Local artists are being sought to take part in the annual Alley Art Festival this summer in downtown Aurora.
Applications to take part in the event will be open to artists until June 1, event organizers said in a press release.
This will be the 15th year for the festival, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, on Water Street Mall and Downer Place between Stolp Avenue and Water Street in Aurora.
The annual festival highlights locally made art, jewelry, pottery, handmade goods and artisan wares, according to the release. The festival is limited to local artists who live within 30 miles of Aurora, however preference is given to Aurora and its adjacent communities if space is limited, organizers said.
Live music, belly dancing, children’s activities and food vendors will all be part of the afternoon’s activities, according to the release.
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the Alley Art Festival is also hosting a series of free, open-to-the-public workshops leading up to the event including a puppet-making workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, at Santori Public Library in downtown Aurora.
For more information or to apply to be part of the Alley Art Festival, go to alleyartaurora.com.
Edward Foundation awards $36,000 in nursing scholarships
The Edward Foundation has awarded $36,000 in nursing scholarships to eight employees of Endeavor Health Edward Hospital who are pursuing a degree or advanced degree in nursing.
The foundation awarded $10,000 each to Jacqueline Moecher, of Naperville, a clinical nurse manager in cardiac telemetry at Edward Hospital in Naperville, and Natalia Fuks, of Minooka, a patient care technician at Edward Hospital’s Plainfield Emergency Department.
The scholarships were in honor of Peter Veit, who gifted the foundation with $120,000 after his death in 2014 in recognition of the care he received from the Edward nursing staff, a news release said.
Moecher, Fuks and six other employees also were awarded $2,000 scholarships.
Recipients who live in Naperville are Sandi Darnell, a registered nurse at North Naperville Immediate Care; Jamie Hilgeman, a certified medical assistant at Endeavor Health Center on Hobson Road; and Maria Huerta, a registered nurse in the oncology department at Edward Hospital.
Other recipients are Aurora resident Brittany Lewis, a registered nurse in employee health at Edward Hospital; Plainfield resident Saundra Sobczak, a registered nurse in the Plainfield Emergency Department, and Alsip resident Alexis Trubitt, a patient care technician at Edward Hospital.
Registration open for program on bird watching
Registration is open for the program “Robert Ridgway: When Amateur Bird Watching Became a Rigorous Science” set for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27, at the Barbara Belding Lodge in the Brewster Creek Forest Preserve at 6N921 Route 25 in St. Charles.
Storyteller Brian “Fox” Ellis will recount Robert Ridgway in this one-man, first-person performance recounting the history of the Audubon Society and the evolution of bird watching, as it grew from a hobby to a scientific discipline, event organizers said.
Ellis will describe Ridgway’s wilderness travels, his lifelong work at the Smithsonian Institution, his birding trips into Central America and his journey across Alaska. The second half of the program involves going to Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve for a storytelling bird walk.
The event is part of the Learn from the Experts program featuring classes about local ecology sponsored by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, the St. Charles Park District and the Geneva Park District.
The free program is for those 18 years old and older. Advance registration is required. To register, go to www.kaneforest.com/register, call 630-444-3190 or email programs@kaneforest.com.
For more information, go to www.kaneforest.com or find the district on social media by searching @forestpreserve.
