David Sharos

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Helping residents learn how to help out in their community was the point of the Volunteer Fair hosted by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce Tuesday afternoon. The event at the Batavia Public Library featured over three dozen non-profit organizations looking for volunteers. Kathryn Vance of Batavia said she has lived in town for more than 20 years and had just retired. “I’m just looking. There are so many times I wanted to volunteer but I was still working,” she said at the four-hour event Tuesday.

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

When it came time to name their Geneva bagel shop launched a little over a year ago, Sara Parisi and her husband Joe had already secured permission to use Geneva Bagels before one of their two sons unexpectedly put his two cents in and gave the store at 501 E. State St. its name. “Our son has been reading this children’s series of books called ‘The Bad Guys’ and there was a copy of one of the books sitting on the table,” Sara Parisi said.

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

A pair of English teachers at East Aurora High School, along with about three dozen of their students and other faculty members, spent Saturday walking from Aurora to Elgin to put the spotlight on the experience of immigrants. When it comes to the topic of immigration, students like Ashley Martinez, 18, of Aurora, know something about it first-hand.

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

PM Music Center at 4411 Fox Valley Center Drive in Aurora has opened a new in-store showroom dedicated to mariachi music. Called Mariachi Mercado, the showroom is designed to serve as a hub for Chicago area mariachi musicians,educators and enthusiasts, store officials said, and offers a selection of instruments, accessories and repair services tailored to the needs of mariachi performers.

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | David Sharos

Aurora resident Cory Whitehead admits he’s never one to miss a food truck festival in the city. “I know they’ve had these for well over a decade and I’ve come to every one of them,” Whitehead said as he waited in line Friday evening for a lobster roll during the spring Food Truck Festival in downtown Aurora. “You kind of learn to come early if you want certain things, like this lobster truck. It’s unique. I’ll probably hit a few tastes of things and a dessert.