North Aurora middle schooler signs contract with Silverado Records

With the stroke of a pen, Ali Morgan of North Aurora has started her country music career.

The 13-year-old eighth-grader at Jewel Middle School has signed a contract to join the list of country singers on the independent recording label of Silverado Records.

But she's been at this singing and performing gig for some time, hitting the stage at age 7 in the "King and I" at Paramount Theatre in Aurora and working with the Fox Valley Repertory theater.

She's also in Nashville about two months of the year. It's where a lot of this country music stuff takes hold and where she'll be spending more time in the future.

"She asked us to move to Nashville some time ago," Ali's mother Michelle said. "I said don't even talk to us about that until you can take 40 or 50 songs right off the top and just play them. Then we'll talk about Nashville."

Well, those talks are heating up, with Silverado planning to start working with Ali soon on a debut single.

"We would like to move to Nashville, and we are investigating that right now," Michelle said. "My whole family is here, so we will obviously stay connected to Chicagoland, but proximity is a good thing when you are doing country music.

"So, we'll definitely be heading that way at some point."

Because the family is made up of "huge country fans," Ali was exposed to the music at an early age and fell in love with it.

"She started in musical theater and loved performing on stage, but she wasn't really liking the show tunes, and wasn't sure what she wanted to do," Michelle said.

Ultimately, she convinced Michelle and her father Steve that she'd like to start by playing a guitar. "She picked it up, loved it, and never put it down," Michelle said. "She has been writing songs for a long time now, one that I have from when she was 4 years old and it's pretty hysterical."

Ali's first "real" original song was penned at age 11, Michelle said.

For now, Ali, a major Taylor Swift fan, has been pursuing her dream in a way that teaches life skills in how to multi-task.

"I've been learning how to manage my time well," Ali said. "My parents have always said school comes first."

As soon as she completes her homework, Ali does her vocal exercises and then plays her guitar.

This is important for a young artist who is becoming a well-known name in local circles.

"Since May of this year, I have performed at more than 30 gigs," she said. Those performances included Elburn Days, The Aurora Kite Festival, First Fridays in Aurora, Rhythm on the Riverfront in North Aurora, and various local restaurants and school events.

"We are so proud of her," Michelle said. "She continues to stay on high honor roll, even with all of the trips to and from Nashville."

As Ali continues to work hard on school and music, the family is simply "thankful with how supportive Silverado Records has been about how important her education is to us," Michelle added.

Nice cleanup:

Thousands of people had a festive time in St. Charles last Saturday night for the annual Electric Christmas Parade, and parade organizers and volunteers came through again with a great event.

As important as the fun times are, it was also impressive to take a walk through town early the next morning and notice the place was spotless. That's right. No coffee cups, bags or other trash left behind, and no lost stocking caps or mittens.

It was an impressive cleanup of an area that about 14 hours earlier had a massive crowd on hand, and a bit of a mess in some places.

Geneva's turn:

So now our holiday attention turns to the next great event - the tree-lighting and Christmas Walk in downtown Geneva on Friday night. For good measure, event planners always toss in the impressive House Walk that takes place Friday and Saturday.

Remember to bring a few extra dollars to cast votes for your favorite tree among those created by charitable organizations on display at the Geneva History Museum.

These events get your holiday spirit at a fever pitch. And, of course, it makes for a significant cleanup chore the next morning.

Now that's decorating:

This is a skill you won't pick up on by watching my wife and me decorate our house for the holidays. We pick a warm day, string some lights in the bushes, put a wreath on the door, stick a spotlight in the ground - and that's pretty much it.

Many others put a lot of time, effort and thought into decking the halls and coming up with some outstanding decorations.

The Batavia Park District says it is time to "channel your inner Clark Griswold" in getting the house ready for the holidays as it sponsors the third annual Holiday House Decorating Contest.

Many homes planning to be in this contest, which will be judged by park staff Dec. 7 for originality, themes and display, are well along in preparations. But families still contemplating prizes from the park district for great holiday decorations have until Dec. 6 to register their house for the $5 fee.

After the park district posts the entries on Facebook on Dec. 8, the voting shifts over to the people for one week to determine the People's Choice award.

Nominate that citizen:

Hey, Batavians, don't forget to nominate a person from your town whom you feel is worthy of the Citizen of the Year honor.

The Batavia Chamber of Commerce is taking nominee names until Dec. 5. All you have to do is write a letter of recommendation about your nominee and get it to over to the chamber office. Call (630) 879-7134 for more information.

Who won the award for 2015, you might ask? That would be Joanne Spitz, an extraordinary volunteer, who also recently garnered the Barth Award from TriCity Family Services.

At the Shuffle:

I'm already limbering up for Saturday morning's Snowflake Shuffle at Mill Creek in Geneva. But not so much so that I would even begin to think I would actually run in the event. I'll be one of the walkers, thank you very much.

dheun@sbcglobal.net