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Publisher Letter
FOR THOSE WHO GIVE BACK
THANK YOU
The thing I enjoy most about publishing Hinsdale Magazine... is talking to local people about their unique stories, and how they want to make a difference in people’s lives. Sometimes the conversation takes place on a weekend, or at a restaurant or store in town. A few months back, Gary Kobus told me a story about Aspire, an organization that has owned up to its name and for over a half-century has been providing services to families of people with developmental disabilities. I’ve known Gary and his wife Kate for over four years, and I wanted to learn more and help tell Aspire’s story through Hinsdale Magazine. You will learn about this fine organization and I hope that you can join us in their fundraising efforts starting with their annual event Big City Nighton Feb. 8 at the Chicago Marriott hotel. At the Community House Volunteer and Community Partner Appreciation reception last month, I met Lisa Lambert and her family after she was presented with the 2013 Katharine Van Dusen Sylvester Volunteer Service Award. The award recognizes and honors volunteers who exemplify the spirit of uniting service and leadership for the betterment of the community through services provided by the Community House. It wasn’t long after talking to Lisa and her husband Paul, who were accompanied by their children Alex and Paige, that I came to the realization that Lisa’s volunteer work was really a family effort. There were many days and nights they all pitched in to support one another while juggling family commitments and volunteering.
We thank the Lambert family for their service to the community. I first met David Marcet and his wife at The Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club benefit in March 2012. It was a brief introduction, and it was a year later when David and I reunited on the same platform tennis team last fall. Like many, our conversation revolved around family and work. I remembered he was anartist back in 2012, but I had no idea how amazing his work was when I visited his studio last month. I hope after reading the article, you will see his artwork on the night of Jan. 31at the Robert Crown Center. William Egbert, Jr., is our cover story for this issue, and he is an inspiring example of someone who turned a traumatic situation and made the best of it. Mike Ellis sat down with William to write the story, and you will read about how this Oak Brook entrepreneur not only survived a brain injury, but moved on to photography to take to the skies and capture images of classic airplanes. I invite you to read about his journey. As we begin 2014, we will continue to bring the stories of local organizations and people of interest to you. We will deliver the message to you in print and online via our digital magazine available at www.hinsdale60521. com. Please share the links of all our digital magazines with your friends and neighbors. And as always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Happy New Year, Scott Jonlich, Founder & Publisher Hinsdale Magazine, Inc. sjonlich@hinsdale60521.com
4 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
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8
CONTENTS
JANUARY 2014 Founder & Publisher
8 Cover Story
Scott Jonlich
Taking a detour
Print Managing Editor
10 Inside 60521
Mike Ellis
10
Columnists
Errol Janusz Dan Meyer Jim Fannin Robert Damien
Local artist teams up with Robert Crown Center for Health Education
26
20 Social Scene
The Community House Holiday Ball
22 Hinsdale Woman
The Community House’s Lisa Lambert
Photographer & Design
Marcello Rodarte
26 Event Calendar
Misericordia Women’s League
Feature Photographer Karen Hood
Graphic Artists
28 Community Scene
The Hinsdale Auxiliary of Children’s Home + Aid HJWC Gift of the Season Hinsdale & Clarendon Hills Christmas walks
20
Cheryl Chrzanowski Julia Sinogeikina
32 Giving Back
Advertising Sales
Aspire of Illinois Global Luxury Imports & Issa Family Foundation
Doug Pint Renee Lawrence
38 Education
Prospect students visit nine ‘cities’ around the world
42 Peak Performance
16 Tips to own the future by Jim Fannin
44 Sports
Men’s Platform Tennis University of Michigan’s Brad Anlauf
22
48 Tech Know
Great gadgets for 2014 by Errol Janusz
50 Spiritual Insight
Filling your JAR by Dan Meyer
34
Hinsdale H60521.com
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38 Blaine Street | Downtown Hinsdale, IL 60521 phone: 630-655-3400 I fax: 630-622-1300 e-mail: news@Hinsdale60521.com The advertisements, photographs, logos, and any other content inside this publication are not the opinions of Hinsdale Magazine, Inc., unless specified. This magazine may not be reproduced in any way, including ads designed by our graphic staff, and remain the property of Hinsdale Magazine, Inc. | www.hinsdale60521.com 6 Hinsdale Magazine
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7
Cover Story
William Egbert, Jr., of Oak Brook at his Vulture Equipment Works office in Oak Brook
Taking a detour
Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Oak Brook resident’s career path takes a turn after suffering brain injury
William Egbert, Jr., was a defense contractor operating a state-of-the-art force-on-force training facility, simulating real-life combat experiences for everyone from law enforcement officers to government agencies. He said he was one of only three individuals in the nation in this line of work at the time, and in the process of putting his facility on a national level.
O
ak Brook resident William Egbert, Jr., 39, has already lived a remarkable life. Like many men his age, he is married with two young children. It is also not uncommon for a 39-year-old man to have experienced at least one career change. What is out of the ordinary, however, is how and why he was compelled to change gears.
Living the dream Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, Egbert, a defense contractor with a background in industrial design, opened up a 12,000 square-foot indoor training facility in Lockport designed to acclimate soldiers, government agents and law enforcement officers to actual “battle” situations. “There’s a few of us who got together, and we said, ‘We’re going to do this,’” he said. “We [had] been talking about it for years. 9/11 happened; we saw a need for it.” 8 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
In one night, everything changed. To make scenarios feel more realistic, the enormous indoor space contained apartments, houses, buses, cars and vans, among other features. Scrambling around like Jack Bauer pursuing terrorist suspects on the streets of Los Angeles on Fox’s 24, participants would conduct team-oriented “missions” lasting five to ten minutes, which consisted of pursuing realistic assailants that resisted arrest by any means possible. “We would literally engage each other,” Egbert said. “The instructors were the bad guys, and the good guys were the good guys. “Guys would come out exhausted, dripping with sweat.” Egbert said at that time, significant emphasis was being placed on practicing with paper targets, but that many patrol officers were not receiving the on-the-job combat preparation requisite for them to excel in actual situations. “We were trailblazers,” he said. “Everyone wanted to talk about shooting
paper targets. Engage the paper target; engage the paper target.—A paper target doesn’t fight back; it doesn’t get you to think on your feet—and those were the things a lot of law enforcement [officers] were lacking practice at. “They had to learn that stuff on the street, and the street, while it’s a good teacher, it’s not where you want to start from scratch. We were giving them a base at which to operate under high levels of stress. “It was a calm environment for them to make mistakes, and really accelerate their safety levels.”
The accident Thoroughly enjoying what he was doing, Egbert, who was one of only three individuals in the country operating such a facility at that time, said he was getting close to taking it to the next level. All that changed on a November night in 2006, roughly five years after he opened the training space.
Riding home from work on his motorcycle, Egbert came to a stop at the New Ave. and Romeo Road light near Romeoville. Suddenly, a car approached from behind. The driver, failing to stop, undercut Egbert’s motorcycle. The windshield ploughed into Egbert’s helmet, and sent him flying and bounding 60 feet down the open roadway. “Everything was spinning,” he said. “It was horrible, because I remember vividly being bounced around like a suitcase like the big gorilla in that Samsonite commercial.” Recalling the instruction he used to provide at his Lockport facility, Egbert, never actually losing consciousness, got up immediately and walked down the middle of the road towards his motorcycle, ribs poking out of his left side. “The first thing that ran through my mind was, ‘Get up;—do not be in the middle of the road,’” he said. Paramedics soon arrived on the scene, rushing Egbert to a nearby hospital. Aside from the broken ribs, he sustained numerous soft- and hard-tissue injuries, and experienced severe neck pain. Despite the extent of his ailments and the fact that he had just been flung 60 feet from a motorcycle, doctors released Egbert from the hospital later that same evening, instructing his wife Rose not to
ert
Photo by William Egb
let him sleep for 24 hours.—He ended up not sleeping for the next three days. “Everything about the accident was really kind of strange,” he said. “A lot of people have a lot worse accidents, but of course the worst accident in the world is the one you’re involved in.”
The aftermath Although he had survived the accident and was released from the hospital, Egbert’s struggle was really just beginning. Within the first week after the crash, he said he would become uncharacteristically and inexplicably “mean” towards those around him. Sometimes he directed his unaccountable anger and frustration at the furniture; on other occasions, he directed his emotions at his wife or father. Egbert also recalled an instance in which he entered the kitchen to pour a glass of milk—something unusual in itself, as he said he does not ordinarily drink milk. As he prepared to pour the milk out of the container, his hands suddenly opened up, causing the glass to shatter and the milk to spill all over the floor. He then simply turned and walked back into the living room.—Something was definitely wrong. “Nothing made sense,” he said. “There was no rhyme or reason for what I was doing, what I was saying, who I was
wanting to talk to, or where I was going. “It was like you’re in the backseat of a car, and you’re watching an evil version of yourself just try and screw up your life.” Dr. Ning Sun, a neurologist at DuPage Neurological Associates in Willowbrook, informed Egbert that he had suffered a brain injury—a traumatic brain injury with gross diffused brain sheer, to be more precise. “His brain [was] quite a bit changed in terms of cognition and memory,” Dr. Sun said in a phone interview. It can be difficult to adequately comprehend a brain injury, because we use our brain to think and reason (this is why Egbert said you really can’t understand a brain injury unless you actually have one). While he did not sustain swelling on the brain, Egbert said 30 percent of his brain was compromised by the accident. Among other consequences, his injury resulted in erratic, irrational behavior, short-term memory loss and substantial sensory disorientation. Egbert said he was extremely sensitive to motion, light and sound, always raring for a confrontation with nearly anyone who crossed his path. “It hurt me, because I couldn’t control - Continued on page 14
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 9
Inside 60521
“In The Chair” of an
H
Artist
Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Robert Crown to host David Marcet exhibit
Hinsdale resident and figurative artist David Marcet paints in an inconspicuous studio above the Fontano’s building just on the edge of downtown at the corner of Chicago Ave. and Lincoln Street. He works his craft in a quiet studio that is filled with drawings and paintings of familiar faces of people who have come into his life from his childhood to the present.
10 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
The deep and vivid colors jump off the canvas, revealing a little about himself and his exploration of self-identification through his new series “In The Chair” and other works completed in his Hinsdale studio during the past five years. His work will be on exhibit on Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m. at the Robert Crown Center for Health Education, showcasing his artwork at 21 Salt Creek Lane in Hinsdale.
Scott Jonlich: What or who inspired you to paint? David Marcet: I have been drawing constantly ever since I could remember. I hadn’t really had any formal training until I went to college and decided to major in fine arts. In fact, I had never done a painting on canvas until my sophomore year [of college]. I had the privilege of studying under a great artist at Drake University named Jules Kirschenbaum; he was amazingly talented, and had a huge intellect. More than anything, he was probably the driving force to my putting a brush to canvas. Scott: At what age did you realize that you were really good at this?
Each summer, David Marcet uses the sidewalk as his “canvas” in front of his Hinsdale home. Marcet (photographed with daughter Reese) and his wife Sheryl also have two boys, Brody and Emmett.
David: I’m not sure if I can answer when I realized I was good at this. I won an art contest in kindergarten with a drawing of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. That was pretty good, I guess. I think it has less to do with proficiency and more to do with a love of creating things. If you love doing something so much that you do it constantly, you’ll probably get pretty good at it eventually. Scott: Can you describe your style of painting? David: I suppose my style of painting would be called contemporary figurative painting, or representational. It basically means that I’m representing a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface in a way that mimics the human eye. In addition, the paintings almost always revolve around some kind of allegory. Some of my influences are the Baroque painter Caravaggio, Tom Waits and Monte Python. I generally avoid the term “realistic,” because that points to a genre of painting called Photo Realism. I’m not one of them. Scott: How did you begin working with Robert Crown Center?
“In the Chair”
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David: Robert Crown came into the picture through a family friend named Dr. Ramsey Ellis. She is a surgeon and a board member. She was very enthusiastic about trying to get my artwork more in the public eye and thought a fundraiser could be mutually beneficial for both the [Robert] Crown Center and me. I think it’s a great organization, and I really believe in their mission, particularly because I am an educator myself. I actually remember taking a field trip to Robert Crown when I was in eighth grade. Scott: Can you tell us about your education and the path you took to your work? David: As far as my education, I grew up locally and attended Benet Academy. I went to Drake University to play football, and earned a B.F.A. in painting and a minor in English. I went on to graduate school at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Painting in 2005. (My wife read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1995, and insisted we visit Savannah. That’s when I discovered the school.) Currently I’m teaching fine arts at Benedictine University; I’ve been doing so since 2007.
The Robert Crown Center for Health Education is the largest provider of health education for school-age children and young adults in the Chicago metropolitan area. In the last 55 years, RCC has prepared more than five million children for an everchanging mix of health challenges. Each year, RCC reaches more than 80,000 youth from over 600 schools in eight counties, teaching in their communities and at the campuses in Hinsdale and Chicago. The RCC staff educate students, parents, teachers and caregivers of children in three important subject areas: milestone growth and development (puberty and sexual health), addiction prevention, and general health, including obesity prevention. “Dave Marcet is an extremely talented local artist and a hidden treasure in our community, said Dr. Ramsey Ellis, an RCC board member. “I am so pleased that Dave has agreed to partner with us to bring attention to another treasure in the community. “We are looking forward to a fun night of fine art and good company.” For more information on David Marcet’s art exhibit, contact RCC at (630)-325-1900.
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William Egbert Jr. | Hinsdale Magazine - Continued from page 9
myself,” he said. “Unless you have one, you can’t really understand it. The brain injury not only messes with you in your life, but it also takes down everyone around you.” During the second week after the crash, Egbert made his wife a promise: he was not going to let the brain injury overtake him, despite the extreme obstacles he might have to overcome. “I looked at her, and I said without any hesitation, ‘No matter what happens, I promise you this: I love you, I will find my way out; I was something before [the accident]—I don’t care what it takes, I’ll get it back.’”
Fighting back Having determined that failure was not an option, Egbert began his journey to circumvent his brain injury. The path, however, would not be a straight one. His previous life prior to the accident was rife with adventure and excitement in a high-stress environment. As much as he ached to reclaim his former life, Egbert knew that as a result of the brain injury, he could not trust himself to provide a safe and secure environment to the
personnel who would be placing trust in him to do just that. He therefore decided that he could not return to the training facility. As Egbert struggled outwardly with the realization that his military aspirations were squelched, he was also engaged in an internal battle to overcome his brain injury. For three years, he tried all sorts of medications to assuage the pain, but said he found this tactic completely unsuccessful. “If there was some sort of cure or some sort of drug, I took it—I tried it; I gave it my all,” he said. “It didn’t work at all for my personality. I wanted a result; I wanted it to be fixed. I didn’t want to mask the outcomes.” Confusing dreams and reveries with his waking hours, Egbert felt like he was bordering on insanity. Then, his therapist, Pamela Brandman, made a recommendation about an approach that she felt might be more effectual. Brandman suggested neurofeedback, a non-medical technique that essentially teaches the brain to think more efficiently by allowing it to analyze the patterns through which it arrives at its conclusions. She referred Egbert to Dr. Kyle Bonesteel, Director of Clinical
Neuropsychology at the Neurohealth Center for Neurofeedback in Lombard. Informing Egbert that his brain was the most jumbled he had ever encountered, Dr. Bonesteel conducted a “brain map,” attempting to ascertain which frequency levels in his brain were out of sort. “Like many patients with head injuries, certain areas of his brain were producing an abnormal amount of certain frequencies,” Dr. Bonesteel said. “The areas that were most out of balance were having an impact on his mood, problemsolving, sensory processing and memory. “Despite being a high-achieving person, he could not make his brain do things that his brain was ‘out-of-rhythm’ for doing.” In therapy, Dr. Bonesteel placed a head covering shaped like a swim cap on Egbert’s head, with five sensors programmed to address five different locations of the patient’s brain. These sensors communicated with a specialized software program designed to “map” the brain by physically analyzing the frequency levels of different components of the brain. While these sensors gathered information, Egbert viewed a TV monitor working in conjunction with the software. Essentially, the monitor appeared clear
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William Egbert Jr. | Hinsdale Magazine
- Continued from page 14
when the isolated frequency levels were trending in the right direction, but was obscured when those levels turned south. This may seem like a circuitous approach at first glance, but Dr. Bonesteel said that because we cannot simply correct our minds, the screen helps the brain understand what it needs to do to properly adjust its frequency levels by serving as a “mirror.” “At its core, neurofeedback is brain training, and has been researched for conditions such as brain injuries, ADD, learning problems, chronic pain and anxiety,” he said. Egbert said that, at first, he found watching the screen for even five minutes to be physically exhausting. “My first time I sat down with the doctor, I slept that night,” he said.—“I hadn’t slept in three years.” Using this technique, Egbert slowly began to reconfigure his brain, re-teaching himself how to process information. He identified this as the turning point in getting his life back on track. “As soon as I got the neurofeedback underway, everything started to stick,” he said. “I could start remembering things. [I] never would have turned the corner without it.”
A new career path While undergoing neurofeedback, another doctor suggested Egbert try photography, which is often prescribed for people who suffer brain injuries. Having been trained in industrial design, Egbert had some experience in photography prior to the accident. “I picked up a digital camera, and I started [taking pictures],” he said. “That’s what kept me feeling like I was moving forward with something, because I wasn’t able to work.” Egbert constructed a home studio, and began with small product photography. He learned Photoshop, and, realizing he was improving, upgraded his equipment. 16 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
Growing up with an interest in cars, Egbert also started photographing vehicles. But something was missing. Before the accident, Egbert was a self-described “adrenaline junkie,” operating in a high-octane environment. While he possessed the artistic skill to snap photos and start up his Egbert Photography business, he felt he was still lacking the adrenaline and excitement to satiate his adventurous appetite. “I was like a tiger in a cage,” he said. “I can’t ride my motorcycles anymore; I can’t take another neck or head injury.” Egbert spoke to some acquaintances in Arizona who did aviation photography out of the back of cargo planes. This highrisk environment appeared to be right up his alley—except for one problem: Egbert was terrified of flying. “It’s at 6,000 feet and you’re doing 220 miles an hour, and you’ve got a harness that holds you into the airplane,” he said. “You can literally stand up, unhook yourself and fall right out of the plane.” Like a person having a fear of rollercoasters and being thrust onto the Bobs at Riverview, Egbert decided to tackle his fear of flying and give shooting photos out of the back of a moving cargo plane a whirl. “I basically took everything that I was afraid of and everything that had kept me to the ground, and I threw it to the wind,” he said. “I said, ‘Either I’m going to fall out of the plane, because I forget that I’m not roped in, and I’m going to die; or I’m going to come back with some amazing images, and I’m going to find where I fit.’” As time progressed, Egbert said he began to grasp that he was safer in the sky than he initially thought, and started to concentrate more on the quality of his images. “I was so preoccupied with my photography and the images I was taking, [that] I didn’t care about flying anymore,”
he said. “I wanted the picture.” Once he had taken the photos, Egbert immediately envisioned converting them into black-and-white, producing the sentiment of a World War II combat mission. All of the photos were shot in digital high-resolution, edited into black-and-white on Photoshop, and then converted to analog for printing. “I wanted a World War II image that was ripped out of some pilot’s brain in a combat situation,” he said. “I wanted to see if I could recreate that emotion in a photograph.” While doing aviation photography, Egbert said he realized he was back in a high-stress environment with no margin for error. Wanting to equip himself with safe, dependable gear, he started working on an innovative, durable camera strap in early 2012, which led to his next venture: Vulture Equipment Works. (The name originated from Egbert’s fascination with the vulture when he first encountered the bird on a trip to Central America.) Egbert made the camera straps out of aviationgrade military webbing, and devised a patented rigging platform allowing a person to attach lower risers to any piece of equipment, such as cameras or tripods. In order to design the prototype for his strap, he had to learn how to sew, which he accomplished primarily by watching YouTube videos on sewing. “I said, ‘If I can remap my own brain with repetition, I think I can learn sewing,” Egbert said. His A2-T strap essentially works like a monopod that a photographer can take into crowded places like museums and theaters; it is also useful in adventure
photography. Egbert said he is currently working with 12 up-and-coming photographers who are using his straps. They recently returned from a 60-day trip in the African jungle, a 60-day Yukon adventure in northern Canada, and Expeditions 7, a group of expeditious individuals on a journey to visit all seven continents, took Egbert’s straps on a trans-Antarctic mission that commenced late last November. He said future plans include an expedition through all of Central America. Aside from the straps, Egbert has also developed several other adventure accessory concepts. His “soft woven loop,” a string composed of multitudinous microfibers, is no larger than a dress shoelace, yet is capable of pulling a 7,000-pound Toyota LandCruiser up a three percent grade. “What I really enjoy doing is creating an adventure accessory that has multiple uses—survival, photography, videography, normal travel, lifestyle,” he said. Egbert is currently working on a series of razor-sharp steel knives designed for hunting and survival. All of his products are made in America, and he said his objective is to design products that last a lifetime.
“All of the gear that I’ve been designing and putting into production is based upon a lifetime use,” he said. “You buy this gear, this strap will outlast you. It’s not great for a repeat customer, but it’s great to know that your gear will last you a lifetime. “I’ve taken my passion for highlyspecialized gear, and switched focuses from my training aspect being a defense contractor into recreational work.”
The road ahead Although neurofeedback and new career opportunities have helped him turn the corner in the past three years, Egbert acknowledged that his brain injury is permanent—something that no matter how strongly he feels he has conquered, he will still have to deal with for the rest of his life. But Egbert said he is confident he has already made the most significant progress. “I know where I’m at with my brain injury,” he said. “It’s stabilized. I know where I need to be all the time. I’ve got a personality that I won’t let it beat me.” Since his accident, Egbert’s family has added two new members: son Remy, 5, and daughter Sophia, 2. He credits his wife Rose and father William for being
there for him over the past seven years— no matter how incomprehensibly irascible he could become at times. “My wife has been extremely strong and persistent,” Egbert said. “She has stayed by my side, which is very rare. Brain injuries have a horrible track record of chewing up relationships.” With Vulture Equipment Works entering the adventure outdoor accessory market, Egbert said now all he needs is a partner to help grow the brand. “The sky’s the limit,” he said. “The only thing I’m lacking is a partner. I can only do so much myself. “[With] my brain injury, I can go at a million miles an hour, but I need to back up. I need somebody that can keep up with me [and help] take this to the next level. “I don’t need my hand held; I just need someone to walk next to me.” Ultimately, no matter what happens in the years ahead, Egbert said he takes tremendous satisfaction in fulfilling the promise he made to his wife two weeks after the accident. “It’s wonderful to be able to get up one morning, breathe the air, walk and figure out that I beat it. I figured out a way to beat it; I didn’t give up.”
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 17
UNIVERSITY DERMATOLOGY, CARDIOLOGY AND VEIN CENTER LOCATIONS
8110 S. Cass Avenue | Darien, IL 630-920-1900 4605 W. Golf Road | Skokie, IL 847-679-5199 2570 W. Niles Road | St. Joseph, MI 269-428-5199
As featured in Hinsdale Magazine’s
DOCTOR PROFILES 2013 From Left: Vassilios (Bill) Dimitropoulos, MD; Joshua O. Podjasek, MD; Clarence William (Bill) Brown, MD; Stamatis (Tom) Dimitropoulos, MD.
UNIVERSITY DERMATOLOGY physician specialists are leading authorities in their field, and use their expertise to offer compassionate care and state-of-the-art medicine, treating all diseases of the skin, hair, and nails for patients of all ages, infancy to elderly. UNIVERSITY CARDIOLOGY AND VEIN CENTER focuses on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of leg diseases, including lower extremity swelling, ulceration, varicose veins and painful legs. DR. VASSILIOS (BILL) DIMITROPOULOS, MD has been board-certified as a dermatologist for nine years. Dr. Bill Dimitropoulos utilizes the most advanced skin-cancer removal technique—Mohs Micrographic Surgery. This surgery is performed in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia, minimizing the amount of healthy skin taken when removing skin cancer, thus minimizing scarring while maximizing the overall cosmetic result. Dr. Bill Dimitropoulos earned his M.D. at RUSH Medical College in Chicago, before completing a dermatology residency at the University of Michigan. CLARENCE WILLIAM BROWN, JR., MD has been practicing as a board-certified dermatologist for thirteen years. Dr. Brown utilizes the most advanced technique to remove skin cancer—Mohs Micrographic Surgery—which enables him to map and remove cancerous areas in thin layers with unprecedented precision. After earning his M.D.
from the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Brown completed residency training at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Brown also previously served as the CoDirector of the Dermatologic Surgery Program at RUSH. STAMATIS (TOM) DIMITROPOULOS, MD is a triple board-certified cardiovascular specialist who has been practicing as a physician for eight years. Dr. Tom Dimitropoulos completed his medical training, internal medicine residency and cardiovascular disease fellowship at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago, and a fellowship in Interventional Cardiology in Royal Oak, MI. Dr. Tom Dimitropoulos specializes in advanced techniques for treating varicose and leg veins, including endovenous ablation and sclerotherapy. These treatments are performed in the office without sedation, require no down-time and most are covered by insurance. Dr. Dimitropoulos is enrolled and participating in all major insurances and Medicare JOSHUA O. PODJASEK, MD is a board certified dermatologist with advanced fellowship training in dermatopathology. Dr. Podjasek is a graduate of RUSH Medical College and he completed his dermatology training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he also completed a dermatopathology fellowship and served as a Clinical Instructor. Dr. Podjasek brings the innovation and knowledge of the Mayo Clinic to University Dermatology.
Consultations Available by Appointment - Accepting Most Major Insurances - Accepts Medicare Assignment
university-dermatology.com university-med.com 18 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
A New YeAr. A New Home.
When Buying & Selling Satisfied Clients Say it Best “Megan provided an unbelievable level of service and guidance throughout the entire sale process. She ultimately sold our home in days of listing at our desired price. We’ve recommended her to several friends who have all had similar experiences. A true professional in every aspect.” - Brian M. Thinking about your next move? Contact Megan
MEGAN McCLEARY Innovative Real Estate Solutions
630.780.1913 | mmccleary@rubloff.com ONE MAGNIFICENT ADDRESS | RUBLOFF.COM www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine
19
Social Scene
Hinsdale Central Madrigals
The Community House Holiday Ball
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record 470 guests turned out for the annual Community House Holiday Ball on the night of Dec. 7. Upon entering the ball, guests were transported back in time to the glitz and glamour of the 1950s, inspired by Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” The Hinsdale Central Madrigals set the festive tone early by regaling guests with their angelic voices as they entered the event. To augment the look and feel of 1950s Hollywood, blackand-white holiday films were featured during the post-dinner dance, frosted white trees sparkled, and lit Lucite bars
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encircled the annual wine auction space. “The Holiday Ball is such a cherished celebration that welcomes dear friends and many new faces to The Community House each year,” Community House Executive Director Jeni Fabian said. “There are no words to convey our gratitude for the time, talents, creativity and generosity demonstrated by our Holiday Ball chairs, event coordinator Kristina Taheri, and staff members.” During dinner, Fabian greeted the Holiday Ball guests, and announced that former trustees Dick Johnson and Norm Chimenti were joining the organization’s Life Trustee Board. In addition, members of the Community House’s Junior Board,
comprised of local high-school students, presented an inspirational video entitled “A Day in the Life at The Community House.” Junior Board members directed and produced the entire video. The evening’s program was capped off with the traditional singing of “White Christmas,” led by Life Trustee Jay Tuthill and the Community House Players.
2013 Holiday Ball co-chairs Mary and Tim Lyne
Community House Life Trustee Dick Johnson Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Mary Grace and Kevin Burke
Executive Committee Members of The Community House’s Junior Board: Co-President Ryan Lee, Co-President Paxton Gammie, Morgan Fitzgerald, Suhana Thakrar, Anna Quenneville, Katie Cushing and Kathryn Cua
Dave Killpack, Mary and Tim Lyne, and Jeni Fabian
Beth Risinger and event planner Kristina Taheri
Ryan Lee and Paxton Gammie Derek Chimenti, Marybeth Chimenti, B.J. Chimenti and Norm Chimenti
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 21
Hinsdale Woman
Lisa Lambert of Hinsdale, surrounded by “Charlie’s Angels” team leaders Jacqui Woodridge and Christa Roehl, and HMS students
Lisa Lambert
Photo by Marcello Rodarte
Hinsdale resident awarded for her dedication to the Community House
M by mike ellis
any area residents have pitched in at the Community House in one capacity or another, but very few have done more to assist the organization than Lisa Lambert of Hinsdale. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Lambert moved to Hinsdale six years ago with her husband, Paul, and three kids, ages 16, 14 and nine respectively. Lambert was introduced to the Community House six years ago, while her daughter attended the Children’s Montessori Language Academy. At that time, she became aware of the sundry recreational programs the Community House offers, but said she was unfamiliar with its community service programs such as Charlie’s Gift and Willowbrook Corner until Hinsdale resident Suzanne Petree shared more information with her. “I really didn’t realize how much [the Community House] did in the community, outside of social programs,” Lambert said. Based on Ogden Ave. in Downers Grove, the Charlie’s Gift Autism Center is a Community House facility that provides programs and therapy for autistic individuals and their families. The name is derived from the main character in the book What Is Autism by Gene Madarino, and is designed to be emblematic of all children who face the struggles of autism. Assessing a completely different set of needs in the Western Suburbs, the Community House provides educational services to children in the Willowbrook Corner neighborhood through its program of the same name. With its after-school and summer learning programs, the Community House supplies needed support to a neighborhood with many underprivileged individuals living below the poverty line. “Community House is a place that so many of us in the
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community are fortunate to have,” Lambert said. “We can afford to bring our kids to programs there; we can afford to sign them up for art classes and sports programs. “It’s hard to believe that there are families so close to us [that] don’t have a spot for their kids to go after school.” Having gleaned more knowledge about the Community House, Lambert and her family began volunteering with the organization at the Community Revue and other regular events. With a background in advertising and marketing, Lambert said she felt volunteering for the Community House and disseminating information about its programs and services to others was a natural fit. Two years ago, she joined the Board of Trustees and became the first community chair of the Walk for Autism, a major fundraiser for Charlie’s Gift held annually at the end of April. This fundraiser, which starts and ends at Hinsdale Central, has grown significantly over its six-year history, drawing about 1,500 volunteer walkers in 2013. Lambert, co-chair Jeff Miller and the Community House Junior Board played a crucial role in the walk’s growth over the past two years, working to incorporate more local schoolchildren in the event. “The high-school kids do a fabulous job with [the Walk for Autism],” Lambert said. “What [the Community House] wanted to do was take it to the next level, and get more involvement from the local elementary schools. “And I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me. It’s a cause that [our family cares] deeply about, because we have close friends and family who are affected by autism.” Partnering with District 181, Lambert and Miller began working with Superintendent Dr. Renée Schuster and district
“Community House is a place that so many of us in the community are fortunate to have. We can afford to bring our kids to programs there; we can afford to sign them up for art classes and sports programs. It’s hard to believe that there are families so close to us [that] don’t have a spot for their kids to go after school.” -Lisa Lambert principals two years ago. Other local schools, including St. Isaac Jogues, got involved as well. Lambert said each principal helped her find the appropriate contact to aid her in populating various walk teams. These teams were comprised of students, teachers and parents at each school. All registrants paid to partake in the walk, and were encouraged to fundraise. “We encouraged a friendly competition among schools,” Lambert said. In 2012, only certain schools participated, but this past year, all nine District 181 schools got involved, competing for a pizza party and the “big blue shoe” trophy. This blue Converse shoe is awarded to the school with the best participation in the Walk for Autism. Denominating themselves “Charlie’s Angels,” (as they were raising money for Charlie’s Gift,) the Hinsdale Middle School team earned the “big blue shoe” as the top fundraising team. Lambert said the prize, coupled with Junior Board members addressing their elementary- and middle-school peers, helped to attract greater participation in the walk and raise awareness about autism. “Besides just raising money for [the Walk for Autism], what we really wanted to do was raise awareness,” Lambert said. “We wanted the kids to know why we’re doing this, and to accept people’s differences. “Whether they walked or they sponsored a friend or [wore] blue on autism awareness day, the main goal was to educate, raise awareness, and get them to the understanding.” But bolstering student participation in the Walk for Autism wasn’t all Lambert and her family did for the Community House in 2013. A casual runner, Lambert and her husband Paul run in the Chicago Half Marathon regularly, raising money for the charity of their choice. This past spring, they formed a team consisting of 20 runners called Mind Over Miles to raise funds for the Community House Counseling Center. The counseling center has supplied significant counseling services to residents of Hinsdale and neighboring communities for 35 years. These services range from grief and relationship counseling to confronting workinduced anxiety and stress. Lambert said some of her team members had never competed in such an extended race before, and she and her husband were greatly assisted by Hinsdale residents David and Sara Fix, accomplished endurance athletes who trained the team for 12 weeks. Altogether, the Mind Over Miles team raised over $10,000 for the Counseling Center, which had lost funding in the previous year. “When you’re running, it’s kind of nice to know that it’s for more than just your own physical fitness, or your own personal goals,” Lambert said. “Those last few miles [were] struggling and painful, but you know that through that, you’re helping someone else out who may be struggling too.” For all of her efforts, Lambert received the Katharine Van Dusen Sylvester Volunteer Service Award, which is given annually to a Community House volunteer who is able “to unite service and leadership for the betterment of the community.”
This award is named for the woman of the same name, a lifetime trustee for the Community House. “I was really honored that they chose me,” she said. Community House Development Director Michael Roth said the Community House was “honored” to present Lambert with the award, feeling she was a very deserving recipient. “Lisa has given of her time and significant talents in numerous ways for the Community House,” Roth said. “Lisa volunteers her time whenever and wherever she is needed at the Community House, and is an absolute pleasure to work with. “She exemplifies the criteria set forth in the award, and her kindness is contagious.” Lambert said she believes local residents seeking volunteer opportunities should look no further than the Community House. “If people are looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities in the community, there’s so many chances to help others at the Community House.” For more information about the Community House and its programs, visit www.thecommunityhouse.org.
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www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 23
Ask the Expert
Ask the Expert With the New Year, it’s time to take a fresh look in the mirror and consider what’s new when it comes to skin care. At Steil Dermatology, we are excited about cutting edge breakthroughs in skin care. We are always looking for ways to give you healthy, beautiful skin, and which are minimally invasive and involve little or no down time.
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DERMAPEN Dermapen treatments are taking the skin care world by storm! A small pen like instrument with tiny needles harnesses the power of your skin to heal itself. It’s called “micro” needling,” but there’s nothing small about the results. Dermapen targets problem areas of your face – everywhere or just in key spots – that have sun damage, large pores, hyper pigmentation, texture problems, you name it. In our carefully controlled and comfortable process, your skin believes it’s being “damaged” as we roll the pen over it. So guess what? It creates new collagen in order to heal and that means stronger, thicker, healthier skin, and that shows up in the mirror as healthier, more radiant skin. Dermapen can be beautifully combined with a skin tightening treatment because the microneedling allows us to go deeper into your collagen layers. The treatment can be coupled with Ultherapy or Exilis skin tightening for stunning results. For a simple treatment, you will leave looking rosy and you’ll want to avoid makeup for the day. More aggressive treatments might mean a few days of downtime.
CONSIDER COMPLETELY NONINVASIVE SKIN REJUVENATION! Not everyone is a candidate for injections, or maybe you are someone who just isn’t comfortable with injectables. There are so many other options to consider for beautiful skin. Try an IPL treatment or “fotofacial.” This laser light treatment is great for treating hyperpigmentation and pores. Because we ask you to stay out of the sun after light based treatments, this one is great to consider in these winter months. How about a miocrodermabrasion, where we gently and mechanically lift off those dry dead skin cells? Again, winter when our skin tends to get dull from dry skin buildup is a perfect time for this treatment. Or consider a chemical peel. In fact these two treatments work so beautifully together as they enhance each other, we call them the “dynamic duo.” These treatments have little to no downtime but are wonderfully effective. Most are improved when done in a series. Come see us at Steil Dermatology for a consultation on how best to provide cold weather “TLC” for the skin you are in!
THREE COLD WEATHER SKIN TIPS FOR EVERYONE your cleansers and moisturizers. This time of year, you will want to be using 1. Check those that are emollient based. In particular, look for products containing the
“humectants” glycerin, urea or an alpha-hydroxy acids to pull water into the top layer of your skin. Use a cream to lock in moisture. And if you want to go natural apply natural oils like grapeseed, olive or sunflower, to your skin after your bath or shower.
putting that sunblock on! Don’t be fooled. When you are outside it doesn’t 2. Keep matter if it is cold, you are getting sun. In fact, it might be worse than summer because snow reflects, and can magnify the effect of the sun. And with the winter we’ve been having, that’s good to know.
don’t already have that humidifier running throughout your house 3. Ifor you at least in your bedroom, get one going now. Dry, cold weather just
sucks moisture out of your skin. Fight back and enhance everything you are doing, whether at home or with us at Steil Dermatology, by keeping the moisture in your skin no matter what the weather.
Steil Dermatology 40 S. Clay, Suite 210E Hinsdale 630-455-0045
STEILDERM.com Follow us on Facebook Dr. Christina Steil, MD
24 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
From all of us at Steil Dermatology, we wish you and your skin – a happy and beautiful New Year.
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 25
Event Calendar
Queen of Hearts Misericordia Women’s League returns to old roots for 18th annual fundraiser at Drury Lane this March
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by mike ellis
he Misericordia Women’s League will host its 18th annual fundraiser at Drury Lane in Oak Brook Terrace on March 8. Over the past several years, the fundraiser has explored a variety of themes, ranging from Mis Amore to the apropos March Madness. But this year the Women’s League has decided to restore its original concept of a charitable casino night with the theme Queen of Hearts. “We’ve gone downtown, we’ve done ‘70s Night,’ we’ve gone bowling, and now we’re back to casino night,” league president Therese Rooney said. “We’re excited to go back to the beginning, and resurrect a fun event.” Guests will have the opportunity to partake in a Las Vegasesque environment, playing popular casino games to raise money for Misericordia, a north-side campus that currently offers shelter for more than 600 adults and children with physical and mental disabilities. “We try to keep [the event] as fun and casual for our guests as possible,” event co-chair Michelle Parsons said. “People will be able to come in and play their favorite casino games—blackjack, craps, roulette and poker.” The chips at each table will start at $5, with guests receiving an unlimited amount of chances to play. But instead of fortuitous victors taking home grand prizes, Misericordia will be the big winner, receiving all of the money raised that night. “If we can have people come and have fun, and help people at the same time, it’s an amazing thing,” event co-chair M.K. Granato-Dungan said. After the gaming portion of the evening, any remaining chips can be exchanged for tickets for a big-ticket raffle that will be conducted after dinner. Some Misericordia residents will also be in attendance at the fundraiser, as will its director, Sister Rosemary Connolly, who has worked to grow and improve programming for over 40 years. “You can learn a lot more about Misericordia by attending,” Parsons said. “Sister Rosemary will be here to speak about the current needs of Misericordia [and] what it’s facing today.” All of the proceeds from Queen of Hearts will be directed
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Photo by Marcello Rodarte
Misericordia Women’s League President Therese Rooney with fundraiser co-chairs Michelle Parsons and M.K. Granato-Dungan
towards Misericordia’s Personal Effectiveness Program (PEP). Combining a specialized curriculum with modern technology like SMART boards and iPads, this program aids residents by enhancing skills that increase personal independence. Parsons and Granato-Dungan both share familial connections to Misericordia. Granato-Dungan’s 18-year-old daughter has special needs, and is nearing the transition into the career phase of her life, while Parsons’ sister-in-law has resided at Misericordia for 20 years. Both said the Women’s League has been an ideal way for them to contribute to a cause that affects them and their families. “A lot of people have great resources,” Granato-Dungan said, “[but] they don’t necessarily know how to help other people [on their own]. They kind of need those connectors, which I think we are; we’re the middle-men or middle-women that connect the people who have the resources to the people who have the greatest need. “This is just one great opportunity to have a lot of fun while doing that.” Queen of Hearts will be held at Drury Lane on March 8. The Women’s League is still in the process of procuring raffle items. Businesses that sponsor gaming tables will receive signage on that table and a full-page advertisement in the program book. Gaming table sponsorships are $1,000 apiece. To learn more about Misericordia, visit www.misericordia.com.
2014
HAPPY NEW YEAR
THANK YOU for allowing us to sell your home. Your trust and confidence in us in 2013 and the years ahead, are the highest compliment we can receive. SOLD
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We wish everyone a healthy, happy new year!
Sally Pelling (630) 399-0045 Katy Lacrosse (630) 308-3692
25 W. Chicago Ave. | Hinsdale IL | sallypelling.com | shophinsdalehomes.com www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 27
Community Scene
Photos courtesy of Cara Dickerson
Mary Lozanoski, Lynn Schaub, Jody Tate, Alyssa Guido and Kristen Meyers
The Hinsdale Auxiliary Children’s Home + Aid
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he Hinsdale Auxiliary of Children’s Home + Aid hosted its annual Sherry Party at the Green Goddess Boutique in Hinsdale on the evening of Dec. 5. Over 100 ladies from the Greater Hinsdale area brought unwrapped gifts for children in need, enjoyed a night out with friends, and browsed the boutique, with 20 percent of the evening’s proceeds raising money for Children’s Home + Aid. “People were so nice to come out on this cold day and do some shopping,” Sherry Party co-chair Ann Bynan said. “It’s a great way to get some Christmas shopping done, and also to benefit the kids.” This was the fourth straight year the event was held at the Green Goddess Boutique. Owner Elyce Rembos said she is happy to continue partnering with the auxiliary to support Children’s Home + Aid. “[Children’s Home + Aid] is very near and dear to a lot of people in the community,” Rembos said, “and they do an
Ann Bynan, Elyce Rembos, Stephanie Silva
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awesome job of providing relief for families in crisis.” Children’s Home + Aid is a non-profit organization that has strived to construct better lives for children and families in the Chicago area since 1883. The organization provides foster care for children and intact services for families under duress, such as crisis intervention and educational support. Located in Evanston, the Rice Child + Family Center serves as a temporary foster home for severely abused and neglected children. For more information about Children’s Home + Aid and the Hinsdale Auxiliary, visit www.childrenshomeandaid.org.
Photos courtesy of Kristen Ashby
Dee Bauer, Albert Sunseri, Kristen Ashby andRuta Dudenas-Bridgden
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HJWC Gift of the Season
he Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club and HCS Family Services teamed up to provide gifts for local families in need at the annual Gift of the Season at Grace Episcopal Church in Hinsdale on Dec. 7. Members of almost 60 families perused a room filled with items for children of all ages, ranging from board games, electronics and plush toys, to mittens and scarves. In all, each family was permitted to collect about $100 worth in items per child, and also received a $25 Jewel gift card. “There were tons of toys, and the quality of toys was amazing,” event co-chair Kristen Ashby said. The HJWC had more than enough toys in stock for all of those who passed through Grace Church, collecting donations at roughly 20 drop-box locations scattered throughout the
area. Meanwhile, the Union Church Early Childhood Program conducted a drive to donate pajamas and books, and Sidley Austin, LLP, a Chicago law firm, made 100 laptops available for families. The Hinsdale Central Hockey Club also pitched in, helping to move the boxes of leftover toys outside, which were later transported to HCS Family Services. “We’ve received some letters of appreciation saying how this [was] their first time at the event, how much they appreciate it,” Ashby said, “and when they’re back on their feet, they’re going to pay it forward—which is fabulous.” For more information about the HJWC, visit www.hjwc. us. To learn more about HCS Family Services, visit www. hcsfamilyservices.org.
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• 630.325.3330 • 630.904.7600 • 708.425.1111 www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 29
Community Scene
Hinsdale & Clarendon Hills Christmas Walks Hundreds of local residents braved the cold, coming out for the Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills Christmas Walks on the evening of Dec. 6. The Christmas Walks are annual traditions that allow residents, local businesses and public servants to share in the holiday spirit on one night in early December. Both events featured plenty of entertainment for children. At the Hinsdale walk, a small train carried kids in a loop on First
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30 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
Street, while horse and buggy rides were provided for families in Clarendon Hills. Meanwhile, Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and other costumed Star Wars characters patrolled the storefronts along the west side of Washington Street. In Clarendon Hills, firefighters supplied an assortment of roasted nuts, while realtor Mike McCurry hosted a band and offered a variety of food in his Prospect Ave. office.
Ethan Laney, Andrew Prisby, Chris Prisby and Layla Byrd
Samantha Reuter and Christine Smith Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Clarendon Hills firefighters Jim Schlicher, Matthew Landnick and Lisa Grayhill
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www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 31
Giving Back
Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Aspire President and CEO Jim Kales and board member Gary Kobus at the organization’s CareerLink training center in Hillside
Aspiring to excel
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Westchester-based organization features unique program helping people with developmental disabilities find their workplace niche
BY MIKE ELLIS
here are a number of organizations committed to aiding people in need, but not all of them have been serving out their mission for over 50 years. Based in nearby Westchester, Aspire has been providing services to people with developmental disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, and their families since 1960. “I think our name sums up pretty well what we do—Aspire: we help kids and adults with a range of disabilities to aspire and reach for their dreams,” Aspire President and CEO Jim Kales said. “Everything we do is about helping kids
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and adults with disabilities to grow, learn and become a part of our communities.” Aspire offers diverse services to disabled individuals, ranging from comprehensive physical therapy programs to classroomtype instruction. It is a non-profit organization, assisting about 1,000 children and adults in 50 Chicagoland communities. Some children and adults come to Aspire facilities in the Western Suburbs and Chicago, while others receive in-home services. Kales said some of the children Aspire assists hail from low-income families in communities like Maywood and Bellwood. Due to financial constraints, these families have less access to providing the requisite supports to accommodating their children with special needs. Staff members are also
Partnering with Metropolis Coffee Company, Aspire CoffeeWorks is creating working opportunities for people with disabilities, while producing excellent coffee to boot. To learn more, visit www. aspirecoffeeworks.com.
“We’ve got a spirit of innovation—of trying new approaches. [We’re] kind of breaking new boundaries for people with disabilities, but also for the community.”
-Jim Kales based at 18 community homes in the Western Suburbs, working with disabled adults who live in these homes and have been integrated into their respective communities. Over time, services have evolved considerably. For example, Kales said Aspire is now using physical therapy to increase motion in infants with Down syndrome. This technique can bolster development down the line, as these individuals are able to experience more, thereby learning more about their surroundings. With these types of advances, Kales said we should not be surprised to see people with autism or Down syndrome achieving more as time progresses. Aspire also works with families of individuals with developmental disabilities, hosting parent support groups, as well as one for siblings.
Focus on careers
Aspire was founded in 1960 by a group of parents that desired more for their children with disabilities, and Kales said he believes that “pioneering spirit” has continued to the present-day. “We’ve got a spirit of innovation—of trying new approaches,” he said. “[We’re] kind of breaking new boundaries for people with disabilities, but also for the community.” One of Aspire’s newest innovations is its CareerLink enterprise, developed through partnerships with large companies like OfficeMax and Walgreens. Designed for young adults with disabilities making the transition into the workplace, CareerLink is a training center that provides a simulated work experience in realistic workplace environments, thereby allowing prospective employees to find the right fit, while also enabling prospective employers to evaluate their options. “It actually has the ability to train adults with disabilities in a real-world environment before putting them into an actual job situation,” Kales said. “I think the significance of that is twofold: on the one hand, people with disabilities can build their confidence and their skills; but the other exciting thing about it is employers say, ‘You’re not just throwing somebody at me; let’s hope that it works out.’ We can say, ‘This person trained
for 12 weeks; his productivity at the warehouse station was 92 percent. He did well in this area; we think he’s going to be a good fit for you.’” Kales said this method is beneficial for both sides, as companies are less inclined to feel pressure to make a sympathetic hire. “It creates more of a rigorous process, so it’s not just, ‘Hire this person, because it’s a nice thing to do,’” he said. “We find that [method] doesn’t tend to be sustainable. If it’s, ‘Hire this person, because he’s one of the best people for the job, regardless of the fact that he has autism or Down syndrome,’—then you really can get to an ability to hire more people.” Next year, the Hillside-based CareerLink center will be expanding to include a simulated OfficeMax store. Here, employees will do everything from helping hypothetical customers shop to scanning items for purchasing.
Partnerships
Aspire partners with a wide range of corporations, such as OfficeMax, Walgreens, MB Financial and Groupon. Kales said the partnership approach his organization takes separates it from some charities; he said many companies have found it “refreshing.” “We don’t go to companies and say, ‘Hey, we’re a charity; here’s our hat; give us some money,’” he said. “We go to companies and other organizations and say, ‘How can we partner together? How can we help you with your business? How can we help move your business objectives forward.’”
Church and school groups can also get involved with Aspire through volunteer projects. “When we get a company or a church or a school-group involved in helping us with our mission, it’s also modeling our vision of inclusion, because those people in the community are learning about the gifts of people with disabilities,” Kales said. “They’re learning about how we’re all stronger together.”
Fundraising opportunities
Aside from partnering with companies, Aspire also relies on two primary fundraisers to raise money towards its programs and services. One fundraiser is held in the city, the other in the Western Suburbs. Big City Night is an evening gala that benefits Aspire’s initiatives for kids with disabilities. This year’s event will be held at the Chicago Marriott hotel on Feb. 8, and will be emceed by Art Norman of WMAQ-TV. Each summer, Aspire conducts a golf tournament at Butterfield Country Club in Oak Brook that benefits its career and life-enrichment initiatives for adults with disabilities. This year’s Aspire Classic Golf Tournament will be its 29th, and will be chaired by board member Gary Kobus, a Hinsdale resident. Kobus, who has family members that have been affected by disabilities, has been working with Aspire for the past three years. He said he was stirred to involvement on both a “personal” and “philosophical” level. “My personal interest is seeing my relatives struggle in their daily lives,” Kobus said. “The programs they’re in are very good, but they’re very different from what Aspire offers. “It’s the inclusion—it’s the ability to help these individuals step into the community and really create a meaningful life.” For more information about Aspire, visit www.aspireofillinois.org. If you have a child or young adult with developmental disabilities, you are encouraged to dial (708)-547-3550. If you have any interest in participating in or attending the golf outing at Butterfield Country Club this summer, contact Gary Kobus, gkobus@ lpc.com. www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 33
Giving Back
Global Luxury Imports & Blackhawks fight hunger
G
lobal Luxury Imports and the Issa Family Foundation held its 3rd annual food drive in Burr Ridge to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The vast auto showroom included exotic cars and hundreds of Blackhawk fans and guests who brought bags of non-perishable food. They filled truckloads of donated items for families throughout Chicagoland. Blackhawk stars Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Bryan Bickell and Corey Crawford were in attendance helping collect food and monetary donations while also signing autographs on Saturday December 21. Sultan Issa, owner of Global Luxury Imports organized the event with his wife Sakeba and hosted Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White among others. “Every year my wife Sakeba and I get together with the Chicago Blackhawks and we partner with the Greater Chicago Food Depositories because we firmly believe that no one should go to bed hungry. We are very fortunate to have some good friends from the Blackhawks here on their own time and their presence here helps us fill our trucks with so much food. They receive no compensation for being here and we are blessed and fortunate to have them.� For more information about the Greater Chicago Food Depository, please visit www. chicagofoodbank.org
34 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
Photos by Marcello Rodarte
Secretary of State, Jesse White
Issa Family and Blackhawks players
Chicago
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Hinsdale (630) 654-2900
920 N. York Road, Suite 310 | Hinsdale, IL 60521
Education
Olivia, Ruby and Macey Miller, with Lina Kuliavas
Prospect students visit nine ‘cities’ around the world
Rosemary Grant, Mandy Wichman and Becky Haagsma
Prospect School students and their parents gathered for the school’s annual Family Reading Night on Nov. 21. Students trekked around the school, visiting nine “cities” from around the world. This geographythemed evening was designed in
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conjunction with Prospect’s “One School, One Book” reading of MVP (which stands for Magellan Voyage Project) by Douglas Evans. The book follows Adam, a 12-year-old boy who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime when he is asked to circumnavigate the globe in 40 days—without flying.
As part of the Magellan Voyage Project, he competes against 23 other kids for a $4 million prize. “Every family is given the book that we choose that we think is appropriate for the whole family to enjoy, to encourage family-reading time,” Prospect MRC Director Becky Haagsma said. “This evening is just a night to celebrate reading,
and incorporate a little bit of learning about things around the world.” As students toured their school, the highlight of the evening was the GeoSphere—a 20-foot-tall inflatable globe that towered over the basketball hoop. Kids looked on in amazement before stepping inside the sphere, where they viewed the world from “Antarctica.”
Families also had the opportunity to purchase books of a variety of genres in the gymnasium. Proceeds from these purchases were applied to future discounts on books at Anderson’s Bookshop.
Photos courtesy of Lori Thompson
Prospect School students take turns entering the giant GeoSphere at Family Reading Night.
Charlotte Goggin
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 37
An exterior view of the Dominick’s in Willowbrook
end of an era
Photo by Marcello Rodarte
Dominick’s shuts doors after nearly a century of doing business in Chicago
D by mike ellis
ominick’s permanently closed the doors on its stores in the Chicagoland area late last month, culminating 95 years in business. Safeway, Inc., the California-based parent company for the supermarket chain that has served residents’ grocery needs for over nine decades, announced that it would be closing all of its stores last October.
Climbing to the top In 1918, Dominick Di Matteo, an Italian immigrant, opened the first Dominick’s store (called Dominick’s Finer Foods) at 3832 W. Ohio Ave. in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. According to Dominick’s, the original deli was only about 1,000 square feet (20’ x 50’) in size—a far cry from today’s mammoth supermarkets. It was a neighborhood store that supplied meat and produce, specializing in Italian foods. A second Dominick’s opened in 1934 in the heat of the Great Depression. After World War II, supermarkets began surfacing, and Di Matteo and his son, Dominick Di Matteo, Jr., pounced 38 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
on the opportunity to expand, unveiling the first Dominick’s supermarket in 1950 at 6900 W. North Ave. along the Chicago-River Forest border. At 14,000 square feet, this store dwarfed the original Dominick’s Finer Foods in scale. Dominick’s continued its expansion over the next two decades, and totaled 18 stores when it was sold to Ohio-based Fisher Foods for $12 million in 1968. During the subsequent decade or so, a number of significant changes occurred in the Chicagoland grocery market that helped enable Dominick’s to grow to the No. 2 chain in the market. Kroger pulled out of the market, followed by National Tea and A&P, paving the way for Dominick’s to roughly quadruple its locations by 1981—the year Di Matteo, Jr., reacquired his father’s brainchild from Fisher Foods for $100 million.
Decline and demise By the mid-1990s, Dominick’s had expanded to over 100 stores in the Chicagoland area. Los Angeles-based Yucaipa Cos., which acquired several supermarket chains and operators out west in the late 1980s and early 1990s, bought the chain in 1995. Under Yucaipa Cos., Dominick’s Fresh Stores
was launched in 1996; but supermarket experts said Dominick’s had already attained its peak by this time. “Dominick’s reached [its] peak in the early ‘90s,” said David Livingston, a Milwaukee-based supermarket analyst. “Then, they expanded and started opening Omni stores, and even built a couple in Indiana. “Those were huge flops, and the chain began to decline.” In 1998, California-based Safeway, Inc. acquired Dominick’s, which experts said expedited its decline. “Dominick’s’ downward spiral was accelerated after its acquisition by Safeway in the late 1990s,” said Dr. David Rogers, president of supermarket research firm DSR Marketing Systems in north suburban Northbrook. “Safeway’s senior management had a poor understanding of the Chicago market, and executed costcontrol measures which weakened the store’s merchandising.” Safeway supplanted a number of familiar products with Safeway SELECT® products, which were unknown to Chicagoans. It also eliminated specialorder requests, a practice that aligned with Di Matteo’s original neighborhood store concept.
“Safeway came along, and Dominick’s took advantage of their naivety,” Livingston said. “They got Safeway to significantly overpay for a chain that was in the beginning stages of decline. “To make matters worse, Safeway simply had no clue how to go to market in Chicago—one blunder after another. “They should have gotten out ten years [ago].”
The shut down Last month, starting on Friday, Dec. 13, shoppers flocked to Dominick’s stores throughout the area for a 50-percent off closing sale on virtually every item in the store, designed to clear out all remaining inventory. With the exception of select products in the produce, dairy and bakery departments, everything was marked down significantly. At the Dominick’s in nearby Willowbrook, all hands were on deck for the hectic weekend. Every register was open on Friday and Saturday, many employees worked overtime, and some employees from other departments had to be relocated to the registers to accommodate the inundation of eager shoppers. By the following Tuesday, Dec. 17, about three-quarters of the Willowbrook Dominick’s appeared vacuous. At press-time, only 15 of the 72 Dominick’s had officially been purchased—four by its longtime archrival Jewel-Osco, and 11 by the emerging Mariano’s Fresh Market. Eric Bailey, director of communcations for UFCW Local 1546, a union that represents Dominick’s employees, said eight Dominick’s—five of which will become Mariano’s—will remain open for a short time, and probably shut down by mid-January. Bailey said that Jewel will continue to employ the approximately 700 employees at the stores it absorbed. Mariano’s conducted three job fairs for its new locations from Dec. 12-14. Jim Hyland, VP of investor relations and corporate communications for Mariano’s parent-company Roundy’s, said over 2,000 job-seekers attended these fairs, including Dominick’s employees. Bailey said that in addition to 5,300 store employees, there are another 270 Northlake factory workers, as well as employees from Chase and Starbucks that operated inside of Dominick’s stores who are losing their jobs as a result of the closures. “I think by the time all is said and done,
you’re going to be looking at close to 6,000 workers losing their jobs,” he said, “and that’s a huge blow to the economy.” Dr. Rogers said that unlike Jewel and Dominick’s, Whole Foods Market and other prospective independent grocers that could replace Dominick’s are nonunion, presenting an obstacle to simply transitioning employees from one store to the next. Bailey said he is hopeful that whomever steps in to purchase the remaining stores will hire these workers, all of whom have varying experience working in the supermarket industry.
An evolving industry Launched in 2010 by former Dominick’s CEO and current Roundy’s chairman and CEO Bob Mariano, Mariano’s Fresh Market has attracted considerable attention in the Chicago grocery industry. At the end of 2013, Mariano’s had 13 locations in the Chicago metropolitan area, mainly concentrated in the city and Northwest Suburbs. But the store, which Hyland said caters to both upscale and middle-income shoppers, is beginning to make a splash in the Western Suburbs as well. Mariano’s has stores in Wheaton and Elmhurst, is taking over the Dominick’s in Western Springs, and is planning to open a new location in Westmont at 63rd Street and Cass Ave. Hyland said Mariano’s is not a “discount” or “specialty” grocery store, and that its “fresh” concept of offering a variety of meat, produce, bakery and floral items is what differentiates it from competitors. “Our success comes from the fact that we offer a highly differentiated food shopping experience to our customers,” he said. “You will find products in our store that you won’t find elsewhere. ‘Sameness’ is not in our DNA. “Our customers will continue to see exciting offerings in our stores, ranging from cooking stations, sushi stations, wood stone fired pizzas, specialty artisan cheeses and baked goods.” Dr. Rogers said he believes Bob Mariano’s past experience in the Chicago grocery industry with Dominick’s has helped put him in-tune with local customers. “You go into a Mariano’s, and you can see that Bob Mariano knows what brands people want in Chicago,” he said. But don’t expect Mariano’s to swiftly acquire the majority of the 57 Dominick’s
stores on the market. Livingston said such an endeavor would be “too costly” for Mariano to undertake, and Dr. Rogers said parent company Roundy’s is currently facing stiff competition in the Milwaukee and Twin Cities markets. “These are expensive stores to remodel and upgrade,” Livingston said. So who will absorb the remaining Dominick’s stores? There is speculation that Whole Foods is taking over the Willowbrook Dominick’s, but the company’s Midwest regional office could neither confirm nor deny that report at press-time. Livingston and Dr. Rogers said prime candidates include the aforementioned Whole Foods Market, Central Grocers, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, Kroger’s and Ultra Foods. It may, however, take some time before the current vacancies are filled. “I don’t see them being in any particular rush, because they know the stores are going dark,” Dr. Rogers said. “Why not wait until spring or summer?” Dr. Rogers said the Chicago grocery industry is entering a transitional stage akin to the one longtime residents encountered over three decades ago. “The future of the local supermarket industry will continue to be multiformat and ‘diverse’—and the demise of Dominick’s will just accelerate this evolution,” he said. “Retailers such as ALDI, Costco, Mariano’s, Meijer, WalMart/Sam’s and Whole Foods will be of increasing importance—together with independents serving specific ethnic groups, and new natural-organic and premium entrants.” Sources: Dominick’s: Our Story; “Dominick’s Finer Foods, Inc. History,” www.fundinguniverse.com; “Yucaipa, Management purchase Dominick’s,” Supermarket News, Feb. 6, 1995; “Safeway buys Dominick’s;” CNNMoney. com, Oct. 13, 1998; “Safeway to Buy Dominick’s for $1.85 billion,” San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 14, 1998; “Dominick’s: From a corner grocery to a Chicago institution,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 10, 2013; “Roundy’s acquires 11 Dominick’s stores from Safeway for $36M in cash,” Yahoo! Finance, Dec. 2, 2013; “Jewel-Osco Sets Dominick’s Reopening Dates,” Supermarket News, Dec. 11, 2013; “Dominick’s Employees Face Layoffs,” Supermarket News, Dec. 13, 2013.
www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 39
financial
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MPI INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT has stayed true to a conservative investment philosophy that focuses on quality, riskaverse investments with stable long-term rates of return. Located in Hinsdale for 27 years, the independent registered investment advisor has provided its clients separately managed Fixed Income, Equity and Balanced portfolios. MPI has a conservative bias and they actively manage each portfolio to ensure all of its clients’ unique investment goals are maintained. MPI’s clients are nationwide and range from high net worth individuals to municipalities, insurance companies, hospitals, foundations and pension plans. With a boutique structure, a proven investment style, and long-term management continuity, MPI Investment Management has established a strong performance record. During the last two decades, MPI has been recognized nationally several times for its fixed income investment management. MPI INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s portfolio management team of Dave Pequet and Bradley Smith has been together for more than 20 years, a rarity these days in a very transient Wall Street executive
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environment. In all, the team has more than 50 years of combined experience in the wealth management industry. MPI prides itself in providing its clients with income solutions in this low interest rate environment. MPI offers both equity income and fixed income portfolios that allow their clients to increase their investment income at low levels of risk. Their equity income strategies include both a large cap dividend approach and a Master Limited Partnership portfolio. On the bond side MPI specializes in both a high quality Taxable bond strategy as well as a very conservative Tax Free municipal bond strategy. Because of MPI’s boutique size, all of their investment strategies are personalized for their clients, a nice change from the large “one size fits all” approach employed by most large financial firms on Wall Street. DAVID. W. PEQUET founded the advisory firm MPI Investment Management, Inc. in 1986. He is a Director and officer of the Bond Club of Chicago, founded in 1910 and the oldest business association in the City. For the past 25 years, David has been active at the executive level in several community
and youth programs in the Hinsdale area, including eight years as a board member of the Oak Brook Plan Commission, six years as a coach and Director of the Hinsdale Little League, and has been a Director and Treasurer of the Hinsdale Public Library Foundation for the last ten years. Dave and his wife of 37 years, Christine, live in Hinsdale. Their two sons, David and Matt, both graduated from Hinsdale Central and work in the investment business. BRADLEY C. SMITH has been MPI’s Sr. Vice President & Portfolio Manager since 1992. Brad is an integral part of MPI’s equity and fixed income portfolio management team. Brad has been an equity partner of MPI since 2002. Brad lives in Elmhurst with his wife Leigh Anne and their three daughters. MATT PEQUET joined MPI in 2003. He is a Vice President responsible for the supervision and management of securities trading, back office operations and client reporting. Matt lives in Chicago and became an equity partner at MPI in 2008.
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Peak Performance
16 Tips To Own The Future
G
et ready Hinsdale area. 2013 is over— done. You achieved some goals, and others you did not. It’s time to start anew for 2014. It’s time for the new you. Now pick something you will accomplish in the first 90 days. Choose wisely; make it worthwhile. Provide a carrot for your efforts; make the project or goal meaningful. Jim Fannin Set the tone for the year. Understand Contributing Writer these next 90 days will peel off the calendar in a hurry. If the project or goal is worthy, this time limit will pose challenges. Good—stress is good. This will get your blood flowing. Before you take your first step, will you commit fully for the next 90 days? A commitment of time, effort and sacrifice is usually the lofty price for great achievement. Next, you must own this project or goal. It is all yours to gain or lose. There are no gray-areas here. It’s time you own it. Here are a few tips of project and goal ownership: 1. Passion is not work. What do you love to do? Do you love to sell? Do you love to solve human or mechanical challenges? Do you love to build things, or do you love to serve? What positive experiences do you bring to the table? The foundation of your success is built on these passionate characteristics, skills, experiences or qualities. A successful project needs positive attitudinal fuel to meet the challenges and obstacles. Make your list of these unique qualities. Do what you love, and love what you do. 2. There are no excuses. Tennis great, John McEnroe once told me, “Excuses are for losers!” Wow—I had never heard that said so boldly from someone of his stature. He was right. No excuses—none. Tear down the safety nets that offer safe harbor when things go wrong. Eliminate shoulda’, coulda’ and woulda’.
3. Holding yourself accountable is a “mirror” thing. When you look into the reflective glass, there’s only one face staring back—you. Literally see the mirror twice daily, and state your objective as if it’s so. Don’t forget that when your fingerprints are on the project, the results are all yours—either way. 4. Do not blink when adversity arrives. This can definitely rattle the meek. Keep your eye on the prize. For example, a champion golfer never sees the hazards until taking his or her eyes off of the target. 5. See it to the finish line. The last steps can get steep. There will be lots of distractions. If you look ahead, you may miss a step. Stay focused on the task at hand—stay the course! 6. Owning more than one project at a time will have diminishing returns. You know this. Why do you let your ego 42 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
run the show? One thing at a time—less is more. Put on your blinders, and say, “No,” to the myriad of opportunities that will eventually cloud your reason. 7. Fully engage in the moment. Feel that there is nothing you would rather be doing—nothing. 8. Commit to a strategy and tactics. Stay the course, even if at first you don’t succeed. Know your primary strategy and its compliment of tactics. However, prepare to adjust swiftly. 9. Bold brings better. Your goal or project may take courage. Be brave; good fortune favors the bold. 10. Delegate with a watchful eye. If delegation is warranted, give them responsibility, measured authority, and hold them accountable. 11. You can’t own the mansion without controlling the driveway. Watch who drives up to your project after it’s begun. Protect the perimeter—invited guests only. No distractions; no trespassing. 12. Bring the project or goal into daily, weekly and monthly tasks. How do you eat an elephant?—one bite at a time. 13. In order to smile in the future, you must smile at the challenge. This is easier said than done, but doable. To own the future is to own the present. Obviously, one leads to the other. Enjoy the challenges—bring it! 14. The owner stays open when the non-owner goes home. Yes, there is a price. Pay now or you’ll pay later. Work early; work late. 15. When the project stalls, the non-owner looks around for advice. Look inward, not outward; be decisive. You have the only vote that matters. 16. It’s easy to talk yourself out of anything. Don’t listen. Now, with a renewed sense of self-discipline, concentration, optimism, relaxation and enjoyment, project yourself into the future. Envision yourself celebrating the greatest year of accomplishment. See the first 90 days as if it’s so. Smile—laugh out loud. You did it. You owned your future by controlling the present. Now wake up and start planning. Your future is waiting. It’s time for the new you! Burr Ridge resident Jim Fannin has consulted with 350 of the Fortune 500 companies, and is a best-selling author, platform speaker, peak-performance and executive coach. His client list includes celebrity actors, directors and entertainers, as well as 26 MLB All-Stars, seven top-ten tennis players, scores of PGA golfers, NBA All-Stars, NFL All-Pros and Olympic Gold Medalists.
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www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 43
Sports
W
Hinsdale Men’s Challenge runners-up Jeff Byrnes and Ben Williams outside the “paddle hut” at Salt Creek Club
Photo courtesy of Tom McCleary
Hinsdale Park District team makes surprise run to finals of Hinsdale Men’s Challenge by mike ellis
hen Jeff Byrnes and Ben Williams entered the Hinsdale Men’s Challenge on a Saturday morning last month, no one anticipated they would be playing the next morning as well—at least, not in the championship match. Byrnes and Williams, who play for the Hinsdale Park District’s Series I team and are ranked 31st in the nation as a doubles team, are both accomplished platform tennis players with college tennis backgrounds. But this tournament featured some of the top men’s paddle players in the nation, like Scott Mansager, who has won the doubles national championship eight times, and Mike Marino, a 2005 national runner-up. Unlike the four top-seeded teams in the tournament, Byrnes and Williams did not receive an opening-round bye,
44 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
instead having to play a first-round match. The park district team defeated the Wisconsin-based team of Mike Deam and Brett Smith in straight sets to advance to the second round, where they walked over Matt Lemery of Chicago and Dave Robare of Western Springs. In the quarterfinals, Byrnes and Williams faced John Noble and Mike Rahaley, the No. 3 seeds in the tournament. After splitting the first two sets, 6-2, 0-6, the park district team outlasted its seeded opponent, 7-5, in the decisive third set. Byrnes said this win was a defining moment in the tournament for him and his partner. “We’ve gotten to the quarterfinals of a lot of these tournaments, and then we end up losing in a close match, usually to the type of team that we actually turned
around and beat this time,” he said. “For us, it was a big change in terms of getting over that proverbial hump of the quarterfinals.” Feeling like they had taken a significant step forward as a team, Byrnes and Williams prepared for their final match of the day—a semifinal clash at Salt Creek Club with two titans of the sport. A member of the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame, Scott Mansager is an eight-time APTA national champion, clinching his last title with partner Flip Goodspeed in 2009; and his partner Mike Marino is no slouch himself, reaching the finals of the same tournament in 2005. With seemingly nothing to lose, the Hinsdale upstarts defeated Mansager and Marino in two tight sets, advancing to the finals to be played the next morning.
Platform Tennis | Hinsdale Magazine “It was great to beat those guys,” Byrnes said. “It was a long, long match. It’s been a good tournament overall for our confidence level—just realizing you can hang in there with these guys, play long matches, play long days.” In the championship match, Byrnes and Williams dueled with Mark Johnson of Libertyville and Dane Schmidgall of Lake Bluff, the No. 4 seeds. The teams splitting the first two sets, the match wore on for well over two hours on a bitterly cold Sunday morning. Not even Jay Cutler’s controversial return at quarterback for the Bears in Cleveland could divert the attention of the two dozen paddle fans that gathered inside the Salt Creek “hut” from watching the final set unfold. Because you can play the ball off of the screens that enclose the court in platform tennis, at the sport’s highest level, rallies regularly last 40 or 50 shots, making patience a necessary virtue for elite players. “Patience—that’s all it is,” said
Williams, who is also the club pro at Chicago Highlands. “You just keep the ball in the center of the court, find the weak spot, hit it there, and wait for an error from them, [or] wait for an opportunity to hit a winner, if you can.” “When you get into those long points, mentally, it’s so easy to check out,” said Johnson, a South African native who also plays at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka. “You’ve just got to try to keep your mind going and hope for the best.” In the third set, the park district team opened up a 5-2 lead, but could not put its opponents away, as Johnson and Schmidgall rallied to force a tiebreak at 6-6 that would determine the champion. Byrnes and Williams, who had shown exemplary poise throughout the weekend, faltered a bit in the tiebreak, and were unable to overcome a quick 5-1 deficit. Johnson and Schmidgall won the breaker, 7-3, taking the Hinsdale Men’s Challenge title in the process. Johnson, who has played against Byrnes
and Williams in league play, said he was not surprised by the competitiveness of the match. “It’s always a battle,” he said. “They’re a tough team; they’re just getting better. They had a great tournament. This match could have gone either way.” The difference in the match was “just a couple of shots here and there,” Williams said. “You miss a couple of lobs long— there’s no free points out there.” Both park district players said they were pleased with their performance, which they think will help their confidence as a team moving forward. “Overall, we had a great tournament,” Byrnes said. “We hung in there; we were up in the third, but unfortunately they came back. Their experience helped them out, I think. “We had some opportunities, and hopefully next time with a little more experience, we can capitalize on them.”
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Sports
Photo courtesy of Brad Anlauf
Former Hinsdale Central two-sport standout Brad Anlauf has extended his basketball career in the Big Ten.
Taking it to the next level
BRAD ANLAUF
by mike ellis
Playing two sports at a Big Ten school is not an opportunity many athletes receive. For Hinsdale Central alumnus Brad Anlauf, currently a reserve for the University of Michigan men’s basketball team, it’s the culmination of perseverance. When Anlauf graduated from Hinsdale in 2012, he was already an accomplished athlete, having played guard-forward for the Red Devils’ boys’ basketball team and wide receiver for the football club. But unlike some star high-school athletes who are highly-touted recruits at various universities, Anlauf arrived at the University of Michigan that fall without an athletic 46 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
scholarship. He said he had dreamt of playing college basketball, but that “the right fit never arose.” “While I was still in high school, I had a couple discussions with [John] Beilein, the Michigan basketball coach, about possibly being a preferred walk-on for his team,” Anlauf said. “That did not work out originally, but coach told me that if I attended Michigan, there would be tryouts sometime during my time at Michigan, and they would contact me.” So, while a senior at Hinsdale, he sent his football highlight tapes to the Wolverine football coaches. Wide receivers coach
Jeff Hecklinski expressed interest in Anlauf, and he was invited to attend a Michigan-Nebraska game in Ann Arbor, Mich. After the visit, Michigan offered Anlauf a walk-on roster spot at wide receiver. He promptly accepted, pouncing on an opportunity to play for one of the nation’s most prestigious football programs in the nation’s largest football stadium, college or professional. “Because the basketball discussions seemed stalled, I was set on only playing football during my entire time at Michigan,” Anlauf said. “Being able to have played football at Michigan and wearing that winged helmet was a fantastic experience I will remember for the rest of my life.” While he enjoyed the experience of playing in front of over 100,000 fans clad in the traditional maze-and-blue during each Michigan home game, Anlauf said he still sought the chance to try out for the basketball team as Coach Beilein had promised him a year earlier. The Hinsdale alum received his wish early last fall, when the defending NCAA runner-up Wolverines held campus-wide basketball tryouts. “Not playing organized basketball last year for the first time since second grade, I realized how much I had missed the sport,” Anlauf said. “Despite enjoying football and my teammates, I decided to give the basketball tryout a shot.” Although he said he did not expect the tryout to amount to much, Anlauf was pleasantly surprised when Beilein invited him into his office, informing him that they wanted him to join the team. At first, he said Beilein and head football coach contemplated the possibility of Anlauf playing both sports, but
that they ultimately determined that would not be feasible. “Coach Beilein and [head football coach Brady] Hoke—who was great through this entire process—first talked about me possibly playing both sports,” he said. “But the coaches came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult for me not to exceed the weekly maximum hours a college athlete can participate in college sports if I played two sports.” Playing for a team that qualified for its first Final Four in 20 years last season, Anlauf knows the expectations are high. He scored his first points in the Wolverines’ 87-45 shellacking of Coppin State on Nov. 29, but recognizes that he cannot expect to see the types of minutes he logged at Hinsdale. “I just want to help our team get back to where we were last year in the national championship game,” he said. “My teammates and coaches have been great to me, making the transition very smooth.” While Anlauf is currently taking advantage of the chance to play competitively at the Division I collegiate level, he understands he will not be able to continue either his basketball or football career professionally. He said he is considering pursuing a political science degree in Ann Arbor, but is currently undecided as to what he would like to do for a living. “In regard to where I am looking to go career-wise following college, I’m uncertain,” he said. “I am not so fond of the idea of working the typical 9-to-5 office job—that much I’m sure of. “I am mainly interested in doing something that will allow me to travel and take me to new places.”
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www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 47
Tech KNOW
Great gadgets for 2014
T
he year 2014 promises some great technology gadgets for the world of productivity. In this edition of techKNOW, we review two devices that have already raised interest in both homes and businesses. Let’s take a look at the Dell Venue8 Pro tablet and Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice-recording software. Dell has recently launched an eight-inch tablet that is less than Errol Janusz Contributing Writer two pounds and fully runs on the Windows 8.1 Operating System. The Venue makes use of a quad-core Intel Atom processor, promising fairly long battery life and enough power to handle some lightweight desktop apps.—That’s right, finally a tablet that will run the Windows applications at your office. QuickBooks, Dentrix, Outlook, Time Matters and many professional business applications are now just a touchscreen away. The Venue also offers a micro-USB slot that acts as a USB host, allowing you to plug in accessories such as keyboards and mice. After viewing
the device at the local Micro Center on Ogden Ave., I could not let this gadget get away—not at a price-point of only $229. The next product we review is more of a software application than a gadget. Dragon speech-recognition software (from Nuance Communications) is an absolute dream for lawyers. Instead of pecking out emails and other documents one letter at a time, Dragon products turn your spoken words into typed text in popular office applications. You can record all your notes from a case without typing a single word. Dragon offers a voicerecording feature for both the iPhone and Android smartphones. After you record your sessions, the application will translate your conversation into text and synchronize it with your documents. This software includes voice profiles, spell-check, a microphone, and can be purchased at a price-point of about $100. As 2014 progresses, be sure to stay in touch with our Hinsdale Magazine technology reviews. You’ll read about some fascinating technology gadgets and advances for both homes and businesses. Errol Janusz is President and Lead Technician at Edward Technology. For more information, contact Errol at (630) 3339323, ext. 303, or email him at ejanusz@Hinsdale60521.com. Visit Errol’s website at, www.edwardtechnology.com.
Chamber Players 60 Minutes of Bliss Enjoy an hour of uninterrupted music in the divinely beautiful Union Church of Hinsdale.
Romantic Riches: Rachmaninoff and Brahms Sunday, January 12, 3:00 p.m.
Parlor Valentines: Schubert and Schumann Sunday, February 9, 3:00 p.m.
Romantic Spring: Mendelssohn and Brahms Sunday, March 2, 3:00 p.m.
Families welcome! Ages 18 and under are free. Mingle with the artists. Refreshments provided by Whole Foods. Advance Tickets: $15 General, $10 Senior At the Door: $20 General, $15 Senior Groups: Call 312-957-0000 to reserve.
Union Church of Hinsdale 137 S. Garfield Avenue, Hinsdale, IL 60521
48 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
866.811.4111 chicagophilharmonic.org
Investing In Our Future, One Home At A Time As proud parents of four D181 students, my wife and I want to make sure we do whatever we can to help create an even better education for not only our kids, but all children of all D181 schools. That’s why for every mortgage, purchase or refinance, I close for a family within the D181 boundaries, we will make a donation to the D181 Foundation. Every loan helps all schools within the district! Call me today for your purchase or refinancing needs.
For more information on the District 181 Foundation, please go to www.d181foundation.
Dan Gjeldum
Monroe Parent D181 Foundation Board Member Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending
C: 312.543.9692 dan.gjeldum@guaranteedrate.com www.chicagomortgagenow.com Dan Gjeldum NMLS ID:686529 IL - 031.0031282 - MB.0005932 P: 312.543.9692 • NMLS (Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System) ID 2611 • IL -Residential Mortgage Licensee – Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, 3940 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60613 MB.0005932 www.hinsdale60521.com |Hinsdale Magazine 49
Spiritual Insight
FILLING
Dan Meyer Contributing Writer
I
YOUR JAR
n his book, First Things First, management guru Steven Covey tells of attending a seminar where an instructor was lecturing on the value of time. The man reached beneath the table and pulled out a widemouth gallon jar. Setting it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it, the instructor asked, “How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” Covey’s class made its best guess, and the teacher said, “Okay, let’s find out.” He placed one rock in the jar, then another, then another, until they appeared to pack the space. The instructor then asked, “Is the jar full?” The crowd examined the rocks and said, “Yes.” The man smiled, reached beneath the table again, and hauled out a bucket of gravel. Dumping some gravel in, he shook the jar, filling the little spaces left by the large rocks. Then he grinned, asking once more, “Is the jar full?” “Probably not!” the group replied in chorus. “Good,” he answered. Now he dug under the table and produced a bucket of sand. Shaking the sand into the jar, the class watched as all the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel were progressively filled. One more time, the teacher gazed at his students and inquired, “Is the jar full?” “No!” everyone roared. “Good,” he said. Procuring a pitcher of water, he managed to pour nearly a quart of liquid into that jar. At long last, the instructor ceased his activity. “So, what’s the point?” he asked. Someone responded, “Well, there are gaps, and if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life.” “No,” he said, “that is not the point. The point is this: If you hadn’t put these big rocks in first, you would never have gotten any of them in.” Hmmm—now that’s worth pondering. Today, we sit in the room before an
50 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
empty jar—the jar of a New Year: 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, about 526,000 minutes—the transparent container we call Time. There will be no more significant choices you make than what you elect to put into that jar, and in what order you choose to do it. So, what are the big rocks you want to put in first? If I were to try to speak for all the clergy in our community, I would suggest that you make weekly worship in one of the houses of faith in our region one of the big rocks. Why? Well, for one thing, because God says that worship is the biggest rock. As every Jewish and Muslim reader knows, the First Commandment God gave to ancient Israel was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The Bible teaches that, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.” Catholics and Protestants often think of the words of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury: “Worship is the submission of our nature to God’s being; the quickening of our conscience by God’s holiness; the nourishment of our mind with God’s truth; the purifying of our imagination by God’s beauty; the opening of our heart to God’s love; the surrender of our will to God’s purpose; and all of this, gathered up in adoration.” To put it another way, worship is the way we fill the tank of our heart and soul with the resource of God. It’s how we get our spiritual wheels realigned before hitting the bumpy road again. It’s how we reset the navigation system, so that we don’t get lost so easily when we’re out there. Weekly worship is the first rock. Then, think about making a commitment to personal growth your second rock. Most of us in this region are among the best-educated people in America. All of us, however, have certain areas of our lives in which we’d benefit from some continuing education. Maybe you need to grow your physical
vitality, or your spiritual health, or your relational competence. How might you make this a priority in this coming year? There is something about journeying in community with others that accelerates the process of personal growth. Invite a few people to exercise with you;—join a Bible study;—form a book club;— connect with a few friends committed to working on some important competency. If God provided a Gardener’s Guide for human life like those little white tabs that nurseries stick in potted plants, the tab would read “Grow in Groups.” Make finding or investing in the right group one of the big rocks you prioritize in the year ahead. Lastly, consider the value of putting some form of self-giving service into the jar of your year. There is simply no better way to win friends, influence people and experience joy than to give yourself away to meet the needs of others. Jesus once said, “Do you want to be great? Then dedicate yourself to being a servant.” Decide that this is the year you will serve your family by doing this, or increase your charitable giving by five percent, or volunteer your talents to this particular cause, or go on a service trip with that organization, or teach your kids that contributing is a lot more fun than consuming. You certainly don’t need to follow this counsel; all of us are grown-ups. But as Steven Covey discovered, it is wise to fill our jars thoughtfully. If we don’t make some active choices now, the container of our life becomes filled with lesser things all too quickly, and there’s no longer room for the best stuff. What will you do with this year? Which big rocks will you put in first? Dr. Dan Meyer is the senior pastor at Christ Church of Oak Brook at York Road and 31st Street.
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