Griffith, Grant and Lackie packed up the contents of its Lake Bluff office and moved to the Village Commons on Saturday. The real estate agency is open for business at its new location as of Monday, said Rob Douglass, proprietor of Lake Effect, the design/development firm behind the Village Commons on Scranton Avenue and Sheridan Road.

The building was designed to accommodate six first-floor commercial retail spaces on the first floor and eight executive office suites on the second and third floors. Salon Kalisto will be the next shop to open, shooting for the week of Dec. 7. Baytree National Bank also is lined up as a tenant. As for the much anticipated opening of The Noodle Bar? Mr. Douglass said it will officially open in March with "soft openings" prior to that. He said people frequently tell him the building looks like it has always been there, which he considers to be the ultimate compliment.

This is a fun story with which to start the week: An 82-year-old couple who met in 1940 at Lake Forest High School was married earlier this year— 6o-plus years after their first date. The couple is Marilyn M. Culp Lackie and well-known realtor Gordon Lackie, and they were featured this week in the "Tuscon Love Stories" series in the Arizona Star's online edition. The two dated while students at LFHS and attended prom together in 1941, but life took them in different directions until they reconnected in Tuscon in 2006. Last August, they had a reception in Lake Bluff with family and friends from the old days. Please visit azstarnet.com for the full story, including a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Lackie that looks to be from their Las Vegas wedding. (Note: you have to register with the paper to get the scoop, but it's a nice photo.)

Lake Forest's Deepak Dalia and his family were vacationing in Mumbai, India, this week when terrorists attacked their hotel, according to a report  by the Tribune Co.'s ChicagoBreakingNews website. Here is a summary of the story:

"Dr. Deepak Dalia and his family were eating at an Italian restaurant inside the Oberoi Hotel when they heard shots fired inside the hotel lobby. The Lake Forest family of five

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Now that the turkey has been reduced to a cold sandwich, it is time to usher in the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. This is the day when holiday shoppers flock to big-box retailers, mass merchants and department stores in search of hot items and cool prices. So here's a thought: Don't go to the mall. Don't visit amazon.com. And don't get swept up in the Costco frenzy. Shop Local First in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. Here are just a few reasons:

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Thursday's sunny-but-crisp weather could not have been better for those who wanted to get some fresh air and exercise before the day's big feast. Lake Forest's Chuck Gudbrandsen donned his favorite pilgrim outfit to greet participants of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Running Club's 19th annual Thanksgiving Day Run, in which his wife, Peggy, ran a 5K. The two helped start the club 25 years ago.

After the race at the West Lake Forest Train Station, the Gudbrandsens headed over to Lake Bluff's Artesian Park to watch the Turkey Bowl, an informal flag football game that Lise Dominique started nine years ago with eight friends and which has since grown into an annual tradition.

"I thought it would be a fun thing to do," said Ms. Dominique. "And every year it keeps getting better and better." This year's Bowl drew at least 30 players (some are shown below in a photo taken by Cecelia Fawcett). The game also attracted as many spectators, who brought food, drinks and dogs to the sidelines. Ms. Dominique said she knows most of the crowd, but she is always happily surprised to see new faces on and off the field.

A woman was robbed in a Highland Park strip mall Wednesday afternoon in a crime that has strong similarities to last week's assault in west Lake Forest.  According to Lake Forest police, the Highland Park victim was getting into her car when a man threatened her with a stun gun, demanded her rings and fled on foot. The Lake Forest police reported "the incident has an identical pattern and suspect description as the Lake Forest armed robbery on Nov. 20, 2008."

Wednesday's armed robbery occurred at 603 Elm Place in Highland Park; Yossi Jewelers is located at that address and is flanked by Issis On The Shore and Eye Magic. The suspect is described as a white male, 5 ' 10", age 17 to 22 and having no  accent. He was wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, dark coat and a black stocking cap.

Last Friday at 4:08 p.m., a woman was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot at 840 S. Waukegan Ave. in west Lake Forest. She was reported to have been seated in her parked

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If you see smoke coming from a wooded area in Lake County this weekend, there is a good chance it is from a prescribed burn. Land managers in Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and throughout Lake County safely burn hundreds of acres every year. The reason? Fire is nature's way of controlling invasive species like the nasty bully known as buckthorn.

If weather conditions permit this weekend, Lake Bluff Open Lands
hopes to conduct prescribed burns (also known as controlled burns) in
the Prairie Preserve on Belle Foret Drive and in the Village's section
of the Lake County Forest Preserve. LBOLA President Larry McCotter said
the group conducts burns

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Monday morning's light snow came just in time to sprinkle more festive scenery onto downtown Lake Bluff, which was decked out for the holidays Saturday by the ladies (and their gentlemen) from the Lake Bluff Garden Club.

In this photo, Bill and Patty Murray wrap garland around a light post near the library. The  Garden Club has been decorating Lake Bluff's shopping district for some 30 years, including the train station, Scranton Alley, welcome signs, planters and the gazebo.

For this year's decor, Garden Club member Carol Peckham ordered 1,200 feet of garland, 8,000 lights, 13 cases of bows at 18 per case, and 200 ornaments for the gazebo's Christmas tree. Please continue reading for more photos from this very chilly morning.

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A woman was robbed at gun point Nov. 20 in the parking lot near Starbucks Coffee and Robeks Juice at 840 S. Waukegan Road in west Lake Forest, according to city police.

The crime took place at 4:08 p.m. while the victim was seated in her vehicle in front of an empty retail store two doors west of Starbucks. Police said a masked suspect approached the woman in her vehicle, opened the car door and demanded her diamond. The suspect was reportedly armed with a dark semi-automatic hand gun and a stun gun. The police reported  the suspect threatened to use the stun gun on the woman if she did not comply with his demands, which she did and was not injured.

The suspect took three rings, but one was recovered at the scene of the crime. Police  estimated the stolen goods to be worth $15,000. The suspect is reported to be a white male

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The air was cold and the light was dim when the forestry crew from the City of Lake Forest arrived at Barat Woods early Thursday morning. Their mission: to fell an enormous blue spruce for the city's 25th annual tree-lighting ceremony, which takes place Nov. 28.

At 45-feet high by 30-feet wide, the tree is a perfect specimen for Lake Forest's holiday festivities. Developer Robert Shaw offered it to the city last year (he's the white-haired guy in the lower-right of this photo). Many other trees will not be affected by the development of Barat, such as those behind the green truck, but surveys determined this one had to go.

City Forester Peter Gordon said local residents often call at the last minute to donate large trees to the ceremony, but he can only consider those trees whose owners are willing to wait at

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