Ride, Leroy, ride

Retired farmer Leroy Nelson of Plato Township has never been one to turn his back on a physical challenge. So at age 90, he climbed way, way up onto a camel at Goebbert's Pumpkin Patch in Hampshire and rode the beast as if he were 9 years old. Nelson retired earlier this year after 22 years as a trustee on the Plato Township Board.

He was at the pumpkin farm with the "Wisdom Keepers" group from Cornerstone Church, whose building occupies part of the old Nelson farm.

Whoever broke into an apartment on Apple Lane in Elgin last Friday is the sort who give thieves a bad name, among I.Q. testers. He or she stole a DVD player but not its remote; stole a TV remote but not the TV; and sprayed fire extinguisher powder all over the apartment, setting up the possibility of him leaving footprints behind. The police report didn't mention whether he also spread around fingerprint powder. Yes, those two teenagers had most of their faces hidden by masks as they attended a movie last weekend at the Charlestowne Cinemas in St. Charles. But they weren't just getting into the swing of the latest horror film. Those were surgical masks, and they were hoping to avoid inhaling H1N1 flu viruses.

After all, the theater was full of other students from St. Charles East High, which had closed for the rest of the week because of a near-50 percent absentee rate.

Last weekend at Harper College in Palatine -- quite a few local vendors offered their tasty eats at The Great American Cooking Expo Chicago.

Among the offerings patrons could sample were wines from Winestyles of Lake in the Hills, barbecue and sauces from Thomas BBQ of Aurora, breads and other baked goods from Breadsmith of St. Charles and spices from The Geneva Spice Company.

Most inspirational was a booth for Mullen's Apple Sauce (www.MullenFoods.com). The business was started by disabled Chicago cop Jim Mullen, who was shot in the line of duty and left paralyzed 16 years ago. Mullen said he gets his apples from Michigan, and the crop is looking good this year. A portion of the proceeds go to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which helps out the families of Chicago police who were killed or severely injured while serving and protecting.

With last weekend's weather a reminder winter is on its way, there was some fancy skiing and snowboarding going on, courtesy of Algonquin's Raging Buffalo. Indoors.

Keith Duck, owner of the mini-mountain ski and board slope along the Fox River, hosted an invite-only rail jam, where 60 people ages 8 to 39 showed off their skills in a competition at the Windy City Ski and Snowboard Show at the Renaissance Schaumburg.

Dundee area bartender Dave Sajdak works for gear shop LiquidSportsOnline, which helped sponsor the event. He explained that skiers and boarders built their momentum on a set of rollers on their way to attempting to slide down a vinyl-covered railing in death-defying ways before landing on artificial turf at the bottom of the man-made hill.

Judging from the looks of it last Friday night, it was even harder than it seemed. On their initial runs, most of the people took tumbles of one sort or another, some magnificently so. In fact, somewhere Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass" fam e probably is watching a YouTube video of it and wishing he had been there.

But by Sunday, quite a few had mastered the set-up, Duck said. And Kyle Kelley went home with the top prize of $300 in cash, a $100 gift certificate from LiquidSportsOnline and a gift package from event vendors.

And for juxtaposition's sake, there was one of those seminars from motivational speaker and self-help guru Tony Robbins just down the hall from the ski show.