National Night Out will be Tuesday, Aug. 3 with participation by many communities. It is a break from the heat of the Summer and a link to a back-to-school mentality. From previous years an impression is that young children enjoy the variation from a usual Summer routine. It is an excellent way to offer cohesion within communities. Each community designates sites in advance. Good, early, publicity, is beneficial.
Events within communities allow for and ease the way to communication and sharing, all of which can be building blocks.
With Summer slipping past us more quickly each day, there are activities which can create bonds. The caveat, of course, is that we must keep one eye open to and share a concern for advancing and continuing COVID-19. The virus persists and increases, especially among those without vaccinations. The Delta variant and several other variants are on the prowl. Laxity among communities will be counterproductive. We must not let our guard down and take precautions. It is a deadly trap. Seriously.
Here are important items which could not find space in this week’s issue, however, deserve to find an opportunity to be seen:
• The Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry and Community Garden’s 8th anniversary at the Harvest Dinner will be from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14 at the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, 834 Highland Avenue, Aurora. The event will have a five-course menu with a feature of produced with love by Marie’s Urban Farm gardeners. Tickets are $125 and are available at mariewilkinsonfoodpantry.org
• There is still time to visit the Little White Museum’s newest exhibit, “Pollinators on the Prairie: Little Helpers, Big Results.”
• Napeville Park District will hold public comments on capital improvements proposed for 2022. The project information and park maps are available online at www.napervilleparks.org/planninganddevelopment under 2022 Capital Projects. The content period will continue until Wednesday, Aug.11 There are 14 parks in the Naperville Park District with proposed capital project for 2022.
• The Fox Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists will present the 22nd annual Bach and Beyond concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 30 at Marmion Abbey, 850 Butterfield Road (IL Route 56) in Aurora.
• Mutual Ground will be host to its annual Miss Fannie’s Yard Sale Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31 at 418 Oak Avenue, Aurora.
• The related Lantz, Eichelberger, Patterson, and Stoner families of Kendall, Kane, Will, and DuPage Counties, will hold a 93rd annual reunion Sunday, Aug. 8 at Hudson Crossing Park on Harrison Street east end of the Oswego U.S. Route 34 bridge of Oswego. The event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 53 members attended.
• State representative Mark Batinick (R. Plainfield) July 21 issued a letter of support for public access to the DuPage River. The DuPage River ultimately flows into the Mississippi River after being part of DesPlaines, Kankakee, and Illinois Rivers.
Clear and Concise, Week 30, Year 2:
We have some Summer reruns in this space, and some new items, just to be helpful in the written word with the acknowledgement that we speak differently than we write, even though application to each is relevant. Clarity is the goal and words do matter, especially when we are concise.
Please consider:
• The word located is almost never required for clear expression. Take located out of the sentence and nearly always the sentence structure stands on its own and even better without the extra word. Located is more of a crutch. It is an off-shoot of location and unnecessarily made into a verb.
• To express excessive, additional, and greater than, one more is sufficient. Using more and more does not double the quantity of the word more. Two mores are not necessary.
• Ask is not a noun, which is how it has become used more often than just a short year ago. Instead of ask we should use request. Ask is a verb and not a noun.
• Verbs and nouns are not interchangeable and using them properly leads to clarity and conciseness. It takes understanding, consciousness, effort, and repetition, correctly.