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SECTION 2 - PAGE 8 - PLA1NDEAI.ER-WEDNESDAV. DECEMBER 15.1976 McCullom Lake Mary Jo Farrell 344-1575 Christmas Party Pre-Empts Regular Meeting The Ladies of the Lake celebrated Christmas this year with a gala party in place of I heir regular monthly meeting The party was held Thursday, Dee. 9 at a local inn. Th<Jadiesjj»jw*d a dinner of chicken and ribs and all the trimmings. Several of the ladies brought guests with I hem to the party Following dinner, the grab bag was held, and everyone received a lovelv gift Special guest for the evening was Mrs Keif, who had donated a beautiful afghan to the Ladies of the Lake Mrs. Knapp, who lives on Orchard on weekends, and spends the rest of her time in Chicago, was the recipient of the afghan. Special recognition must go to Bee Brown, who was kind enough to do something that added to the party. Mrs. Brown made name tags for each guest, and wrote numbers on the backs of certain tags. She brought with her a whole bag of gifts, and every lady who had a number on the back of her name tag received a gift from the bag. Later on in the evening, the ladies played games, with numerous prizes being awarded. All in all. a fine time was had by all the ladies and their guests. Just a reminder, there will be no Ladies of the Lake meetings during the months of January and February due to the rotten weather. The next meeting will be Thursday. March 10. Fur­ ther details of that meeting will appear in the column at a later date. OOPS! I'm afraid I've done it again! This time, I said that the village board meeting was to be held Dec 7. If you went to the beach house that night, you probably know already that there was no meeting. The village board meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, which means that this month the meetings are to be held on the fourteenth and the twenty- eighth. Since the fourteenth is past, you already missed that one, but you are cordially in­ vited to the meeting on the twenty-eighth. Karen Parks pointed out my blooper to me this time. BEACH GALS Don't forget two important upcoming Beach Gals events; the Christmas party Wed­ nesday, Dec. 15, and the Christmas caroling Dec. 22. The carolers will meet at 7 p.m. at the beach house, and will be routed from there, and will return to the beach house for hot chocolate after the caroling at 9 p.m. or soon after. As for the Beach Gals Christmas party, the time is 7 p.m., and all girls should meet at the beach house at 6:45 so that we can storm the restaurant all at once. Don't forget your grab bag gift! PARTY TIME Seth Elliott celebrated his birthday Saturday, Dec. 4, with a party at his home in honor of the occasion. Among the guests were Seth's brother, Chad, Paul Grutzmacher, Elliot Wilcox, Jennie North, and Brent toper Seth's mom, Barb, thought of a clever way to combine the activity for the party with the favors the children could take with them. The kids made Christmas decorations out of clay and felt and various odds and ends, then took their handiwork home with them after the party Refreshments were served to the partygoers and everyone seemed to have a fine time, even Barb RADIATOR CLEANING REPAIRING G U A R A N T E E D Radiators • Air Conditioning • Stool Solos ADAMS BROS. Next to Gem Cleaners) »C06 W. Rte. la^SPhone: McHenry 385-0783 BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES Lots of family combination birthdays and anniversaries this week to send wishes out to Birthday greetings to John Penny. Dec. 16; Robbie Muise, Dec 17; Carrie Kurth and Barb Svoboda. Dec. 18; Cindy Svoboda, Dec 19; and Phyllis Venable, Rose Sacco and Jim Brown Dec. 20 All these Christmas babies! Anniversary wishes go this week to Les and Phyllis Venable, Dec 18 and Richard and Gloria Penny, also Dec. 18. Happy days to all of you. When Whipping For greatest volume when whipping cream: cream, bowl and beaters should all be cold McHenry Man A Real Santa Year Around Christmas comes but once a year, but there's a McHenry man who entertains children all year long Clyde Blackwell and his traveling puppet show have entertained children and parents alike in McHenry for the past two years. Mr Blackwell performs his puppet show for children's birthday parties, and has^lso entertained numerous groups at area grade schools. He started two years ago when spotting finger puppets in a catalog. He &nt away for them, and began entertaining children on the streets with the characters of Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, and an elf. The four finger puppets are still part of his performance; but my, how in two years his show lias grown! He began his puppeteering at- an area restaurant, en­ tertaining children at birthday parties And from the original four finger puppets, his cast of characters has grown to over fifty. "Friends told me that children all liked the Sesame Street characters," he said. "So 1 went out and bought the puppets from Sesame Street and began to develop a show." His show has grown so big, that now Mr Blackwell has built his own stage upon which his "actors" can perform. The entire stage is mechanically operated, and the gentleman built the entire stage, by hand himself. Of course, Mr. Blackwell has a different voice for each character, and has thrilled as many as 280 children at one time with his performance. "I work almost every day on the stage I'm devising," he said. "There is still a lot of wor iO be done before I'll be happy with it, but I'm so busy putting on shows right now, that I just don't have the time I need." Mr Blackwell began doing his puppeteering because, "if I wasn't doing it, I'd be sitting around in a chair twiddling my thumbs and watching the second hand on my watch go around." His hobby has brought much joy and happiness to so many children, that people are now suggesting to him puppets he should put in his show. The restaurant where he started his new career is now buying puppets for him to use in his show. Mr. Blackwell has had a theatrical background. He was a cameraman for a movie studio in the early years of the century, before "talkies", and began building miniature stages for relatives ten years ago. His present stage is a com­ plex mixture of aluminum, wiring, and of course, puppets. ) The most popular puppets are the Sesame Street characters and Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann. He has puppets for every special oc­ casion, and changes his program depending on whether the "holiday is Easter, Halloween or Christmas. "Originally, with the four finger puppets. I just walked up to kids and showed them the puppets" he said. "I just wanted to make the children smile." Now Mr. Blackwell makes a |lot of children smile. Various groups request his per­ formance, and he is always obliging. During the Christmas season, he is always busy, and with birthdays and group requests, he is always in demand. "It is a very rewarding thing," he said. "I love to do it and wouldn't stop for anything." Mr. Blackwell's only demand on anyone who wants him to perform is that he doesn't WHAT THE VETERAN WANTS TO KNOW Q - 1 have signed up for a correspondence course that is VA approved but I'm having second thoughts about the course. If I cancel am I liable for the contract9 Q - A contract for enrollment must be affirmed by the student more than 10 days after the contract was signed. If more than 10 days has expired and you have sieend the af- choose to drive his car after dark. That's understandable, because, after all, Clyde Black- well is 86 years old.» firmation agreement, you can be charged for a portion of the course. Q - As a veteran of World War II with a recently established service-connected disability, am I eligible for service-disabled insurance? A - Eligibility requires separation from service after April 24, 1951, and application for insurance within one year from date of notice granting service-connection for disability. Applicants must be in good health except for ser­ vice-connected disabilities. Q - I am a veteran with a service-connected disability and know that I can receive treatment at a VA hospital. Should I drop my private hospitalization plan? A - This is a matter only you can decide as to the advantages and disadvantages of having VA hospitalization and private hospitalization coverage. 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