Helping you find summer events

The past few weeks, staff here at the Daily Herald have started gathering information on summer events.

We've been stockpiling the basics on events like the Hoffman Estates July 4 fireworks and the police department's National Night Out. Hopefully readers find the information useful when planning their summer fun this season.

A crown jewel in Hoffman Estates happens to be the venerable Community Fishing Derby, held by the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce and Sears Holdings Corp.

This year's derby, one of the largest in the state, is slated for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 7 at South Ridge and Westbury lakes.

Children will wipe the sleep out of their eyes that morning -- and forgo cartoons, video games and YouTube -- to dust off their rods and reels and, hopefully, catch one of the specially tagged fish that have been released into the water just for the event. There will be panfish, largemouth bass, northern pike and channel catfish in the lakes.

Cabela's is already showing its community muscle, said Jill Blodgett, the chamber's executive director. The outdoor superstore just opened last year and, in a perfect match of event with sponsor, will give away a $1,000 gift card to a lucky participant who catches the fish with the correct tag.

This will be Blodgett's last year coordinating the event, as she's retiring from the chamber later this year.

No fishing license is required, but you must pre-register. For more information, call (847) 781-9100.

Proud police mom: The police department on Tuesday swore in Kurt Gerlach to the rank of sergeant and Dennis Cardiff to lieutenant. Congrats to the two of them.

Gerlach's mother, Pat, used to work for the Daily Herald. She e-mailed me last week to let me know how proud she is of her son. She wrote that Kurt and his wife Maria both work for the police department and raved how Kurt is a hometown product. He grew up in the village and also graduated from Hoffman Estates High School.

Mom also wrote that Kurt "often told me that his police career was inspired by accompanying me on early Sunday morning checks of police blotters." She added that she wasn't sure if he was serious of the source of his inspiration, joking in a way only a mother could.

Speaking of which: Time to start planning for Mother's Day, which is coming up on May 11.