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Volunteering has been a hallmark of Julie Smith's life since her kids were little. She and husband Chadd moved to Hinsdale when their oldest two were just 3 and 1. By the time they were in elementary school, she was ready to lend a hand where needed. "My favorite was helping Patty Mardula in the Madison library," she said. Meaningful opportunities to help others also have arisen through her church, Avenue Christian Church in Clarendon Hills. There she has been on the steering...
Christmas Eve was always a lively time in the Peckenpaugh household in Hinsdale. In addition to Doug Peckenpaugh and his five older siblings, the holiday banquet grew substantially, Peckenpaugh said, due to his mother's boundless spirit of hospitality. "My mom was one of these people who would open up her home to any family who could come," he said. "She would run a big buffet and we'd have 20, 30 people coming through." By 10 p.m. the gathering would disperse, leaving the fam...
Christmas Eve was always a lively time in the Peckenpaugh household in Hinsdale. In addition to Doug Peckenpaugh and his five older siblings, the holiday banquet grew substantially, Peckenpaugh said, due to his mother's boundless spirit of hospitality. "My mom was one of these people who would open up her home to any family who could come," he said. "She would run a big buffet and we'd have 20, 30 people coming through." By 10 p.m. the gathering would disperse, leaving the fam...
When Teri Zeidel and her husband moved to Hinsdale from Canada, she said she thought it would be a fun place to live for a few years. Twenty-three years later, Zeidel said it's still a fun place to be, and a great place to call home. Hinsdale is one of two places that hold a special place for Zeidel. The other is Nelson, a small town near Kootenay Lake in British Columbia, Canada, where Zeidel grew up and where she returns multiple times a year to visit family and enjoy the...
Hinsdale Central senior Lauren Doppke will give her vocal chords a workout over the next couple weeks. A member of the school's Chamber Choir, she and her fellow vocalists are making joyful sounds all around the community. "We're visiting Notre Dame Church (in Clarendon Hills) and we're going to a retirement home, as well," Doppke said. "We're doing an event (at Central) in the morning where we sing while people grab coffee. "It's definitely a busy time," she added. This week...
As an elementary school teacher, Cathy Daly helped hundreds of children become better readers. It wasn't until retirement that she began doing it with the help of a dog. Daly's dog Bogey is an 11-year-old cavapoo - a combination of a cavalier King Charles spaniel and a poodle - who has been a working therapy dog for nearly six years. Helping children to read is just one of many ways Bogey is able to help people, Daly said. Bogey joined the Daly family as a puppy, but it...
JR Tomkinson was a new Hinsdale homeowner in 2020 when he noticed a window poster for the Hinsdale Chorale while visiting neighboring Western Springs. "I had sung with choirs before, but it had been four or five years since I had," Tomkinson said. Joining the group during the pandemic made for a different musical experience than he'd ever had. The return to normalcy has been welcomed by the chorale, which will mark the holiday season with its concert Welcome Yule! Nov. 25 and...
When John Zick decided to apply for the Navy's Holloway Plan - similar to the ROTC - he had no way of knowing what his assignment would be after he finished his schooling. Soon after making full lieutenant on July 1, 1968, Zick received his orders. He was going to Vietnam. "The war was raging. This was a real hot area that I was going to. That I knew," he said. He arrived in Saigon Dec. 21, a "total cultural change," he said. "The night was lit up with fires and machine guns."...
Don't try to pigeonhole Hinsdale native Stephanie Lenchard-Warren into one creative category. She believes an interdisciplinary portfolio that incorporates visuals, words and sound elevates her art. "I think there's value in all mediums because they cause your brain to work in different ways," she said. "For me it's interesting to kind of jump between these genres and sometimes let them mingle." Lenchard-Warren's exhibit, "Your Dreams Remember You," is currently on display on...
Katharine Andrew was in Hinsdale just once before accepting the position of manager at the Hinsdale Historical Society. During the "one horrible semester" that she spent on the Niles North High School cross country team, Andrew traveled to Katherine Legge Memorial Park and still recalls the beautiful, historic homes she saw along the way. After her interview last year at Hinsdale's Immanuel Hall, she found herself excited once again by the town's history. "I couldn't say no...
The box of British biscuits and wall-mounted “BELIEVE” sign in Erin Eder’s office leaves little doubt as to her favorite fictional soccer coach. The “Ted Lasso” tribute is courtesy of her colleagues in celebration of Principal Appreciation Week. Eder feels the love, as she long has in the school setting, dating back to when her childhood school doubled as her mom’s workplace. “School always felt like an extension of home. The teachers that I was in class with were also at our...
Some things are meant to be, Steve Cashman believes. Like his decision to quit football at Hinsdale Central to join an elementary school friend on the gymnastics team. "I just really wasn't connecting with the (football) team," he said. "I knew he was a gymnast and I went to see what he was doing. I was just amazed at what people were doing in the gym." He asked Harry Bull, coach at the time, if he could learn those skills and the answer was, yes, if he was willing to try. "I...
Hinsdale's Haven Marginean finds fulfillment in theater work whether on stage or backstage. "As an actor you're more in charge of your character, and as a director you're more in charge of the story," said the Hinsdale Central junior. Marginean's stage of choice is the Theatre of Western Springs, where she is currently serving as assistant director of the production of "Witch," with final performances this weekend (see Page 26 for details). Her memory suggests she's been part...
Like many who grew up surrounded by books, Angelique Burrell dreamed of writing her own one day. "I wanted to, but it seemed so far out of reach of anything," she said. "It took a while for me to understand I could be writing right now. I don't have to wait for some other time to start doing it." She was on a three-day summer road trip years ago - with her husband, two kids and new puppy - to her vacation home in Lake Tahoe, Calif., when she got an idea for a story that...
Amateur actor Art Andersen's first foray onto the stage was a bit, well, multi-faceted. "I was a servant. I was a dogcatcher. I was a cabinet member," the Hinsdale resident related of his debut in "Annie" several years ago. Although keeping each character's lines straight was taxing, the experience was so enjoyable that Andersen stuck with it. He's now preparing for his latest part in the Westmont Performing Arts production of "The Drowsy Chaperone," opening Sept. 22 at Westvi...
Jay Alfirevic was still a child himself when he began helping his parents in their support of an orphanage in Mexico. At nearly 66 years old, he's still helping children as a member of the Hinsdale Masonic Lodge and the Medinah Shriners. "You have to be a Mason in order to be a Shriner," said Alfirevic, who joined the Hinsdale lodge in 2005 and served as master of the lodge in 2010. He currently leads the Medinah Shriners, headquartered in Addison, as potentate. Looking back,...
Hinsdale teen Ronin Joshi's stand-up comedy chops are no joke. The 14-year-old has been earning laughs at open mic nights since he was 12. Last month he tested his routine against other amateur comics in a competition at a Chicago club. "We went there for an open mic," Joshi said of visiting My Buddy's on the city's north side in July with his dad. "But they were like, 'Sorry, open mic is not on today because there's a competition.' " Intrigued, Joshi decided to enter the...
Jennifer Cave could barely hear the voice on the other end of the line when she got the call that she had been named the 2023 Volunteer of the Year at The Community House. "When they called it was over the summer and I literally was at Disney World," she said. "It was so loud in the background." The Magic Kingdom was the perfect place to learn she had received the Katharine Van Duysen Sylvester Service Award for her work to "empower and support adolescents as they navigate...
When Sujit Menon and his wife decided to move their family out of Chicago in 2014, it was Hinsdale's schools that helped the couple to finally choose the village as their new home. Since then, Menon has committed his time and talent to making those schools even better for his own children and everyone in the community. Menon joined the Hinsdale Middle School Parent Teacher Organization board in 2018. "There was an opening for a webmaster," said Menon, who was working...
Hinsdale friends Abby Sun and Maya Ural first bonded through painting. "Our first play date was about art," Abby recounted. Now they are inviting others on a date to invest in their works and a good cause by hosting the Art for Autism art fair from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16 at The Community House (see Page 19 for details). The rising fifth-graders at The Lane School saw an opportunity to put their skills to philanthropic use when they learned of the condition's prevalence...
Like most kids growing up in Hinsdale, Ella Horstman spent part of each summer at the village's parks, the community pool, and of course, attending the Fourth of July parade. It wasn't until this summer that she took a peak behind the curtain to see the work and planning involved with making those activities available. "Seeing how everything works is really interesting," said Horstman, who is about to complete her summer internship with the Hinsdale Parks and Recreation...
There wasn't enough room for Reagan Scott and the stacks of unpacked boxes as her family transitioned to their Hinsdale home in the summer of 2021. The Theatre of Western Springs's High School Repertory provided an escape for the then-freshman. "I did the summer stock performance of 'Something Rotten!' like a week after I moved here," related Scott, now a Hinsdale Central junior. "They were all so nice, and I just decided to stay." Which means she's in the cast of the...
Sharon Taylor knew little about Hinsdale before she and her late husband, Ira, settled into the village 36 years ago. But on Princeton Road, the Taylors found the place they would all call home. "It's been fun ever since," Taylor said of her time in Hinsdale, a place she said she will continue to consider home even after her impending move to be closer to her son and three of her five grandchildren. The move to Naperville takes her just 15 miles away, which means Taylor can...
Hinsdale's Dylan Singla wanted to produce a podcast to explore the intersection of sustainable practices and artificial intelligence. He set up a website and had a couple contacts. But would any highly placed experts in the educational, conservationist and business realms really sit down with him for a 30-minute discussion? Absolutely. "I thought I'd be lucky to get five of them to reply," Singla said of his outreach efforts. "If they're passionate about their job and you're p...
Tyler Hamman has learned a lot as owner and founder of Ty's Treats, including the fact that his young customers prefer their SpongeBob ice cream treats with gumball eyes rather than chocolate ones. "When they replaced the gumballs with chocolate, kids started buying them less," said Hamman, who opened Ty's Treats at the Hinsdale Community Pool this summer. Hamman got his first job working behind the front desk of the pool when he was 15. The next year, he worked for Sauced...
