Village Updates for April 6, 2020
Happy Easter from the Village of Clifton! The Village of Clifton Easter egg hunt is on, but with a new twist! There will be no gathering at the park on Saturday morning. Instead, beginning Tuesday evening, April 7, thirty-two large wooden painted eggs will be “hidden” in plain sight along village streets all across town. Anyone — young or old — who would like to participate, can hunt for the eggs by driving, biking, or walking around town. Eggs should be visible from the roads and walking paths. A checklist is available here, but even a regular sheet of paper can be used to check which eggs you have found. Each egg will have a unique number from 1-32 along with a letter or letters. Put the letters you find in order and decipher the Easter message. There are no prizes for this year’s hunt, but you can turn your checklist — completed or incomplete — to the box outside the Village Office at 350 East Fourth Avenue and we will publish a list of all the participants on our website and also in The Advocate over the coming weeks. The eggs will begin to come down after Wednesday, April 15th, so this Easter egg hunt will run for approximately one week. A special thank you to Trustee Paul Hess and his wife Sue for their help taking this egg hunt from an idea to reality. Golf Carts
Golf cart stickers from last year remain valid through the end of April, so any golf cart registered last year can be used through that time. The board will discuss recommendations for this year's golf cart stickers at the April 13 board meeting. A decision will be communicated in a future village update.
Village Office The village office will continue to be open for electronic and telephone communications, but will remain closed to walk-in traffic through April 30, 2020. Normal office hours are 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M., Monday through Friday. Practice Meeting Wednesday night at 7:00 P.M., the Village Board will try out Google Meet. The link for the test meeting is https://meet.google.com/shx-wvue-qjf or the meeting can be joined by calling 1 402-762-0193 (PIN: 593211426). This test will determine whether Google Meet will work to hold the monthly board meeting scheduled for Monday, April 13, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. Rural vs. Urban and Population Density One challenge managing a state like Illinois is the very different worlds of urban settings versus rural settings. Clifton, with the majority of its homes as stand-alone properties with buffers of space around them, is significantly less population dense than even a single block in many parts of Chicago and its suburbs. This density really makes a difference to policies when we are discussing risks and exposure. This doesn’t mean that as a rural community we have less risk than an urban community, but it does mean we have more social distancing built into the way we already live our lives, and I think that’s another advantage to small town living that is going to help us weather this experience differently from the larger metropolitan areas. Parks Neighboring communities have put up signage to close their parks during the Stay-at-home order. The State has asked that residents avoid playgrounds because of the risk of transmission of COVID-19, and it has asked that people do not gather in public or private places, but it has not prohibited people from using green spaces. At this time our green spaces will remain open for public use for health and exercise which are considered essential under the Stay-at-home order as long as people practice social distancing. News and Updates With COVID-19 transforming our reality in new and unexpected ways every day, it’s important to make certain that the news and rumors you have heard (or shared) are legitimate. The best way to do that is to look for information at an official government site. The official site for the United States of America is coronavirus.gov. The official site for Illinois is coronavirus.illinois.gov. The official site for the Village of Clifton is www.cliftonillinois.com. Clifton’s state representative, Tom Bennett, has also been busy sharing updates on the State of Illinois’s response to COVID-19. You can keep up with news from the Statehouse through his website, repbennett.com. On a personal note, our lives can be consumed by news about this virus. I have found it better to only let myself take in small doses, usually checking in on the news once a day. I could sit and stare at a screen all day and feel overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious, or I can choose not to feel those things by turning them off. When people ask me, years down the road, what I remember about the great corona virus pandemic of 2020, I hope to recount the time I spent with my family because finally, I’m not running to sports until 10:00 at night, I'm not trying to keep up with which of my children is home or at which friend's until what time and do they have to be picked up? and I don’t have to stress about the calendar showing I’m supposed to be in three places today because today, I get to be in one place: home.
As always, please reach out with your questions and concerns. The village email is village.office@cliftonillinois.com and the phone number is 815-694-2273.
Take care and be safe,
Andrew Winkel
Village President