Volunteers help the Sycamore Lions Club clean debris from the Great Western Trail in a past cleanup effort. The club is looking for volunteers again to help in its annual action starting at 8 a.m. April 22.

COUNTY

Summer festival designed to boost tourism

Favorite summer events – Kishwaukee Fest and Baconpalooza – will return to DeKalb County in 2017. Attractions are being combined into a weeklong celebration to offer a special experience for local residents and to attract tourists to the county.

Plans are underway for a new lineup of events that will be held in DeKalb and Sycamore July 23-July 30.

The festival will open with a country music show and possible movie. A new event called East End Block Party will be a celebration of stores, restaurants and attractions on Lincoln Highway between Fourth and Seventh streets. The celebration will honor the 70th anniversary of Lothson’s Karry Out, 644 E. Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb.

Other plans include a Family Fun Fest, a DeKalb Municipal Band performance, concerts at the Ellwood Mansion, a car show and a parade.

Baconpalooza: Swine and Wine Fest on July 29 will feature wine vendors, bacon food vendors, specialty craft vendors and a Corvette show.

The festival is looking for members to serve on its board and people interested in assisting with various events. For more information, contact Jacki Bish or Michael Embrey at (815) 756-1263 or Jacki@FunMEevents.com.

Experts offer free answers to gardeners’ questions

University of Illinois Extension DeKalb County Master Gardeners are offering a free service answering garden questions at the Horticulture Help Desk. The help desk is open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout April. The desk will be open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday starting in May.

Master Gardeners research topics about insects, trees, shrubs, plants, vegetables, fruits,

gardens, lawns and more. These experts supply research-based answers to questions, and take time to find the information for specific circumstances. Master Gardeners do not make house calls, but people can bring samples to the University of Illinois Extension DeKalb County office, in the Farm Bureau Center for Agriculture building, 1350 W. Prairie Drive, Sycamore.

Residents can call in their question at (815) 758-8194 or stop at the office. Questions also can be emailed to uiemg-dekalb@illinois.edu.

Master Gardener volunteers will ask some diagnostic questions to understand the horticulture situation, then will call back after they have done their research. Clients are encouraged to email or bring in photos or drop off samples of their troubled plants, trees or shrubs.

Bats, owl special guests at fundraiser

Live bats and a great-horned owl will be the guests of honor at Babies Gone Wild, a fundraiser for Oaken Acres Wildlife Center. The event will be held at 5 p.m. April 29, at Hopkins Park in DeKalb. In addition to a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres buffet, cash bar and raffle, attendees will get the chance to meet bats brought by presenters Daniel and Sharon Peterson. The couple, along with their Egyptian fruit bats and African straw-colored bats, have been educating people about bats since 1996.

Oaken Acres Wildlife Center’s ambassador birds of prey will greet attendees. Muggs, last year’s holiday card great-horned owl, will make his Babies Gone Wild debut. Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased online at oakenacres.org. Tickets also can be purchased by mailing a check to Oaken Acres, 12140 Aldrich Road, Sycamore, 60178, or at LePrint Express, 1950 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore.

Oaken Acres takes in nearly 700 injured or orphaned wild animals each year with the goal of releasing them back to the wild. Oaken Acres was founded in 1984 and continues to serve DeKalb County communities with rehab services and educational programs. All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to caring for Oaken Acres’ wild patients. For information, call (815) 895-9666 or email info@oakenacres.org.

DeKALB

Hospital is seeking teen volunteers

Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital is accepting applications for its Teen Age Group Service (TAGS). The program provides teens volunteer opportunities at the hospital. Current high school students and eighth graders who will enter high school in the fall of 2017 are encouraged to apply by the May 1 deadline. Applications are available in the hospital’s

Volunteer Services office, by calling (815) 756-1521, ext. 153373, or by emailing sbrotcke@kishhealth.org.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit kishhealth.org. Interviews will be conducted, and chosen applications will have to attend orientation and two training sessions.

SYCAMORE

Lions club organizes annual trail cleanup

Earth Day is a good day to clean up the world around us, and the Sycamore Lions Club will do just that when the club holds its annual Great Western Trail Cleanup beginning at 8 a.m. April 22. The Lions adopted the trail more than 20 years ago and have done a cleaning every spring since. Volunteers are asked to meet at 8 a.m. at the west end of the trail at Old State Road and the trail.