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Growing up in South Carolina, Brian Kenney loved visiting the ocean and admiring its creatures. And while Chicago doesn't offer much of an ocean view, Kenney has found a way to enjoy and support ocean wildlife while living in the Midwest. As Kenney transitioned into the role of CEO of Chicago-based GATX Corp. in 2005, he began looking for a single nonprofit organization to which he could offer his time and expertise. Already a "huge fan" of the Shedd Aquarium, Kenney said his...
Aspiring lawyer Allison Lantero of Hinsdale cites her grandfather, a former judge in DuPage County, as her inspiration for pursuing a legal career. "My dream is to one day be a judge like my grandfather," said Lantero, a rising third-year student at Notre Dame Law School. "I'm someone that has a really strong sense of justice." She's blazing path of her own, however, evidenced by her recent selection for the American Constitution Society's 2020 Next Generation Leaders...
Donna Vorreyer never wanted to be anything but a teacher. "I was one of those kids who loved school," she said. "There was never a doubt in my mind that this is what I wanted to do." In her 36-year teaching career, Vorreyer taught students from kindergartners through eighth-graders. But it was the middle schoolers who she came to enjoy most. "I started to realize how much more I could do with the older kids," said Vorreyer, who after a few years teaching in the lower grades...
At the close of tonight's Hinsdale Central virtual graduation ceremony, members of the class of 2020 will move their tassels across their caps to symbolize their transition. Although that final act will be done at individual homes due to COVID-19, it will pay homage to a four-year journey engaged in collectively, suggested seniors Lauren Hughes and Nick Moawad. "I don't want to be remembered as the class that didn't get a prom or graduation because of corona," Hughes said....
Volunteer work has always been part of Dot McCarthy's life. From preparing breakfast for guests at the PADS homeless shelter to raking leaves for senior neighbors, McCarthy said she enjoys giving back to her community any way she can. Involvement in Community Memorial Foundation's second annual Young Community Changemakers program allowed her to take her commitment to service to a whole new level. The Young Community Changemakers program, also known as YC2, is a leadership...
Before returning to her native Hinsdale last October, Sarah London became a Manhattan mom with the July birth of son James Wyatt. Determined to be parents on the move, she and husband Jack set out one lovely day for family fun to the fullest. "We went to brunch, then took a ferry to Brooklyn," London related. "We had to walk home from downtown Manhattan and it started raining. That night I couldn't get James to calm down." At her wit's end, she called the person she knew...
When the mid-March wedding of a Trinity Presbyterian Church couple had to be postponed due to COVID-19, fellow congregant and Hinsdale resident Tyra Bone felt the planned bridal shower must go on. But with shelter-in-place rules also prohibiting that event - which had been scheduled for last Sunday - Bone and other church women began collecting money and gifts to furnish the newlyweds' marital home. "We said we'll still gather gifts because they were still going to go forward...
Today, Hinsdale’s Aris Musabji and his family will join with Muslims around the world in observance of Ramadan, a month-long celebration marked by fasting, prayer and community. The annual holiday, which commemorates the Prophet Muhammad’s first revelation, falls in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a timing based the moon. “It starts at the beginning of the new moon and lasts for one lunar cycle,” Musabji said. Traditionally the family would head to their mosque...
For Carol Burck, spring cleaning doesn't just mean washing windows and cleaning out closets. As a master gardener, the promise of warmer weather takes her outdoors. Burck has spent spring's sunniest days cleaning and preparing her garden for this year's growing season and looking forward to the day when her Hinsdale yard is once again filled with delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers. Now semi-retired from a career in cancer research, the molecular biologist said she has...
This week the Rombergers were expecting to be sharing stories about their spring trip to Rome with friends, coworkers and Hinsdale neighbors. The trip, of course, didn't happen, thanks to COVID-19. And there hasn't been much sharing of anything with anyone due to shelter in place restrictions. But Lisa Romberger said her passion for promoting community mindedness has not been confined. Last week, she and her family created and displayed more than 100 luminaria on their block a...
A single sentence changed Colleen Bordeaux's view of the world and her own future. The lifelong Hinsdalean was a student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when she entered a study abroad program in Capetown, South Africa. Her work there included a volunteer position at an orphanage, where four women cared for 84 children. During orientation, Bordeaux, then Colleen Kelly, was told to avoid asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. "I wasn't to ask...
Talk about an ending with a twist. E-learning without classmates is certainly not the way Hinsdale Central senior Lillian Niemeyer saw her final semester in high school unfolding. But she said the experience is equipping her with some useful life skills. "It's very easy to procrastinate, for sure. I'm having to schedule my own times to study and find some tools I can use, like a planner, to help me," Niemeyer related. "I think that this is definitely going to benefit me when...
Faith Drescher had only been in school a couple of years when she decided that's where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. Since second grade, Drescher has known that her future is in education. But it wasn't until she was selected for the Illinois State Board of Education's Student Advisory Council that she realized education doesn't take place only in the classroom. As a freshman at Hinsdale Central, Drescher was encouraged by a teacher to apply for membership on the...
Six years ago Hinsdale's Laura Alter was invited to Hinsdale Infant Welfare Society's Tablescapes, an annual benefit for the Angel Harvey Family Health Center in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. Stirred by the auxiliary group's mission, she joined up. Heading into this year's Tablescapes Sunday, March 22, at the Westin Hotel in Lombard (see Page 20 for details), Alter is now the organization's president, leading the effort to provide care for families in need. "What we're...
When Jim Piontowski started his new job with the village of Hinsdale, Jimmy Carter was president. Sports fans were discovering a new source of sports information called ESPN, and Americans had yet to fall in love with Pac Man. A lot has changed in and around Hinsdale since January 21, 1980. But one constant is Piontowski, who for 40 years has enjoyed his job as building maintenance supervisor for the village he considers home. Although he now lives in nearby Darien with his...
When Elliana Teuscher auditioned for a summer intensive with the Joffrey Ballet two years ago, she knew the experience could change her life. She had no idea to what extent. In addition to being accepted to the summer program, Teuscher also was invited to join the American Conservatory Program - a training program for dancers 14 to 18 years old who are preparing for professional careers in dance. Accepting the coveted invitation meant leaving Hinsdale Central High School,...
Hinsdale Central seniors Sarah Lotsoff of Hinsdale and Brody Melia of Westmont are no strangers to the stage, having acted in plays since middle school. The two will make their directorial debut tonight in the drama department's winter performance of two one-act plays, which runs through Saturday (see Page 22 for details). After Central teacher and director Erin Lundin selected the two to direct, their first task was to choose their plays. "She gave us suggestions and said, 'I...
ave to guess how they're performing. This coach doesn't sugarcoat it. "I'm definitely not a passive coach. Everybody's going to work hard," Pacioni said of her Jodie Harrison youth basketball teams. Yes, teams. The Hinsdale mom of three daughters coaches each of their squads. That makes for busy winter weekends with games on Saturdays and Sundays. But she prefers that to the alternative. "I'd rather coach than sit in the stands," Pacioni remarked. And she believes girls...
Herbert Wang said his love of science is something his father began fostering when he was just a child. Rather than quiz his son on the periodic table or test his knowledge of mathematical theories, Jin Wang asked a simple question, over and over again: "How does it work?" The curiosity and knowledge that resulted from asking and answering that question time and again is what Wang believes led him to where he is today - the laboratory at University of Chicago. That's where, as...
From his Oak Brook office at FGM Architects, John Ochoa can gaze into the past. Specifically, Ochoa can see Mid America Plaza at the corner of Route 83 and 22nd Street, which he helped design early in his career. "That was very significant project when I was a young architect," the Hinsdale resident said. "It was a big project and kind of grew my confidence at the time in terms of the scale of projects that I could work on and could handle." Shortly after the building's 1985...
Newcomer is a title that Heather Laughman has held more than once. And no matter how many times she finds herself as a resident of an unfamiliar new town, it's always a challenge to make it feel like home. As a member and former co-president of the Newcomers and Neighbors of the Greater Hinsdale Area, she tries to make that transition easier for those who are new to Hinsdale. Laughman said she remembers feeling a little lost, lonely and overwhelmed shortly after moving to...
Living in southern California the last several years for college, and now for work, has left Hinsdale's Gabrielle Roberts ill-equipped for winter visits to her hometown. "Definitely my blood has thinned out. I come home just in my sweatshirt from L.A. and immediately my parents have to give me a giant puffy jacket," Roberts joked. Later this year, she'll be adjusting to an entirely new culture when she heads to Tsighua University in Beijing for a yearlong fellowship as a...
Becoming an Eagle Scout was never really part of Jack Otten's plan. "I never gave it much thought," Otten said. "I was just enjoying being a Scout." But as he approached his final year of high school, the Hinsdale Central High School senior said earning Boy Scouting's highest rank suddenly seemed like a natural progression to his decade-long scouting career. So he set out in search of a project - a final step in every scout's journey toward the Eagle rank. Otten said he knew...
It was about 14 years ago when Lisa Kolavennu's father was diagnosed with cancer. In walking that journey with him, she discovered Wellness House and, along with it, her vocational calling. "His experience inspired my own passion for wanting to help the oncology population," Kolavennu said. "It felt personally and professionally gratifying for me to move to Wellness House and start a career here." More than a dozen years after launching that career as a program director with...
The Korza family started 2019 living 4,700 miles away. Then in June, Kasia and Andrzej packed up baby Adam and his two older siblings (Alexandra has just finished eighth grade and Ignacy had just finished kindergarten) and left Poland to start a new life in the United States. They chose Hinsdale because it is home to Kasia's uncle and a great school system. Kasia's two sisters and her parents live nearby as well. "We had a very nice life there, but decided to join our...
