Home, business expo will fill Huntley High gym

Rita Slawek, the perpetually upbeat director of the Huntley Area Chamber of Commerce, insists neither snow nor rain will put a damper on the 2008 Huntley Home and Business Expo, set for this weekend at the Huntley High School gym.

"That's right -- there's a heat wave coming to Huntley," Slawek told me Tuesday, as snow fell yet again.

"If it's not warm outside (this weekend) ,it will still be hot, hot, hot inside the expo!"

All of the expo's 175 booths will be filled by local merchants, churches, public agencies, and community groups, with displays, games, giveaways and raffles for valuable prizes. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is free, and refreshments may be purchased. Free parking is available in the parking lot at the high school, 13719 Harmony Road, Huntley.

The Grafton Township shuttle van will run throughout the day between the expo and Sun City's Prairie Lodge, Slawek said, and this year, there is no charge to ride the shuttle:

"Liberty Tax Service is picking up the tab, so nobody has to pay for it."

The 2008 expo includes some new faces and some old favorites.

"Lollipop the Clown will be back -- she was gone last year -- and our demo area will be bigger," she added.

"I know they have more opportunities for seminars (that are) put on by the business owners," said Jim Henley, chamber president. "For the rest, it will be primarily the same as we had last year, with lots of booths, door prizes, and raffle drawings."

This year's corporate sponsor, Centegra Health Systems, will display more details of its new Huntley health-care campus that is now under construction on Haligus Road, west of Tom's Farm Market.

The Grafton Township Food Pantry will hold a food drive, and the Friends of the Huntley Area Library will offer adult and child book raffles, along with treats and coupons for $1 off at their corner book sale.

For information about the 2008 Huntley Home and Business Expo, visit www.huntleychamber.org, or stop by this weekend for a really good time.

Gazebo Quilters: Like many clubs, Huntley's Gazebo Quilters had trouble finding good volunteers to take on leadership roles.

Their solution?

"It's job-sharing, I guess," says Jan Meyer, one of three "co-presidents" who took over the reins Jan. 1.

Together with Sue Bruss and Kae McQueen, Meyer is busily planning activities for the group, which meets on the second Tuesday of each month at the Congregational Church in downtown Huntley. Its next meeting is March 11.

"We're working on a quilt for Senior Services of McHenry County that will be raffled next year," she said. "We're trying to get it done so they can show it at their luncheon in April."

"At our meetings, we try to do different programs to make people more enthusiastic about quilting. In April, we will have Stephanie Nordlin of Poplar Grove, who was the grand prize winner of the 'Wearable Art' division at the Houston International Quilt Show."

The club invites anyone who is interested in quilting to attend its meetings. For details, call Meyer at (224) 569-6862.

Kane County voting: After this month's primary, you may have thought all that "election" business was over for a few months.

Well, it isn't for Huntley neighbors who live in Kane County, who will be voting in a special general election March 8 to fill the vacant 14th Congressional District seat of retired Rep. Dennis Hastert, which expires Jan. 3, 2009.

This is not another primary election, but a hotly contested race to decide only one question: which candidate -- Democrat Bill Foster of Geneva or Republican James Oberweis of Sugar Grove -- will serve the remainder of that term?

"It could be confusing, because we just had the primary, and now we're voting again," said Al Westhoff, a deputy clerk in the office of Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham. "We've never had an election on a Saturday before, and there's only one race."

Predicting voter turnout is anybody's guess, he said this week.

"The speculation is that we just don't know. We've had some early voting and absentees so far, but it's hard to tell."

Here in Huntley, Rutland Township precincts 3, 4, and 7 will vote in the Drendel Ballroom at Sun City's Prairie Lodge, 12880 Del Webb Blvd.

Absentee voting is offered to registered voters who will be out of the county on March 8, or who are physically unable to go to their polling place.

Monday is the last day that absentee ballots will be mailed to voters. In-person absentee voting is offered through Friday at the Kane County Clerk's office, 719 S. Batavia, Building B in Geneva.

Without those reasons, you still can cast an early ballot this weekend at one of several locations.

Here in Huntley, early voting is offered from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at Sun City's Prairie Lodge.

Elsewhere in Kane County, early voting polling places will be open today through Monday at the county clerk's office in Geneva and at its "north campus," across from the fairgrounds on Randall Road in St. Charles. Voting hours at those two sites are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. today and Monday, and 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday and Sunday.

For a complete list of early voting sites, March 8 polling places and other election procedures, call (630) 232-5990 or visit www.kanecountyelections. org.

• Send your Huntley area news and events to Diane Ayers at huntleynews@ameritech.net or call (847) 669-0848.