Wauconda News & Headlines
We have listed some recent news items that highlight the accomplishments of our community members, businesses, and municipal government. If you have news to submit, please CLICK HERE to contact Linda Krajniak with your information.
Karrie Diol Named New Principal at Robert Crown School
On October 20, 2011, the Wauconda CUSD 118 Board of Education named Mrs. Karrie Diol as incoming Principal at Robert Crown School for the 2012/2013 school year. Mrs. Diol has been the Assistant Principal at Robert Crown School since the 2008/2009 school year and was recently recognized for being named the 2010/2011 Assistant Principal of the Year for the Lake Region by the Illinois Principal’s Association.
Mrs. Diol taught Kindergarten at Wauconda Grade School and Robert Crown School for a total of three years and was a teacher at John Jay Elementary School in Mt. Prospect, Illinois for thirteen years, which included some teacher leadership/administrative experience. Mrs. Diol received her Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education from Illinois State University and earned her Masters Degree in Educational Administration and Leadership from National Louis University. She has been involved in many District 118 initiatives and served as a Grade Level Facilitator at Wauconda Grade School. The vacancy was the result of current Principal’s Tom Brennan announced retirement at the conclusion of the 2011/2012 school year.
Green Shop Tries to Keep Parts Out of Landfills
WAUCONDA – Nathan Green doesn’t necessarily like to play off his name when it comes to his business. But the 32-year-old Hawthorn Woods native can’t really help it when his mission in rebuilding motorcycles is to be, well, green.
Green opened up Green Machine Customs about two years ago mostly because he had a basement overflowing with motorcycle parts. Now, his shop in Wauconda houses those parts and other equipment he uses to do custom paint jobs, custom builds and other projects customers bring him. “I started building bikes in college,” Green said. “It was entertaining. People would say, ‘Can you make me that?’”
In today’s tough economy, Green has found that many people want motorcycles that are functional, not flashy. And that works perfectly with his business model, he said. Green stands apart from dealerships because he doesn’t use high-end parts to fix or rebuild motorcycles unless he has to. “[If you have a] Yamaha, they’ll replace a wheel with a Yamaha wheel, even though it will cost more,” Green said of dealership mechanics. “Some people know that. Other people are just super comfortable going to a dealer because they think it’s going to get done right.”
While Green said those customers have every right to go to a dealership, he prefers to recycle parts as often as possible. “Bikes are interesting,” he said. “If a bike goes down – and if a bike is 2 to 3 years old – 90 percent of the time, insurance [companies] will total the bike out.” However, many times motorcycle parts from a bike that has been in a fall will only have a slight scuff or scratch on them, Green said. Those parts still are in complete working order. Green will sand down the scuffed parts and use powder coating – a process in which paint is applied in powder form, then baked in an oven – to make them shine like new. Not only is the powder coating more durable than paint, but it’s more environmentally friendly, Green said. “It’s about as harmful as breathing in dust,” he said.
And by using those parts – upon which he stakes his reputation as a business owner – he’s creating custom street fighters that his customers can afford, and he’s staying true to his company name. “If I can, I’m going to [recycle],” he said. “I do my best to keep [parts] out of landfills, make sure the oil is going to the right spot.”
Dillon Kondrick, 24, of Milwaukee, found Green Machine Customs on a motorcycle forum – FZRarchives.com – and was intrigued with the good reviews the shop had, he said. “I had purchased a motorcycle [from] a neighbor, and it was just in really bad shape,” Kondrick said. “It ran, but the bike was a 1989, so when I bought it, there was some rust on there, and the parts were old. I just wanted it to be new again.” Green took Kondrick’s Yamaha FZR 600 and sandblasted and powder coated the entire bike, rebuilt the top end of the engine, gave it a new chain and sprocket, a custom hydraulic clutch level and upgraded the front brakes. “I gave him the parts in a box, more or less, and he basically made everything look like new by the time he was done with it,” Kondrick said. “It looked like I had walked into a show room and had a brand new bike.”
Green doesn’t just work on bikes, either. Ed Nork of Wheaton has had Green work on his 1986 Porsche 911, which he races at tracks across the country. Nork said he was very pleased with the powder coating Green did on his suspension pieces, engine and three-piece wheels. The former motorcycle owner also said if he ever buys another bike in the future, he’ll bring it to Green. “He’s honest, he’s reasonably priced – I just like his work ethic,” Nork said. “For me to hike up there all the way from Wheaton, there has to be something positive about the experience. And I’ve been up there several times a month.”
To learn more about Green’s shop, visit www.greenmachinecustoms.com.
Wauconda Company Helps Vehicles Go Green
By YADIRA SANCHEZ OLSON
Lake County Journal
WAUCONDA – Almost on a daily basis, Todd and Beverly Hendrix of Mundelein have an opportunity to teach someone something new about alternative fuel. Through their family business, Hendrix Industrial Gastrux, the husband-and-wife team work on converting gasoline engines to instead run on alternative fuel, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane.
Hendrix Industrial Gastrux had its beginnings in Evanston, where Todd’s father, Cleve Hendrix, began supplying propane conversion systems for forklifts in 1954.
“[My father] was sort of a pioneer in the liquid propane and CNG conversions field,” Todd said.
Thirty years later, Todd stepped in to take over the business.
Although he had always taken part in his father’s company in some capacity or another by working summers throughout his high school and college years, mostly, the mechanical aspect is what came easiest for him when he became fully integrated in the business in 1984, after getting a degree in aviation technology.
“I guess I was destined to do this,” Todd said. “I got out in the real world, but I thought better of it and started working here.”
Being his own boss is one thing Todd says he enjoys, but he adds that “doing something right for the country and the environment is the best part.”
“I like that we can call ourselves a green company,” Beverly said.
And although she admits that the technical terms and mechanical procedures are better left for her husband and general manager Nick Fontaine, by managing the office, she has come to understand how important their work really is.
By converting generators, industrial equipment, floor buffers, concrete saws, free-standing lawn mowers, fleet and non-fleet vehicles to both liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and CNG, and supplying customers all over the U.S. and internationally, the company is helping reduce the dependency on foreign oil, the Hendrixes say. What makes LPG and CNG more environmentally friendly is the production of a clean exhaust gas.
But while business is prosperous in some regards, as shown by a bid the company recently won to convert 15 Department of Transportation vehicles for DuPage County, Beverly Hendrix says it’s still frustrating how far a company like this one can go during these times, when the infrastructure for alternative fuel vehicles is not readily available in many parts of Illinois. LPG and CNG pump stations can be difficult to find, she said.
“I feel like we’re in a box,” Beverly said. “We get calls every day from people who want to convert their vehicles, but the problem is that because of EPA rules, we can only work on certain cars.”
And the Hendrixes have noticed that those calls come in more frequently when the gas prices reach and surpass $4 per gallon.
“People get frustrated; sick of paying those high prices,” Beverly said.
Converting a vehicle engine is not inexpensive, though. The Hendrixes recommend talking with experts about these types of conversions and getting educated before making a decision on what to do with a machine or vehicle.
The conversion of vehicles and machines at Hendrix takes anywhere from two to four days to install, and the kits are specifically designed for the product, so many questions are asked before a decision can be made on what kit fits best.
On vehicles, other than a button inside the car (by the control panel) and a fuel tank that can be concealed, the conversion kit is only a small computer modified into the engine bay.
“Everything is computerized now,” Todd said.
The company has a core base of long-time customers with new customers mainly finding their way to the company’s website while searching for alternative methods for fueling their machines and vehicles, the Hendrixes said.
Copyright 2011, Lake County Journal, Shaw Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.
Wauconda High School Student Receives Top Score on ACT
A Wauconda High School student has recorded a top score of 36 on the ACT college entrance exam, the first at the school to do so since the test became mandatory for juniors statewide in 2002.
Megan Mikenas, who will start her senior year in the fall, hit the mark in June. She’d actually taken the test four times earlier. Mikenas scored a 33 while an eighth grader and Wauconda Middle School and then got three 35s during high school before reaching 36. “I was pretty happy with (the 35s), but I knew I could do better,” Mikenas said Thursday.
The ACT covers English, math, reading and science, and colleges judge composite scores when reviewing applications.
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110714/news/707149838/
Mike Jackson on 
Bangs Lake’s Big Bass
The old-timers who had fished this body of water 40 and 50 years ago will definitely believe this tale, because they saw similar results themselves.
A friend called and urged me to visit his place on Bangs Lake in Wauconda to sample the ever-burgeoning largemouth bass population. Bangs was one of my father’s favorite bluegill and crappie lakes when I was a kid. We spent many hours catching scads of panfish as well as a few decent bass and catfish.
Today, Bangs Lake is basically a multi-use body of water that plays host to speed boats, water skiers, jet skis, pontoon cruisers and a few sailboats. The angling community merits little attention when they show up to purchase a lake usage permit at City Hall.
But the lake has a few surprises that await you. In fact, I have written more columns about Bangs than any other body of area water. My friend Roger and I used to score a lot on this 200-plus acre lake with 5-pound largemouth. For some strange reason, however, I’ve focused on other lakes of late. There are walleyes, a few muskies, a few smallmouth bass, jumbo crappie and bluegills, as well as a fairly substantial number of big largemouth bass in Bangs.
One interesting factor about this body of water is its clarity and defined weed lines, which now are nearly devoid of the usual huge amount of gummy algae. The green goo is generally a by-product from lawn fertilization, and lake management has improved in recent years, which has resulted in excellent largemouth angling.
Roger was rigged with his typical Texas-style plastic worm setup. I had a spinning rod ready to go with a Little Action Mac worm.
Roger scored first with a very scrappy 2-pound bass. He caught three more “chunks” before I switched over to the same rig. And just as I was ready to make a cast Roger yelled that he had a big fish hooked.
I watched his rod double over into a pretzel-like arc. The fish headed under the boat and stayed there for at least a minute. As Roger applied more pressure, I watched and listened to the line zip off the reel. The “beast” now ran for a deep spot, dragging us behind like a towed cargo ship.
Roger tightened the drag and started to regain some line back on the reel. And then we saw it. It was immense, with gills flaring like flaps on an airplane.
Roger was going into the fifth minute of this battle. I told him to put the screws to the fish because he was now soaked with perspiration.
I slipped the net into the water and Roger managed to muscle the fish to where I was waiting. I yelled that I had it. Roger then reached into his tackle bag and brought out a scale. With the monster still hooked and in the net, Roger slipped the electronic scale’s hook into the fish’s lower lip. Our eyes popped when we saw the big, black readout showing the fish’s weight at more than 7 pounds. It took both of us to remove the hook and revive this beautiful creature. After 30 seconds it slowly swam away and headed for the safety of the weeds.
A round of high-fives was in order, and then back to business.
I caught the next bass, a mere 2-pounder but a nice fish nevertheless. I caught another one almost immediately after the first. And then Roger went to work. He proceeded to catch a pair of 4½-pounders. He was on a roll.
We left the lake a happy duo, knowing those great days we spent on Bangs years ago were being repeated again.
This is a hot lake and now’s the time to make it happen. Stop in at Bangs Bait (on Main Street) for current lake information.
Wauconda CUSD 118 Earns Bright Red Apple Award
For the first time in history, the Wauconda CUSD 118 has earned the Bright Red Apple Award. This award, which has been given the last eighteen years, is bestowed based upon five areas:
1) academic performance;
2) pupil/teacher ratio;
3) expenditure per pupil;
4) educational level of teachers;
5) and average teacher salary
The Bright Red Apple Award is sponsored by SchoolSearch. Only 73 school districts out of 868 in the state of Illinois earned this recognition.
Other Lake County school districts earning the award were:
Elementary School Districts
Aptakisic-Tripp District 102
Bannockburn District 106
Deerfield District 109
Hawthorn District 73
Kildeer Countryside District 96
Lake Bluff District 65
Lake Forest District 67
Lincolnshire-Prairieview District 103
North Shore District 112
Oak Grove District 68
Rondout District 72
High School Districts
Adlai Stevenson District 125
Grayslake District 127
Highland Park/Deerfield District 113
Lake Forest District 115
Libertyville/Vernon Hills District 128
Unit School Districts
Lake Zurich Unit School District 95
Slyce Coal Fired Pizza Co. voted Top Eight Pizzas of 2010
POSTED BY DANIEL ZEMANS
Chicago Food Editor
Slyce Coal Fired Pizza Company: Chicago does not have much of a coal oven pizza tradition. Coalfire has been a massive success since it hit the scene a few years ago and Castel Gandolfo has won critical acclaim even if the masses have yet to embrace it. But way outside of the city in a town called Wauconda, Slyce, which just opened a couple of months ago, is putting both of those places to shame.
Slyce Coal Fired Pizza Company; 127 North Main Street, Wauconda, IL 60084; (847) 469-8840; slycecoalfiredpizza.com
Two named Wauconda Police Employees of the Year
By LEE FILAS
DAILY HERALD
Tom Robertson has been named Wauconda Police Officer of the Year and telecommunicator Johnna Garrett is the Wauconda Police Civilian Employee of the Year, police officials announced.
Police Chief Douglas Larsson said Robertson was selected by his peers for routinely presenting a professional demeanor and excellent leadership skills, his willingness to help others, work on the Wauconda Fire Department referendum, his commitment to residents during community food drives, and extensive volunteer work.
Garrett took home the civilian award, named for outstanding achievement by a non-sworn employee of the department who brings credit to the department, Larsson said.
She was selected for routinely presenting a professional demeanor, her effort during the Wauconda Fire Department Referendum, fundraising efforts on numerous community causes, and volunteer work, officials said.
Larsson said a plaque will be displayed with the names of the winners at the Wauconda Police Station. Police personnel nominate and vote on two people for the annual awards.
Wauconda is Emergency-ready
By STEPHANIE N. LEHMAN
LAKE COUNTY JOURNAL
WAUCONDA - One might think that Mike Wahl, a resident born and raised in Wauconda, automatically feels an innate sense of duty to protect the village he lives in.
And one could argue that as captain, executive officer and special projects coordinator for the chief of the Waucon da Fire District, as well as the director of emergency management for the village of Wauconda, it is his job to protect the village he lives in.
It also is his job to follow orders, and when Wauconda Fire District Chief Dave Dato asked Wahl to look into a program called the Community Emergency Response Team about six years ago, Wahl had the opportunity to fulfill all of those duties.
The CERT concept was created in Los Angeles, Calif., and eventually adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The national program teaches civilians basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety and search and rescue. Many communities throughout the U.S. have implemented CERT teams.
But not many operate like the one that Wahl started and continues to manage in the village of Wauconda.
“I’m familiar with CERT programs,” said Dave Geary, public works director for Wauconda. Geary’s background includes 18 years as the assistant administrator of Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management – a job where he oversaw the emergency planning for 96 cities.
“The thing Mike has done differently here is, he’s made a self-sustaining program,” Geary said. “I’ve never seen it like this, and I’ve seen a lot of CERT programs … . The volunteers – and he’s inspired this – the volunteers help and maintain the program. [They] help with recruitment, training, organization – I think he’s allowed them to feel responsible. It’s that kind of thing that sets his program apart.”
Traci Smith, for example, has been a local CERT member for five years. The 40-year-old said she joined the team to help her community and also to meet people. Now, she works as Wahl’s CERT coordinator, as well.
“The fact of the matter is, Mike has developed a group of people that are there when you need them, and that’s probably one of the most important things is the consistency of availability,” Dato said. “He’s a motivator. Mike’s able to motivate those folks to do things and stay involved in their community.”
Wahl’s CERT members – currently a group of about 50 – often help with many of Wauconda’s festivals, parades and other special events by supplementing public safety, Wahl said.
But they’ve come in handy during more dire situations, like the attempted burglary that took place at the Wauconda Community Bank last year. At the time, there was a bomb threat, Wahl said, and CERT members immediately responded to help secure the perimeter and direct traffic at some of the lower profile intersections nearby, freeing up police officers to handle the situation.
“No community really has the resources to do everything on its own, so when you have community volunteers to supplement police activities, fire activities, it helps out us out,” Dato said. “One, because things we’re doing generally go better, and two, with strained budgets right now, it helps from having to stretch any further, [having] people stepping further just to help out. I think from that stand point [the CERT program] has been good.”
Wahl just began a new CERT class with 24 volunteers on Feb. 17. His new recruits will complete seven classes covering various topics of disaster training, and after about 24 hours of instruction, they will have completed Tier 1 training, Wahl said.
From there, they can stop and rest assured they are better prepared to handle minor situations – like shutting off water and electricity in buildings – and more serious situations, like emergency first aid. No other participation is required, Wahl said.
Or, they can participate in a few extra activities and become team members and get added to Wahl’s contact list if a bigger emergency pops up.
“That’s kind of the neat thing about the CERT program under FEMA,” Wahl said. “They really don’t give you any guidelines … but once [people] have gone through the education, it’s entirely up to the municipality or agency to use them as they want to. Some communities teach them and never use them. We like to use them as much as possible because they are a valued resource in the community.”
“It’s kind of reassuring from a public works perspective,” Geary said. “If you need them, they come, and they like to come. They even like the little- to no-notice things, because it reinforces the idea that they can handle difficult [situations].”
Dato said Wahl is the “spark plug” of a program that has the appreciation of several departments throughout Wauconda.
Wahl said he simply likes working with quality individuals and coordinating their efforts through CERT.
“It’s one of those programs that the people involved are just great people who want to help their community,” Wahl said. “They’re all doing it for the right reasons. It’s nice to be around them on a weekly basis or a monthly basis and working side by side with them.”
