Submitted by the Women’s Board of Catholic Charities

On Wednesday, February 8, the Women’s Board of Catholic Charities, Lake County Services held its annual Kick-Off Luncheon featuring Jamee Gregory, author, entertaining expert and philanthropist. A sell-out crowd of over 200 members and guests were greeted by Women’s Board President Debby Lambert of Lake Forest along with chairpersons Maureen Griffith and Barbara Kelner also of Lake Forest.

Jamee captured the behind-the-scenes stories of the most spectacular parties in Manhattan featuring Tory Burch, Michael Kors and Evelyn Lauder during her presentation. She also signed copies of her book, New York Parties Private Views during the reception.

The Kick-Off Luncheon drawing prizes featured a $1,500 gift certificate from Sault & Pepper; a makeover for six plus champagne from bluemercury, Lake Forest; and a $50 gift certificate from The Perfect Setting plus two tickets for the 2012 Art of Caring.

Northern Trust underwrote this event which raised approximately $10,000. The luncheon “kicks off” the Women’s Board Annual Benefit “The Art of Caring, Changing Lives” which will be held May 19, 2012. The Kick-Off Luncheon Committee also included Rayelle Tyler of Gurnee.

Catholic Charities Lake County Office is located at: 671 S. Lewis in Waukegan. The office serves the communities of: Antioch, Wadsworth, Zion, Winthrop Harbor, Waukegan, Gurnee, Lake Villa, Ingleside, Fox Lake, Round Lake, Gurnee, Grayslake, Libertyville, North Chicago, Lake Bluff, Mundelein, Wauconda, Island Lake, Barrington, Lake Zurich, Vernon Hills, Lincolnshire, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Highwood, Highland Park. For more information about the Lake County Office, please call: (847) 782-4000.

Catholic Charities:
Helping people in need for more than 90 years, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago is one of the largest private, not-for-profit social service agencies in the Midwest, annually assisting more than one million people in Cook and Lake counties without regard to religious, ethnic or economic background. Catholic Charities fulfills the Church’s role in the mission of charity by providing compassionate, competent, professional services that strengthen and support [...]

Don’t miss your last opportunity to see the works of internationally known abstract artist, Trevor Bell, at the Urban Edge at 220 Clayton St. in downtown Waukegan on Sat., Feb. 18 from 5pm – 10pm. Live entertainment. Refreshments will be served.

Trevor Bell is an abstract painter, associated with the St. Ives group. Born in Leeds, England in 1930, he studied at the Leeds College of Art. In the early 1950s he was a leading member of the artists working in St. Ives. In 1958 he exhibited in a one man show at the Waddington Galleries in London. He was awarded the Biennale de Paris International Painting Prize and an Italian Government Scholarship. He later became a Gregory fellow in painting at Leeds University.

After a large traveling retrospective in Scotland, Ireland and England in 1970 and a major one-man show at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 1973, Bell established a studio in Tallahassee, Florida where he worked as Professor of Painting at the Florida State University. He has also lived and worked in England, France, Italy and Canada. He has been a regular exhibitor in private galleries in Miami, Atlanta and Chicago, and has works purchased and commissioned in numerous international museums, public and private collections.

He returned to the UK in 1996 and has exhibited two large-scale paintings at the Tate Gallery, St Ives, and in 2000 held a major exhibition at the North Light Gallery in Huddersfield. His home and studios are located near Penzance, Cornwall.

Mr. Bell’s works are on loan to Urban Edge from the Lydon Contemporary Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Artist statement from Trevor Bell regarding his show on display at Urban Edge:

“I think about things that excite me: convoluted strata, the eroded and broken edges of cliffs, the constant interaction of the elements, the movement of boats on water. I think about the object and its inner image; the activity of each and the play between the two and I try to be straightforward to remove unnecessary information. For all the theorizing, formal and conceptual notions, the truth of [...]

Submitted by Lake Forest Open Lands

Adrian Diaz, a senior at Waukegan High School, has been awarded a commendation for outstanding achievement in environmental stewardship, PEYA, for his service work through the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL). Adrian’s stewardship project, Environmental Advocates Reaching Through Hearts (E.A.R.T.H.), was the culminating project in a year long certificate program offered by CCL.

Adrian gathered over 40 friends, neighbors and family members to join together to clean up streets, parkways and open space in Waukegan. The group picked up over 400 bags of garbage, everything from old TV sets to Styrofoam cups and paper. They transported it in trucks to the Waste Management Center in Zion for recycling.

Adrian’s project competed against applications submitted by students throughout the Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest region. In addition to Illinois, this consists of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The award states, “Adrian’s initiative to promote the value of having a clean city and raising the consciousness of litter habits is outstanding. By developing a combination of leadership and awareness, he engages neighbors to address local environmental issues and create opportunities to further environmental stewardship. Having the opportunity to review inspiring projects such as this one reminds us of how bright and capable our youth are.”

Adrian participates in Lake Forest Open Lands Associations’ Center for Conservation Leadership program. CCL encourages and nurtures the next generation of conservation leaders by providing students a three week summer experience in northern Wisconsin.

Rising 9th and 10th graders from various and diverse communities throughout Lake County, IL gain environmental literacy, team building and leadership skills as they work together towards a common conservation goal. Upon their return from the north woods, the students are paired with a mentor who works with them to complete a stewardship project related to conservation and the environment in their own community. Upon completion of this project, students are offered the opportunity to work as interns in a variety of conservation minded organizations in Lake County and beyond.

Adrian will be attending college next year to study natural resources and the environment. His community can expect to see more from this future conservation leader.

[...]

Are your shelves filled with children’s books that haven’t been cracked in long while? Donating gently used, quality books to Bernie’s Book Bank is easy.

Bernie’s Book Bank collects books for children from birth through 6th grade (0-12) (think up through Harry Potter). No adult books, textbooks, workbooks, coloring books or reference material.

One way is to drop your books off at Wisma, 24 E. Scranton Ave. in Lake Bluff.

You can also take them to the BBB warehouse at 28101 N. Ballard Ave. Unit A, Lake Forest

And there are many book drop locations in Lake County, Cook County and Chicago (visit the BBB website for exact locations)

If you have many boxes to donate, BBB will pick them up—Contact BBB at info@berniesbookbank.org, or call 847-780-READ.

[...]

The author of this article is a Lake Forest College student who is interning with Bernies Book Bank. If you are interested in learning more about either organization, click on the following: Reading Power and Bernie’s Book Bank

By Lillian Dypold

“It pains me that kids might not know the thrill and excitement of reading,” says Reading Power tutor and board member Mindy Mooney. “At Reading Power, we want kids to be passionate about reading and writing.”

Reading Power is a non-profit tutoring program modeled after Reading Recovery and Project Prevent, two highly effective literacy programs. Currently, Reading Power serves nearly 200 students in kindergarten, first, or second grade in four North Chicago elementary schools. Since its founding in 2003, Reading Power has provided services to more than 1,000 children.

Reading Power depends greatly on its 160 volunteers, who are trained by professional reading specialists including Executive Director Rebecca Mullen. Volunteers dedicate one morning or afternoon each week for about three hours to tutoring the same three or four students. Each child receives one-on-one attention for 30-35 minutes multiple times a week. Tutors use a pre-designed curriculum, but they are responsible for customizing lesson plans to meet the daily needs of students.

“Learning the curriculum was a challenge, but seeing the students improve is reward enough,” says Reading Power tutor Betsy Conrad.

Although Reading Power sought to focus singularly on improving reading and writing skills in North Chicago children, the reality that many of the students did not have age-appropriate books at home made this difficult. Volunteers would buy new books for the students, but this only provided students with one or two books each year. Other volunteers spent time organizing book collections, but this pulled focus away from Reading Power’s core mission.

“The children needed books, but our purpose is not to provide books,” says Reading Power Executive Director and Reading Specialist Rebecca Mullen. “It was pulling us away from our mission.”

In March of 2010, however, Reading Power and Bernie’s Book Bank partnered to bring much-needed books to North Chicago [...]

Frozen squirrel is on the menu at the Inman’s on Briar Lane in Lake Bluff. Mike Inman shot these photos on Feb. 12-13 of a red tail hawk helping itself to a dead squirrel. The hawk has been visiting his family’s yard with its mate for the past few years. Mike said the hawks have been feeding on the squirrel du jour one at a time, with the other on watch from a nearby perch.

“The red tail hawk is monogamous and I’m guessing this is the couple we’ve seen flying around here (including attack diving a squirrels nest in a front yard tree) for the last few years,” he said.

The Fawcett abode is not too far from the Inmans and recently we had a large-bird sighting as well, when the bird shown in the grainy picture below landed on the fence outside my kitchen. The kids were at the table eating an after-school snack when we spied the rather large bird just a few feet from the window. My daughter captured the image with her cell phone. We looked up hawks on the internet and figure this is a Cooper’s Hawk, but if anyone else has better information, please comment on this story!

Also worth noting are owls. David Barkhausen said he’s been hearing and seeing Great Horned Owls
while he’s out on his morning run. Recently, he saw one at 6 a.m. at the bluff at the south end of Sunrise Park. He’s seen three others in the general vicinity—ie the east end of Racine Avenue–and hears them hooting even more often. It’s still rather dark when he’s out, so he carries a lantern.

[...]

Submitted by friends of the Lake Forest High School Dance Team

Lake Forest High School
2012 Varsity Dance Team
Bronze Medalists, 3RD in Large Varsity Poms,
6th in Large Varsity Jazz
In the Nation!!!

Let it be known that …

The 2012 LFHS Varsity Dance Team of 18 beautiful dancers, Captains Emily Johnson, Lexi Oberheide and Simone Stamelos; Seniors Allison Vogrich, MJ Massar and Hannah Sacco; Juniors Nikki Landsell, Caroline McGavock, Nicole Vargas, Briana Lapetina, Julia Zureikat, Kathleen Kurschner, Layne Suhre and Sarah Whitney; Sophomores Maddie Neil and Jennie Lepman; and Freshmen Klaire Kaptrosky and Maddie Sheridan, all under the direction of Coaches Nikki Lazzaretto and Candice Davenport, danced with their heart and soul and succeeded in capturing the Bronze medal for their 3rd place ranking in the Nation in Large Varsity Poms, and also placed 6th in the Nation in Large Varsity Jazz.

Aside from maintaining a high grade point average and promoting spirit throughout the school, the team this year also partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Lake County by organizing dance clinics for K-8 students in their after school programs and summer camps and organized the their 2nd Annual Kick-a-Thon fundraiser. Kickers, totaling 116 in number, included members of the Boys & Girls Club of Lake County, high school faculty, students and community kickers for a 100-kick marathon. This successful event raised a grand total of $9,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Lake County.

We congratulate the dance team and their achievements this year!

[...]

For a new spin on Valentine’s Day, GazeboNews is hosting a caption-writing contest, with the grand prize being a gift certificate for an Inovasi tasting menu for two paired with wine–a $160 value!

Here’s how it works. Write a caption for the photo of this dog (who lives with my daughter’s friend).

The GazeboNews Advisory Board will narrow the submissions to the top three, then we will put out a survey to let the readership pick the Most Clever Caption. Or something like this–it depends on how many captions we get.

Point is–give it a shot! Submit your caption by 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12 and we’ll put it out for a vote on Monday, Feb. 13. You can put your caption in the comment section of this story. If you’re feeling bashful, you can be anonymous to the public, but I will need to know how to contact you in the event that you win the awesome Inovasi gift certificate (so use your real email address!).

You could win a romantic dinner for two at Inovasi!

[...]

By Adrienne Fawcett

I was so happy to run into Tudy Gallardo on Wednesday afternoon. She’s one of the first people I met after moving to Lake Bluff in 2006. Back then she worked at The Village Market in Lake Bluff and the Jewel in Lake Forest, and she also baby sat for local families. I ran into her often but haven’t seen her for a while.

She’s now working at the Highland Park Jewel, and she’s also babysitting and happens to have two mornings free. If you’re interested in learning more about Tudy, you can see her info and contact her via www.sittercityjobs.com.

[...]

Submitted by the North Suburban Symphony

The North Suburban Symphony, based at Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest, with Maestro Ronald Arden serving as Music Director and Conductor, held its 27th Young Musicians Competition on Friday, February 3rd, at the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest.

Originally a note worthy activity of the now disbanded Liberty-Fremont Concert Society, the Young Musicians Competition was introduced to the North Suburban Symphony by James Glacking, which then became the new home of the Young Musicians Competition.

Upon Glacking’s death the North Suburban Symphony honored Jim Glacking — who served as an esteemed non-musician member of the NSS board for a number of years — by changing the competition’s name to The James Glacking Young Musicians Competition.

Sponsorship of the James Glacking Young Musicians Competition by the North Suburban Symphony is notable because it provides an opportunity for talented Lake County and northern Cook County high school musicians to perform as a soloist with the North Suburban Symphony.

This year’s competition featured seven extremely talented young musicians who were selected by a panel of judges composed of members of the NSS after listening to all of the submitted audition tapes.

The seven high school musicians participating in this year’s James Glacking Young Musicians Competition represented four high different schools: Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Barrington High School, Evanston High School, and Highland Park High School.

Participating from Adlai E. Stevenson High School were Jorie Butler-Geyer, Violin; Christopher Gao, Violoncello; Allen Wang, Piano; and Michaela Wellums, Violin.

Stephanie Block, Viola, represented Barrington High School; Scott Greene, Clarinet, Highland Park High School; and Benjamin Solomonow, Violoncello, Evanston High School.

As in past competitions, the quality of the performances by the seven high school musicians was extraordinary. Accordingly, competition judges Lawrence Eckerling, Music Director and Conductor, Evanston Symphony Orchestra; Peter Rosheger, Director of Orchestras, New Trier High School; and North Suburban Symphony’s Music Director and Conductor, Ron Arden, found the task of selecting the three winners among [...]