Darn, among the 100 best

So the village of Big Animal Grove is among the 100 best places to live -- And Pioneer sticks it on page 2 at the bottom. The week before a delay in fireworks was the big news. Must have been a slow news date.

The fact the BG cracked the top 100 should not come at any surprise. Despite the warts that may plague some of the entities that make up the village (like a certain school district that does not recognize the First Amendment), the village is fortunate enough to have quality parks, recreation, municipal services -- and several Starbuck's.

The news should be welcomed by area Realtors as it does bode well for the reputation of the village and should make it attractive to perspective home buyers.

I mean, where else you going to look -- Batavia?

The emergence of BAG to hit the top 100 is no fluke. The village, even with some bumps and bruises along the way, is well zoned, well maintained and well groomed.

It is served by two (yes,two) library districts that provide quality collections and services.

Educationally, all districts are quality districts and continually rank high in regional, state and national rankings. This goes for schools on both sides of Lake Cook Road. BGHS to the south and ASHS to north offer an array of course offerings for their students. The BG Administration seems more student friendly as of late and appears to be void of any outside influences, unlike the Mecca on 22. The bottom line, however, is student performance, and both are stellar.

The BG Park district provides a dearth of offerings and may even expand its highly popular casino night to include OTB. Well, maybe not, but there's money in those hills.

The village has been fortunate to have quality municipal services that include but not limited to -- police, fire, public work, and the village hall. I can't help but wonder with OTB and video poker, if there will be Village Position of Pit Boss.

Speaking of village poker, I see where Ms. Quixote is gearing up for a battle. While I think there are bigger fish to fry, the concern I have with video poker is breeds compulsiveness among users to keep popping more and more money into it. A friend who spends more time researching and regurgitating facts than I care to has told me that video poker is the biggest money maker among video gambling because of the many different ways it encourages users to raise their bets -- which, of course, entails more money.

The bottom line is that it ends up being a case of buyer (or user) beware.

Village Pit Boss -- I like that. Wonder what the odds are of me getting the job?

General notes and other great thoughts...

Red Light Cameras -- Ah, Big Brother is a step closer. I wonder if the village will get a return on its investment? That's a lot or red light runners. Odds are (and this is not OTB) most of the folks who run red lights are yapping on the cell phones making pedicure appointments.

Countryside Comments -- Could you please make it look like a newspaper?? To paraphrase "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" it looks like white bread....the Lake County Fair opens July 28. I wonder how many BG Village Board members will attend and be directed to the swine exhibit..."Gabbin in the Grove" -- just two words: who cares???

Next Board Meeting: Monday, Aug. 3.

Congratulations to: Stevenson High School teacher Barb Thill who will receive a First Amendment Award on July 25. Thill came under fire because The Statesman, the outstanding school paper at the Mecca on 22, practiced outstanding journalism. Unfortunately, there are some folks in the community who think school newspapers are only for good news -- stories about Muffy and Chip who are homecoming queen. Issues like "hooking up" and the Gay Straight Alliance aren't for high school students because that does not happen at Stevenson. Yeah, right. Wanna bet most of the people opposed to it were doing the same stuff when they were younger?

And finally: Had the opportunity to hear Merle Dieleman, a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Teacher of the Year and expert on the First Amendment speak. Think about this -- he finds irony that the U.S. has spent billions of dollars and thousands of lives of have been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan so they can have the same freedoms we do here -- but wait, our students can't practice the First Amendment. Guess the folks at Stevenson don't support one of the two.