Editor’s note: This story was updated on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 1, with the addition of three photos.

The Second Time Around resale shop is staffed by a loyal group of volunteers

The Lake Forest Hospital Resale Shop is gone forever, so where can you donate gently used clothing and household items–and where can you shop for them? There are a couple of very local places: First Presbyterian Church accepts donations year-round for its Spring and Fall Rummage sales, and The Church of the Holy Spirit accepts donations year-round for its two resale shops: Second Time Around and Repeat Performance.

The Church Of The Holy Spirit resale shops

Second Time Around is located inside CHS at 400 E. Westminster Ave. in Lake Forest, and Repeat Performance is in Waukegan. Donations can be dropped off at the church Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the “work room” door in the west parking lot. Shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

The CHS resale store has been around for 27 years, said parishioner Ann Neale, who was one of the founders and now runs Second Time Around. Ann Richter, also a parishioner, is in charge of Repeat Performance. Mrs. Neale said the idea of opening a resale shop in the church building evolved from a CHS Spring Fair clothing sale.

“We would sell clothing from the Fair for five weeks, and then the Cathedral Shelter in Chicago would take what was left. One day when they arrived with their truck, several of us were standing around and said, ‘What would happen if sold the clothes ourselves?’ So we borrowed 10 racks from Presbyterian Church, swept out a room in the basement and started selling twice a week. And that blossomed into what we have now.”

What they have now is an ever-changing selection of high-quality, gently used clothing, household goods, small appliances and small electronics that are in working order, such as coffee pots and toasters (CHS does not accept furniture, mattresses or large appliances). A staff of volunteers sort, price and divide the goods between Second Time Around and Repeat Performance. All proceeds go to the CHS Mission & Outreach program, and the [...]

This was submitted by the Lake Bluff Library and it should come as great news to card holders!

LAKE BLUFF—Lake Bluff Public Library is announcing the launch of a digital music service that offers access to songs from Sony Music’s digital catalog. The service is called Freegal Music from Library Ideas, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, registered card holders of the Lake Bluff Public Library may download three MP3 tracks each week via www.lakeblufflibrary.org/music. The library has already paid for the music, so there’s no cost to the users. The service requires no special software. The tracks are also free from digital rights management encryption.

Other libraries participating in the launch include the Princeton (NJ) Public Library, Maricopa County Library District (AZ), Orange County Public Library (FL), Nashville Public Library (TN) and Fairfield Public Library (CT).

“Libraries have been eager to provide downloadable music content for a long time, and now we have an option that offers great selection and a simple user interface. The cost is reasonable, and the value increases as more people use it. We encourage our residents to download music every week,” said Library Director Matt Womack.

Hundreds of thousands of music tracks are available from a deep catalog of Sony Music and its affiliated and subsidiary labels including Epic, Arista, Columbia, RCA, Sony Classical, and Sony Music Nashville.

About Lake Bluff Public Library:
The Lake Bluff Public Library offers materials, services and programs to enhance the quality of life of the user community. The Library provides print and audio-visual materials of current interest, access to information, engaging programs, and electronic resource to meet the needs of all ages. To fulfill its mission as a Village Library governed by a Board of Library Trustees, the Library employs a professional, knowledgeable staff committed to excellent service for all.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Wednesday evening to add a photo of the quilt the Lakota Indians made as a thank you gift for the LFHS Red Cross Club last year:

Do you have any extra sleeping bags that you can part with? The Lake Forest High School Red Cross Club is seeking donations of gently used or new sleeping bags for the Lakota Indians of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Their heating supplies are tenuous in the winter and many times they have to move to the school gym to sleep. Donations can be dropped off at LFHS School Nurse Diane Bower’s office, or call 847-582-7335 to arrange for a pick up.

This is the second year the Red Cross Club has embarked on a project for this tribe. Last year, the group collected more than 300 coats for the Lakota Indians. Nurse Bower said they are very, very poor, and that to thank the Club last year, the tribe made a beautiful LONE STAR quilt that is hanging in the main hallway of LFHS by the Senior Star. Here’s a photo of the quilt:

This was submitted by the Lake County Health Department to help you avoid gaining weight over the holidays that you will resolve to lose in January.

The holidays are around the corner, which means most of us are busy preparing for parties, presents, and unwanted extra pounds. Holiday gatherings are a time to enjoy the company of friends and family, but frequently lead to abandoning healthy eating habits and indulging in high-calorie foods. Although research shows that the average American only gains about one pound during a holiday season, it usually is never lost and accumulates year after year. Toby Smithson, RD, LDN, a registered dietitian with the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, tells us that we can prevent the accumulation of unwanted pounds by making some lifestyle modifications.

Here are some tips for reducing the temptations to indulge:

· eat a healthy snack or meal before attending a party
· snack from the fruit and vegetable trays at the buffet
· bring a healthy dish to a potluck to ensure a healthy option
· maintain your regular exercise routine

Since it is an unrealistic goal to completely avoid holiday treats, there are ways to modify their recipes so they fit into your holiday plans without expanding your waistline. Some familiar methods are substituting applesauce for oil in cakes or breads, and using egg substitutes or egg whites instead of whole eggs. A more recent technique is to use no-calorie sugar substitutes in place of sugar. Sugar substitutes are sweeteners low in calories but as sweet as sugar, so that taste is not sacrificed.

When it comes to baking, Splenda®, or sucralose, is the only sweetener that can stand up to heat, unlike NutraSweet® or saccharin. Splenda® can be used in a 1-to-1 ratio as a substitute for sugar. However, depending on the recipe, you may want to start by replacing one-fourth of the sugar called for with the sweetener, then increase based on the final result. Some recipes are successful when all the sugar is replaced and others are not due to changes in texture or volume, so it is important to test it out.

Below is a modified recipe for pumpkin bread that uses Splenda® for half the original amount of sugar, and uses applesauce and egg substitute in place of some oil and whole [...]

Editor’s note: This Reader Forum article was written and submitted by Mary Mathews of Lake Forest. Reader Forum articles represent the writer’s opinions and not necessarily those of GazeboNews. If you would like to comment on this Reader Forum, you must include your full name. We encourage civilized discussions, and we have a few requirements; please fully review our comments policy.

By Mary Mathews of Lake Forest

Unfortunately, there is a misconception among some in the community and on the City Council that affordable housing is about charity, it is not. Affordable housing is an urban planning concept that improves community, economic development, transportation, and the environment. It is not about giving freebies to poor outsiders. It is a city planning tool similar to zoning and building codes. Its purpose is to ameliorate a problem and improve the overall community.

Affordable housing is promoted by such diverse groups as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Sierra Club, Chicago Metropolis 2020, Metropolitan Planning Council, Metropolitan Mayors Council, and US EPA. Affordable housing is a tool that is encouraged at the national, state, and municipal levels. It is not to be confused with public housing. Cities all over the country are developing affordable housing as a way to improve their communities, lower transportation costs, and improve air quality.

From the beginning, Lake Forest had a supply of modestly priced housing. Due to a number of reasons, the City lost its stock of “starter homes”. Entry-level housing is a necessity to a town that wants to remain an attractive place to live for future generations.

A lack of housing options has significant economic impact – workers cannot live near their jobs, congestion increases, and retail dollars are spent elsewhere. Lake Forest needs retail businesses. How many entrepreneurs can try to start small businesses in Lake Forest when they need both business loans and jumbo mortgages? How many millions of dollars were needed to widen the Rt 60 bridge so the Wisconsin living employees could commute to their jobs in Conway Park? How much lost time and aggravation did Lake Forest residents experience over the years while waiting for this transportation improvement?

I have been impressed with the depth of knowledge that Alderman Tom Morsch has exhibited. It is regrettable that due to the Open Meetings Act, he has not been able to educate [...]

A brand-new theatre with up to 15 screens and seating for 2,400 movie goers is being planned for the northeast intersection of Route 176 and I-94 in Green Oaks, across from Lambs Farm. Marcus Theatres, a division of The Marcus Corp., has reached an agreement to purchase about 10 acres there for a mixed-use center that includes a movie theatre, retailers and restaurants. The project is being developed by Equities Green Oaks LLC.

Please click here to read the press release about this development.

Monday, Nov. 29, is first day of the annual Nightgown/PJ drive for low-income seniors & single moms. The sleepwear-collection was started several years ago by a group of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff women, and each year they have managed to collect more and more donations. In 2009, they reached a fine total of 416 sets of sleepwear, which they donated to programs that service low-income women and single moms.

But 2010 is another story. The need for assistance is increasing in both Cook and Lake Counties. Peg Ciccarelli said five additional programs (three in Lake County and two in Cook County) have requested support from the Nightgown/PJ group. The women hope to bring in at least 430 sets of sleepwear to meet the demand.

They ask the community to please consider purchasing soft, warm knee-length nightgowns and/or PJ’s, wrap them for Christmas giving with the size marked on the box, and drop them off at one of the following sites this week. You’ll be Santa for a woman in need … thank you.

• Ciccarelli’s – 1052 Inverlieth Rd, Lake Forest
• Stutz’s – 451 Yorktowne Rd., Lake Forest
• Menzies – 1465 Oak Knoll Dr., Lake Forest
• Bernardin Center – 671 S. Lewis Ave., Waukegan (by the Home Depot on rte 120)
• Catholic Charities – 721 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago (at Huron & LaSalle)

The collection runs from Nov. 29-Dec. 3, but you can drop off a donation at the Ciccarelli home up through Dec. 10. For help figuring out what size to purchase, the group suggests following this chart–the size to purchase is determined by the first letter of your last name:

• A-B–size 3XL
• C-I–size 2XL
• J-L–size 1XL
• M-Q–size XL
• R-U–size Large
• V-Z–size Medium

To learn more about the women behind the Nightgown/PJ drive, please visit the GazeboNews archives.

Submitted by Lake Forest Dance Academy

Lake Forest Dance Academy’s Performance Companies will be staging their annual Holiday Extrava-Dance-A on Saturday, December 11th at 4pm at the Lake Forest Recreation Center, 400 Hastings Road. Tickets are available for $5.00 at the door. Lake Forest Dance Academy students can enter for free with a paid adult.

Members of the Prelude Dance Theatre, Euphony Tap Ensemble, and the newly formed Hip Hop Evolution companies will perform choreographed holiday dances that are sure to entertain audiences of all ages. As in years past, the Lake Forest Dance Academy performing companies will share their talents and spread good cheer throughout the community by performing at local nursing homes and home-care facilities as well as at the Great Lakes Naval Base.

On December 5th, these talented dancers will participate in a special performance at Chicago Navy Pier’s WinterWonderFest. For further information or to set up future bookings, please contact Ms. Sandy Ragsdale, Director, Lake Forest Dance Academy at 847-810-3948, or ragsdals@cityoflakeforest.com.

Submitted by the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center

The Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center has expanded the hours of its
STD/HIV clinic where patients are screened and treated for sexually transmitted infections. The clinic was previously open only on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. Now, some of the clinical services are available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The full clinical services will remain on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“The clinic’s previous limited schedule was inconvenient for many of our clients,” said Irene Pierce, the Health Department’s Executive Director. “The expanded hours more than double the number of people who can receive services through the Health Department. The expansion helps us meet our strategic plan goals to increase access to care and enhance prevention services for Lake County residents through the detection and treatment of diseases in early stages.”

At the clinic, screenings and treatment for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, genital herpes, genital warts, trichomoniasis (trich), bacterial vaginosis (BV) and yeast infections are offered. Free confidential HIV testing is also provided to all patients. Fees for services will vary and are based on services provided. There is no cost for treatment if it is needed. No one is refused services due to an inability to pay.

The clinic is located at 2400 Belvidere Road in Waukegan. It is recommended to call ahead for an appointment and to speak with a counselor so that patients are directed to the appropriate clinic services. For more information or to speak with a member of the counseling staff, please call the Health Department’s STD/HIV Program at: (847) 377-8450.

As reported last week, former Lake Forest Mayor Francis (Frank) C. Farwell II died at his home in Lake Forest on Nov. 21. He was 88 years old and was a descendant of one of the City’s founding families.

GazeboNews posted a lovely obituary that was written by Mr. Farwell’s son, Francis C. Farwell III (also Frank). Click here to read the obit.

The Lake Forester ran a story about Mr. Farwell’s many contributions to Lake Forest during his lifetime. Click here to read the story by Linda Blaser.

And here are some photos of Frank in younger years, which were sent to GazeboNews by his daughter Edie.

The caption space in the photo slideshow doesn’t give enough room to explain the photos. Here are details on some of the pictures that Edie Farwell provided:

The photo of Frank in uniform was taken after he earned his captain’s wings as a 1st Lieutenant. He served three years as a chief pilot of troop transports in the Pacific theater of World War II.

The photo with the goggles is of Frank Farwell during flight training with the U.S. Army Air Corps in early 1942.

The photo of Frank seated behind a desk was taken some time in the 1960s.

The photo of two men seated is from the 1980s. Frank Farwell is on the right. Edie isn’t sure who the other man is–perhaps a GN reader will know?