2011 in Review: Most-Viewed Stories on St. Charles Patch, Part Two

St. Charles Patch is counting down the top viewed stories of 2011.

What Happened: At St. Charles Patch we try to provide useful round ups of information we think people living in St. Charles might like to know. This includes everything from a list of Halloween-related events, to tips about how to recycle your Christmas tree. But the epic list of Easter Egg Hunts proved pretty popular this year.

Why It Matters: Well, this is important to us, because at St. Charles Patch we want to go beyond the basic "news website" and be a place where you can go to find out anything you need to make life easier in . Got something you want to know more about? Send us an email and we'll do our best to find out. Think we should be writing about something different? Let us know. Want to share information or news with your neighbors? Ask about blogging on Patch. Email Editor Kalen Ponche at Kalen.ponche@patch.com.

No. 4: Monroe Elementary School, Friends Remember Pat Johnston

What Happened: Popular music teacher Pat Johsnton died earlier this year and staff and students at Monroe Elementary School held a memorial event for him.

Why It Matters: The had several tragic events happen this year, between a fire in St. Charles that killed four members of the same family, one of whom was a student at Coverdell Elementary School. In difficult situations like these, the district found ways to honor those who died, while giving parents the ability to talk to their children about what happened first.

What Happened: Although the city of St. Charles had to cut back on funding for Riverfest in 2011, the event was welll-attended and people wanted to know where to go and when

What Happened: On Sept. , St. Charles High School was put on lockdown while police investigated a threat. St. Charles Patch was at the scene and provided live updates as we learned more information.

What Happened: St. Charles Patch attended the rally at the in October and we live-blogged the entire event. The rally took place just days after Palin announced she would not be seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency. Many Palin supporters participated in the live blog as a way to hear what she had to say. Since the event was ticketed, it was not streamed live.