Spring fever: Catch it!
By Beth Kramer ekramer@stmedianetwork.com February 19, 2012 6:42PM
WAUCONDA Thursday Feb 16 2012 Nine-year-old Parker Wu of LIbertyville, feed the geese along with his brothers, 10-year-old Calvin (behind right,) and five-year-old Nathan as well as one more brother, his two sisters, and parents at Libertyville's Independence Grove. The nice weather on Sunday afternoon allowed the Wu family to get in some roller blading and time at the park.| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 20, 2012 1:52AM
The Wu family exchanged their ice skates for roller blades, thanks to the mild weather Sunday.
Steve Wu of Libertyville made a small ice-skating rink for his six children in their backyard, but the rink kept melting before the children can skate, mother Kari Wu said.
“They (the kids) do love the snow. They do miss it, but today (Sunday) is so nice,” Wu said.
They found themselves at Independence Grove (Route 137 on the northeast side of Libertyville) on sunny Sunday with temperatures in the 40s.
“We would never go to Independence Grove in the middle of February. Because there’s no snow on the ground, we can actually (roller) blade,” Wu said.
Except for 1-year-old Katie, the whole family roller-bladed around the park with big smiles. The other children are ages 3, 5, 9, 10 and 12.
Wu said she preferred the mild winter because she could leave the house without worrying about getting stuck in the snow.
Tal Landau of Round Lake also said he preferred mild winters to cold and snowy. Like Wu, Landau and his wife Jill brought their three children to play at Independence Grove on Sunday. Their children, Hannah, 8, and twins Noah and Joshua, 9, enjoyed the playground equipment.
Hannah nodded in the affirmative when asked if she preferred arm weather to the snow.
“This is like a gift. You have to be outside on a day like today,” Landau said.
The time to stay inside with a movie is during the cold and snow, he said.
Warm weather affected the kind of purchases customers at Ace Hardware in Gurnee were making all winter season, according to store manager John Skrzypinski.
The store sold out of a couple of snowblower models in November when heavy snow was predicted for the season, he said. However, sale of snowblowers and shovels tapered off by mid-January. During a normal winter season, snow removal items remain in demand through the end of February, he said.
“It’s been one of those strange seasons,” Skrzypinski said.
He noticed a shift in the type of items people were buying. Paint sales were strong within the last month.
“It seems like homeowners shifted from outdoor projects to indoor projects as people found time that they weren’t using shoveling,” Skrzypinski said.
On Sunday, the store had its full complement of grills out, with a wall of snow shovels behind it. The store has both winter and spring items on display.
It’s not often fertilizer is out near snow-removal products, he said.
“Everyone’s got spring fever,” Skrzypinski said.
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