November/December 2019
Community Newsletter
LUNCH WITH SANTASunday, December 8th
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Grandwood Park Park District
Community Center
36630 N. Hutchins Rd., Gurnee
Bring the little ones to enjoy a lunch with Santa! The event will consist of a delicious lunch, mingling with Santa Claus, and telling Santa what you want for Christmas. Parents - bring your cameras to capture the memories!
All ages are welcome.
Preregistration is REQUIRED by Friday, November 29th.
No walk-ins will be accepted.
Residents $11 / Non-residents $13 per person
Min/Max: 25/100
Class ID: 1937.14.01
This program is being held in conjunction with Wildwood Park District. Grandwood Park Park Districts residents pay resident pricing for this program.Register on the Park District website at www.grandwoodpark.net/programs or in person at the Park District office.
Don't Forget - Santa will be riding through the neighborhood before the party. Keep an eye out for him and wave as he goes by!!
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We are pleased to announce that the Grandwood Park Park District has signed up to be a collection location for the 2019 US Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program!New, unwrapped toys may be dropped off Monday – Friday from Noon - 5:00pm at the Community Center located at 36630 N. Hutchins Road. The collection drive box will be available for the month of November. Contact the Park District office at 847.356.0008 to arrange a pick up if you are unable to drop off. Pick up times and dates are limited.
From their website, “The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.” To find out more about Toys for Tots or to make a monetary donation, please visit their website at https://great-lakes-il.toysfortots.org
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Winter Food DriveThe Warren Township Food Pantry is open to residents of Warren Township only which includes the entire Grandwood Park Park District.
While they do receive many basic items from the Northern Illinois Food Bank, they rely on residents and businesses to supplement the needs of their recipients. Always needed items include all types of non-perishable food items, easy meal items such as Hamburger Helper, Chef Boyardee, Beef Stew, boxed skillet dinners, etc. Don’t forget paper products & laundry detergent! A collection box will be available from November 1 – December 15th.
Stop by the Community Center, 36630 N. Hutchins Road, Monday – Friday from
Noon – 5:00pm. Want to help but can’t make it here? Contact the Park District office at 847.356.0008 to arrange a pick up. Pick up times and dates are limited. If you are a Warren Township resident and find yourself in need of this service, please visit http://www.warrentownship.net/services/food-pantry/ for details on how to apply to receive assistance.
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IT'S ELECTION TIME FOR GPCA!GPCA will have 3 positions on the ballet at our November 6th meeting. If you are interested in having a real impact on our neighborhood...this is a great place to start. GPCA is who brings the FUN to Grandwood Park and The Shires. We coordinate Spaghetti Dinner, Fish Fry, Sounds of Summer and Oktoberfest. We also assist the Park District in helping our community.
The 3 positions open for election are:
Vice President
Treasurer
Sargent At Arms The Board meets once a month on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 7pm. The only requirement is to be a resident of Grandwood Park or The Shires. Please feel free to call us at 224-469-9933, email us civicassociation@grandwoodpark.net, or message us on our facebook page.
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REGISTER NOW ... we will accept registrations through the end of the day on Monday, November 4th.
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Little Learners Preschool is in full swing. The students are busy learning letter sounds, recognizing patterns, exploring through science experiments, writing letters and numbers, completing art projects, and much more. The students have done a wonderful job adjusting to the routines of a school day. As the holiday season approaches, we are thankful for each Explorer and Climber in our classes. This month we will be completing STEM projects and cooking activities to go along with our fairy tale, nursery rhyme, and turkey themes. STEM is using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to solve problems in a creative way. We are excited to see how the students use their creativity and problem solving skills with these activities. We want to thank the community for supporting the preschool fundraiser at Oktoberfest. Selling bundt cakes was another success, and we greatly appreciate Nothing Bundt Cakes for their partnership with us again.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO ENROLL YOUR
CHILD IN PRESCHOOLIf you are looking for a preschool, we have openings available in our Monday, Wednesday, Friday class and our Tuesday/Thursday class from 9:00-11:30. Check out the Grandwood Park Park District website for details about our classes and to see our learning in action.
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RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY for the
Grandwood Park Lake DamResidents and public officials gathered at Lake Park on September 20, 2019, as we celebrated the grand reopening of the Grandwood Park Lake Dam with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. While the weather was beautiful for the event, days of rain prior allowed the visitors to see how the newly rehabilitated dam and spillway redesign handled the flood waters. Attendees shared stories of past flood events and learned about all the effort it took to complete the project.
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Two Open Seats on the
Park District Board of Commissioners
The Park District is looking for residents of Grandwood Park Park District, who are interested in volunteering for the position of Commissioner. We currently have two seats to be filled. Commissioners are elected for a four-year term; or appointed to fill a term until the next municipal election. In this case, the seat would be up for election in April 2021, which makes it a 2-year term. Grandwood Park Park District, or GPPD, is a local government body. Commissioners on the GPPD board work together to meet the vision and goals of the park district. As stated on the Grandwood Park website, our goal is: “To meet the needs and expectations of the community regarding the
Grandwood Park Park District, and to provide the best park/community environment possible within our means and abilities.” The board meets once a month on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings are open the public under the Open Meetings Act. Upcoming dates include: September 11th and October 9th. Attendance at these meetings is mandatory for commissioners. We are a small park district, with limited financial means. Budget decisions are generally limited to maintenance of our facilities, support of the Civic Association, and long range or strategic planning. The time commitment is variable, but in general does not exceed 10 hours per month. Most of that time is spent in correspondence and updates with the staff and other commissioners. If you are interested, please contact Leslie Cassidy, the Park District Manager, to learn more, or attend the meeting on November 13th at 6:30 pm to throw your hat into the ring! The meetings are held in the conference room of the Park District Community Center located at 36630 N. Hutchins Rd., Gurnee.
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CHICKEN PAPRIKA1 onion (chopped)
1-2 Tblsp. Crisco shortening
1-2 Tblsp. Paprika (to color)
1 pound chicken (breast or thighs)
½ can tomato paste
2-3 Tblsp. sour cream 1. Brown the onion in the Crisco. (Add a little salt)
2. Add Paprika to color (maybe 1-2 Tblsp. – based on your preference for color)
3. Add seasoned (salt/pepper/garlic) chicken pieces and brown on each side.
4. Add a little water (almost to top of meat) to saute chicken in (about 15 min. till done)
5. When meat is tender/done, add about ½ can tomato paste and a little more water (if needed) to just cover the chicken.
6. Add 2-3 Tblsp. sour cream (to lighten color). Mix well and heat to a boil. Reduce to simmer till ready to eat. Serve over noodles or mashed potatoes or rice. Your choice. submitted by: Cherie Pressley
In a rut with your meal planing? Tired of preparing the same meals over and over? Want some new ideas? We want to help!Do you have a favorite recipe you would like to share? Or, have you found a new, delicious recipe that you would like people to know about? Why not help by sending them in for us to share in our newsletter? Send your recipes to newsletter@grandwoodpark.net. We will put a few (depending on size of recipes) in each newsletter!
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Daylight Savings Time ends .....Set your clocks BACK one hour when you go to bed on Saturday, November 2nd!
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Prost!!! Cheers to everyone that made it out to our annual Oktoberfest. Delicious food, live music, kids games, face painting, scarecrow contest and more were available for all to enjoy! Even though the weather presented a challenge AGAIN this year, kids and adults of all ages had a great time. Repeat after me, "Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi!" The Gano Kitchen over did it once again with their mouthwatering food. All of the traditional Oktoberfest foods were here - brats, burgers, sauerkraut, and pretzels. Back again were the delectable potato pancakes made by the Polish Peddler, our very own Grandwood Park Park District Commissioner,
Cherie Pressley. Thank you to the entire kitchen staff for preparing, cooking, and serving our community! While enjoying the savory food and beverages, Bill's Little Big Band was entertaining the crowd with sounds of a German Oompah band. This 10 piece band had residents dancing right up until the fireworks. This year's fireworks had the crowd screaming with ohhhs and ahhhs. The fountains on the ground added a three dimensional aspect to the show. Spectrum Pyrotechnics had us fooled a few times thinking we were watching the finale....but then the show kept going! Thank you to the Grandwood Park Park District for sponsoring the firework show....it was definitely one everyone will remember! Kids enjoyed playing games and getting their faces painted. Thank you to Erin for donating her time to paint all the little faces! Another big hit this year was the scarecrow contest. Shirley Stautz organized and ran the contest to raise money for the Grandwood Park Civic Association Scholarship Fund. Both kids and adults enjoyed creating their own scarecrows and putting them up for display. This year's winner was Bill and Lola Reil! Little Learner's Preschool had another successful fundraiser by teaming up with Nothin' Bundt Cakes. Thank you to all that supported the Little Learner’s Preschool. The GPCA would like to give a huge shout out to the Lake County Rugby Club. The team was there for us on Friday night helping us set up for the event. Without Rugby, we would have never been able to pull it off. Thank you gentlemen for all your help. To all the other volunteers who braved the cold and rain to make sure we had a successful event, it doesn't seem enough to just say "Thank You!!" We appreciate every minute you were here with us making this another great Oktoberfest!! Also a big thank you to all our sponsors!!
Grandwood Park Park District, ABT, Polish Peddler, Steve Carlson, Mission BBQ, Sombrano Funeral & Cremation, Bittersweet Golf Course, Warren Township Highway Department, 5.11, Groot, Chili's, and Salutos.
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Dates for the 2020 Scrapbook Crops Announced ...You don't HAVE to be a scrapbooker to attend the crops!
We do have other crafters join us as well - anyone is welcome!
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AFFORDABLE ADVERTISINGYou can advertise your business in our newsletter at very affordable prices .... $20 per issue, or 6 issues for $100
(buy 5 - get one free). Contact us: newsletter@grandwoodpark.net or by telephone at (847) 356-0008 for more information.
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