$ April 7: Pancakes with Easter Bunny at Luigi's

AURORA, Ill.—The Aurora Noon Lions Club will hold its fifth annual Easter pancake breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 7, at Luigi's Pizza and Fun Center, 732 Prairie St. in Aurora.

In a pre-holiday visit, the Easter bunny will greet diners and pose for photos. Free color photos with the bunny will be taken and available in minutes. Photo frames will be available for a nominal fee.

The menu includes pancakes, sausage, mini donuts, orange juice and coffee or milk. Seconds on pancakes are free.

Proceeds will benefit Lions’ programs for persons with vision and hearing disabilities. Students from Aurora University and East Aurora High School will assist Lions volunteers.

Free color photos with the Easter bunny will be taken and available in minutes. Photo frames will be available for a nominal fee.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children 3 to 12 years old, and $20 for a family. A 14-carrot early bunny special, a $1 discount per ticket, will be offered from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

Advance breakfast tickets are available at Luigi's, from Noon Lions Club members or by calling 630­-921-1307. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

For more information, call 630-921-1307 .

April 11: Women's Day at VNA

AURORA, IL. On Wednesday, April 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., VNA Health Care will host a free health event for area women – It’s Women’s Day…at VNA! Everyone is welcome and there is no cost to attend. The event will be held at the VNA Health Center, 400 North Highland Avenue in Aurora. Women’s health services will be featured, including digital mammography, bone density testing and pharmacy services.

Spanish translators will be available. No appointments are needed to attend this free, public event.

It’s Women’s Day…at VNA!

April 11, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Free bone density tests
• Sign up for free mammograms (for uninsured and low-income women through VNA’s Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program)
• Complimentary Women’s Health Tests including blood pressure, blood sugar, and body fat.
• The first 100 adults will receive a ticket for a healthy box lunch to go.

For additional information on It’s Women’s Day…at VNA!, community members can contact Amy Downing at 630-978-2532 or adowning@vnahealth.com.

Since 1918, VNA Health Care has been a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing compassionate, dependable, and comprehensive health services to the community. Today, VNA Health Centers provide affordable primary and preventive health care to men, women, and children. In addition to the Health Centers, VNA offers home care and hospice services. VNA serves over 50,000 people across all programs with a team of over 300 physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, registered dietitians, medical social workers and support personnel. For more information, call VNA at 630-978-2532 or visit us atwww.vnahealth.com.

March 31: Easter Egg Hunt in Monty

Montgomery - Here comes Peter Cottontail! The Village of Montgomery and the Community Christian Church are teaming up to offer a free Easter Egg Hunt and related events for children on Saturday, March 31^st from 10:30 a.m. until noon. The egg hunt will take place at Montgomery Park at the corner of Mill and River Street with more activities to follow at the Montgomery Village Hall, 200 N. River Street.

The egg hunt will take place in three stages, based on age groups (1-3, 4-6, and 7-10) with the youngest children first. All participants should be at the park by 10:15 a.m.

After the egg hunt, the Easter Bunny will preside over fun activities at the Village Hall, including a cake walk, cookie decorating, kids’ tattoos provided by Chi-Town Tattoo, jump rope contests offered by Pro-Gym Station, a fire truck from the Montgomery Countryside Fire Station, a Police car from the Montgomery Police Department, and a craft brought to you by Shining Star Pre-school. Beautiful decorations will be provided by Schaefer’s Greenhouses. There will be a great opportunity to take pictures with the Easter Bunny, so be sure to bring your camera to capture these great moments.

There will be free popcorn from Montgomery Popcorn and coffee from Starbucks. In addition, Gray’s Mill will offer free lunch for kids after the event with a paying parent. Make it a family day and hop on over to Montgomery!

March 17: MapleFest at Red Oak Nature Center

NORTH AURORA – Red Oak Nature Center will be offering an early, sweet taste of spring on Saturday, March 17, when the annual MapleFest takes place.

The event is free to the public, with no registration required.

Tours will run every half hour beginning at 9 a.m. (final tour at 1 p.m.), with naturalists from Red Oak leading visitors to various stations in the woods to view demonstrations of how maple sap is harvested and turned into delicious maple syrup. Each group will tap a maple tree, then witness the process of how sap is boiled and converted into syrup. Group taste-tests will follow.

“Early spring is the perfect time to collect maple sap because the days are getting warmer but the nights are still cold,” said Margaret Gazdacka, facility supervisor at Red Oak. “Visitors will get to witness this age-old practice of taking sap from a tree and turning it into the syrup you use on your pancakes.”

Maple-themed treats and hot beverages will be available for a small fee. A new feature this year will include items for sale from Vermont – the maple syrup-producing capital of the world – that include small bottles of maple syrup, maple-flavored cotton candy and maple lollipops.

Red Oak Nature Center is located on Route 25 in North Aurora, one mile north of Route 56. For more information, contact Red Oak at 630-897-1808 or visit the District’s website at www.foxvalleyparkdistrict.org.

Deadline May 1: Free home repair, etc.

AURORA, IL (March 12, 2012)—Rebuilding Together Aurora (RTA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to providing free home repair, safety modifications, and energy efficiency upgrades to low-income homeowners in Aurora, has teamed up with the City of Aurora once again to help Aurora homeowners make their homes more energy efficient. RTA will provide attic insulation for 15 families, completely free of charge. To qualify, the applicant must: reside within Aurora city limits, own their own home and live in it, have homeowner’s insurance, and meet the HUD low annual income guidelines per household size (1 resident = $42,500; 2 residents = $48,550; 3 residents = $54,600; etc). Priority will be given to seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and families with small children. Applications can be obtained in person at the RTA office or requested by phone at 630-585-7510 and should be submitted in full by May 1, 2012.

About Rebuilding Together Aurora

Established in 1993, Rebuilding Together Aurora (formerly Christmas In April) is a not-for-profit organization that provides free repairs on single-family owner-occupied homes with elderly, disabled, and low-income families living in the city of Aurora, Illinois. They provide small-scale repair services through their Year Round Program and large-scale repair services through the April Rebuilding Event program.

RTA is a regional affiliate of Rebuilding Together, the nation's largest nonprofit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing free home repair and modification services to those in need. Rebuilding Together has over 200 affiliates serving families throughout the nation.