Tri-Cities Central readers have shared a ton of interesting thoughts, stories, and ideas with me over the past couple of years. I really should do a better job of sharing some of that material with the wider newsletter audience.

With that in mind, I’d love to hear about your local holiday traditions — with a focus on the Tri-Cities area.

Is there a particular restaurant you return to every year for a holiday gathering? A shop where you always stock up on gifts? An annual event, a special activity, or an unforgettable memory from a past holiday?

Feel free to be creative. I’ll make sure to feature some of the responses in a future issue.

_{SPONSORED CONTENT}

Sunday brunch is a time-honored tradition — and you won’t find a better value in the Tri-Cities than at The Little Traveler’s Atrium Café. In fact, it was named Best Brunch in West Suburban Living’s 2024 Best of the West.

For just $12.95, enjoy a full spread of fresh, house-made favorites, from fluffy omelets with crispy bacon to Swedish pancakes and Crab Cakes Benedict. Trust me, there’s a reason so many local folks have been coming back for decades.

💥 Holiday Almanack is out! Check out The Little Traveler’s 2025 Holiday Almanack & Look Book for upcoming events and festive new products.

☑️ Development progress: Campton Hills officials unanimously advanced preliminary plans for a 900-home Shodeen development, giving the project its first major zoning approval while final reviews, conditions, and a future TIF decision still remain.

☑️ Major city discussion: Geneva City Council will hold a special meeting on Monday (12/8) to discuss whether to send a $59.4M police facility bond question to the March 2026 ballot and launch a citywide home rule education effort.

☑️ Charlestowne Mall: St. Charles released a comprehensive Charlestowne Mall Redevelopment webpage that provides up-to-date project details and background resources — basically everything you’d want to know about where things stand.

☑️ Plant life protection: Illinois added the highly invasive Callery pear tree to its exotic weeds list, meaning it will be illegal to buy, sell, distribute, or plant them starting in 2028. See what other plants made the list this year.

☑️ Prison sentence: A St. Charles man was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. He must register as a sex offender for life.

☑️ IL Tollway resources: You can visit the Kane County Government Center in Geneva on Wednesday (12/10) from 12-4PM to get free I-PASS Sticker Tags, open an account, or pay invoices without fees or fines. No appointment necessary.