DuPage Co. hobbies calendar

• Submit events at least two weeks in advance to Melynda Findlay via e-mail to mfindlay@dailyherald.com or by fax, (630) 955-0895.

Sunday

• The Village Theatre Guild will hold open auditions for the comedy drama "The O'Conner Girls" by Katie Forgette at 1 p.m. today at the theater, on the northwest corner of Park Boulevard and Butterfield Road, Glen Ellyn. Roles are available for four women and one man. Character information and script readings are available at www.villagetheatreguild.org. Performances will be weekends, May 23 to June 14. For details, call director Marianne Bowles at (630) 545-2261.

Monday

• Midwestern University will offer Mini-Medical School from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. Mondays, March 31-April 21, at the campus, 555 31st St., Downers Grove. Participants will learn from university faculty about topics such as autism, cardiovascular medicine, occupational therapy and more. The cost is $25 and registration is required. For details, visit minimed.midwestern.edu, call (630) 515-6048 or e-mail minimed@midwestern.edu.

• World traveler Bill Helmuth will give a virtual tour of Thailand at 7 p.m. Monday at the Roselle Public Library, 40 S. Park. Registration is required. For details, call (630) 529-1641 or visit www.roselle.lib.il.us.

• The Helen M. Plum Memorial Library and the Lombard Historical Society will sponsor the village's first Lilac Community Read. The book will be "Green Valley," published in 1919 by Lombard author Katharine Reynolds. The book can be purchased through Monday at the Plum Library for $15, which also includes lectures and book discussions. A Green Valley trolley tour costs $5. The novel also can be downloaded free at www.gutenberg.org/etext/18801. Reynolds settled in Lombard in 1905 and started the village's first newspaper, "The Lombard Breeze" in 1912. She wrote "Green Valley" to combat homesickness while visiting South America. For details, call the library at (630) 627-0316, the historical society at (630) 629-1885 or visit www.plum.lib.il.us or www.lombardhistory.org.

• Learn how to bring butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden at 7 p.m. Monday at the Villa Park Public Library, 305 S. Ardmore Ave. Bill Karges from Pioneer Garden and Feed Supply in Villa Park will lead the program. Admission is free. For details, call (630) 834-1146 or visit ww.villapark.lib.il.us.

• The Choral-Aires, an award-winning Sweet Adelines Chorus, rehearses at 7 p.m. Mondays at Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, 367 Spring Road. For details, call Mary Brzezinski at (630) 964-0792 or visit www.Choral-Aires.org.

Tuesday

• The Oak Brook Art League will meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Friends Room at the Oak Brook Public Library, 600 Oak Brook Road. Local artist John Freda will discuss the complex layering techniques he uses in his work. Reservations are required. For details, call Pat at (630) 651-9790.

• The following workshops will be offered at the DuPage Art League, 218 W. Front St., Wheaton: Colored pencil, taught by Andrea Burchett, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, $125; Techniques and Ideas for Landscapes in Watercolor, taught by Tom Linden, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $120; oil pastels, taught by George Shipperley, 1 to 4 p.m. April 8-9, $165 andwatercolors, taught by Tom Lynch, 1 to 4 p.m. June 30-July 2, $295. Registration is required. For details, call (630) 653-7090 or visit www.dupageartleague.org.

• The Crestview Garden Club will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Community Bank of Elmhurst, 330 W. Butterfield Road. Ken Benson, chair of Triton College's horticulture department, will discuss how to design a landscape that adds curb appeal to your home. For details, call Patricia Wudi at (630) 834-5127.

• Vendors are needed for the Yorkville Junior Women's Club third annual Spring Craft Show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 3 at Town Square on Route 47, Yorkville. The cost for a 12-foot-by-12-foot booth is $35 before Tuesday and $45 after. A discount is available to not-for-profit organizations and only one type of each home-based business will be allowed. For details or an application, call (630) 554-0877 or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Teresa Wedeen, 391 Country Lane, Yorkville, IL, 60560.

• Intermediate chess lessons for students in grades two through eight will be offered from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, April 1-28, at the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, 110 W. Maple St., Lombard. Participants who already know how to play the game will learn about opening-, middle- and end-game strategies and how to read and write chess notations. Students should attend all five sessions. Registration is required. For details, call Young People's Services at (630) 627-0316 or visit www.plum.lib.il.us.

• The Village Vocal Chords, an award-winning a cappella chorus, rehearses at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at St. John Lutheran Church, 47th Street and Brainard Avenue, LaGrange. Any woman 18 to 55 may join. For details, call Ms. Michael Bogert at (708) 275-8329 or visit www.villagevocalchords.com.

• Watercolor painter Henrietta Tweedie will be the guest when the Glen Ellyn Woman's Club meets at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center, 535 Duane St. Guests are welcome. For details, call Ruth Wright at (630) 469-3942.

• DuPage Against War Now will host a panel discussion about the environment at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Glen Ellyn Public Library, 400 Duane St. Old cell phones will be collected for recycling at the event. For details, visit www.d-a-w-n.org.

• The Catholic Daughters of America will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Church, 140 N. Oakwood, West Chicago. The event will include a white elephant auction to benefit charity. For details, call Kathy at (630) 231-2036.

Wednesday

• Villa Park Recreation offers a Scrabble group at 10 a.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Community Recreation Building, 320 E. Wildwood. Boards will be supplied. Participants may bring lunch and a drink. The group is free and registration is not required. For details, call (630) 834-8970, e-mail jenny@vprd.org or visit www.vprd.org.

Thursday

• The Teen Advisory Group will meet at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Addison Public Library, 2 Friendship Plaza. Any Addison student in grade six through 12 may join to help shape what the new library's teen area should be. Pizza and pop will be served. Registration is required. For details, call (630) 458-3320 or (630) 458-3338.

• The Northern Illinois Iris Society will meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Community House, 415 W. Eighth St., Hinsdale. A program about floral arrangement follows a short business meeting. For details, call (708) 354-5629.

• The Villa Park Unit of the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Guild will install new officers during a luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at Costa's, 1S130 Summit Ave., Oakbrook Terrace. Members, prospective members and guests all are welcome. Reservations are required. For details, call Gail McGrew at (630) 834-9278.

• The Glendale Heights Parks and Recreation Department will offer a creative writing seminar at 8:30 p.m. Thursdays, April 3-May 8, at the Sports Hub, 250 Civic Center Plaza, Glendale Heights. The cost is $35 for residents and $40 for others. For details, call (630) 260-6060.

• Reservations are due Thursday for the AT&T Telecom Pioneers Forest Life Member Club meeting at 11:30 a.m. April 10 at the Bohemian Crystal, 639 N. Blackhawk Drive, Westmont. The guest speaker will be Andi Wadas from the Ronald McDonald House. Tickets cost $18. For details, call Mary Amato at (708) 383-4273 or Lori Kallas at (630) 629-1633.ˆ½

Friday

• Sidekicks Square Dance Club's next dance will be Friday at the Community Recreation Building, 320 E. Wildwood, Villa Park. Al and Jane Krol will cue rounds at 8 p.m. and Jimmy Robison will call squares at 8:30 p.m. A banner will be available. For details, call (630) 627-2437 or (630) 271-0313.

• Graue Mill and Museum, 3800 York Road, Oak Brook, opens for the 2008 season 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. This year, exhibits will demonstrate how pioneers were the first to live "green," by reducing, reusing and recycling. For details, call (630) 655-2090 or visit www.grauemill.org.

• The Oakbrook Terrace Park District will offer Turbo Kick, a group fitness class, from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Fridays, April 4-June 12, at the park district's fitness center, 1 Parkview Plaza. The cost is $54 for residents and $60 for others. Registration is required. For details, call (630) 574-0420 or visit www.obtpd.org.

• Local dancers must register by Friday to be part of the second annual "Dancing with the Stars of Addison" from 7 to 9 p.m. April 11 in the Addison Village Hall rotunda, 1 Friendship Plaza. The Addison Cultural Arts Development Commission is seeking ballroom dancers to kick off the village's 11th annual multicultural festival "Around the World in Two Days" April 12-13. The event is a performance, not a contest. For details or to register, call (630) 543-4100, ext. 7416.

• Drop-in chess for children in grades one through eight will be offered from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday and May 2 at the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, 110 W. Maple St., Lombard. The program is aimed at home-schooled students, as well as other children who have the day off. Chess sets will be provided. For details, call Young People's Services at (630) 627-0316 or visit www.plum.lib.il.us.

Saturday

• Villa Park Recreation's rugby program will be offered from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, April 5-May 3, at Rotary Park, 600 E. Wildwood. The no-contact program for children ages 10 to 13 will introduce rules and skills. The cost is $45 for residents and $48 for others. For details, visit www.vprd.org.

• The "Aussie New Zealand" wine tasting, a fundraiser for the Naperville Area Humane Society, will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Binny's Beverage Depot, 790 Royal St. George Court, Naperville. Guests will be able to sample more than 40 wines from Australia and New Zealand and meet humane society volunteers and shelter dogs available for adoption. The cost is $10 for members of Binny's Wine Lovers Club, $15 for others. Reservations are required. For details, call Binny's at (630) 717-0100. For information about the humane society, call (630) 420-8989 or visit www.napervillehumanesociety.org.

• The Tri-Cities Mothers of Twins and Triplets Club semi-annual resale event will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Mooseheart Fieldhouse, Mooseheart Road and Route 31, North Aurora. Yellow-ticketed items will be half-price after 11:30 a.m. The sale will include children's clothing, toys, furniture andˆ½ more. Admission costs $1. Shoppers should bring a laundry basket to carry purchases; no bags will be permitted.ˆ½ For details, visit www.tcmottc.org or call (630) 375-7111.

• Make reservations by Saturday to attend the Fox Valley Bicycle and Ski Club's 40th anniversary dinner and program from 2 to 6 p.m. April 13 at Riverview Banquets, 1111 N. Washington, Batavia. Current, prospective and former members all may attend. Tickets cost $20. For details, call Patti Johanson at (630) 605-6841 or Jeanne Bereza (847) 742-1294. The club meets from 7 to 9 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at the Batavia Public Library, 10 S. Batavia Ave. For information, visit www.fvbsc.org.

• See "Rockhounds: The Movie" at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art, 220 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst. Free with museum admission, which costs $4, $3 for seniors, $2 for students and teens, $1 for children 7 to 12, free for kids 6 and younger. For details, call (630) 833-1616 or visit www.lizzadromuseum.org.

• The Breath of Spring craft show will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Fox Valley Park District Eola Community Center, 555 S. Eola Road, Aurora. The show will include a variety of crafts by local artisans. Admission is free. For details, call (630) 896-1947 or e-mail kd3627@hotmail.com.

• The Kiwanis Club of Glen Ellyn and its associate clubs will hold a food drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the following Glen Ellyn locations: McChesney and Miller Grocery and Market, 460 Crescent Blvd.; Trader Joe's, 680 Roosevelt Road; First United Methodist Church, Forest and Duane streets; the park district's Touch-a-Truck event at Ackerman Park, 800 E. St. Charles Road; Jewel, 599 E. Roosevelt Road and Dominick's, 800 Roosevelt Road. Donations will be distributed to the Glen Ellyn and Milton Township food pantries. Special donation pickups can be arranged in advance by calling Glenn Scott at (312) 318-7983 evenings.ˆ½Ã¯ˆ¿ˆ½Ã¯ˆ¿ˆ½