Waste ideas
When was the last time you thought about how much garbage you produce and where it goes?
For a week, 110 students at a summer program at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora saved all their old soda cans, as well as plastic and glass bottles and other non-food wastes, so ”they could get an up-close, personal look at the waste stream,” according to teacher Mark Pennington. They threw away their food items because of health considerations, he said.
The idea was to show the students, who will enter 9th and 10th grades in schools throughout Illinois this fall, that they are part of the problem of overflowing landfills and that they can be part of the solution, Pennington said.
The boys and girls were at the academy as part of its summer program whose theme this year was ”impact on society.” Among other things, the students focused on genetic engineering, ethics and environmental issues, like garbage.
In classes they learned about landfills and how quickly they become filled with the waste that people produce, Pennington said.
As a graphic demonstration, the students took all their junk after one week to the gymnasium, where it was separated into piles of plastic, aluminum and glass.
And just how much did they produce? Phrased in non-metric terms, it was a pile about 4 1/2 feet high, 4 1/2 feet wide and 1/2 feet in length. A tidy argument for recycling.
Better than Ninja Turtles
Those hard-bodied jocks-”Yellow Beard,” ”Oops,” ”Sluggo” and ”Slow Joe”-that competed in the Turtle Olympix in Lisle last weekend proved to be a bigger draw than the four mask-wearing, pizza-munching, sewer-inhabiting superheroes on the silver screen.
Sure Raphael and crew are adept at martial arts tricks, but organizers of the event say the teenage mutants still would be no match for their counterparts in Lisle.
Almost 50 turtles, the real-life variety, dazzled a crowd of 250 by scaling hills, descending slopes, clearing hurdles and racing-make that creeping-through an obstacle course.
What began as an attempt to poke fun at the slow-moving reptile has evolved into a serious event, now in its fifth year. The Olympix drew turtle owners from all across Du Page County, many of whom spent months coaching their pets. The olympians raced to the tune of ”Radetsky March” and other Strauss compositions, while a turtle medic stood by to treat strained muscles. At the end, the winners faced the U.S. flag as they received their gold, silver and bronze medals.
The contest was sponsored by Friends of the Lisle Library to raise the public`s awareness about turtles.
Hello, Dolly
Lemont is, reportedly, going nuts over the anticipated arrival of mega-movie star Dolly Parton. And when she gets here next week for some Lemont scenes she`s shooting in a new film called ”Straight Talk,” there will be at least seven people she can`t miss as she strolls down Main Street in front of Budnik`s Pharmacy.
Budnik`s is an old family-run apothecary that`s the main reason for Parton`s visit to Lemont. It`s a 1922 building with a panoramic view in the background that creates just the back-hills look the producers want.
Eight of the Hollywood folks strolled into Budnik`s in February, oohing and aahing over the quaintness.
”You could tell they were from the East Coast or West Coast by the way they were dressed. And they were just taking pictures of the place,” said Robert Max McDowell, a family friend who is keeping the pharmacy running while a new generation of Budniks is going to pharmacy school.
The Budniks were more than pleased to host the visit of a movie star, the likes of which have not been seen in Lemont since Steve McQueen filmed ”The Hunter.”
So this time, he ordered two dozen neon-colored hats that say, ”Hello, Dolly, Lemont, Ill.”
So far, though, he has sold only seven.
”But if you get one, you`ll be the only one with it. There won`t be one on every street you walk down,” he said.
Despite the poor sales, McDowell says, ”There`s a frenzy here. There really is.”
For now, perhaps, the frenzy may be more accurately gauged by the constant calls to the drugstore asking if Dolly has arrived yet.
