Fox Valley briefs

Foster speaking to Elgin Lions:

U.S. Rep. Bill foster will be the featured speaker at the regular meeting of the Elgin Lions Club Jan. 5th at the Holiday Inn, 585 Toll Gate Road, Elgin. Foster, a Democrat from Batavia, represents Illinois' 14th District in Congress, which includes Elgin, the Tri-Cities and Aurora. First elected in 2008 to fill the remaining term of former Speaker Dennis Hastert, Foster is seeking his second full term in Congress in 2010. Those interested in attending should contact Elgin Lions Club President Ed Bates at batesed@cod.edu.

Tree recycling available:

The McHenry County Department of Health is encouraging residents to take advantage of free residential Christmas tree drop-off recycling programs. Dropped-off trees are sent through a wood chipper to create a material suitable for mulching. Drop off points include: McHenry County Conservation District, Glacial Park in Ringwood and Rush Creek in Harvard, now until Jan. 17; Algonquin Township Road District, 3702 U.S. Hwy 14, Crystal Lake, now until Jan. 31; Dorr Township Road District, 12322 Davis Road, Woodstock, now until Jan. 31; and Nunda Township Road District, 3518 Bay Road, Crystal Lake, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of each month, until March. The MCCD and Algonquin Township programs are available to all county residents. The Door and Nunda programs are for residents of those townships only.

Algonquin student earns Air Force Academy appointment:

Rachel Doby, a senior at Westminster Christian High School in Elgin, has received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo announced recently.

The daughter of David and Kathleen Doby of Algonquin, Rachel is a member of the National Honor Society, the Elgin Rotary Club Honor Roll and her school's Student Athlete Honor Roll. She edits and writes for the school's newspaper, coaches youth sports camps, is a member of the school's spiritual leadership team, and is a member of the Harvest Bible Chapel's Youth Gospel Choir. Rachel also captains Westminster's varsity basketball and soccer teams, and ran cross country. She was named All-Conference in both soccer and basketball and was a sectional qualifier in cross country.