April 2018 Serving Magazine Metamora & Germantown Hills Local Calendar of Events See Inside a, IL etamor eet d S enar 220 N.

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1 April 2018 Serving Metamora & Germantown Hills Magazine Local Calendar of Events See Inside MTCO Communications 220 N. Menard Street Metamora, IL A Community Publication Provided By MTCO Communications

2 This month we turn the spotlight to Mike Hinrichsen, Mayor of Germantown Hills. He enjoyed a 37-year career at Caterpillar in sales and marketing. Mike left the Peoria area in 1980 on a journey that included living in Switzerland, England, Canada, Kuwait and Dubai. He returned to Germantown Hills in 2000, married and with four children. Mike feels blessed to be an American and can always remember a sense of American pride. Living and working around the world brought a new perspective to how fortunate we are to be Americans. This pride coupled with having parents that were very active in their community drove his desire to give back to the community. He was an active Woodford County Board member from During this period, he worked closely with the Village of Germantown Hills and when the opportunity arose to serve as Village President, he ran and was elected and later sworn in May of Prior to swearing in, he met with people across the Village to gain understanding of the key issues and needs facing its residents. He also met with Village employees and reviewed of the Village Comprehensive Plan. Goals were set for safety and quality of life, economic development, infrastructure investment, regional collaboration, and fiscal responsibility. One initiative focuses on the lack of a central location where the neighborhoods can meet and have village events. A vision has evolved for a village square where key village assets are connected and the space becomes the downtown of the village. This vision includes three separate small parks with one having a band shell, space for village events, land for a farmers market, and family gatherings. This has been developed with the Economic Development Committee, Village Board, and shared across the village and region with great enthusiasm. Phase 1 of this project included developing a pictorial and applying for a grant. The results of the grant are expected in April. Furthermore, the Village is committing time to regional collaboration though its membership with the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council, Tri-County Regional Planning Commissions, along with reaching out to state and Federal elected officials. Lastly, it is clearly recognized that having healthy and successful villages in both Germantown Hills and Metamora serves all of us well. Mayor Hinrichsen and Metamora Mayor Ken Maurer have a great relationship and talk and work together regularly. Something that may surprise you is Mike was originally from Geneseo, a long time football rival of Metamora. When he moved back to the Peoria area they looked for a similar small town environment and chose Germantown Hills and Metamora High School. As you can see, we had some fun with Mike s picture! He is a Golfaholic and plays over 130 rounds of golf a year. He loves playing with friends and can often be found at Metamora Fields. On The Cover Opening night picture from the MTHS presentation of the theatrical masterpiece Fiddler on the Roof. The show was performed March 15th - March 18th at the Kenneth H. Maurer Performing Arts Center. Special thanks to GR8Memories for supplying the cover picture. MTCO Communications 220 N. Menard Street Metamora, Illinois connected@mtco.com President & CEO Glenn Rauh Vice President & CFO Ann Dickerson Media Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Bob Becraft bbecraft@corp.mtco.com Marketing Manager Editor - Connected Magazine Kip DuBois kdubois@corp.mtco.com Connected Magazine is published monthly by MTCO Communications with corporate office located at 220 North Menard Street, Metamora, Illinois, The publication is intended for use of the residents of Metamora and Germantown Hills. No article in this issue or any part of this publication may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the Publisher. For more information about this magazine, or for additional copies, contact Bob Becraft or Kip DuBois at or connected@mtco.com. If you have questions or concerns regarding your services, please contact our Customer Service Representatives at (309) or Copyright 2018 MTCO Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

3 Entertainment & Technology Family Movie Night Unlock the mysteries of the force with Star Wars: The Last Jedi --just released to digimax on Demand on March 27th! New On Demand releases to rent now include Jumanji, Justice League, and A Doggone Adventure. Look for Father Figures, Paddington 2 and more in April! Press the MOVIE or ON DEMAND button on your remote control to access the VOD library. Search the Just In or New Releases folders, or press the yellow button to search for titles you want. When selecting your rental, the Default Purchase PIN is It s time for another FREE HBO and Cinemax weekend for MTCO digimax customers! Free viewing starts at 6 a.m. on Friday, April 20th and ends at midnight on Monday, April 23rd. The weekend will feature the premiere episode of Westworld, s well as theatrical premieres of War For The Planet of the Apes and Suicide Squad. Cell Phone Stabilizer Vimble is the device that allows you to create photos and videos having a professional look. This premium mobile phone stabilizer has a built in feature of keeping an eye on your face as it automatically tracks you without assistance of a second person. With the help of this phone stabilizer you can easily film the scenes in both portrait and landscape layout. In addition to characteristics like following faces and stabilizing footages, Vimble has camera controls with the help of an integrated control panel. Options like zoom, expose, white balance and focus are possible with built in controls in the handle. It balances the smartphones to remove undesirable movement in the 3D space. The motors, assembled in it, are completely silent, so not to disturb the audio of the recording. More information about this product can be found at www. New Tech Support Option In a hurry? Issues after hours? Need help but don t want to call in? Now you can contact MTCO technical support through ebill! 1. Go to 2. Click on Trouble Ticket 3. Enter your ebill username and pasword 4. Click on Trouble Ticket on the dashboard. Keep up with Entertainment and Technology news. Add MTCO to your Facebook and Twitter groups, and visit the MTCO Blogspot at

4 Photo courtesy of GR8Memories. CONGRATULATIONS to the Metamora High School varsity boys basketball team for an amazing season that resulted in the first Sectional Championship in program history!

5 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Metamora Kiwanis Mtg Flame Restaurant 12pm American Legion Post Meeting 7:30pm American Legion Auxiliary Mtg. 7pm Germantown Hills MGS PTO Meeting at 7pm Germantown Hills S.D. #69 School Board Meeting 7pm GHCC Meeting 8am Germantown Hills Planning Commission Mtg. Village Hall 6pm Germantown Hills S.D. #69 PTO Meeting 6pm IL Prairie District Library Board Mtg. 4pm Metamora Village Board Meeting 7pm MABA Meeting 11:30am Metamora Kiwanis Mtg. Michaels 12pm Metamora Village Board Meeting 7pm Metamora/Germantown Hills Rotary Club Mtg. 12pm MTHS Late Start 9:05am Metamora/Germantown Hills Rotary Club Mtg. 12pm Metamora Park Board Mtg. Village Hall 7pm Metamora/Germantown Hills Rotary Club Mtg. 12pm EDC Mtg at Village Hall 5:00pm Author Kate Klise Metamora Library 5pm GHills Library 6:30pm MGS BOE Meeting at 7pm Library Fundraiser Adult Spelling Bee Old Mill Vineyard 6pm Germantown Hills Village Board Mtg. at Village Hall 6pm MTHS BOE Meeting at 7pm Jump, Jive & Swing Metamora Fields 6pm Taste of Germantown Hills G.H. Grade School at 6pm Having Hard Conversations Workshop Snyder Village 6pm Metamora Kiwanis Mtg. Michael s 12pm Metamora/Germantown Hills Rotary Club Mtg. 12pm MGS BOE Meeting at 7pm MGS Jr. High Spring Concert 7pm St. Mary s Track Relays MTHS 9am MTHS CTE Expo Toepke Gymnasium 6pm

6 In Our Community Emergency Alerting and Notification System The Village of Germantown Hills wants you and your family to be safe and informed during emergencies in our area. These may include public safety threats, dangerous weather, or traffic advisories. Information is key, and they strongly encourage you to sign up to receive text message alerts directly from the Village of Germantown Hills. Registering for alerts is easy. Simply text GTHILLS to and you will be informed and instructed when necessary. Snyder Village Workshop Snyder Village continues its series of workshops specifically for caregivers. All sessions are free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to register in advance to ensure enough materials and refreshments are prepared. Having Hard Conversations Monday, April 23rd at 6 p.m. How and when do you have the difficult conversations surrounding a loved one s care? Talking to a loved one about accepting help or transitioning into a care facility can be difficult topics. Listen to strategies for having those conversations. The presenter is Tabatha Poppenga of the Bradley University Counseling Research & Training Clinic. MTHS Hosts CTE Expo Metamora Township High School is inviting the community to the first Annual Career & Technical Education Expo on Tuesday, May 1st, in the Randall Toepke Gymnasium from 6 p.m. - 7:30 pm. Students from the CTE Department (formerly known as Vocational Education) will have booths and demonstrations to showcase all areas of vocational training currently offered at MTHS. Areas included in this showcase will include Agriculture, Auto Mechanics, Business, Culinary Arts, Drafting, Electronics, Engineering, Graphic Arts, Robotics, Welding, and Woods. Admission is free and refreshments will be available. Pictured is Senior student Michael Mattern who is making a project in the Metals Machining course. Come see what your local Career & Technical Education classes are up to! The Taste at Germantown Hills The Germantown Hills PTO is hosting The Taste at Germantown Hills on Saturday, April 14th from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Germantown Hills Grade School at 103 Warrior Way. The public is invited for a fun afternoon of food vendors, games, silent auction, live auction, and more! Do you have community news to share with the residents of Metamora and Germantown Hills? Send it to connected@mtco.com, or mail it to 220 N. Menard St., Metamora, IL Attn: Connected Magazine.

7 National Library Week National Library Week is April 8th - 14th. In addition to other activities throughout this exciting week, the Illinois Prairie District Library will be visited by a very special guest. Bestselling, award-winning author of more than thirty books for all ages (with most children s books illustrated by her very own sister), Kate Klise visits our district on April 12th. She will be at the Metamora branch at 5 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m. at the Germantown Hills branch. The library will be giving away a copy of Klise s book to the first 40 patrons at the events. Kate Klise will be present and autograph books for all who are interested. Visit for more information. Additional books will be available for purchase by the author! To learn more about this amazing author, visit Adult Spelling Bee Fundraiser The Illinois Prairie District Library invites you to an Adult Spelling Bee on Thursday, April 19th at 6 p.m. This fun evening will take place at Old Mill Vineyard at 700 Coon Creek Road in Metamora. In three rounds of 20 words each, teams of two to four simultaneously support their local public library and show off their spelling prowess! Tickets for this fundraiser are $25 each and include one glass of wine and snacks. Proceeds to benefit Library renovation projects. Keegan s Superhero Day The 4th Annual Keegan s Superhero Run and Bags tournament will take place on Saturday, May 19th at the Germantown Grille. The 5K Run/Walk starts at 9 a.m. with the Kids Fun Run starting at 10 a.m. Save on registration fees and guarantee a race shirt by registering prior to April 2th. The double elimination Bags Tournament starts at 11 a.m. Discounted fee is available until April 27th. Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. For registration information, please go to Metamora St. Jude Superhero Day 5K & Bags Tourney on Facebook or The day includes a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, bake sale, and T-shirt sales. Food and drinks provided by Germantown Grille from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Silent auction items are needed to help make this event a success! All proceeds from this event or silent auction are donated to St. Jude Runs benefiting St. Jude Children s Research Hospital. For questions, please call Katie McCallister at or to kmccallister9@gmail.com. Quarter Auction The Metamora-Germantown Hills Junior Woman s Club is hosting its Quarter Auction on Thursday, April 12th at Metamora Grade School. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the auction starts at 6:30 p.m. Paddles are $1 each and all auctions are one to four quarters. Desserts and beverages will be available for purchase and there will be a variety of vendors so grab your friends and loose change for an evening of fun.

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