Take a bite out of crime with McGruff and the Wood Dale Police Department this Tuesday, August 5, during their National Night Out celebration.

My Mrs. Butterworth’s lamp is, I think, hands down, my best flea market find. There’s a Marlboro ashtray and hand-painted ceramic hot-dog dog that might protest, but if I’m naming most beloved flea market treasures, I’m mentioning Mrs. Butterworth’s first every time.

From movies in parks (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is 8:15 p.m. tomorrow at Sunset Park, Grove and Judson streets, in Bensenville) to music in parks (6:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, at Wood Dale Town Square; 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, at Bensenville Towne Center) to the now-popular parties in parks, both Wood Dale and Bensenville are getting residents to their towns’ green gems.

When Wood Dale’s Sounds of Summer opened last month, organizers were hopeful that residents had marked their calendars for the Tuesday night concert series.

Celebrate America’s birthday in Bensenville with its annual Independence Day Parade, kicking off at 10 a.m. Friday.

Follow the yellow brick road this Friday, June 27, to Fischer Farm, 16W680 Old Grand Ave., where the Bensenville Park District will click their heels together at 8:15 p.m. to begin their Movies in the Park series with “Wizard of Oz.”

No, I haven’t broken in my golf shoes yet, but I can finally get some new-shoe blisters this Wednesday, June 25, when the Wood Dale Chamber of Commerce hosts their annual golf outing at Maple Meadows Golf Course, 272 N. Addison Road.

I don’t know too many of us who’d be jumping out of our seats to be in a relay race, but the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is a different matter.

Snap, Crackle and Pop, the Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Mustard Girl.

What do pistachios, mechanical pencils and the Wood Dale VFW Tioga Post 2149 have in common?

If ever a morning called for donuts and coffee, then tomorrow, Friday, May 9, is that morning.

There were 85 bowls up for bid during the Bensenville Arts Council’s first annual Empty Bowl Silent Auction, and every bowl found a new cupboard to call home. Held at the Bensenville Community Public Library, the event benefited the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry.

A wine glass is issued at the door. Sounds like my kind of party.

From Christmas cookies, slow-cooked sausages and springtime salads to the good works of Jesus Christ, Zion Lutheran Church of Bensenville knows how to feed the soul.

Bensenville's Jill Rodriguez named service person of the year