It was the largest voter turnout in years at the annual Winfield Chamber of Commerce’s Candidates Night Nov. 18. Members voted for candidates for four positions opening on the board in 2009. Announcing the winners was executive secretary Matthew Suddarth, director of the Winfield Public Library. Elected to the Chamber Board of Directors are Robby Micciarelli of Caliendo’s Restaurant and Bar, Jim Jocouci of Edward Jones, Carlyn Kinnel of Central DuPage Hospital and Tim Morris of TMO Video. They will be sworn in Jan. 19 at the chamber’s annual inaugural dinner at Brian’s Charhouse, 27W371 North Ave., West Chicago.

Snacks with Santa

Winfield Junior Woman’s Club is sponsoring its annual longtime tradition, Snacks with Santa. This year’s event will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at Winfield Central School, 0S150 Park St., off the back entrance. Children can have their picture taken with Santa, courtesy of Winfield Lions Club members, plus there will be snacks, crafts, face painting, a bake sale, raffle and entertainment. The cost is free. If you would like to bring a donated toy, the specialists in Central DuPage Hospital’s Child Life Program use toys to help support children after invasive procedures and encourage them to positively cope with their health care experience. Items most needed are stuffed animals, doctor play kits, dolls, Legos, gift cards for teens from stores such as Target and video games for Wii, Xbox and PlayStation 2.

Winfield Lions Club members donate film and time by taking pictures of children with Santa. Each child receives a free photograph. Winfield Chamber of Commerce donates candy canes for Santa to give to children; various businesses including Scheffler’s Flowers donate items for the raffle. Winfield school choirs traditionally are featured as entertainment.

Winfield Junior Woman’s Club is celebrating 40-plus years of community service and philanthropic endeavors. New members are always welcome. E-mail pattisweber@comcast.net for membership information.

WAG reschedules

After a lot of bad news, Winfield Area Gardeners had to cancel two monthly meetings in a row. Now the good news.

WAG member Donna Van Coeur worked hard to make up for canceling the Nov. 4 meeting. Guest speaker John Sosnowski, horticulturist, instructor and landscape designer from Morton Arboretum, also felt badly about canceling and arranged to present his program, “Pruning Tips and Favorite Gardening Tools,” at a Nov. 18 gathering in St. John the Baptist Church’s Sebahar Hall. There should be well-trimmed bushes, hedges and trees around town this coming season.

This meeting gave WAG members a chance to let treasurer Eddie Wollenberg know they would take part and pay $15 for the December Christmas holiday arrangement workshop. The December meeting is set for Tuesday, Dec. 9, one week later than the normal first Tuesday of the month. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Winfield Community Bank, 27W111 Geneva Road. Participants should bring a pair of pruners and gloves for the Christmas arrangement they will be making.

Members can pay their $30 dues, so membership can get off to a flying start.

Artful Christmas canvas

Holiday hours, wreaths and trees for sale. These are the many commercial images that appear as the Christmas season nears. “Christmas Canvas Paintings of the Nativity” will be offered at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the Winfield Public Library, 0S291 Winfield Road. The program is designed to emphasize images central to the meaning of the season. Christian imagery that deals with the Nativity and related events surrounding the birth of Jesus will be shown, discussed and compared with one another to reveal the multiple layers of meaning often conveyed within the same subject matter.

Various artists from different cultures and time periods will be included to explore a relatively comprehensive tradition in art history. Some artists whose work will be discussed include Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Fra Lippo, Van Eyck,  El Greco, Nolde, Leonardo, Rembrandt,  Correggio and Caravaggio. The program will focus on efforts artists have taken to treat this type of subject matter with glory, dignity, silence and peace. Themes relating to the veneration of the Virgin Mary and changing approaches to the Mother-and-Child relationship also will be central to the talk.

Jeff  Mishur, owner of Art Excursions, a business providing tours and lectures in Chicago and nationwide, will present the program. He is a member of the Illinois Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau. Recently, Mishur  was featured in a piece on Chicago’s public sculpture and Millennium Park on the Fox News morning program. For additional information, call the library at (630) 653-7599.

Election tidbits

Congratulations to Winfield resident Dirk Enger who was elected to the DuPage County Board. Enger received the highest number of votes in his election to the board.

Any resident interested or even curious about running for Winfield Village president or trustee in the April election  should contact Winfield United volunteer Karen Skillman to schedule an interview with WU’s Civic Involvement Team. For more information, visit www.winfieldunited.com.

Winfield World

It doesn’t seem possible, but Antiques of Winfield, 27W461 Beecher St., will celebrate its third anniversary Jan. 2. My how time flies.

After MaryJo Mattson dropped out of her many bridge groups because of illness, the members of the Tuesday Afternoon Bridge group were happy to welcome their fellow player back to the bridge table. Mattson and her husband, Bill, also rejoined the Couples Duplicate group at its annual chili dinner.
            
Generous spirits

Santa will visit Winfield Community Bank, 27W111 Geneva Road, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. Each child  will receive a treat after a visit with Santa.

The Winfield Community United Methodist Church congregation is exhibiting true holiday spirit. Church members filled 17 shoe boxes for delivery to children all over the world. They also adopted a family who has been hit hard with medical bills: The mother has brain cancer and the father lost his employment. Every month, church members collect and deliver six large bags of groceries to St. Mary’s Food Pantry. Already collected and delivered were 14 hats, six pairs of mittens, 21 pairs of gloves and one scarf to children in the West Chicago School District.

Membership drive

Winfield Library Friends is seeking new members. The purpose of the nonprofit organization is to provide volunteer assistance and raise funds exclusively to supplement the library’s operating funds. Its most successful fundraising events are the semiannual book sales, which last year earned more than $4,000. Over the years, Friends has helped pay for summer reading programs, promotional materials for National Library Week, printing and mailing the library newsletter, a Mexican cooking demonstration for “Reading Together 2008” and more. The group is always open to new ideas for fundraising events and resident participation. Residents’ donations are welcome and appreciated. Family membership is $10, with other levels of giving available. Donations are tax-deductible.