Shop Local - Buy a Book from a Local Author - 2019 Edition

Want to support local authors and artists? Looking for a last minute gift idea? Here are a  few local shops where you might find just what you are looking for:

• Moore Toys and Gadgets in Downtown Wheaton
• Pinwheel Toys in Danada
• Prairie Path Books in Towne Square
• Gallery 200 at 301 W. Washington in downtown West Chicago (open Thur, Fri, Sat, and Sun)

The Ghost of Jamie McVay by Ray Ziemer of Warrenville

"...a ghost story of revenge and redemption that pulls you in from the opening sentence…”

Synopsis: Brian Krueger has a lot of problems: The death of his grandfather and his father’s alcoholism have led to hard times and a move to a new town, where his nearest neighbor is a pyromaniac and a bully. Brian runs to escape his troubles, but it’s on the Prairie Path that he encounters the ghost of Jamie McVay.

Brian and his new friend, Sharon, investigate the ghost’s origins. Clue by clue, secrets are revealed as the teens discover the truth behind Jamie McVay’s quest for redemption. Along the way they must deal with teen issues such as school, sports, friends and rivals. Brian also struggles to reconcile with his father, while facing the ever-dangerous Pete the Pyro.

Can Brian and Sharon prevent catastrophe on Halloween night? Will the ghost of Jamie McVay find peace for his unquiet soul?

Buy The Ghost of Jamie McVay

• The Book Shop in Batavia
• Harvey's Tales in Geneva
• Townhouse Books of St. Charles
• Amazon.com
• Barnes & Noble.com.

  For an autographed copy, contact the author at https://rgziemer.com or on Facebook @raymondziemer.

The Lost Shoe by Judith and Colin Wilkie of Warrenville

Synopsis Ever see a shoe on the side of the road and wonder how it got there or searched your house for a missing shoe never to be found?

The Lost Shoe is a heartwarming tale that laces together the adventure of a Right Shoe that gets separated from his owner and Left Shoe. During his journey Right Shoe questions if he will ever be useful again. Experiencing a range of emotions from sadness to pure joy, Right Shoe continues to hope for the best. Feeling like a heel, he remembers there are some things in life that you have no control over so you should relax and go with the flow.

Right Shoe learns a priceless life lesson that everybody is unique and each person needs to embrace their distinctive qualities. Everyone can be useful in their own way if given a chance. With the help of a beachcomber, cat, puppy, and nurse, Right Shoe finds an unexpected special new owner, showing that determination can lead to a happy ending.

Join Right Shoe in an adventure of miss-steps taking him from the shoe store to a hospital and stops in-between, searching for his real sole and a new purpose in life. Although Right Shoe doesn't find his Left Shoe or former owner, he discovers through invaluable experiences that he can be happy and useful in a whole new way.

Audience: Children

Buy The Lost Shoe

• Pinwheel Toys in Wheaton
• Amazon.com

Wanna Bet? by Betsy Dudak of Warrenville

Synopsis: After an abusive past, Harper McReynolds needs stability for herself and her daughters. Randall gives her all she asks for in a boyfriend—kindness, predictability, structure, and routine. Harper's head reminds her she doesn't really want the man who makes her combust every time she's near him.

Brody Reed's addiction claimed a brother's trust and started his own downward spiral. Growing tired of life on the road, a woman at every concert and a dependency on liquid courage, Brody put his life back together piece by broken piece. But the woman he lusts after may just shatter all of this.

An off-handed bet Brody and Harper make after a passionate kiss may change everything for them. Will they gamble on their hearts to prove to each other they are all in? Or when the stakes get too high, will they fold and walk away?

Genre: Romance

Buy Wanna Bet? 

This is Betsy's second book. The first one, " What the Heck, Dec" is also available.

• Barnes and Noble.com
• Amazon.com
• Goodreads

Previous Versions of Shop Local - Buy a Book from a Local Author

Books from the local authors featured in previous years are probably still available as well.

• Shop Local: Buy a Book from a Local Author - 2017 Edition
• Shop Local: Buy a Book from a Local Author - 2016 Edition
• Shop Local: Buy a Book from a Local Author - 2015 Edition

Where to Recycle Stuff - 2019 Edition (corrected)

Happy Earth Day!

Aprril 22 is Earth Day.... a time for spring cleaning and a time to think about the 3R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE  Maybe you've been following Marie Kondo, and have items that no longer spark joy.   Keep reading to learn how to get rid of your unwanted "stuff" and keep it out of the landfill. Or use these ideas in reverse to get items you could use .... and help someone else keep it out of the landfill.

Sell It

To sell your "stuff",  list it on Craig's list. or the Warrenville Garage Sales and Exchange Facebook group. 

New for 2019 - Get a Phone app

There mignt be many apps. Two examples are:

• OfferUp: An app to buy and sell locally
• thredUP:  Online consignmeny thrift shop - Mail clothes to donate or sell

Meeting someone to make a transaction? Be safe. The Warrenville Police Station lobby is a safe internet transaction zone.

Donate It

Find a resale shop. Most resale shops take clothes, shoes, accessories, household goods, sports equipment, dishes, kitchen gadgets, toys, knick knacks, small working household appliances (NO big TV's or computer monitors, even if they work) Click links for hours and more detailed lists.

• Discoveries Resale Shop and Furniture Annex in Warrenville: Pickup can be scheduled for furniture. Benefits Warrenville Youth and Family Services.
• ReStore for working appliances, light fixtures, and other building supplies. Nearest one is by Fox Valley (4100 Fox Valley Ctr Dr Aurora, IL 60504). A division of Habitat for Humanity.
• Jubilee - A bigger furniture store than the Discoveries Annex - located at 730 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188 - 630.784.2890 - Benefits Outreach Community Ministries
• Freecycle- Join the Warrenville Group - post what you want to give away - "one person's trash is another person's treasure" - Use the website to arrangements for them to pick it up.  For a bigger audience, there are other Wheaton and Naperville groups too. You might be able to get rid of things you thought were garbage. . For example,  I got rid of landscape stones and logs (and they loaded them up), and old chair cushions. 

Recycle It

Upcoming Recycling Events in Warrenville

• Warrenville Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling Event - May 4 from 9 am to noon Bower School ( 4S241 River Road ).  Limit 3 bankers boxes of paper to be shredded. Items accepted for electronics recycling include computers, laptops, servers, switches, modems, routers,, printers, copiers, fax machines, circuit boards, cords, wires, toys, small appliances, stereo equipment, office equipment, telephone systems, cell phones, games, and banking/financial/medical equipment. TV's, monitors, and larger items are accepted for a fee paid in advance - learn more on city website..
• Bike Rodeo - May 18, 2019 from 9-noon in City Hall Parking Lot. Collecting Bikes to be donated and fixed for use by those in need.
• Book Drive at the Park District from April 1 - May 31:  Your books can help  Bernie's Book Bank.  Please donate new and gently used children's books, aged birth through 6th grade. (Please, no workbooks, textbooks or reference books.)

  Drop box in the Park District Recreation Center lower level lobby from April 1 - May 31. Goal:

Ongoing Recycling / Reuse

Remember that most items items are made of natural resources - better to find a way to re-cycled even after the item is no good (e.g. keys, small metal pieces, lawn chairs, books). There are also things that the right person might be able to use (pens, blank paper, crayons, games, puzzles, yarn, glue, craft supplies, books, file folders, tools, lawn furniture .....). Here are places to get rid of of stuff that's too good to throw away:

• Warrenville Public Library: Eye glasses (including sunglasses) for Lions club - in between doors at back entrace. Also paperback and jigsaw puzzle exchange downstairs..
• Warrenville Park District - Bins at the back entrance for ink jet cartridges, old cell phones, gym shoes, eye glasses, plastic  / aluminum bottles. Gently used Children's book drive until 5/31/19.
  
• Warrenville City Hall - Batteries (alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion) - Collection bins at lower entrances. Keep the chemicals that leak out of batteries out of our water supply!
• St. Irene's - Paper Recycling - includes outdated text books
• Wheaton Public Works: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn has BookRescue, Tools for Schools and Super Crayons projects - Tools for Schools is for any supplies that a teacher might use in a classroom, including any and all books, paper, pens, pencils & crayons, game pieces or groups of other small things for kids to count / manipulate, anything that could be used for craft projects, any office supplies, buttons, sewing machines, sewing supplies and more. See  Tools for Schools List. Also Book Rescue takes all books. Books for kids are distributed to teachers, for classroom use, and SCARCE finds homes for other books, or recycles those that are in bad shape. All Crayons (broken or not) are used by the Super Crayons project.
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn Recycles odds and ends  - Keys, flags, records, small metal pieces, cell phones, lights & cords (all year) - Click to see list
• Food Panty in Immanual Church - non-perishables that you won't use (that are still good) - open Tuesday mornings
• People's Resource Center in Wheaton - food, clothes, computers (critial need for working computers), books
• Sharing Connections - Furniture and Household Items - they will pickup. They help people in crisis that need to setup a household. Also new cleaning supplies and personal care products.
• Bags - Resale shops including Discoveries in Warrenville re-uses shopping bags (paper or plasstic) that are in good shape. Family Foods no longer takes plastic bags, but Kohls and Target take them.
• Tennis Shoes - Take them to the Nike store in the Aurora Premium Outlet Mall - Nike grinds them for playground surfaces so bring shoes worn our or with holes - limit might be 10 pairs (in one drop off).  If the shoes are wearable, they can go to a resale shop.
• Bubble Wrap & Peanuts - UPS and other packaging stores (call first)
• Hangers - return to cleaners (call first)
• Electronics and more - Wheaton: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon at the Public Works - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste)., and  Naperville Electronics Recycling - M-F, 7-3
• Garden Tools - Garden Works Project now has a facility in West Chicago is creating a Garden Tool lending library.Learn more or make arrangements with the Garden Works Project. 

Find a Recycling Extravaganza!

These events, usually sponsored by a community or municipal group, provide a "drive-thru" recycling. Each event has its own list of items, and arranges for charties or commercial organizations to take the various items.  Find upcoming extravaganzas and read the flyer for the event or go to their webpage to get the details. ThereTypical items include:

• Scrap Metal
• Eye Glasses (Lyons Club usually collects and distributes)
• Electronics (Look Carefully! Usually electronics are considered to be anything with a battery or cord, but each event has different requirements. Old monitors and TVs may not be collected, or may be collected for a fee).
• Old Bikes
• Garden Tools
• Medical Equipment
• Books
• Pet Supplies
• American Flags
• Many More - check your event listings

Hazardous Waste

Some things can't be recycled, and shouldn't go in the landfill.  These include old medicine, cleaning chemicals, oil based paints, and weed killers. We're lucky to have the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) disposal site in Naperville that is open every weekend. Learn more at these websites:

• Naperville Hazardous Waste Dropoff - Jefferson and Forthill (Not in the Fire Station Anymore). They made the drop-off bigger so cars can move thru more quickly - open Sat and Sunday mornings.
• Medicine Disposal - Many police stations, including Warrenville Police Station, and the Naperville Hazardous Waste (HHW) provide at drop of for unneeded or expired medications. Dump all the pills into a ziplock bag - there is not enough room to store all the prescription containers. .Some Walgreens also have safe disposal boxes for prescription drugs. The closest ones are  612 RAYMOND DR, NAPERVILLE, IL 60563 or  227W171 GENEVA RD, WINFIELD, IL 60190,630-681-8482, 630-428-9171

Additional Resources

If you are looking for more information, check out these websites. It is illegal to put TV's into the landfill, it's difficult to find places to recycle them, and the information is always changing.

• DuPage County Electronics Recycling
• SCARCE Electronics Page
• Kane County Recycles (many resources - but some are only for Kane County residents)

See Your Ballot for April 2, 2019 Election

Don't Be Surprised in the Voting Booth

Take a look at your ballot now, to see what will be there when you go to vote on April 2, 2019. There may not be a national election this time, but the local officials  that we select might impact our lives more than those on the national stage.

I can’t attach your ballot, because even within Warrenville, there are multiple districts at every level of government – each with different boundaries. Just considering Warrenville voters, there are many ballot variations.

Follow the steps, just a few clicks, and enter your address and you'll have the ballot. These instructions are for anyone in DuPage county.

1. Go to the Voter Information Page on the Dupage County website: https://www.dupageco.org/VoterLookup/
2. 
   Click on the "Search by Address" tab
   
3. Type your address. Note:the house number includes the numbers and letter (e.g. 28w530). The "Suffix" is your street type (e.g. Street, Road).  It has to match exactly -- for mine Ln works but not Lane. Click Search.
4. Click to "View Ballot" link.

On this page, you can also see your polling place, all your current elected officials, and what districts you are in.

Finding the ballot is the easy part. Now you have the harder job of deciding how to cast it. 

• Meet some of the candidates at the Warrenville Candidates Forum on Wednesday March 20  in the evening at City Hall
• In additiona to elected officials, Warrenville ballots include: PROPOSITION TO CREATE A NEW TAX RATE FOR EMERGENCY AND RESCUE FUND PURPOSES that Reads "Shall the Warrenville Fire Protection District, DuPage County, Illinois, be authorized to levy a new tax for emergency and rescue crews and equipment purposes and have an additional tax of .10% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein extended for such purposes?" Don't know what it;s all about --- go to Coffee with the Fire Chief on March 21
• If you're still looking for nore information, there is  a website ballotready.org. This site has a tab for each candidate on your ballot, along with links to learn their stances on many issues and a newsfeed of artices printed about them.  This is not an official ballot, and does not contain all the local items.

Happy Voting!.