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The November wind had a bite to it Friday afternoon in the parking lot of Hinsdale Central High School. But the warm soul of service wouldn't be chilled as students "stuffed the trucks" with essential food and other items in an effort to provide neighbors in need with a happy and healthy holiday season. The Thanksgiving food drive, jointly organized by the school's National Honor Society and Business Professionals of America club, benefited FISH food pantry of Downers Grove....
The Community House was where Hinsdale native Dana Reko learned about etiquette, gathered for Girl Scout Troop activities and, most formatively, took fortnightly dance class as a middle schooler. "I haven't used ballroom dancing since," she admitted with a laugh. Having now settled in Hinsdale with her own family, Dana appreciates the nonprofit center's services in a way she never did as a youth. "Our kids, from when they were little, started Tiny Toes music classes there,"...
The Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 Board intends to hire a new top superintendent in late 2025 or early 2026 to replace Hector Garcia, who will retire at the end of the 2025-26 school year. At their Nov. 18 regular meeting, board members unanimously approved a succession timeline for the superintendent’s post, which calls for the search process to begin next fall and the new superintendent to start work July of 2026. The decision came after a discussion of two succession plan options in collaboration with B...
Hinsdale High School District 86 and Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 would feel much less financial impact from a proposed tax increment financing district along 55th Street in Clarendon Hills under a new deal put forward. At the Clarendon Hills Village Board meeting Monday night, trustees approved by a 6-1 vote an intergovernmental agreement with the districts that significantly scales back the scope of the TIF by removing the Jewel-Osco and PNC properties and...
Hinsdale Central's girls swimmers and divers began the season as nomads with the Don Watson Aquatic Center under repair. "We were displaced from our home pool, traveling all these different places," said head coach Bob Barber. Homelessness did not exempt the Red Devils from going up against the state's top programs like Rosary, New Trier and St. Charles North. "They clearly were the stronger teams but we were convinced that we were kind of the best of the rest," he said. The...
What is P.A.S.S.? As a Hinsdale Central sophomore student-athlete, Aryan Bansal could detect the struggle some of his teammates were having balancing schoolwork with the demands of pursuing high school sports. "Kids were saying in the locker room, 'I've got three tests tomorrow and practice doesn't end until 6:30 p.m.' " recounted Bansal, now a junior. "There's no time to get to teacher office hours when you have to get to practice." A two-sport athlete himself, Bansal underst...
Hinsdaleans will cast consequential votes in several contested local races when they head to the polls next spring. The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board race has the most crowded field in the April 1 consolidated general election with eight candidates vying for four four-year seats. Terri Walker of Hinsdale is the sole incumbent running. She is joined by challengers Warren Ali, Andrew Catton, Bobby Fischer, Jenny Gannon, Baron Leacock and Mary Satchwell of Hinsdale and Liz Mitha of Darien. Mitha and Satchwell have...
Village, library and school boards in Hinsdale are in the midst of approving tentative levies — or annual requests for property tax revenue — before the final levy is adopted in December. The levy requests will be submitted to the clerks in DuPage and Cook counties, who will translate them into tax rates that will appear on homeowners’ bills in 2024. Charts breaking down each of the levies, with an explanation of the taxing cycle and a glossary, are on Page 5. Village of Hinsdale Hinsdale trustees will request about $9.1...
"Though she be but little, she be fierce!" Hinsdale Central's Helena Ault relishes this line she utters in the school's upcoming production of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream." "My character may be small but she's strong," Ault says of Hermia, who's caught in a romantic entanglement because of her love for one man, Lysander, while being courted by Demetrius, whom she is trying to shed. "Women were not treated well at that time, and I think it's cool how Shakespeare made...
The hues of a pinecone-shaped glass orb morph, dance and layer as Bennett Grimm manipulates it in front of his 2,000-degree torch. The Hinsdale craftsman aims to awaken the uranium-233 particles within. "Just seeing if I can give it that blacklight effect, but in glass," said Grimm, 34, in his garage studio. His efforts usually bear fruit, as evidenced by the enchanting array of finished works in his collection awaiting transport to an upcoming holiday craft show. Glass orname...
Hinsdale's only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home is poised to get a financial boost from taxpayers to defray costs of renovating the historic residence. At the Hinsdale Village Board meeting Nov. 7, trustees signaled their approval for a property tax rebate and a $10,000 matching grant to offset the cost of restoring and updating 121 S. County Line Road, the 1894-built Dutch Colonial known as the Bagley House. During a first read of a resolution to enter into a preservation in...
The temperature is dropping and many sporting activities, like basketball and soccer, are shifting inside. But residents who like the cold can take advantage of several opportunities to stay fit this season, including these programs. Pickleball programs • Join other pickleball enthusiasts of all ages at the Fall Rally & Rendezvous social event from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, at The Community House, 415 W. Eighth St. Meet, mingle and learn about the sport from Community H...
The heart is traditionally regarded as the wellspring of compassion. For professional caregiver Teresa Phillips, real TLC starts with open ears. "Listening and understanding," said the lead caregiver and 12-year employee of Home Helpers Home Care of Hinsdale. "I believe that if you put yourself in (your client's) shoes, you can understand what they're going through." Phillips' commitment to soul-nurturing service earned her a spot among the finalists for the Home Care...
Sometimes a classic English cottage can have too much of a wood thing. The dark-paneled walls work in the masculine-leaning library at 100-year-old 4 E. Fifth St. In the dining room, however, they projected "austere castle" more than "inviting gathering space." Endeavoring to revitalize yet preserve the home's core character, Mimi Collins turned to interior designer Amelia Canham Eaton for a solution. Once found - an antiqued wallpaper with a green leafy motif - Eaton tried...
Maggie Akers’ parents knew she was failing to thrive as an infant, but they didn’t know why. Eating was clearly a painful ordeal for her. Rounds of testing yielded no answers, and physicians were baffled. Finally at 20 months old — after enduring 13 endoscopies — Maggie was diagnosed with a chronic condition called eosinophilic esophagitis, or EOE. The disease causes her esophagus to become inflamed and constrict. “Food gets stuck and it’s really painful,” she said. “Throwi...
Ava Young Clarendon Hills What was goal for senior year? To make it as far as we can as a team in the postseason. I like how our team has this very tight connection and feel like we have to do our best for each other. How do you see your role as a team co-captain? I try to build up everyone’s confidence so we can keep improving and advance further as a team. What’s your specialty on the court? I’m libero, the player in the back row who picks up digs and specializes in serve receive. How long have you played volleyball? Since...
Something creepy lurks at the dead end of Canterbury Court. The underworld has taken over this dark corner of Hinsdale, disfiguring a lovely home into Massacre Manor. Tombstones, skeletons and giant spiders greet brave visitors looking to test their fear factor. The haunted house is the brainchild of Leo Dean, a senior at Benet Academy who lives a normal life there with his family when it's not Halloween season. Leo explained that the concept was birthed, well, out of his birt...
Hinsdale High School District 86 Board President Cat Greenspon apologized last week for confusion over the removal of responses to old Freedom of Information Act requests from the online public log. While speaking at the Oct. 24 board meeting, Greenspon said the move to limit responses available in the log to just those from the current year and the prior two years was not well disseminated to the public. “The board could have supported administrative decisions more by communicating better. We didn’t. For that I apologize, W...
Just a cursory survey of a Hinsdale tax bill reveals where the largest chunk of those proceeds go: Community Consolidated Elementary District 181. Mindy Bradford, assistant superintendent of business and operations, said that’s because they are by far the district’s single largest source of funding. “If I look at our overall revenue stream, about 95 percent comes from local revenue sources. Of that, 90 percent is from property taxes,” Bradford said. “It’s vitally important.” The district is projected to take in $77.7 million...
How do you plan the Community Speaker Series? Several years ago Hinsdale's Megan Mikhail attended a local presentation by Jessica Lahey, author of the bestselling book "The Gift of Failure." It was part of the annual Community Speaker Series, and Mikhail left illuminated. "It taught me as a parent that it's very good for my children to have what she called 'soft fails' so that they can learn and grow and (I will) not be scared of them failing," Mikhail recalled. Mikhail and...
After back-to-back heartbreaking runner-up finishes at the IHSA state final the last two years, the Hinsdale Central boys golfers thought they'd come up just short again. Tied with Evanston for top honors at 12-over par 588 after the final hole Saturday of the two-day state tournament in Bloomington, the Red Devils knew their opponents' fifth-best score of the round - the typical tiebreaking protocol - was better than theirs. But state final rules call for a combination of...
Hinsdale native Luke Adams wasn't sure what to expect in the July 2022 Major League Baseball amateur draft. He'd developed a connection with Milwaukee Brewers during his senior year at Hinsdale Central, but Adams also had committed to play at Michigan State University. Adams watched day one of the draft, then day two without hearing his name and felt resigned to put his pro dreams on the bench. But day three delivered a curveball. "I was just drinking a smoothie and watching '...
Denis Altman Hinsdale How has your senior soccer season been different? Consistency is big for me, and being on varsity last year has helped build that consistency with a lot of my teammates. I've been putting the work in the summer to come into the season ready to compete. What do you enjoy about the sport? It's a versatile sport, so the ability to adapt is really important. You can't predict anything and you have to adjust to whatever is in front of you. How have you...
Hinsdale's Katie Isadore and Pamela Pontikis are wrapping up last-minute tasks in advance of Saturday's Wellness House Ball. "We're expecting around 500 people in attendance," said Isadore, co-chair with Pontikis of the cancer support organization's annual fundraiser. "I feel like we're in a really good place." Perhaps their wisest move was forming a committee early to amplify their work by reaching out to the members' own respective networks. "It's about sharing the mission...
The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board has revised its policies on the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act to shift responsibility from the superintendent to the board president. At their Oct. 9 meeting, board members held a first read of board policies 2:200 and 2:250, which give the board president power to designate employees for OMA training and choose an FOIA officer, respectively, duties previously assigned solely to the superintendent. Board member Peggy James, the board’s policy committee chair, s...
