Woodridge Park District Considers Building Athletic Recreation Center

The center is proposed to be built along Janes Avenue.

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest Woodridge news in your inbox.  The Woodridge Park District Board is considering an $18 million construction project to build a 76,000-square-feet athletic recreation center along Janes Avenue. The center, as currently proposed, would offer basketball and volleyball courts, turf fields, six batting cages, fitness and strength rooms, two aerobics rooms, an elevated track, a café and a child watch area. Construction could begin in 2014 and be complete in 2015. The Woodridge Park District board reviewed a feasibility study for the center at a special board meeting Saturday but has yet to approve the project.  Two locations are currently proposed for the recreation center: Read more about the center'…

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Samantha

9:59 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Yep, saw that you said that - I'm holding my judgement until I see that information.   more ›

Rotary to Host Blues and Jazz Event Sept. 11

The Rotary Club of Woodridge will host its second annual jazz event at Seven Bridges Golf Course.

The Rotary Club of Woodridge will host its second music fundraising event on Sunday, Sept. 11. Woodridge blues and jazz musician John Kattke (aka Brother John) and his band will perform for dinner guests at Seven Bridges Golf Club. Brother John also performed last year at the Rotary's "Jazz Off the Dock" event, the first music fundraising event for the club. A tribute to the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11 will take place at 6 p.m. before dinner. A cash bar will be available at 5:30 p.m. and the band will play at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $65 a person and can be purchased with cash or check only. No tickets will be sold at the door. To purchase tickets, you can contact the Club at woodridgerotary@gmail.com. You can also contact …

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Gina Grady Recognized for 25 Years with the Village

Gina Grady is the deputy chief of support services for the Woodridge Police Department.

Woodridge Deputy Police Chief Gina Grady was recognized Thursday for 25 years with the village at Thursday night’s Village Board meeting. Grady is the deputy chief of support services for the Woodridge Police Department. Woodridge Police Chief Steve Herron introduced Grady to the Village Board and those in the audience. Grady started with the department on July 26, 1986. She oversees the detective, records and special projects units, as well as the Woodridge Community Resource Center. Herron said she also has been the supervisor of communication during the department’s transition to DU-COMM for police dispatch services. Grady has held several positions in the department. She was an undercover agent for the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement …

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Spots Still Open for Woodridge CRC After-School Programs

The Community Resource Center offers after-school and summer programming for Woodridge's younger residents.

The Woodridge Community Resource Center finished its eight-week summer program Thursday.  Sixty-five Woodridge kids in first through sixth grades took part in the program, which provides tutoring, field trips and other activities to keep the kids busy.  Students regularly receive tutoring in whatever area they need, said Kate Croteau, management analyst of the Woodridge Police Department.  Croteau said she helped tutor a student last year during two, one-hour weekly sesions.  Every Thursday, the students go on a field trip. This summer's field trips included trips to a Chicago White Sox game, Brunswick Zone Bowling, Cypress Cove Family Aquatic Park and Hollywood Blvd. Cinema and miniature golf, fishing in the DuPage Forest Preserve, …

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Community Development Block Grants Will Pay to Resurface Streets, Fund CRC

The Woodridge village board voted to move forward with the two grants at Thursday's board meeting.

The Woodridge village board voted Thursday to approve two subgrantee agreements to move forward with community development grants received from DuPage County.  The two community development block grants will fund the operation of the Woodridge Community Resource Center as well as street resurfacing projects in the neighborhood around Janes Avenue.  To receive CDBG funds, the area must meet certain federal income eligibility requirements. The Janes Avenue Neighborhood Strategy area is the only area within Woodridge that meets those requirements, according to village. The first grant provides $10,375 for the Woodridge Community Resource Center. The money will fund programs at the center.  “The purpose of the activities funded pursuant to …

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Medley from CRC's Dress Rehearsal

A sampling of the Woodridge Community Resource Center's dance production, which will take place tonight at 7 p.m. at St. Scholastica.  Songs included in this medley: 

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Using Balloons to Spread a Message

The Woodridge Community Resource Center celebrates Lights On Afterschool Day with its annual balloon release.

The Woodridge Community Resource Center has been celebrating Lighs On Afterschool! since 2000. The day celebrates after-school programs like those offered at the CRC and spreads awareness for the continued need of these programs. To spread the word, students involved in CRC programs release yellow balloons. Each balloon has a postcard with a student's comments about why he or she thinks after-school programs are important. Whoever finds the balloon is asked to mail the postcard back so the students can see how far their message flew. Check out a video of the release below. Look for a longer video of the day later on Monday.

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PHOTO: The Karate I Witnessed on My Patch Give 5 Day

Students at the Woodridge Community Resource Center show off their moves.

On Thursday, I spent a few hours volunteering at the Woodridge Community Resource. I cleaned some tables, cut out paper lightbulbs to promote the center's annual upcoming balloon launch and witnessed fourth through sixth graders practice their karate. Check out the photos below to see the students practice their kicks and punches.

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Patch Give 5 Day: What It Means and Where I'll Be Today

Hundreds of Patch employees dedicate five work days a year to volunteering.

I love volunteering. There's something so wonderful about devoting time - one of your most precious commodities - to doing work that will benefit someone or something other than yourself. But finding the time to volunteer can be tricky. Enter Patch's Give 5 Day. You see, at Patch, we get five work days a year to volunteer in the communities we work. Hundreds of Patch employees nationally will be volunteering. Thursday is my second Give 5 Day. My first was in August, celebrating the launch of Patch's 100th site. Patch now has 230 sites in 12 states and the District of Columbia. I spent that five Give 5 Day at the West Suburban Community Food Pantry. I helped sort and organize food and packed food for the pantry's clients. Today (Thursday) I…

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