Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 337
Diana Ivas wasn't looking for an escape when she left her teaching career after 17 years. "I loved teaching," Diana said. But not long after dipping her toe into the real estate business in 1988, she discovered she loved that world even more. Now decades into her real estate career, Diana said those years in the classroom still impact her ability to do her job. "To be a teacher, you have to be very organized," said Diana, who also listed good listening skills and the ability...
Twenty-eight years after moving to Hinsdale and well over a decade after sewing her first stitches, Jeanie Gale finally became a member of the Hinsdale Embroiderers' Guild. "It never crossed my mind to join," said Gale, who learned needlepoint 15 years ago. It was during a trip to a needle arts store that Gale heard a group of women talking about the Hinsdale group that she considered joining herself. The Hinsdale Embroiderers' Guild is a 60-year-old organization that...
What does it mean to be a Candidate School? The early childhood professionals at Union Church’s preschool have had their eye on the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme since today’s 30-somethings were students at the school. On Aug. 30, the school announced it had been named one of four stand-alone preschools in the country to earn the title of Candidate School — the final step before full designation as an International Baccalaureate school. “We’ve been on a...
Since becoming a pastor nearly a quarter of a century ago, Bill Kasper has led churches all over the country. He worked in New Mexico, Texas, Alaska and Washington before accepting his current position at the Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church late last year. “It’s good to be back,” Kasper said of his return to the Midwest, where he grew up and later attended seminary school before embarking on his career. Church ministry wasn’t Kasper’s first choice of careers. “I tried...
What do you hope to accomplish your senior year? Meiyan Zhu has one goal for her senior year of high school, and that's to make it the best one it can be. "I'm making sure high school doesn't pass me by," Zhu said. She's made a conscious decision to spend her final year of high school trying new things and stepping back just a bit from her rigorous academic schedule to make time for fun. Just days into the new school year, Zhu already has added a line to her resume as a...
Shelbi Domjen doesn't have to think long about what or who influenced her to enter the field of education. The daughter of an elementary school teacher, Domjen said she spent many hours in the classroom with her mother while her father worked long hours on their family's farm. "My entire childhood was a classroom with my mom," said Domjen, who now has a classroom of her own as a fifth-grade teacher at Monroe School. Domjen said that other than the family's agricultural...
What will help kids as school year begins? The lazy days of summer have turned into the busy days of another new school year. Shabana Sheikh, program director of The Community House’s Counseling Center, said a little planning can go a long way toward getting the new year off to a good start. “There’s a lot of exciting stuff that kids look forward to,” said Sheikh, a licensed clinical professional counselor who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in c...
By Sandy Illian Bosch [email protected] Isabella Walls-Rodriguez returned home from the Paris Olympics with lifelong memories, a renewed enthusiasm for soccer and a voice hoarse from cheering. Walls-Rodriguez and her family spend time with relatives in France every summer, so taking the train to Paris from their home near Bordeaux was an obvious choice for the family of sports fans. After taking in a quarterfinals soccer match near Bordeaux, Walls-Rodriguez and her...
Not many guitarists can say they played their first show with Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. Eighteen-year-old Lauren Hunter of Hinsdale can. "That day completely changed my life," said Hunter, who started playing guitar in 2020, just a year before her parents surprised her with tickets to see her favorite band. Having seen videos of Grohl inviting fans on stage to play with the band, Hunter carried a sign asking for the honor. "It went crazy viral," Hunter said of the resul...
Families are invited to explore the woods, sit by the creek, and learn about history during Fullersburg Days at Fullersburg Woods in Oak Brook this weekend. Indoor and outdoor activities are planned from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 10 and 11, at the Graue Mill and Museum, the Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center and throughout the Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve on Spring Road. "We're trying to celebrate Fullersburg Woods and the history of Fullersburg...
For Coldwell Banker agent Cathie Callen, real estate is about problem solving. "It's like a puzzle," Callen said, the pieces of which are different for every person she helps to buy or sell a home. An agent since 2006, Callen said she enjoys helping buyers find a home that meets their physical needs, their emotional wants and their financial means. A mother of three, Callen was raising her children and working as a teacher when she decided to pursue a new career. "I decided...
There are few Hinsdale traditions as delicious as the annual ice cream social in Burlington Park, and few people more excited about this year's 70th annual event than Harlan Apple. Apple is president of the UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale Junior Board, the youth-driven organization charged with bringing the Sunday afternoon event to the community each year. He, along with other members of the 100-plus-member board, will run games and activities, greet guests and see th...
When BAMtheatre's Conservatory Ensemble was asked to introduce Disney's "Alice in Wonderland Jr." at the Junior Theater Festival in California earlier this year, the honor paid off for the entire BAM community. After being chosen as one of five ensembles to participate in the festival's New Works Showcase, the local theater education program earned the privilege of debuting the show as its Broadway Kids Summer Edition Production. "That gave us the first little glimpse of what...
Hinsdale's Citizen Police Academy isn't about teaching people to be police officers. The free 11-week program is designed to give residents and citizens who work in the village a better understanding of law enforcement and the Hinsdale Police Department. Officer Karen Kowal will facilitate the village's annual Citizen Police Academy for the third time when this year's series begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4. Open to people 18 and older who live or work in Hinsdale, the a...
In her ten years of musical theater, Caroline Walsh has played villains, heroes, mean girls and even starfish. Now, she's adding gorilla to her theater resume as part of Stage Door Fine Arts' production of "Tarzan: The Musical." "It's a different experience," Walsh said of the motions and postures required to look like a gorilla. "It's muscles you aren't typically using in everyday life." Based on the Disney animated film and Edgar Rice Burroughs' story, "Tarzan: The Musical"...
What's been rewarding about real estate law? Dominic Mancini found more than a job when he began his career in Hinsdale nearly 50 years ago. He found his forever home. He's now a father of four and a grandfather of 10, seven of whom live within walking distance of Mancini's house. "I love that," he said, saying it's not at all uncommon to run into a member of his family while out for a walk or driving to work. Mancini also continues to enjoy his work as an attorney...
There were plenty of picnic blankets and kid-friendly snacks at Burlington Park on July 17, but the village's Lunch on the Lawn event wasn't just about enjoying a mid-day meal. Lunch on the Lawn is all about the entertainment. Sandwiched between the Memorial Building and the railroad tracks, Burlington Park is among performer Jeanie Bonansinga's favorite places to perform. "I love the setting because the park has so much variety in the areas that people can enjoy," said...
From the first time she visited Hinsdale, Tina Weller liked what she saw. She's spent the last two decades making it, and the world around it, even better. "It just seemed like a really amazing community where people were happy," Weller said of Hinsdale, the village she and husband Jeff chose as their home 20 years ago while expecting their first son. Since then, Weller has taken nearly every opportunity to give back to her adopted hometown. From volunteering at her two sons'...
How does oral health affect the body? As a former dentist, Jessica Lederhausen thought she knew all she needed to know about caring for her own mouth. But when she received a diagnosis of receding gums, Lederhausen found herself in search of ways to improve her gum health without surgery. In doing so, Lederhausen became convinced of the effects of oral health on the entire body and the big impacts that small changes can have on physical and mental well being. "It all starts...
A move to a new town comes with plenty of questions and uncertainties. Hinsdale mom Candice Hodson said she was relieved to learn that after-school care for her son wasn't one of them. Hodson and her family moved to Hinsdale in 2021. Both she and her husband work outside of the home and they needed safe, reliable care for son Rowen between the end of the school day and the end of the work day. Hodson said she was pleased and relieved to learn of the Before/After the Bell...
Runners get faster with conditioning and sprints and musicians perfect their skills with scales and breathing exercises. Rishikar Gandham hones his skills with speaking drills. The Hinsdale Central junior is one of five Central students to compete in the 2024 National Speech & Debate Tournament in Des Moines June 16-21. The five students competed among 6,700 students representing 1,500 schools from across the country. The competition ultimately crowned 41 champions in events...
Members of Hinsdale United Methodist Church will hear a new voice and see a new face when they arrive at church Sunday, July 7. That's when the church's new pastor, the Rev. Dr. Grace Oh, will deliver her first message at the church. Oh, 63, was appointed to the church following the retirement of the Rev. Young-Mee Park and began her job as senior pastor on July 1. Oh's new home in Hinsdale is just 25 miles in distance but a world away from her previous home in Chicago, where...
There is no single definition of the perfect home. That, said Marie DiCosola, is what keeps her job as a real estate professional interesting. "Every house is so very different and every client is so very different. I kind of fell in love with the process," said DiCosola, a member of the team at Jameson Sotheby's in Hinsdale. DiCosola said she caught the real estate bug while assisting husband Nick, president of the DiCosola Group, a real estate construction, development and...
The weekly farmer's market on Chicago Avenue between Garfield and Washington streets has been part of Hinsdale for 48 years, and Rob Pondelick's family has been present for every one of them. Pondelick is the fifth-generation owner of Theis Farm Market in Maple Park, one of several farm-based businesses in Pondelick's family and one of two produce-producing farms to participate in the Monday market offered by the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce. "For a Monday morning, it's not to...
At Hinsdale Covenant Church's annual vacation Bible school, fun shares a pew with prayer and scripture. Covsports offered kids in first through sixth grades the chance to play a favorite sport, learn a new one, expand their dance and cheerleading moves or tap into their artistic creativity, all while learning about the role God plays in all of it. Before embarking on their chosen activity last week, campers began each day of the four-day camp in the church's sanctuary. Led by...
