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Everyone is just one storm, one fire or one accident away from needing the services of the American Red Cross. That's why Hinsdale resident Hilary Chidi makes membership on the organization's board part of his already busy life. An executive vice president at TransUnion and a father of two young boys, Chidi recently joined more than 30 civic and corporate leaders on the volunteer board of the American Red Cross of Illinois. "The importance of the work they do cannot be...
There are few days between May and September that don't include at least one trek to the Hinsdale pool for Karl and Jean Meyer. "We go there for a lot of different reasons," said Karl, not the least of which is to swim laps. "It exercises every muscle in your body," he said, while also being gentle on joints. And it doesn't aggravate Karl's ongoing back issue. Thanks to indoor pools like the one at their gym in Countryside, the Meyers can enjoy their favorite form of exercise...
With flowers as the palette and her yard as the canvas, Janet Roxworthy thinks of her garden as a painting in progress. "I'm always tweaking. There's always something to do, always something to change," said Roxworthy, who has been transforming the landscape around her Hinsdale home for nearly a decade. Her yard is filled with ornamental grasses, knockout roses, coneflowers and coral bells. Hostas and ferns add life to the shady spots, and hydrangeas, lavender and clematis...
A long walk can be a great way to sort out one's thoughts and make plans for the future. During his gap year between high school and college, William Seppanen of Hinsdale did just that. After graduating from Hinsdale Central High School in 2020, Seppanen spent much of the next year hiking all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Starting out in Maine, Seppanen had made his way to West Virginia by the fall. After the snow had time to thaw, he hiked the other half this spring,...
Andrea Lamberg remembers the exact moment that set her on the path toward her new job as Hinsdale's finance director. Lamberg said she was about 10 years old when she became enthralled with the paper that her older sister was using for her homework. The ledger was filled with lines and boxes just waiting to be filled with numbers - numbers about which Lamberg was eager to learn. "I was fascinated. I wanted to do whatever that was," Lamberg said. That early version of a modern...
Thursday is about to resume its place as everyone's favorite night of the week in Hinsdale. The concert series Uniquely Thursdays is back, offering, in addition to live music, local food vendors, beer and wine, and walkable access to all downtown Hinsdale has to offer. "Everyone is excited," said Eva Field, president and CEO of the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce. While other towns are scrambling to create summer fun for their residents and neighbors, Field said the chamber's...
When you're working for nearly 18,000 people, it's difficult to know what any given day might bring. Whether it's filling a pothole, trimming a parkway tree or clearing an icy street, George Peluso said his goal every day is to provide excellent customer service to everyone who calls Hinsdale home. As director of public services and engineering, Peluso oversees the staff responsible for the village's roads, water system, parks and more. Everything from road repairs to...
Volunteering and community service are important parts of Shriya Mehta's life. Period. The Hinsdale Central High School rising senior recently received the National Community Service Awards Ambassador Award from the United Nations Association after logging more than 100 hours of service between June 2020 and April 2021. Many of those hours were spent at the head of Hinsdale's local chapter of Period. Period is an international organization that strives to eliminate period...
The unofficial start of summer 2021 coincided with the official opening of the 45th season of the Hinsdale Farmers Market. Launched on Memorial Day, the outdoor market will host more than two dozen vendors from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin every week through October. From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Monday, Burlington Park transforms from tranquil suburban oasis to a bustling outdoor market filled with seasonal fruits and vegetables, fresh eggs, regionally produced honey,...
Years before she would earn the title of doctor, Kristin Tvrdik found the career she was looking for at the Hinsdale Humane Society. While working at the shelter as a summer intern, Tvrdik discovered her professional path. "After that experience, I knew for sure I wanted to go to veterinary school," said Tvrdik. More specifically, the experience convinced her to focus on shelter medicine. As medical director at Hinsdale Humane Society, she's seen that plan come to fruition....
When Cathy Coyne Hofmann discovered that Southern Illinois University offered a degree in communications, she knew she had found a path for her education and a channel for her love of language. A chatty child, Hofmann said her report cards often included comments about her tendency to talk in class. But as an adult, she found a way to turn her gift of gab and endless energy into a successful career and a resource for her community. Now retired from her role in marketing and...
What does it mean to be recognized by Forbes? When Carrie French entered the world of wealth management, she was in a field dominated by men. "When I started, I didn't even know any female financial advisors," French said. Times have changed. Twenty years later, French has a female boss whose boss is also a woman. Earlier this year, French became one of 29 J.P. Morgan Wealth Management advisors to be named among Forbes' 1,000 Top Women Wealth Advisors for 2021. Seeing how far...
What about poetry inspires you? Ellie Pena's lifelong love of poetry began with a gift from her grandmother. "My mom would read it to me before bed," Pena said of Caroline Kennedy's anthology of children's poems. It wasn't long before Pena began penning her own poetry - at age 8. "They were just simple verses," she said, but even then, her subject matter was focused on change. Pena's first poem was about the slaughter of wild horses in the mountains of Wyoming. Awareness of...
The musical "Annie" is a story of hope and the country's recovery from a dark time - a fitting theme for Nazareth Academy's 2021 spring musical, said Hinsdale resident and cast member Harrison Gianares. After a canceled show in spring 2020 and a fall show compiled of individually recorded monologues, "Annie" takes a welcome step toward normal. The first half of the show is a compilation of individual recordings, but by the time the cast got to the second act, safety measures...
Why is that dinosaur in your front lawn? Whether it's referred to as the big purple dinosaur, Madame Butterfly or the beastie, the whimsical sculpture that adorns the front lawn of Beth Greifenkamp's Hinsdale home is known to all who have the pleasure of passing by. "It's literally a landmark," said Greifenkamp, who refers to the winged creature as "the beastie." Greifenkamp had long admired the work of Milwaukee artist Dennis Pearson when he teamed up with the Milwaukee...
The death of Molly Haunty's friend and sister-in-law in 2015 launched her into a group to which no one wants to belong. Like so many others, Haunty's life had been touched by cancer. "Cancer is pervasive, unfortunately," Haunty said. As her sister-in-law, Nancy, battled metastatic breast cancer, Haunty said she admired her friend's ability to continue living right up to the end. With help from her community, Nancy was empowered to travel, run and even climb a mountain while...
Peggy Smego's job as a real estate broker has always been about navigating life's changes, beginning with her own. "I love helping people get from point A to point B," said Smego, whose own life took a dramatic turn in 2004 when a health crisis left her husband unable to work. The stay-at-home mom of four needed to find a way to support her family. That's when she turned to real estate. "Looking back, it saved my life," said Smego, a broker with Jameson Sotheby's...
Srinidhi Rao's lifelong love of language began when she was still eating from a high chair. Even as a toddler, she loved spelling words. Now a fifth grader at The Lane School, Srinidhi will compete in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee - her most prestigious spelling accomplishment to date. Competing with students three grades above her, Srinidhi placed sixth in the South Asian Spelling Bee in Chicago as a kindergartner. She may have placed higher had she not forgotten to...
Hinsdale Central senior Katrina Geiersbach isn't just an athlete, an award-winning speaker, an accomplished student and a musician. Geiersbach also is one of 26 high school seniors from across Illinois named to the Illinois High School Association's 2021 All-State Academic Team. The IHSA awards this honor to students who have excelled academically and in extracurricular activities. Geiersbach will be recognized, along with other members of the 2021 team, at a virtual banquet...
How do you approach teaching women's history? In Whitney Wilda's civics class, Women's History Month lasts all year. "It's not just a month for us," said Wilda, who has taught the course at Hinsdale Central High School since it became a graduation requirement in 2016. Wilda said she embeds stories of the contributions of women, past and present, into her lessons all year long. Civics, Wilda said, is the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. She said the...
She could have been secretary to the president of a major company, the young bride of a military leader or even a professional musician. But Mary Ellen "Ditty" Reck didn't let any obstacle or opportunity get in the way of her dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher. "I was determined," said Reck, who in her 100 years of life saw that dream, and many others, become reality. Born in 1921, Reck was just a few months old when she faced the first obstacle to realizing...
Should pregnant women get a COVID-19 vaccine? Many people struggle with the decision of whether to get a COVID-19 vaccine. That choice can be even tougher when the decision also affects an unborn baby. Pregnant women and those wishing to become pregnant are full of questions. To provide answers, physicians like Kimberley Darey are doing their best to provide patients with the latest information. Darey practices obstetrics and gynecology and is chief medical officer/vice...
Scott Altemose's search for his family's new home ended when he discovered Robbins Park. Here was a place where his children could kick a ball or swing a bat. And right across the street, at The Community House, was a place where they could learn to do those things and so much more. The Altemose family, including Scott and Katy's three children - Emma, 9, Luke, 10, and Jack, 13 - made Hinsdale their home in 2015, settling into a house just a few blocks from the park that...
What do you hope to accomplish during your term? When independent insurance agent Bob Smith moved his office from downtown Hinsdale to Westmont, part of his heart remained in the village. A graduate of Hinsdale Central High School, Smith said he feels a strong bond to this community. "Hinsdale has a special place in my heart. I want to see it succeed and grow," said Smith, who will do his best to see that happen in his role as chairman of the 2021 Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce...
When it comes time to apply to colleges later this year, Hinsdale Central junior Shivani Rao's list of accomplishments will include presenting her own medical research study at the American Society of Hematology's annual meeting. Rao planned to spend the summer of 2020 in a laboratory as part of her summer Science Inquiry and Research class at Hinsdale Central. With classrooms, laboratories and most other things closed due to COVID-19, Rao found a way to complete the class...
