The Buzz...
This page is devoted to what's happening in Winnetka and the other North Shore Communities.
March 8, 2011
Election time is around the corner and there are several hot topics on area ballots. Probably the hottest of all is the referendum in Wilmette regarding a tax increase for district 39. In a lecture I heard about this porposed increase, the message I took away was that Wilmette really needs it. Without it, language and gym will be cut. Apparently, they said, Wilmette has the lowest expediture per student of all the feeder schools to New Trier. Here's the voice of the pro-increase group: http://www.supportwilmetteschools.com/ . Other towns have elections for the school boards and Winnetka is also electing new trustees. The three slated candidates were joined by a fourth "write-in" candidate, Jennifer Spinney. She had been a trustee, but was not re-slated. No one I know gets why. Anyway, I am voting for her. Another of the slated candidates, Richard Kates, has made her candidacy very difficult and expensive by constantly challenging the legality of her name being on the ballot. I personally hope she wins. A good friend of mine, Tom Shannon is running for the district 36 school board. I have great faith in whatever the school board does once he takes his seat on the board. Last up is the New Trier school board. Here is an interesting and factual article about the contested election: http://triblocal.com/winnetka-northfield/2010/12/23/six-candidate-for-three-new-trier-school-board-spots/ .
February 2, 2011
Snow, snow and more snow. The most I have ever seen. Winnetka was hit pretty hard. New Trier High School, all of the lower schools, and most businesses were closed. I would estimate we got about 2 feet by the time it was all done. The wind was so strong that drifts were everywhere, making it nearly impossible to get out of the house or into the garage. Here are some pictures I took below:
October 9, 2010
This weekend, my son John completed his Eagle Scout project by painting a map of the USA on the Crow Island Elementary School playground. He spent hours planning it and getting it approved. He then raised the $500 he needed for the template, paint and supplies by holding a car wash in September. Finally, he got at least 20 volunteers to help him with the actual painting.
Probably goes without saying that I am extremely proud of him. That's John in the middle...
Here are two articles I wrote for the Chicago Tribune about his project:
http://triblocal.com/winnetka-northfield/community/stories/2010/09/boy-scout-car-wash-raises-over-500/
http://triblocal.com/winnetka-northfield/community/stories/2010/10/crow-island-elementary-gets-a-new-map/
June 11, 2010
School's out!! Time for the Winnetka Children's Fair held each year on the Village Green. It's the tradition that on Friday, kids go to school for a shortened last day, then head straight for the fair. And, as usual, it rains on that day like it did today. But we love it anyway. If you are a member of Facebook, there is a darling video of the fair produced by our local celebrity Mike Leonard. Just search Mike Leonard Winnetka Childrens Fair 2010.
May 31, 2010
The annual Memorial Day parade starts at 10 AM beginning at Skokie School and ending at the Village Green. Be on time, because the parade is short, probably no more than 20 minutes. But it will be great. 
October 2, 2009
Olympics are on everyone's mind today. Chicago, so hopeful as a contender, was shut out in the first round of voting. There is a sadness about town. Whether you were for or against the Olympics happening here, you can't help but feel the disappointment at such a resounding "no" vote for our town. The other big news in town today, at least in our town of Winnetka, is that it's homecoming. It's a big weekend of reunions, football, and the dance.
September 30, 2009
Caucus surverys are due in today.
September, 2009
The Wilmette Sheridan Road project is complete. So nice to be able to drive down Sheridan Road without heavy equipment and construction traffic. While I personally feel Wilmette should not have gone to one lane, they did do a nice job. I particularly like their brick crosswalks and the new Wilmette signs (although there are too many of them).
July 3, 2008
Sheridan Road in Wilmette is an absolute mess. Wilmette has embarked on a lengthy project to make the road safer and compliant with federal regulations. For more information you can read all about it at this site: http://www.wilmette.com/sheridan/20080107_Newsletter.pdf. In the meantime, I advise you to go another way unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
June 28, 2008
Every summer there are many area farmer's markets to choose from. This Saturday, I went to both the Wilmette and the Evanston farmer's markets. I was looking for something I could not find at the Wilmette market, so on I went to Evanston. They are very different markets. Wilmette's is more like a French Market. There are several prepared food vendors, several produce stands, two cheese sellers and lots of crafty things like jewelry, saris, and garden art. 
The Evanston framer's market is much larger. You are more likely to find many organic fruits and vegetables and tons of great plants. There are organic meats and a few bakers. The market is huge and very fun to go to. 
June 14, 2008
Every year when the lower schools have their last day of school, the Winnetka Children's Fair is held on the Village Green. The fair lasts for two days, Friday and Saturday. It's kind of like a welcome to summer, school's out, now yee ha let's go to the fair. My kids are too old for it now, but it goes on without them. The fair is a fundraiser for the Winnetka Community Nursery School where my youngest went to preschool.
June 1, 2008
New Trier Graduation. Yes, it finally happened. My oldest graduated from New Trier. I want to relate some of the comments made in one of the speeches at the ceremony. If these comments don't make you want to move here and go to this school, I'd be surprised. This is what I heard: this year's class has the highest average ACT score of any graduating class ever to matriculate from New Trier. Their average scores were the highest of any Illinois public school. They had more National Merit Scholars than any public school in 48 of 50 states. New Trier won several state championships including Boys Lacrosse which happened on graduation day. And by the way, did you know that New Trier won a Grammy in 2007 for having the best music program in the United States. I am so proud of all of these kids, including mine.
May 8, 2008
It's rummage time again. Winnetka has two really big sales every year and two smaller "off-season" sales. The sales draw shoppers from all over Chicagoland. Shown here is the crowd just before the Winnetka Congregational Church sale held every year on the 2nd Thursday in May.
December 16, 2007
Today New Trier High School had its annual Winter Festival which is a performance by all of the choirs, orchestras and bands. It is held in the New Trier gym and it is a very impressive event. The level of musical talent at the high school is amazing. If you want to see performances live on the internet, you can go to www.ntjazz.com and once you've downloaded the free version of real player, you can watch any of the performances. The ntjazz site is so popular, they boast over 1.5 million hits. My children's grandparents can watch their grandkids perform while at home in St. Louis and Dallas.
August 28, 2007
The North Shore was hit by a very unusual and damaging storm on August 23, 2007. Everywhere, whole trees and large branches were knocked down and many homes lost power resulting in flooded basements because sump pumps were not working. Traffic was at a stand still for hours. The trains were delayed because of all the debris on the tracks. I have never seen such a storm. One friend of mine from Florida told me that our storm was like hurricanes she remembers from there. New Trier was shut down because of lost power. When I went to pick my son up after his Shakespeare audition at around 8 p.m. on the night of the storm, I took back roads because the traffic was so bad. I ended up on Woodland which runs directly west of the school. There was a large tree down on top of two cars completely blocking the road. He had to jump over the tree and around downned electrical wires to make it to the car. The whole thing was very scarry. I went around town today taking pictures of the clean-up effort. Here are some of interest:
April 17, 2007
On April 17, we have an election to decide several local issues. The biggest and most controversial is the decision for a tax increase to fund additions to Washburne middle school and one of the elementary schools which both need additions to accomodate increased enrollment. The group in favor of the increase is very well organized and it is likely that their efforts will result in this measure passing.
February 10, 2007
This week I had an interview with Loren from www.NorthshoreInsider.com about what is going on in the real estate market on the North Shore. It is posted on that site as well as on YouTube. My kids find it fascinating that their mom has a video on YouTube. If you want to see it, click here.
January 29, 2007
Watch out if you plan to talk on your cell phone while driving around in Winnetka. Starting February 1, 2007, there is a new ban in effect for hand held cell phones while driving your car. Chicago has had this law on the books for quite a long time. Now Winnetka decided to join in. The police department may have a tough time enforcing the ban and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
January 19, 2007
Last night was the annual Winnetka Caucus town meeting held at Skokie School. Each Caucus group presented its proposed platform based on survey results taken earlier in the year. The two biggest items for discussion were the park district's plan to build a new maintenance facility and the slate for the school board. The original school board panel voted 11-2 not to re-slate incumbent Anne Kelly. It later reversed it's decision and put her on the slate. There was much discussion from either side of this nominee, with the general feeling of those in attendance that she should remain on the slate.
August 24, 2006
Now that New Trier is back in session, I spent some time looking around the Internet for news about Winnetka. What I found was a really great site with interesting articles and posts about life in Winnetka. Try this site out and see for yourself...http://www.winnetkainsider.com . I found it very interesting.
March 4, 2006
It's antique show time in Winnetka. At the Community House there are tons of high-end dealers offering everything you could ever want if you have deep enough pockets. I really enjoyed looking at all the cool old things. I think the cheapest thing I saw was $295. The North Shore Senior Center has a booth there that should not be missed. At the Winnetka Woman's Club show, there are many more affordable things to buy. Once again, the looking was a lot of fun. Both shows run through Sunday evening. The fee to get in at each is $12 at the door. It is worth the trip. Each show offers lunch, but if you have never been to Winnetka before, take a break and eat at Little Rickie's or Cafe Aroma right between the two shows.
February 28, 2006
The most asked question to any realtor is "how is the market these days?" Well, lately my answer has been, "That depends." A house came on this week with another office in Winnetka for $2.3+million. This has been a very soft price range for the last year. Yet the house sold in one day with multiple offers. It was a great house that was presented well and priced well. Buyers could see the value and the market voted with its pocketbook. I wrote an offer on a house this week priced at $649,000. It has been for sale for almost a year and a half. The seller had never gotten an offer. And yet, he did not take ours (which was low, but respectable). So, if properties are priced right, they sell. If they are priced too high, they don't. Pretty simple.
February 2, 2006
I belong to the Winnetka Woman's Club (WWC). Their annual antique show is coming up early next month. The Woman's Club started the event about six or seven years ago to piggy back off of the long-standing and very successful show at the Winnetka Community House. Both shows are really good. But, in my opinion, you can actually afford to buy things at the WWC show and the Community House show has more museum quality things. The tickets are inexpensive ($12)and it is lots of fun to attend. There is a preview show with champagne and chocolates on Thursday March 2. I always attend this event. It's not because I can't wait to get in the door to see all of the pretty things, but mainly because the "Treasures Room" for Christ Church is open at the same time. This room is part of Christ Church's rummage sale where all the really good stuff is sold. I like to get there when the dealers get there so I can get some of the good stuff too. If you want to know more about the show, visit the WWC website at http://www.winnetkawomansclub.org.
January 16, 2006
It's finals week at New Trier. There are definitely signs that our teenagers are focused on their studies. Today, when I was at the library, almost every table was filled with students buried in their books. The conference room was being used by a study group. The finals are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The parents association is sponsoring a breakfast at the school for the students.
Coming up next Tuesday, January 24 is a panel discussion about the college application process. The discussion begins at 7:30 at Cornog in Northfield. Prior to the discussion, the annual parents association meeting will start at 7:00.
January 5, 2006
Last night's annual town meeting of the Winnetka Caucus was one of the most lively in recent memory. Normally when I attend these meetings, the seats are sparsely filled and it is generally pretty sleepy. But since there was a controversial issue on the table, Winnetka residents turned out in droves. Up for discussion was the park board's plan to demolish the warming hut at Hubbard Woods and to replace it with a beautiful new building at a cost of nearly $600,000.
Presenting the Caucus platform on the building was Richard Kates,chairman of the Caucus Parks Committee. He obviously spent hours and hours researching this proposal. He felt as though the Caucus results were clearly not in favor of this expenditure and that it was ill-advised for many, many reasons. He talked for quite a long time.
Joe Dooley, former park board president, gave a compelling argument in favor of the building. Primarily, he believes that because the current building does not meet federal accessibility guidelines we are in direct violation and that we cannot correct the problem by merely repairing the building. He also argued that the building would provide a much needed place for families to gather and would boost the commercial district in many ways.
After at least an hour of discussion and impassioned arguments from the floor, a standing vote was taken. The platform was defeated. The building plans will go forward. I saw a rendering of the new structure and it will be very lovely. It is a stone facade with prairie influences. There will be public restrooms, a kitchentte and a large room with a fireplace where skaters can warm up after skating. The building will be used for rentals and meetings as well.
The rest of the town meeting went well with all other platforms passing. After the parks platfrom was defeated, the auditorium cleared out because it was past 10:30 on a school night.