Fire fighters keep the tradition going...

     Traditions, traditions, traditions.

                Tevye aside, we’re loaded with traditions.  And while the sparrows return to Capistrano, the buzzards to Hinckley and Chicago baseball hits the skids, the fire fighters of Buffalo Grove hit the streets.

                However, unlike Chicago’s Major League baseball teams, they’re successful.

                And it’s not a flash in the pan.

                For nearly two decades members of the Buffalo Grove Fire Department have given up their time to raise money for the MDA – the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

                To no surprise, the tradition will continue when fire fighters will flock the Lake Cook / Arlington Heights road intersection on Friday to hold its “Fill the Boot for MDA” campaign.  They’ll be collecting from 7 a.m., to 7 p.m.

Look for Buffalo Grove Fire Fighters on Aug. 22 as they try to
"Fill the Boot" for the MDA

                This year’s effort has a twist as fire fighters will be on the street only one day and only at the one intersection.  Firefighter/paramedic Brian Steen, who is coordinating the effort, said fire fighters opted to concentrate on one intersection this year rather than have thinner numbers at two.  In the past, the event has been two days; one at Lake Cook and Arlington Heights roads, the other at Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads.  Steen said the selected Lake Cook / Arlington Heights because it’s a busier intersection, which hopefully will be a good collection point.

                Last year fire fighters raised nearly $20,000 for MDA even though the cut a second day short because of intense heat.

                Their efforts are not limited to collecting on the road.  Members of the Department will be looking to fil the boot during the concert by Parachute, which starts at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Fire fighters will also collect during the BG Day parade which starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31 (A complete schedule for Buffalo Grove Days can be found at www.bgdays.com.), and throughout BG Days where they’ll be in a tent.  Steen says not only residents have a chance to donate, but also to chat with members of the BG Fire Department.

                The goal?  Steen hopes to once again approach the $20,000 mark which has traditionally been the fruit of their efforts.

                It’s a good tradition to keep going

.

                Besides, it’s a lot more rewarding than watching Chicago baseball.

                

Marshalls' commitment a welcome addition to village's retail community

It’s just one store, but it’s likely a welcome addition to Buffalo Grove’s retail landscape.

A sign announces the pending arrival of Marshalls at Woodland Commons

                Marshalls, a national retailer of, according to its website, “fashionable, brand name family apparel, home fashions and other merchandise,” is planning to open in late Spring or early summer of 2015.

                The 27,100 square foot store, located in Woodland Commons at Buffalo Grove and Half Day roads, is one of the few, if not the only national retailer in the village.  The occupancy was confirmed by the Inland Real Estate Corporation, which manages Woodland Commons.  Calls to Marshalls were not returned.

                The commitment by Marshalls to move to Buffalo Grove is an indication that there is an interest by major retailers in the village.  It does not, however, mean that a major development will be an overwhelming success. 

                Barring any changes in the coming year, Woodland Commons will have a 100 percent occupancy rate, a rarity in large suburban strip centers. Woodland Commons has more than 170,000 square feet of retail space.  Whatever Inland’s strategies are, they seem to be working.  The company manages a number of nearby strip centers including Rivertree Court and Hawthorn Village Commons, both in Vernon Hills and the Red Top Plaza in Libertyville.

                If the arrival Marshalls is an indication of a turn in the retail economy, the village could see some of the vacancies in strip centers, especially those along Dundee Road, become occupancies.

                But don’t, however, sit back and say “it’s about time the village did something” because the village is not a rental agent, nor does it develop business plans for businesses.  The village has offered incentives to developers, as it did to the interested developers of Cambridge Commons at Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads, only to find that 14 Dundee Road LLC had more excuses than actions for making the eyesore a viable retail center.  You’d think incentives totaling $1.1 million would be a kick in the butt for the developer to get things going. There's only so much the village can do.

                The challenge for the village is to find ways, besides offering financial incentives, to attract retailers.

                Again, that’s a challenge.  The village is not a shopping destination and establishing it as one will not happen overnight or by building a new downtown.

                This isn’t Dyersville, Iowa.  It’s going to take more than building it to make them come.

                That’s why the discussion of an Economic Development Commission at the July 28 Committee of the Whole meeting (OK, it’s a workshop meeting) was an encouraging sign.

                In the meantime, Marshalls is a welcome addition.

                But it’s just one store.

This is the first of a series examining economic development in Buffalo Grove.

2, 4, 6, 8 -- politicians find it's time to communicate

It’s August, right?

Finally.

Recently people have asked me if I was still blogging about things in Big Animal Grove.

But of course.

Sometimes, however, things get chaotic and not everything gets done.  Like a blog.

For the past six weeks I have been traveling around the country for either vacation or journalism workshops (mostly the latter) and since July 7 I have been in the town of the Bison for maybe seven days.  It has been a busy time.

So it was a welcome relief when I had a chance to start getting some personal stuff done, like doctor’s appointments.  But I’m not going to take up time about inane personal stuff; I’ll leave that for soccer mommies who like to take up time and space writing about that.

I had the opportunity for some badly needed R & R, which was, unfortunately interrupted by Cong. Brad Schneider (D-10) – not once, not twice, but three times in the course of 24 hours; twice by robo calls and once by an seemingly ill-trained volunteer equipped with a bad cell connection asking me if I was going to support him.

No.  I’m not.  Not yet anyway.  It’s three months to the election and I prefer to weigh my decision on how well our lawmakers (why do I cringe when I write that) handle key issues.  In the month I have been on the road (with apologies to Charles Kuralt) a passenger jet has been shot down, the immigration of children from central America has escalated and the mid East has become a hotbed of conflict.  Again.  So it seems likely that unless the world does a group hug in the next 90 days, there will be lots of opportunities for politicos to show us what they’re made of.

How exciting.

It appears that Schneider is going through a phase of low esteem because at some point this summer I was approached by another volunteer asking me if I was going to support Schneider.  I haven’t thought about it now and I certainly had not thought about it then.

But I decided to play along.  “He’s running against (Robert) Dold, right?” I asked.  His answer?

“Yeah, his family owns a bug company.”  Really?  They’re refugees from the Nixon administration? (In actuality his family owns Northfield-based Rose Exterminators.)

But he’s not alone. It’s that time when lawmakers, many whom resemble the White Sox bullpen – they exist but are in effective -- begin waging campaigns in which the vow to change the world. 

It’s likely that this campaign will bring out the worse of both parties.  Schneider’s gang of henchmen have done little to address issues and even less to boost our image around the world, while the party that Dold hangs his hat on is more interested in suing or impeaching President Obama.  Really?  That’s good use of our tax dollars?

This summer version of hi-how-are-you-will-you-vote-for-me has spilled over to state races as well.  I’m waiting for a news story that Bruce Rauner was hospitalized after he cut himself shaving and bled green while Gov. Quinn will make news when he announces he’s undergoing a personality transplant.  Yawn.

State Rep. Carol Sente has jumped on the bandwagon as well.  In addition to an assortment of leaves, weeds and other growth in my yard, I found a soggy Sente flyer, which goes along with the ones I’ve gotten in the mail.  But at least she’s communicating.  Her opponent, Leslie Munger, according to her web site, will be attending a series of barbecues and meet-and-greets at Metra station.  How nice. Issues please?

But now it’s the dawn of the campaign season – robo calls, grip and grin flyers, etc.

How about addressing issues – something that would be a novel idea to be sure.

As time going on, however, candidates will push the panic button and let you think the sky is falling.

Wait…sky falling?

There is one candidate who may be able to help.

And with medical marijuana looming, he’ll give new meaning to the term potted chicken.

In the meantime, brace yourself for an onslaught of robo calls, flyers and social media messages from folks who otherwise have had limited communication with their constituencies.

Stay tuned; the excitement continues to build.