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As I write this article, I'm in the throes of "the most wonderful time of the year." My kitchen island is littered with barely-legible to-do lists, package deliveries are coming in so fast and furious Vin Diesel would blush and my browser has so many open tabs that I fear my laptop is about to overheat. The same goes for my brain: Ho-ho-holy crap, there's still so much to do. When I was younger, I didn't truly understand what went into making the holidays special. Write a...
Your cares will disappear When you hear Hallelujah St. Nicholas is here When it’s Christmas time In New Orleans In a column last March, I summarized my travelogue recollections from prior visits to the city not for spectators, but for participants. Taking advantage of my college freshman’s holiday break, I joined Maya a few weeks ago in an easy pursuit of “bon temps” in New Orleans. Day 1 we started in the Bywater District with an outdoor table at Alma Café. Waiting on lunch...
In three days I will be the mother of a teenage girl. While I’ve had 13 years to prepare for this moment, I still find it taking me by surprise. Each December as Ainsley has gotten older, I’ve wondered whether I’ve reached the final year of what has been an annual tradition since she was little. On the issue before her birthday, I use this space to pen her a letter. I thank her for her patience in letting me write about her — and yours for your willingness to read about h...
As the finishing touches are being put on 2021, we look ahead to 2022 with hope and, of course, resolutions. Here are resolutions we submit to enhance an already wonderful community. • Stick to the agenda Hinsdale High School District 86 Board President Terry Walker should resolve to discuss all items on the meeting agenda. If four board members have agreed to place the item on the agenda, Walker shouldn’t change the rules — as she did Dec. 16 — and ask for another vote to determine whether to actually discuss it. • Avoid...
Every holiday season I am thankful I am able to cozy up around the fire with family and friends and rewatch the holiday classics. Images of Clark Griswold hanging lights, the Kranks getting a tan at the mall and Buddy the Elf eating syrup drenched spaghetti dance through my head like sugar plums of yesteryear. In the midst of those visions, one movie stands above the rest: “It’s A Wonderful Life.” With all of the colorful wannabes and the passage of time, it is easy to forget how wonderful this movie is and the message it ca...
’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 shopping, they knew they’d persist. But they wan...
At the end of the year we really (really) need Christmas. I'm an admitted Christmas bah-hum-bug kind of guy. But a few years ago I had a miraculous conversion. Was it God? Santa? The Easter Bunny, maybe hoping my Christmas conversion would spill over into his turf? No. It was none of those things. Maybe, it was just this simple - I finally grew up. Yeah. That's it. After all those years of thinking I was too cool, too mature, too intellectual, I finally faced the truth. I...
Residents of Kentucky, southern Illinois and three other states hit by twisters this past weekend are coping with death and destruction as many of us are preparing for Christmas festivities. These powerful storms resulted in unavoidable tragedies. Our friends at the Hinsdale Fire Department hope to call our attention to avoidable tragedies this holiday season by participating in the statewide Keep the Wreath Red fire safety program. For each fire caused by holiday decorations, a red bulb will be replace with a white one on...
My Christmas card this year is an homage to Christmases past, with a collage of my favorite shots of Ainsley visiting Santa over the years. I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmases past this year, from the little cuts my mom and I would get assembling our aluminum tree (remember the ’70s?) to our annual Christmas Eve celebration at my grandparents’ house in Dolton. My aunt, a mere 18 months older, and I would wait anxiously until it was time to go downstairs and open prese...
I smile more to gain ... less. As cheesy as it may sound, I have just started smiling more. (To be honest, my life is pretty great right now). I smile when I wake up early in the morning, when I see the sun rising, when I am preparing dinner, when I am spending time with people I love. I smile when I walk to my car and take in a view of the sky, albeit knowing I will be driving my kids around for the next three hours to activities. However, I can take this time to talk with th...
After covering Hinsdale school districts for almost 30 years, I didn't realize how exciting the job of superintendent is until last week. "It is really, really, really, really fun and cool," said Megan Monteleone, a sixth-grader at Hinsdale Middle School whose parents won the "Superintendent for a Day" item at an Elm School fundraising auction last year. "I knew he did a lot of stuff in the district, but I wasn't really sure what he did," said Megan, who spent the day with...
Christmas certainly has its cast of villains, from Ebenezer Scrooge tormenting Bob Cratchit to Scut Farkas beating Ralphie up on his way home from school. Many of them are thieves. There’s the Grinch, clearing out presents from under the tree, emptying fridges and stuffing trees up the chimney. And the Burgermeister Meisterburger from “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” confiscating gifts from children and imprisoning families who allow Kris Kringle to visit. We can’t forget Harry and Marv, the pair of burglars in “Home Alo...
From the moment I realized Dan and I would have only one child, I've worked very hard to not be too nostalgic about Ainsley growing up. I've heard parents talk about the last diaper they will change, the last first day of preschool, the last elementary school concert they will attend. With just one child, every time a stage ends, it's the last time. I was so determined not to get caught up in looking back that I forgot to pay attention to the present. I think I've been fairly successful. But I find the older Ainsley gets -...
If there’s ever been a time to look locally for your holiday shopping purchases, this year seems to be it. With the volatility of COVID-19 encouraging a stay-close-to-home vibe again and supply chain challenges playing havoc with the broader marketplace, a quick and easy trip to a village merchant to handpick a unique item for someone special is a pretty inviting option. Hinsdale businesses offer a range of merchandise for the whole family — and extended family. Perhaps you’ve already learned that from this year’s edition...
On our National Day of Thanks, I would like to send out a special message of appreciation to the woman who managed to not kill me when I was out for a run a couple weeks ago. When you didn't have your turn signal on, I assumed you actually weren't turning your car. Silly me! Honestly, after decades of jogging and biking through our fine town, I should have known better. For some inexplicable reason, certain people just refuse to flip that little lever on the steering wheel....
Every year when the broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade begins, I tear up. This is a great source of amusement at my house, with Dan and Ainsley eager to supply their annual admonition of what a dork I am. I agree it's ridiculous, but I can't help it. Every year, I try to figure out what it is about the parade that hits such an emotional chord with me. I wonder if it's memories of watching the parade on the black and white television that sat on a cart in the...
If we could come up with one reason to be thankful for each day of November — up to and including Thanksgiving — in 2020, we certainly can do so in 2021. Complaints seem to be in abundant supply this year. But if we stop, take a breath and look around, there are so many reasons to be grateful. 1. anyone who passed out full-sized candy bars yesterday 2. the coaches and parents who support the dozens of athletes on the girls tennis, girls swimming and boys and girls cross county teams at Hinsdale Central High School, all of...
I applaud The Hinsdalean’s admonishment (Oct. 21 editorial) of the new District 86 board members’ apparent disdain for the administration’s expert judgment on curriculum and grading matters. Innovation is needed more than ever in these rapidly changing technological times. My 50 years in complex litigation and working with employers, licensing and credentialing organizations in the health care professions and schools on assessment and testing issues, as well as teaching in law and business school, have convinced me that...
Today, I thought I'd tap into my intellectual grandiosity to present a philosophical theory. A question of id vs. ego, thought vs soul, good vs evil. Or maybe, if I could entice you to go deeper into the discussion: Phoebe vs Joey. In an episode of the TV series, "Friends," Joey states that true altruism doesn't exist, because in doing something nice for another person, the benefactor himself gets positive feedback or psychological warm fuzzies for doing so. Any act of...
As I think about our blessings this year, I count our District 181 teachers, secretaries, janitors, crossing guards, paraprofessionals and principals high on my list. We are so fortunate to live in this community where our kids have the absolute best education opportunities because of our caring, smart and driven educators. Thank you for prioritizing our kids this year more than ever. We are forever grateful to each of you. — Amber Nolan, Hinsdale...
The jury is still out - literally - on the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse as we go to press Wednesday afternoon. I've been angry with Rittenhouse since I first saw the videos of him roaming the streets of Kenosha with his AR-15 rifle after he killed two men and injured a third. He became, for me, a sort of symbol of all the terrible things that had been happening the summer of 2020. Lives were being destroyed by police and protesters and a worldwide pandemic. As I watched the clips...
Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Anyone who’s looking to lean into that life should circle Nov. 30 on the calendar. Giving Tuesday is the “world’s biggest day of generosity” according to https://www.givingtuesday.org. Of course, it comes on the heels of the traditional shop-o-rama occasion Black Friday and the digital age’s Cyber Monday. Amidst the delight of acquisitions, let us also experience the joy of altruism through acts that reach beyond...
Having Veterans Day fall on a Thursday is a special treat for us. Every November for several years now we have recognized veterans who live in town — or whose family lives in town — with a write-up and photo. This year we are recognizing 180 veterans on 20 pages in a special section in the center of this issue. They span our country’s history, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some came home with medals and honors. Others did not come home at all. Today we join our voices as a grateful nation to pay tribute,...
Word nerd. Grammar geek. Vocabulary vigilante. Take your pick. They've all applied to me since, well, forever. As a toddler, my parents regularly found me cuddling Golden Books instead of stuffed animals when they peeked into my room at night. "Reading Rainbow" was must-see TV and had me begging for a library visit as soon as the credits rolled. I have a particularly vivid recollection of filling a sketchpad with hot neon scribbles (hey, it was the '80s!) and claiming I was wr...
I write to thank Hinsdale Falcon Football & Cheer and “Falcons Nation” for a wonderful fundraising celebration this past Friday night. A special thank you to event organizers and benefactors Nadine and Bill O’Malley, Kay and Mike Sharples, Tracy and Craig Zoberis, and Stephanie and Jim Hamman. Their efforts, and the generosity of nearly 200 Falcons families and supporters, have put this outstanding 100 percent volunteer organization in a position to succeed and thrive well into the future, extending more than 50 years of pr...
