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Basic freedoms are on the ballot this November. It’s abhorrent to me that candidates like Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey have compared abortion to the Holocaust and would make no exceptions, even in cases of rape or incest. It is not the role of government to force women to remain pregnant and go through labor against their will in accordance with a religious belief held by some but not all citizens in a free society. Similarly, our schools and community should have the freedom to be safe from shootings l...
One of my pastimes during the fall is armchair quarterbacking my favorite football teams. If only I was able to make the calls, my teams for sure would win. During COVID, many of us became armchair quarterbacks-of-sorts around topics such as school opening, masks and in-person/virtual learning. I know hundreds and hundreds of you in our community were doing more than just armchair quarterbacking. You were getting involved, writing letters to the school board, to the administration, organizing groups. I know because I...
One would think that a stint in the Chicago Tribune's fashion section with experts who covered runway shows in New York and Paris would have put me on a path to confident fashion choices. But no. Or to add a touch of faux sophistication: "Mais non." I have studied Pinterest posts on "7 easy pieces that will take you through Europe for 10 days" and still ended up filling a suitcase the size of a steamer trunk. More recently, an online fashion dive led me to "coastal...
Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day and I hope that you are planning to vote. In case you are undecided about the race for DuPage County Board chair or the DuPage County board member who will represent you, maybe I can help. As the late, great Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, was quoted to have said: “all politics is local”. The two candidates I am recommending live out strong family values and are dedicated to the safety, education and lifetime well-being of you and your family in DuPage County. In my opinion, Greg Hart...
"Don't worry, be happy." You can still hear it, can't you? "Ooh, ooh, ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh, don't worry Ooh, ooh, ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh, be happy." Ah, Bobby McFerrin, so much easier said - or sang - than done. Which is why authors like Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who penned "The Power of Positive Thinking," and Dale Carnegie, author of "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" have sold millions of copies. And why magazines like Real Simple publish special editions...
I am politically independent. I have always voted based on the issues, not the parties. In the upcoming election, I am supporting Kari Galassi and Greg Hart. I share their concerns about the direction of DuPage County, and I see their viewpoints and policy plans as both reasonable and sensible. Both Kari and Greg have been endorsed by Sheriff Mendrick and State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, both oppose the SAFE-T Act and both value fiscal responsibility in government spending. I am heartened by their support of women and their p...
Decorating used to be a laborious process of looking through hundreds of colors, fabrics and other materials until you found just the right combination and balance. Not anymore. Now it revolves around one simple principle - gray is great. Repeat it like a mantra and you will soon believe. Gray is great. Gray is great. Gray is great. Got it? Now, all your decorating needs are solved. I have lived through the 1960s and 1970s when decorating had real exuberance (to put it...
Please attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Hinsdale Public Library. We are seeking your input on the future of the Hinsdale Village Caucus. The caucus is a nonpartisan group of volunteers whose primary role is to identify, recruit and promote qualified candidates for the District 181 School Board, the Hinsdale Library Board and the Hinsdale Village Board of Trustees. The caucus was founded in 1934 and has been an integral part of the election process in the village for nearly 90 years. The caucus benefits the community...
If you’re lucky, you have a great pic of your kids in their Halloween costumes taken by Jim Slonoff at one of Hinsdale’s Fall Family Fests. My favorite one of Ainsley is from 2009, when she was just 10 months old and dressed as an adorable pink bunny. She’s sitting by a pint-sized pumpkin with her cloth carrot resting in her lap and one of her silly little half smiles on her face. She’s had some great costumes over the years — Minnie Mouse, a witch, Cinderella and Laura Ingall...
For the 100th time, the National Fire Prevention Association has designated the second week of October Fire Prevention Week. The theme for this year’s week, which runs from Oct. 9-15, is “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape.” According to an NFPA survey, only one of every three American households has actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan. And families might have as little as two minutes — or even less time — to escape a home fire from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Speaking of smoke alarms, they should...
On Nov. 8, our community can choose to usher in reasonable, commonsense, high-energy leaders with policy ideas that will positively impact DuPage County for years to come. DuPage County has the opportunity to elect two such leaders to the DuPage County Board on Nov. 8: Greg Hart and Kari Galassi. Greg is running for DuPage County Board chairperson and Kari for DuPage County board member. I have known Greg and Kari for decades. They sincerely believe in community service and deeply desire to improve DuPage County. They...
I am the proud father of four Hinsdale Central High School graduates, two being Student Council presidents and all four deeply involved in HCHS activities. Recently I learned parents of Hinsdale Central High School students can opt their child out of the sex education unit. The author of this letter is strongly in favor of the choice to opt out. Out of Illinois’ 852 school districts, 520 have opted out of teaching the lessons, according to the DuPage Policy Journal. I want every parent in the district to be aware that d...
While reading Sarah Ban Breathnach’s best-seller “Simple Abundance” years ago, I first encountered the term “secret anniversaries of the heart,” a line from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Holidays.” “The holiest of all holidays are those Kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart ...” The phrase struck me when I read it and is on my mind this week, even though the anniversaries of the heart I am celebrating are not particularly secret...
I have always encouraged my daughters to be independent, strong-willed women. Life is too short to ignore your dreams and squander all that this world has to offer. "Spread your wings and show the world what you are capable of!" So when my daughter Katie graduated from college a little over a year ago, it didn't surprise me when she told me what her intent was. The master plan was to come home and work. Save up money and then eventually take the plunge and move to none other...
October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness month and Michael Brindley’s birthday month. Michael, a Hinsdale Central student, tragically died of SCA in 2016 at the age of 16. Michael loved all sports and wanted to pursue a career as a sports announcer or journalist. He created a blog called just1mike after the ESPN Mike and Mike sports show. After his death, Michael’s parents founded the just1mike foundation to honor his memory. As junior board members of just1mike, we work with the Brindley family to raise awareness abo...
Community is important to Hinsdaleans. We see it in the way they volunteer at schools and other organizations, the financial contributions they make to philanthropic agencies and the support they offer to friends and neighbors in need. The wonderful community here is woven together by many different threads. One of those threads is local government, and, by extension, the Hinsdale Caucus and the D86 Board of Education Election Caucus. And much as the school PTO or your church or the food pantry might call on you to...
Several weeks ago, a friend was lamenting summer’s end as we drank margaritas on her deck. We chatted and watched the western sky glow. “Summer’s the best. Every year it’s a different story,” she said. “I hate to say it, but I’m glad it’s over,” I replied. It’s autumn now. I hope your summer was a magical story. Like following ribbons of roads on cross-country adventures. Hots dogs, sun and too much beer in the bleachers. Sleeping with the windows open, the invisible tree...
So let me get this straight. A group called Local Government Information Services - linked to conservative Republican Dan Proft - decides to print what is essentially campaign advertisements disguised as a newspaper. The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, whose press does commercial jobs in addition to printing its own paper, prints the piece. And now the Daily Herald and its owner, Paddock Publications, are the bad guys? What? Let me be clear. I am not a fan of what I would...
Students at Hinsdale Central High School might have noticed some interesting things this week. Footprints placed in the hallway led to the school’s new student services area, where teens can learn more about depression and how to get help in times of crisis. “Lighthouses” placed throughout the school identified people who are serving as a “Beacon of Hope” to help someone in need. On Monday, students were reminded during daily announcements of the number 988, the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, to contact for help with ment...
I stood in line at the grocery store behind a mother and her two young children. I watched her unload her cart and manage her kids with such serenity and patience that I confess, at first, I wondered if she was the nanny. She calmly denied requests for cereal for lunch, gently admonished her older child for hitting the younger one and lovingly coaxed off the floor her daughter, who was splayed on it like a snow angel. "You're doing a wonderful job as a mom," I told her,...
I wrote a column once about the cost of raising kids and got an estimate from my financial planner on the price tag for four years of college starting in 2027, the year Ainsley graduates from high school. The projected tab to go to Northwestern at that time was $475,000. Almost half a million dollars. At first I was shocked. Then I tried to convince myself that she seems more of a state school kinda girl. A visit to Illinois Wesleyan University for homecoming one year...
“It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!” — Winnie the Pooh Happy Fall! Today is the autumnal equinox, ushering in a season — as the most famous resident of the Hundred Acre Wood so gleefully conveys — replete with delights. Sunshine without summer’s humidity and cool evenings for strolls or s’mores make it the most inviting time to be outdoors for Midwest denizens. While the jury’s still out on sanctioning the term “leaf peeper...
The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board needs a special meeting with a single agenda item — to address future agenda items. At last count, the board had more than a dozen items on a list of potential future meeting topics. The “list” is actually an excel spreadsheet that identifies which board member requested the item and when, the date of the meeting at which it is set to be discussed and relevant details. Three board members’ names — Peggy James, Debbie Levinthal and Jeff Waters — are the only ones that appear in t...
I didn't know Craig Kruse. Craig passed away on Sept. 9 from brain cancer. He was 50 years old, six years younger than me. He left behind a wife and three children, many family members and an untold number of friends. Until recently, what I knew of Craig came from previous news articles and his obituary. A resident of Clarendon Hills, he served as a trainer and strength and conditioning coach at Hinsdale Central High School. His myriad personal and professional accomplishments...
Beginning next Tuesday, Sept. 20, residents interested in running for the D181 Board of Education may begin circulating signature petitions for the consolidated election to be held April 4, 2023. Candidates can file their signature petitions and other candidate documents beginning Dec. 12. The board plays an important governance role for D181, promoting academic excellence for our 3,600-plus students, maintaining our status as an employer of choice for educators and supporting staff, and investing D181 taxpayer funds...
