Small turnout -- but a big success

It may not have a had the “luster” of previous relays at either Stevenson or Buffalo Grove High Schools, but in the end, it was proof that sometimes good things come in small packages.

                The 2018 Buffalo Grove / Lincolnshire Relay for life held Saturday was the second at Twin Groves Middle School. And while attendance appeared slim in the early going, in the end the Relay raised (as of Tuesday) $70,331.25 which is not only $16,000 more than last year but exceeded the Relay committee's goal of $60,000.

                “It was a huge growth year and the new teams were excited to be there and are already talking about coming back next year,” said Deputy Village Manager Jennifer Maltas by e mail. She coordinates the Buffalo Grove team. Maltas added that Walgreens is currently asking people to donate to the ACS this month and the money donated will go to the local Relay.

            To no surprise, Maltas says Relay coordinators hope to capture some of the excitement from this year’s success by at a follow-up event “to get feedback from all of our teams and we will be looking for volunteers to help plan the event next year.”

            Capturing the momentum isn’t a bad idea. Hopefully other people will capture it.

Buffalo Grove Village Board President Beverly Sussman

and husband, Marty, man the Village team's tent.

Trustee Jeff Berman, whose mother died from

cancer, participated in this year's Relay

Village Trustee Joanne Johnson (left).

Village Clerk Jan Sirabian

Trustee Jeff Berman does a lap.

Relay for Life tops events schedule

Notes from the fine folks at Village Hall….

Relay for Life This Saturday

This year's Relay for Life event is from 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday, at Twin Groves Middle School, 2600 N. Buffalo Grove Road.  Area residents are invited to stop by, start a team with family and friends, or consider making a donation. Cancer survivors are invited to come out at 3:00 p.m. for the opening ceremonies to help kick off the first lap. The Village of Buffalo Grove has participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life for more than 15 years. The American Cancer Society is the largest fundraiser of cancer research outside of the federal government, and is currently investing over $400 million in research impacting 25 different cancers.   A reception for survivors begins at 3.30 p.m. More information can be found here.

Arts and Crafts Vendors Sought for BG Days

Are you a crafter, artist or direct sales person interested in being part of Buffalo Grove Days? The Arts and Crafts Fair held during Buffalo Grove Days on Aug. 29-Sept. 3 has vendor openings.  Interested vendors should email crafts.bgdays@vbg.org.

Fire Department offers outdoor grill safety tips

The Buffalo Grove Fire Department has tips for grill safety. A grill placed too close to anything that can burn is a fire hazard; follow these tips for grilling outdoors: Never leave your grill unattended. Grills should be placed well away from homes, deck railings and out from under eaves and overhanging branches. Remove grease or fat buildup from the grills and in the trays below the grill. Always make sure your gas grill lid is open before lighting it. For more grilling safety tips, click here.

Not a village event, but of note... The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) is hosting a Household Chemical Waste (HCW) collection event from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16. at Wauconda High School, 555 N. Main Street in Wauconda.  For a list of acceptable and unacceptable items, please visit swalco.org. SWALCO offers year-round HCW public drop-off events at their Gurnee facility by appointment only, on the second Saturday, and the fourth Monday of the month. For questions and to make an appointment, call 847-336-9340.

Buffalo Grove cops may strike in an effort to stay out of the gutter

Here’s your chance to help keep a BG cop out of the gutter.

The Buffalo Grove Police Department is hosting its second annual 'Bowl with a Cop' event starting at noon on Wednesday, at Bowlero, 350 N McHenry Road in Buffalo Grove. Area children are invited to enjoy two hours of free bowling with Buffalo Grove police officers.

Police officers across the country have taken
time out to bowl with kids. This is from a
Bowl With a Cop event in Hood River, Oregon

Jay Gordon, manager of the Buffalo Grove Bowlero, will provide as many lanes and shoe rentals as needed to ensure the event's success. Bowlero will also be offering hot dogs and fountain drinks at a discounted rate of $1 each.

            If you are interested, pre-registration is encouraged. To do so, contact Community Relations Officer Matthew Mills at 847-459-2560 or by e-mail at mmills@vbg.org.

Relay for Life

            The annual Buffalo Grove / Lincolnshire Relay for Life is for Saturday, June 9 starting at 3 p.m. at Twin Groves Middle School. As noted in the Relay’s Facebook page, “…Bring some canned goods with you and drop them off at registration. Not only will they help hold down our luminaria bags, but they will be donated after the event to the Vernon Township's Food Pantry! Take a moment to go on your fundraising page and dedicate a luminaria in honor of a loved one who has fought cancer.

            There are many fundraising teams participating, including the village’s team coordinated by Deputy Village Manager Jennifer Maltas.

            For Maltas, coordinating the village team is not a “work thing.”  Her mom died of breast cancer, so for Jennifer it’s a way to not only remember her mom, but a way to help in the fight against Breast Cancer.

            For information about the Relay, go to BG Relay for Life

Farmers’ Market opens 2018 season June 17

            It’s back.

            The Buffalo Grove Farmers’ Market kicks off the 2018 season on Sunday, June 17. As always, the Market will be at Mike Rylko Park and is open from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

            The season runs into October and is open every Sunday, except the Sunday during Buffalo Grove Days, which is Sept. 2.

Green Days set

            The 7th annual Buffalo Grove Green Fair, hosted by the Buffalo Grove Park District's Environmental Action Team, is from 8:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m Sunday, June 24 from. at Mike Rylko Community Park, located at 951 McHenry Road in Buffalo Grove (next to the Farmers’ Market).

            This event is free, and families are welcome. Information will be provided about activities to help residents learn about the steps they can take at home, work, and in the community, to improve the environment and make Buffalo Grove a greener and healthier place to live.  Also, the first 100 visitors to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation booth will receive an 18-inch potted oak tree sapling to take home.

            Visit bgeat.org for a complete list of exhibits and activities at the Green Fair. For more information, call Buffalo Grove Park District Marketing Manager Mike Terson at 847-850-2116 or email mike@bgparks.org

And if you must know…

The Buffalo Grove Police Department successfully brought awareness to area residents during its annual Click It or Ticket high-visibility seat belt enforcement campaign, held May 18 through May 29, by writing a total of 47 citations for seat belt violations in the process.

Officers also made two DUI arrests and arrested one motorist for driving while on a suspended license. The campaign, which coincided with one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year, was twofold: combine increased enforcement, and a zero- tolerance policy with effective communications to road users on the importance of using seat belts.

“This year’s Click It or Ticket campaign was a real success,” Sergeant Michelle Kondrat said. “Through our enforcement efforts, we believe we helped keep community members safe and reminded drivers of the importance of buckling up. Issuing tickets was not our goal; it was a way to remind people of the importance of such a simple action.”

Never too soon to start thinking about the Relay

Relay for Life organizers at Culver's

After a gloomy, wet and cold February, summer may seem like light years away. So when someone hears about a promotion for an event June 9, there’s a chance it would be met with a roll of the eyes, a sigh and a comment like “geez, it’s only February.”

                Summer plans can wait. Cancer can't.

That’s why the organizers of Buffalo Grove’s Relay for Life were busy informing information Wednesday night at Culver’s, 3450 McHenry Road, to drum up interest and, more importantly, support the for 2018 Relay for Life. 

                This year’s even is from 3 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 9 and, for the second year in a row, will be at Twin Groves Middle School, 2600 N. Buffalo Grove Road.

                The informational gathering was a win-win situation for local coordinators. Not only did they have a chance to meet and greet Culver’s customers, but 20 percent of each sale was earmarked to support the Relay for Life.

                This year’s Relay will be a single-day event that will give organizers a chance to set up in the morning and begin the relay so it easily goes after sunset so the luminary walk can be held, which gives participants a chance to light a luminary to remember someone who died from cancer or someone who is a cancer survivor.

                The change in schedule eliminates the overnight camping for the event, which should make it more convenient for greater numbers of people to participate.

                Information is available by emailing Karina Ogawa at Karina.Ogawa@cancer.org

                It’s not too early to mark it on your calendar and to join, start or support a fund-raising team.

Notes from the village

                Residential Waste Collection Event

                The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) will hold a household chemical waste collection event on Monday, February 26, 2018, at its facility, 1311 N. Estes Street in Gurnee.

                Collections are for residential waste only. No business waste will be accepted. Accepted items include CFL bulbs, unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medicines and supplements, household cleaners and chemicals, gasoline, garden chemicals, pesticides, oil-based paints and varnishes. This event is free and appointments are required. Click  here for a detailed list of acceptable items, or to make an appointment.

It’s all in vein

                The Buffalo Grove Blood Commission's community blood drive is from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018, at the Buffalo Grove Park District Alcott Center, 530 Bernard Drive. With the high incident of the flu this year, along with the cold and snowy weather, blood supplies are critically low, so donating, say Lifesource officials, is more important than ever.

                All donors 18 years of age and older will be eligible to enter a random drawing to win one of the following wellness certificates:

·         60-minute massage from Palm Leaf Massage

·         One month membership at the Buffalo Grove Fitness Club

·         One-hour acupuncture session from Choe Chiropractic Clinic

Palm Leaf Massage will also be there to thank donors with a 10-minute complimentary chair massage. Visit lifesource.org, or call 877-543-3768 to schedule your appointment. Walk-ins are welcome.

The world according to AARP?

Vendor opportunities are still available for the Buffalo Grove Park District's 2018 Senior Expo Extravaganza on 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m Tuesday, April 10, 2018, from. at The Arboretum Club, 401 Half Day Road, Buffalo Grove.

The Expo is hosted by the Friends of the Parks Foundation and coordinated by the Buffalo Grove Park District and the Village of Buffalo Grove. This unique event provides a dynamic, one-stop shop for seniors to interact with vendors and service providers, enabling them to become familiar with the wide range of services available to them. If you are interested in marketing your business to senior citizens, contact Terri Ebner at 847-850-2117.

More than $45,000 raised in Relay for Life

The Relay for Life was scheduled to wrap up earlier today at Stevenson High School.  The annual event, coordinated by students from Stevenson and Buffalo Grove high schools, raises money for the fight against  Cancer.   Twenty-two teams, including one from the Village of Buffalo Grove, participated. As of 9 a.m. today, more than $45,000 had been raised.

Additional information can be found at BG-Lincolnshire Relay for Life.

Village Board President Beverly Sussman, Board Member Jeff Berman and Bruce Kahn

Beverly Sussman and Village Board Member Lester Ottenheimer III

A team prepares for the start of the Relay

Stevenson High School volunteers

Stevenson High School volunteers staff the registration area.

Team Chemosaurus Rex

Team Purplepower Jam.

It's more than a Relay -- it's a marathon

For the most part, it’s a blip on the calendar.

                The annual Relay for Life.  The annual fund raiser for the American Cancer Society brings together students from Buffalo Grove and Stevenson High Schools in a civic activity – to raise money for the fight against cancer.

                This year’s event starts tonight and so far there are 22 teams with 117 participants that have raised just over $36,000 for cancer research.

                Not bad.  Many communities embrace the Relay for Life and turn out in force.  In the past, for example, the city of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, a community of around 12,000 has raised in excess of $300,000 during its Relay.  It’s a community event up there on the banks of the Rock River that gets the Relay going.

                The Buffalo Grove Relay for Life, which starts at 7 p.m., alternates between Buffalo Grove and Stevenson High School’s.  This year it will be at Stevenson.

                If you have never attended a Relay you’re missing not just an event, but a wake-up call as to the breadth of impact cancer has on people.  Yes, we have all heard to the stories and may even have had a family member impacted by cancer.

                Memories are shared and when a direct mail solicitation arrives in the mail, we drop a check in and fire it back.

                However, for some people, the fight against cancer and raising money for cancer research takes more than that.
                 As noted, there will be 22 teams raising money at this year’s Relay for Life.  One is from the village. The team consists of various village officials and staff who donate and participate in the event.

                It’s the team captains that captivate me.  A village employee and a trustee.

                Jennifer Maltas is Deputy Village Manager and Jeff Berman is a Village Board Member.  Working on the Relay is not part of their village job or role on the Board.  It’s something they feel compelled to do.

                For personal – very personal – reasons.  Why?  Here are their stories.

Jennifer Maltas 

                 I began Relaying with my family in 2004 after my mom’s breast cancer spread to her lungs and liver. She was diagnosed when she was 47, I was 17, and my brothers were 16 and 10.   

Jennifer Maltas

We have been Relaying as a family (dad, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles) ever since and together as a family have raised $215,000 for the American Cancer Society. My mom lost her battle to cancer five years ago, June 5th.  Two of her sisters were also diagnosed with cancer.  My Aunt Claudia is currently battling a very aggressive uterine cancer that will ultimately take her life.  I have lost friends and family to the disease and I will Relay until there is a cure.

                When I was working for the Village of Deerfield I was approached by the American Cancer Society staff to run what was then the Relay For Life of Deerfield/Highland Park.  After that event, I was then asked to join the volunteer leadership team out of the Lincolnshire offices which assists with the 28 Relays on the North Shore, in Lake County, and the Northwest Suburbs.  This includes the Relay For Life of Buffalo Grove/Stevenson.  When I was hired as the Deputy Village Manager in Buffalo Grove, I was so happy to see the amazing involvement of the Buffalo Grove Village Board, specifically Jeff Berman, in supporting the Relay.  Since I was hired I have been working with Jeff to assist with team captain duties. 

Jeff Berman

                This Friday will make my seventeenth consecutive year as Captain (or Co-Captain) of the Village’s team for Relay for Life.

Jeff Berman

 I can only say how much I continue to be impressed and inspired by the dedication of our area’s young people who plan, organize and execute this incredible event, year after year, and to the community members who participate. It is truly remarkable. And make no mistake, what they do makes a real difference.

                Forty-one years ago last month, I lost my mother to cancer, just weeks before my own thirteenth birthday. When she was first diagnosed, in the early 1970’s, the form of cancer that claimed her was a virtual death sentence. But, today, the 5-year survival rate for very same form of cancer is estimated to be between 80% up to near 100%. That marked improvement is credited to progress in diagnosing cancer at earlier stages and to advancements in cancer treatment. It hasn’t happened through chance. It is the result of decades of dedicated efforts by researchers, much of whose work is funded through public generosity and specifically from money raised at events such as our Relay.

                And so, it is my great privilege to participate and support the efforts of our community’s young people who are fighting for those who are battling and have battled cancer. It is an honor to be a part of this effort to make a difference in the lives of survivors and those who love them. Each year, together, we help to give life and a voice to the cure that is on the horizon. And that, in a nutshell, is why I relay.

                If you still need a reason to attend or support the relay – just reread Jennifer’s and Jeff’s stories.

                For more information on the Relay for Life, go to:Buffalo Grove / Lincolnshire Relay for Life