State partners with group for butterfly habitat effort

The Illinois Tollway Authority and the Natural Resources Defense Council recently partnered to create a habitat for monarch butterflies along 286 miles of the state’s roads, according to a recent report from the Associated Press. The effort includes plans to plant milkweed along roads. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, the source of food for the caterpillars that subsequently develop into the monarch butterflies, which is the state insect of Illinois. Experts say the monarch population is declining, primarily due to habitat destruction, according to the AP report. I hope the effort produces the desired results. The monarch butterfly is a pretty thing to watch fly on a summer day.

Military History Fest continues in St. Charles
The annual Military History Festival continues Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Pheasant Run Mega Center, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. The festival includes displays of military vehicles, heavy weapons, encampments and reenactors. The event also includes live music and children’s activities. Admission is $20 for adults. Children ages 12 and younger admitted free. For more information, call 630-336-2614.

Cougars plan job fair
The Kane County Cougars will host a job fair for seasonal employees from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva. The Cougars are looking to fill full and part-time seasonal positions, including concession stand staff, picnic servers, cooks and bartenders. Applications are available here and at the Cougars’ administrative offices at the ballpark. For more information, call 630-232-8811.
 
Batavia Brotherhood Banquet set for Feb. 16
The 46th annual Batavia Brotherhood Banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 2300 W. Main St., Batavia. The event will feature guest speaker Al Ritter, president of the Ritter Consulting Group. I enjoy attending the banquet. The featured presentations are always engaging, and the evening offers an opportunity for Christian fellowship.

Here's something I learned this week
Kelsey Wolf of nearby Winfield, IL is a member of the Baylor University’s Equestrian team. As of this writing, the team is 3-0 in conference competition and 8-0 overall. I always find it interesting to see where life takes people. I came across the roster for the Baylor team while working on an unrelated project and was surprised to see the name of a Winfield resident on a list that consisted mostly of students from Texas and California. You never what you might find once start looking around.



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Batavia to launch Winter Farmers Market Jan. 10

Batavia’s Winter Farmers Market will be open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 10 at Gaetano’s Batavia, 15 E. Wilson St. The market will offer organic breads, meats, eggs, and other items. The market will be open Saturdays through May 23. The market is presented by Batavia MainStreet.

All Canada Show continues at Pheasant Run
The annual All-Canada Show, featuring a fishing and hunting expo, continues Jan. 9 to Jan. 11 at the Pheasant Run Resort Mega Center, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles.  The show will offer exhibits, seminars and presentations. The show will be open 3 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for seniors. Children ages 17 and younger are admitted free. Parking is free. For more information, call 920-362-0966. 

Books Between Bites
The Batavia Public Library will its next installment of the Books Between Bites program at 1 p.m. Jan. 15. Steven Sullivan, a retired judge, will discuss Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism. Sullivan will discuss some of the event and personalities included in the book. The program is open to the public and admission is free. Attendees are invited to bring a lunch and eat during the program. The library is located at 10 S. Batavia Ave. in downtown Batavia. For information about future programs, click here.

Daddio’s featured in Illinois Farm Bureau publication
Daddio’s Diner, 134 W. Wilson St. in downtown Batavia, was featured in the winter edition of the Illinois Farm Bureau’s "Illinois Partners" magazine. I can endorse all the good things the article reports about Daddio’s. The cinnamon-raisin French toast is one of favorite items from Daddio’s menu, but I have a long list of favorites there. Make a point to visit Daddio’s and enjoy a meal. For more information about Daddio’s call 630-879-5299.

More from the Illinois Farm Bureau
I always enjoy reading the Illinois Farm Bureau’s "Illinois Partners" magazine. Each edition contains a variety of information about Illinois agriculture and Illinois farmers. The magazine covers a range of topics. Here’s a sampling from the publication’s winter edition:
• Dianne Ruff of downstate Lincoln is an artist who works with wheat. She practices the art of wheatweaving, according to an article by Joanie Stiers. Judging by the pictures accompanying the article, Ruff appears to a talented weaver of wheat. 
• Illinois farms produced 46.2 million bushels of wheat in 2014, ranking the state near among the top 15 wheat producing states in the U.S. according to Wheat 101, an interesting little article.
• Jan Phipps offers Tips for the Aging Gardener, a brief item chock full of helpful suggestions. I am not a talented gardener, but I like the activity and enjoy the outdoors. I make a point of visiting local hardware stores and garden centers during the winter months just to look at outdoor tools and daydream about warm days and sunny skies. 

And one more item from the Illinois Farm Bureau
Our friends at the Illinois Farm Bureau sent word reminding us January is National Egg Month and sharing some interesting facts about eggs. Here are some of the points I found most interesting.
• About 6.1 billion dozen eggs are produced each year in the U.S.
• A typical adult will eat about 250 eggs each year. I’m sure total count of consumed eggs is much higher than the average.
• Illinois is ranked 25th in the nation for egg production.•Most eggs produced today will be at the grocery store within 72 hours. That is an accomplishment worth noting, I think.Share news and photos about your organization or business here. 

— Email information and photos to kbotterman@gmail.com. Please include caption information for each photo. Like Fox Valley Notes on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.