Dear Neighbors,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. This pandemic has upended many of our family and community traditions in 2020. I still find it hard to believe that we had to cancel our Village picnic this year. The Village picnic has been an annual tradition since 1993. A pandemic is the only thing that I can think of that would have forced us to cancel this very important community event. Many of you shared with me how much you missed this year’s picnic. I continue to be hopeful that we will able to resume our annual picnic in 2021.
Dear Neighbors:
On behalf of the Village Board, we hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the past several months I have been working with state officials, county officials, local mayors and village presidents to monitor the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on our state, local governments and businesses. Throughout all these discussion, it became very apparent that it would not be possible this summer for large groups of people to congregate safely, so the Village Board made the painstaking decision to cancel Ringwood’s 2020 annual community picnic. As elected officials we have no greater responsibility than to protect the health and safety of all residents. Our annual community picnic has been a tradition since 1993. I am hopeful that our annual community picnic will be back bigger and better than ever in 2021.
At the January Village Board meeting, the Village Board approved an ordinance authorizing the use of Non-Highway Vehicles (golf carts/UTV’s) on roads located in the Village of Ringwood, except for Route 31, Barnard Mill, Pioneer and Ringwood Roads. This ordinance was developed in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Illinois Rules of the Road and the Illinois Vehicle Code.
Please mark your calendar! On Saturday, October 26th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm the Village and Rusty Nail have teamed up to co-host an Octoberfest in Ringwood. The purpose of this event is to mark the 25th anniversary of Ringwood’s incorporation and the grand opening of Rusty Malts ice cream and coffee shop. On November 8, 1994, the residents of Ringwood voted overwhelmingly to incorporate Ringwood. The event will be held in the Ringwood Commons Park. Food and music will be provided. Join us to celebrate these two very special occasions.
This has been a very busy and productive year in Ringwood. On April 12th & 13th the Village successfully completed our Community Build Project for the installation of the e Village Hall park playground equipment. Our goal was to get at least 15 volunteers for this event. Thank you for the generosity and support from so many residents and the local business community, approximately 35 volunteers participated in the Community Build project. By any measure this was a big success for our community. By choosing Community Build option, the Village saved approximately $14,000 in installation costs.
Dear Neighbors,
As a reminder, the Village Board voted to purchase playground equipment for the Village Hall park at the September Village Board meeting. See picture on page 2. To install the playground equipment, the Village Board chose the community build option. The community build option requires us to provide the labor and the company provides a person to supervise and direct the build. This option will save the Village thousands of dollars. We will need at least 15 volunteers on Saturday, April 13th. To qualify to be a volunteer you need to be at least 18 years of age and able-bodied. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Village Clerk Roni Bushroe no later than Friday, March 29th at: 815-321-1899. Please leave your name and number with Roni in the event that we have to cancel the community build option if we do not get enough volunteers. For those that volunteer, lunch will be provided from the Rusty Nail. Thank you in advance for volunteering.
Dear Neighbors:
As I am sure you have heard by now, Ringwood Building Inspector/Zoning Enforcement Officer Randy Funk passed away unexpectedly in September. During his time with the Village, Randy worked very hard to be the best building inspector/zoning enforcement officer that he could be. Randy took great pride in his job and always wanted to do right by the Village, our residents and businesses that he served. Randy will be fondly remembered and missed by the Village Board. Immediately following Randy’s death, I received unsolicited phone calls from businesses and residents that Randy worked with expressing their condolences and telling me how much they enjoyed working with him. This is high praise for a building inspector and zoning enforcement officer. In October, the Village planted a tree in the Village Hall Park in Randy’s memory.
On Sunday, August 26th, Ringwood will hold its Annual Town Picnic. The Picnic will begin at noon at the Village Hall. Back by popular demand will be the "Moon Walk”, a rock climbing wall, DJ entertainment and much more. I am happy to report that Dow will again provide the meat (pig roast, hamburgers and hot dogs) and side dishes. It will be catered by Ringwood’s own Rusty Nail Bar & Grill. The food will be served from 12:30 P.M. till 2:00 P.M., and the door prize raffle drawing will begin at 2:30 P.M. Sweet corn and ice cream will be provided by the Village.
Dear Neighbors:
In 2018, your Village officials plan to resurface Barnard Mill Road from the intersection of Ringwood Road east to Route 31. Ringwood Road will also be paved from the intersection of Route 120 to just east of South Solon Road. I’m happy to report that we were successful in obtaining a Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) grant for this project. This is a 80/20 grant. So the Village of Ringwood, Johnsburg, City of McHenry and McHenry Township will be responsible for 20% of the cost of this project. The 20% will be divided according to the percentage of Ringwood Road that is within each jurisdictions boundary. Bids for this project were opened in January. Curran Contracting Company was the low bidder in the amount of $1,610,135.29. Construction on this project is expected to begin the week of April 16th.
Dear Neighbors:
It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you that Trustee Dan Bushroe passed away suddenly in July after a short illness. During his time on the Village Board Dan worked on numerous Public Works projects throughout the Village. Dan was someone you could always count on to help set up for the annual picnic, put up and take down signs for the annual Garage Sale Days and to help prepare the Village Hall for Santa’s annual visit each year. Dan was always willing to help out his fellow board members responding to downed trees after a storm. Dan was a voice of reason and common sense on the Village Board. He will always be remembered and missed by his fellow board members for years to come.
