A host of actors, filmmakers, composers, costume designers and other talented individuals will take home an Academy Award Sunday night.
With Hinsdale being such a high-achieving community, we thought it only right that some local people, places and things receive an award as well.
So, without further ado — or a big opening number or jokes from Jimmy Kimmel — we recognize the following:
• Best performance during an election — Cat Greenspon presented herself as a reasonable individual whose priority was district students, not forcing District 86 Superintendent Tammy Prentiss out before her contract was set to expire at the end of this school year. Then, shortly after candidate Greenspon became board President Greenspon, Prentiss was put on paid leave for 11 months, costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Most distracting co-star — Kyle Comstock’s son, who ran around in circles in front of the trustees’ seating area while his dad complained last year about a lack of baby-changing tables in a privately owned medical building in town. We get the point he was trying to make about the challenges of caring for a toddler and all, but watching the boy zip around the room made it a little tough to concentrate on his dad’s message.
• Most unexpected departure — Linda Yonke, interim superintendent, who cut out in December after working only 59 days in Hinsdale High School District 86. Runners up are board member resignees Debbie Levinthal and Kay Gallo. Which leads to our next category ...
• Biggest mystery — what prompted Yonke, who worked for years as a superintendent and interim superintendent, to leave a $1,300 a day part-time job and Levinthal and Gallo to resign from the board? Are things even more dysfunctional behind the scenes than what we witness at board meetings?
• Best sesquicentennial celebration — With a summer light show, wonderful exhibits by the Hinsdale Historical Society and, dare we say it, our own weekly coverage and special section, Hinsdaleans had plenty of opportunities to learn about and celebrate village history in 2023.
• Biggest melodrama — the debate whether Hinsdale High School District 86 students who take human geography honors instead of world history honors as freshman will have any chance whatsoever to attend a reputable college and make something of their lives.
• Longest awaited opening — Frederick Lynn Haberdashery first appeared in a news story in January 2021, when owner Aaron Comes applied for a liquor license. At the time, he was in the process of purchasing the building at 33 E. First St. Three years and a couple of months later, the store still hasn’t fully opened.
• Most popular preservation program — the village’s new incentives for owners of homes on the Historically Significant Structures Property List have attracted a lot of interest since they were rolled out in 2022. Kudos to village leaders for creating such a successful program.
• Best pay-us-to-make-fun-of-you show — The Community Revue fundraiser for The Community House, which opens tomorrow night under this year’s title, “Artificial Hinstelligence.” This one-of-a-kind musical performance pokes fun at all things Hinsdale, and everyone in the audience seems to believe it’s about their neighbors, not them.
