A Butterfield Homeowners Association Publication

L E T T E R F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

A Butterfield Christmas CarolIN THIS ISSUE:

Letter from the PresidentConnie’s CornerMeeting MinutesBHA 2018 BudgetButterfield News

Butterfield Classifieds

Butterfield ChristmasMemoriesFamily Fun

BHA TodayVol 4 No. 4Winter 2017

BHA Today is the official newsletter of the Butterfield Homeowners Association

2S104 Avondale LnLombard, IL 60148(630) 627-4845

butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com

Editor-In-Chief:Doug Elwell

Newsletter design andproduction courtesy, Doug Elwell, Inc.

By Doug Elwell, PresidentButterfield Homeowners Association

“II will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all theyear. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.

The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut outthe lessons that they teach!”

~ Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

A nother year has gone by, and another Christmas has come at last. If you arelike me, you look forward to Christmas every year, and try to keep it well. Forme, with the constant encroachment of work and various life issues, it is be-

coming increasingly difficult to “keep Christmas well”, as Dickens put it. I have a hardenough time reproducing the Christmas magic I experienced as a boy growing up inButterfield in the 70s and 80s, without trying to reproduce the idealized Christmasthe way we see it portrayed in the movies and on TV. My efforts usually turn out lesslike “A Christmas Carol” and more like “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, butI try harder every year, and encourage you to do the same.

Our theme for this issue is the darker side of Christmas, and how to avoid being aScrooge (or a Grinch). To that end, we have included a couple of articles on Christmasfavorites from our past, including “A Christmas Carol” and “Dr. Suess’ How the GrinchStole Christmas!” I found out a lot of behind-the-scenes trivia in the process of re-searching and writing these articles, so I hope you enjoy reading them as much as Ienjoyed writing them. Our “A Christmas Carol” and “Grinch” articles start on page 10.

Our Butterfield News article on page 8 is about a well-organized group of Grincheswho have been stealing money out of Butterfield residents’ unlocked cars. We at theBHA have been talking about this issue for some time now, but the situation has be-come more serious, and needs to be addressed at a community level — a task thatthe BHA was designed to do. We also cover the lighter side of Christmas with a briefdescription of our Annual Best Decorated Christmas House Contest. This will be ourfifth year since we restarted the contest, details on page 13 and at http://mybhoa.com

You will also find an envelope within this issue which you can use to convenientlymail in your annual dues check to Connie, our Vice President. Youcan also donate by credit card online by visiting our site athttp://www.mybhoa.com, and clicking on the yellow “AnnualDues” button. Contact us with questions any time, we are “hear”for you. Merry Christmas to all from your friends at the Butter-field Homeowners Association!

BHA

bhatoday.com

| BHA Today

Butterfield Homeowners AssociationPresident: Douglas Elwell

630-627-4845 |  doug@dougelwell.comVice President, Memberships: Connie Poulos Loos

630-400-1212 |  connieloos21@aol.comSecretary: OpenTreasurer: Open

Landscaping: Phyllis Schroeder 630-627-2671 |  pianograma@comcast.net

Welcome Wagon: Jean Paprocki, Sandy Henry 630-932-8601 |  630-495-3978

Speak Out: Editorial Staff | bhatoday.com/contactCanopies: Tony Danylevsky |  630-932-1804Community Information: http://mybhoa.com/community-information/

Important Phone NumbersAnimal Control: 682-7197BHA Facebook: www.facebook.com/BHATodayBHA Website: www.mybhoa.comButterfield Park District: 858-2229Butterfield School: 827-4000ComEd: 800-334-7661DuPage Non-Emergency:

• Police: 407-2400 • Fire: 620-5738

DuPage Disposal: 268-9253DuPage Zoning: 407-6700Electronics Recycling: 627-2200Emergency Fire/Police: 911Flood Brothers: 261-0400Good Samaritan Hospital: 275-5900Illinois American Water Co.: 739-8810Lombard Post Office: 627-1864Milton Township

• Office: 690-9036 • Highway: 682-4270

Poison Control Center: 800-942-5969Vacation home checks: 682-7256Voter registration: 629-0475Waste Management: 800-747-2278Westlake Middle School: 827-4500York Township

• Office: 620-2400 • Highway: 627-2200

Connie’s CornerBy Connie Poulos Loos, Vice President, Butterfield Homeowners Association

H omeowner tips fromColdwell Bankers Sel lers Resources:

Top 10 Tips for Selling Your HomeDuring the HolidaysATTRACT HOMEBUYERS EVEN DURING THEHOLIDAYS WITH THESE USEFUL TIPS

T he holiday season from November throughJanuary is often considered the worst time to puta home on the market. While the thought of sell-

ing your home during the winter months may dampenyour holiday spirit, the season does have its advan-tages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious andcompetition is less fierce with fewer homes being ac-tively marketed. First, decide if you really need to sell.Really. Once you've committed to the challenge, donyour gay apparel and follow these tips from FrontDoor.

Deck the halls, but don’t go overboard. Homesoften look their best during the holidays, but sellersshould be careful not to overdo it on the decor. Adorn-ments that are too large or too many can crowd yourhome and distract buyers. Also, avoid offending buyersby opting for general fall and winter decorations ratherthan items with religious themes.

Hire a reliable real estate agent. That meanssomeone who will work hard for you and won't disap-pear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's.Ask your friends and family if they can recommend alisting agent who will go above and beyond to get yourhome sold. This will ease your stress and give youmore time to enjoy the season.

Seek out motivated buyers. Anyone house hunt-ing during the holidays must have a good reason fordoing so. Work with your agent to target buyers on adeadline, including people relocating for jobs in yourarea, investors on tax deadlines, college students andstaff, and military personnel, if you live near a militarybase.

Price it to sell. No matter what time of year, ahome that’s priced low for the market will make buyersfeel merry. Rather than gradually making small price re-ductions, many real estate agents advise sellers to slashtheir prices before putting a home on the market.

Make curb appeal a top priority. When autumn

Continued on page 9 >>

Connie’s Corner | BHA Today

3Winter 2017

AttendeesPresident Doug Elwell and 7 attendees.

Call to OrderThe meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.

Approved Motions• A motion was approved to pass the 2018 budget as pre-sented with an additional $200 added for landscaping (totalof $1,000).

Pledge of Allegiance

Minutes of the Last MeetingThe reading of the minutes was waived by the membership.

Police ReportCorporal Mike Urso of the DuPage County Sheriff’s Officedid an encore presentation on local criminal activity and re-lated issues in the Butterfield subdivision. Corporal Mikeonce again discussed how there has been an uptick in bur-glaries locally, including Butterfield East, Butterfield Westand Valley View. It is an organized group that is from

Chicago. They are underage kids coordinated by a largerorganization who go around looking for unlocked doors oncars and houses. If a car has keys in the ignition, the carwill be stolen. Be careful even when you are nearby yourcar, such as when you are pumping gas. Check your carand house doors every night, including your garage door.

Also, please continue calling in suspicious autos andpeople. The police will run the names and identify them andmake sure that they are legitimate, as sometimes peoplepose as carpenters, painters and other types of house andyard workers in order to gain access to your house andyard. You can call 911 to do this, its not a problem.

Other lowlights included: • Valley Road: Suspicious vehicle, someone was takingpictures of some houses. • Kensington Road: Suspicious auto report. Vehicle wasillegally parked, subject did not live on the street. • Coronet Road and Gray Avenue: Fireworks were goingoff, police were called, but no one was there when they ar-rived. When there is a loud noise, give the address of thelocation where the noise is coming from, not just the street,otherwise it is difficult for the police to locate the offender.

M E E T I N G M I N U T E S : O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 7

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Continued on page 6 >>

BHA Today | Meeting Minutes: October 19, 2017

• Beaumont Lane: People claiming to work for ComEdasked to see someone’s ComEd bill. They had permits, butthe police recommend not giving out your bill to anyone asit contains important personal information that can be usedto steal your identity. • Ahlstrand Road: Criminal damage to property, to mail-box, no suspect, possibly random. • Marlborough Lane: Dog owner was advised by the po-lice to keep the dog in their yard, even though it was friendly. • Valley Road: Criminal damage to a vehicle, mirror miss-ing. Happened overnight, possible suspect was identified. • Valley Road: Someone stole two scarecrow Halloweendecorations and pelted the house with eggs. • Hemstead Road and Valley Road: Suspicious auto re-port. Unknown silver colored minivan going up people’sdriveway. Most likely a paper delivery van that has anagreement to deliver directly to the house. • 22nd Street and Colonial Lane: Halloween decorationsin October. Man was tying his shoe, someone thought thathe was trying to steal a Halloween projector.

Door-to-door solicitors have to get a permit from thecounty in order to solicit. This includes seemingly legitimatepeople such as energy companies trying to get you toswitch to their energy company. Most of these people arelegitimate, but some are actually criminals knocking on thedoor to see if anyone is home, and then checking the door-knob to see if the door is unlocked. Feel free to call 911 ifyou see suspicious people, but use discretion. If 911 givesyou a hard time, tell them Officer Urso told you to call. Hewould also prefer you deal with the police directly ratherthan posting incidents online.

After Corporal Mike’s presentation, BHA member TerryShapiro gave a brief update on his fight to get sidewalks in-stalled on both sides of the Butterfield Road overpass over355. See our Autumn 2017 newsletter, pages 9 and lastpage insert, at http://mybhoa.com/newsletters for more in-formation.

Officer and Committee ReportsTREASURER’S REPORTAll numbers are reported as of October 17th, 2017:

ASSETS• Checking account ............................................$4,119.58• PayPal account ..................................................$717.94• Money market account ................................$13,861.09 • CD .................................................................. $4,931.46

Winter 2017 bhatoday.com6

>> Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 4)

Continued on page 9 >>

2018 BHA BudgetHere is the approved Butterfield Homeowners Associa-tion budget for 2018:

REVENUEMembership Dues (est. 240 members):........$6,000.00

ADVERTISINGNewsletter ......................................................2,600.00Website: ..........................................................$200.00Subtotal Advertising ......................................$2,600.00

Interest ..................................................................0.00Miscellaneous ......................................................$0.00

Total Estimated Revenue ..............................$8,800.00

EXPENSESMARKETING & CORPORATECOMMUNICATIONSPrinting: ........................................................$2,700.00- Average Newsletter: $650 x 4: $2,600- Membership Reminder Postcard: $100Postage: ........................................................$1,850.00- Average Newsletter: $400 x 4: $1,600- Membership Reminder Postcard: $250Website: ..........................................................$300.00Welcome Wagon: ............................................$150.00Subtotal Marketing: ......................................$5,000.00

LANDSCAPINGPlants and related materials:............................$100.00Mowing and related landscaping needs:..........$600.00Decorations & Miscellaneous:..........................$300.00Subtotal Landscaping: ..................................$1,000.00

EVENTSPicnic, Parties & Special Events: ..................$1,000.00Subtotal Events: ............................................$1,000.00

MISCELLANEOUSInsurance: ........................................................$900.00- General Liability: $700- CNA Surety Licensing & Bonding: $200Incorporation Fees: ............................................$50.00Office Supplies, Prizes & Miscellaneous: ........$250.00Subtotal Other: ..............................................$1,800.00

Total Estimated Expenses:............................$8,800.00Net Income - Expenses end of year 2018:................$0

BHA Today | Meeting Minutes: October 19, 2017

B U T T E R F I E L D N E W S

BHA Today Editorial Staff

O n a dark and stormy night in November, the night be-fore November 22nd of this year, Butterfield experi-enced probably the single greatest crime spree in its

56-year history. If the police reports are correct, at least 88cars were “broken in to”, their contents stolen by a well-or-ganized band of thieves who work for a group of organizedcriminals working out of Chicago. We use “broken in to” inquotes, as most if not all of those cars were sitting unlocked,either in their owner’s driveway or out in the street.

It is said that success breeds complacency, complacencybreeds failure, and only the paranoid survive. The successfulsubdivision that is Butterfield East has enjoyed an unprece-dented run of peace and relative prosperity that has lastedliterally for decades, indeed for over half a century since itbegan in 1961. That prolonged period of peace and prosper-ity has bred complacency into us, giving us a false feeling ofinvincibility. That illusion of invincibility disappeared suddenly

on the eve of the 22nd when cars from one end of the subdi-vision to the other, from Lloyd Avenue to Avondale Lane,were coolly ransacked by a group of professional thieves whostole thousands of dollars of cash and personal items, takingaway not only material things, but also the precious memo-ries associated with them. Most importantly, what those or-ganized criminals stole away was the faith borne ofcomplacency that peace and security are somehow a given,a right, something that comes for free, rather than somethingthat needs to be fought for and jealously protected. Perhapsin that sense this crime spree can be seen as a good thing inthe long term, if it hardens us enough to stop taking ourpeace, safety and freedom for granted, and start becominga little more paranoid about how things actually are in thewide world outside of our peaceful little enclave.

Only in the last year or two has crime become a problem,and then only organized crime that has been imported fromthe outside, not home-grown crime that has so often beenthe bane of neighborhoods like ours. No, Butterfieldians havealways been diligent about policing our neighborhood andmaking sure that suspicious characters are rooted out. How-ever, events dictate that we must now turn our sights not onlyinward, but also outward, policing our borders, making surethat that suspicious car or person is properly accounted for— day or night. Corporal Urso of the DuPage County Sheriff’sOffice has made it clear every time he has spoken at ourmeetings that the police want you to use 911 to call in reportsof suspicious characters, and he means it. We are the eyesand ears of the police, who cannot be everywhere at everytime. We are partly responsible as homeowners for the safetyand security of our neighborhood, so please take the advicethat we regularly publish in print and online seriously. Keeptrack of suspicious people, keep your houses and yards welllit a night, trim your bushes so that there is nowhere for crim-inals to hide. We provide this information for you so we allcan live in a safe and secure Butterfield. Remember, we areall in this together.

Car Break-Ins Rock Butterfield & Surrounding Suburbs

BHA Today | Butterfield News / Butterfield Classifieds

B U T T E R F I E L D C L A S S I F I E D S

Flood Brothers specializes in trash management,garbage and recycling. Phone: 630-261-0400. Web:www.floodbrothersdisposal.com. See their ad on page15 for more information.

DC Windows, Doors & Remodeling provides totalrenovation and home improvements specializing in win-dow and door repair/replacement. Phone: 630-689-3229. Email: dmj_74@yahoo.com. See their ad onpage 5 for more information.

Bianca Stone, GuaranteedRate offers mortgageadvice and services. Phone Bianca at 630-869-0011,email, bianca.stone@rate.com. See her ad on page 2for more information.

Connie Poulos Loos offers realtor services as aColdwell Banker real estate agent. Certified in residen-tial relocation, negotiation, short sales and foreclosures.Phone: 630-400-1212. Email: connieloos21@aol.comSee her ad on page 7 for more information.

Double Dragon is an authentic Chinese and Japan-ese sushi restaurant located at 414 W. 22nd St. in Lom-bard (Cove Plaza). Phone: 630-889-8989.

To add your listing, call 630-627-4845, or email butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com.

bhatoday.com8Winter 2017

Winter 2017

Meeting Minutes: October 19, 2017 / Connie’s Corner | BHA Today

• Balance in postage acct. ..................................$1,198.52TOTAL ASSETS ................................................$24,828.96

INCOME AND EXPENSES(JUNE 13TH-OCTOBER 17TH)INCOME:• 2017 member dues (including PayPal) (26 households,YTD total 214 households): ....................................$650.00• Spring 2017 Newsletter Advertising • Paid by Check ..................................................$190.00 • Paid with Cash ......................................................$0.00 • Paid via PayPal ................................................$350.00 Total Newsletter Advertising: ..............................$540.00TOTAL INCOME (for 6/17-10/17) ........................$1,190.00EXPENSES: • Printing Cost for Summer 2017 Newsletter ..........$597.94• 2017 Picnic park rental w/deposit and rain check for same$280.00• Lee ‘n Eddies Picnic food and server ..................$467.44• Lawn Barbers – mowing for June 2017 ................$100.00• Lawn Barbers – mowing for July 2017..................$100.00• Lawn Barbers – mowing for August 2017 ............$125.00• Doug Elwell – repayment for 4Imprint Welcome Wagon bags ..........................................$325.65

• Doug Elwell – repayment for $100 of Mariano’s gift cards ..............................................$100.00

• Doug Elwell – repayment for miscellaneous picnic food & supplies ............................................$46.35

TOTAL EXPENSES: ............................................$2,142.38NET Income or Loss (6/17-10/17, Loss): ..............-$952.38

WELCOME WAGON COMMITTEEJean and Sandy went to 4-6 houses over the summer. Thehouses were sold but not closed, so they had to wait until allthe paperwork is done. They try to do 8-10 houses, minimumeach trip, handing out free BHA bags full of coupons and var-ious types of swag, as well as trying to get to know the newhomeowners personally. If you have not received your freeBHA bag, please contact us at butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com and Sandy and Jean will stop by to visit.

LANDSCAPING COMMITTEE• The three entrance signs will continue to be decorated everyChristmas and Fourth of July. Volunteers interested in helpingwith plant maintenance and managing the decorations pleasecontact us at butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com • A motion was approved to pass the proposed 2018 budgetwith an additional $200 added for landscaping (total of $1,000).

MARKETING COMMITTEE• We will be reprinting the Beautiful Butterfield brochure. • It was previously decided that new residents of Butterfield

will receive one free year of membership in the BHA. At theOctober meeting we discussed possibly creating an officialcertificate of membership that we will include in the BHA bagsgiven out by the Welcome Wagon ladies. • The newsletter is doing a good job of reaching out to newand existing residents of Butterfield, but more help from ourmembership with writing articles and submitting “speak out”

>> Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 6)

Continued on page 13 >>

rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, main-taining the exterior of your home becomes even more im-portant. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touchup the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard.Keep buyers’ safety in mind as well by making sure stairsand walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.

Take top-notch real estate photos. When theweather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to starttheir house hunt from the comfort of their homes bybrowsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first im-pression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photosof your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photoof your home available so buyers can see how it looksyear-round.

Create a video tour for the Web. You'll get lessfoot traffic during the holidays thanks to inclementweather and vacation plans. But shooting a video tourand posting it on the Web may attract house hunters whodon't have time to physically see your home or wouldrather not drive in a snowstorm.

Give house hunters a place to escape from thecold. Make your home feel cozy and inviting duringshowings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classicalmusic and offering homemade holiday treats. When youencourage buyers to spend more time in your home, youalso give them more time to admire its best features.

Offer holiday cheer in the form of financing.Bah, humbug! Lenders are scrooges these days, but ifyou've got the means, then why not offer a home loan toa serious buyer? You could get a good rate of return onyour money.

Relax — the new year is just around the corner.The holidays are stressful enough with gifts to buy, din-ners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a momentto remind yourself that if you don't sell now, there's alwaysnext year, which, luckily, is only a few days away.

Reprinted with permission from HGTV http://www.hgtv.com/de-sign/real-estate/top-10-tips-for-selling-your-home-during-the-holidays

>> Connie’s Corner (Continued from page 3)

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BHA Today | Butterfield Christmas Memories

By Doug Elwell

A Christmas Carol is ashort story, or “novella”,written by Charles Dick-

ens, widely considered to bethe greatest author of the Vic-torian era, and one of the great-est authors of English history. AChristmas Carol, first publishedin 1843, was completely soldout by Christmas Eve of thatsame year. The novella was sowildly popular amongst theEnglish public as it so neatlyencapsulated the “zeitgeist”, or spirit, of the Victorian Era, atime when the English were searching for theroots and festivals of Christmas past, trying torecapture that old “Christmas Spirit” of old andrepackage it for more modern times.1

ADAPTATIONSThough there are literally hundreds ofadaptions for stage, screen, television, writ-ten and spoken word, and many other for-mats,2 seven films stand out as the mostpopular representations of the classic tale: 

A Christmas Carol (1938), starringReginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lock-hart and Kathleen Lockhart as the Cratchits.This version remains a perennial favorite.

Scrooge (1951), re-titled A ChristmasCarol in the U.S., starring Alastair Sim asScrooge and Mervyn Johns and HermioneBaddeley as the Cratchits. According tocritic A. O. Scott of The New York Times,this film is the best one ever made of theDickens classic.

A Christmas Carol (1984), starring George C. Scottas Ebenezer Scrooge, David Warner and Susannah York

as the Cratchits, with EdwardWoodward as the Ghost ofChristmas Present. Scott re-ceived an Emmy Award nomi-nation for his performance.Clive Donner, who had beenthe film editor for the 1951 filmScrooge, directs. Novelist andessayist Louis Bayard de-scribed this adaptation as "thedefinitive version of a belovedliterary classic", praising its fi-delity to Dickens' original story,the strength of the supporting

cast, and especially Scott's performance as Scrooge.Scrooged (1988), a remake in a con-

temporary setting with Bill Murray as a mis-anthropic TV producer who is haunted bythe ghosts of Christmas. We reviewed thisenjoyable movie in our Winter 2015newsletter which can be accessed here:http://mybhoa.com/newsletters/

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), amusical film featuring various Muppet char-acters, with Michael Caine as Scrooge, Ker-mit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy asMrs. Cratchit and Gonzo as Charles Dickens.

A Christmas Carol (1999), a televisionmovie directed by David Jones, starringPatrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge. Pro-duced by Turner Network Television, andshown by them annually. Inspired by PatrickStewart's one-man stage adaptation of thestory, but featuring a full supporting cast.This was the first version of the story tomake use of digital special effects. Stewart

was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for hisperformance.

B U T T E R F I E L D C H R I S T M A S M E M O R I E S

A Christmas Carol

The cover of the first edi-tion of A Christmas Carol,printed in 1843. A Christ-mas Carol has been con-tinuously in print for nearly

175 years.

Continued on page 12 >>

The top seven “A Christmas Carol” film (and television) adaptations, left to right: 1) Reginald Owen (1938), 2) Alastair Sim(1951), George C. Scott (1984), Bill Murray (1988), Michael Caine & the Muppets (1992), Patrick Stewart (1999) and the latest(but not greatest) fully animated version with Jim Carrey (2009). Though Scott’s and Sims’ performances were considered

to be excellent, my personal favorite remains the original A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen.

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Winter 2017 bhatoday.com

BHA Today | Butterfield Christmas Memories

By Doug Elwell

“T he Grinch” is a sort of cartoon version ofScrooge, set in a pure fantasy world created fromthe mind of one of

the greatest childrens’ au-thors of the 20th century —Theodor Seuss Geisel, oth-erwise known as “Dr. Suess”.Ted Geisel, as he was nor-mally called, came up withthe idea for “the Grinch”when viewing his own facein the mirror: “I was brushingmy teeth on the morning ofthe 26th of ... Decemberwhen I noted a very Grin-chish countenance in themirror. It was Suess! Some-thing had gone wrong withChristmas, I realized, ormore likely with me. So Iwrote the story about mysour friend, the Grinch tosee if I could rediscoversomething about Christmasthat obviously I’d lost.” 1

The Grinch character ac-tually first appeared in an il-lustrated poem written byGeisel called “The Hoobuband the Grinch”, which waspublished in the May 1955edition of Redbook maga-zine. In the poem, the Grinchis introduced as a “con man”type character, who consthe Hoobub — a simplecreature who is lying in thesun enjoying himself — intobuying a piece of greenstring that the Grinch arguesis worth far more to him thanthe “harmful” sunlight. In thatpoem the Grinch’s characteris established as a liar and acon artist, and as such be-came the first adult charac-ter and the first villaincharacter to appear in a Dr.Suess writing.2

Geisel then followed up in 1957 with a book that featuredthe “Grinch” character entitled, How the Grinch Stole Christ-

mas, which was published inboth Redbook magazine and inbook form by Random House.3In the book the character of theGrinch is expanded beyond thatof a mere con-man to a machi-avellian monster bent on notonly robbing the nearby village,“Whoville”, of all of their Christ-mas food and presents, but rob-bing them of Christmas itself!

To accomplish this feat, theGrinch puts together a “ram-shackle sleigh” filled with nu-merous huge, empty, gray bagsthat he intended to use to sackthe entirety of the WhovilleChristmas. He planned to stealtheir Christmas on ChristmasEve, while all the Whos inWhoville were fast asleep. Andto make sure the scheme wentas planned, the Grinch dressedhimself as Santa Claus, and hisdog Max as a reindeer.

The Grinch then spends theentire night going from house tohouse stealing all the presents,stockings, decorations, trees,ornaments, the logs for theirfires, and even the main courseof the Whoville Christmas feast,the fabulous “roast beast”. Aftermaking sure every last bit ofChristmas had been taken, theGrinch then gets into his mas-sively overstuffed sleigh andbegins the ascent back to hishome atop Mt. Crumpit, fromwhich he planned to dump theentire Whoville Christmas intothe abyss.

However, when he had fi-nally gotten to the top of Mt.Crumpit, he waited a bit to hearthe mournful cry of the Whos in

B U T T E R F I E L D C H R I S T M A S M E M O R I E S

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

The Grinch originated as a simple con man interestedonly in making a quick buck off an unsuspecting rubeinto a megalomanical psychopath bent on stealing

Christmas itself!

After stealing every last outward manifestation ofChristmas, the Grinch then stuffed it all into his falsesleigh and prepared to dump it all into the abyss!

Continued on page 12 >>

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BHA Today | Butterfield Christmas Memories

A Christmas Carol (2009), a perform-ance capture film written for the screen, di-rected by Robert Zemeckis, and starringJim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and thethree ghosts.

LEGACYThough Dickens’ legacy can still be seenin the countless adaptations of A Christ-mas Carol, the deepest and most lastinglegacy he left behind was that his work laidthe foundations for the modern Christmascelebration. The concept of family gather-ings, Christmas festivals, games and rev-elry, seasonal food and drink, and aboveall charity, can be traced back to this sim-ple story. Cherish and keep Christmaswell, as it is your legacy from generationspast, and for generations to come.

FURTHER READING:Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol(London: Chapman & Hall, 1843).There are multiple versions of A Christ-mas Carol available for free athttp://books.google.com, search for “AChristmas Carol”.

1 Wikipedia, “A Christmas Carol”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christ-mas_Carol

2 Wikipedia, “Adaptations of A ChristmasCarol”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_A_Christmas_CarolRay Kelly, “Top 10 actors to playScrooge”, MassLive: http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/12/top_10_actors_to_play_scrooge.html

>> A Christmas Carol(Continued from page 10)

Whoville, he instead hears them celebratingChristmas as if nothing had happened. Thishas the effect of causing the Grinch to under-stand the true meaning of Christmas for thefirst time, that it was about love and togeth-erness, and the decorations and presentswere merely a celebration of that fact. Thislove fills so heart so tremendously that hisheart suddenly “grew three sizes” and he re-pented of his wickedness, deciding to ride hissleigh back down Mt. Crumpit, return every-thing he had stolen, and join the Whos in cel-ebrating Christmas.

The animated television special we are all familiar withwas titled, “Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”,and was first aired on December 18th, 1966. Like “A Char-

lie Brown Christmas”, “Dr. Seuss' How theGrinch Stole Christmas!” has remained aperennial Christmas favorite, airing everyyear since 1966. In 2000 a live-action versionstarring Jim Carrey hit the theaters, whichhas also been replayed every year since thattime. And a 3-D animated remake starringBenedict Cumberbatch is currently in theworks, proving the enduring power of thissimple story.

ENDNOTES:1 Philip Nel, “Dr. Suess: American Icon” (Lon-don: A&C Black, 2005): 118. 2 Thomas Fensch, The Man Who Was Dr.Suess (Woodlands, CA: New Century

Books): 126.3 Wikipedia, “The Grinch”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

But when the Grinch heard that the Whos in Whoville were celebrating Christmas anyway, he realized in his heart of heartsthat Christmas was a celebration of family, friendship and love, not of gifts and pretty decorations. He then returned all that he

had stolen from the Whos and joined them in their Christmas celebration, Christmas once again triumphing over the forces of darkness, both from without, and from within.

Winter 2017 bhatoday.com12

>> The Grinch who Stole Christmas(Continued from page 11)

The Grinch realizesthe true meaning of

Christmas.

The famous artwork by JohnLeech of Scrooge meeting theGhost of Christmas Presentfrom the original printing of A

Christmas Carol.

13Winter 2017 bhatoday.com

| BHA Today

questions and complaints to the editor is needed. Pleasecontact us at 630-627-4845, butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved in ourincreasingly popular and growing newsletter.

Unfinished BusinessNone

New Business2018 BUDGETPresident Doug Elwell presented the 2018 budget. Themembers approved the budget as presented, with an addi-tional $200 added to the Landscaping budget. You can seethe approved 2018 budget on page 6 of this newsletter.

2017 BEST DECORATEDCHRISTMAS HOUSE CONTESTWe will once again be hosting the popular “Best DecoratedChristmas House” contest this year. This will be our fifthyear, and cash prizes will once again be rewarded to thetop three finalists: First Prize will be $100, Second Prize willbe $50, and Third Prize will be $25. Pictures of these threewinners as well as some honorable mentions will all beposted on our website at http://mybhoa.com betweenChristmas and New Year’s Day. Deadlines for the contestwill also be published on our website.

NEW MEETING SIGNSWe need to create new meeting notification signs. Membersare invited to get involved and send us ideas on the types ofsigns we should make, howlarge they should be, whatthey should be made of, andso forth. Please contact us atbutterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com with your ideas.

Open ForumMuch of the time at the meet-ing was spent discussingtopics of interest to the atten-dees, which is a good sign ofa healthy interest amongstthe members in attendancein the welfare of our commu-nity. Most of the discussioncentered around the follow-ing two topics:

SIDEWALK TALKJean Paprocki discussed herconcerns with the quality of

the streets in Milton Township, vs. York Township, which hasa larger budget and fewer roads to maintain. Some of thestreets in the Milton side of Butterfield are severely erodedand cracked, and are badly in need of maintenance. Unfor-tunately, Milton Township’s highway department has re-mained unresponsive despite numerous attempts toconvince them of the seriousness of the situation.

GLENBARD WASTEWATER AUTHORITY ISSUESCindy Mazur recounted her experience in working with theGlenbard Wastewater Authority in order to help alleviate theextreme sewer smells that have been permeating the westside of Butterfield, and also especially Butterfield West. TheGlenbard Wastewater Authority maintains a massive waterpurification plant just west of the DuPage River, betweenButterfield East and Butterfield West. The GWA recently in-stalled some new “digesters” in order to better handle foodwaste, but due to a miscalculation in how to properly man-age the food waste, the digesters “burped”, and the resultwas a massive amount of fumes from the rotting food wastebeing dispersed all over Butterfield East, West, and muchof eastern Glen Ellyn. The BHA will be getting involved inbetter understanding this issue and how to alert ButterfieldEast residents whenever similar incidents occur in the fu-ture.

AdjournmentThere being no further business, the meeting was ad-journed at 9:36 p.m.

The next meeting will be held on March 15th, 2018.

Meeting Minutes: October 19, 2017 | BHA Today

>> Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 9)

Winter 2017

BHA Today |

F A M I L Y F U N

ACROSS1: Feline feet5: Acct. summary9: It's a shore thing14: Browser function15: Term of enlistment16: Little egg17: Bridle path excursion18: Repetitive routine19: Stench20: Souvenirs22: Turn a smile upside down23: End of day24: Litigates26: Money rolls29: Hang on to33: Has lumbago37: Make money39: Very top40: Bird with an eerie call41: Caspar, for one42: Melt43: Cattle poker44: Course of action45: Judges46: Inveigle48: Recipe direction50: Shoddy clothing52: Some French vowels, phonetically57: From the nearest star60: Like the votes of a college63: Academy frosh64: Peru's capital65: Give up66: Rod companions67: Island souvenirs68: Joint with a cap69: They join the team70: 'Natch!'71: Hit bottom

DOWN1: Job extras2: 'Farewell, François!'3: Change the channel?4: Dozen for a recovery group5: Rock layers6: Ripped off7: Remote possibility?8: Head lock9: Morning mugful10: Exaggerate11: Mercury or Saturn12: Sluggish13: Little gull21: What Wendy does to reat-tach Peter's shadow25: Java vessels27: Trade agreement28: Epic accounts30: Feel compassion31: Shiite leader32: 'That's ___ to me!'33: Crescent-shaped mountainrange34: Roy Innis's org.35: Robin of Sherwood36: Not that bad38: Falls, as into a chair41: PC movie format45: 'Blast!'47: Dove rival49: If51: Gets a signature on thedotted line, perhaps53: Punches54: Combat site55: Weighed down56: Well-groomed57: Nimble58: Table spread59: Onion's cousin61: Stead62: Dubai VIP

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

5327 1

3 65

2

14 36 7

1

5

1 87 26

85

2 47 4

19

7

SUDOKU

BHA Today | Family Fun

bhatoday.com14

Advertise in BHA Today!For more information, call 630-627-4845, email butterfieldhomeownersassoc@gmail.com, or visit us at www.mybhoa.com/advertising.

Winter 2017 bhatoday.com16

Pay your membership dues today and enjoy all membership benefits! The new membershipyear starts January 1st.

Fill out this form or a copy of this form (please print clearly), cut out along the dotted line, andreturn with your $25 check payable to: Butterfield Homeowners Association

Then mail or drop off to:

Butterfield Homeowners AssociationConnie Poulos Loos, Vice President2S071 Colonial LaneLombard, IL 60148

You can also pay online! Go to www.mybhoa.com and click on the yellow “Annual Dues” buttonon the top right of the page to securely pay by credit card or by PayPal.

NAME: ___________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________________

PHONE: ______________________________________ CHECK #:___________________

EMAIL:___________________________________________________________________

B H A M E M B E R S H I P R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M

Butterfield Homeowners Association2S104 Avondale LaneLombard, IL 60148

Don’t be a Grinch! Begin or renew your BHA

Membership today and keep the institution that has been keeping Butterfield beautiful

for over 50 years going for another 50!