The Doings Hinsdale

Rare chance to visit Fullersburg Cemetery in Hinsdale

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:02:36 -0500

HINSDALE — Expand your Memorial Day commemoration. Of course you should attend the annual parade at 10 a.m. in Hinsdale as well as the observations at Memorial Hall to honor those who have served our country and community. In addition, this year the historic Fullersburg Cemetery, so rarely opened to the public that you could truly say it is never opened to the public, will be open from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. I happened upon this cemetery a few years ago while walking one morning. I noticed that Fuller Street west of York Road went up a pretty healthy …

Hinsdale native’s acting opportunities, talents are inspiring

Thu, 16 May 2013 03:39:37 -0500

HINSDALE — There sits an attractive couple at a table on a date, and they break the ice by comparing their diets. The attractive blonde with the big blue eyes is on the “Master Cleanse” which can’t compare to the guy’s plan, the “Survivor Sub-Saharan Master Cleanse.” Still, he finds her efforts, and almost everything she says, “inspiring.” This was a two-and-a-half minute spoof in a clip entitled “Why You Should Never Date Actors” trending on Funny of Die, a comedy video website. What was really inspiring is that the blond is none other than Cat Alter, a born and …

Conference expands vision of Hinsdale Central journalists

Thu, 09 May 2013 03:38:24 -0500

HINSDALE — Seasoned professionals may think of trade conventions and yawn, but the dozen Hinsdale Central students freshly returned from a journalism convention in San Francisco last week were fired up. They were inspired and came back feeling that their work on the high school yearbook and newspaper was part of a bigger profession and calling. The students — all girls as it turns out — work on either the school’s yearbook, El Diablo, or the print or online versions of Central’s newsmagazine, Devils’ Advocate. “It was cool to hear from professionals who do journalism every day,” said Lainey Huth, …

Program focuses on how to love your teen

Thu, 02 May 2013 03:39:46 -0500

HINSDALE — Being part of a rather large crowd at last week’s Loving Your Teen Without Losing Your Mind presentation was encouraging and empowering, though some material was downright startling. “Parents of teenagers all feel like fools and failures,” said Michael J. Bradley. “You’re here because you want to know how to control your child.” In today’s world, parents need to shift their thinking. “Your role is to teach the child to control themselves,” he said. Bradley, Ed.D., is a nationally recognized speaker, author and expert on teenagers. He loves teens, loves their honesty and their passion and is also …

Hinsdale Central bass fishing team knows it’s all about attitude

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:37:13 -0500

HINSDALE — Fishing, a pastime revered because it inspires philosophical meditations and spiritual contemplations, is considered a sport and is an activity one may be able to pursue in high school. So, of course Hinsdale Central offers a Bass Fishing Team. There are more than a dozen students involved, though not all participate in the tournaments. The group usually fishes over at Mayslake in Oak Brook under the guidance of team coach Bob Barber. Two of the student leaders in the team, Brian Liss and John Flaherty, are juniors and have been friends and anglers for a long time. Liss …

Expert to talk on loving your teen in Hinsdale

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:18:04 -0500

Not to get too, too personal, but a parent-education presentation next week is so appropriate that it might be the title of a chapter in my autobiography. With one teen in high school and the other enjoying college’s pleasures and rigors, there is still so much to learn about this species of human. Loving Your Teen Without Losing Your Mind is the topic with renowned licensed clinical psychologist and author Michael J. Bradley, Ed.D. as the speaker. Hinsdale High School District 86 and the District 181 Foundation are hosting the program, first at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 and again …

The Big Read brings Irish immigrant to redone Clarendon Hills library

Sun, 12 May 2013 06:35:43 -0500

CLARENDON HILLS — Margaret and her son Emmet left their small Irish village with a pair of candlesticks (“a wedding gift,” she explained), a good petticoat and just enough clothes and other necessities to fill two small trunks. After undergoing what Margaret felt was an outrageous and unnecessary medical exam, the pair boarded a steamship and headed to New York City and America via Ellis Island. When they said “goodby” to their friends and family in Ireland, it was the permanent sort of farewell. They knew they’d not likely meet again “in this lifetime” as Margaret put it. The time …

‘Giselle’ to freature professional ballet talent

Sun, 05 May 2013 13:47:03 -0500

Residents are nothing if not discerning, especially when it comes to academics, sports and the arts. So most should enjoy the debut of the Hinsdale Ballet Theatre when it presents “Giselle” this Saturday and Sunday at Hinsdale Central High School auditorium. While this weekend’s production will feature professional dancers from the Milwaukee Ballet, we are just as interested in the dozens of pre-professional dancers — in other words, Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills children — from the Hinsdale Dance Academy, the 5-month-old dance studio and dance boutique which opened on 414 Chestnut St., in October. Jennifer Grapes, a former principal ballerina …

Picasso and Chicago: A neat trip for spring break

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:29:53 -0500

We’ve spent our fair share of spring breaks right here in un-tropical, un-warm and often un-sunny Illinois, often because our son was required to stay with the baseball team for practice and games which were invariably canceled due to weather anyway. When here during spring break, we always “visit” Chicago. As non-natives, the city and her many attributes, institutions and neighborhoods continue to interest us. Recently we had a tour and lecture on the Picasso And Chicago exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, and though my husband accompanied me under duress — he prefers totally representational and “realistic” art, …

Middle School Mix art funny, clever, contemplative

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:43:57 -0500

Clarendon Hills Middle School and Hinsdale Middle School provided the artists whose works grace the Quiet Reading Room walls in the Hinsdale Public Library. Called Middle School Mix, the exhibit is quiet — this is visual art after all — but that doesn’t mean that some pieces aren’t raucously funny, some blatantly curious and others purposely contemplative. The artists on display are mostly seventh- and eighth-graders, meaning they are 12- and 13-year-olds, and they are learning design concepts as well as art techniques, including sketching, patterning in black and white, using digital art programs such as Adobe Photo Shop and …

On to national competition for Hinsdale Central teenage global marketers

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:42:48 -0500

HINSDALE — Ask the four teens what they learned from creating a first-place global marketing project and they will say it cemented their friendship and taught them a whole lot about hands-on marketing. Then, after they recall the many hours and afternoons spent working together and individually, they mention that preparation and attention to detail has a lot of value too, as does goal-setting and becoming so well versed on their subject matter that they can think on their feet. The four — Max Krohn, Ryan Scales, T.J. Schmidt and Adam Voortman — won the Business Professionals of America Illinois …

High note in concert is homegrown

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:13:13 -0500

HINSDALE — Listen and look carefully during the free Syracuse University Singers concert to hear a familiar but more mature soprano. It will be the voice of a young woman who perhaps last performed here at the Hinsdale Central auditorium when she was part of the school musicals and choir. That young woman is Carina DeGianfilippo, today a senior at Syracuse University about to earn her bachelor’s degree in music and preparing to go on to graduate school later this year. Hers will be one of 36 voices when the Syracuse University Singers perform as part of the chorale’s five-day …

Upcoming activities include Liberals in Hinsdale

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:31:39 -0500

As winter ever so slowly draws to a close, here are three activities, a little out of the ordinary, which may strike your fancy or answer a need. One, is a meeting of the newly formed Liberals of Hinsdale, another is a presentation on de-cluttering from the women of Christian Church of Clarendon Hills and the third is a meeting of Newcomers and Neighbors, which any Doings reader could easily join. If Hinsdale or Clarendon Hills were a state, it would be a red one — hardly a surprise. A casual and even careless survey of yard signs this past …

Fictional farms a welcome antidote to winter’s malaise

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:43:47 -0500

The French created a word for my February funk: ennui, defined as a “feeling of listlessness and general dissatisfaction resulting from lack of activity or excitement.” My personal ennui may have a little more to do with seasonal affective disorder, but I will probably never find out because I don’t have the energy to visit a specialist. I am active, however. I walk outside in even the coldest conditions and sometimes in February that may feel like the best part of the day, except when I make mint chocolate brownies (spread a loose layer of Junior Mints over the baking …

Use gratitude as a gateway to happiness, Hinsdale speaker says

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:57:47 -0500

HINSDALE — Being married to a person who is positive and optimistic can be trying, especially in this grey and still dark time of year. Some of us think of happiness as less about being a choice and more like the result of a serendipitous and statistically remarkable confluence of several factors including state of finances, status of lodging and vehicles, satisfaction and recognition in career, the relative security and health of offspring and other family and so on and on and on. Morr spoke to several village moms last week at a Hinsdale Library presentation on Moms Make Happy …

Braving the outdoors in the name of love

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:39:28 -0500

Instead of commemorating Valentine’s Day inside, someplace warm and cozy, head over to this surprisingly popular outdoors event — the Fullersburg Woods Romantic Night Hike on Saturday. It will warm your heart while you enjoy nature. According to Keriann Dubina, a Fullersburg naturalist, the night hike has been held for a few years now with great success despite whatever temperatures that Saturday night in February has featured. Last year, in fact, it was quite cold and strollers came attired not just with hats and gloves but snow pants. “Last year someone did propose,” Dubina said. Of course the goal of …

Hinsdale Central students gifted in art

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:58:37 -0500

HINSDALE — The Hinsdale Central High School first semester art show was a wonderful testament not just to the student body’s talent but also to the breadth and depth of art classes offered. All Central students were encouraged to view the show and to vote on which they liked best in such categories as Most Realistic, Most Creative, Best Craftsmanship, Most Complex Construction, Most Humorous, Most Thought Provoking and Best of Show. At least three of the recognized artists are seniors devoted to pursuing art in form or another in college next year. Kyle Van de Bovenkamp, for example, won …

‘So Sexy So Soon’ Hinsdale Central PTO talk spurs conversation

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:31:33 -0500

HINSDALE — Stunned silence — the profound absence of sound — is rare at Parent Teacher Organization meetings. Yet stunned silence resonated at the “So Sexy So Soon” Hinsdale Central High School discussion after the audience viewed a brief montage of prime time television scenes involving sexual attraction, kissing and seduction. Many of clips featured high school-type settings—lockers, gyms and classrooms--with actors portraying teens. That’s what our kids are exposed to watching such TV shows as “Glee,” Gossip Girl,” and “Pretty Little Liars.” The high school students in those shows act in much more adult ways than the characters in …