Crystal Lake and Barrington Auto Repair

Each year we celebrate artistic expression by inviting kids from local elementary schools to submit their finest drawings and paintings for the Douglas Automotive Art Contest. For our 11th annual contest we asked children to create cars that would be at home on the farm—whether it was a trusty farm truck or a race car for the chickens. After sorting through nearly 300 entries, we are pleased to announce the following winners:

Barrington Best in Show: Vanessa Niam Grade 1: Tommy Cherett Grade 2: Natalie Gillespie Grade 3: Landon Whaley Grade 4: Weston Mui Grade 5: Troy Younis

Crystal Lake Best in Show: Violet Kacmarczyk Grade 1: Drew Nanos Grade 2: Hannah Munsen Grade 3: Eddie Martinez Fernandez Grade 4: Isabella Long Grade 5: Zach Schuster

Fox River Grove Best in Show: Nikila Makeakov Grade 1: Charlie Jablonski Grade 2: Isaac Gipson Grade 3: Mya Hancock Grade 4: Harlow Engel

Thank you to a

The McAllisters recently welcomed little Mazi, their new pup, to the family. With all the excitement surrounding this little furball, we thought it would be a good time to review pet travel safety. In a recent survey by the American Automobile Association (AAA), more than 80% of dog owners drive with their pets in the car. There are 43.3 million households with pets, so it’s an impressive number of people traveling on the road with animals. Of those who travel with animals in their car, only 16% of those people use proper safety restraints. So, as you can see, the potential for distraction is high … very high. 

Restrain your animal with a crash-tested pet safety product. According to the National Safety Council, more than 2.5 million rear-end collisions are reported every year, making them the most common type of automobile accident. An unrestrained 10-lb dog will exert 300 pounds of pressure in an accident, according to the AAA. Without a crash-tested safe