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Try some drama to beat the heat
Sara Clarkson
Updated: July 12, 2012 3:16AM
So, the weather outside has been frightful, though not in the way that the song implies. The song of course refers to blizzards, and the only blizzards any of us enjoyed last week were the kind that are ice cold and can be ingested. The string of record-breaking 100-degree days kept many, many of us inside, though I was out early for my regular walk and saw lots of people out and about between 6 and 7 a.m. for their exercise, too.
I noticed that signs for “High School Musical” are all over town. They are advertising an upcoming theater camp at the Hinsdale Center for the Arts for kids in third through eighth grades. The camp starts on July 16 and runs through Aug. 2 with the shows planned for Friday, Aug. 3 and Saturday, Aug. 4.
This brought me back to 2006 when the Disney hit TV movie “High School Musical” came out. Back then, it seemed to be on TV — or at least our TV— every other day. I remember in August 2007 when “High School Musical 2” premiered on television, because it was right after my daughter’s 12th birthday party. Her friends stayed to watch the movie while her brother, then 13, was around too. He claimed no interest, but surreptitiously hung around on the periphery pretending nonchalance and watching.
Visit the website, www.hinsdalearts.org for information or to register your child for “High School Musical.”
‘Into The Woods’
The Clarendon Hills Park District summer theater program for 9- to 15-year-olds is already under way with afternoon rehearsals for the July 26 and July 27 shows of “Into The Woods” going strong. The park district’s shows and theater camps have been an important part of the lives of pre-teens and teens. In fact, quite a few of this year’s Hinsdale Central graduates heading off to major in performing arts performed with the park district. To find out more about “Into the Woods,” call (630) 323-2626.
The Community House in Hinsdale has some nice performing arts offerings for an even younger set with Lake Forest Children’s Theatre as well as Broadway Kids camps. But, if you have one of those surly, moping creatures, ages 11 to 16, whose only form of communication seems to be the queries: “What is there to eat?” and “What is there to do?” they may like a different kind of drama.
Quickly enroll them in one of the Community House’s Youth Center’s remaining Whatever Wednesday activities. Miniature golf at the renowned Wilderness Falls Mini Golf in Bolingbrook is July 18. Challenge Park Xtreme Paintball in Joliet is July 25 and register early for Raging Waves Waterpark in Yorkville on Aug. 1. On Aug. 8, a behind-the-scenes tour of NBC 5 News will be offered with a trip downtown, tour of the newsroom, a chance to watch the live broadcast with anchor/reporter Dick Johnson. Visit www.thecommunityhouse.org for information.
The Community House also offers a course called High School 101 Workshop, which is designed for students entering high school. It will offer tips on staying organized, managing schedule and planning as well as managing expectations. Lisa Marsicano, an executive function skills specialist, will lead the two-hour workshop with two dates in August.
Pink skirted
Whoa! Was that tennis pro Tom Cahill of Hinsdale Racquet Club in a pink tennis skirt? Cahill spends much of the year on Grant Street, south of 57th Street running the very busy Hinsdale Racquet Club, but during the warmer, sunnier months, he migrates east to run the tennis program for LaGrange Country Club. Cahill promised the ladies there that if they showed up for their morning drills and wore their pink, he would too. The women cooperated and besides raising $500 for Y-ME Breast Cancer Research, Cahill put on a pink skirt.
Cahill’s got the legs for a skirt. He played a big role in the very successful Catholic Charities fundraiser at the Racquet Club, raising about $50,000, but at the February event no one was thinking about bare legs because they were too busy mingling with the Blackhawks.
Andrew Park
The memorial service for Hinsdale teen Andrew Park, who died on June 30, will be at 6 p.m. July 12 at the Calvary English Chapel, 704 McHenry Road, Wheeling. Mourners are encouraged to dress casually and in Hinsdale Central red to show their support for Andrew, who fought a three-year battle with leukemia.
As his friends noted on a chain link fence surrounding the Hinsdale Central High School, “Andrew Lives On.” This message was spelled out with plastic cups pushed through the fence and is visible on 55th Street. Nearby at the intersection with Madison, it says, “We (heart) Andrew.” The messages are so touching because they show how much the teen touched others.
Like son, like father it could be said. Andrew’s father — Joe Park — wrote a moving blog about Andrew and his fight. It has much to say about living and dying, and in it Joe graces readers with the role that faith and love has played in supporting this strong family. It is inspirational on many counts. It is www.andrewsfightonestepatatime.blogspot.com.
(630) 320-5448 • doingsnews@pioneerlocal.com
