Nite at the Net is high energy fun for a cause

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Sarah Clarkson

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:27AM

While tennis shoes and sweat suits will be de rigueur — leave those painful high heels and other fancy trappings in the closet — at the Hinsdale Racquet Club’s Nite at the Net fund-raiser on Feb. 4, those of us, ahem, who wouldn’t think of chasing a ball whether holding a racquet, a bat or a club, are also welcome.

Nite at the Net will be a night of tennis — drills and some games with local celebrities — as well as table tennis, drinks and hors d’ouevres, silent auction and live auction as well as great music. Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville will emcee the event, which benefits Catholic Charities’ Neighbors In Need program.

Nite at the Net is the latest incarnation of the Catholic Charities of Chicago Tennis Classic, which was held at the Salt Creek Club in June 2010. That was an inaugural event, the brainchild of longtime Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills resident John Wilhelm, a “recreational” tennis player with a vision of how tennis could be incorporated into a fund-raiser to benefit Catholic Charities of Chicago, for which Wilhelm has served as an active volunteer.

He remains impressed that Catholic Charities is one of the largest social services agencies in the Midwest and serves one out of three people in the greater Chicago area regardless of religious or ethnic background. That’s about one million people in greater Chicago that Catholic Charities supports.

Tom Cahill, who knows Wilhelm through tennis and other connections, is Hinsdale Racquet Club’s director. He was able to parlay some of his connections with Blackhawks into agreements to help with the fund-raiser, which has become Nite at the Net, a great play on the two sports of tennis and hockey. Besides “Coach Q” playing tennis and emceeing, other Blackhawks are expected to attend. Silent auction prizes include plenty of golf and other sporting opportunities, but the main live auction prize is four Level One Blackhawks tickets as well as a behind-the-scenes tour including the locker room.

For Cahill, the oldest of four Cahill children who all grew up playing tennis in Hinsdale, the tennis drills are meant to be high energy and fun, fun, fun.

“Tennis should have a ridiculous amount of energy,” Cahill said.

Anyone who has even met Cahill in passing would know that that description applies to him as well.

The cost to attend Nite at the Net is $95 a person for both tennis and attending the party or just $60 a person for the party. Tennis-playing couples can pay $175. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Visit www.catholiccharities.net/tennisclassic, call (312) 948-6864 or contact the Hinsdale Racquet Club, 5730 S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, (630) 325-6066.

Toiletries needed

I am not a bath salts person. I don’t know what to do with the turquoise eye shadow given to me as a sample. To toss the skin bronzer I got as a gift-with-purchase seems wasteful. Fret no more. The Zion Lutheran Thursday morning Bible Study is holding a toiletries, perfumes, lotions and costume jewelry, drive to benefit WINGS, which stands for Women In Need Growing Stronger, an organization which provides refuge to women who are victims of domestic violence as well as homeless women.

These are women who may be leaving their homes quickly with little thought for anything but their lives. The toiletries, costume jewelry and lotions are appreciated.

“Nobody in crisis is going to buy that for themselves,” said Catherine Daly, one of the facilitators for the Bible study.

Donations (keep them to travel size if possible) will be accepted through Feb. 9 at Zion Lutheran Church, 204 S. Grant St., Hinsdale. For more information, call Jean Albert at (630) 323-0384.

Act quickly

The Clarendon Hills Public Library, 7 N. Prospect St., always has a ton of great stuff going on. For one, the film series continues with a screening of “The Help” at 6:30 p.m on Thursday, Jan. 19. That will be a busy Thursday because investment expert Julian Gorman from Merrill Lynch will discuss “Earning Income in a Low-Interest Environment” at 2 p.m.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, historian Leslie Goddard will look at Chicago’s “sweet history” by sharing what Frango Mints, Dove chocolates, Cracker Jack, Tootsie Rolls, Snickers and Brach’s caramels all have in common besides sugar (their Chicago history). Call (630) 323-8188 to register for these free programs.