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1. A Ladies Night Out for a Cause Thursday evening will benefit Crystal Lake-based Senior Care Volunteer Network.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the event, which will include hot and cold appetizers, dessert, a cash bar, door prizes, vendor shopping, a wine pull and a roaming fashion show from House of Betty Jane.
It will run until 9 p.m. at Hickory Hall, 406 W. Woodstock St. in Crystal Lake.
Tickets are $40 a person and can be bought at scvnmchenrycounty.org/ladies-night-out-for-a-cause.
2. The Festival of the Sugar Maples at Coral Woods Conservation Area starts this Saturday, running through Monday, and then again next weekend.
The longstanding event provides visitors the opportunity to learn the history of maple sugaring and the evolution of the sap collection process. Tours last about an hour and involve a half-mile hike through a potentially snowy woodland trail.
Maple syrup from Wisconsin and Vermont, maple flavored candies, maple syrup straws and fresh maple cookies from Kay and Jo’s Bakery in Marengo will be available for purchase at the sales tent. For those looking to try tapping their own maple tree, pick up a spile with instructions on how to make syrup.
The festival takes place at Coral Woods Conservation Area, 7400 Somerset Drive in Marengo. Attendees should dress for the weather, and pets are not allowed.
To register for a free slot, go to mccdistrict.org. Registration is required.
3. Businesses all over McHenry County and beyond will be participating in the Vintage Shop Hop, a self-guided road trip of vintage and boutique shopping.
More than 400 vintage and antique stores, along with women’s boutiques and home decor shops in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin will be offering a variety of promotions – like discounts, demonstrations, artists on-site, prize drawings, treats, wine tastings, entertainment, punch cards or parking lot sales – as part of the weekend-long event.
Participating businesses in McHenry County are located in Cary, Crystal Lake, Harvard, Hebron, Marengo, McHenry, Richmond, Spring Grove, Union, Woodstock. A full map can be found at bit.ly/VSHMarch2022Map.
For information, go to facebook.com/VintageShopHopEvent.
4. Scorched Earth Brewing is releasing a special beer, Fierce Female IPA, which was brewed in honor of International Women’s Day and to raise money for local nonprofit Girls on the Run of Northwest Illinois.
To celebrate, Scorched Earth will be hosting a release party from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m on Sunday in its tap room, 203 Berg St. in Algonquin. The event will include live music from Lara Bell and food from woman-owned restaurant Fork N Fry.
Attendees can buy a ticket that includes a beer, food sampling, donation to Girls on the Run and an entry into a raffle to win a prize pack. Girls on the Run will receive 10% of all proceeds from Fierce Female sales.
To buy a ticket for the release party, go to bit.ly/FierceFemaleLaunch.
5. The Richmond-Spring Grove Area Rotary Club will host a drive-up spaghetti dinner Wednesday to raise money for the Richmond-Spring Grove Food Pantry.
It will take place 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Richardson Adventure Farm, 909 English Prairie Road outside Spring Grove.
Tickets are $14 and include spaghetti, bread, salad and dessert.
To order a meal and set a pick-up time, go to RichmondSpringGroveRotary.com.
Would you like your event featured in this weekly feature? The first step is submitting your events to the Northwest Herald’s community calendar at shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/local-events/ where they are then considered for inclusion in this feature.