Sorted by date Results 3 - 27 of 1144
A New Year, a new you — isn’t that how the saying goes? As a high school student, not sure I have lived long enough for any resolutions. This idea of a new me when I haven’t finalized the old me is a bit of a stretch. Why make resolutions for an idealistic version of myself when I could spend more time just celebrating my truths? Teenagers are so stressed these days, chasing an ideal of what could be great. Instead, take stock of what you know is true and embrace what you have...
As the calendar fell, we had just a few extra days before Thanksgiving this year. That really helped November feel paced just right. But then, Thanksgiving hit, December came whirling in and we were off to the holiday races. Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays and all the annual events and traditions that surround me and my family during this time. “Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us, once more” never rings more true than it does in December. It’s...
As you read this, I am home in my PJs enjoying my third day off this week — an extra bonus this year that might not happen again in 2025. We’ll have to see if the paper comes out on time next week. The time after Christmas and before New Year’s is always a rather strange time of year. Holiday celebrations continue, but with a different flavor than they had before Dec. 25. The tree is starting to dry out, the cookies are getting stale and the thought of drinking another glass...
As leaders of Hinsdale’s taxing bodies reflect back on 2024 on Page 5 of our holiday issues (village and library this week, school districts next week), we decided to take a look back at our own pages and share our thoughts on the top stories of 2024. • High-powered electric bikes are banned in the village We selected this story because it’s No. 1 in the most ignored rule in the village. We regularly see kids who are not old enough to drive on bikes that travel nearly as fast as cars and it frightens us every time. • Distric...
I write about friendship a lot in this space. How it grows, changes, saves us. The many forms it takes - neighbors, families, groups (book club!), even random acquaintances gone rogue into full friendships. Variations in form, size, duration all adding to the richness these relationships bring to our lives. I've also written about how, if we're lucky, friendships find us where we are, and help guide us into the place we're meant to be. How, if we're very lucky, those...
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town The Hinsdaleans were scurrying, they rushed all around. For last-minute gifts and cards they did sprint, Armed with lists and ideas and maybe some hints. Gateway and Grant squares and downtown they traveled But with each stop, their nerves did unravel. The hustle and bustle had dampened their mood. They were tired and cranky and needed some food. They stopped for some lunch and looked over the list. To finish their...
I love seeing all the Christmas pictures and paintings my Facebook feed. Houses are beautifully decorated inside and out and spotlessly clean. Children are well-behaved and looking right at the camera. So are the pets, for that matter! Of course, Christmas for most of us - or at least for me - has little resemblance to these images of perfection. Maybe that's why I like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" so much. He tries so hard and can never seem to get it quite right. I don't...
When people tell you time flies, it’s true. Just when we settle into a routine, just when we start to feel at home, it decides to sprint ahead, leaving us wondering where the days have gone. That’s how I’m feeling right now as I prepare to study abroad in London. I’m only a junior, but next semester, I’ll be halfway across the world, trading the red brick buildings of Indiana University for the historic streets of London. While I’m extremely excited for the new adventures, there’s a quiet disbelief, too. How did I get her...
Twinkling lights charming passersby outside and a roaring fire warming guests inside are scenes that fuel joy and fond feelings this time of year. But letting lights burn too hot near anything that could catch fire or leaving a fireplace fire or candles unattended are safety hazards that can quickly turn a happy holiday season into a tragic one. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, U.S. fire departments respond to almost 800 home fires started by holiday decorations or Christmas trees each year. These fires...
Half of my dining room table is covered with Thanksgiving and fall decorations that I need to pack away before the tree goes up this weekend. I am already woefully behind in my Christmas shopping, with only a few stocking stuffers purchased and too many question marks, rather than gift ideas, by the names on my list. And we never took a selfie of the three of us this weekend in Saugatuck, so now our Christmas card photo is up in the air. Ahhh, the holidays. In my annual “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and e...
I think that the world’s best Thanksgiving must be, Thanksgiving in Florida on Siesta Key. Thanksgiving in Florida with nine kids, to boot: Our three kids, six cousins, and way too much cute. My wife’s mom and dad, plus her brother and sis, Their spouses, and me — family vacation bliss! We went for the blue skies and powder-white sand. We had a full week of relaxation planned. We didn’t foresee the problem we’d have here: That nine kids will come with nine kids’ worth of gear....
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, the Christmas shopping season is well under way. The ambitious among us already might have crossed all their names off their list and started wrapping. Some might have a few presents purchased, with more to go. And then there are those who have yet to buy a single gift. Gulp. There’s only 19 shopping days left! But there’s no need to panic. People who shop right here in Hinsdale can avoid driving up and down ramps in large parking lots and standing in long lines at stores in the m...
It's November in Hinsdale and you know what that means: CHRISTMAS IS HERE! I always marvel at how fast halls are decked and stockings are hung in our village mere hours after Halloween candy bowls are emptied, but our family takes a slightly slower approach. I'm not saying I haven't checked our lights to make sure all bulbs are functioning or sorted decorations, but Thanksgiving is the real MVP around here. It's not so much about the food (though my mom's twice-baked potatoes...
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” — Cicero As we sit at the table on Thanksgiving, many will take time to list all the things for which they are grateful. In what has become an annual tradition at the paper, we dedicate this space today to name all the things for which we — and all Hinsdaleans — can be thankful, one for each day leading up to and including the holiday. Nov. 1 — the loved ones we’ve lost and remember today, All Saints’ Day Nov. 2 — anyone who had th...
Allowing the village to pick and choose homes in Hinsdale to get special treatment at the expense of taxpayers is totally inappropriate and un-American. Specifically, in regard to the Frank Lloyd Wright house at 121 S. County Line, a simple Google search returns pages of privately funded organizations designed to help save and rehab Frank Lloyd Wright homes. I suggest the owners look to those organizations for assistance rather than their neighbors’ wallets. As for other owners of multi-million dollar “historically sig...
Ever notice how your morning alarm feels like an assault on your senses? From doom-scrolling news headlines to battling rush hour traffic (or school drop-off), stress seems to shadow our every move. Doctors warn us about the deadly effects of stress, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and compromised immunity. But what if we're looking at stress all wrong? Perhaps it's not stress that hurts us; it's how we respond to it. When we react by reaching for that bottle of...
I was really happy to see an article about Open Water in your latest edition and amazed to see that their sales director, Toral Gandhi, lives right here in Hinsdale and has been successful in getting local stores to stock it. Our family has been buying Open Water for many years through their website — we buy a couple of cases at a time for entertaining — and it will be great to be able to pick it up instead. I’ve often thought that they would be perfect for parents bringing refreshments to their kids’ sporting events....
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Matthew 19:14 Baby Angel made an unexpected entrance to the world Aug. 8 in Hinsdale. His mom, Bernice, is part of the cleaning crew at Zion Lutheran Church's Early Childhood Education Center. She was working when she went into labor four months early. "We have that 15-foot Jesus banner welcoming everybody that comes to the ECEC and that's right where she had...
After the purchasing frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday on Dec. 3 gives us all the chance to do something to help others. Hinsdale is home to seven large nonprofits that work to do everything from feeding the hungry to supporting families facing a cancer diagnosis. Any would benefit from a financial gift on Giving Tuesday, and many offer others ways to help. Just visit their websites for more information. • Assistance League Chicagoland West, www.alcw.org • Candor Health, www.candorhealthed.org • HCS F...
Good communication is an important skill that I'm working on. My mom reminds me that there is room for improvement. How do I get better at this skill though? For teens, text messaging and social media are the vehicles for conversation. A quick message or scrolling Instagram is how I get all my information for weekend plans, including events happening around school. Posts on what's happening and who is hanging out with who are pretty typical for teenagers. From those around...
Watching people process last week's election (and by people, I mean talking heads on TV and friends on Facebook) has been interesting. Some are elated, cocky even, that former President Trump was elected to a second term. Others are dismayed. One woman I know posted that she could barely look at her children, knowing how horrific their future would be. Maybe I'm naive, but I have more confidence in our country than I do fear of Trump. If he tries to become a dictator, which I...
November is National Diabetes Month, a designation designed to draw attention to diabetes and on taking action to prevent health problems related to the disease. As detailed by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at www.niddk.nih.gov., diabetes occurs when one’s blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. The disease affects about 38 million Americans, both adults and youth, but an estimated one in five people with diabetes don’t know they have it. An estimated 97.6 million American a...
*sigh* What a big week. This column was written three weeks ago back in October. It’s challenging to prepare something for a future date, especially for a week which will have been historic, and without knowing where we, as a society, will be at that moment. At the time of writing, nothing is certain except that at the time of publication, it is likely that half of us feel relieved and excited about the outcome of election events earlier this week — and half of us feel dev...
Hinsdale’s Richard Munson has authored a long list of books on seemingly disparate topics — from biographies on Jacques Cousteau and Nikola Tesla to examinations of the $210 billion electric industry and how technology is changing the food we eat. But if you look closely, there’s a thread that ties them all together. “I’m just quite fascinated with innovators, people who bring new ideas to life,” he told me last week. The latest innovator who captured his interest is one of ou...
This Veterans Day issue marks the 10th year in a row we’ve honored veterans in a special section. We started with 72 individuals in 2015. This year, we’re running information on three times as many — 216 — men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, breaking last year’s record of 207. We have space to include only a limited amount of information about these brave men and women — when and where they served, any honors they received and their connection to Hinsdale. Many are residents or former residents....
