The build up to the holidays is in the process of winding down. A reality check indicates the best aspect of all holidays is time spent with family and friends. Sharing time and activities exceed any material aspect of any holiday. Seeing the glow of children reacting to the bright lights, the fresh scene, a first-time experience from little ones, offer a renewal unmatched. It is all about family and friends, especially if the family can constitute friendships.
The next big holiday in the traditional lineup, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, offers a wide range of activities. More plans than ever revolve around family activities, many planned by park districts. See the build up and countdown to noon for youngsters to understand the midnight strike of the new year for adults.
Along with safe activities to ring in and ring out, police departments offer advice for surviving the holidays, especially with driving.
Both the Naperville Police Department and the Oswego Police Department sent the same tips, offered by the National traffic Safety Administration: Drive Sober or Get Pull Over and Click It or Ticket campaigns reign supreme. Police departments will be on tours through Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020 in a national enforcement campaign.
Last year 839 individuals lost their lives in traffic crashes involving drunk drivers. Last year in the Christmas and New Year’s holidays there were 285 drunk-driving-related fatalities. That should be repeated and understood. The epidemic continues and police departments are charged with nabbing drunk drivers prior to killing other drivers, or, themselves.
• Clearing leftover notes: The Fox Valley Park District’s Stuart Sports Complex has been saluted as a 2020 Readers’ Choice Award winner. Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery and adjacent to Aurora was nominated in the category Top 25+ Destinations & Venues for Youth & Amateur Sports in the United States. That salute came from SportsEvents Media Group, a leading industry publication.
Facts include: More than 31,500 spectators attended events at Stuart this year with teams playing baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, Gaelic football, Camogie, and hurling.
Stuart Sports Complex has an eye-popping 30 full-size soccer fields and eight baseball/softball diamonds within its 380 acres.
Stuart will receive a highlight nationally in SportsEvents Magazine in the January 2020 issue.
• Clearing leftover notes II: According to Capitol News Illinois, which finds some of its excellent reporting and writing in the pages of The Voice, Amtrak train routes that connect Chicago to St. Louis and Chicago to Milwaukee, there were a record number of riders in the federal fiscal year that ended September 30. From Chicago to St. Louis corridor, there was an increase of 5.5% from the previous year and 24% higher than the fiscal year 2011. There are four daily trips between Chicago and St. Louis. The Amtrak Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee grew by 4.5% from last year, a gain of 38,000 passengers to 882,189. It is the most traveled corridor in the Midwest. Amtrak set a company record with 32.5 Million customer trips. Finances were improved, too.