Missing funds from cookbook sales found in Carpentersville

The mystery of the missing money in Carpentersville has been solved.

Bonnie Lipprandt wanted to know where the hundreds of dollars she helped generate for the village had gone.

She donated about 285 of her self-published cookbooks to the village almost a decade ago under the premise that the village's police department would use the proceeds from the recipe book sales to fight gangs, crime and drugs.

Bonnie instructed the police department to sell the books for $7.50 apiece.

As of 2001, Bonnie said about half of the books had been sold at village hall. The books weren't sold at the village's police department, since village hall sees more traffic than the local lock-up.

Bonnie, author of BONnie Apetit, addressed the village board last month, asking for answers as to how that money was spent.

By all calculations, Bonnie said the sales should have raised about $1,000.

It seemed like no one had any clue what the money had purchased since much of the staff from that time had moved on from the village.

Back in 1999, the assistant village manager at the time, Phil Cotter, suggested the money would be used to purchase a crime prevention item in Bonnie's name.

But for the last nine or so years, Bonnie said she has not heard a thing.

That was until Tuesday when Oneida Fehring, executive assistant to the police chief, notified Bonnie of the money's use.

After some detective work, Oneida discovered the money, about $496, had been spent during the 2000-2001 fiscal year and contributed toward the purchase of surveillance binoculars, $234.97; a recorder/transcriber used in police interviews and interrogations, $240; and the Drug ID Bible, $39.45, which helps identify legal and illegal drugs.

Bonnie again appeared before the board Tuesday night to thank the board and Village Manager Craig Anderson for their work in tracking down the funds.

In 1996, Bonnie began cataloguing some of her favorite recipes for the book. Two years later, BONnie Apetit was published.

Bonnie, who owned Bonnie's Cafe in East Dundee in the early 1980s, told the Daily Herald in 1999 that friends would constantly ask her for recipes and she found she was spending most of her time copying recipes.

So, the book was an easy way to get all of her recipes into one neat and convenient package.

There are some 300 recipes in the book, which is still available from the author.

For information on how to purchase it, call Bonnie at (847) 426-8231.