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!

Feb. 14: Illinois—Land of Lincoln

A free presentation on Abraham Lincoln will be offered at the Montgomery Village Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Gene Michaels from the Village’s Historic Preservation Commission will give an overview of Lincoln’s life, including excerpts from some of his speeches and major accomplishments that made him one of the greatest US Presidents.

This program is being offered by the Village of Montgomery as part of its Senior Citizen Program. There is no charge and the event is handicapped accessible. The monthly Senior Lunch and activity will begin at 11:00 a.m. after the presentation. There is a $4 suggested donation for the lunch.

For additional information on this event, please call the Montgomery Village Hall at (630) 896-8080 ext. 1227.

Montgomery’s Beautification Committee Seeks Help to Build Bluebird Houses

Montgomery’s Beautification Committee has undertaken an ambitious project to assemble 50 bluebird houses on Saturday, February 18th from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the Public Works Building, 891 Knell Road, and is seeking volunteers to help with the work. This would be ideal for anyone handy with woodworking, people interested in birds and birding, and scout groups who might find this a fun community service event.

After assembly, the bluebird houses will be installed at various locations throughout the Village, starting with ideal bluebird habitat areas. Bluebirds like to be near water, tall grass and within easy flight range of trees. The Village’s naturalized areas, water basins, river bank and river island areas, and the Parkview Estates water management areas will be areas of emphasis initially.

Urban development and competition from other animals have discouraged bluebirds in this area, and the Beautification Committee hopes to attract them back with this project. Once bluebirds nest and hatch young in a particular area, the young tend to come back to their "birthplace" in successive years. If the bluebird houses are able to attract bluebirds back to this area, there is an excellent chance that they will continue to return each year and re-populate Montgomery again.

This program also needs volunteers to help manage the birdhouses once they are installed. This would include observing them from time to time to alert the Village to any vandalism or repair needs, cleaning the house in the spring as bluebirds prefer to start with a clean nesting place each year, and helping to photograph these beautiful creatures. Bluebirds especially like mealworms for food, and volunteers will also be needed to manage feeding stations to initially help attract migrating bluebirds to once again make their home in Montgomery.

The committee hopes to install 50 additional bluebird houses each year until the entire Village has been served sufficiently by this effort to restore one of nature's beautiful creatures to our community. For additional information, please contact Trustee Stan Bond atbond@ci.montgomery.il.us or (630) 440-1007 .

March 10: Summer Bulbs in the Garden

Learn exciting ways to enjoy summer bulbs. Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at Schaefer Greenhouses, 120 S. Lake St. in Montgomery. FREE. 630-896-1936 for more info.

This is part of Schaefer's monthly garden club on the second Thursday of the month.

Feb. 8: ID Theft seminar in Monty

Free Seminar—Preventing Identity Theft

A free seminar on Preventing Identity Theft will be offered at the Montgomery Village Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 8, 2011. Detective Jeff Ricedorf of the Montgomery Police Department will present information on how to safeguard your personal information, how to detect fraudulent activities and how to report this if it occurs.

This seminar is being offered by the Village of Montgomery. There is no charge and the event is handicapped accessible.

For additional information on this event, please call the Montgomery Village Hall at (630) 896-8080 ext. 1114.