It’s Thursday evening and you’re driving westbound on Route 120 just a little east of the bridge going into McHenry. There you notice the sign for McHenry VFW and you suddenly remember, “Tonight is the night for the Shop With A Cop party.”

You see that no one is behind you and you hit the brakes hard trying to make the turn into the VFW’s driveway. Problem is the brakes don’t react quite as quickly as you did. Well, now that’s a problem.

The good news is you don’t have to turn around. If you continue west to the first street and turn right, there is another entrance off of Charles Street. You can enjoy the party, bid on some of the live or silent auction items, have some food, something to drink, play some games and listen to some music.

The whole time you’re at the party having a great evening, you’re also contributing so that a police officer with McHenry County Police Charities can take a child from a financially challenged home out for some holiday shopping. Each child accepted into the program receives $150 for shopping along with a winter coat, hat, gloves and boots.

“This is the sixth year we’ve done this and everyone has always had a great time,” said Denny Norton, owner of Performance Unlimited and president of MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group that hosts the party.

Norton is also someone you can trust to take a look at your brakes, not that he’d want to do so during the party.

“You should have them checked every 30,000 miles,” Norton said. “Especially after a hot summer like the one that just passed.”

Norton said the heat creates more friction that can wear the brakes faster. The heat also draws moisture. As a result, you may need to have air bled out of your brakes. If you have 100,000 miles on the brakes, you might as well setup an appointment to have new pads installed and the rotors and/or drums cut.

Don’t worry about that right now though, assuming your brakes are still functioning. Come on in and join the party. But, don’t wait too long to have the brakes looked at.

For more information, call Performance Unlimited at 815-728-0343 or visit: www.4performanceunlimited.com.