A photo of our super special numero uno VIP winner.

We are pleased to announce our very first set of the217.com VIPs. Congratulations to our winners: Amber Greviskes, Mark Meyer, Usha Dhar, Carie Slowinski, Seka Palikuca, Jill Morenz, and Daryl McCurdy. It was so skillful the way you signed up for a profile in the very short month of November to qualify. We hope you enjoy the gifts!

…Look for some guest VIP blogging from Mark when Ebertfest comes to town in April.

…And, Amber, we expect to see you commenting on blogs now that you can take your laptop anywhere you go.

…Usha, if you’d like to email us an “after” photo of your Timothy John experience, we’d love to see it.

if you didn’t win, don’t worry. The face2face crew is working on more giveaways coming soon!! Watch the217 for the latest hookup to great stuff, tix, and events.

Do something nice for a child in the Champaign-Urbana area this holiday season while still enjoying a nice cold brew! You are almost guaranteed to get a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Come on out to the Esquire Lounge next Thursday, December 13 from 6-9:30

Celebrate the end of the year with the 12 Beers of Christmas. Purchase a ticket for $20 and you’ll get a 6 oz. sampling of 12 different beers that share a unique holiday feel. Featured beers are:

-Sam Smith Winter Welcome
-Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
-Mendicino Winter Ale
-Anchor Christmas Ale
-Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve
-Point St. Benedict’s Winter Ale
-Scaldis Noel
-Unibroue Qulelque Chose
-Sprecher Winter Ale
-Cooper’s Vintage Ale
-Le Bons Voeux
-Traquair Jacobite Ale

Free munchies, raffle for basketball tix, beer related gifts, and gift certificates, and $10 of each ticket sale going toward Operation Santa.

Since our readers are loyal WPGU-107.1 listeners…you surely haven’t missed the details about Operation Santa. But, in case you need a refresher, WPGU-107.1 and The Daily Illini team up with community organizations to “play Santa” for kids who may not be getting much under their tree this year. For the 14th Annual Operation Santa, we’re fulfulling wishes from children being served by the Crisis Nursery, Parent Wonders of Rantoul, Center for Women in Transition, First Call for Help, and the Cunningham Children’s Home. All money brought in by fundraising efforts goes directly into purchasing gifts for these children.

See ya there (of course you must be 21 yrs. old to drink). But, don’t do anything crazy…you may end up featured here next week!