Monday, Aug. 24, 2009

Fairview Heights steakhouse is closing

Ponderosa Steakhouse in Fairview Heights is closing. The restaurant at 6204 N. Illinois St. will close its doors after business today. It is a corporate-owned locale, unlike the ones at 5 Eastport Plaza Drive in Collinsville and Illinois 159 and Cottonwood in Glen Carbon, both of which remain open. ...

Just down the road in Fairview Heights, workers are painting the former Peerless Leather Gallery store location at 6308 N. Illinois St. for the new LagoonaMagoo Toys store. The toy store is expected to relocate from 1171 N. Green Mount Road in O'Fallon by next month. ...

Cafe De Foul is a new restaurant in Belleville. Mother-daughter owners Cassanadra Allen and Tanesha Eichelberger specialize in southern-style food. You can find them at 229 N. Illinois St. or call them at 416-6626. ...

A new Avon Sales and Recruiting Center is now open at 1801 N. 17th St. noon to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and close Friday and Saturday. ...

National Bowling Week begins Saturday and Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville will join more than 3,200 other bowling alleys across the country to celebrate.

The week-long celebration, from Saturday through Sept. 5, will begin with a special "Bowl for the Cure" Fundraiser Day on Saturday. Beginning at noon, all open bowling games and shoe rental will each be $2 per person per game with $1 per item going directly to Bowl for the Cure.

There will also be an 8-pin no tap bowling tournament that evening, as well as a youth Lock-In from midnight that evening until 7 a.m. Portions of the entry fees for those events will also benefit Bowl for the Cure, a nationwide breast cancer awareness and fund-raising initiative sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress. All funds raised benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Anyone who visits Bel-Air on that day will also receive a free game pass valid for Sept. 5. On that day, bowlers will be participating in a nationwide effort to set a new world record for the most bowling games rolled in a single day across the country. The current record is 548,721 games.

For more information, call the Belleville bowling alley at 233-1703. ...

There are 122 shopping days left before Christmas, and Sears and Kmart have unveiled a new program to help consumers stash their cash for the annual shopping season.

The Sears and Kmart Christmas Club card is now available for shoppers to save ahead for their holiday purchases months before hitting the stores or surfing the Internet. Card users can now put aside some money on a regular basis through Nov. 14 to add value to card program and receive awards when they do. From now through October, card holders can earn three percent rewards -- up to $100 -- based on the value the hold on their cards by Nov. 14.

To activate your own card, go online to www.sears.com/christmasclub or www.kmart.com/christmasclub. ...

And finally, the Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois is collecting business clothing for men and women in need. The Belleville real estate trade association has established a clothing drive to benefit Gear Up, which assists men need professional attire for their job and is part of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in East St. Louis, and another organization called Dress for Success, which assists women with similar needs. For more information, visit Dress For Success online at www.dressforsuccess.org or call Gear Up at 398-0680. You can also call the Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois at 277-1980.