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Pre-1950s toys and dolls of all types will be featured at the annual Holiday Open House at DeKalb’s Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center.

Veterans are sought to speak

Waterman Lions Club Gobbler Gallop 5K Run/Walk will begin at 9 a.m. Nov. 21. The run begins and ends at Waterman Elementary School and covers a flat course along the scenic village streets. The distance is certified and the participants are individually timed. The club will award prizes to the overall top finishers and as well as top finishers in various age categories.

Genoa-Kingston United Way fundraiser: 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Genoa-Kingston High School, 980 Park Ave. in Genoa. Each two pork chop dinner, $10 each, must be ordered before the drive-thru dinner event. All proceeds will benefit the 21 agencies of the Genoa-Kingston United Way, which rely on United Way funding each year. Contact Melissa Stoffregen at 815-784-2843 to purchase tickets. The pork chop dinner catered by Whitman’s Catering also will include potato salad, baked beans, applesauce, rolls and butter.

Greenery Sale deadline: Tuesday for Big Rock Boy Scout Troop 19’s sale. Call 815-286-7228 or 815-286-7275 to order fresh balsam items with large red velvet bows, including wreaths in six sizes, 25- or 50-foot-long roping or garland, memorial pots and grave blankets in three sizes, swags, canes and crosses, which will be delivered Thanksgiving weekend.

Monday

Monday DeKalb loose-leaf collection: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, with vacuum trucks collecting leaves from streets north of Lincoln Highway this week and from Lincoln Highway and streets south of Route 38 next week, depending on weather conditions. Residents should rake their leaves onto the parkway – between the sidewalk and the street, but not in the gutter, which could cause flooding by blocking storm sewers. Leaves may be placed in open garbage cans or yardwaste bags on garbage pickup days, or in landscape waste containers at specified locations. 815-748-2040.

Let your passion for chocolate go wild and sample all kinds of chocolate – cookies, brownies, cakes, cheesecake and ice cream – at Safe Passage’s Evening of Chocolate.

Military veterans and service members are eligible for one free oil and filter change from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at certain DeKalb County businesses.

NIU Veterans Club Veterans Day Public Roundtable: 6 p.m. Thursday in the Heritage Room on the second floor at Holmes Student Center, at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, this is a free event that is open to the public. Topics of the discussion will be the positive and challenging elements of the military experience, what makes veterans tick and how this affects the public.

Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotary Club is asking the community to assist in re-stocking the DeKalb and Sycamore food pantries.

Midwest Museum of Natural History, 425 W. State, Sycamore, will host an information session at 2 p.m. Nov. 11 about a trip March 7-16 to Mexico’s Barranca del Cobre – Copper Canyon – which is a group of six distinct canyons in Sierra Tarahumara in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

Residents of rural homes that are constantly exposed to the wind could save money by installing a windbreak.

On Sept. 1, Sycamore Woman’s Club began its 102nd club year. Organized in 1908 and incorporated in 1915, the club still stands by its motto: “The Greatest Good to the Greatest Number.”

Kishwaukee United Way Taste of the Vine Committee is putting the finishing touches on its annual wine tasting and silent auction, to be held from 5:30-8 p.m. Nov. 12 at St. Mary’s Memorial Hall at 322 Waterman St. in Sycamore.

Kurt Thurmaier, professor and Northern Illinois University Division of Public Administration director who organized and accompanied students on NIU’s first study abroad trip to Tanzania last summer, will make a presentation about the trip at next week’s Bread for the World meeting.

Pork loin dinner: 5 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. seatings, Wednesday – the doors will open at 4:30 p.m. – at Grace United Methodist Church, 506 Willow St., Maple Park. The meal will be served family-style. Cost is $9 for adults and $4 for children younger than 12. The back parking lot entrance has no stairs. For more information, call 815-827-3359 or 815-827-3191.

55th annual Women’s Fellowship of First Congregational Church Holiday Fruitcake Sale: Call the church office at 815-758-0691. Cost is $6 for a small fruitcake or $12 for a large fruitcake. Orders can be picked up after noon Friday or before or after worship Sunday.

Monday Overeaters Anonymous: 3:30 p.m. Mondays at  330 Grove St. in DeKalb.

Monday DeKalb loose-leaf collection: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, with vacuum trucks collecting leaves from Lincoln Highway and streets south of Route 38 this week, and streets north of Lincoln Highway next week. Crews will alternate sections weekly through November, depending on weather conditions. Residents should rake their leaves onto the parkway – between the sidewalk and the street, but not in the gutter, which could cause flooding by blocking storm sewers. Leaves also may be placed in open garbage cans or yard-waste bags for regularly scheduled garbage pickup days, or in landscape waste containers at specified locations. For more information, call the city of DeKalb’s operations division at 815-748-2040.

Many people enjoy visiting museums. However, most do not realize that usually only a quarter of a museum’s collection is on display. During its November Brown Bag Lunch, the Sycamore History Museum will show selected items in its collection, share stories connected to these items and explain the proper ways to store these types of treasures.

Four upcoming presentations by Save Our American Raptors – “Birds of Prey” – will offer unique views of hawks, eagles, kites and vultures presented by S.O.A.R.

Kathy Overby never imagined that she’d be in charge of an annual fundraiser. But for the past four years, she has spearheaded a Market Day holiday pie sale for the Pay-It-Forward House, a hospital hospitality house that offers the families and friends of patients receiving medical treatment in DeKalb County a place to go, to call their home-away-from-home, during their loved one’s illness.

Let your passion for chocolate go wild and sample all kinds of chocolate – cookies, brownies, cakes, cheesecake and ice cream – at Safe Passage’s Evening of Chocolate.

55th annual Women’s Fellowship of First Congregational Church Holiday Fruitcake Sale: The fruitcakes can be ordered after Sunday services on a sign-up sheet in the church narthex or by calling the church office at 815-758-0691, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by leaving a message at that number 24 hours a day. Cost is $6 for a small fruitcake or $12 for a large fruitcake. Orders may be picked up after noon Nov. 6 or before or after Sunday worship Nov. 8.

Burger buffet: Noon-2 p.m. Saturdays at Genoa Veterans Home, 311 S. Washington St. Cost is $2.75 for a hamburger or cheeseburger with chips or $4 for the sandwich and buffet. Different groups host the public weekly event, which features burgers grilled outdoors. The buffet includes potato salad, macaroni salad and beans. Proceeds help fund community projects and scholarships.

Monday Overeaters Anonymous: 3:30 p.m. Mondays at Senior Services Center, 330 Grove St. in DeKalb; 815-758-4718.

Monday Barbed Wire Bus Tour reservation deadline is today for the tour at 2 p.m. Sunday from the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center in DeKalb. Call the Homestead message line at 815-756-7904, and include your name, the number of people in your party and a phone number. Cost is $8 per person and seating will be limited on the TransVAC bus. Payment by check can be mailed in advance to 921 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, IL 60115, or cash will be collected before the bus tour’s departure on Sunday. This exclusive tour will be led by local historian Steve Bigolin and is part of the Glidden Homestead Patent Day celebration of the 135th anniversary of the day Joseph Glidden received his patent for “The Winner” barbed wire – Nov. 24, 1

Pumpkin Festival begins with check-in from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday on theDeKalb County Courthouse lawn. The opening ceremony, with its gigantic cake, will start at 5 p.m.

Library to host scary stories