Cook County briefs
NBA stars at Woodfield:
New York Knicks forward Al Harrington and former Chicago Bull B.J. Armstrong are scheduled to appear Sunday, Sept. 6, outside the Sears store at Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg for the so-called NBA Protege Basketball Block Party. A 4,500-square-foot "basketball playground" will be set up with free shooting contests and basketball clinics, and participants can have their photo taken in the "locker room" and measure their height, hand and shoe sizes against life-size replicas of NBA players. The Block Party is a promotional avenue for the Protege show line developed by Harrington and sold only at Sears and Kmart. The event is noon-6 p.m., with Harrington scheduled to appear 1-4 p.m. and Armstrong 4-5 p.m.
Palatine hosts Celtic Cup:
More than 330 teams from three states have descended on Palatine this weekend for the annual Palatine Celtic Soccer Club Celtic Cup tournament. The kids will play more than 1,200 matches before the youth tournament wraps up Monday and an estimated 15,000 people will be at fields at the Palatine Park District and Palatine High School watching the action.
Des Plaines parks befriended:
Friends of the Park, a newly formed volunteer organization supporting the Des Plaines Park District, elected officers and adopted a mission statement at a recent meeting at Prairie Lakes Community Center. Officers are President Michael Lake, Vice President Mike VanSlambrouk, Secretary Noreen Newton and Treasurer Carol Shannon. The group will encourage community involvement, support beautification, assist with preserving open spaces, solicit funding and donations, and act as a supplemental volunteer base for recreational activities and programs. The group will meet the fourth Monday of each month at 5 p.m. in the David. L. Markworth Board Room at the Des Plaines Park District Administrative and Leisure Center, 2222 Birch St. The group is soliciting members to bring the voting board to 13; call Lake at (847) 299-1886 for information.
Elk Grove will write to troops:
The Community Character Coalition of Elk Grove will kick off its "Letters to the Troops" campaign at its social Thursday, Sept. 10. During the monthlong campaign, the group is asking village residents and others to each write a letter to a service member. Letters will be delivered to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan through state Rep. Peter Roskam's office. Drop boxes for the letters will be available throughout the village. A list of participating business will be available at the Sept. 10 social and on the group's Web site ccceg.org.
S. Barrington mulls gambling:
Members of South Barrington's legal and human resources committee Friday opted against making a formal recommendation to the full village board on the allowance of video gambling in South Barrington, Village Administrator David Pierce said. Though the committee members present expressed personal preferences not to allow video gambling, they did not vote to make this a formal recommendation. The full village board will discuss the issue of state legislation that would allow video gambling. If the state enacts legislation permitting such gambling, municipalities would not have to take further action to allow it, but would have the ability to prohibit it within their own borders, Pierce said.
Fiesta coming to Lake Opeka:
The 12th annual Festival! celebrating Mexican Independence Day will be held Sept. 12 at Lake Park Memorial Pavilion, Lee Street, between Touhy and Howard avenues. The event, sponsored by the Des Plaines Park District and The Mexican Civic Society of Illinois, runs 1-6 p.m. with free entertainment and authentic Mexican music by Banda Tierra Nueva and Grupo Nueva Generacion. Ballet Sol Azteca and Ballet Folklorico Raices Mexicanas will also perform traditional Mexican dances. face painting, arts and crafts and children's games are 1:30-5:30 p.m. Other sponsors are the Illinois Arts Council, Bank of America, Brooke Auto Insurance, Reflejos Bilingual Journal, and Terra Nova Realty Group. (847) 391-5700; desplainesparks.org.