Let the shredding begin on pesky paperwork that bears your name
You know all those credit card applications you get in your mailbox?
You can shred all those annoying documents at First Community Bank during its Shred Fest 2007.
It's scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 20 at 165 S. Randall Road in Elgin.
Accurate Document Destruction is bringing a shredding truck with a TV monitor, so you can watch the document-shredding process.
The shredding service is free and you can also register for a chance to win a free home office paper shredder.
You'll also learn the importance of identity protection, and why destroying documents is the best way to safeguard against identity theft.
Here's what you're allowed to bring: bank statements, old tax returns and any other papers that contain personal information.
Don't worry about removing staples and paper clips -- they can be shredded as well. But other heavier items, such as binder clips, should be taken off.
For more information, call the bank at (847) 622-8800.
Christmas in October? The Hideaway Cafe and Painted Garden, two businesses within the State Street Market Shops, will have a Christmas ornament class from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 12. You'll learn how to paint baubles you can use to decorate your Christmas tree.
Too early for Christmas, you might say? Well, according to Kathy Hardison, owner of Painted Garden, the idea is to give you the tools you need to make the ornaments on your own in time for the holiday.
Tea will also be served at the event. The $18 cost includes supplies. For more information, contact Hardison at (630) 762-3893 or at (630) 661-7207.
On another note, if you haven't been to the Hideaway Cafe, I highly recommend it, especially for the chicken BLT wraps, minus the lettuce.
Protecting your pet: The National Animal Welfare Society will offer free pet micro-chipping at Anderson Animal Shelter from noon to 8 p.m. Friday
This is by appointment only and you'll need to reserve your place by Thursday. Call NAWS at (219) 972-1120.
Here's what happens when you microchip your pet. Workers insert the chip, about the size of a rice grain, under the loose skin found on the back of the animal's neck.
The chip possesses a unique number that offers a permanent and secure form of identification, as opposed to tags that can fall off.
The chip registers your pet in a national database. A scanner at your local animal shelter, vet clinic or animal control facility can decode the chip and reunite you with your pet.
Anderson Animal Shelter is in South Elgin at 1000 S. LaFox St. And though the service is free, donations are requested so that NAWS can keep offering this type of service elsewhere.
• Lenore Adkins covers South Elgin, Elgin neighborhoods, Pingree Grove and Central Unit School District 301. To reach her, call (847) 608œ2725 or send and e-mail to ladkins@dailyherald.com