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Look for news and articles from people, organizations and businesses in your neighborhood with stories to tell.To the editor: The LakeShore Estates Owners' Association's president, David B. Brode presents compelling arguments and excellent suggestions for permanently banning gas powered leaf blowers in residential communities like Glencoe. Gas powered leaf blowers don't just create noise, they create a particularly painful kind of noise that other noise makers don't produce. RELATED: Glencoe Homeowners Association Asks to 'Protect the Neighborhood' Against Gas Leaf Blowers And, for residents annoyed by barking dogs, noisy neighbors or roving saxophone players, remedies are already on the books. Local…
Dear generous neighbors, Got stuff? Interested in clearing your closets and garage of your gently used items? The Volunteer Center has just the solution for you. The Ninth Annual Make A Difference Day is a one-day collection drive to benefit 19 different nonprofits. The event takes place on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Indian Hill Train Station in Winnetka (corner of Green Bay and Winnetka Road). Earlier: Interactive Map Shows Dropping Home Prices By Community Clean out your closets, organize a collection drive at work, or with your neighbors and friends, and help make a …
Last December, I joined an amazing organization, Camp Kesem, as executive director. After a career in strategic consulting and operations, I felt that it was time to make a switch – and to find a way to demonstrably improve the lives of others. With three young children of my own (ages seven, five and five months), I wanted them to see “giving back” in action – and to know that we all have an obligation to positively impact the world around us. At the time, I was moved by the incredible dual mission of this organization, and the opportunity to work with college student leaders to truly have a…
Thank you to all of you who helped make our project a success this summer. At the end of last year Casey Karnes and I finished with 199 kits. We set our goal higher for Chicago Community Connections this summer, hoping to make 500 kits to donate to the Night Ministry. Earlier: Chicago Community Connections Collects Toiletries With the addition of Sam Okrent, John Dyke, and Charlie Maher we were confident in our goal. However in July and early August when we literally had zero donations, we thought about lowering our sights a little bit. But, soon enough donations started to roll in, …
Updated on Sept. 22: The deadline for applications has been extended from Friday Sept. 23 to Wed. Sept. 28. Three seats on the Winnetka Village Council will be open next April, as two-term Trustees Gene Greable, Bill Johnson and Chris Rintz retire. The Winnetka Caucus is currently accepting applications from residents who are interested in being considered for nomination for the Council member positions. The Application deadline is Wed. Sept. 28. Earlier: Letter to the Editor, Caucus Survey Reminder Given the number of important issues facing the village, the next council will have a …
Dear Neighbors: Time is running out; the Caucus Survey is due! You must submit your Caucus Survey response by midnight on Wed. Sept. 14 for your opinions to be counted in the survey results and included in the Caucus platforms. The Caucus Rules state that up to two heads of household will be permitted to complete the survey, so the Caucus will tabulate results based upon no more than two responses per household. This clarifies previous messages about the number of survey responses permitted per household. Please note that this clarification has no effect on the integrity of the survey …
I ask that your publication will allow me to extend a public apology to both Jim Sayegh and the attendees of the Sept. 6 village council meeting. While I fully stand by my message, the manner that it was delivered was regrettable and unacceptable. After working four hours of a nearly five hour long meeting, and revisiting a subject that has been studied in minutiae on countless occasions (did I say 10 hours?), I simply lost my patience. Earlier: Property Maintenance Code Debate Heats Up It is also regretful that the local bloggers have chosen to make this issue, as well as many others, …
Elizabeth Fox Ohana had just started a master’s program at Columbia University on Sept. 11, 2001. She would later learn of friends of friends who had died, but at that moment she assumed that because none of her close friends worked downtown, all her loved ones were safe. She soon learned that her ex-boyfriend, James, was in New York on business and downtown at the time of the attacks. The two, pictured rollerblading in front of the Twin Towers in 1997, hadn’t spoken for months before the attacks. James called her immediately, and they spent all their time together the following week, while …
About 100 people celebrated Froshapalooza this past week. The one-day concert on Aug. 27 featured five bands and one DJ. Earlier: Five Questions with Winnetka YO "It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy the talents of the young people of this community," said Outreach Coordinator Kristen Leahy. "We had a wonderful turnout and were able to spread the word about the local resources that the North Shore has to offer its teenagers." The Winnetka Youth Organization (Winnetka YO) provides activities and support for teeangers in North Shore communities. "Like" us on Facebook to receive news …
As a two-year resident of Winnetka, I have a few observations that might help newcomers and long-time residents consider their role in our community. We moved from California where the concept of the ballot proposition reigns supreme; that is, “a law that is submitted to the electorate for approval in a direct vote...”(wikipedia.com). It sounds great in theory but it doesn’t always work. The one major drawback is a strong lobby group can distribute misinformation that benefits their organization. If voters do not read the background on the propositions, it is easy to be swayed one way rather …
The Christ Church Winnetka choir recently returned from a visit to Canterbury, England, where they were the choir-in-residence for the week of August 8. Earlier: Glencoe's Chicago Community Connections Collects Toiletries Choirmaster Richard Clemmitt led 48 choir members (youth and adult) through six Evensongs and one Eucharist service held in Canterbury Cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. The choir was accompanied by Organist Jay Peterson. This is the seventh trip to England for the choir in the past 14 years. These 48 …
Dear Editor: On behalf of The Grand Food Center in Glencoe and Winnetka, I’d like to tell you about a Glencoe Union Church teen group that will post collection bins in our stores Aug. 15-23 as part of a toiletry collection drive. This teen group, “Chicago Community Connections,” has made providing comfort to Chicago’s homeless its primary focus. This six-person group this summer will be gathering personal-sized toiletry items in hopes of assembling 500, separate hygiene kits in Ziploc bags. The bags will benefit the Night Ministry, a Chicago-based social service provider that operates from a …
About 400 people celebrated summer with this year's Party on the Pier, hosted by the Winnetka Parks Foundation. Take a glance through the photo gallery for a taste of action, captured by Rachelle Thompson, in July. Earlier: Check out a photo gallery from the Glencoe Festival of Art. Thompson also provided the following information: The Chicago-based band, 7th Heaven, played original songs such as "Gravity" and "This Summer's Gonna Last Forever." 104.3KHITS also provided music at the event. Guests enjoyed a champagne bar, cocktails, BBQ and kegs at the event. All funds raised go to the …
Too hot for a picnic? Not for about 50 members of Hands of Peace, an interfaith organization founded in 2002. On a Thursday night, July 21, about 50 teens from Israel and Palestine and the Chicago suburbs were hosted by Tom and Irene Smith of Winnetka for their third annual Hands of Peace picnic. Each summer, Hands of Peace brings together Israeli, Palestinian, and American teens for an 18-day experience of multiculturalism and coexistence. The young people develop peace-building and leadership skills. After a day of dialogue and work on independent peace films, the "Hands" arrived at Elder …
Please visit www.winnetkacaucus.org for personal statements from the Winnetka Caucus-slated candidates running in the April 5, 2011 election.The 2011 Caucus Council is proud to support our slated candidates. They were selected to represent the community at this particular time given what the community has identified as important through the 2010 Caucus Survey. The Caucus Council looks at the balance on the full board with its recommendations,recognizing on behalf of the community that a good board must achieve the right demographic balance and range of expertise that the board needs at that …
“If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much,” Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is being honored today with a Distinguished Alumni Award by the New Trier High School Education Foundation. It seems a fitting moment to assess the legacy of Rumsfeld’s 50-year career in public service and his lifelong leadership in promoting freedom, both in this country and throughout the world. The North Shore community, here in northern Illinois, can be proud that his distinguished career had its start in local public schools and at New Trier High School. Donald Rumsfeld was …
Submitted by Maria Muro On Tuesday, the French School took its annual Mardi Gras parade to the streetsof Winnetka delighting local merchants and residents with their spirited singingand colorful Mardi Gras ensembles.Traditionally, students in France wear elaborate costumes, masks and hats forextravagant citywide Mardi Gras celebrations. Similarly, French School studentscrafted ornate hats and masks for the school parade. Three-year-olds in thePetite Section clucked around town in their colorful chicken hats with feathersand all. Four-year-olds in the Moyenne Section impressed with their …
Ready for a musical history lesson, flavored by humor, joy and an all-around zest for life? North Shore Senior Center will spotlight a chapter of America’s immigrant past when it hosts a performance by the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 2 p.m. This all-ages concert will take place at the Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr. Campus, 161 Northfield Road, in Northfield. North Shore Senior Center offers an abundance of enrichment opportunities, and we have many educational classes in the arts and humanities,” said Mary Futrell, Director of Lifelong Learning. “A musical performance is …
The holidays are behind us, winter is in full gloom and chill, final exams have ended and the renewal of spring is just ahead. My high school seniors are anxiously awaiting college admission letters and have emphatically informed me that they will only be happy at their first choice schools. I remind them that they are talented, resourceful, resilient young women who should enjoy the journey and appreciatetheir options; they can be happy anywhere. This final semester should be fun, relaxing and exciting, not dismal! They are masters at eye rolling. I convince myself that this is really an odd…
On February 8, 2011 at the Florida Vision Summit held at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, The Hadley School for the Blind presented a Leadership in Education Award to Joyce Hildreth, director of the Division of Blind Services of the Florida Department of Education. The award recognizes Hildreth’s commitment to education and lifelong learning. The award is reflective of the success of the partnership between Hadley and the Florida Department of Education, Division of Blind Services (DBS), which was formed in 2010 and will continue through September 2011. The goal of this partnership …