Letter to the Editor: Firemen’s Group Thanks Supporters for Food, Toy Donations

Saturday’s event at Jewel collected food and toys, raised funds to benefit local organizations.

The Lemont Firemen’s Association would like to extend their gratitude to the Jewel Food Store, Lemont location, and their patrons, for supporting the food and toy drive this past Saturday, Dec.15. Food donations and $405 in cash were delivered to the Bethany Lutheran Church Food Pantry. The toys were given to Earl Anderson (a.k.a. Santa) to be delivered to the local hospital's children’s wards on behalf of the Jeff Anderson Foundation. Sincerely, Mike Kasperski, president Lemont Firemen's Association; Est. 1886

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Hey Mom and Dad: An All-Important Holiday Question

Parents, Patch wants to hear from you on the questions that get families talking.

Welcome to Hey Mom and Dad—a weekly feature in which we ask our Facebook fans to share their views on parenting. Every week, we get the conversation started by taking a look back at a question we asked parents the week before on Patch Facebook pages from around the area. This week's question is a little delicate, but no less important or worthy of discussion. Without going into too much detail for those wandering eyes: Take a look at what people had to say and join the conversation in the comments section. Christiane Broihier: Never. — Oak Park Patch Facebook Sonja Holzman: With my oldest, she began to figure it out so we asked her what SHE thought and she told us that she knew it was us. With my youngest, he figured it out early - I think…

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From Sinking Ship to Santa at the Historical Society

Lemont Area Historical Society invites residents to Titanic exhibit, holiday open house.

Travel back in time and celebrate the holidays at a couple of upcoming events at the Lemont Area Historical Society at 306 Lemont Street. Titanic exhibit, presentation The historical society will unveil its new exhibit on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27. David Bart of the Antique Wireless Association will recount the events of April 14 and 15, 1912 - the dates of the worst disaster in maritime history – the sinking of the “unsinkable” luxury liner, the RMS Titanic. Bart’s presentation will focus on the critical role of radio communication during the event, and acquaint audience members with radio operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, crew members aboard the ill-fated ship, Titanic. Bart will …

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Add the Punchline to Our Lovie Smith and Santa Cartoon

If you've got wit, add your punchline to Patch's weekly comic and win a personalized proof.

Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your southwest suburban neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to Hayley B, who provided the winning punchline to last week's comic: I'm tired of always doing all the work and this guy getting the credit…

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Patch Picks: Merry Kidsmas

Lemont has several events for kids this holiday season to help them celebrate all month long.

Every Thursday, Patch will run a weekly feature called Patch Picks, highlighting editor and reader picks of great local businesses, destinations, services, organizations, ways to spend a day off, and more.   You’ll find useful lists to help you, your family, friends, and significant others find the best places for everything from Sunday brunch to New Year’s Eve celebrations, pumpkin patches, date night destinations, florists, girlfriend nights out, kids party places, parks and more. For this week, we've got several holiday events planned for children. The Lemont Junior Woman's Club will host it’s 17th annual Breakfast With Santa benefit at two times, 8:30 and 11:30 a.m., Saturday, at Cog Hill Country Club. Attendees can enjoy a visit with …

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Desperately Seeking Santa? Bring the Kids to Meet St. Nick in Your Town

The time is now for your children to get their Christmas wish lists in to Kris Kringle, and there's no shortage of local events where the man himself will be making an appearance.

WHAT: Kids can visit with Santa Claus and his elves at this Naperville Park District event.  WHERE: Naperville Riverwalk WHEN: On the weekends of Dec. 2 to 4 and Dec. 9 to 11, 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; on the weekend of Dec. 15 to 18, 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and on the week of Dec. 19 to 23, 2 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Special needs nights are from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 5 to 8, and pet night is from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 1. COST: Free MORE INFO: Visit the Park District's website, or call 630-848-5000    WHAT: The popular one-hour train rides depart from Naperville and travel to the Brookfield area, switch tracks and return to Naperville, allowing children time…

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Tracking Santa's Journey is Part of the Magic of Christmas

NORAD tracks Santa every year, and children can find out where Santa is as he travels the world delivering presents.

While Santa Claus makes his trip around the world, with Rudolph lighting the way, the men and women at NORAD will be tracking his travels and alerting children of his progress. Santa's magic is powerful and much more technologically advanced than that of NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command, said U.S. Army Major Mike Humphreys. Humphreys is stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The command is confident that Santa will be able to handle anything he encounters on his Christmas Eve trip. "We have satellites in space that pick up heat signatures, and those satellites pick up threats," Humphreys said. "Rudolph's nose comes in quite well on those satellite images. We also have 47 radar sites that are able to …

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Lemont Businesses Prepare for Friday's Annual Midnight Madness

Downtown shops and restaurants will provide entertainment, refreshments and plenty of holiday discounts for Lemont shoppers.

Downtown Lemont will be bustling with holiday shoppers Friday night for the village's annual Midnight Madness. For the event, several businesses will hold extended shopping hours from 6 p.m. to midnight and will offer a number of special gifts and discounts. Though Midnight Madness is usually sponsored by the village, this year the event was organized by local merchants. "At the beginning of November we learned that the village wasn't going to have the funds this year to hold the event, so I started working with some of the other businesses to keep things going," said Michele Zaper, owner of Belle de Jour Salon and Belle de Jour In Style. This year's sponsors include Illinois Marine Towing, Front Street Cantina, Second Chance Thrift …

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Happy Holidays From Patch

PHOTO: Lemont Kicks Off Holiday Season With (Snowy) Downtown Activities

Dozens of families enjoyed carriage rides, hot cocoa and pictures with Santa over the weekend at the Kris Kringle Market and Hometown Holiday event.

Despite heavy snowfall throughout the day, Lemont officially ushered in the holiday season Saturday with its Hometown Holiday celebration. Residents enjoyed a number of activities, including ice sculpting, holiday crafts, carriage rides, pictures with Santa, and free hot chocolate and cookies. The evening was capped off with Christmas carols from the Lemont Girl Scouts and the lighting of the village Christmas tree in Budnik's Plaza. Nearby in Talcott Square, residents also enjoyed the second annual Kris Kringle Market. This year, the market's vendors sold German food, candies and handcrafted gifts. "This is our way of giving back to the community and giving residents something to do in town with their families," said Petal Play Design …

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