A PIONEER PRESS PUBLICATION • FAME ... · Kirstie Beck, and Earvin Ortega listen to Director Andrew Sinclair as they form an energy circle before a free communi-ty performance

A PIONEER PRESS PUBLICATION • www.pioneerlocal.com 2news |A PIONEER PRESS PUBLICATION • www.pioneerlocal.com 1news |

Members of the cast of “Fame” do an enunciation exercise in the Black Box Theater before a community performance.

FAMERRIIGGHHTT-- Niles West castmembers NataliaNodarse, VeronicaFebus, Keenan Morales,Kirstie Beck, and EarvinOrtega listen to DirectorAndrew Sinclair as theyform an energy circlebefore a free communi-ty performance.

Alicia Peake, who plays Carmen Diaz, sings the signature song "Fame" with cast members.

Dancers Mark Schmidt, Morgan Quilici, Sabriah Wiedeman,and Kyla Pomer during the community performance.Aleks Krapivkin, playing Nick, jumps for joy during the open-ing number, "Pray I Make P.A./Hard Work".Fame cast members , including Elizabeth Mangulabnan, make their way backstage at Niles West.

Cast members warm up their voices with music director Amy Branahl.

Photos by

Joel LernerStaff Photographer


BEST OF GLENVIEW P H O T O S O FT H E Y E A R

The Mini Blades, a synchronized skating team for girls, practice their formation at the Glenview Ice Center. | Suzanne Tennant~Sun-Times Media

LEFT- A large American Flag fliesabove the annual Glenview Inde-pendence Day Parade. | Ruthie Hauge~Sun-Times Media

LEFT- Glenbrook South's DominikCubelic celebrates winning the 50freestyle for the second year in arow at IHSA boys state swimming.| Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

BELOW LEFT- Fremd's Jen Mer-litti and Glenbrook South'sColleen McDonagh both go forthe header at midfield. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

Connie "Harvey-etta" Mailander reads a story to the children before the Easter Egg Hunt at the Classic Resi-dence by Hyatt. Residents of the facility stuffed more than 3,000 plastic eggs with jelly beans and hid themfor the morning hunt. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media

ABOVE- Glenview Firefighter-Paramedic David Cotterell followsprocedure crawling along theice's surface attached to a ropein a attempt to rescue Firefight-er-Paramedic Jim Meyer during awater/ice rescue drill at LakeGlenview in Gallery Park. | Richard Bajjalieh~Sun-Times Media

BELOW- Diggit, the library's con-struction mascot, strikes a poseat the opening for the new Glen-view Public Library. | Allison Williams~Sun-Times Media

RIGHT- Glenbrook South's OliviaSmolga broke the state record in the100 backstroke in preliminaries dur-ing IHSA girls state swimming finals. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media


Piven Theatre's Bernard Beck performs an excerpt from “Number of People.”

THE FIRST BACKSTAGE EVANSTON EVENT, AGATHERING OF 13 LOCAL PERFORMING COM-PANIES PRESENTING SAMPLING'S OF THIS

SEASON'S PERFORMANCE OFFERINGS.

EVANSTONBACKSTAGE

Evanston Dance Ensemble 's Rachel Shelley, of Evanston, perform a selection from the produc-tion, “CINEMATIC,” called “Western Woman.”

Evanston Symphony Orchestra's maestro shortens Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue” to a rousing four minutes.

RRIIGGHHTT-- Michael Montenegro, of the pup-pet troupe Theatre Zarko, performs asurreal piece titled “Calvin” from therecent production “Klown Kantos.”

Light Opera Works' Mary Robin Roth, who plays the title role in the upcoming holiday production of “Hello Dolly,” sings “Before The Parade Passes me By.”

Music Institute of Chicago's Lincoln Trio violinist Desiree Ruhstrat (left) and pianist Marta Aznavoorian perform “Cafe Mu-sic” by Paul Schoenfield.

Photos byJoel LernerStaff Photographer

A PIONEER PRESS PUBLICATION • www.pioneerlocal.com 1news |

The last picture through an old television cabinet.

Garbage and an old Cadillac adorn a curb for clean up week in Elmwood Park. The magic week anything can be left out for garbage pick-up: no questions asked. So in honor of clean-up week Pioneer Press photographerSuzanne Tennant photographed the beautiful, the forgotten, and the no longer useful stuff of Elmwood Park.

ANYTHING GOES

All things old and used.

Paint peeling on a glorious green cabinet.

Oh no!

PHOTOS BY

SUZANNE TENNANTSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER


ABOVE- Nicole Dosametes of theEvanston Speedskating Club powersthrough a turn during her race atthe Evanston North Shore Open onSunday, a yearly event in Evanston.

ABOVE- The start of a Ladies Ponyrace.

The 2011 EvanstonNorthshore Open was host-ed by the Evanston Speed-skating Club at RobertCrown Ice Center on Sun-day. Close to 100 skaters,some from as far away as In-dianapolis, competed inmore than 80 races of dif-ferent lengths. The agegroups ranged from TinyTot to Masters.

This year the men’s and

women's 1,000 Meter raceswere renamed the SamHicks Classic. Hicks found-ed the ESSC in 1966 andhelped the club's most no-table member, OlympianShani Davis, through hisearly development. Hicks,known as Sam around theclub, was also was appoint-ed Evanston’s first African-American fire chief in 1980.

O n ice

FAR LEFT- MacKenzie Igel, of theEvanston Speedskating Club, opensup a big lead in a Ladies Tiny Totrace.

LEFT- Jon Aquino of the Glen El-lyn Speedskating Club loses hisedge in front of teammate ChenLing (23) as Northbrook's CollinKroll keeps an eye on him duringa Men’s Midget race.

Photos by

Joel LernerSun-Times Med ia

BELOW- Sanders Hicks, who hasphotographed speedskating foryears, documents this year’s races.

FAR LEFT- ESSC's Oliver Rogalskileads teammate William Pasia in aMen's Pee-Wee race.

LEFT- Andy Sohn, a SpeedskatingClub member, smooths the groovesbetween races with the help of 10-year-old Will Robinson on Sunday.


8th grader Lyla Whedbee, who attends the Taft Academic Center, performs an operetta style piece. She finished 2nd.

Brittany Diaz and Adrian Garcia, both Seniors, performed a dance duet.

Taft Jazz Band's tenor saxophonists Jessica Weermink is all smiles after the bands song.

Carissa Karedes and Gasper Rivera performed a excerpt from the musical, "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Nathan Arroyo, a Senior, performs a spoken word piece as part of the group, "Low Key."

Even though he lost his drumstick at the end of the drum solo, Senior Marvin Martinez was awarded 1st place.

GotTalent!TA

FT’S

Photos by

Joe l LernerStaff Photographer

TAFT HIGH SCHOOLHELD A "TAFT'SGOT TALENT"FINALE ON MAY 27.


B E S T OF M U N D E L E I NP H O T O S O F T H E Y E A R

LEFT- Female runners from Lib-ertyville, Mundelein, Lake Forestand Lake Zurich race during across country meet at LakewoodForest Preserve. | Ruthie Hauge~Sun-Times Media

RIGHT- Steven Wright and There-sa Butkus, both of ArlingtonHeights, look at a vintage yellowPackard at the monthly Park onPark classic car night in down-town Mundelein. | Allison Williams~Sun-Times Media

ABOVE LEFT- Mundelein's Con-nor Hartnett finished 5th with ascore of 274.60 at the North Sub-urban Conference Diving Champi-onships. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

ABOVE- A white tail deer standson its hind legs as it reaches forthe lowest branches of an ever-green at St. Mary of the Lake inMundelein. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media

BOTTOM RIGHT- Arianna Dinelliwalks for the crowd at the MissMundelein Pagent. | Brian Valentin~Sun-Times Media

BELOW- Ten-year-old Quinn Run-dall catches some air while beingpulled behind a speedboat on Di-amond Lake. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media


Lee Nega is a veteran ofthe Vietnam War. Nega en-tered the U.S. Army on Oct.9, 1969. He volunteered togo to Vietnam when he was20-years-old, and was re-sponsible for road securi-ty.

Nega was aware of thegenerally negative feelingsabout the Vietnam War inthe United States, but he isstill proud of his choice andsaid he would do it all overagain. However, Nega doesworry about his contactwith Agent Orange. AgentOrange was a herbicideused by the U.S. Military in

Vietnam. Many soldierscame in contact with it atsome point during their de-ployment. Nega has lost hiscousin and best friend tocancer, which is thought tohave been the result of con-tact with Agent Orange inVietnam.

“The military does notrecognize it yet. I’m on a listin case I come up with anykind of diseases or cancer,so they’re aware I was in-volved with Agent Orangeoverseas,” Nega said.

Some health problemsthat Agent Orange causescan be passed down hered-

itarily and Nega worries his27-year-old son may some-day show symptoms. “I’mworried about him. Downthe road something couldhappen.”

Nega is the current com-mander of VFW Post 11020in Lake Zurich. He is pas-sionate about Veteran af-fairs.

He said, “Veterans are thebest people around. Theonly thing I was people todo is remember a Veteranand welcome (him) homeno matter what war (he)served in.”

Gary Block is consid-ered a life-long memberof the VFW. He was thefirst post commander forVFW Post 11020 in LakeZurich from 1971-75. Heis a Veteran o f WorldWar I I and he servedwith the United Statesand Illinois Coast Guard.Block was also a volun-teer f iref ighter in LakeZurich for 30 years and

a fire chief at Fort Sheri-dan from 1966-1983.

During World War II ,B lock patro l led theocean from the North At-lantic down to Panama.He became interested insonar technology and tosonar schoo l in KeyWest, Fla. , to become asound operator. He usedhis sk i l l s to patro l forenemy submarines.

“We were scared orworried at night,” Blocksa id . “We couldn’ t see( the enemy) , and theycouldn’t see us. We neverwent to sleep at night. Ifyou weren’t scared, youweren’t human”.

Block recent ly ce le -brated his 90th birthdayand his 65th wedding an-niversary.

Vietnam veteran Lee Nega at his home in Lake Zurich. | Ruthie Hauge ~ Sun-Times Media

World War II veteran Gary Block wears his VFW hat at his home in Lake Zurich. | Ruthie Hauge ~ Sun-Times Media

Those whoSERVED

Honoring our veterans

This photograph of Lee Nega, was taken during his time in Vietnam.Lee Nega in front of his gun truck during his time in Vietnam.

LEE NEGA

GARY BLOCK

World War II veteran Gary Block during his visit to Washington D.C. before he was deployed to sea.

Gary Block during his1993 visit to Washing-ton D.C.

By CHARLES [email protected]

GGIIRRLLSS GGYYMMNNAASSTTIICCSS —Even though Steve Altonmay be the most accom-plished gymnast in atten-dance at every BarringtonHigh School meet, his wifeand friend provide him witha detailed play-by-play whenhis daughters perform.

“She’s jumping up now,”Steve’s wife, Julie, alertedhim as daughter Jennabegan to traverse the bal-ance beam during a recenthome meet. “She’s walkingacross, doing a back walk-over.

“Ah, she fell, she’s off,”Julie continued. “Back up,twirl, leg lift, scale, leap,twists.”

A few moments afterJenna’s front-flip dismount,her score was posted. Thejudges awarded her a 5.7 —.6 lower than dad, a formergymnastics judge, had esti-mated from the standsbased solely on his wife’s de-scription.

Steve, 49, lost his sightfive years ago, though hisdeep and intuitive knowl-edge of gymnastics remains.

Steve performed as anelite gymnast at both thehigh school and collegiatelevels. He earned a third-place medal on parallel barsat the IHSA state finalswhile competing at Glen-bard West in 1979. He alsowas a member of NorthernIllinois University’s top-10

nationally ranked teams in1982 and ’83.

After starting a family inNorth Barrington after col-lege, Alton founded and rana gymnastics coaching pro-gram that traveled theChicago area from 1987 to2003.

The Alton family, whichgrew to six by 2002, wassteeped in gymnastics fromthe very start. Following indad’s large footprints, allfour Alton kids have becomegymnasts as well.

“The only person who hasnever done it is my mom,”8-year-old Steven chimedin during his sisters’ Jan. 11meet.

Tumor discoveredHowever, in early 2006,

dad’s life and the Alton fam-ily dynamic would changeforever.

Steve battled an endlessflu and blurred vision forweeks before his doctorsfound a large tumor press-ing on his pituitary gland.It was determined that thetumor, which was the sizeand shape of two conjoinedgolf balls, had developedslowly over a period of fiveto 10 years.

He was immediately flownby helicopter to the Univer-sity of Illinois Medical Cen-ter at Chicago for an emer-gency operation. Two sur-geries later, Steve was es-sentially tumor-free, thoughit came at the cost of hissight and cognitive ability,caused by a stroke duringsurgery.

Steve is no longer able towork, let alone coach gym-nastics, but the tragic or-deal hasn’t stopped dadfrom attending and experi-encing every home meetwhen his daughters com-pete. Steve is returning thegift his parents gave him, asthey traveled the country tosee him perform.

His oldest daughterJayme, a former Barringtongymnast, is now in college,though Jenna, a junior, andLeslie, a sophomore, are

both still competing on theFillies JV team. Steven, theAlton’s youngest child, wasforced to squeeze in somemath homework in thestands, but he preferred towatch the gymnastics meet.

“Right from the start, theyall just loved it too,” saiddad, explaining the gymnas-tics-inspired bond that stillhelps connect the family. “It

was definitely a relationshipbuilder.

“It was important for meto have them do gymnasticswhen they were little.”

In between Jenna andLeslie’s routines, Steve dis-played a constant smilewhile relating several gym-nastics memories.

Steve and the kids wouldtumble on mats at home be-

fore dinner and his daugh-ters often tagged alongwhile he coached. Afterpractice last week, Leslieadded that one of her fa-vorite childhood memoriesincludes her dad’s old gym-nastics buses, which werelined with gym mats andmonkey bars.

“She was the queen of themonkey bars,” mom said.

Later in the meet Jan. 11against Hersey and Conant,Steve instinctively pivot-ed his body to face the floorexercise mat, where Leslie

took center stage.While his 16-year-old

daughter tumbled andflipped from corner to cor-ner, Steve beamed while ex-periencing the sounds andexcitement of gymnasticsonce again.

Leslie scored a 7.7, .2 offdad’s prediction that wasbased on family friend DanBouseman’s play-by-playcall this time.

“I try to picture (Leslie)doing back flips and visual-ize her whole routine,” Stevesaid after Leslie finished herfloor exercise. “I rememberwhat kind of style she had.

“It’s just fun to be here, tobe in a gymnastics gym,”Steve added. “And I want toknow what’s going on andhow they’re doing.

“It’s not a visual memory,but it’s a memory.”

Dad no longer gives hisdaughters gymnastics ad-vice, but his permanent loveof the sport remains in-grained in his children.Steve thinks his kids tookhold of gymnastics becausehe taught the sport in a fun,non-stressful way.

In his blood“It’s hard when the girls

are at home talking abouttheir routines now becauseI can’t work with them

physically anymore,” hesaid. “But I’m just thrilledto death they decided tocontinue with it.

“Gymnastics providesthem a scenario outside ofschool to test the watersand see where they stand,”dad continued. “It’s a sliceof school outside of school.They find out who they areand can shine a little whilegrowing individually andwith a team.”

Jenna and Leslie saidtheir dad was a great coachand they continue to appre-ciate his unending support.

“It’s nice to have himhere,” Jenna said. “To us,he’s just our dad. Of coursehe’s going to be proud of us,he’s always been proud ofus.”

Leslie said she remem-bers her father telling herstories about his gymnas-tics career.

“It’s definitely somethingwe talk about and have anunderstanding about but we

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

have a good relationshipoutside of gymnastics too,”she said.

Outside of the gym, lifecan be tough for Steve andthe Altons. He needs assis-tance getting around andhas bouts of memory loss.The family often relies onBouseman for help, as hehas become a part of thefamily and one of Steve’sclosest friends.

“It’s hard to explain whatI’m able and not able to un-derstand,” Steve said. “Thehardest part for me is beinga part of a situation, talkingwith the people around me,but not getting the visualpicture.

“That’s very frustratingsometimes.”

Mom started to tear upwhen asked how tough thelast five years have been.

“But it’s getting better,”Julie said. “A lot of verywonderful things have comeout of it, like meeting won-

derful people like Dan(Bouseman). The girls havehad to become even moreindependent and I think it’staught them to help others,too.

“It’s now a part of every-thing we do.”

Throughout it all, gym-nastics has also remained apart of everything the Altonfamily does.

“Gymnastics has alwaysbeen a major part of ourlife,” Steve Alton said. “It’slike eating dinner for us.

“We’ve had a lot of good,healthy fun.”Comment: pioneerlocal.com


LOSS OF VISION CAN’T CURTAIL BARRINGTON DAD FROM ATTENDING GYM MEETS

ABOVE- Steve Alton leans in toget a play-by-play from his neigh-bor, Don Bouseman as Alton's twodaughters compete.

Jenna andLeslie Altontalk to ateammate asthey wait fortheir turn tocompete forthe Fillies.

Jenna Alton works the balance beam during a BHS gymnastics meet.

“It’s hard to explainwhat I’m able and

not able tounderstand.”

RIGHT- Steve Alton, Julie Alton,and son Steve stand for the play-ing of the national anthem at thebeginning of a Barrington girlsgymnastics meet.

Steve Alton listens to a play-by-play from his wife, Julie.


B E S T OF W I N N E T K AP H O T O S O F T H E Y E A R

RIGHT- Eight-year-olds HarlanBrady and Katherine Connolly jumpover a wave together on openingday at Tower Road Beach.| Allison Williams~Sun-Times Media

LEFT- Judy Wilkinson of Glen-view takes a look at the make-up applied by Lisa Sarwar ofMt. Prospect prior to taking tothe stage for dress rehearsal ofWinnetka Follies.| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media

ABOVE LEFT- Max Daniels, ofWheaton, looks out the window towatch families arrive for his pres-entation on Abraham Lincoln atthe Wilmette Historical Museum. | Ruthie Hauge~Sun-Times Media

BOTTOM RIGHT- Cindy DeMarcograbs the hot dogs while workingthe grill at the New FoundationCenter celebration in July. Theafternoon barbeque and partyfeatured a raffle and games. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media

BELOW- New Trier's Ashley Stod-dard, Riley Hayward, StephanieMarchuk and Meghan Marchuk cele-brate with the State Championshiptrophy in the Evanston Pool.| Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

ABOVE- New Trier Coach BobSpagnoli hugs Jessica and Court-ney Ackerman after they finishedfirst and second in the 1600 dur-ing a sectional track meet atNiles West. | Suzanne Tennant~Sun-Times Media


DDaaiissyy,, a medium-sized af-fectionate Lab mix, has allthe things a dog could pos-sibly want — a loving fami-ly, a good home and a bigyard.

But she scores an addi-tional perk being owned byTamara Lundgren, theowner and operator of thegourmet dog treat compa-ny Daisy’s Delights (guesswho the treats are namedafter.) Lundgren makes thetreats in her Buffalo Grovehome, leaving an endlesssupply of samples at Daisy’sdisposal — not a bad deal.

Lundgren started hercompany small, mixingmodest amounts of her bat-ter in her Kitchen Aid mixerand giving the treats to her

close friends and family. But Lundgren’s desire to

teach more people aboutgood healthfor their dogsand to helpprovide ahealthy treatto people’spets pushedthe businessto developinto a full-time forma-tion of Daisy’sDelights. Shenow provides16 differentflavors, andmakes hercookies with amix of oats,Smart Bal-

ance butter spread, nonfatinstant milk and mold in-hibitor for a good shelf life,

along with flavor-adding in-gredients such as beef brothor pineapple. Lundgren re-

searches every ingredientto see if it’s beneficial for adog.

Dogs aren’tthe only ani-mal compan-ions that ben-efit fromLundgren’shard work. Inaddition tothe threefarmers mar-kets and theseveral petboutiquesthat carry herdog cookies,Lundgrenalso providescarrot-shapedtreats to NoSplitting

Hares Rabbit Rescue in Al-gonquin. The treats helpwith the rabbits’ digestion.

Lundgren’s talents don’tstop with her tasty treatmaking. She also teachesdog obedience through herbusiness, Miss Daisy’s Man-ners 4 Paws, either private-ly or through her class atthe Buffalo Grove Park Dis-trict. Lundgren started thetraining on her own andthen was certified throughproper training.

“It was the first time inmy life I ever passed a classwith honors,” Lundgrensaid, “probably because Ifelt that it was my passion.”

Her training methods con-centrate on positive rein-forcement techniques and

Resident helps dogs eat, behavewell

Tamara Lundgren watches Hikari Baba as she practices the "sit" and "stay" commands with Peaches, the nine-month-dog owned by Baba and boyfriend Andrew Baarson.

Daisy's Delights dog treats stored in containers lining the walls of the basement of Tamara’s Buffalo Grove home.

teaching pet owners to begood leaders.

For now, Lundgren’s lifeis a big balancing act. She’sa treat maker and a dogtrainer; she drives a schoolbus in the daytime andsqueezes in the time to be awife and mother.

But she feels rewarded in

her many jobs. “I like what I’m doing and

I like the fact that I’m help-ing educate people. I do feellike I’m doing somethingpositive for our four-leggedfriends and their owners.”

She hopes to expand thebusiness, although she isn’tcompletely certain if her

baked goods will inhabitlarge grocery chains acrossthe states or a little bakerywith a quaint storefront.She wants to spread out,but doesn’t want to lose hertouch.

“I’m really looking outfor the dogs,” Lundgrensaid. “They bring so much

to our lives.” Lundgren will continue

returning the favor, onetreat at a time. You cancheck out how to obtain hertreats, or dog-obediencetraining through her web-site: http://www.daisysde-lights.net/

Tamara Lundgren sprinkles "Craisins" into a mixture that will be baked into Cranberry Smoothie dog treats.

Judy Goldberg goes through a training exercise with her dog, Charlie aformer "prize pupil" in Miss Daisy's Manners 4 Paws dog obedienceclass taught by Tamara Lundgren.

Hands belonging to Ally Kaszuba, of Wheeling, work on pressing bone-shapes out of a roll of dough used for Daisy's Delights dog treats.

Nine-month-old Peaches gets additional reinforcement to prevent herfrom jumping by having her leash held down by her owner's foot.

Story & Photos by

M iche l leLaVigne

Staff Photographer


Skokie resident Irv Abramson, a U.S. Army and World War II Veteran, with photographs of his grandkids. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media

A picture of Abramson from his days of service and the Purple Heart he was awarded for injuries he recievedduring the Battle of the Bulge .

One who served

Irv Abramson photographed with his grandmother Fanny Kushnir when he came home with his injuries.

Honoring our veterans


Kusumben Patel, Chief Priest of Gayatri Shaktipeeth Chicago explains the importance of Holi.

Rajeshbhai offering samidha, a wooden stick, in Gayatri Yagya, the sacrificial fire with his wife Rajubhai asthe pinnacle of the Holi ceremony.

Damyantiben’s friend help to cover her head before the puja, a religious ceremony.

A sacred thread and rice are held in hand readyto be part of the ritual ceremony of Holi.

Holi - A festival of spring

HOLI, ONE OF THE MAJOR FESTI-VALS OF INDIA, IS CELEBRATED ONTHE FULL MOON IN MARCH, ORPHALGUN IN THE INDIAN CALENDAR.

ON CHHOTI, THE EVENING OF THEFULL MOON, PEOPLE GATHER FOR ACEREMONY.

PHOTOS BY

Joel LernerSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

insignificant factor inmaking the business ex-pansion possible, said Bea-com.

“Every dollar was impor-tant,” he said, noting thatbecause banks lend basedon formulas, “that extraamount from the city real-ly made a difference.”

The block grant programis a matching program.The facade improvementin this case entails replace-ment of windows andbuilding tuckpointing.

Heartwood also was ableto replace the old 1960sstone look with a brickfront in the project.

Enthusiastic backersActivists in the area,

such as Dickelle Fonda,also advocated on behalfof the new business oncethey heard Heartwood wasconsidering moving.

Fonda, like Floy a psy-chotherapist, was very fa-miliar with Heartwood’sreputation. She has knownFloy for 35 years. She sawHeartwood’s move as animportant part of effortsto create a new business

district in the area, theWest Dempster BusinessDistrict, bounded byDempster and GreenleafStreets on the north andsouth, respectively, andDodge and Wesley avenueson the west and east, re-

spectively.Already the group is

drawing more people to itsmeetings. Group membersare working closely withthe group that has takenover receivership of theDempster-Dodge Plaza,said Fonda, looking for re-

vitalization of that center.Fonda said she saw a

positive sign soon afterHeartwood’s move. Theuniform shop, in lateryears, would close up atnight by putting iron “bur-glar bars” around the out-

side.“It was all chained up,”

said Fonda. “The messagethat was created for thatcorner was one of fear anddanger.”

Soon after Heartwoodcame in, there were nomore bars.

“They put in wonderfulnew windows,” Fonda said.“They broke up the con-crete, planting trees andplants up front.”

Out front, where peopleoften waited for a bus, thenew Heartwood ownersput in a bench.

“It’s a completely differ-ent energy,” Fonda said.

An open house forHeartwood and its newbuilding is scheduled from6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdayat the center, 1818 Demp-ster St. Clients, students,business connections,neighbors and friends areall welcome to the freeevent, which is to featuretours of the building, food,beverages and a perform-ance by Los PerrosCubanos, performingCuban music from the1940s and ’50s.

By BOB [email protected]

Nancy Floy, president ofthe Heartwood Center, saidshe has received plenty ofcompliments on the look ofher building, a former uni-form shop that was in fore-closure not so long ago.

City-dispersed federalCommunity Block Develop-ment Block Grant fundshelped pay for a new facade,giving a fresh, clean look tothe building, at 1818 Demp-ster St.

“People say to me thisbuilding just radiates peaceand harmony,” said Floy, apsychotherapist who leadsmeditation classes at thecenter.

The building is also radi-ating something else — aray of hope for a businessdistrict long in need of apick-you-up. Only last year,things were looking fairlybleak for Dempster with thenearby Dempster-Dodgeshopping center falling intoreceivership.

Since Heartwood openedup — the center is having

its initial open house Satur-day — an estimated 500people are visiting the cen-ter weekly for its health andwellness services.

“A lot of those people arecoming from Wilmette,Winnetka, Glencoe, LakeForest and Rogers Park inChicago,” said Floy.“They’re coming in, lookingaround and saying, ‘Wow,this is really a great neigh-borhood.’ I have no doubtsome of those people aregoing over to (the shops on)Dempster, they’re going toDominick’s.”

Formerly on MapleFounded in 1999 by Floy

and her husband, Asang,Heartwood operated foryears out of offices at 1599Maple Ave., just across thestreet from Bennison’s Bak-ery. The center built a rep-utation as one of the coun-try’s leading holistic-carecenters.

One reason for that dis-tinction is, with the shake-down in the economy, “therejust aren’t that many (suchcenters) around any more,”said Floy.

Another reason is theunique business model thecenter employs. Under theHeartwood model, the cen-ter acts more like an incu-bator, providing space forits team of professionals —psychotherapists, massagetherapists, acupuncturistsand others — while alsodoing their marketing andlending the Heartwoodname.

When Heartwood beganoutgrowing its Maple Av-enue space several yearsago, Floy said she looked ata number of alternativesites, including those in theRogers Park area, Wilmetteand Skokie. But at the backof her mind was Dempster-Dodge, an area she has beenfamiliar with since the early1980s.

“In my opinion, this neigh-borhood is a jewel in therough,” said Floy. “You canjust feel it, change comingto the area.”

True to that feeling, Floyand her husband sold theirhouse in east Evanston,buying a two-flat just ablock away from theirbusiness.

Set up a business planFloy said several Evanston

professionals, includingOwen Beacom, managing di-rector at First Bank & Trustof Evanston, were key inmaking her business expan-sion possible.

Beacom worked with Floyon a business plan.

“She needed to put togeth-er some projections in thebusiness plan so she couldconvince a bank and herselfreally that an expansion toa larger facility was afford-able,” Beacom said Monday.

On the plus side, Floy “hadover 10 years a strong oper-ation with a track record,”he said, downplaying hisrole. “It wasn’t a start-upbusiness by any means andshe had a pretty loyal follow-ing.”

At the city level, AldermanLionel Jean-Baptiste, alder-man in the 2nd Ward wherethe center is located, wentto bat for the center forCommunity DevelopmentBlock Grant funds to payfor a new building facade.The city expects to spendup to $20,000 on the fa-cade improvement — a not


Ajanta Chakraborty leads the Bollywood Groove Class, a movement class at Heartwood Center.

Heartwood Center's Nancy Lee is a Reiki master. Dr. Carla Edwards uses acupressure techniques.

Heartwood Center's Nancy Floy (far right) and her husband, Asang (second from right), conduct a Tibetan Buddhist meditation class every Friday evening.

Charlotte Christian, an acupuncturist , uses auricular therapy and cupping.

HEARTWOOD CENTER ON DEMPSTER STREET

Building lends new energy to district

Photos by

JoelLernerSun-Times Media


Cast and crew stack up chairs before the start of the Enchanted Love Story scene. Recently guests filled the Robert M. Collins Center on the Triton College campus to be amazed, astonished by the 39th Annual TritonTroupers Circus. The two hour event featured stunts, trapeze artists, clowns and more. The cast featured local students, friends and volunteers and was directed by Terry White.

LLEEFFTT-- A clown runs past the au-dience at the start of Act One.

Performers walk on top of globes during the Singing in the Rain scene in Act One.

RRIIGGHHTT-- Performers hula hoop andjuggle at the beginning of Act One.

TRITONCircus

Photos by

Allison WilliamsSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

ROUPERS


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In 2009, VCA-FranklinPark Animal Hospital, 9846W. Grand Ave., watched 100stray dogs while police triedto locate their owners. Thehospital doesn’t watch straycats, which veterinarianColleen Pagor guessesgreatly out number thedogs.

If the owners aren’t found,the dogs go to shelters.

Every year, 6 million to 8million pets end up in shel-ters, according to the U.S.Humane Society’s Web site.About half those pets areadopted, and the other halfis killed.

While there have alwaysbeen strays, Pagor suggeststhe number has increasedover the last couple yearsas the economy has shrunk.

“It’s gotten to the point inthis terrible economy wherepeople just open doors andlet animals out,” Pagor said.

Female dogs and cats be-come sexually mature at sixmonths and can have littersof five to six every couplemonths.

“Especially cats,” Pagorsaid. “In the spring we canbe presented with countlesslitters of kittens people findunder their porch or in thebushes. These cats are just

roaming around creating atwill.”

Spaying for female petsand neutering for maleskeep the stray populationdown. It also reduces the in-cidence of breast cancerand uterine infection in fe-male dogs and reduces ag-gression, roaming andprostate problems in maledogs, Pagor said.

Spaying or neutering is aone-day procedure. AtFranklin Park Animal Hos-pital, spaying — pluscatheter, blood work, painmedication — costs $290 to$350, depending on weight.Neutering costs $250 to$320.

For pet owners short onmoney, organizations suchas the Animal WelfareLeague and Anti CrueltySociety offer spaying andneutering at reduced prices.

Preventive medicine

Dr. Colleen Pagor from the VCA Franklin Park Animal Hospital cleans up Maggie a 2 year old Cockapoo after getting spayed. Dr.Richard Bliss looks at Bella the 4 month old Biegle. Bella is at her first check up at the Franklin Park VCA Hospital.She was adopted from the Homeless Hound shelter a week ago. Bella is getting her stiches out after being spayed.

Franklin Park VCA Vet Technichians Michelle Gunther (right) and Julie Hausknecht prepare Maggie a 2 yearold cockapoo for surgery. Maggie is getting spayed.

Dr. Colleen Pagor from the VCA Franklin Park Animal Hospital scubs in before performing surgery on a dog.

Dr.Richard Bliss looks at Bella the 4 month old Biegle. Bella is at her first check up at the Franklin Park VCAHospital. She was adopted by a Norridge family from the Homeless Hound shelter a week ago. Bella is gettingher stiches out after being spayed.

Dr. Colleen Pagor from the VCA Franklin Park Animal Hospital spays Maggie a 2 year old Cockapoo.

PHOTOS BY Tamara Be l lS T A F F P H O T O G R A P H E R


The coolest job: Alberto Salizar drives the Zamboni at the Glenview Ice Center. Unquestionably one of the coolest jobs to have when prevailing temperatures range in the 80s and 90s.

The coolest!

Salizar drives the Zamboni on its first pass just inside the rink's the perimeter wall.

After the rink is smoothed, the slush shaved fromthe top of the rink is dumped from the Zamboni.

Salizar opens the doors to the rink. Salizar drives the Zamboni on its first pass just inside the rink's the perimeter wall.

RRiigghhtt-- AlbertoSalizar fills theZamboni's watertank in prepara-tion for smooth-ing the rink's ice.

Photos by

Richard BajjaliehStaff Photographer


Sixteen-year-old Annie Peterson, of Lake Forest, dances the lead role of "Clara" during Friday's dress rehearsal of Dancenter North's "The Magic of the Nutcracker." Playing the part of the "Nutcracker Prince" is professionaldancer, Ted Krzykowski of LehrerDance. This year marks the 22nd annual production of the classic holiday ballet.

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Polikoff, of Libertyville, dances the"Marzipan from Scandinavia" during Thursday's dress rehearsal.

Seventeen-year-old Kimmie Engle, of Libertyville, dances the "Chocolate from Spain."

NUTCRACKERMAGIC

Ten-year-old Julia Elert, of Libertyville,plays one of the angels.

Photos by

Brian O’MahoneyFor Sun-Times Media


RRIIGGHHTT-- Margaret uses a V-nail-er to secure nail brackets intothe corners of frame molding.Michel took the business overafter her husband passedaway from cancer and shebelieves God guided her intothe business. "My frame shopis really just a front for thegospel of the Lord."

Margaret Michel works at Michel's Frame Shop & Gallery, while Abby, one of her four dogs, takes a quick snooze. "Framing is wall furniture, I've been told I have a way of helping the cus-tomer with their final decision, even when they come in and say they know nothing about framing. It's just like picking the right clothes,” Michel said.

LLEEFFTT-- In addition to customframing, Margaret alsopaints in water colors,makes wood art, and dab-bles in other mixed media."I'm never bored," Michelsaid. Her art work can befound and purchased onwww.margaretmichel.com.

FRAMED

PHOTOS BY

Michelle LaVigneSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER


New Trier graduate Carrie Hoza fought in the Iraq War from 2004 -2005 she served as a convoy commander hauling jet fuel into the Sunni Triangle, Carrie runs Bratschi Plumbing with her father, uncle and brother-in-law. Hergreat grandfather Walter Bratschi who bought the land where Bratschi Plumbing sits fought in World War II. Her father Phil and and her uncle Jeff Hoza both fought in the Vietnam War. | Suzanne Tennant ~ Sun - Times Media.

One who served Honoringour

veterans

Carrie Hoza prays before heading out with fuel tankers. "We did a prayer prior to heading out on theroad - every time, because our lives were at stake on every mission. We were blown up too many timesto count in an extremely hostile environment. Faith was a huge part of my tour there," Hoza said.

LLEEFFTT-- Carrie Hoza, during her service in Iraq, holdsan "adopted" stray puppies named Retail.

Carrie Hoza took this photo of a fuel tankers that ex-ploded when it hit a land mine. Two people were in thetanker and survived, Hoza was on the same convoy.

Documents

A PIONEER PRESS PUBLICATION • FAME ... · Kirstie Beck, and Earvin Ortega listen to Director Andrew Sinclair as they form an energy circle before a free communi-ty performance