Lake County briefs

Stevenson chips in:

This week's annual Stevenson High School Give-a-Thon collected presents for 211 area families. Participants also donated enough food for the Vernon Township Food Pantry to fill 720 boxes, a Stevenson spokesman said. The total value of the goods collected at the event and through related activities was estimated to be $60,000 to $70,000.

Bikes collected for kids:

A suburban church group collected nearly 200 used bicycles for needy children this holiday season. The Holy Spokes group, part of a multi-location church called The Chapel, collected bikes at M&M Cyclery in Mundelein through last month and is refurbishing them. "We've already started distributing some and we will distribute more this weekend and next weekend," said organizer Paul Sagendorph of Mundelein.

Winter wine walk:

The village of Antioch will sponsor a Winter Wine Walk on Saturday, Jan. 23 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the downtown area. Participants will travel to various locations to taste 28 to 35 wines. The event is open to folks 21 and older. The cost is $20, which includes a bottle of wine and wine glass. Register at the Parks and Recreation Building 806 Holbek Drive, or contact Shawn Roby at (847) 838-4032.

Lake Zurich Christmas pageant:

A Christmas pageant at the Quentin Road Baptist Church, 60 Quentin Road, Lake Zurich, that attracts thousands of visitors begins this weekend. The performance features the Victorian theme of "The Gift-Giver", a Christmas tree set and the 500-member children's choir dressed as presents and ornaments, and the 12 Days of Christmas including lords a leaping, pipers piping, and swans a swimming. Performances are 2 and 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 and 19 and Sunday, Dec. 13, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20. Visit http://www.qrbbc.org.

ComEd completes underground cable work:

ComEd has completed a $296,000 project to replace or reinforce nearly 4 miles of underground distribution cable in Libertyville and Vernon Hills. The investment will improve reliability and reduce outage frequency for approximately 300 area customers directly served by those lines. ComEd officials say underground cable can be damaged in many ways ranging from lightning striking the ground where the lines are buried to general wear and tear. "This work was part of a systemwide $26 million effort this year to proactively replace and reinforce more than 1 million feet of underground cable on our system," said ComEd President and Chief Operating Officer Anne Pramaggiore. Some of the longest lengths of locally replaced and reinforced lines were along Milwaukee Avenue and Golf Road in Libertyville, and along Route 60 in Vernon Hills.