The Huntley Farmside

              Volume 40 No. 24
Your hometown newspaper
Thursday June 15,2000
© 2000 Press-Republican Newspapers
Carnival wasn't all fun and games for scouts
by Susan Bohme
Correspondent
Tracey Bien and Vanessa Lynn, ninth-graders from Huntley, and eighth-grader Tera Beaty and ninth-grader Roxanne Barlow from Lake in the Hills walked the isles at the Huntley Expo the past two years collecting pencils, key chains, stickers and any other freebies they were offered.
The girls were not accumu¬ lating the stuff for themselves, they were planning ahead and building a store house of prizes for a carnival the Cadette Girl Scouts were planning as their final project in their quest for the Silver award, the second highest award in Girl Scouting.
The girls also saved the toys they got at fast food restaurants and went through their things at home to find prizes to add to their loot from the Expo. Getting prizes was only a small part of the work the girls did for the carnival, however. They planned the games, bought supplies for and built many of the games, found a place to hold the carni¬ val, advertised the event and, of course, set it up, worked, and took it down the day of the event.
"It was kind of fun thinking we could accomplish something so big. The carnival was fun because we did it," Bien said.
With the money they earned from the carnival, the troop purchased 12 animal puppets, 10 finger puppets and 12 pup¬ pets showing different occupa¬ tions for Storytime Hour at the Huntley Library, where the car¬ nival was held.
"It was so much fun and we have so many prizes left over, so we are doing a couple of our games at the town picnic," said troop leader Carolyn Bien. The group will donate half of the profits they eam at the June 25 picnic from the bean bag toss and lollipop pick to the Huntley Library. They will use the other half to help pay for a trip the troop is taking to Chicago in July.
ITie carnival was the grand finale after more than a year of working to complete a list of requirements that lead up to the final project. The girls had to complete the Dreams to Reality patch, which covers career opportunities for women, lb eam
the patch, the girls had to inter¬ view three mothers with salaried jobs, research two career fields in which women are not the majori¬ ty, determine the salary ranges and training requirements for five careers, and search the want ads for jobs that interested them.
They also had to complete three interest patches. They chose Car Sense, Fitness to Fashion, and Cookies and Dough. While earning the Car^ Sense patch, the girls learned about car maintenance, took turns changing a tire, and made anti-dmnk dri¬ ving posters for Marengo High School. For their Fitness to Fashion project the girls talked to hair stylists and cosmetologists about jobs, held a toiletry drive, and entertained the residents of the Florence Nursing Home in Marengo, where they donated some of the toiletries they collect¬ ed. The Cookies and Dough patch taught marketing skills to help with selling Girl Scout cookies.
The next step was to earn the leadership award. For this the girls spent 25 hours planning, preparing for, and carrying out a Brownie sleepover held in the basement of the Girl Scouts headquarters in Elgin.
"They planned all the activi¬ ties, went shopping, and ran the whole thing, while I just sat there," said Carolyn Bien.
They also held an ornament- making workshop as part of the leadership award. Each girl chose an ornament, bought sup¬ plies, and taught younger girls how to make them. The extra ornaments were donated to the American Legion in Huntley.
The Cadette Girl Scout Challenge, which involves know¬ ing yourself, relating to others, developing values, contributing to your community, and knowing about Girl Scouting, was the last hurdle on the way to the Silver Award. For this requirement, the girls completed an exercise to determine what kind of friend they are, what kind of friend they want to be, and what kind of friends they want to have; taught younger Girls Scouts about Girl Scout founder, Juliette Low; and taught a craft at the Girl Scout's Sybaquay Council birthday party.
"There aren't many kids who reach this level," said Carolyn Bien. "I am so proud of them."
Press-Republican photo by Pat Kolle Clasen's Tavern has a variety of events scheduled for Saturday, including water fights between area fire departments.
A popular hangout for a century
Clasen 's Tavern to stage 100-year celebration Saturday
byValD'Anna
Correspondent
Clasen's Tavern in Union is celebrating its 100th anniversary Saturday, June 17, with water fights, a 50-50 raffle awarding $5,000 in prize money, music from the Big Band era, food and cold beer. Commemorative T- shirts and hats also will be avail¬ able for sale. The celebration kicks off at 11 a.m. at the bar, located at 17628 Depot. Water fights between area fire depart¬ ments begin at 3:30 p.m.
Proceeds from the raffle and outdoor concessions stands serv¬ ing burgers, hot dogs and chick¬ en will be split between the Lions' Club and Union Fire Dept. Getting local organizations involved seemed a good.idea in this small community where "everyone knows one another. We tried to work with everyone, so our anniversary would be something good for the village," said Bill Galanis, Clasen's owner
Galanis, who also owns The
Village Inn restaurant in Huntley, hopes that "a lot of people come out to see us and have cold beer" at the celebration. Along with all the "regulars," he expects a turnout from all over the county. "Everybody knows Clasen's. We're the oldest bar in the coun¬ ty," he says. "People come in and say they remember their father or grandpa coming here."
Galanis said the rich history of Clasen's, opened in 1900 by German immigrant William J. Clasen, is the main reason he decided to buy it in 1991. He's made no alterations, preserving the bar's turn-of-the-century charm, including the 25-foot-long wooden bar, copper-plated ceil¬ ing, tin walls and a moosehead that the town's undertaker gave to the original owner. "If that moose could talk, we'd get a lot of good stories," said Galanis, adding that his favorite story is about the pet parrot Clasen kept at his bar. "When the parrot died, they buried him in Union Cemetery," Galanis said.
Galanis claims "you caij't find a friendlier place. And we serve the best hamburgers and coldest beer in McHenry County."
Manager Cathy Schultz describes the patrons as "one big happy family." She said, "I worked for Bill in Huntley first, then he asked me to come out here for a while. I liked it so much I told Bill I wouldn't be coming back to Huntley."
According to Schultz, the one- pound Billy Burger is a best sell¬ er, followed by the Johnny and Bertie burgers. "We name our burgers after our regular cus¬ tomers," she explained.
Galanis said the best part of owning Clasen's is his customers. "I really enjoy the people. They come and stay to talk and joke and laugh," he said.
"I don't expect to change any¬ thing. If I ever sold it, I wouldn't want anyone else to change it either," Galanis said. "I hope it will be here another 100 years."