April 24, 2010 – More than 760 guests gathered at Brookfield Zoo for the 29th annual Whirl fund-raising gala hosted by the Women’s Board of the Chicago Zoological Society. The $600-per-person black-tie event raised nearly $1.3 million, which will benefit the animals at the zoo, as well as the Society’s conservation and education programs. This year’s Whirl, themed A Whirl in the Wilderness, celebrated the zoo’s new exhibit—Great Bear Wilderness—and was chaired by Vicki DeMar of Winnetka. Read more
April 2010
By Dennis Rodkin
With the real-estate market in turmoil and the economic future uncertain, our in-house housing (and schools) expert names a score of top places to live right now. Read more
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By Dennis Rodkin
On their usual circuit through the neighborhood, Kristen and Victor Ramirez and their two small children have a lot to do. They need to get their feet wet in the swimming pool at Hamlin Park; stop to see the penguin statue outside Suckers Candy; drop in at Glam to Go and a couple of other Roscoe Street boutiques; and finish with some sugar cookies from the old-timey Rudy’s Bakery. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
On the far northwest side of the city are the streets that make you say, “Oh.” Olcott, Oleander, Oliphant, Olympia, and others among the “O” avenues off Northwest Highway offer a winsome assortment of homes in American four-square, colonial, and bungalow styles. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
History offers its ironic twists. The Lakewood Balmoral neighborhood was originally developed as a modest alternative to the lakefront mansions half a mile to the east. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
Bicyclists traveling the 21-mile Old Plank Road Trail through northern Will County know they can expect a warm welcome at a tavern in downtown Frankfort that’s named for the trail. This onetime post office with a broad front porch stands among the vintage storefronts and houses along Kansas Street, a snapshot of a pioneer town’s center. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
In the country’s collective imagination, the ideal small town has a square for a heart. In Woodstock that heart is big enough to accommodate everything from the Supperclub at the Elks and a quilting store to a crêperie and a shop stocked with tie-dyed clothes. After all, a town called Woodstock needs an emporium for psychedelic garb. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
Seventeen years ago, Glenview got word from the federal government that it was game-changing time. Glenview Naval Air Station, the 1,028-acre economic engine in the middle of town, was to be shut down. “Glenview was going to look like a doughnut with a big hole in the middle,” recalls Donald Owen, who oversaw the navy’s closure of the base and then crossed the street to work for the village, managing the land’s development. Read more
By Dennis Rodkin
One recent snowy afternoon, Frank Standley brought some reading and paperwork to the upper floor of the Orland Park Public Library, a contemporary space illuminated by the sunlight pouring through its clerestory windows. In better weather, Standley, a construction manager, might have been exploring the bike trail that starts near his condo and meanders north through forest preserves and the town of Palos Heights to the Cal-Sag Channel. Read more