A fundraiser will be held Saturday for Zayla Mitsdarffer, the 12-year-old from Bonfield battling cancer for a third time.
The Herscher American Legion Post 795 will host the event from 4 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $10 for those 13 and older, with those younger admitted for free, and they will be available at the door. There will be raffles and auction items, as well as kids activities.
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Zayla Mitsdarffer glanced up at her mother. Tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes began to find their way down her swollen cheeks.
The conversation that had started out in a lighthearted fashion had turned serious, and it was beginning to overwhelm the 12-year-old. The brave face that had been on display on this warm summer night in rural Bonfield had vanished like the sun that had set only minutes before.
She tugged on the army-style hat on her head. Her eyes began to fill with moisture. She glanced over to her mother seated to her left at the wooden kitchen table.
Her mother looked back. When their eyes connected, the youngster's lower lip quivered, and she buried her head into mom's waiting arms.
"Sometimes it just gets to be too much for her," explained her mother, Christy. "We have our good days and our bad days.
A home in Bonfield owned by state Rep. Kate Cloonen and her husband caught fire Wednesday afternoon and caused damages in excess of $50,000 but no injuries, Herscher Fire Department Chief Alan Ramsey said.
The Bonfield farmhouse, which the Cloonens rent out, suffered extensive smoke, heat and water damage. Firefighters were called to the West Illinois Route 17 residence, which is the childhood home of Kate's husband Gary, just after 4:30 p.m. when the occupant of the home smelled smoke. After briefly trying to battle the fire himself, the tenant called 911. Fire crews, led by Herscher and Limestone Township, had the fire extinguished at the one-story residence within 30 minutes.
Kate Cloonen was in Bourbonnais at the time the fire was reported.
"No one was hurt. That's the important thing. Everything is repairable," she said this morning. "Everything inside is ruined."
The cause is still being investigated, Ramsey said.
Zayla Mitsdarffer glanced up at her mother. Tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes began to find their way down her swollen cheeks.
The conversation that had started out in a lighthearted fashion had turned serious, and it was beginning to overwhelm the 12-year-old. The brave face that had been on display on this warm summer night in rural Bonfield had vanished like the sun that had set only minutes before.
She tugged on the army-style hat on her head. Her eyes began to fill with moisture. She glanced over to her mother seated to her left at the wooden kitchen table.
Her mother looked back. When their eyes connected, the youngster's lower lip quivered, and she buried her head into mom's waiting arms.
"Sometimes it just gets to be too much for her," explained her mother, Christy. "We have our good days and our bad days.
