This tree witnessed the conversion of Gorton School to Gorton Community Center in 1972. Do you have an interesting tree on or near your property? Contact the LF-LB Historical Society, which submitted this photo

Quick question: What’s the official tree of Illinois?

If one committee that’s part of next year’s sesquicentennial festivities in Lake Forest has its way, celebrants will have the answer to that question—White Oak—and just about everything else they want to know about trees in the community.

The group, known as the Witness Tree sub-committee, a part of the larger Historical Activities Committee of official sesquicentennial planning in Lake Forest, is charged with making trees an important element of the year-long schedule of activities. It’s hard at work this summer on two fronts gathering information, scouting trees, and looking at photographs.

This is Lake Forest, after all, and there’s no shortage in the community of oaks as well as many other species.
One effort is to locate and designate trees to be cited in 2011 as “witnesses” to history in Lake Forest’s eventful and colorful 150 years.

“This means they were there for special events such as the opening of a school, ringing of a bell to end to end World War I, presidential visits and many other possibilities,” explained Janet Hack, a co-chair of the Historical Activities Committee as well as executive director of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Historical Society.

The plan is to designate and reveal a monthly tree in 2011, complete with a story surrounding what happened within its vicinity as well as include photographs from the past and present. Laurie Stein, archivist for the LF/LB Historical Society and a sub-committee member, is coordinating research through her organization’s extensive collections.

The Witness Tree concept is a spinoff of a program popularized by Civil War historians as a way to highlight battlefields. It was first brought to the attention of sesquicentennial planners by committee member and local resident Tim Christie.

“The idea is that it one way to tell your community’s history—through its trees,” he said.

Meanwhile, turning over another leaf, the sub-committee will be compiling a larger data bank of information about trees in Lake Forest–the variety of species, commemorative trees, and other unique details–to be made available in a format to be determined [...]

Submitted by the Gorton Community Center

LAKE FOREST — Gorton Community Center will present its 1st Annual Taste of the Town on Sunday, July 11 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. under a tent in Gorton’s parking lot at 400 East Illinois Road in Lake Forest.

The food and musical festival will feature restaurants from Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and surrounding communities, including Francesca’s, South Gate, Froggy’s, Big Ed’s and King Maa. Live entertainment will be provided by local musicians including the popular band “Stranger than Orange.” Highlights also include children’s games, a disc jockey, and a beer tent sponsored by Fat Tire Beer.

Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children. Food and beverage purchases are separate. Proceeds benefit Gorton Community Center, one of the only privately funded community centers in the United States.

For tickets and information contact Gorton Community Center at (847) 234-6060, or go online to www.gortoncenter.org. Gorton is located at 400 East Illinois Road in Lake Forest.

The Lake Bluff Ice Truck is a work in progress

The Vliet Center brought the historic Lake Bluff Ice Truck back to town and is getting it ready to debut in Lake Bluff’s 100th Parade on July 4th. The truck returned to Lake Bluff earlier this year on a flatbed truck, after spending close to 50 years in storage.

The original owner of the Lake Bluff Ice Company and this 1931 International Harvester ice truck was Lake Bluff resident Stephen Meutescu. Ice was cut out of local lakes during the winter, and Meutescu delivered this ice door-to-door from the back of his truck. The words “Lake Bluff Ice” and “Mineral Water,” painted on the truck’s distinctive white wooden cargo box in big black letters, are still legible. Based on the vehicle’s state safety inspection certificate, the truck was last used in 1948. Meutescu gave the truck to his grandson, Tom Wisdom of Dekalb, Illinois in 1960. There it stayed until Wisdom realized, “this truck is a part of Lake Bluff’s history” and donated it to the Vliet Museum of Lake Bluff History.

An ad hoc committee has been formed by the Vliet Center to determine what needs to be done to refurbish the truck and return it to its former glory. The committee, whose members include local residents Paul Bergmann, Mark Dewart, Don Fiore, Rudy Iberle, Ray Kracik, John Looby, Ted Pasquesi, Phillip Ross, Charlie Rush, John Tiffany, Tom Tincher, Fred Wacker and Steve Willard, has applied its collective expertise and started the renovation process. Although not currently operable, the truck will be displayed this summer in the Lake Bluff Fourth of July Parade (July 4), the Lake Forest Antique Auto Show sponsored by the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Rotary Club (July 18), and the Lake Forest Day Parade (August 4).

Following its public appearances this summer, the Vliet Center will continue to restore the ice truck. Donations are welcome, and the Vliet Center has designed special “History is Cool” t-shirts to help with funding the truck’s restoration. T-shirts are available for purchase at the Vliet Museum, during museum hours, starting July 3rd. The museum is open Tuesday and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from [...]

Photos by Cyn Sansing Mycoskie of www.cynimage.com

The local jazz ensemble Carlsville 3 is going to be a regular item on the menu at Inovasi on Wednesday nights. Here are some photos from the group’s June 23 performance, which photographer Cyn Sansing Mycoskie shot as the setting sun broke free from a blanket of clouds. The weather was pretty rotten that night, but the storm didn’t keep people from venturing out–the restaurant and bar area were packed.

The Shore Acres home in a photo from last fall

By Adrienne Fawcett

The Shore Acres homeowner who made headlines for converting his lakefront mansion into a church has filed a federal law suit against the Village of Lake Bluff, its administrator, attorney, building code supervisor, two trustees, a state senator and the director of the state’s Department of Revenue.

An attorney for George Michael and several family members filed a 76-page complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division on June 22, 2010.

Lake Bluff Administrator Drew Irvin confirmed the Village was served on June 24. He said he could not comment on the case until next week after the Village Board meets in executive session to go over the terms of the lawsuit.

Mr. Michael’s attorney, Richard S. Zachary of an eponymous law firm in Chicago, told GazeboNews the lawsuit was filed because “The family has been harassed, hassled and otherwise treated improperly by municipal authorities in that community and we feel this pattern and practice eventually resulted in the reversal of the property tax exemption that had been granted to the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff.”

He accused the Village and state authorities of discrimination that was based, he said, “by virtue of the fact that they (the Michael family members) belong to an ethnic and religious minority that was not consistent with the predominant ethnic group, which is 97%, perhaps 95%, white Anglo Saxon.”

In the law suit, Lake Bluff’s ethnic population is described this way: “Other than the members of (the Michael) family, there didn’t appear to be a single resident whose evident ethnicity could not be summed up by means of a well-known acronym, incidentally the name of a stinging insect.”

Mr. Zachary filed the complaint on behalf of George Michael, his wife, Susan, their daughter Dorothy and George’s brother Richard Michael.

The parties named in the lawsuit include the following (this list was cut and pasted from the complaint; GazeboNews has not made changes or corrections):

– The defendant CHRISTINE LETCHINGER (“Letchinger”) is Village President of
Lake Bluff, Illinois.
– The defendant R. DREW IRVIN (“Irvin”) is the Building Commissioner and
former Village Administrator for Lake Bluff, Illinois.
– The defendant PETER FRIEDMAN (“Friedman”) is the Village Attorney for Lake
Bluff, Illinois.
– The defendant [...]

Shelia and Nick Christofalos pose for a pic in their new shop with kids from their various CROYA programs.

Photo by Cyn Sansing Mycoskie. Visit www.cynimage.com for more local photos.

A new store is coming to downtown Lake Bluff. It’s called Activator Cycles and will open July 1 at 36 E. Center Avenue (between Twigs and The Clockworks).

Co-owner Shelia Christofalos describes the store as a small, neighborhood shop that will feature bikes, skateboards, related accessories, apparel, and repair services. Shelia and her husband (and biz partner) Nick will continue as co-directors of Activator Academy and the CROYA music programs. They’re both avid cyclists–Nick runs summer camp bike trips through CROYA– and they want to get others into cycling and skateboarding. “We plan to make the space a hub for the good mojo that surrounds the cycling and skateboarding cultures,” she said. “Refueling, relaxing, and getting affordable gear and repairs will all be a part of the shop vibe.”

Primary brand names will include Surly and Salsa bikes; Alien Workshop, Girl, and Creature Skateboard products; and Twin Six apparel. The shop will be dedicated to the memory of their friend and long time Lake Bluff resident and cycling enthusiast, Steven Eckerstrom.

For more information call the shop at 847-863-7366, or visit its website (under construction) at www.activatorcycles.com, or email nick@activatorcycles.com or shelia@activatorcycles.com.

This weekend ushers in a new event that will appeal to lovers of all things vintage. It’s called the Highwood Street Market Festival and it will take place June 27-27; July 17-19; Aug. 21-22 and Sept. 18-19. The hours are noon to dusk on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The event will feature 150 vendors from all over the U.S. as well as local independent designers selling antiques, collectibles and vintage merchandise such as jewelry, furniture, clothing, bags, art work linens, silver, glass, pottery and more.

The festival also will include food and drinks from local restaurants, live music and more fun stuff. It’s modeled after (and planned by the folks behind) the Randolph Street Market Festival downtown.

If you live in Highwood, you get in for free with an ID. If you don’t live in Highwood, there’s a $10 admission fee that’s good for both days (Students get in for $5 and kids under 12 are free). You can get a discounted rate of $8 if you purchase tickets in advance at www.highwoodstreetmarket.com. 10% of all net proceeds will be donated to A Safe Place for Help.

This is the fourth installment of The Bicycling Diaries, a column about bicycling in Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and the surrounding areas. Mike Conklin is a career journalist from Lake Forest who now spends more time on his bicycle than in front of his computer. He’d love to hear from readers, so if you have bicycling-related news, ideas or announcements to share with the community, please contact Mike at GN_wheel.world@yahoo.com

Mike Conklin

By Mike Conklin,

Does your child need a good topic for a college entrance essay?

This was never a problem for Gary and Elaine Gustavson’s three children, Mike, Mark, and Tyra. They’re all avid bicyclists who have toured many faraway destinations on two wheels–Gary figures his family’s aggregate total mileage riding together is about 90,000. And the trips keep coming.

Here’s Part II of a Q&A with Gary, who’s a Lake Bluff resident. To read Part 1, please visit the GazeboNews archives.

Mike Conklin: Tell us about your cross-country rides?

Gary Gustafson: We went cross country four times—1990: Los Angeles to Charleston, S.C.; 1995: St. Augustine, Fla. to San Diego; 2000: Los Angeles to Yorktown Va.; and 2006: San Francisco to Savannah GA. We have ridden in North America, Africa, Hawaii, and Australia.

My miles have been as low as 1,000 (in a year) and the most in one year was 9,580, when we over-trained for our first cross-country trip. My lifetime total would be approximately 50,000 miles.

I would add, with a knock on wood, without incident. In fact our entire family has never had a bike accident with family miles approaching 90,000 total miles. I credit that with being on the road since the kids were four years old. Also bike racing teaches good instincts.

Mike: Riding a bicycle across the U.S. seems like an impossible dream to many. How did it start with you?

Gary: My oldest son Mike and I were racing, when we decided to ride across the U.S. Our original plan was to ride 150 miles per day, but when we rode a training ride from Lake Bluff to Milwaukee around Lake Geneva, through Bull Valley and back (185 miles) we decided that it took up too much of the day and we settled on 100 miles per day, which was perfect.

Mike: What are the keys to riding across [...]

By Adrienne Fawcett

The other day I reached a milestone: I finished the final book on the “to read” pile beside my bed. Now that I need to replenish the stash, I asked Sue Boucher at the Lake Forest Book Store for some suggestions of “great summer reads.” And then I figured, why stop there? I also asked the librarians at the Lake Forest Library and the Lake Bluff Library for their summer reading lists. I figured they’d all recommend the same top-selling books, much like book reviewers often cover the same material at the same time as their competitors.

Surprisingly, all three local experts have different titles on the lists they gave me to share with GazeboNews readers. There’s something here for everyone here. Click on the name for each compilation of “great summer reads.”

Lake Forest Book Store

Lake Bluff Library

Lake Forest Library