fright night

Trick-or-treating hours in Champaign and Urbana are not as arbitrary as they may seem. Several years ago (I have not been able to pinpoint exactly when) Champaign and Urbana, in consultation with the Champaign County Board, developed a policy that sets trick-or-treating hours in perpetuity.

** Halloween/Trick-or-Treat will be held on October 31, regardless of what day of the week it is.
** If October 31 falls on a weekday (Monday through Friday), trick-or-treat hours will be 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 p.m.
** If October 31 falls on a weekend day (Saturday or Sunday), trick-or-treat hours will be 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

So trick or treating will go on as scheduled in Champaign and Urbana (other towns have different hours; here’s the complete list from the N-G) from 5 to 7 p.m.

I don’t really care when trick-or-treat hours are, but this year is a whole different animal. With the University of Illinois football game starting at 2:30 p.m., an exception should have been considered for this year, to push the hours back to 6-8 p.m. Halloween is the already one of the most dangerous nights of the year for kids. According to a story in USA Today, children are more than twice as likely to be killed by a car while walking on Halloween than any other night of the year.

And while we can insert our own jokes here about how pathetic the UI football team is this year — that they are scarier than any horror film — the reality is that this game will bring a lot of people to town.  It is inevitable that a lot of drivers will be on the streets during trick-or-treat hours (did we mention how inebriated some of these drivers might be?). Sure, people might leave early. But there is always the chance of a close game, meaning people will be leaving the stadium while our pirates and Tinkerbelles are out on the streets.

It’s not often that Halloween and a home football game collide. In fact, it hasn’t happened since 1987, according to the News-Gazette. While it’s too late now, I would hope that officials would use some common sense if this conflict every arises again. If you’re concerned about this, please email my friend Julie Wurth (jwurth@news-gazette.com) at the N-G, who is writing an article on this topic for Friday’s paper.

since when did halloween become …

Christmas?

My daughter is obsessed with Halloween decorations. Any time we are out on a walk, or out for a drive, we have to keep our eyes peeled. I’ve given up trying to point things out to her from a car window. That’s more than my 3-year-old can handle.

We have a few good ones in our neighborhood. By good ones I mean displays that are fun and in the spirit of Halloween – the fun Halloween, not the downright-disturbing-giving-me-nightmares Halloween.

But I’m sure all of you have one in your neighborhood. If you know of a fun, not-too-scary Halloween display at a house in Champaign, Urbana or Savoy, do tell in the comments below.

spread the word

The good news is that the big big project I’ve been gestating for the past six months is about to fly the coop. And I realized I’ve neglected to make the big announcement here.

So, in case you haven’t heard, we are preparing to launch a new Web community for families with children in the Champaign-Urbana metro area. Chambanamoms.com will be a place where local moms can find and tap outstanding local family and parenting resources, and will also come together online and off for community, commiseration and, most of all, friendship. We plan to publish the site in mid-November.

So far, we have been awed by the response to our facebook fan page and our twitter @chambanamoms. We are asking moms to fill out a short survey so we can learn more about our audience, and so far we’ve received almost 100 responses. I invite you, if you haven’t already done so, to consider filling one out yourself. By completing the survey, you can enter a drawing to win a $20 gift card to B. Lime, the wonderful eco-boutique in downtown Champaign.

If you have any ideas or questions, or you’re interested in partnering with us, please contact us via email at Editor@chambanamoms.com.

And thanks for sharing my excitement. In the coming weeks, I’ll give some more insight into the project and how it all came about.

deja vu all over again

The Tragedy at the Mall is not over, folks. In fact, it’s worse than ever. A  chain of puppy outlets will be opening in the former Unlucky Puppy space at Marketplace Mall. This operation has stores in LaSalle-Peru, Rockford, Sterling, and some in suburban Chicago.

So now Champaign has not one, but two retailers selling puppy mill pets. (If you’re wondering why this is a bad thing, here’s some information from the Humane Society of the United States.)

The best news about UnLucky Puppy moving is that it is now located where people can picket it. A protest, organized by UI students, will take place this Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon across the street from UnLucky Puppy, by Hays Recreation Center. After 12:30, the protest will move to the corner of Wright and Green on campus, by the Alma Mater statue.

You can still write to the folks at Marketplace and express your disgust with their new tenant. However, with its parent company in bankruptcy, I’m guessing they could care less. Better yet, write a letter to the editor of the News-Gazette and educate the public why this should not be tolerated in our community.

stop the presses

A few days ago, Mr. lbotp came home from a Custard Cup run with big, big news. STOP THE PRESSES news.

There’s a sign there, he said, about a drive-thru coming soon.

DRIVE-THRU? Did someone say there is going to be a DRIVE-THRU at Custard Cup? Hide the children. I mean really, are they trying to kill me?

I called over to Jarling’s to dig up some more info. “It’s going to be very exciting,” the man on the phone said. They plan to open the drive-thru in the next month, after they repave the parking lot and do some other maintenance work.

O. M. G.

I was definitely a latecomer to the cult of Custard Cup. When I first moved here, I tried it and dismissed it out of hand. Here was the problem: I ordered the wrong thing. The first thing I tried was the chocolate flavor, because I am and always will be a chocolate person. But really, the chocolate custard by itself is no big whoop.

The cold fudge, on the other hand, is a VERY BIG WHOOP to my taste buds. And while I don’t recall the exact confluence of events that turned me on to the vanilla cold fudge sundae, I’ve been hooked ever since.

Add Custard Cup to the list of parent-friendly businesses (ie drive-thru accessible) in C-U.

Holy Snowstorm!

switching gears

A few weeks ago, I made one of my periodic visits to my favorite aesthetician (a very fancy word for someone who tortures you in the name of vanity) at a downtown Champaign salon.

I have been a client of this woman — we’ll call her V — for many years, probably most of my married life and a good majority of the time I have lived here. I have tried others, but no one is as good as she is, at least for me. Our match was serendipitous; I was just randomly assigned to her one time when I needed a particular service.

At the end of my recent torture session visit, V handed me a card and in a quiet voice told me that she was moving. Again.

This will be V’s third different location — from Southwest Champaign, to downtown Champaign, and now to downtown Urbana — since I became her client. And since I know a good thing when I have it, I have dutifully followed, and continue to do so.

As someone who is in the process of starting up my own gig, I am excited that V has the opportunity to go into business for herself. But selfishly, I have had reasons for liking her other locations. The first one was not too far from my house. The second, convenient for when I wanted to lunch before or after a visit, or run errands. I guess being forced to go to Art Mart or Heel to Toe isn’t be such a terrible sentence.

I wish V all the best in her new venture. And I will celebrate her move by treating myself to a facial.

september to remember

A few days ago I was feeling all melancholy. Partly it was due to the reality that summer is almost over; that’s an annual occurrence. But this year we were caught up in back-to-school mania, and when that excitement subsided, I needed something to look forward to.

As it turns out, September is a very busy month full of fun. Here’s what’s on my September wish list:

1) The Arthur Cheese Festival, the Arcola Broom Corn Festival and the National Sweetcorn Festival. Yum.

2) The candy parade, also known as the Labor Day parade, is this Monday at 10 a.m. The children of Champaign and Urbana were disappointed when rain washed out the annual Fourth of July parade this summer. But they don’t allow candy throwing there anyway. Bring bags with you; hope you like those tootsie rolls.

3) The free Dan Zanes dance party in the Krannert lobby at noon on September 11.

4) Later that day will be the first C-U Pecha Kucha Night, 8 p.m. at the Canopy Club, Urbana. According to its promoters “Pecha Kucha Night is an international phenomenon that brings creatives together for an evening of quick-fire, “show and tell”-type presentations, networking, and fun.” I already have the sitter lined up.

5) The next C-U Tweetup. This one will be at Boltini Lounge on Thursday, September 24.

6) The Fur Ball, September 25. I really hope to make it this year to the Champaign County Humane Society’s annual dinner.

What’s on your list?

ringing in my ear

Several things are rattling around in my brain this week:

• As Audrey reported in the comments of my recent post about The Tragedy At The Mall closing up shop, rumor has it that they will be setting up shop in the space next to Huber’s on Church Street. The “business” may be expanding to include grooming, I’m hearing. Perhaps we’ll have to start calling it The Tragedy on Church Street. Stay tuned.

• Not all of us are lucky enough to live around the corner from a well-tended park like Champaign’s Hessel or Urbana’s Meadowbrook. One small town in Champaign County desperately needs an extreme park makeover, and new blogger Joanna is on a mission to rebuild Thomasboro’s West Side Park so her toddler son and all kids in the community have a safe place to play.

• Speaking of makeovers, want to catch a glimpse of Ty Pennington but don’t want to brave the crowds surrounding the Extreme Makeover house in Philo? I’m thinking you might want to hang around the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. That seems to be where the cast and crew have set up shop.

• In shopping news … Circles Boutique has reopened at its new location at 114 N. Neil St. in downtown Champaign. They will be celebrating this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with several trunk shows.

stop the four-way madness

Sometimes people in this town are downright schizophrenic. They love this place because it’s got the comforts of a big city, but the feel of a small town. Or vice versa. Anyway, one of the ways this is obvious is by the number of four-way stops in C-U. A good majority are in Urbana, which has earned its nickname as the land of four-way stops.

I’m no civil engineer or urban planner, so I’m not sure what qualifies an intersection for a stoplight. But I know a bad corner when I see one. One such place, oddly enough, is not in Urbana. It’s over in Champaign. And I drive through it all the dang time: the corner of First Street and St. Mary’s Road.

Why there is no stoplight at this intersection absolutely befuddles me. With the development of the I Hotel, the continued expansion of the Research Park and last but not least the Assembly Hall, it is well-trafficked and not just on game days. Not to mention that out of the four ways that stop there, three of those ways have two lanes.

The other day I drove east on St. Mary’s and was about to turn north onto First Street on my way to campus. I stopped at the line, and was sure it was my turn to go. But there was a big white truck blocking my view of First Street’s other southbound lane, so I cautiously inched into the intersection. Good thing I did, because there was a guy in a convertible talking on a cell phone who basically blew past the stop sign and would have run right into me if I had proceeded.

For some reason, I happened to look in my rear-view mirror after I safely passed the intersection. Wouldn’t you know it, but there were some flashing red lights going after my friend on the cell phone. Evidently, there had been a police car right behind mine. Can’t say I wasn’t smugly pleased.

So, Mr. Obama, throw us some stimulus money to eradicate this epidemic. Or maybe you already have.

there’s nothing like summer in c-u

I wonder if in my lifetime I will return to my hometown and not have to answer the many variations of the same question over and over and again: Do you like living in C-U? Well, one of the things that I hate about living here is that we are so far away from our families. That has a lot of baggage attached to it in many ways. But the way I mean right now is that because our families are far — my parents live in the Chicago suburbs, while Mr. lbotp’s family is about 3.5 hours in another direction — we travel a lot in the summer.  And that means we miss a lot of the summer fun in our adopted hometown.

It doesn’t look like we’ll make it to the first annual Bark for Life, the Downtown Festival of the Arts, and s’mores in Savoy. Or the Outside at the Research Park concert. Or the Third Sunday Market (made it once and now I’m hooked) this weekend. Not to mention the Market at the Square. I hate missing that.

Bummer.