Aurora BOREALIS 2015 ISSUE 4 Mayor Thomas J. Weisner Festival of Lights 2015 Page 4 ALSO INSIDE THIS EDITION A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR – Page 2 HAVE SOME WINTER FUN – Page 5 POET NIKKI GIOVANNI IN AURORA – Page 11 2015 Miss Merry Christmas and Mr. Jack Frost and court From the Mayor’s Desk Mayor Thomas J. Weisner From Parades to Plows, Aurora is Ready for Winter Dear Neighbors: We have local celebrations of Christmas and In November, we paid tribute to all veterans Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Inside, we’re drawn with Aurora’s annual Veterans Day parade Winter is coming. It’s going to snow, and to the Winter Garden of Youth Art created through downtown Aurora. The Aurora snow, and snow. It’s going to be cold, sub-zero, by Aurora school children, on display at Veterans Advisory Commission dedicated freezing-to-the-bone frigid outside. And the Aurora Public Art Commission gallery the new Veterans Monument at Phillips depending on El Niño, Climate Change, and downtown. Outside, we admire the awesome Park, a tribute to all Aurora service men and whether Santa is naughty or nice, the weather ability of the animals at the Phillips Park Zoo women who died in the nation’s conflicts could play havoc with Aurora – as it does at to adapt to the chilly conditions of the season. from Korea to Vietnam to present day least once every winter. battles. And Aurora’s Grand Army of the Our beloved Paramount Theatre has a packed Republic Memorial Museum is keeping But that’s no reason to despair. There are house of presents for us all, with Ralphie and alive the memories of Aurora Civil War enough fun, family-friendly activities going Randy and “A Christmas Story” onstage; a heroes from 150 years ago, as it opened the on in Aurora this winter to warm the heart of month-long Monday night holiday movie new GAR Museum Research Center in the every snowman and snowwoman. treat with the original “Miracle on 34th David L. Pierce Art and History Center, Street,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas across Downer Place from the historic Aurora officially kicked off the holidays with Vacation”, “Home Alone”, and “Polar Express”; GAR Hall. the City’s annual Winter Lights Festival in and Second City’s “Holidazed and Confused the week before Thanksgiving. Miss Merry Revue” right across Galena Boulevard at the We salute – and say thank you – to all who Christmas Grace Gault and Little Jack Frost Copley Theatre. have served. Logan Kluber helped me light the holiday tree in front of the Grand Army of the Republic Aurorans all pitch in during the holiday Memorial Museum. Santa and Mrs. Claus, season, bestowing blessings on our needier youth dance groups, a crowd of more than residents by contributing to toy drives and 2,000 people, and a brisk snowfall all added to coat drives and stocking the shelves of our P.S. The National Weather Service is the magic of the evening. City’s many food pantries. And shoveling the predicting that this winter may see above- sidewalk for an elderly neighbor or a mom average temperatures and below-average And the City’s holiday festivities continue with young kids is always appreciated. precipitation for December, January and with the half-century-old celebration of the February. But The Old Farmer’s Almanac Christmas story along Lehnertz Avenue, and In the month just passed, our community is predicting this winter will be colder than the Festival of Lights lighting up Phillips said thanks to the brave men and women normal for Northern Illinois, with below- Park. For more than a century, kids young who sacrificed so much – and continue to normal precipitation and below-normal and old have enjoyed sledding and ice skating sacrifice – to allow us to celebrate these snowfall. at Phillips Park – and this year they can try holiday blessings. out the new ice rink at the Chicago Premium No matter whose prediction you believe, we’re Outlets mall. already warming up our City snowplows, and you might want to start looking for your coats, hats and gloves right now. 2 | City of Aurora | 2015 Issue 4 Customer Service – 630.256.INFO Miss Merry Christmas, Jack Frost reign over Aurora’s holidays Congratulations to Grace Gault and Logan Kluber, the winners of the 2015 Miss Merry Christmas and Jack Frost contest! An Aurora holiday tradition for more than 50 years for children ages 4 to 7, Miss Merry Christmas and Jack Frost are chosen from among the top vote-earners in the holiday court photos published in The Beacon-News. These Christmas kids helped Mayor Tom Weisner and Santa Claus light the City’s tree at the Winter Lights festival, held in downtown Aurora on Nov. 20. The other nominees for Miss Merry Christmas 2015 were Siyanna Dillard, Emily Benitez, Elysia Escalante, Ava Platt, and Monica Senft. The 2015 Jack Frost nominees included Collin Bloemker, Jabez Lishman, Alexander Montalvo, Elias Reta, and Ethan Vahl. Grace Gault and Logan Kluber are Aurora’s Christmas couple for 2015, as the winners of the Miss Merry Christmas and Jack Frost contest. $1 CLASSIC MOVIE MONDAYS DEC 7, 7PM DEC 14, 7PM Got Your Tickets Yet? NOVEMBER 25-JANUARY 3 173-Seat Copley Theatre DECEMBER 4-20 DEC 21, 7PM DEC 22, 10AM /CityofAuroraIL @CityofAuroraIL /CityofAuroraIllinois www.aurora-il.org | 3 2015 Festival of Lights FREE Drive Through Holiday Experience! PHILLIPS PARK 1000 Ray Moses Dr., Aurora, IL 60505 Come Hear the Lights! www.AuroraFestivalofLights.com Your Name: WIN $100 FOR YOUR CHARITY! Fill out the coupon and bring to Phillips Park during the 2015 Festival of Lights season. One coupon will Your E-Mail: be drawn at the end of the Holiday season and awarded $100 to the charitable organization specified on the coupon. One entry per person. 4 | City ofCharitable Aurora | 2015 Organization: Issue 4 Customer Service – 630.256.INFO ABS15 (Organization must be 501.c3) Get out and enjoy winter in Aurora! Research Center gives inside look at GAR Despite the snow and the cold we know are and two ice rinks at Philips Park and coming, Aurorans have many reasons to look at Garfield Park, 817 Forest Avenue, are Museum collection forward to this upcoming winter. open sunrise to 10 p.m., weather permitting. The newChicago Premium Outlets ice Several downtown Aurora shops skating rink will also be open for holiday and museums are ready to make the shoppers. For hours of operation, go to season bright with extended hours for www.premiumoutlets.com. the holiday shopping season. (Visit www. auroradowntown.org for featured shops Or go for a winter hike along the and restaurants and a calendar of holiday Fox River Trail or the Virgil Gilman activities.) Holiday shoppers can find every Trail, at the Oakhurst Forest Preserve gift imaginable right here in Aurora, either or any of the dozens of parks and forest downtown or at West Aurora Plaza, at the preserves throughout the City. For a list beautiful Westfield Fox Valley Mall or the of amenities at City-owned parks, visit newly expanded Chicago Premium Outlets www.aurora-il.org/parksandrecreation. mall, or at any of the scores of other stores in neighborhoods throughout the City. The new GAR Research Center displays Aurora students show seldom-seen artifacts from the GAR Check out the 2015 Festival of Lights Memorial Museum collection. at Phillips Park, sponsored by the Aurora their creative side Rotary Club, for nearly a mile of light Anyone interested in exploring the grand displays, and more added each year. The The creativity of students from history of Aurora’s Grand Army of the drive-through experience runs through throughout Aurora is on display at the Republic Memorial Museum now can find December 27 and is FREE, but donations 18th annual Winter Garden of Youth assistance at the new GAR Research and benefit nonprofit organizations throughout Art exhibit at the Aurora Public Art Visible Storage Center. The Center, in the Aurora. Commission Gallery. The exhibit is first floor rear gallery of the Aurora Public made up of 170 art works created by Art Commission at the David L. Pierce Or coast down Lehnertz Avenue through students in kindergarten through high Art & History Center, 20 E. Downer January 2 for a homegrown Aurora tradition. school, from 34 Aurora schools. The art Place, opened in November. The Center The Chicago area’s largest neighborhood- works, in a variety of mediums, were is directly across Downer Place from the coordinated Christmas celebration features chosen by art teachers or other faculty GAR Museum. religious scenery, carolers and your favorite members from each school. Peanuts characters from 5 to 10:30 p.m. The Research Center features museum- nightly. The Winter Garden show runs quality visible storage cabinets displaying from December 4 through artifacts from the GAR Museum’s Bring your sleds and ice skates and enjoy a January 23 at the Art Commission collection that are usually kept in behind- blizzard of family fun on the snow and ice at Gallery, 20 E. Downer Place. For the-scenes storage. Displayed artifacts Phillips Park and Garfield Park this winter. information, call (630) 256-3340 include gas masks from World War I TheCity sledding hill near the Phillips or (630) 256-INFO. and II, Civil War battlefield accessories, Park Aquatic Center, 828 Montgomery Road, and artifacts from the many veterans’ organizations that met in the GAR Post 20 Hall since it opened in Aurora in 1878. In the Research Center, the Museum’s curator will be available by appointment to assist researchers in accessing portions of the GAR collection of 2,500 artifacts—including photographs, scrapbooks, records of GAR Post 20, and artifacts dating from the Civil War through Vietnam.