The Air Classics Museum in Sugar Grove will open its doors for the season April 6, officials with the museum said.
The museum, located one mile west of the Aurora Municipal Airport entrance at 44W546 W. Route 30, will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $10 for adults 16 to 61 years old, $7 for seniors 62 years old and older and $5 for children 5 to 15 years old. Children under 5 years old get in free when accompanied by an adult.
Group tours are available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, officials said.
Exhibits include indoor displays of aviation memorabilia from the 1930s to the present, including uniforms, engines and a full-size mockup of a Boeing 737 cockpit.
The outdoor area of the museum includes an RF-86 Sabre, a TA-4J Skyhawk, an F-105 Thunder Chief, a T-39 Sabre Liner, an F-4B Phantom II, an A&E Corsair II and two UH-1 Huey helicopters. The Hueys and Corsair saw service in the Vietnam War, officials said. Also on the line are full-size replicas of a P-51 Mustang, a P-40 Warhawk, a P-47 Thunderbolt and a BF-109 Messerschmitt.
For more information on the museum, call 630-466-0888 or go to airclassicsmuseum.org or find the museum on Facebook.
Kiwanis pancake breakfast set in Aurora
The community is invited to the annual Kiwanis Pancake Day Breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon April 6 at Aurora Central Catholic High School, 1255 N. Edgelawn Drive in Aurora.
The Kiwanis Club of Aurora presents the annual breakfast event to fund its work with children and the community, club officials said.
The breakfast will include pancakes, sausage, coffee, milk and orange juice. Carry-outs will be available, and raffles will also be featured, according to club officials.
Tickets for the event may be purchased from Aurora Kiwanis members for $10 or online at https://aurorakiwanis.org. Children 3 years old and under eat for free at the breakfast.
Annually, the Aurora Kiwanis Foundation donates some $30,000, primarily to Aurora’s youth. These donations occur through awarding of Kiwanis scholarships managed by the Community Foundation of the Fox Valley; subsidies to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and baseball teams; help to area youth programs; and the sponsorship of clubs for youth at the elementary, high school and college levels, according to Kiwanis officials.
Helicopter Easter egg drop planned in Aurora
Sweet treats will be raining from the sky at Faith Lutheran Church in Aurora with candy-stuffed plastic eggs being dropped from a helicopter on Saturday, March 30, the day before Easter.
The event is open to children up to 12 years old, who should bring their own basket to collect eggs.
Doors will open at 10 a.m. for the event at Faith Lutheran at 3000 Liberty St. in Aurora.
Volunteers will be on hand to steer the children into groups by age to collect the eggs. The Easter bunny will also be on the church grounds that day.
Over 12,000 eggs will be available for collection, with some 2,000 pouring from the sky via a helicopter drop.
Tickets for the event are available online through Eventbrite, and there is a cost for parking. There are shuttle buses from an off-site parking location to the church and back, organizers said.
For more information, call the Rev. Rob Douglas at 630-248-5515 or email pastor@discoveringfaith.com.
Applications sought for Marmion Christmas Craft Show
The Marmion Alumni Association is accepting applications for its 33rd annual Christmas Craft Show which will take place on Thanksgiving weekend.
The event will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1, in the Regole Field House and Alumni Hall at Marmion Academy, 1000 Butterfield Road in Aurora.
Last year’s show featured 250 crafters and vendors and welcomed over 4,000 customers, organizers said.
To apply to take part in the show, go to www.marmion.org/crafter .
Bacteria to be in spotlight
Participants can learn about bacteria and its important function in the natural world during a Kane County Forest Preserve District program on April 25.
The “EcoLab: Color-changing Bacteria” program will go from 7 to 8 p.m. at Creek Bend Nature Center at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve at 37W700 Dean St. in St. Charles.
During this hands-on program, which is for those 10 years old and older, class members will construct a “color-changing bacteria zoo” to take home for their family, officials said.
EcoLab is a quarterly, environmental education program that offers children and young adults the opportunity to analyze and learn about the natural world through a science-based approach, organizers said
The registration fee for the program is $5, and advance registration is required. To register, go to www.kaneforest.com/register, call 630-444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.
To view a full roster of Forest Preserve District of Kane County programs, go to www.kaneforest.com or find the district on social media by searching @forestpreserve.
DuPage Health Department offering swimming safety funding
The DuPage County Health Department is awarding up to five public swimming facilities up to $4,500 each to provide free swimming lessons to preschool-aged children in need.
The funding opportunity is part of an initiative to prevent fatal childhood drowning, county officials said in a news release.
The free swim lessons are for Illinois children who are 3 to 5 years old.
The public swimming facilities eligible to apply for the funding include those pools operated by civic and community organizations, schools, municipalities, park and recreation organizations, swim schools, residential communities and health centers.
Applications can be found online at forms.gle/iZ2SpoEX6ur3EAjz7 and are due by Friday, April 12.
The initiative is focused on public swimming facilities in regions with higher child drowning incidents. The county has received the Pool Safely grant since 2018.