Thinking of Yesterday
It has been some time since we have been able to enjoy some Village-sponsored events. I know we have many new faces in the Village and because of COVID-19 many may not know about all the programs and activities we offer. As soon as it is safe to open up our region to large gatherings, we will be having a lot of fun events for our children and families to enjoy.
Before the pandemic, we would have just finished up with the Christmas Tree Lighting Festival last month and begun planning for the Easter Egg Hunt, usually held in March or April. In May, the Memorial Day Ceremony is a special event held at Horse Fair Park with donuts and coffee served afterwards by the Spring Grove Fire District. In June we sponsor the Fish Boil Fundraiser for Hatchery Park which is held at Horse Fair Park. We always have a large attendance for a delicious meal of boiled cod, BBQ chicken & ribs, apple pie squares and live entertainment, refreshments, and wonderful auction items donated by many in our community.
Our largest event of the year is the 4th of July Celebration, which is organized by the 4th of July Committee, made up of resident volunteers. This day is full of events starting with the parade at noon attended by thousands, with lots of candy and fun themed-entries, which compete for the winning trophy in their category. The day continues with kids' games, live entertainment, and plenty of food vendors. The night ends with a large fireworks display.
In August the Spring Grove Fire Department has its annual Steak Fry. This event is an outdoor event with entertainment and refreshments held at Horse Fair Park. In the fall we have had numerous events at Hatchery Park, including family-fishing day and a wine tasting event.
Once the pandemic is over, our newly formed Special Events Committee will start to plan a few new events that encourage Village spirit and fellowship. This committee will be a fun committee to participate on and a great way to meet some of your fellow Spring Grovers! Let us know if you're interested in volunteering by emailing Trustee Mike Lee here.
This past year has been hard on a lot of us. I know we will all look forward to getting out again and enjoying the company of our neighbors, families, and friends - new and old.
Mark Eisenberg
Village President
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Hatchery Park Wine Tasting |
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Just a reminder that the public meeting for the McHenry County Master Pedestrian Bicycle Trails Plan is tonight at 7pm!
Information can be found here. Or view the Facebook event here
This is our first opportunity to let the committee know how important it is to include Spring Grove on their master plan. It is important to have a good turnout and/or comments to convince them we have recreational, economic, and safety needs.
If you can’t join the Zoom public comment meeting, please fill out the "Stay Informed & Comment" section at the bottom of the McHenry County Connection page in support of Spring Grove or fill out the survey when it is available.
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Huddle Up and Designate a Sober Driver for the Super Bowl |
The Spring Grove Police Department is reminding football fans that designated drivers are the best defense against the dangers of impaired driving. If your Super Bowl plans involve alcohol or cannabis, make the right play and pass your keys to a sober driver. “...driving after even one drink or hit can impair judgment,” said Chief Thomas Sanders. “If you’ll be watching the game away from home this year, we urge you to answer a simple question: ‘Are you drinking or are you driving?’ Never do both.” View more here.
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The Richmond/Spring Grove Area Rotary is hosting their Annual Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the Richmond/Spring Grove Community Food Pantry on Wednesday, February 10, from 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. This year's event will be take-out only. Orders will be picked up drive-thru style at the Richardson Adventure Farm located at 909 English Prairie Road. All dinners are $12 and include spaghetti, salad, bread, and dessert. View more here and pre-order online by February 6 here!
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Kindergarten Registration |
Nippersink School District 2 Kindergarten registration opens on February 1, 2021 for all District 2 children born on or before September 1, 2016.
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Fundraiser for SGE PTO and RBCHS National Honor Society |
Richmond Motor Sales and Service is donating 10% of any bill for service or maintenance in the month of February to the Spring Grove Elementary PTO and the RBCHS National Honor Society. View the flyer here and present it at time of service to give back to your school! Call or text to schedule your appointment today. Walk-ins welcome. Complimentary pick up/drop off service available. Richmond Motor Sales and Service is located at 10400 Main St. in Richmond.
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Photo of the Week
This squirrel is doing special acrobatics in order to get his lunch. Photo submitted by Krista Ruhnke in the Breezy Lawn Subdivision. If you have a photo of Spring Grove you would like to share, email it here.
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Free Webinars Offered to Private Well Owners |
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There are free online webinars where you can learn how your private well system works, how to maintain it, and how to ensure the water is safe. Choose from pre-recorded webinars or register for the upcoming webinar, "Is My Water Safe to Drink?" on Thursday, February 11 at 1 pm. View all webinars and/or register here. Private well owners are responsible for their own water quality, therefore, it is vital to understand how your well systems work.
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January is National Train Your Dog Month |
It's National Train Your Dog Month and Nature's Feed is offering their popular Freedom Harness at 20% off. Owner, Dorothy Vetrovec, personally uses the Freedom Harness on all of her dogs and loves that it helps keep them from pulling as well as taking the pressure off of their necks. Why is that so important? Repeated pressure on the neck has been known to contribute to many health conditions such as pinched nerves, neck problems, excess licking of paws and more. They can help fit your dog into the proper harness, so bring them in! Also offering 20% off select training items during the month of January as well as 25% off select training treats.Located at 2440 Westward Drive.
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McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH) is partnering with Jewel-Osco, which is receiving a limited supply of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for McHenry County, to begin vaccinating Phase 1B residents. This allotment is from the federal supply and is separate from the weekly allotment MCDH receives from the State.
If you are in Phase 1B and Phase 1C, complete the enrollment form and once a clinic becomes available to each group, additional information on how to schedule an appointment will be directly emailed to you.
The Illinois Department of Health has FAQs regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. View information about getting tested here. View more information here.
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COVID-19 Update - We've Advanced to Tier 1! |
McHenry and Lake counties officially advanced to Tier 1 mitigations for COVID-19. Bars and restaurants can now open at 25% capacity or 25 people (whichever is less). Tier 1 also increases capacity of meetings and gatherings to 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity. Restrictions have loosened further on organized sports and recreation, hotels can reopen further, and indoor fitness centers can increase to 50% capacity.
A complete list of Tier 1 mitigations can be found here. Current restrictions on sports, which differ based on the activity, can be found here.
Anyone who develops loss of taste and smell and has a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms might be coming down with COVID-19. That person should be tested as soon as possible and contact health professionals for the next steps.
A map and information of the status of every Illinois county can be found on the IDPH website here. View a map of the United States and other countries to view potential risks associated with traveling. Areas with increased risk of COVID-19 are based on case rates.
If you have health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 800-889-3931 or email questions here.
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Blast from the Past - Fred Hatch |
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Replica of first upright silo in Lyle Thomas Park |
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An engraving on the plaque showing the Hatches storing silage in their upright silo |
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Fred L. Hatch was another grandson of Pioneers Miles Cole and Sally Bixby, and son of Mandana Cole and Lewis Hatch.
Like his brother, Miles, who we learned about last week, Fred was a graduate of University of Illinois at Champaign, but in the second graduating class. In his agriculture studies, Fred became very interested in the study of silage and read everything he could on the subject. The method of storing silage in pits dug outside was used by most American farmers until the late 1800s, and led to considerable spoilage because of the dampness of the ground and made it almost impossible to get the silage out if the ground had frozen.
After graduating in 1873, Hatch came home to the farm and convinced his father that there had to be a better way of storing food for their cows. Fred designed a vertical storage box in the barn. He and Lewis constructed it by digging a pit 8' deep, 10' wide and 16' long and lining it with rocks and mortar. The sides were built 16' above the ground, composed of two thicknesses of flooring with a layer of tar paper sandwiched between them. The silo kept the silage dry and unfrozen and was the first tower silo in America, if not the world!
Fred said, "We filled the silo with good mature [whole] corn [plants] run through a cutter and chopped it into pieces about two inches long. We learned that cows like silage better if it were cut shorter and every since we've cut it fairly fine..." It wasn't long before the Hatch's 75 Shorthorn cows stayed fatter and gave more milk during the long winter months. By 1876, Fred and his father had built three wooden silos, which were used continuously until 1919.
The silo did not take off immediately; the square shape was replaced by the round silo we see today in the 1880s. Many were made of brick. In the 1890s, round wood silos began to appear followed by concrete silos. It wasn't until the early 1900s that silos became common on the landscape. Fifty years after Fred built his first silo there were 455,000 silos in the U.S.
Fred became a local hero and soon started speaking to farm groups throughout the state and traveling the country. He was known as, "an interesting and eloquent speaker...well qualified to speak on the subject matter". In 1918 his portrait was added the the Farmer's Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
The original Hatch silos remained in use for 46 years, but after the sale of the farm in 1919 to Joe Kattner, the barn was taken down, along with the original three silos. In 1981 Nancy Fike and four other members of the McHenry County Historical Society plaqued Fred's contribution as a historical site with plaque number one of the society. All that remained was a stone foundation filled with muck. The Kattners were apprehensive about additional historical markers, so a marker and replica erected by the Society of Agricultural Engineers was later put up two miles west of the farm in Lyle Thomas Memorial Park.
Fred became an honorable member of the Board of Trustees of the U of I an was a Burton Township supervisor for ten years and was married twice. His first wife, died after 20 years of marriage, with no children, and in 1905 he married Ethelyn Baker Foster. They had two children but both died in infancy. Fred opened a bottling plant in 1922 near the farm, which bottled and pasteurized milk. He died in 1929 at the age of 80 and is buried in Cole Cemetery.
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