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How does oral health affect the body? As a former dentist, Jessica Lederhausen thought she knew all she needed to know about caring for her own mouth. But when she received a diagnosis of receding gums, Lederhausen found herself in search of ways to improve her gum health without surgery. In doing so, Lederhausen became convinced of the effects of oral health on the entire body and the big impacts that small changes can have on physical and mental well being. "It all starts...
What's cool about the Stars & Stripes exhibit? The Fourth of July became a federal holiday in 1870, just a few years before Hinsdale's incorporation. Soon residents of the nascent village were staging their own festivities, like the 1875 celebration that "started at 5 a.m. with the booming of a cannon, no one tells who owned it or where it was located, and it was fired intermittently until 9 a.m. that morning," according to preserved records. "Can you imagine right after the...
There is no single definition of the perfect home. That, said Marie DiCosola, is what keeps her job as a real estate professional interesting. "Every house is so very different and every client is so very different. I kind of fell in love with the process," said DiCosola, a member of the team at Jameson Sotheby's in Hinsdale. DiCosola said she caught the real estate bug while assisting husband Nick, president of the DiCosola Group, a real estate construction, development and...
What are the newest breast cancer treatments? The area's top oncologists, surgeons and healthcare professionals will provide the latest news in the fight against breast cancer when Wellness House presents Hot Topics in Breast Cancer Saturday, June 22. Following a half hour of gentle yoga, participants in the daylong event will hear about the latest advances in breast cancer treatment and research from an expert panel from 9 to 11 a.m. Among the panelists is Nan Chen of...
What's the latest way to treat AFib? Living in the town where he has worked for the last 14 years, Dr. Francisco Aguilar said he sometimes feels like the hometown country doctor. But there's nothing small-town about the major medical tools that Aguilar is able to offer as a cardiac electrophysiologist at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale. The hospital is the first in the western suburbs to provide patients with access to the Farapulse Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) System...
Why should we visit national parks? Theresa Goodrich recounted a memorable encounter with a group of locals while camping in Badlands National Park several years ago. "Bison just walked right through the field where our tent was pitched," she said, describing the behemoths' use of a picnic table as a scratching post. "A bunch of us were up early and standing on one side of our vehicles because on the other side the bison were having their breakfast." Such out-of-the-ordinary e...
What was it like to set a Guinness World Record? Annie Gustafson will never struggle to find that "fun fact" to share at a party or office ice breaker. She will always be someone who set a world record. Annie, a seventh-grader at Hinsdale Middle School, was one of 353 dancers to set a new world record for most ballet dancers en pointe simultaneously in New York earlier this year. The group set the new record by performing a bourree together for one minute. The previous...
What does commencement mean to you? Hinsdale Central student body President Will Kusak will perform his final duty in that role - and as a Red Devil - serving as an emcee of tonight's commencement ceremony. The roughly 600-strong class of 2024 had no in-person eighth-grade graduation due to COVID, and embarked on its high school journey split in halves to promote social distancing on campus. "We were labeled as an 'A day' kid or a 'B day' kid, and that just caused such a stir...
What plants will cicadas put at risk? Spring is always a busy time at the Morton Arboretum. Add in millions of emerging cicadas and the season's to-do list gets exceptionally longer. "We're doing a lot to prepare," said Spencer Campbell, manager of the plant clinic at Morton Arboretum in Lisle. He said workers at the arboretum were busy throughout the first weeks of May wrapping hundreds of the arboretum's youngest trees to protect them from this year's expected cicada brood....
What does it take to be a Green Ribbon school? As a rookie social studies teacher in Fairfax, Va., Levi Brown was troubled that his school was not recycling paper. "I took empty copy paper boxes and sent an email to all the staff asking if I could put a box in their rooms" to collect discarded paper, recounted Brown, principal of Clarendon Hills Middle School. A great plan, until he realized the school had no recycling dumpster. "I went around and got them and piled them all i...
Why is prayer important? Kristin Haag Mathews was introduced to faith and prayer as a child. As an adult facing some of life's greatest challenges, she turned back to prayer for strength and guidance. In doing so, Haag Mathews said she found peace and a desire to share it. As leader of the Caring Team ministry at Hinsdale Covenant Church, Haag Mathews introduces others to the power of prayer, helps people in their quest to strengthen their faith and leans on her own faith to s...
What can we learn through traveling? During a trip to Iran 11 years ago, June Scott hiked with a group to a remote village that was so off the beaten path, supplies were brought in by burro. The Oak Brook resident and native Hinsdalean approached an elderly woman sitting on a doorstep wearing a customary head covering. "She asked if we were Americans, and we said, 'Yes,' " related Scott, who had a translator. "She said, 'You know what? We like Americans. We do not like...
What is Zyn and why is it harmful? Parents might not be familiar with Zyn, an oral nicotine pouch, but college students certainly are. "It was huge on my campus and we have Illinois Wesleyan right next to us as well," said Grace Thompson, an intern at Candor Health Education who will graduate from Illinois State University with a degree in public health in May. "Between those two schools, it would just be everywhere. There would be younger people who would come down for...
What's important to know about home care? Sheri Kupres of Home Helpers in Hinsdale was meeting with a family about senior care when the daughter asked her elderly parents about some dents she noticed on their car. "They said, 'Oh, we hit this pole'," Kupres relayed. "And the daughter replied, 'Well, what if it was a person?' " Finding the couple a senior living facility may be the next step for some. But employing a caregiver - as the family mentioned chose - also is an...
What are the keys to foot and ankle health? With the return of spring come April showers, May flowers and an uptick in injuries as people emerge from their winter habits. Ashley Lee, podiatrist at Northern Illinois Foot and Ankle Specialists' Hinsdale office, said the return to activities like pickleball, tennis, running, walking and youth sports results in an increase in visits to her office for treatment of sports-related injuries. The surging popularity of pickleball has...
Before entering the real estate industry, Dario Medina saw his father and brother succeed in the business of buying, selling and developing properties. After a decade-long corporate career in New York, Medina decided to join them. Now the managing broker at Better Homes and Gardens County Line in Hinsdale, Medina earned his real estate license in 2007. He got his start as one of online firm Redfin's first Chicago-area agents before working his way up to management positions...
What is the Ostrega Uhl project? Beautiful music doesn't require a symphony hall, a theater or a trip to the city. It just requires talented musicians to play it and interested people to hear it. That's the philosophy behind the Ostrega Uhl Project, the brainchild and passion project of violinist Brian Ostrega and pianist Stephen Uhl. Whether it's a retirement community, a public library or a church, Ostrega and Uhl want to take classical chamber music anywhere an audience mig...
How did you unearth vintage bottles? That which lurks beneath has been preoccupying Hinsdale's Bronson Welch recently. The Clarendon Hills Middle School sixth-grader recently visited Graue Mill on an unseasonably warm winter day to explore Salt Creek, flowing considerably shallower nowadays due to a dam removal. "All I was doing was just trying to walk the creek because it was cool," Bronson said. As he walked, his sharp vision spied long buried bottles that had been exposed b...
What inspires you to create your art? It isn't uncommon for sixth-grader Rosie Sun's teachers to return assignments with notes attached. But rather than suggestions or comments about her math or language arts homework, the messages often include compliments about the doodles she's included along the margins of the page. Any blank piece or portion of paper is an opportunity for Rosie to create something new. Rosie discovered her love of art at age 4 while living in China and...
What's so cool about birding? It's prime time to spot birds in their Hinsdale-area habitats, according to Steve Constantelos of the DuPage Birding Club. "At end of winter and early spring, there are more birds around, and they're singing because it's breeding season," he explained. "This is sort of the best time of year because the leaves aren't coming out yet and the birds will be all geared up for spring." Residents are invited to flock together on a Contantelos-led Winter...
Every Friday a group of Hinsdale Central High School students gathers to help children a world away - and whom they likely will never see or meet. Hinsdale Central's LEAP Into Africa club holds events throughout the school year to support a school in Cape Town, South Africa. While the full group of 40 to 50 LEAP members is invited to meet every other Friday, members of the group's executive team gather every Friday throughout the school year. Poverty and inequality are promine...
Deciding what to wear can be a daily struggle for a lot of women, and even men. Professional stylist Megan Brotschul of Hinsdale said the problem often isn't a lack of clothing, but too much of it. Doing business as Style Strategy, Brotschul helps customers find the outfits that are hidden amongst the clutter of their closet by helping them to see what they already have and offering new ways to put those items together. "It's all in the way you style things," she said....
How can failures help children grow? Failures and mistakes are part of life, and those inevitable moments also can become character-building opportunities. That was the message of Michelle Icard, an expert in adolescence and author of three books on the subject, who spoke to parents Jan. 31 at The Community House. Icard, author of “8 Setbacks That Can Make a Child a Success: What to Do and What to Say to Turn ‘Failures’ into Character-Building Moments, said a healthy adole...
What does it take to direct a play? Hinsdale Central senior Emma LoDuca has long been drawn to the enchanting world of live theater. A couple of years ago she developed a passion for the medium of film and sought out a way to support both interests. That way was directing. LoDuca will make her directorial debut with Hinsdale Central Drama's family-friendly production of "James and the Giant Peach" Feb. 9 and 10 in the school's auditorium (see Page 16 for details). The famous...
How can homeowners avoid remodeling woes? Hiring someone to complete a home improvement project can be an exciting step for any homeowner. But to ensure the work is done right, the consumer has some work to do, too, said Jeff Kida, a certified remodeler and owner of DDS Design Services LLC of Hinsdale. A remodeler for more than 20 years, Kida said much of his work involves kitchen and bath remodels for architects and general contractors. "They need someone with design...
