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Hinsdale High School District 86 Board members were poised to name Michael Lach as the new superintendent at a special meeting Wednesday night after The Hinsdalean went to press. Approving a new superintendent contract for 2024-27 at a base salary of $255,000 was one of two action items on the agenda. No additional information was provided. Lach’s name first appeared on an email sent Tuesday night announcing that a welcome reception for him will be held at 5 p.m. today, Jan. 11, in the Hinsdale Central library. The board m...
"Why would I want to go see 'Hamilton' in Chicago?" I asked a couple of months ago as we were talking about the show in the office. I've seen the original New York cast perform more times than I can count - even if it has been on my TV screen. How could anyone top Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs and Renée Elise Goldsberry, I asked my co-workers. Lisa, who has been to see the show two times - once for $10 when she won the ticket lottery - assured me I should...
This is the time of year when every outlet publishes its “best of” lists. The Hinsdalean wanted to get in on the action, with a local twist. So here are the favorite books, performances and TV shows as recommended by folks who live and work in our favorite town. “The best book I read in 2023 is one that actually came out in 2022 — ‘An Immense World’ by Ed Yong. I’m always looking for books — whether fiction or nonfiction — that will transform how I think about the world a...
Ahh, the early days of January, when we have yet to disappoint ourselves by failing to live up to our New Year’s resolutions. Since it’s already Jan. 4, I guess that might not be true. A cookie might have been consumed, a morning workout skipped. Yes, resolutions are tough to keep. I wrote last year that part of the problem, at least for me, is the specificity of the resolutions I tend to set. I will walk X number of days each month. I will spend X minutes a day cleaning out...
Each January, we talk to the leaders of seven major nonprofit agencies in Hinsdale about their experiences over the previous year and ask them to share one wish for the current year. The second article in this two-part series — focusing on Candor Health Education, Community Memorial Foundation, HCS Family Services and The Community House — will run Jan. 11. Hinsdale Historical Society With the village celebrating its sesquicentennial in 2023, it’s no surprise the past year was...
January is the perfect time to start a new fitness routine - or resuscitate and old one that was abandoned over the holidays. Winter weather makes outdoor exercise a challenge, but The Community House in Hinsdale offers a host of indoor classes to meet a variety of fitness needs. Many of these offerings have sessions that continue into the spring. All are offered at The Community House, 415 W. Eighth St. Some require in-person registration. Discounts are available for The...
For a dozen years, I've dedicated my final column of the year as a birthday message to my daughter. I hope Ainsley does not one day resent that her birthday letters were first conceived to fulfill a work assignment and instead chooses to appreciate her mother's functional approach to life. (And her mother's inability, after more than 30 years in the newspaper business, to write anything if she's not on deadline.) I once again will offer my apologies to those who are tired of...
Imagine a cross between a room-sized safe deposit box and the corner of a basement. That's "the vault" at Hinsdale Village Hall. Part storage area for village documents and part holding area for items that need to be thrown away (think village vehicle stickers from 2017), the vault is located inside the administrative wing of the Memorial Building. Village offices originally were in the center part of the building, where there were three vaults, said Jim Piontkowski, building...
The Hinsdale Central boys varsity basketball team will return to the eighth annual Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic Dec. 27 as defending champions. The Red Devils beat Oswego East 54-41 last year to capture the program's first title in the tourney. The team went on to set school records for wins in a season (31) and consecutive victories (23). Then 94 percent of that's team offense graduated in May. But varsity boys basketball coach Nick Latorre is approaching this tournament...
Hazel Hamelka Clarendon Hills When did you first start competing in gymnastics? I started doing gymnastics at the age of 2, but I didn't start competing until I was 10. What is your favorite event? That's a tough question. I'd probably say vault because I'm the best at it. What is your least favorite event? Probably beam, only because I'm a big worrier and I think sometimes it's kind of hard to be positive, especially if you fall, because it's pretty easy to fall off a beam. H...
Volunteering has been a hallmark of Julie Smith's life since her kids were little. She and husband Chadd moved to Hinsdale when their oldest two were just 3 and 1. By the time they were in elementary school, she was ready to lend a hand where needed. "My favorite was helping Patty Mardula in the Madison library," she said. Meaningful opportunities to help others also have arisen through her church, Avenue Christian Church in Clarendon Hills. There she has been on the steering...
Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 expects to award construction contracts in February and borrow $24.6 million in June so the district can offer full-day kindergarten for the 2025-26 school year. The board passed a resolution at its meeting Monday indicating it plans to reimburse “certain capital expenditures” from the bond issue. Any hard costs for labor and materials can be reimbursed out of the bond proceeds only if such a resolution is passed, said Mindy Bradford, assistant superintendent for business and...
Several Sixth Street residents said if the village truly is committed to historic preservation, plans to repave their brick street with asphalt should be abandoned. “These plans as presented are a huge disappointment and frankly unacceptable to most of us on the blocks,” said former village trustee and 144 E. Sixth St. resident Bill Haarlow at Tuesday’s Hinsdale Village Board meeting. Haarlow detailed village efforts to encourage homeowners to preserve historic homes in the v...
Brian and Kristine Richards of Hinsdale filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court in connection to the July death of their 14-year-old son, Sean. The suit, filed by Clifford Law Offices, names the entities who own and manage Fuller’s Car Wash and other employees, including the 16-year-old who drove the Jeep that hit and killed Sean. The Hinsdalean has not named the driver because he is a minor. Sean was walking on the sidewalk on the west side of Lincoln Street wh...
This weekend, Hinsdale Central wrestlers will compete with 24 other teams in the 57th annual Whitlatch Invite, one of the toughest tournaments in the state. The event is named after legendary Central wrestling coach Rex Whitlatch, who passed away in 2021 at age 84. Whitlatch, who a two-time state champion in high school, was the Red Devils’ head wrestling coach from 1964-81 and assistant coach from 1986 until he retired in 1992. For a November 2021 story on Whitlatch, his w...
Thirty-two years ago, Nancy Keenan, Sheila Botti and Kathy Ryan agreed to open a resale shop to benefit Wellness House at the request of Keenan's neighbor, Suzy Stout. Sisters Keenan and Botti and Ryan ("like a sister") met with a number of women who were going to be involved in the shop, which would help fund Wellness House's free programs for people faced with a cancer diagnosis and their families. "We met at Wellness House and kind of formulated a plan," Keenan said....
One might think that Alexis Braden enjoyed her first white Christmas in Hinsdale after moving her 10 years ago from California. But that's not the case. Although she spent most of her life in California, she was born in Rochester, Minn., and lived there until she was 4. She has enjoyed the Christmases she's spent in town, which include dinner out on Christmas Eve (at Hinsdale Golf Club or Il Poggiolo), the live nativity service at Hinsdale Covenant Church, Mass at St. Isaac...
Waiting is difficult - and we don't get much practice doing it any more. We used to have to wait for our favorite show to be on TV, for the weatherman to tell us the high for the day, for a trip to the library to check out a book. We even used to have to wait for the rotary dials to tch, tch, tch, back to zero seven times in order to make a call. Now TV shows, weather forecasts and books are available in an instant on our phones. We can call anywhere in the world by touching...
The Hinsdale Central boys swimming and diving team starts its season as the defending state champions and National Champions, according to Swim Cloud's ranking. The team hopes for a repeat at state. The boys wrestling program, which lost a number of athletes to graduation in May, is looking to gain experience and fill some holes in the lineup. The girls wrestling team is expected to improve as it transitions from the sport's inaugural season to a more typical competitive...
My daughter Ainsley’s favorite Advent calendars are the ones you can find just about anywhere for $2.99. I’ve tried to substitute an upgraded chocolate calendar — whose windows contain more than a teeny tiny piece of the cheapest chocolate money can buy. But she wants the same kind of calendar her Gram and Papa, who are no longer with us, used to buy her. I love holiday traditions — some might even call me a stickler — and apparently I’ve passed on my passion/obs...
With the Hinsdale Central girls wrestling team in the early days of its first regular season, it seemed appropriate to look back at the days when hardly any girls had the opportunity to compete in any sport, much less wrestling. Below are excerpts from a column 17-year-old Sandra Bucha, a senior at Hinsdale Central, wrote for The Doings in November 1971. She opened by quoting Article II, Section 14 of the Illinois High School Association Official Handbook. "Provisions...
With the official start of the holiday shopping season set to begin Friday, The Hinsdalean is launching its annual four-part gift ideas series today. Every year, four shoppers agree to accompany us to a dozen or so stores in town where they select items that just might be perfect for someone on their gift list. This year, as was the case last year, our volunteers are all individuals who serve the village on one of its boards or commissions. Today's shopper is Heather Hester,...
More details about District 86 students’ performance on the Illinois School Report Card will be presented in January, but Interim Superintendent Linda Yonke was anxious to discuss some results last week. “We didn’t want to wait to share this good news with the community,” she said at the board’s Nov. 16 meeting. The best news is the rise in scores on the Illinois Science Assessment, which was rewritten in 2021. The first year, 45.3 percent of District 86 students met or exceeded expectations. The number rose to 71 percent i...
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy “W” towns — Winnetka — beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest list published by HomeSnacks. What is HomeSnacks, you ask? We’re not entirely sure, but it produces lots of lists — safest states, most dangerous states, even dumbest states. You can read all of these lists on its Facebook page (which contains no information about who is preparing them or why). And what do...
Hinsdale taxing bodies are poised to approve their levies — or annual requests for property tax revenue — at meetings next month. These levy requests will then be submitted to the clerks in DuPage and Cook counties, who will translate them into tax rates that will appear on homeowners’ bills in 2024. Charts breaking down each of the levies, an explanation of the taxing cycle and a glossary appear on Page 7. Village of Hinsdale The Hinsdale Village Board plans to file a total 2023 property tax levy of $8.7 million, up 5.7 p...
