Loves Park council honors ‘Catholic Schools Week’

Loves Park council honors ‘Catholic Schools Week’
By Margaret Downing
Reporter
At the Jan. 14 Loves Park City Council meeting, Mayor Greg Jury read a proclamation celebrating Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 27 through Feb. 2) as St. Bridget’s student council members, church members, and others attended.
As noted by Jury, St. Bridget School “provides elementary education for grades Pre-K through 8th grade and currently has an enrollment of 404 students.”
Students come from not only Loves Park and Machesney Park, but also Rockford, Rockton, Caledonia, Belvidere, South Beloit, Cherry Valley, Winnebago and Poplar Grove.
The school joins 6,353 other Catholic Schools in this country “to observe the annual celebration week with Mass, an open house and other activities for students, families, parishioners and other community members with a focus on the value of Catholic education that provides young people and their contribution to not only their church, but to the nation’s communities.”
The 2019 theme is “Catholic Schools: Learn, Serve, Lead, Succeed.” The theme “encompasses the core products and values that can be found in Catholic schools across the country, not only teaching students to become future servant leaders, faith-filled disciples and also to enrich the communities and grow with them…these shared qualities are what make Catholic schools work and succeed.”
Aldermen also heard at the meeting from Fire Chief Gerry Wiltfang who noted that the department completed its first complete month of full-time day shift coverage.
“We responded to medical calls during the two weeks in December,” he said, including night coverage. We also responded to 191 calls for service with an average response time of 6.18 minutes. “
Additionally, the department responded to a structure fire in the 4600 block of Fenton Lane, a two-family residence. “On arrival, the fire was found to have breached a second story window but the fire was held to the original unit. We were able to accomplish this because of the seven-minute response time” to the call.
Wiltfang said too that the department continues to work with Harlem-Roscoe’s fire department on an “Auto-Aid agreement.”
The Loves Park Firefighters Association gave Christmas toys to 26 families with 83 children, “possible due to corporate and private donations received.”
Per weekly police activity reports, the department received 361 calls for service, made 169 arrests, and responded to 23 accidents between Dec. 23 and 29. Police received 463 calls for service, made 314 arrests, and responded to 10 accidents between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5.
Three ordinance amendments and two liquor licenses were also approved at the council meeting.
A resolution was passed authorizing the fire department to purchase and “X Series Manual Monitor/Defibrillator for departmental use.”