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Get Your Summer On winners celebrate with parties

Rene and Brad Schneider of Rolling Meadows, winners of the Daily Herald's "Get Your Summer On" contest, celebrated their good fortune with family and friends on Saturday, Sept. 26, in their recently "spiffed up" backyard. Their grand prize package was valued at $9,950.

Weber on Wheels, the catering service of the Weber Restaurant where meals are cooked over huge Weber charcoal grills, catered a party of Angus burgers, turkey burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, honey Dijon chicken skewers and hickory baby back ribs with all the side dishes and fixin's, cooking on-site over three 36-inch kettle grills.

The catering included setup and cleanup, much to the delight of the Schneiders.

"It was very nice to not have to do anything! They even had people there cleaning up. I hardly knew what to do," Rene admitted. "And we all loved the food. Brad and I had never eaten at the Weber Restaurant before, but now we plan to go, and so do our guests."

Binny's Beverage Depot provided $100 worth of liquid refreshments for the party, too.

Her other prizes included four high-end patio chairs from Viking Patio in Barrington, a fire table from Northwest Metalcraft in Arlington Heights, a $2,000 lighting package from Littman Bros. Lighting in Schaumburg, a $100 gift certificate from Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue in Elk Grove Village and $250 in perennials and rose bushes from The Flower Wagon Garden Center in South Elgin.

"I have never had patio furniture from a high-end store like Viking Patio. We have always bought ours from a big box store. So, we were surprised by how much it cost. But the chairs are extremely comfortable, the frames have a lifetime warranty and the fabric can be replaced if it tears at some time in the future. They are very nice," Schneider said.

As for the firepit table from Northwest Metalcraft, the Schneiders are happy with it and the customer service they received from the store.

The gift certificate from The Flower Garden came in handy in the Schneiders' front yard where they lost a big evergreen tree this year. Rene, an avid gardener, did some rearranging and replaced the tree and the shade-loving plants that had been under it with perennial grasses and roses that she purchased with her Flower Garden gift certificate. In fact, she has since returned to the store and purchased mums and has referred family and friends to The Flower Garden, as well.

The Schneiders were particularly thrilled with the $2,000 lighting package they won from Littman Bros. Lighting. "We went in with a layout of our patio and a woman there helped us so much. I could spend days in that store!" Rene said.

Since Brad is a contractor, he was able to install the lights, allowing them to buy more with their prize package. The Schneiders purchased little hanging landscape lights that resemble umbrellas, as well as spotlights for their trees and bushes and two sconces for the back wall of their house.

Brad installed the landscape lights in time for the party, but still has the installation of the other lights on his "to do" list.

"I just love the new landscape lighting. It is so subtle and pretty," Rene said.

"This whole experience has been amazing. I still can't believe that we won the contest. I have certainly had a lot more parties than I expected this summer because of winning," she continued.

The preschool teacher and her husband moved into the house 21 years ago and put on a home addition and a paver patio about 12 years ago. That is when they bought their current outdoor furniture from a big box store.

"All of our patio furniture is old and it is falling apart," Rene explained when the prize package was announced. "But we have two kids in college so we can't afford to buy anything new."

Thanks to their prize, the Schneiders' backyard wish list has been greatly diminished.

The second-prize winner was Mandy Hagestedt of Schaumburg. She won a prize package worth $5,450 from Viking Patio, Littman Bros. Lighting, Northwest Metalcraft, The Flower Wagon, Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue and Binny's Beverage Depot.

Two runners-up - Honore Nolting of Palatine and Jill Fritz of Wauconda - won prizes of $250 Flower Wagon Garden Center gift cards, $100 Northwest Metalcraft gift cards and $25 Binny's Beverage Depot gift cards.

The Schneiders purchased landscape lighting with some of their prize money from Littman Bros. Lighting. Photo by Dave Pena of DP Fotography
High-end patio chairs from Viking Patio in Barrington and a fire table from Northwest Metalcraft in Arlington Heights were among the winnings for Brad and Rene Schneider of Rolling Meadows. Photo by Dave Pena of DP Fotography
Brad and Rene Schneider of Rolling Meadows enjoy their new seating and firepit table while visiting with friends at their Weber on Wheels party recently. Photo by Dave Pena of DP Fotography
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