My McHenry County

In putting together this year's Progress section – My McHenry County – we asked you what made your community special. The overwhelming response was people, the individuals that comprise your neighborhoods, your social clubs, your leadership circles.

I’ve always admired Don Peasley’s photography. And, to be perfectly frank, his longevity.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Crystal Lake:

CRYSTAL LAKE – Richard Kuranda interviewed at town theaters nationwide, but it was the city of Crystal Lake that won his heart.Blazier said he knows the feeling. He and his wife, Rosemary, lived in Jacksonville, Ill., and loved it, but came to Crystal Lake to interview for the principal vacancy as a favor to a friend.

CRYSTAL LAKE – Douglas Adams appropriately described the cosmos in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” – it’s big.

HUNTLEY – When Michael Geheren was in sixth grade, he couldn’t stand writing.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Huntley:

HUNTLEY – Take a trip to Huntley, and signs displaying the village’s name and slogan hang from many corners.Kristene and Harold Likens moved from Elgin to Huntley four years ago, partly to be closer to friends and also for the school district. Their son, Mason, is 2.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Cary and Fox River Grove:

FOX RIVER GROVE – Picnic Grove Park long has been a hub for this village, its residents and scores of out-of-town visitors.

CARY – This village has seen remarkable change over the decades, but longtime residents and newcomers to Cary continue to share and enjoy “a community of beautiful neighborhoods.”The Cary that the Howells have grown to love was shaped by residents such as Elroy Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, 79, is a tool and die maker, longtime community leader and well-known local sports referee. (Click to watch a video feature on Fitzgerald.)

HARVARD – This is one “creek” you’d like to be lost on without a paddle. Besides, you couldn’t drift through it if you wanted to.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Harvard:

HARVARD – When Kenneth “Wayne” Pankonin arrived in 1949, Harvard seemed like a town on the move.Julie Hamrick, 43, who moved to Harvard in June from a Schaumburg apartment, would like the city better if it were more of a destination.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Algonquin and Lake in the Hills:

ALGONQUIN – Bruce Zange’s family came to Algonquin in 1834; Joann Roberts moved to town in 2008. But they both appreciate that the town feels like a community and not a Chicago suburb.Zange enjoys eating at Port Edward restaurant, Wine & Roses in downtown Algonquin, and Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano on Randall Road. His wife, Patricia, shops at Kohl’s, and they do their grocery shopping at Butera Market and Jewel-Osco, he said.

ALGONQUIN – It sits on one of the busiest corners in McHenry County, but not many people know much about what’s inside Algonquin’s Historic Village Hall.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about McHenry:

McHENRY – Walk down the steep steps into the basement of the building at the corner of Riverside Drive and Elm Street and it’s like you’ve traveled back in time a few decades.

McHENRY – When Evelyn Albright was born in McHenry, only 2,200 people lived in the town.“McHenry is ... a community where people like to get to know each other,” she said. “I love the people. I love the openness. I love fishing.”

WOODSTOCK – Liquid Blues is a subterranean saloon just off the Square under a shop called “Closet Envy.”

WOODSTOCK – This town has show-business ties, old and new.Everton Martin and Karla Stewart-Martin bought the home on Fremont Street that was used in the film as “The Cherry Street Inn,” a bed-and-breakfast where Bill Murray’s weatherman character awakes every morning on Groundhog Day.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Woodstock:

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Marengo and Union:

MARENGO – Raymond Ayers was less than thrilled to find out he would be living in Marengo.Each left town for college – Franks was drafted and also went to law school – but eventually came back and built their own houses on the farmland that has been owned by their family since the 1940s.

MARENGO – Corbin’s Exotic Pets is a hidden gem in Marengo.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Richmond, Spring Grove and Johnsburg:

RICHMOND – Recall the village of Richmond’s history over the past 70 years, and Howard “Sonny” Katzenberg is all over it.After the Maravelias’ kids were grown, they looked for a change from the bustling atmosphere of Mundelein. They were tired of the traffic, the commotion. They wanted to relax.

RICHMOND – Leif Anderson tried to escape the family business.

We asked you what made your community special. Here's what readers had to way about Wonder Lake and Greenwood:

Drive into Greenwood, a small town a stone’s throw from Wonder Lake, and you’ll pass Aavang Road, where Libbie Aavang used to live.Her husband agreed.

WONDER LAKE – When Ingleside resident Cindy Johnson pulled in for a wedding reception at Marquise Banquet Inc. in Wonder Lake a few months ago, she mistakenly sized up the place based on the steel exterior.