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The WoodsTock INdepeNdeNT

Nov. 21-27, 2012

Whats on your Thanksgiving list?

If you think Thanksgiving seems early this year, you are 100 percent correct. For 60 years, Thanksgiving has been the fourth Thursday of November the result of U.S. Congressional action in 1941. This year, Thanksgiving is Nov. 22 the earliest possible date for a fourth Thursday. Motivated by the worship service at First Presbyterian Church in Champaign that we attended Sunday, grandchildren J.T., Calvin and Reagan; husband, Jim; and I made a Thanksgiving list on our drive back to Woodstock. It was not a list of groceries needed for Thanksgiving dinner nor people we will be with Thursday, but things that warm our hearts and for which we give thanks. It was tempting to include gratitude for the end of the University of Illinois 2012 home football games. We attended the final one Saturday and watched the Illini suffer their 13th Big Ten loss in a row. The children said putting the end of the season on our list would be making a joke instead of being thankful. Reagan, 7, said she is thankful for her mother and father, grandparents, the family dog, Allie, and maybe, my sister and brothers. Jim, who was driving, said he was thankful for the weekends beautiful and unseasonably warm weather and for happy, healthy families. Calvin, 10, having listened during the Cheryl service, was thankWormley ful for transportation, adding it would have taken us about Declarations a week to walk to Champaign. I offered being thankful for grandchildren and, then, one of the seen and unseen blessings mentioned during the service being able to cast a ballot. As we passed Walker Station, a few miles south of Yorkville on Route 47, I laughed and said, I was thankful I hadnt left my purse behind like I did the first year Calvin and J.T. went to a U of I football game with Jim and me. It was at Walker Station in 2010 that I remembered leaving my purse in Gibson City. J.T., 10, who hadnt contributed to the list making at that point and remembered the 150-mile round trip to retrieve the purse, spoke up. Im thankful for that, too. His comment prompted me to add that I was thankful for grandsons who now make certain I have my purse before leaving a restaurant. As I write, Im adding to the list: good health, friends, employment, retirement, marriage, sharing, loving and working together. Im thankful to live in a country that upholds freedoms of religion, speech and the press and the right to assemble and to petition the government. Ill add to the list the three-hour drive to Thanksgiving dinner with Jims cousins and his 98-year-old aunt in western Illinois. Whats on your Thanksgiving list? Find a paper and something to write with and begin focusing on your blessings, too. Small Business Saturday I invite you to join me and, hopefully, hundreds of Woodstock residents in support of Small Business Saturday Woodstock, Nov. 24. Spend at least $50 purchasing holiday gifts from small independently owned businesses in Woodstock. John Trione, general manager of The Woodstock Independent, has led the

charge for this years Small Business Saturday Woodstock. I thank him and so do the small business owners in our community. In fact, everyone in Woodstock will benefit from the success of Small Business Saturday Woodstock. Be creative. You can buy gifts in stores around the Square, in the downtown and along the Route 47 and Highways 14 and 120 corridors. Maybe youll buy something from a friend or neighbor who has a home-based business. You can purchase gift certificates for restaurants, yoga classes, massages, oil changes, manicures, tanning, fitness, snow plowing or whatever is your idea of a perfect gift. You can send Christmas flowers or holiday goodies to neighbors and friends. If you need an idea or help matching a gift idea to a small business in Woodstock, call The Independent staff at 815338-8040. We will help find the small business that sells or provides what you want to give. And now, from all of us at The Woodstock Independent, a very happy Thanksgiving.

Cheryl Wormley is publisher of The Woodstock Independent.

Thrilled by the chase?

As we venture into deer hunting season, perhaps it would be beneficial to take the time to weigh the pros and cons of hunting in general and to think about what hunting really means. There are many people currently taking advantage of and pushing for new hunting laws. Though I do enjoy fishing from time to time with my father, Ive never been a fan of hunting. I once briefly dated a guy who couldnt seem to get enough of the sport his walls were covered with his stuffed victims, which ranged from deer to geese to badger. And he didnt stop there. Hed also hunted coyote and bear. Once, I asked him if he `would ever kill an elephant (my favorite animal) if given the opportunity and if he could get away with it. He hesitated. I knew then hunting meant something more to him than putting food on the table. While I dont like hunting in general, Im not against the use of it in moderation in cases of certain animal overpopulation and if people use all the meat of the animal they hunt. However, we dont live in the wilds of Antarctica, and I still find hunting unnecessary most of the Rhonda time. My main issue Mix with hunting arises when I believe people are particiMix pating for unethical Messages reasons killing animals merely for sport or for a prized rack. I know there are too many deer, and deer have been known to leap out unsuspectingly and cause traffic accidents. In fact, Independent ad sales representative Melissa Knight recently hit a doe as she was traveling down Highway 120 at 55 miles per hour. She said there was absolutely nothing she could do as the deer instantaneously

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appeared in front of her truck and the accident caused $2,300 worth of damage to her vehicle. So, I suppose one benefit of hunting is to obviously control the everexpanding deer population which infringes on our daily lives (thank God deer arent in charge or humans would be in trouble). With that being said, I do know some people hunt simply for the thrill of the chase, and to me, this is where the line crosses into something unethical. Recently, a friend of mine told me he found a doe in Boone County that had been shot and left to die. No one came to claim the deer. The meat could have fed starving and homeless people, but instead, whoever shot the poor beast chose to take its life coldheartedly. This sort of hunting is a waste. It is completely meaningless and also is disheartening to know there are some individuals out there who regularly hunt in this manner. In Native American culture, hunted animals were honored. Native American hunters often would say a prayer or perform a ritual over any animal lives which were

taken, showing their gratitude and respect for the lives lost. This hunting season, it would be wonderful for people to recall the quote from Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe: I will make one condition - the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. Whether we choose to engage in hunting or not, lets respect the animals.

Rhonda Mix is a staff writer for The Woodstock Independent.

I NDEPENDENT
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The Woodstock Independent (Usps #001287) is published weekly at 671 e. calhoun st., Woodstock, IL 60098-3213. periodicals postage paid at Woodstock, Illinois. POSTMASTERS: Forward address changes to The Woodstock Independent, 671 e. calhoun st., Woodstock, IL 60098-3213. Subscription rates/year: $35 in Woodstock and Wonder Lake, $37 in Mchenry county, $42 for snowbirds and $50 outside Mchenry county. Letters to the editor: We welcome letters of general interest to the community and reserve the right to edit for clarity or length. Letters should be fewer than 400 words, and writers are limited to one letter per month. Letters are due at noon Wednesday and must be signed and include the writers address and a telephone number for verification purposes only. Corrections: The Woodstock Independent strives for accuracy. To suggest corrections or clarifications, email news@ thewoodstockindependent.com.

The

Woodstock

staff
Cheryl Wormley Publisher c.wormley@thewoodstockindependent.com John C. Trione General M anaGer gm@thewoodstockindependent.com Mike Neumann news editor news@thewoodstockindependent.com Katelyn Stanek Creative direCtor katelyn@thewoodstockindependent.com Jay Schulz editorial assistant/sPorts editor jay@thewoodstockindependent.com Rhonda Mix staff writer rhonda@thewoodstockindependent.com Jason Reinhardt GraPhiC desiGner jreinhardt@thewoodstockindependent.com Display Advertising Melissa knight, melissa@ thewoodstockindependent.com, Brian Borcherding, brian@thewoodstockindependent.com Classified Advertising classifieds@thewoodstockindependent.com Columnists John daab, Lisa haderlein, dick hattan, Lisa kelly, paul Lambert, debbie skozek, Tony casalino, Beth ryan, peter anderson, Laura Witlox, paul Lockwood Editorial Cartoonist Jim pearson Photographers Michelle krenger, ken Farver, alisa ellegood Proofreaders Tricia carzoli, don humbertson Reporters Tricia carzoli, carolyn handrock, elizabeth harmon, Jason Learman, Megan Ivers Special Correspondent don peasley

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