Wilmette Life

Skate Show at Wilmette’s Centennial Rink

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:34:09 -0500

The 36th annual Centennial Ice Rink’s show, “Around the World in 80 Minutes” was held earlier this month. The show featured guest soloist Tomoki Hiwatashi, age 12, who trains at Centennial, and is U.S. National Junior Men’s Intermediate champ. Wilmette resident Eric Stinehart, who is a nationally ranked junior as well, also performed. …

Wilmette: Crimes of opportunity big in 2011

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:55:13 -0500

Wilmette continues to be a community relatively free of violent crime – but it also continues to be a draw for petty criminals who want to steal from too easily accessible autos and homes, as the village’s 2011 crime statistics reveal. Residents can help fight that trend, simply by remembering to lock their car doors every time they get out, and to keep doors and windows locked when they leave home, Wilmette Police Chief Brian King said last week. “I kind of look at it as an easy civic duty everyone can fulfill. Keeping your vehicle locked and your home …

Wilmette teen visits North Pole for birthday

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:41:51 -0500

Travel, it’s said, broadens the mind. It can also freeze unprotected sections of the body, as Anna Sweitzer has very good cause to know. The Wilmette teen, who turned 16 April 4, celebrated that milestone by visiting the North Pole with dad Rick Sweitzer. The unexpected journey – her father surprised her with news of it just two days before her birthday – took them from Chicago to Boston, from Boston to Frankfurt Germany, from Frankfurt to Oslo Norway, then north to the Arctic Circle village of Longyearbyen. From there, they traveled to a base camp, where a helicopter was …

Paik awarded scholarship

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:16:00 -0500

Jasmine Dela Luna of Melrose Park and Christopher Paik of Winnetka were awarded scholarships for their essays on human trafficking at a ceremony held earlier this month at the Chinese American Service League in Chicago to commemorate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. …

Property Transfers

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:09:06 -0500

Information is provided by Record Information Services, P.O. Box 894, Elburn IL 60119; phone (630) 557-1000; fax (630) 557-1001. EVANSTON 1010 Mulford St.: Nicholas W Tarantello to Darryl Doebler, $400,000, April 24 106 South Boulevard Unit B: Marius Stanoiu to Marnie Gucciard Michael P Gucciard Jr, $630,000, April 25 1121 Mulford St.: Smith Trust to Gavin Galich Ann Kudlas, $325,000, April 25 1704 Harrison St.: Thomas M Hoover to Michael S Young Carolyn I Young, $405,000, April 25 1830 Ridge Ave. Apt 103: Citimortgage Inc to Richard H Fisher, $163,000, April 20 2020 Maple Ave.: Benjamin Allan Myszkowski to Katherine …

Bratschi Plumbing celebrates 75 years

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:18:26 -0500

For the past 75 years, Bratschi Plumbing has remained a steady presence in the North Shore community. The mom-and-pop business—which celebrated its big anniversary last month—has remained almost entirely family-owned and operated since it first opened in 1937. The Bratschi family—now the Hoza family though marriage—has continued working and living in Winnetka since founder Walter Bratschi moved to the community in the 1930’s to open the business. Over the years, Bratschi Plumbing, located at 801 Oak Street—has been passed down through four family generations and is today operated by Bratschi’s grandsons Phil Hoza III and Al Hoza and his great …

Wilmette ponders green electricity

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:33:44 -0500

By the time Wilmette village trustees return to the podium on June 12, they should be able to decide what electric power supplier to choose for Wilmette residential customers. They should also be able to decide what level of renewable energy to ask that supplier to provide: 100 percent, 50 percent, the state-mandated minimum of 7 percent, or an option allowing individual customers to go with 100 percent clean energy equivalents. Trustees who met May 22 approved guidelines for operating Wilmette’s electrical aggregation program, officially known as the plan of governance. Voters gave the go-ahead for the program in a …

Glew and her crew fight MS

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:24:00 -0500

When Linda Glew was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008, the first thought through her mind was “I don’t have time for this!” Four years later, Glew, of Wilmette, has instead made time to help fight her disease by leading one of the biggest teams of fund-raisers for the Greater Illinois chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. On May 6 her “Glew Crew” of more than 110 friends and family, clad in rainbow tie-dyed T-shirts, raised more than $26,000 in Walk MS, the largest annual fund-raiser for the society. “It was great,” she said Monday. “We escaped the rain …

Host exchange students

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:40:01 -0500

America International Exchange, a Chicago-area non-profit, is looking for families on the North Shore to host each of its high-school-aged visitors from Spain. This year’s students will be here July 27-Aug. 18. The students speak English, are insured, and have their own spending money. All they need is a warm bed, meals, and a window to the American way-of-life. It is not necessary to have teens in the family; singles, young families; and seniors also make great host families. Interested parties can contact Elise Egan, local program coordinator at (847) 431-5110 or elisebundlegan@gmail.com. …

North Shore Garden Walk

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:34:00 -0500

The North Shore Garden club will hold its biennial garden walk “Garden Fantasies” from 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. June 20 and feature five special gardens in Highland Park, Deerfield and Lake Forest that include inspirational designs filled with beautiful and rare plants. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the walk. They will be sold on the patio at the Deerpath Inn in Lake Forest. Net proceeds will go to fund scholarships at the College of Lake County, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Green Youth Farm in North Chicago, and other horticultural projects. To order tickets in advance …

Wilmette’s Harper School students pair with Connections for the Homeless

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:04:10 -0500

“It’s better to give than to recieve.” That’s one of the first life lessons many parents try to teach their children early. In the past two school years, students at Wilmette’s Harper Elementary School have learned, through a multi-faceted charitable effort, that giving and receiving can come in one socially responsible package. Children at the K-4 school have taken part in a number of interconnected special programs on behalf of Connections for the Homeless, the most recent taking place at the school’s annual Fun Fair, held this year on May 24. In doing so, they’ve gone far beyond the occasional …

New website at North Shore Senior Center

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:32:01 -0500

North Shore Senior Center officially launched its new website, www.nssc.org, last month. Featuring a contemporary and streamlined design, this website offers seniors and families a user-friendly online experience as they access information about North Shore Senior Center’s various programs and services. Following a series of “Visioning Sessions” held last Fall at the agency’s headquarters, North Shore Senior Center has adopted the tagline “Celebrating Seniors!” in its print and digital communications, the new website included. The Visioning Sessions were held to help the organization determine how to lay the groundwork for new programs and extended services -- things that will be …

Super Senior Day at NSSC

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:11:35 -0500

The North Shore Senior Center held its annual Super Senior Day on May 24. This year’s honorees, representing their volunteer work at organizations, included: Robert F. Anthony, American Legion Post 166 Mary Beverly, Foster Senior Club Norma Brand, Keshet Jean M. Broom, Executive Service Corps of Chicago Arthur G. Buehler, SHORE Community Services, Inc. Jane Knight Dampts, Woman’s Society, Winnetka Congregational Church Edie Davis, First Church of God Christian Life Center Frances Daley Delaney, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Charlie Dubman, North Shore Senior Center Gary Eberlein, St. Peter Community Church Marilyn Eichelberg, Glenview United Methodist Church Celene K. Epstein, …

1.5 million people to use Midway, O’Hare this holiday weekend

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:24:01 -0500

About 1.5 million people are expected to pass through Chicago’s two airports this Memorial Day weekend, city aviation officials say.

Burger Day success

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:48:00 -0500

The Glenview’s Plaza Del Prado McDonald’s and the Winnetka McDonald’s hosted four rival high schools April 21 and 22 that came together joining forces to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CNI) at Burger Day Nine. Teens from Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South, New Trier and Loyola schools, worked together to raise money through corporate presentations for sponsorships, T-shirt sales and taking orders in the parking lot for one-dollar hamburgers during the event. All money raised went directly to the RMHC-CNI. The 2012 team took Burger Day to a whole new level, raising $56,000, exceeding …

Study says Chicago traffic congestion actually got better

Tue, 22 May 2012 17:50:34 -0500

Drivers in the Chicago area were stuck in traffic an average of 36 hours in 2011, 12 fewer than the 48 wasted in traffic in 2010, according to INRIX, a company that studies traffic patterns.