Acorn Design Studio in Kankakee held an open house and Business After Hours yesterday in celebration of their one-year anniversary. (I wrote about it on this blog earlier this week.)

I took several photos and uploaded them to the Your Pix section of this site. I’ve also uploaded two here. One is a photo of the beautiful jewelry they have for sale; the other is a photo of the building’s exterior.

Acorn Design Studio in Kankakee

Acorn Design Studio in Kankakee

Santa made an appearance at the Depot in downtown Kankakee tonight. His sleigh must have been in the shop, because he hitched a ride on a Kankakee fire truck instead. Click here to watch video of Santa arriving and helping light the city Christmas tree.

The Barenaked Ladies performed Saturday night in Bradley.

Seriously.

And I was there.

Brendan and I were among about 1,300 amazingly lucky people who were invited to Peddinghaus Corporation’s Oktoberfest celebration.

Peddinghaus is an international steel fabrication company with headquarters at 300 N. Washington Ave. in Bradley. The family business was founded in Germany in 1903, and currently there are four production facilities around the world — one each in Bradley, Ill., South Carolina, Germany and Spain.

Given their German heritage, you can understand how Oktoberfest would be an appropriate occasion for the company to throw a party, and what a party it was. In fact, “My father thinks I may have gone just little but over the edge,” CEO Anton Peddinghaus joked Saturday evening.

Anton Peddinghaus lives here with his wife, Molly, and children. Anton’s father and sister, who manages European operations for the business, were among the speakers on Saturday evening, the final day of festivities.

Events started on Wednesday. Guests were flown in from 38 countries, and Peddinghaus entertained them with a full schedule of speakers (including football legend Lou Holtz), a trade show comprised of industry vendors, machinery demonstrations and live entertainment.

Twenty-five machines were on display, and the company unveiled five new pieces of equipment, including the Ring of Fire thermal processor. Evening entertainment included magicians from Las Vegas, a Bavarian band from Munich and, of course, the Barenaked Ladies.

Oh yeah. Did I mention the fireworks? Those came after the Barenaked Ladies. As if the band wasn’t enough of a grand finale.

Here are a couple memorable moments from the Canadian band’s performance:

• Lead singer Ed Roberston told the crowd that he decided to go for a walk Saturday afternoon and went strolling down Broadway. He turned north at the KFC and walked past ONU, “which stands for something”, and eventually passed not one but two sewing and embroidery stores (which struck him as highly unusual and he wondered if there was fierce rivalry between the two). During his travels he was lured into Moon Monkey Coffee House by the massage on the marquee: “Monkey inside.” He seemed disappointed when he recounted how someone inside the coffee house told him it was just a joke, and there there really wasn’t a monkey inside. He said it also didn’t strike him as all that funny.
• Besides singing many of their own songs, including “If I Had A Million Dollars,” the group also played a sing-along version of Yellow Submarine, and a Johnny Cash medley that included Ring of Fire, a nod to a new piece of equipment of which Anton Peddinghaus is particularly proud.
• Robertson also pulled an unsuspecting Peddinghaus employee on stage during the concert and instructed her to strum the strings of his guitar four times fast — which turned into Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me Now”.

I’ve called Moon Monkey to try to talk to the employee who apparently had this brush with fame, and find out if he/she even knew who was inquiring about seeing the monkey. However, they haven’t return my calls.

Here’s some photo evidence from the evening, just in case you think I’m making it all up, and I’ve posted many more photos on the Your Pix section of this site.

Yesterday evening there was a reception for WKCC at the Kankakee Country Club.

WKCC (91.1 FM) is owned and operated by Kankakee Community College. The format “is a combination of classical music, public radio programming, and genre-based shows including big-band/swingm talk, jazz and blues,” according to the college.

A complete programming schedule can be found here.

Local on-air talent are:

• Willie Dixon (Mondays 4:30 – 6 p.m.)
• Michael Taylor (Tuesdays 5 – 5:30 p.m.)
• D’Arcy Ballinger & James Walker (Thursdays 4:30 – 6 p.m.)

Personally, I’m also a big fan of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, which airs Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon.

Here are a couple photos from the event:

As promised, I’ve uploaded several video clips of Lisa Jackson and Shades of Gray performing at the Half Paddy Festival on Sept. 12. You can see them here.

Clips include:

The videos are in a category called “Music – Live performances”. If you take video of a local band performing, or if you are a local band member looking to highlight your musical talent, feel free to upload your own video, too.

Yesterday I went to a Business After Hours for Tanners Collision. It was held at Fran’s on 17 and was in honor of their 30th anniversary. You can see pictures from the event here: www.myKankakeeCounty.com/pix

Today I went to Sandwiches with a Side of Jam in Kankakee. It was the last lunchtime concert of the year. These were great events, and I hope they do them again next year. You can see some photos here: www.myKankakeeCounty.com/pix

I have no official training as a videographer, but that didn’t stop me from shooting video at the Half Paddy Festival over the weekend. I got footage of the Blue Mass, Parish Olympics, Jamie Boyd in the dunk dank, the Dennehy (Irish) Dancers and Lisa Jackson and Shades of Gray. All the video is now online except for clips from Lisa Jackson’s performance.

A couple of notes:

• The Blue Mass was held in honor of all area firefighters and law enforcement personnel. They were escorted down Indiana Avenue and into the church by Knights of Columbus and two bagpipers. Those attending the ceremony lined the street and clapped as they passed. The Blue Mass is a rare opportunity to show appreciation for our men and women in blue, and the haunting sound of the bagpipers intensifies what is already a sentimental experience.  Watch the video to see what I mean.

• The Parish Olympics video mostly shows people falling down, but isn’t that why people watch America’s Funniest Videos?

• On Saturday evening, Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jamie Boyd climbed into the dunk tank wearing a suit. Apologies to anyone in the beer tent I may have knocked over in my race to get to my video camera.

• When the Dennehy Dancers took the stage, the sun had set and the lighting on the stage was very weak. But one of the dancers was from Bradley/Bourbonnais, so I decided to post the video anyway.

These are the first videos to be posted on the site. Many thanks to my husband, Brendan, for doing much of the video editing in iMovie and teaching me how to do it. I’ve managed one video by myself now, and will tackle Lisa Jackson next.

I also took a bunch of photos at the event. As with all the photos I take, you can see them on the Your Pix section of this site.

And remember that this site is really about YOUR photos and video. You can upload both, and the more the better. If you encounter any problems with uploading, you can give me a call at (815)937-3374 or email me at drenckens@daily-journal.com.

For a second year, the Schuyler Miler “marathon” (and I use that word loosely), was thoroughly entertaining. You can see a bunch of photos on the Your Pix section of the Web site.

Here’s a general rundown of what happened.

• Runners (mostly men but a couple of brave women, and also a wheel-chair bound young man) gathered in the parking lot across from the Paramount Theater to warm up. That included downing a few beverages, smoking cigars and modeling the various costumes. I mean running attire.
• At 11:30, participants began jogging down Schuyler toward Court Street, patiently waiting for the traffic lights along the way. They caused general alarm and confusion among passing motorists, but managed to make it down the hill toward Merchant Street, where they refueled and rehydrated with more hoppy beverages and Twinkies.
• A block later, No Dogs bar proved a distraction, as one runner noticed they had opened for business and headed inside. This being a team event, the others had no choice but to follow. The wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the door, but a baby stroller did. (I think the mom and baby joined the race at the last pit stop.) More Miller Lite was consumed.
• Sadly, at this point race ringleader Bill Yohnka had to depart in order to attend another community function. There was brief talk of calling a taxi to take him back up the hill to his car, but he decided to risk the danger of actual exercise.
• After quenching their thirst, the crowd spilled out of the tavern and back onto Schuyler Avenue. They headed east, dodged cars while crossing the street, cut across the Aldi parking lot to save time, apparently barreled over a squirrel that was too slow to get out of the way, and soon after arrived at the finish line — the beer tent at the Half Paddy Festival.
• No one would admit to actually winning the race, for fear of being publicly ostracized.
• I actually worked up a sweat, being the only person who actually ran during the race. But I had to in order to get ahead of the participants to get better photos. The things I do for this job …

P.S. No actual squirrels were harmed in the running of the marathon. It was like that when we got there.

The United Way campaign kickoff breakfast and 11th annual Ladies Day golf outing was held Friday at Bon Vivant Country Club in Bourbonnais Township.

At the breakfast, Kankakee Mayor Don Green and his wife, Dr. Kay Green, announced that United Way of Kankakee County will be trying to raise $1,025,000 this year. The Greens are co-chairs for the 2008-2009 campaign.

Then about 150 golfers headed out onto a soggy course that saw 3″ of rain the day before. If you haven’t had the pleasure of participating in this event, you’re missing out. The women golf, the men caddy, and the Jello shots were flowing by 9:30 a.m. (I don’t know who brought the Jello, but I had to try just one. For my Best Bites column, you know. And I think it helped my golf game.)

The event also raises money and awareness for United Way, my favorite charity. Greg Carrell, Executive Director of the local United Way, said that when the final numbers are in he expects the outing to raise between $35,000 and $40,000.

Kudos to all the volunteers who helped put on this event and all the sponsors who helped support it. If you would like to participate next year, mark Sept. 11, 2009, on your calendar.

I took a bunch of pictures at the event. You can find them on the Your Pix section of the site.

P.S. A personal “thank you” to my awesome team: Julie, a teacher from Wilmington, Alicia and Liz from Shapiro Developmental Center, and our wonderful caddies from St. Mary’s Hospital, Gary Plundo (Chief Medical Officer) and Eric Rhodes (Director of Operations). I’m in for next year!

The Cardboard Boat Races have become a tradition at the Kankakee Power Boat Nationals. Competitors get the same materials — sheets of cardboard, Duct tape and plastic sheeting — and have a couple hours to build a boat, which they then put to the test on the Kankakee River. Most of the vessels aren’t exactly seaworthy, but that’s one of the reasons it’s fun to watch. It’s also fun to see how competitors put their own creative touches on their creations.

I took a bunch of photos of the boats in various stages of construction, including the one below modeled after a golf cart. I’ve also posted many more on the Your Pix section of this site.

Does anyone know who won the race? I didn’t get back over there in time to see it. If you know, please leave a comment below. Also, if you have your own pics of the event, please upload them by clicking “Submit a picture” on the Your Pix page.