I hope everyone is doing well. If you need help with food, utilities, rent, unemployment, business assistance or other vital issues, McHenry County has a
resource page
to get everyone affected by the pandemic access to the help they need.
As of yesterday, McHenry Count
y
has 255 cases of COVID-19 and eight confirmed deaths. View more
stats on McHenry County cases and cases by zip code
.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recently announced a new text message program, allowing people to text “COVID” to 312-500-3836 to register to receive current information and updates about COVID-19. If you have health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 800-889-3931 or email
questions here
.
Businesses and individuals can also make donations of personal protective equipment (PPE). If you are able to make PPE donations, please contact IDPH by email at:
PPE.donations@illinois.gov
. The State of Illinois’ central website for COVID-19 is available at
coronavirus.illinois.gov
.
Here is the most recent edition of the state's daily
COVID-19 FAQs
.
Stay healthy,
Mark Eisenberg
Spring Grove Village President
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Emissions Testing Temporarily Closed
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Vehicle emissions testing stations are temporarily closed until April 30, 2020, but the date may be extended. Drivers Services facilities are also closed through April 30. Vehicle registration expiration dates are extended to 30 days after the facilities reopen, allowing motorists to wait to have their vehicles tested and renew vehicle registrations. Quality Tire at
2420 Hiller Ridge Road
is the closest testing site.
View more information
.
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If you have developed any of these symptoms consistent with COVID-19, consult your clinician, who will determine whether a test is necessary.
·
Loss or decrease in the sense of smell and taste
·
Fever – temperature of 100 or higher
·
Cough, Congestion or runny nose
·
Sore throat, Shortness of breath or Flu-like body aches
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Thanks to everyone who responded to the on-line 2020 Census. Our response rate of 73.6% is higher than the state average and other local towns! If you haven't done so already, p
lease participate at
my2020census.gov
or by calling (844) 330-2020. Paper questionnaires will be sent to those who haven't responded. Illinois could lose approximately $2,000 per person per year, for each person that goes uncounted, affecting funding for police and fire protection, healthcare, school programs, roads and other resources. Thanks again!
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Hatchery Park Still Closed
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Hatchery Park is still closed. Updates as to when the park will open will be on our
website
or the
Hatchery Park Facebook page
. Hatchery Park is not an Illinois Spring Trout location. For a list of Spring Trout Locations visit this
site.
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Our Easter Bunny made the
front page article
in the Illinois Hi-Liter newspaper. Thanks to our Rec Director, Janice Bannon, for bringing some fun and happiness to our children at Easter!
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Photo of the Week
Emily White sent a photo of her spring crocuses. In the language of flowers, crocus means cheerfulness.
If you have a photo of Spring Grove you would like to share, email it
here
.
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Besides our local restaurants, some other
essential businesses
other than grocery and drug stores, are Nature's Feed (pet supplies), doctor's offices, the car wash and auto repair, gas station, funeral home, banks and professional services. Thank you for the support you are giving our local restaurants. It is a tough time for our businesses, but with all our help we hope they can make it through. View our restaurant
websites and phone numbers
.
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The Small Business Owner's Guide to the CARES Act
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The programs and initiatives in the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
that was passed by Congress are intended to assist small business owners with needs they have right now.
The Treasury Department guidance urges businesses to apply as soon as possible, due to a funding cap in place on this program.
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Emergency Child Care Center
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Launch Enrichment is open from 7:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. as an emergency child care center for children of essential workers. If you or someone you know is an
essential worker
, as outlined in the
COVID-19 Executive Order No. 8
, and is in need of child care, please contact Shawn at 815-581-3291, via
Facebook
, or email him
here
.
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The Village is seeking interested applicants for two part-time seasonal positions in the Public Works Department. Main responsibilities include lawn mowing, weed-whacking, trash pick-up and general landscaping for all village-owned properties.
Download an application.
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Jonathan Imeson was 25 years old when he left England and became the first to stake a claim on the prairies of Spring Grove in 1835. He built a sod shanty, then a log cabin, in the area of
2117 English Prairie Road
. Soon more English came and settled nearby, naming their new home English Prairie.
One of them, Thomas Wray, had a daughter named Mary, and she and Jonathan soon fell in love and ran away to elope. (She had to hide in Jonathan's wagon among a load of potatoes under a tarp to sneak away as her father didn't approve.) Theirs was the first white marriage in McHenry County and their son, Robert, was the first white child born in the county in 1839. They went on to have 7 other children, but the most famous were the twins Elizabeth & Mary born in 1843 (left and right of the parents).
Famous folk singer-songwriter John Prine, who died last week at age 73 from the coronavirus, wrote a song called
Lake Marie
about the two lakes in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. He tells the story of Lake Mary (not Marie) & Lake Elizabeth being named after the twins. I haven’t been able to verify his version in which an Indian tribe found the twins in the woods and named the lakes after them, but it sounds nice. Even though the Native Americans were retreating from this area after the Blackhawk War of 1832, friendly bands were still “roaming” the area as described by the early settlers.
Jonathan lived until age 97. The year before his death in 1905, the old log cabin was moved to the fairgrounds in Woodstock. Unfortunately, in the 1940s it was dismantled and sold as firewood. As for Elizabeth & Mary, they both married and moved to Newton, Missouri in the 1870s, but their names live on forever in the twin lakes.
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