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What are some gardening tips for the season? Amidst the social barrenness wrought by the pandemic, a bumper crop of new at-home gardeners has sprung forth. "They're thinking, 'I'm not sure if I can get good vegetables this summer - let's grow our own!' " related Dan Kosta, horticulturist at Hinsdale's Vern Goers Greenhouse. Backyard produce is hard to beat, he said, and a blooming flower bed outside the window is a visual feast. But knowing what to plant and how to care for it...
How can we better understand each other? Think you know another person's mind? Be careful about making assumptions, cautions University of Chicago psychologist Nicholas Epley. "We mostly use ourselves as a guide to others. The only mind we have direct access to is our own," he said. "Naturally it's easy to use that as a lens for other people, and that's a key source of our mistaken judgments." Epley, author of "Mindwise: A Guide to Understanding the Minds of Others," will...
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...
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 pandemic has tested people's normal modes of operation, money management included as many faced sudden unemployment or a business' bottomed-out bottom line. Children ages 3-9 can get the tools for fiscal fortitude at the Piggy Bank Pageant via Zoom on April 13, sponsored by the Economic Awareness Council in partnership with the Hinsdale Public Library and Hinsdale Bank and Trust in observance of Financial Literacy Month. (Please see listing in Calendar for information.)...
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...
How can we clear the clutter from our lives? Living more simply may sound appealing. But permanently stripping away the excess requires sincere soul searching, according to decluttering expert Jessica Louie. "We start with clarifying," Louie said of her process with clients. "What is your ideal lifestyle? What are your core values? Why do you get up in the morning?" Without such answers, the act of detaching from the physical is likely to be a fleeting exercise. Louie will...
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...
How can parents prepare children for adulthood? Working as a dean at Stanford University, Julie Lythcott-Haims was dismayed both by the basic life-skill deficiencies she observed in many first-year students and the frequent parent interventions to try to ease their near-adult children's burdens. Then she looked in the proverbial mirror. "My 'Aha!' moment was when I came home one night, sat down at the dinner table, leaned over my 10-year-old's plate and began cutting his...
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...
What is the Black History Month bulletin board? High schoolers are used to learning facts. But when Hinsdale Central teacher David Lange was approached about creating a bulletin board at the school with information of notable Black figures to celebrate Black History Month, he saw an opportunity for deeper student engagement. "I liked the idea, but I wanted to make sure that it was more than just the traditional fact sheets," said Lange, chairman of the English department and 2...
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...
What's the status of the COVID-19 vaccine in DuPage? The COVID-19 vaccine is here. But exactly where is it? And when will it be widely available? Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, said the vaccine is in limited supply as residents 65 and older and frontline essential workers are inoculated under Phase 1b of the state's guidelines. Vaccinating the nearly 270,000 DuPage residents who meet Phase 1b criteria could take another 12 weeks based...
When Julie Sutton decided to enter the world of real estate eight years ago, she thought she had found the perfect part-time career for a busy mom of three. She was wrong. "It is in no way a part-time job," said Sutton, leader of The Julie Sutton Group of Compass Realty in Hinsdale. But although the job of the real estate broker involves busy days, weekend showings and late-night phone calls, Sutton said she loves it all. Homes in Chicago's western suburbs are moving fast,...
Resurrecting British men's fragrance firm St. James of London in 2013 made Hinsdale's Todd Fisher feel at times like he was channeling the protagonist in Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." "When I was doing the largest fragrance trade show in Italy, brands are located in different pavilion buildings based on origin," Fisher said. "I could have chosen to be in either the U.S. or UK pavilion, but I always choose UK due to our brand origins and also the...
What are the 2021 trends for kitchen remodels? Gina Mazzone's career as a kitchen and bath designer was born of a desire to create her own dream kitchen. After taking a class at College of DuPage and completing her kitchen transformation, she knew there were more kitchens out there that could benefit from her newfound love of interior design. "That's when I decided to get into that specific field," said Mazzone, who went on to become a certified kitchen and bath designer....
What tools can help people work out at home? With the start of a new year, many have a renewed interest in getting off the couch and back to better health. And like so many things, more workouts than ever are taking place virtually. Luckily, there also are more options than ever for the would-be fitness buff who, for safety or convenience, chooses to work out at home. Fitness Tech - At Home Fitness will be presented by the Hinsdale Public Library at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13....
Why did you start your nonprofit? Tracy Leddy's decision to re-enter the workforce in 2019 wasn't just about him and his family. He also wanted it to be a good decision for the entire community. Married to a successful woman with an extremely demanding schedule, Leddy and his wife decided that he would be the one to stay home with the couple's four children. With the youngest now in fifth grade, Leddy said the time was right late last year to re-enter the world of mortgage...
When and where are Christmas worship services? • Grace Episcopal Church (630) 323-4900 Streaming all services at https://www.watch.gracehinsdale.org Dec. 24 4 p.m. - children's program 8 p.m. - traditional service Dec. 25 10 a.m. - quiet service • Hinsdale Covenant Church 412 S. Garfield Ave. (630) 323-2318 https://www.hinsdalecovenant.com Dec. 24 10 a.m.-2 p.m. - live Nativity outdoor experience; reservations required 6 and 8 p.m. - candlelight service of scripture, car...
How will self care help keep holidays bright? Like everything else in 2020, the holidays look different this year. And for many, they look a little sadder. "People are needing a little more help right now than they have in the past," said Melissa Roberts New, clinical director and therapist at Spectrum Behavioral Health in Hinsdale. "The holidays are probably one of the harder parts of the year," New said. People turn to mental health professionals to help them deal with the...
Rich red poinsettias, stylish wintery tableaus, twinkling trees of varying sizes - both green and flocked - welcome December visitors to Phillip's Flowers & Gifts in downtown Hinsdale. The store has been decking its halls for a half-century of holiday seasons, much to the surprise of Jim Phillip, third-generation partner in the family business. "We opened this shop in 1970, and I just realized that this is our 50th anniversary in Hinsdale," he said. Longevity requires...
How will your donation support remote learning? Hinsdale residents Greg Hart and David Andalcio have more in common than their addresses. They also share a desire to strengthen their community by supporting the needs of others. When Hart, who represents his hometown on the DuPage County Board, realized that remote learning had the potential to negatively impact students without access to computers, he turned to Andalcio to tackle the problem. As CEO of Wynndalco, a technology...
How can young people champion social justice? Youth is no obstacle to activism, as demonstrated by Aminah Ahmed. The Hinsdale Central junior and first-generation Indian-American was inspired to advocate for justice by reports of women-led peaceful protests in India that began last December in response to the government's passage of the Citizenship Act. The act provided a pathway to citizenship for illegal migrants, but specifically excluded those of Muslim faith. The months...
How do controlled burns help Mother Nature? To some, the days leading up to Thanksgiving are for hunting. For others, it's a time to prepare for the holidays ahead. For Erik Neidy, director of natural resources for the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, it's burn season. "There's really about a 10-window in the fall and a 10-day window in the spring," Neidy said. That's when conditions tend to be right for a slow, controlled burn of forest preserve land." The ideal time...
What's involved in home caregiving? To get their fledgling Independence-4-Seniors Home Care firm off the ground in 2002, Joan and Mike O'Brien looked well beyond home base Hinsdale for clients, including Island Lake. "I'm from the south suburbs and I had never heard of Island Lake," Joan said of the far north suburban village. Suffice it to say, demand in the local area has since expanded to make those kinds of commutes unnecessary. November is National Caregiver Month,...
