Enjoy organ recital every Thursday during Lent

From the very moment when she was 6 and sat down for the first time at her aunt's piano, Phyllis Connelly has been in love with music. She reminisced that as a youngster she would get up every morning between 5 and 6 a.m. so that she could practice for an hour and a half before going to school. Happily she had very understanding parents.

All of her life it has been her joy to share music with others. She has played the organ and piano for churches throughout the area. Back in 1994, she conceived the idea of an organ concert series that would be performed at various local churches throughout the Lenten Season. This is the 15th year for the series, which has grown to attendance last year by over 1,500 people. The concerts begin at 12:10 p.m. and last 35 minutes to fit within a lunch hour and are held each Thursday with one additional program on Ash Wednesday.

The programs are no longer limited to just the Dundee area as the first program this Wednesday, Feb. 25 will be held at the First Presbyterian Church at 240 Standish St. in Elgin. Connelly will be the guest organist and Pamela Burkhardt will play the piano. On Thursday, Feb. 26, Michael Surratt will be the organist at the First Congregational Church, 900 S. Eighth St. in West Dundee. On March 5, the concert series moves to First Congregational Church, 11628 Main St., with Vernon Studt at the organ. Future locations will be listed in my next column.

Connelly admits that though this has been a lot of work (she currently has six stacks of music on her dining room table) the reward has been great. "It's been a wonderful experience for the community, particularly in difficult times, to be able to visit different churches and hear the unique sounds of each instrument as it is played in its own sanctuary with its own acoustics."

All of the concerts are followed by a time of fellowship and an opportunity to meet the musicians. Admission is free; donations are accepted to help defray the costs. For information, call (847) 515-8743 or e-mail silvrshu35@comcast.com.

Candidate forums: Tuesday is the consolidated primary for township offices so don't forget to vote. The lines should be a lot shorter than they were for the presidential. People in Sleepy Hollow should check the new voter registration cards that were sent out by the county clerk as some polling places have changed.

The next election will be the consolidated election on April 7. This is for village offices, school boards and township boards. As early voting begins on March 19, the Carpentersville-Dundee Area League of Women Voters has scheduled multiple candidate forums for the first week in March. This is a major project as so many communities are involved.

Voter chairwoman Theresa Peterson says, "We were delighted by the turnout for our last forum held last month at the Dundee Township Library. It was our most successful one ever and shows that voters are taking a bigger responsibility in learning more about the people they choose to elect. We will be having a candidate forum for every community where there is a contested election."

The first forum for the Carpentersville village board and president will be held Monday, March 2 in the Carpentersville Village Hall board room, 1200 L.W. Besinger Drive. On Tuesday, March 3, candidates for East Dundee village board and president will present their views at the East Dundee Village Hall, 120 Barrington Ave. On Wednesday, March 4, West Dundee candidates will appear and answer questions at the West Dundee Village Hall, 102 S. Second St. Candidates for the village of Gilberts positions and also Rutland Township Board will be at the Eagles Club, 325 Raymond St. in Gilberts. All of these forums will begin promptly at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, March 7, the Dundee Township Senior Center, 665 Barrington Ave. in Carpentersville, will host two forums. At 9:30 a.m., candidates for the Dundee Township positions of supervisor, assessor, road commissioner and board as well as those seeking positions on the Dundee Township library board and parks and recreation board will speak. Then at 11 a.m. candidates for the boards of Community Unit District 300 and Elgin Community College District 509 will appear. For details, call (847) 426-0326.