Earth angels clean up Algonquin ponds, wetlands

Do you remember what you did for Earth Day on April 19?

Algonquin resident Mary Miller and 25 others from the Willoughby South Townes Homeowners Association spent part of the day cleaning up three nearby ponds and a pair of wetlands at the corner of Broadsmore Drive and Stonegate Road.

Using waterproof boots, gloves and long hooks, the residents' efforts resulted in more than 40 bags of trash, which nearby Ashley Furniture graciously took care of, Miller said.

Among the items were aluminum cans, glass bottles and large pieces of polystyrene, said Miller, a board member of the homeowners association.

Miller told me a family of whooping cranes used to frequent the ponds and wetlands before pollution there became an issue.

That was all the encouragement everyone needed to get the job done, she said -- this marked the first Earth Day activity they'd done as a group.

"We especially wanted to keep it clean to encourage them to come back," she said.

Results galore: The results are in for three Algonquin kids who recently competed in the United States of America Snowboard Association national competition, held earlier this month in Copper Mountain, Colo.

First, we'll start with the Stein brothers.

Joe Stein, 17, placed 33rd out of 68 kids in his age group for the halfpipe competition, according to the USASA's Web site.

He also was 55th out of 81 kids in his age group for the slopestyle event.

As a reminder, slopestyle involves doing multiple tricks, like back flips and spins, while riding a board down the slope.

Halfpipe is best described as a skateboard ramp covered in snow that the snowboarder does tricks on.

Joe's kid brother Matt, 15, placed 40th out of 80 kids in halfpipe for his age group.

That was the only event he competed in, this time around.

Their father, Jim Stein, says he's one proud papa, despite some initial setbacks on the slopes.

"They both fell on their first runs and had to be conservative on their final attempts in order to try and place," he said via e-mail.

"They still were ahead of many very good kids, though -- Illinois was the flattest state of all represented, so they did very well by beating out all those other mountainous-state kids."

Still, the experience they received at this tournament prepares them for many more to come, Jim Stein said.

"Next year should be even better," he said.

As for 12-year-old Kirby Kelly, she placed fifth out of 25 girls in her age group for the halfpipe.

In slopestyle, she was 11th out of 61 other girls in her division.

What's more, her entire team from Raging Buffalo snowboarding park in Algonquin, walked away with 10 medals, "which is awesome!" she said.

"I'm really happy with that; the competition was incredible," Kirby said via e-mail.

Congratulations, guys, way to prove yourselves to those mountain kids!

• Lenore Adkins covers Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, McHenry County College and weekend events in the area. You can reach her at (847) 608œ2725 or by sending an e-mail to ladkins@dailyherald.com