DuPage County briefs

Oratorical contest winners: A home-schooled senior, Matthew Schuchriemen, won first place and $450 in the Naperville American Legion Post 43 contest level of the National High School Oratorical Contest. He will advance to the next level in the contest designed to foster interest in the U.S. Constitution. Katherine Rudolph, a senior at Naperville Central High School, finished second; Micah Colbert, a home-schooled senior finished third; Ryan Macwan, a home-schooled sophomore finished fourth; and Allyssa Peterson, a Benet Academy senior, finished fifth.Slavic groups will celebrate: Members of Slavic congregations from throughout the region will celebrate the final day of Orthodox Christmas with an evening of songs, food and fellowship at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at Crossroads Community Church, 1N100 Gary Ave., Wheaton. The celebration will focus on the music Evangelical Christians use in their worship in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union. For details, contact Segey Rakhuba of Russian Ministries at sergey@russian-ministries.org.Edward seeks therapy dogs:Naperville's Edward Hospital is seeking more dogs for its Animal-Assisted Therapy program. Temperament testing will be held Feb. 6 at the hospital, 801 S. Washington St. The registration form and information are available at edward.org/animalassistedtherapy. Handlers must be 18 or older. Dogs and handlers selected for the program must attend training on Feb. 21, 27 and 28 at Edward. There is a $30 fee for temperament testing and $125 for training. For details, call (630) 983-6014.Festival funding available:Aurora is accepting applications to provide festival and special event funding to neighborhood and community groups. Applications and guidelines are available at the mayor's Office of Special Events, 5 E. Downer Place, Aurora, or by calling (630) 844-4731. Completed applications must be returned to the office by 5 p.m. Feb. 15. Recommendations of grant awards are scheduled to be presented to the finance committee on March 19 and the Aurora City Council on March 23.Music groups seek members:The College of DuPage Chamber Orchestra and the DuPage Chorale, a community chorus based at COD, are seeking new members for the spring semester. Both are offered as one-credit classes. The orchestra, which includes both students and community members, has openings in several sections, particularly in strings. Orchestra members rehearse weekly, with the next one scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Jan. 25 at the McAninch Arts Center at the Glen Ellyn campus, 425 Fawell Blvd. Those interested should call orchestra Director Dan Pasquale D'Andrea at (630) 322-9187 before the Jan. 25 rehearsal. The DuPage Chorale requires no audition, and all voice types and ages are welcome. Members rehearse from 7 to 9:50 p.m. Mondays, beginning Jan. 25 at the McAninch Arts Center. Register online at myaccess.cod.edu or in person before the rehearsal. For details on the chorale, contact director Lee Kesselman at (630) 942-2552.