Catch Some Races and Early Fireworks

The third annual Blue Christmas service will have a mix of emotions on Dec. 23.The 10 a.m. service at Brooke Road UMC & Community Center, 1404 Brooke Rd., gives families who lost loved ones to opioid overdose a chance to remember and grieve together. This Blue Christmas, though, will also have a message of hope. For the first time in decades, public health data shows that drug overdose deaths are declining. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths are expected to decline by more than 10% this year.The drop in Winnebago County is even more striking. There were 149 drug overdose deaths in 2023 and there have been just 63 so far this year with two weeks to go. That's a decline of more than 55%.Most experts agree that the widespread distribution of naloxone or Narcan is making a real difference. Narcan is an over-the-counter drug that treats opioid overdose by blocking opioid receptors in the body. It can be administered by injection or as a nasal spray.The Winnebago County Health Department offers free Narcan training and, since October 2022, Rockford has had several vending machines in the city give out free Narcan kits. On average, more than 200 kits are claimed monthly.While it's clear that overdose deaths are declining, it's not clear yet if drug use is falling. Still, it's a small victory worth celebrating.

Much like the actual year that Santa Claus was born - or created - isn't really clear, the year that the fiberglass Santa that sits outside of Ambrose Christmas Store first started waving to Rockford is also unclear.Its original home was Goldblatt's Department Store at 616 Hollister Ave., in the Rockford Plaza Shopping Center, which is now home to the Stockholm Inn, among others. Goldblatt's was a department store chain that started in Chicago and by 1956, when it opened in Rockford, had more than 20 stores across several states.Sometime in the late 1950s, early 1960s, Goldblatt's bought the two-piece fiberglass Santa that it would mount on a roof facing its Charles Street parking lot. Unfortunately, by the time the Santa began appearing annually in Rockford, Goldblatt's was past its peak. Retailers such as Kmart and Sears were cutting into its profits. In 1981, Goldblatt's in Rockford closed when the company declared bankruptcy.That's when the Charles Street Santa became a traveling Santa. William Lidster of Pecatonica went to the liquidation and bought Santa. For the next 16 years, Santa would bounce around. Some years it was put on display at Lidster's business, Advanced Window Systems on Windsor Road in Loves Park, and other times sitting outside the Lidster's home on Illinois Route 70 west of Rockford. Occasionally, the Lidsters would display Santa as part of the Festival of Lights at Sinnissippi Park.In 1997, the Goldblatt's Santa found a permanent home. The Lidsters reached out to Ambrose Christmas Store in Loves Park to see if there was interest and a deal was quickly reached. Now, for many people in Rockford, Loves Park, and Machesney Park, the first real sign of Christmas is when the Ambrose Santa is brought out of storage and put on display.It's a perfect marriage because Ambrose is only slightly younger than Santa. Ambrose opened in 1969 and is on its second generation of family ownership. Once you pull into the parking lot, give Santa a wave and head inside, you find more than 150 Christmas trees on display, specialty and novelty Christmas lights, collectibles, custom-decorated wreaths, and thousands and thousands of ornaments.An annual trip to Ambrose is a family tradition all its own.

On November 4th, 2024, the world celebrated the 102nd anniversary of the first archaeologists to enter King Tutankhamun’s tomb and Rockford native Dr. James Breasted was part of the party.British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were the first two to enter King Tut’s tomb in more than 3,000 years, discovering a sealed burial chamber completely intact with a collection of several thousand priceless objects, including the gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king.Breasted, who was a nationally renowned archaeologist, was right behind them. He aided in the opening and translated the tomb’s runes.Breasted was born in Rockford in 1865 and went to local schools before graduating from North Central College, earning a master’s degree from Yale and a doctorate from the University of Berlin, where he became the first American to earn a PhD in Egyptology.His academic accomplishments are long, including becoming the first director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, publishing dozens of articles and several books on archaeology, and being the first to compile a book on Egyptian hieroglyphics.He was so well regarded in his profession that in 1985 the American Historical Association created the James Henry Breasted Prize which is awarded annually to a book in English that covers any period of history prior to 1000 AD. Breasted died in 1935 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery where his headstone simply has his name and the description “historian and archaeologist.”

It's that time of year when nothing warms the soul quite like a rich, creamy cup of hot chocolate. We're on the hunt for the best hot chocolate in Rockford!Who’s got the most decadent, marshmallow-topped masterpiece in town? Vote for your favorite and let us know where you’re sipping on the ultimate hot chocolate this season!

The City of Rockford this month sent a very strong message - it is investing long-term in the next generation of leaders. This month, the city announced that it would increase its annual $1.5 million commitment to Rockford Promise to $2.1 million going forward helping the non-profit organization expand the number of students it can help go to Rockford University. Rockford Promise is a scholarship program that has been helping Rockford Public Schools graduates with GPAs above 3.0 go to RU, Rock Valley College since 2015, Northern Illinois University since 2021 and, beginning this spring, Saint Anthony College of Nursing. The money is coming from a portion of the proceeds generated by the Hard Rock Casino. Whether you are for or against gambling, there's no denying that the money being generated by the casino for Rockford Promise is life changing for the students and eventually for the city of Rockford. Rockford Promise was born in 2006 after a group of locals learned about the Kalamazoo Promise. In that Michigan city, a group of wealthy families) pooled their resources to create a scholarship program that allowed every single graduate of Kalamazoo Public Schools to go to college in Michigan tuition free. There are now more than 400 Promise programs around the U.S. From 2007 to 2015, Rockford Promise raised money and gave partial scholarships to dozens of students. Feeling that that just wasn't moving the needle enough, the group reorganized to raise money to give students tuition until they got their degrees at Rockford University and Rock Valley College. Rockford Promise restarted small. In 2016-2017, the group started with two RU students and three RVC students. In 2017-2018, that grew to four at RU and 10 at RVC. By 2020-2021, the group was supporting 18 at RU and 61 at RVC. In 2021-2022, Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara kicked the effort into fifth gear by pledging to funnel $1.5 million of casino revenues annually for Rockford Promise students to go to NIU. This year, there are 451 students currently attending college on a Rockford Promise scholarship. About two-thirds of these are first-generation college students who would have been unlikely to have been able to afford college without the help. Already, Rockford Promise has 107 proud graduates to its credit and that list is going to grow rapidly. Two of the 98 students who were part of the first NIU cohort in 2021-2022 have graduated early, the rest are seniors this year. The addition of NIU was game-changing for Rockford Promise, but that choice is not for everyone. The Rockford Promise scholarship does not cover room and board and some students have extensive home responsibilities that make moving to DeKalb or commuting difficult or impossible. The additional money announced by the city this month will vastly increase the number of students who can stay close to home at RU. It's also a way to invest in the city by making sure RU has a steady stream of local students attending. RU has hundreds of local employees who live in Rockford. It's essentially doubling the impact. "Since 2016, we have welcomed Rockford Promise Scholars, who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and academic success, reflected in their 92% graduation rate, RU President Patricia Lynott said in the monthly Rockford Promise email newsletter. "Last year alone, we received over 90 applications from local students eager to pursue their studies at Rockford University through Rockford Promise. We are proud to deepen this relationship and look forward to seeing our community grow stronger through this initiative." It's also a politically savvy move by the mayor. Rockford Promise was founded specifically to help Rockford Public Schools students afford college and to make the district an attraction to families moving to the area or business owners looking to relocate here. College costs are a national concern. If you are trying to decide where to move, a district that has a Promise program that can help your child go to college tuition free is a pretty good recruiting tool. There were some detractors, though, who felt like Rockford Promise should be open to both public and private school students. The mayor listened. The additional $600,000 for Rockford University scholarships will be available to any outstanding high school graduate from the city of Rockford. RockfordBuzz likes to celebrate all things good about the city of Rockford. The city of Rockford helping kids go to college, many of which will return and be the leaders of the next few decades, is about as good as it gets. To learn more about Rockford Promise or to apply for a scholarship, go to https://rockfordpromise.org/apply-scholarship/.

Josh Patterson and the staff at Wired Cafe were pretty excited for the second week of October. Patterson and his partners at Eight Fifteen Capital bought the 13-year-old coffee shop in January, learned the ropes, learned the customers, and wanted to take the next step by roasting their own coffee beans."We'd just gotten the roaster on Friday (Oct. 4)," said Patterson, who owns the cafe along with his brother, Matt Simpson, Terrance Hall, Clydale Hilson and Jaron Hite.Sunday morning, he got a call. Someone had broken into Wired and set three different fires."That day there was just a lot of uncertainty, a lot of just wrapping my head around what happened, why it happened," Patterson said.The next few days were a whirlwind of meeting with representatives of their insurance company. "That helped as far as just addressing, we talk about triage, stopping the bleeding, that helped us in terms of starting to pick up the pieces."Once the group could see a path forward, they wanted to take control of what others were seeing and saying."One of the seven principals of Kwanzaa is kujichagulia, which means self determination in Swahili," Patterson said. Kwanzaa is the annual holiday affirming African family and social values that is celebrated the seven days after Christmas. Kujichagulia emphasizes the right and responsibility to define, name, create for oneself, and speak for oneself."We knew that the longer that we're not open, there's opportunity for our customers to get what they get from us from other places," Patterson said. "There were a lot of questions about what happened and we wanted to stay connected with our Wired Family."Wired worked with Pablo Korona, the filmmaker behind the Our City, Our Story series, to document its path to reopening. The group released videos on Oct. 13 and Nov. 4 on its Facebook and Instagram pages giving its customers an insiders view.Patterson said the videos have been cleansing."It's empowering to tell your own story," he said. "This happened to us, but we control what happens next."Patterson is excited about the next video, which is scheduled to be posted on Nov. 19. It will include Wired Cafe's reopening date."It's going to be sooner rather than later."You can find Wired Cafe at facebook.com/@wiredcaferockford or instagram.com/wiredcaferkfd/.

Der Rathskeller was a North End staple for 90 years. What started out as a sausage shop and delicatessen in 1931 at 1132 Auburn St. eventually evolved to include a bar, restaurant and outdoor beer garden.Beginning in 2016, though, the restaurant went through three ownership changes before closing for good in October, 2021, unable to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.In June, the property sprung back to life as Plume under the direction of husband-wife duo Lia Pennacchi and Chase Williams. The two know the Rockford restaurant scene well. They started working together when Williams was the executive chef at Social Urban Bar & Restaurant in downtown Rockford.For those who remember Der Rathskeller, Plume is a bit of a change. It's much brighter with an upscale decor and pricing. It's also an Italian restaurant - but with a slight twist. The cuisine is northern Italian - the Pennacchis' heritage traces back to northern Italy - and the food has Austrian and German influences. So there's still that little tie to Der Rathskeller.My sister and I stopped in to try it out on Halloween, even sitting next to a couple dressed as a British king and queen. One thing to note. You will not be offered a menu. There are QR codes to scan to find the drink and food menus. They will bring you one if you ask. The goal of Plume is to change the menu regularly as produce is in season without having to routinely print new menus.We split a small plate, the tigelle. That came on a wooden board and included thin biscuits that you slice to make small sandwiches stuffed with mortadella (thin slices of Italian sausage), coppa picante (cured pork), pesto Modenese (a spread made of cured pork fat, garlic and rosemary) and blueberry preserves. For one, that would have been a meal in and of itself.We also split the Eickman's beef tenderloin, which was an 8-oz filet placed on top of potatoes cooked with onions and balsamic vinegar. The steak was so tender it seemed to melt in your mouth and the potatoes were sweet almost like sweet potatoes.We plan on going back to check out the bar and desserts on another day. On the night we went, it had Nutella Pot de Creme (hazelnut butter, chocolate and Frangelico whipped cream) and Tiramasu on the menu.Plume is a welcome addition to the North Main-Auburn corridor that also features the Norwegian at 1402 N. Main St. You should put both on your restaurant rotation.

There will be tens of thousands of kids out on Halloween in Rockford, in the annual quest for some cool candy. On Halloween in 1956, Rockford native and U.S. Navy Admiral George Dufek was hoping not to get too cold.On Oct. 31, 1956, Dufek became the first American to stand at the South Pole. He was one of seven U.S. Navy pilots who landed an airplane for the first time at the bottom of the world. With the engines running to avoid freeze-up, Dufek stepped out onto the frozen terrain and planted the U.S. Flag.The flight was part of Operation Deep Freeze, which had the ultimate goal of establishing a research station on the continent. In 1957, Dufek returned to the South Pole to establish a supply base, which he named Little Rockford.Today, the National Science Foundation's South Pole Station is host to cutting-edge science and home to as many 150 people at a time. Dufek was born in Rockford in 1903. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at Rockford High School and was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1921.Dufek became a pilot and served in World War II and the Korean War, when he was placed in command of the aircraft carrier USS Antietam. Dufek retired from the Navy in 1959 and died in 1977. The Navy stopped using Little Rockford in 1965.

It's October and that means it's time for Spooks! I’m dying to know… what’s your favorite haunted house to visit in the 815?

Tatianna Salisbury, a proud Rockford, Illinois native, has always been driven by her passion for storytelling. Now based in Denver, Colorado, she has blossomed into a powerful voice in the world of creative writing, publishing her debut book, words my heart needed to hear, in June 2023. This remarkable collection of poetry and short stories reflects Tatianna’s emotional journey through love, betrayal, longing, and healing. Her raw, honest writing style has already begun to resonate with readers across the country.A Passion for StorytellingTatianna’s love for writing began early on, but it was during her time at Rockford’s Auburn High School, in the CAPA program, that she truly started to believe in her potential as a writer."I’ve always loved writing," Tatianna shared. "But it was really when I was in the CAPA program at Auburn that I started to think I could make a career out of it. I had some incredible English teachers who pushed me to evolve as a writer."Her teachers’ encouragement ignited a passion that continued to grow throughout her college years. Tatianna pursued her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications at Northern Illinois University, where she honed her skills in journalism and creative writing. She held several positions at the university newspaper, including Editor-In-Chief, and contributed to various online publications and magazines across the U.S.The Journey to DenverIn the fall of 2021, Tatianna moved to Denver, Colorado, to further her career in internal communications. But it wasn’t long before she rekindled her love for creative writing and poetry. Between 2022 and 2023, Tatianna poured her heart into writing and publishing her first book, words my heart needed to hear, a collection that dives deep into the complexities of relationships and self-discovery."Through five chapters, we experience the lifecycle of love through Tatianna’s eyes," the book description reads. "As love sparks, takes, hurts, heals, and lasts, intimate stories from Tatianna’s life are displayed, divulged, and in some cases, dissected."The collection is more than just a series of poems—it’s a heartfelt letter to herself and an offering of comfort and understanding to those navigating their own emotional journeys.Looking to the future, Tatianna is preparing to republish words my heart needed to hear in spring 2025, featuring illustrations by an indie Colorado artist, a reimagined cover, and bonus material that teases her second book. She will be publishing her second book in late 2025.Tatianna’s Advice to Aspiring CreativesAs someone who has successfully pursued a creative career, Tatianna offers two key pieces of advice to anyone following a similar path. First, from her mentor: "Make the time and do the thing." Whether it’s writing for five minutes a day, painting on a small canvas, or volunteering at a theater company, making time for your creative passion is essential.Second, her personal advice is simple but powerful: "Don’t be afraid to love something." Reflecting on her own experiences, Tatianna remembers how she was hesitant to fully embrace her love for writing in school, often holding back for fear of judgment. Her message to younger creatives is clear: pursue your passion unapologetically, and don’t let the fear of judgment stand in your way."The only person’s judgment that matters is your own in terms of anything creative," she adds. "Whether you love writing, geometry, or collecting stamps, don’t be afraid to pursue it."Looking ForwardTatianna Salisbury’s journey is just beginning. Her book, words my heart needed to hear, is a testament to her passion, talent, and dedication to storytelling. As she continues exploring her creative path, both in writing and life, Tatianna is poised to inspire countless others with her courage and authenticity.For readers looking to experience the beauty of Tatianna’s writing, her debut book is available now—and it promises to be just the first of many stories she will share with the world. To follow Tatianna’s creative journey and stay updated on future projects, visit her website at tatiannasalisbury.com and connect with her on social media.