Submitted by the Speak Up! Prevention Coalition

The Speak Up! Prevention Coalition of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Knollwood awarded Lake Forest High School senior Bridget Hegg with a Speak Up! $500 scholarship on May 26, 2010. The scholarship is awarded to a high school senior who has consistently advocated for the prevention of underage drinking and other drug use through his/her daily actions, community service, and support to others.

“I’m extremely pleased to present this scholarship, on behalf of our community Speak Up! Prevention Coalition to LFHS senior Bridget Hegg who has been a highly effective advocate and role model for the prevention of underage drinking and other drug use through her consistent everyday behavior and dedication to community service and support to others,” said Dick Block, Chair of the coalition’s governing board.

Maggie Ross, Lake Forest High School social worker added, “In working with Bridget for the past four years with SADD, I’ve observed that two of her strongest qualities are that she is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in and she is proud to be drug and alcohol free. LFHS is a better place because of her. Whatever path she takes next year, I am confident that she will make just as much of a powerful impact as she has here at Lake Forest High School. “

In addition to being a valued member of the Speak Up! Prevention Coalition, Bridget has served as co-president of SADD and a member of FOCUS, represented our community in a National Underage Drinking Prevention Conference in August 2009, and was instrumental in implementing our community Sticker Shock campaign.

The mission of the Speak Up! Prevention Coalition is to significantly reduce the level of underage drinking and other drug use in Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Knollwood. The coalition is a positive force in the community to bring the issue of underage drinking and drug use to the forefront and help drive change by providing information, building awareness, influencing new laws, and implementing result-driven community campaigns.

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It was warm and muggy at 9 a.m. when Lake Bluff’s American Legion Post 510 started its annual Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony in the Village Green. It was pouring rain two hours later  during Lake Forest’s American Legion Post 264 Memorial Day service in Market Square. But the weather didn’t get in the way of the somber messages delivered in honor of  the service men and women who died serving our country.

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It’s been too long since we checked in with our sister site in France. Last year, GazeboNews became a sister site to Le Daily Neuviéme, a local news website in Paris that covers the ninth district. Why? Because it’s fun. …

It would be even more fun to be in the ninth district to shop at Asphodèle, a consignment store that’s been in business for 44 years. The Neuviéme reports that the store carries a wide selection of handmade and vintage jewelry, hats, clothing and scarves, including items from Hermès and Chanel.

The news site has several other interesting stories, including one about bicycling between cars on busy Parisian streets, as shown in the photo above. Click here to visit Le Daily Neuviéme (in French).

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Submitted by Jenny’s Dance Centre

Local dancers from Jenny’s Dance Centre’s competition team are headed to New York in July after completing an amazing regional competition season.

The season began in February at the prestigious New York City Alliance regionals where the JDC team entered 12 dances and garnered eight platinum awards, two high gold and two gold awards and numerous special awards including highest score for hip hop and outstanding showmanship.

At Detroit’s Onstage New York regionals, the team swept the competition, earning 22 Platinum awards – the highest ranking given. The group also took home special awards for showmanship, precision, high score, choreography, control and the coveted Critic’s Choice award.

The team brought home 27 Diamond First Place awards and earned numerous special awards including best choreography and high score rankings at the ShowBiz Dance regionals at University Park in March.

Most recently at the Starpower Regionals in Aurora, the JDC Company Dancers took home the Best Entertainment Award out of the 710 entries from dance studios throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The group also earned High score, placement in Top Ten, Power Pak, and Best Style and Class.

The company will take all of its regional winners to New York in July to compete in the OnStage New York Nationals from July 9-13.

The studio’s 25-member competition team will have entries in jazz, hip hop, ballet, modern, lyrical, musical theater, and tap divisions. Company members are: From Lake Bluff – Molly Dasso, Emma Fath, Sydney Golde, Claire Milligan, Maggie Rogers, Emma Stockert, and Martha Walker. From Lake Forest – Lauren Basgall, Molly Carr, Allegra Griffin, Mikaela Higgins, Maddie Neil, Emily Poth, Sammy Shipp, Caleigh Silver, Nicolette Stern, Amy Stouffer, and Anna Volkmann; From Libertyville – Cassie Austin, Cassie Campbell, Jillian Campbell, Kelsey Hutten, and Sean Bell McDermott; From Waukegan – Donna Shipley and Dianne Shipley.

For information about Jenny’s Dance Centre, please call 847-932-4070. The studio is located at 13980 W. Rockland Road in Green Oaks.

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Photos by Cyn Sansing Mycoskie of www.cynimage.com.

American Legion Post 264 recruited Scout troops, friends and family to place 5,000 flags in the Lake Forest and Fort Sheridan cemeteries over the weekend. GazeboNews photographer Cyn Sansing Mycoskie went to Fort Sheridan to shoot the Scouts and others in action. Monday’s Memorial Day ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. in Lake Bluff on the Village Green, and at 11 a.m. in Lake Forest.

For more local photos by Cyn over the past year, visit www.cynimage.com

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Deer Path Middle School student Summer Wu is the second place winner of EngineerGirl.org’s essay contest. Summer was chosen in the grade 6-8 category for her essay “A Water Filtration Device and a Snare for Survival.”

Visit this link to read Summer’s essay along with other top-ranking essays from this year and previous years.

The EngineerGirl! website (www.engineergirl.org) is a service of the National Academy of Engineering and seeks to encourage students to consider engineering careers. The essay contest is held annually and recognizes students who write an excellent essay on some aspect of engineering and its impact on our world. Students from across the globe are encouraged to enter, and the winners are selected for creativity and originality along with exceptional communications skills that are important building blocks for a successful engineering career.

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By Adrienne Fawcett

The turkey that everyone keeps seeing at Greenbay Road and Route 176 has become the source of a wildly growing collection of stories and rumors. Some people suspect it’s a hen ready to don an apron as it clucks and pecks around the Rockland Wetlands. One story has the turkey applying to work as a crossing guard this summer. Some people have given it the name Roger, while others call it Rick. But the semi-official guess is it’s a jake.

Not Jake as in the man’s name, but as in an immature male eastern wild turkey, also known as a jake. This information comes from readers of GazeboNews as well as Sonny Cohen, a birder from Highland Park and member of the Lake Cook Audubon, a chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society. After GazeboNews asked Mr. Cohen on Wednesday if he had any insights on turkeys, he went to the wetland area, took some pictures and then sought the expertise of Tom Clay, executive director of the Illinois Audubon Society.

Mr. Cohen said this is breeding season for most birds, which may explain why some people think the Lake Bluff turkey is a hen. But he said Mr. Clay viewed the photos and opined that it’s a jake. Commenters on GazeboNews and on a Facebook page that Mr. Cohen set up also believe this particular bird is a jake. Mr. Cohen said gender clues include the reddish wattles at the base of his neck and dark and iridescent breast feathers. Click here to see several photos of jakes from the National Wild Turkey Federation website.

“The bigger question is why did the turkey cross the road?,” asked Mr. Cohen. “The answer, of course, is to get to the other side. The other side being tall grassy areas in which the bird can continue to move around stealthily. There the bird will forage for food sources which seem to be more abundant than the small preserve where he is spending his days. Adult birds will eat anything from acorns and berries to insects and small reptiles. Turkeys usually feed in early morning and in the afternoon which are the most likely times to see this bird crossing. Unlike domestic turkeys, wild turkeys can fly up to 55 [...]

The Lake Forest Police Department issued the following release on Thursday, May 27

LAKE FOREST — At 0251 hours on May 27, 2010, the Lake Forest Police and Fire Departments were called to the intersection of Rt. 41 and Rt. 60 for a crash. Police officers found a one car crash. The vehicle was Southbound on Rt. 41, struck a traffic standard, and came to rest up against a street light pole and another traffic standard at the Southwest corner of the intersection. One occupant was found unconscious in the vehicle.

Lake Forest Fire Department was called to the scene for extrication. The Fire Department called for Flight for Life. The occupant of the vehicle was taken to Condell Hospital in Libertyville Illinois. Later reports indicated he had no life threatening injuries.

The driver of the vehicle, male, Hispanic, 57 years of age, is being investigated for possible DUI. The vehicle, a 1998 Ford Winstar, green in color, is registered to the driver with an address in Milwaukee Wisconsin, but identification on the driver shows an address in Chicago.

Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) was called to the scene to assist in the investigation. Southbound Rt. 41 at Deerpath and Rt. 60 at Waukegan Rd. were closed due to the crash investigation and reopened at approximately 0600 hours.

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Did you get invited to prom? Alas, not everyone got to go, but anyone and everyone can watch this LFHS Telecom video to see the couples promenade in tuxedoes and pretty dresses from the front door of the high school to the chartered buses that drove the students to the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Chicago Downtown on May 22. Hundreds of people showed up for this year’s prom parade, which gets bigger and bigger every year.

The LFHS Telecom crew was on site to film the send-off; click the arrow in the photo above to watch a short video by Telecom Director Steve Douglass, which is part of a documentary that he and his students filmed for the attendees (as part of their ticket price). To view more LFHS videos, click here to visit the Telecom & New Media Department’s website. For more facts and figures about prom, visit this page on the LFHS website.

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Memorial Day is an American holiday and baseball is an American sport…so why not combine them? That’s what NoodleBar and Lake Bluff Youth Baseball Association have in store for Thursday, May 27, when they kickoff the start of the league’s first-ever Memorial Day Baseball Tournament with a Guest Bartender Night. It takes place from 7 to 11 p.m. at NoodleBar, 20 E. Scranton Avenue in Lake Bluff. The evening includes a free appetizer buffet, guest bartending from LBYBA friends and neighbors, karaoke, and discounted drink specials designed to get you in the mood to be generous with tips. Money raised on Thursday will support LBYBA’s two Cooperstown teams.

The All-American Baseball Tournament will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Artesian Park for area 12-year-old “B” level teams, including Libertyville, Grayslake, Gurnee, Highwood and Lincolnshire. There will be a full concession stand as well as a dunk tank to keep the kids cool and to help raise money for Lake Bluff’s two Cooperstown teams. Tournament games will be played Friday night and all day Saturday, with the playoff/championship on Sunday.

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