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Erica De La O, artistic director of Salt Creek Ballet, wants to do more than create learning experiences for her students. She wants to create wonderful performances for the community. So, for the third year in a row, the troupe's spring performance will be of a full-length ballet, "Don Quixote." "I immediately recognized - although the triple bills of three individual dances or excerpts were entertaining - they didn't really serve the community because there is a story...
Marc Cihlar Clarendon Hills How did get started in gymnastics? I started when I was really young, maybe 4 years old, because my older brother was doing it and I thought it was cool. What do you enjoy most about the sport? I think it’s everything a sport should have. There’s a team aspect. There’s an individual aspect. What is your favorite event? Horizontal bar. I think it’s the most fun event where you can just do as many flips as possible. It might be the highest risk event, but I think it’s just the most fun beca...
Many Women's History Month pieces focus on women whose names we all know - pioneers like Marie Curie or Rosa Parks. Or they might highlight less prominent figures like Rosalind Franklin, the British scientist whose work led to the Noble Prize-winning discovery of the double helix, the credit for which went to a group of men. I'm taking a different approach and saluting women who, during the time they lived or worked here, left their mark on Hinsdale. And on me. • Ly Hotchkin...
Hinsdale High School District 86 could offer a class for only three students next year at Hinsdale South High School. The school board reiterated its commitment last week to offering a biology-chemistry-physics sequence at Hinsdale South, which prior to three years ago offered only a physics first sequence. Only three incoming South freshmen chose to enroll in a biology class, biology honors, administrators reported during the preliminary staffing discussion at the March 7 meeting. Board President Cat Greenspon suggested...
With the Red Devil boys and girls track teams competing indoors and other teams facing their first opponents this month, it's time for our annual look at the spring sports season at Hinsdale Central. Spring is the busiest season at Central, with 13 teams competing. Four are highlighted in this, the first of a four-part series. Next week: girls badminton, boys gymnastics and boys volleyball. Boys track First meet: Feb. 9 indoor, April 4 outdoor Last year: fourth at state Head...
The 96th Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night. And, as usual, I will have not seen most of the films up for awards. I am a big fan of one of the best picture nominees this year — “Barbie” — which also earned nominations for best supporting actor and actress, a pair of nominations for original songs and nods for costume design, production design and adapted screenplay. I even saw this one in a theater. I appreciated the performances of Annette Bening (best...
District 181 will have a large contingent traveling to Illinois State University in May for the Those Who Excel banquet. Twelve staff members - or more than a quarter of all recipients in DuPage County - were recognized (see sidebar). "We know we're filled with these outstanding educators, and to have a large number of them represented in this award obviously made us smile," said Hector Garcia, superintendent of Community Consolidated Elementary District 181. "We're very...
Opening night is in less than two weeks, and the cast of "Artificial Hinstelligence" is rehearsing at The Community House. Bags of high-heeled shoes, pairs of sequined gloves and a sack of Santa outfits are strewn about the room, raising some questions about what crazy plot twists this year's show will take. Choreographer Amanda Snooks is leading a group through a dance number on stage while Hinsdale's Tim Fowler works through an Elton John song with help from music director G...
Mark Ortiz Clarendon Hills How did you get involved in track? I did shot put for a little bit and discus in middle school before COVID, and then I had to stop because of COVID. My freshman year of high school, I didn't do it because we had football during the spring, also because of COVID. After that, I remembered I liked it a lot, so I started up my sophomore year and I've done it ever since. How do you train? I throw just about every day and then after throwing the first...
Signs provide us with all kinds of information. "Slow, children playing" lets us know kids reside on a particular block. (Since kids live on many blocks that don't have such signs, these warnings also might indicate worried parents live on the block as well.) Signs indicating downtown Hinsdale and the Robbins Park subdivision are on the National Register of Historic Places demonstrate the importance of the village's past to Hinsdaleans - or at least to those who are...
The village's approach to managing insects, disease and weeds, which focuses on environmentally sensitive and economically sound practices, is working well. That was the message of John Finnell, forestry and parks superintendent, at the Feb. 20 Hinsdale Village Board meeting, in his annual integrated pest management report. "Every year we get this - just like we go to the dentist," Village President Tom Cauley joked before the presentation. "Hopefully it's not quite as painful...
The owner of a home in the 9300 block of Jefferson in Brookfield is not entitled to reimbursement for a garage door that was damaged while Hinsdale police were serving a warrant Oct. 23, Chief Brian King told The Hinsdalean last week. The owner of the property, which is rented to tenants, spoke at the Feb. 20 Hinsdale Village Board meeting, asking trustees for the $450 he spent to repair his garage door. King disputed his account that the renters provided police with a key one time and refused to do so a second time when poli...
After placing fifth at IHSA state meet his sophomore and junior years, Hinsdale Central senior Marko Ivanisevic ended his high school wrestling career one spot away from the top of the podium. "I think he did great," coach Jason Hayes. "I think he did an awesome job, an amazing performance. The state tournament is a very tough tournament, and he wrestled a good tournament." Ivanisevic had hoped to earn a state title. "Obviously, it didn't end the way I wanted it to, but it...
I'm not worried about the world ending in a nuclear explosion or an alien invasion. The robots are what scares me. I am not the only person who worries about robots taking over the world, a quick Google search confirmed. I've been reassured by those who say that robots and AI lack the desires and motivations - say for world domination - that humans do. Others point out that robots and AI are programmed by people and operate within those set limits. But we've all seen the...
The Hinsdale Central pool will close May 1 for repairs to the tile deck and repairs or replacement of the Dectron dehumidification unit, with plans to complete work before the start of school in August. The deck will be removed down to the concrete structural slab, the trench drain will be modified, the sub-floor replaced and new tiles installed, said Josh Stephenson, chief financial officer for Hinsdale High School District 86. "In the end, aesthetically, it will look basical...
Hinsdale trustees want to support the Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission in its work. So next month they will discuss adding steps to the process for homeowners who want to tear down a historic district or landmarked home and build something new in its place. “I think there’s competing interests here for historic preservation on one hand and the right of the homeowner,” Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday’s village board meeting. “I do think we have to strike a balance between these two concerns....
Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 has too much money in reserves, so it’s giving some back to taxpayers. That’s the simplified explanation of a decision the board made Monday night to abate $2 million in taxes in connection with its 2023 property tax levy. The abatement, which will save the owner of a $500,000 home $109 a year on taxes, will reduce the bond and interest levy from almost $5.4 million to $3.4 million. “Really the amount of the abatement was determined based on want we wanted the adjusted bond...
By Pamela Lannom [email protected] Union Church of Hinsdale had plenty of reasons to celebrate Irv Clarke Sunday. First, it was the day before Clarke, who has lived most of his life in Hinsdale, turned 100. Second, he is generously supporting the church's efforts to open an early childhood education center in Summit. He hopes to encourage others to contribute as well by matching donations up to a substantial amount. "It's a real good project and I'm glad to be able to...
Which Super Bowl commercials were your favorites on Sunday? I loved Christopher Walken in BMW's "Talking Like Walken" ad, in which everyone from the valet to the guy at the drive through to his tailor offers their own impersonation of his unique voice. "There's only one Christopher Walken and one ultimate driving machine. The rest are just imitations," the announcer says, in his own Walken-esque style. The ad reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Saturday Night Live...
Doug Dussman was a kind, caring, fun-loving person who loved animals and his family, those close to him said. And he had been that way since he was a small boy. "Everybody loved Doug," his younger brother, Luke, said. "He was always laughing, always telling a joke. People enjoyed being around him." Doug was never judgmental, so others found spending time with him a safe space. "If you were with Doug, you were just present with him," Luke said. Doug died in August at age 45...
The Richards family will spend Sean's birthday Sunday remembering his loving and generous spirit and doing something to help others. The family has announced the formation of the Love Like Sean Foundation in memory of 14-year-old Sean Richards, who was hit by a car and killed last July. "It's almost cliché - everybody seems to start a foundation when their child is killed or died," Sean's dad, Brian, said. "We wanted to do something to honor and memorialize Sean and his...
Jim Zajicek isn't too invested in who wins the Super Bowl on Sunday, since his nephew Brian Allen won't be on the field. "If the Rams aren't playing, I don't really care," he said. Zajicek watched his nephew and the L.A. Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in Super Bowl LVI two years ago. Allen, a Hinsdale native and Hinsdale Central graduate, is the team's center. "I was there with my older boy, Luke. It was awesome," Zajicek said....
I wouldn’t describe myself as a huge Taylor Swift fan — although I do know all the words to most of the songs on “1989,” as it was the only music we listened to driving through Colorado on a family vacation in 2015. Of course, you don’t have to be a huge fan to know something about her. Sunday night she claimed her fourth Album of the Year Grammy, making history by surpassing the likes of three-time winners Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. She’s won a t...
Hinsdale High School District 86 Board members publicly stated their support of curriculum alignment last week, but some made it clear they still don’t approve of changes to the social studies curriculum. Jason Markey, assistant superintendent for academics, explained his goal before addressing board members at their Jan. 25 meeting. “We want to make sure everyone has a common understanding of when curriculum alignment was started and why we continue to believe that it’s important,” he said. Markey highlighted the...
Potential buyers who drive around Hinsdale aren't likely to see all that many "for sale" signs in front yards. Area real estate brokers have some theories on why that's the case. "I think that people over 55 that used to go to the city - as we know, no one wants to go to the city anymore - and they are just staying in their house because their interest rate is low," said Kris Berger, a real estate broker with Compass. "They don't want to buy something that is a so-called 'down...