeds east along Spring Street eventually to State Street across the river and south and works its way east across the river before heading south on Center Street.
The parade will feature marching bands, special performers, dancers, veterans, police, fire and other local organizations.
The parade's Grand Marshal is Shanon Lersch, a postgraduate student, model and Luvabull dancer who was crowned Miss Illinois USA 2008 last fall.
She is an advocate of Breast Cancer Awareness and works with the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
An estimated 5,000 people watch the parade each year.
Residents who want to volunteer for the parade may call the South Elgin Parks and Recreation Department at (847) 622-0003.