Braidwood Journal

In 2010, Melissa Michalowski, a Whitmore Ace Hardware employee, and her friend Crystal Carr, lost their lives in a tragic automobile accident.
Since then, Whitmore Ace Hardware has created a program to honor both girls, Melissa’s Closet and Crystal’s Jewelry Box.
The goal of the program is to provide $5 prom dresses to local students.
This year, the prom and homecoming dress sale will be held Saturday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Godley Park District.
Seeking donations
and volunteers

The Braidwood City Council recently voted to spend $25,000 for a comprehensive plan that will be used as a guide for upgrading the city’s existing parks.
The city plans to hire Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville for a comprehensive master parks plan.
The plan will include an inventory and analysis of the three parks run by Braidwood Park District, including Old Smokey Park, Lions Kiddie Park, Luke H. Goodrich Park, the Braidwood Zoo, and future park developments under the park district or City of Braidwood.

Third grade students from Ms. Natalie Kilpatrick’s class at Reed-Custer Elementary School have sent their letters off to the North Pole and they shared their holiday wish lists to Santa with The Braidwood Journal. The letters appear as written by the students who continue to learn the art of writing.

At 8:29 a.m. Nov. 25, a mother’s worst nightmare came true.
It was then that Tashondra Smith of Dallas, Texas, learned her son De’Avion Smith, 25, had been killed in a hit-and-run accident.
On that Tuesday morning, Illinois State Troopers responded to a report of a person on the ground on southbound Route 53 at Thele Road in Elwood.
Upon arrival, Troopers found De’Avion Smith’s body. Nearby was his bicycle, the very one he had used to get to his job at Amazon because his car was in the shop.