Mettawa Mayor Jess D. Ray asked GazeboNews to post this asap:

On Tuesday, a family on St. Mary’s Road south of Route 60 was confronted by two men posing as asphalt deliverers–one at the front door tried to break into the house. While one was at the front door, the other was trying to break into the back door. They were in a newer Ford F150 pickup truck with no license plate. The County Sheriff was contacted.

Here’s some more information that came in later in the day:

1. The WHITE Ford 150 truck was seen around noon at a resident’s home on Route 60 (no confrontation) and also today driving around on Little St. Marys
2. One description was that the driver was white with a mustache
3. The Sherriff’s department is aware of similar reports and officers are on his trail

Please call 911 if you see anything or anyone that resembles these descriptions.

– Mettawa Mayor Jess D. Ray

Chris took this photo of Rob on vacation in Bodrum, Turkey.

We are immensely grateful for the amount of support we have received from everyone. Meals, amusing DVDs, thoughtful words of encouragement, visits to the hospital (which is a long way from Lake Bluff), chats while walking the dog late at night and, of course, the relentless efforts to organize the bone marrow drive. And what a drive it was. So many people lined up to get on the bone marrow registry. It is truly overwhelming.

We hope very much that a matching donor may come from the Lake Bluff community. It would be such a fitting testimony to what Lake Bluff is about—not simply a quaint leafy suburb on the North Shore, but rather a wonderfully caring and supportive community that gets things done. We are in awe of you. We are humbled by you.

There is a long list of people to thank, and it is impossible to thank them all, but a few need to be singled out because of all they did, and continue to do, in their capacities as community organizers extraordinaire: Gregg and Penny Marsh, Cathy McKechney, Kathy O’Hara, Kathy Casper, (a Lake Forester, but we will not hold this against her.) We also want to recognize the support received from the Fire Department, members of the Board and Village staff and many more. We apologize for not being able to acknowledge all of you but you are in our hearts.

– Chris and Rob Letchinger

Friends of the Lake Forest Library will host its book sale indoors again this year. Photo of last year's sale by Carl Noble

The Friends of the Lake Forest Library will host its 35th Annual Book Sale September 16-19. Again this year the sale will take place at the Lake Forest Recreation Department at 400 Hastings Road.

This is one of the nation’s premiere book sales with more than 100,000 books on site, as well as CDs, DVDs and more. There is something for everyone from families to collectors. The sale hours are:

• Thursday, Sept. 16: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Friends Members Only, 20% mark-up on items to benefit the Library. Memberships available on site.
• Friday, Sept. 17: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 18: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Teacher Appreciation Day 10% off!
• Sunday, Sept. 19: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Bargain Day 50% off all items!

For more information contact, Lake Forest Library (847) 234-0636, friendslflibrary@gmail.com or visit www.lakeforestlibrary.org

You might want to clean off some shelves before filling up on books from the Friends of the Lake Forest Library’s Book Sale. Lake Forest Bank & Trust is accepting donations of gently used children’s books until Sept. 11. Books will be donated to Bernie’s Book Bank, a Lake Forest Bank customer and non-profit organization that takes donated books to children who are in need of them in the Chicago area. Visit www.berniesbookbank.org for more information on the group.

Submitted by the Parents Board of the Gorton Children’s Drop-In Center

August 30, 2010—The Gorton Children’s Drop-In Center of Lake Forest opened Monday, Aug. 30, marking its 25th anniversary. The Drop-In currently has 118 families enrolled and opened with a limited staff of four teachers, including Director Sue Buhrmester.

Gorton's Drop-In Center opened on Monday with 118 families enrolled and four teachers on staff

The Drop-In Parent Board has been working closely with Robert Kiely, Lake Forest city manager and interim executive director of Gorton to ensure that it meets its financial and enrollment goals. Based on a financial restructuring, staffing at the Drop-In Center is now reflective of enrollment. The Drop-In currently has four teachers on staff, and once it hits the enrollment goal of 150 it will add another staff member. Additional staff will be hired as enrollment grows to the 175 and 200 registered family marks.

“Our goal is to hire a full staff and operate at full capacity, as more families enroll,” said Director Buhrmester, who is responsible for hiring. “We have over 150 families who have indicated they will enroll, but we are still in the process of collecting enrollment forms from many of those families. As soon as families return their completed enrollment forms, we will be able to hire another staff member. We have completely changed our pricing model and it is dependent families enrolling at the start of the school year to be able to staff the facility in a fiscally responsible manner. We will continue to accept enrollment forms throughout the year, but are hoping families sign up this fall.”

The Drop-In, open to all interested families, is DCFS-licensed and welcomes infants and children through age six. Families may enroll by completing the enrollment forms available online at www.childrensdropincenter.com and paying the enrollment fee of $195 for one child; $250 for two or more children. If a family does not have an up-to-date physical form on file, they can submit this form on the first day their child uses the center.

Once the completed enrollment forms have been received, reservations can be made up to two weeks in advance and for up to 5 hours a day. Hourly fees are $8 an hour for one child with $4 extra per child, per hour. Reservations can [...]

Submitted by Citadel Theatre Co.

LAKE FOREST – Citadel Theatre’s One-Act Festival fundraiser will open on Friday, September 10 at Gorton Community Center. The festival will run for three weekends with a new set of one act plays premiering each weekend. Patrons will be seated in a cabaret style setting with waiter service throughout the show.

The One-Acts feature a cavalcade of local stars including Barbara Anderson, Bob Banks, Matthew Birnholz, Michael Bullaro, Nicolas DeGrazia, Dan Deuel, James Farrell, Dana Gilhooley, Katherine Glauvin, Beth Goldberg, Nancy Greco, Alice Hansen, Amy Hepburn, Catherine Hermes, Ed Kuffert, Steve Larson, Francine Locke, Topher Loos, Ron Mace, Rachel Martindale, Jane McCarty, Deb Mell, June Miller, Gerry Nevin, Ellen Phelps, Tom Quigley, Grace Ragsdale, Adam Rife, Joanna Rolek, Joe Schmitt, Daniela Sloan, Walt Sloan, Susan Steinmeyer, Amy Ticho, and Erica Werner!

Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. This will be Citadel Theatre’s last performance before it kicks off its 2010/2011 season in a newly renovated 150 seat theatre at West Campus, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest this coming November. All proceeds from the One-Act Festival will benefit Citadel Theatre’s renovation of the new space at West Campus.

The theatre has recruited many actors and directors from its previous shows over the past seven seasons at Gorton to star in the One-Act Festival.

“We have very fond memories of our time at Gorton, so we wanted to include as many people as possible who have participated in Citadel shows over the past eight years,” said Citadel Theatre founder and Artistic Director Scott Phelps. “We have put together an entertaining festival that I know our patrons will love,” said Phelps.

Citadel Theatre’s One – Act Festival

• Friday, September 10 through Sunday, September 26
• Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2 pm
• Gorton Community Center, 400 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest

Individual tickets are $25 or $49 for a flex pass that can be used as many times as you like. To purchase call 847.735.8554 or visit www.citadeltheatre.org

Citadel Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre and 501(c)3 organization now going into its eighth season. Citadel Theatre’s mission is to produce works of the highest caliber by bringing professional talent to Lake Forest and Lake County audiences. Citadel Theatre produces comedies and dramas, both classic and contemporary, as well as cutting edge new works. Citadel [...]

Men at work: Store owner Nick Christofalos and mechanic Nate Perkins. Photos by Cyn Sansing Mycoskie of www.cynimage.com

By Mike Conklin

With North Shore bicycle trails growing busier and busier, Lake Forest and Lake Bluff have become a Mecca for the increasing number of riders. The communities are at the crossroads of several major pathways and offer easy access to coffee shops, restrooms, and air for their tires.

Mike Conklin, writer of The Bicycle Diaries

Activator Cycles, Lake Bluff’s newest downtown business, just a block off the Robert McClory Bike Path at 36 E. Center Ave., is the latest reflection of the increasing, local bicycle traffic.

Co-owners Nick and Sheila Christofalos, who sell bikes, skateboards, apparel, and related accessories in their store, have set sidewalk tables and offer light refreshments for anyone simply wanting to plop down and watch traffic.

“A lot of people seem pretty happy with what we are doing,” said Sheila. “We’re so close to the trail, it seemed like a natural thing to do.”

The Christofalos are well-known in the area as co-directors of the CROYA Music Initiative and Activator Academy, a provider of youth music and tutoring programs housed in the CROYA Student Union. They see the bike shop as an extension of Nick’s long-time interest in bicycle racing and motocross, dating to his days as a student in Lake Bluff and Lake Forest schools.

How committed are they to making their bicycle shop a success?

Not long after opening, Nate Perkins, a highly-regarded mechanic with Highland Park’s Higher Gear, one of the area’s most prestigious bike stores, was hired. With the repair shop in the show room, he is there for everyone to see at work.

Activator Cycles thus joins the long-established Kiddle’s in Lake Forest at 258 Market Square, where two mechanics are at work in the basement, as a bike business within a block of the McClory trail.

A third, newer store specializing in higher-end bicycles, Joie De Velo, recently opened on the southwest edge of Lake Bluff, at [...]

The EKG test is non-invasive and needs to be repeated every two years

On Sept. 1, The Max Schewitz Foundation will kick off its third year of “Screens for Teens,” a free, school-wide EKG screening program, at Max’s alma mater, Lake Forest High School. The program’s mission is to identify students who are at risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) before they are stricken.

Parents need to turn in a response form to allow their teens to receive the EKG test at school. Painless and non-invasive, an EKG can detect hidden cardiac conditions such as those that claimed the lives of area residents Max Schewitz and Danny Jaekel. Testing is open to all LFHS students. Like a mammogram or any other screening test, an EKG should be repeated every two years to detect any changes in the heart–but parents need to get those forms in. You can download the paperwork from the Max Schewitz Foundation’s website, www.maxandthewildthings.com

“Every fall, as students return to school and sports, a young athlete succumbs to sudden cardiac death,” said Mary Beth Schewitz, executive director of The Foundation. “Routine physicals often don’t include an EKG, which can help detect some hidden heart conditions leading to sudden death. By offering free EKG testing to area high schools, we hope to save a child’s life and raise awareness of this risk among parents.”

In 2005, Max died suddenly and unexpectedly at age 20 from an undiagnosed cardiac condition. Like so many others victims of SCD, Max had no previous medical conditions or warning signs. If he had been diagnosed, life-saving treatments could have been implemented.

“The Max Schewitz Foundation’s, “Screen for Teens” provides a great service for our students and we are very appreciative of all their efforts,” said Jay Hoffmann, Lake Forest High School principal.

This school year, the Foundation will offer its Screens for Teens to more than 12,000 students at seven high schools with help from 1,000 parent volunteers working under the director of Dr. Eli Lavie, the Foundation’s Medical Director and physician at North Shore Cardiologists of Bannockburn. The Foundation’s goal is that EKG tests will become a part of student’s routine physical exams.

Future fall EKG testing dates and schools:

• Deerfield High School – September 15, 2010
• Mundelein High School – September 22, 2010
• Libertyville High School – [...]
  
  

Submitted by Reading Power. If you’re interested in working with this group, plan to attend an orientation meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at First Pres in Lake Forest. Details are in the text of the story.

Lake Forest based Reading Power, Inc. named Rebecca Mullen Executive Director, succeeding Susan J. Pierce.

Now in its eighth year, Reading Power is a not-for-profit volunteer-based literacy tutoring organization that provides one-to-one tutoring in North Chicago for lower achieving kindergarten through third grade students. Over 900 children to date have benefitted from this program.

Rebecca Mullen

“Rebecca Mullen will continue to foster this unique partnership between the school system and our volunteers while providing excellent tutor training to accelerate the literacy learning of children who can benefit from additional support,” offers Board President Duane Wise, a resident of Lake Forest. “We believe all children deserve to reach their intellectual potential.”

Volunteers from Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and the North Shore are trained by the Executive Director and her team to teach the professionally developed, research-based Reading Power curriculum, customized daily for each student. Reading Power tutors bring their love of children and reading to each session. Their compassion and commitment contribute to students’ extraordinary gains in reading and writing; 2009-2010 saw tutored students making up to two to four times the fluency gains of the non-tutored students.

Ms. Mullen is a certified reading specialist with a Masters in the Science of Education in Reading from Illinois State University, where she also received her B.S. in Elementary Education. Prior to joining Reading Power, Ms. Mullen served as Coordinator of the Mary and Jean Borg Center for Reading and Literacy, a tutoring program at ISU in Normal, Illinois.

Ms. Mullen’s broad classroom experience includes teaching positions in preschool through eighth grade throughout Illinois, in California and England. She has taught computer classes, designed and implemented technology-driven language arts curricula, websites and created blogs. She co-authored an article on digital stories and blogs in THE CLEARINGHOUSE: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. In 2008, Ms. Mullen was recipient of the LaSalle, County (Illinois) Excellence in Education Award.

Reading Power co-founder and [...]

This comes from the Lake Bluff Park District:

The Lake Bluff Park District is looking for a Preschool teacher in the 4-year old room. The first day of class is Monday, September 13 and runs through the end of May. Classroom hours are from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Monday-Thursday. Please call Mary Quilty at (847) 234-4150 x21 with any questions. Applications are being accepted right now. Status: open until filled.