There's a whole kame covered with blooming lead plant. It's unbelievable. 

Turks Cap lilies are one of the many flowers now blooming at Bluff Spring Fen.  

Remember this Elginite who ran across the country? There's another one walking. The Herald has the story. Bill Holden has raised $162K for childrens' diabetes, and will throw out the first pitch at the Cubs game.

“I didn’t look at any maps when I was in New Mexico,” Holden said. “I didn’t look at how far I still had to go. I’d just look at the map to go 10, 11, 12 miles a day and didn’t worry about what would be planned up ahead of me.

Check out his web page.

The Elgin Classic bike race is coming back. Here's the article. It'll coincide with the Elgin Fine Arts Festival. Better start training!

I've never understood the idea of food in the library, but I guess I'm old fashioned. Click here to read the article on the Gail Borden's plans for a food vendor.

The city is changing its housing program a little bit to focus on entire blocks or neighborhoods. This is smart.

“We started to ask the question, ‘Is it better to say this street is distressed, so let’s focus on that change,’ instead of buying one here and one over there,” Folarin said.

They said they're assigning a staffer, but I hope that instead of relying on him/her, they partner with the Gifford Park Association. Click here to read the article.

The turtles didn't stop them. The developers want to build yet more townhouses on the east side. The Summit corridor already has way too many townhouses. And none of them are nice to look at. I remember when it used to be a pleasant drive through cornfields, woods and wetlands. Not anymore. Fortunately the council doesn't like it either:

“If it comes back to us as town homes, it’ll be DOA,” Gilliam added.

Amen.

Click here to read the article.

The city's going to spend $500K/year buying and fixing problem properties. Here's the article. I think it would be better if they just gave the money to the Gifford Park Association.

The vocalist from the Elgin band Shooting Blanks will be on the show average Joe. Here's their myspace page.

Irises are blooming at Bluff Spring Fen. 

Has anybody heard anything else about the Grove? This is from the Daily Herald:

The company also plans to build The Grove, which would be a 30-acre retail center, nearby along Randall Road, south of Route 72.

You can read the whole article here.

Also in the news, you can see Elgin High on PBS:

Elgin High is featured along with Chicago’s Millennium Park, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s garden rooftop at city hall, a nature center on Chicago’s south side and conservation projects in Lake Calumet.

Read the article here.

Finally, what do you think about the Elgin Four Bridges race?

From 2000 to 2003, the Four Bridges of Elgin Bike Race attracted hundreds of racers from all over the world. In its fourth year, the challenge included 700 cyclists of all ages and skill levels — including Olympic competitors — from across the country and around the world. More than 10,000 spectators attended the daylong event.

They're trying to revive it. Read the article here.

There was an informative article about Elgin's recent growth in the Tribune's Sunday edition. The article was on the front page of the Tribune's Real Estate section, and portrays Elgin in a nice light.

A wave of residential construction promises to forge a new future for the city that prides itself on its 19th Century houses... "In the next decade, Elgin will emerge as the center of housing development in the Chicago area," predicted real estate analyst Steve Hovany, president of Strategy Planning Associates in Schaumburg...

and the best:

Elgin was founded in 1837 and developed as a city with its own character. Its historic districts abound with grand Victorian houses that attest to former glory.

The Tribune's web site doesn't seem to have the pictures and diagrams but the article is here:
Chicago Tribune article

A nicely restored Victorian on Elgin's old west side.