Northbrook celebrates diversity with cultural fair
Several hundred people attended the Cultural Fair on Sunday, Feb. 23 at the North Suburban YMCA in Northbrook.
The free afternoon event was presented by the Village of Northbrook's Community Commission with the collaboration of event partner, the YMCA, on Techny Road. This was the Cultural Fair's third year.
The fair featured entertainment, crafting activities, a buffet of free food samples and 15 community tables staffed by local organizations.
The gym accommodated performances, the resource tables and a long buffet line. A mirrored room across from the gym was used for martial arts coaching.
'The mission of the Community Commission is to encourage inclusivity in our town and what better way to do that than to celebrate all the different cultures that make up Northbrook,' said Jennifer Saperstein of Northbrook, Community Commission chair.
'It's our goal to have as many different cultures here as possible,' Saperstein said about the fair.
Judy Hughes of Northbrook, president of the Northbrook Historical Society, was on hand at one of the many community tables showcasing Northbrook.
'Without us, our history is an empty box,' Hughes said about the historical society.
'We've always been a diverse community from the very beginning,' Hughes said.
'We have, in our schools, over 40 languages spoken.
'And it says that we are a diverse community and we need to be a welcoming community,' Hughes said.
Entertainment included the Vyshyvanka School of Dance, the Thai Cultural and Fine Arts Institute of Chicago and Trinity Irish Dancers. The schedule included drum music, vocal music and other forms of dance.
Lynna Gripentrog of Deerfield, the parent of Emi Gripentrog, 3, of Deerfield sat backstage with Emi before the child performed with the Thai Cultural and Fine Arts Institute.
Performing at the event helps,' by celebrating each other's differences and similarities,' Gripentrog said.
New this year was the Mobile Museum of Tolerance, a museum on a bus that was parked outside.
Elected officials and community leaders used it as a photo opportunity backdrop.
'Having the Mobile Museum of Tolerance is wonderful,' said Kathy Fielding, North Suburban YMCA chief executive officer.
'Especially in today's day and age, it reminds us that we are all different but we're all the same and having this here reminds us to be tolerant of everybody and we can all learn and do things,' Fielding said.
'And having this event here is so wonderful for the Y because that's what we do in the community.
'We're here for all.'
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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Lexington men find community at White Castle, spinning yarns and downing sliders
It's 9:30 on a Saturday morning at the White Castle on Reynolds Road, and the party is in full swing. Ten men, several wearing caps noting their military service, are gathered around tables that have been pushed together, and the coffee and conversation are flowing. This group of Lexington White Castle regulars, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s, has become like a family, and some of them have made these chats over breakfast part of their daily morning routine for 30 years or more. 'They just cuss and discuss anything,' Randall Dowell joked. 'Mostly yarn spinning.' 'It's a camaraderie thing,' said Ed Parker. 'I come to White Castle for cheap food and fellowship. The food is great and the fellowship is great,' said Jim Atkins. 'Sometimes I come for breakfast and lunch.' Wayne Tullis says he's 'the baby' of the group, at 82 years old. On May 31, they celebrated their most senior member, John Hughes, who turned 99 May 9. There was cake for everyone, and restaurant employees feted Hughes with a pair of White Castle socks, a White Castle gift card and a cookie jar shaped like a slider in the signature blue and white box. 'Ain't everybody got one of them,' an admirer called from the other end of the table. There were blue and gold tablecloths, streamers hung from the ceiling, and a gold crown was placed atop Hughes' cap. 'You're king of the castle today,' said Gail Gurney, a White Castle district manager who has known the men for years. Hughes said he doesn't know how his 100th birthday could top his 99th. 'I'm shocked,' he said of the celebration. Hughes, a World War II veteran, thumbed through old photos of past gatherings with his buddies at White Castle, including one of another birthday party there years ago. 'I was an old man then,' he said. Bob Niles is a 95-year-old veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War. He said he's been eating sliders at White Castle since he was a youngster growing up in Louisville. 'We were really upset in high school when it went from a nickel to seven cents,' he said. Niles said he thinks the sliders still taste the same as they did back then, though. Dowell said he's been coming to the White Castle on Reynolds Road for 'forever... off and on probably 40 years.' He said he used to live in a complex behind the restaurant, but he now drives over from his home in Versailles to visit with his friends. White Castle, he said, is 'welcoming to service people. It has a good feel about it. We know most of these (employees) by name.' 'I don't think there's any subject that's sacred here,' said Dowell. 'We discuss anything and everything: the media, horse racing, farming.' Ray Wedding gives 'the tomato report.' 'Every year I put out 28, 30 plants or more just to have something to do,' said Wedding, showing off a cell phone photo of the tomato plants lining his backyard fence. When his Big Boys and Better Boys are ripe, he brings them in to share with his breakfast buddies. 'They're a friendly bunch and would do anything for you, I think, if they could,' said Wedding, 88. The men's relationships with the employees are as close as their bonds with each other. 'They're special to us,' said Gurney, the district manager. The regulars always order the same thing, and the staff knows what each wants before he says a word. 'As soon as we see their cars pull in the lot, we start making their food,' she said. 'We are all just like family.' Gurney started working at White Castle as a 16-year-old and has been with the company for 37 years now, working her way up to district manager. Dowell told her Saturday he thinks he can remember her first day on the job. 'She is the cornerstone behind all of this,' Dowell said. 'They've watched me go from this store to the other store' across town, she said. When her son had a bone marrow transplant, she said the morning regulars took up a collection to help out, since Gurney had to be off work for six months. 'They wanted to make sure that I was OK to take off work,' Gurney said. 'My customers took care of me.' And she takes care of them too. Gurney said staff members have contact numbers for some of the guys in the back, and if someone doesn't show up for breakfast for a few days, they'll call to check on them. And they make sure the egg on Hughes' bologna and egg sandwich comes with an unbroken yolk, something not just anyone can get at White Castle. Hughes doesn't come in to White Castle every day anymore, Gurney said, so 'it's a special day when he walks in the store.' Hughes still drives, but not as far as he used to. He said Saturday that he usually spends his mornings at the McDonald's on Winchester Road, because it's closer to his home. But the group at White Castle knows he reserves the last Saturday of every month for them. 'We solve all problems,' Hughes said. The makeup of the White Castle regulars group has changed over the years, as some members have died or moved away. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 12 or 15 guys getting together every morning, Tullis said. 'The pandemic got some of them,' Atkins said. But the regulars didn't let even a pandemic keep them from getting together. Tullis said they sat outside during those days, and the staff brought food out to them. 'We were in our cars and trucks,' Tullis said. 'We yelled at one another,' Parker added. How did they all come together in the first place decades ago? 'It was just a couple people, and they had a friend' who they invited, Tullis said. 'It just kept collecting.' Tullis invited Dick LeMaster, 90. 'I'm here every day, six days a week,' LeMaster said. He always gets the same thing: a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee. LeMaster, in turn, invited Mike Blackard. 'I show up about once a week. It's a fun group,' Blackard said. He said he enjoys the wealth of knowledge the men have accumulated over their lives. 'They've done it all,' he said. LeMaster said his granddaughter, a University of Kentucky student, once brought some of her classmates out to observe the group. And what did they learn? LeMaster, who served in the Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War, said her assessment was that the guys liked to talk about the past, not the future. His assessment: 'We're social people. We just like to chat and visit., tell the same stories over and over.'
Chicago Tribune
7 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Revisiting ‘Ferris Bueller's Day Off' filming locations 40 years later
Life was moving fast for 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' writer/director/producer John Hughes when he wrote the film's script. It took him just four days to complete it. 'How did I come to write 'Ferris?' Well, let's see,' Hughes said. 'There was a writer's strike coming up in a week and my agent called and warned me, so I thought, 'Geez, John, you better write something,' and so I got this sentence … out of the ozone. 'I am 17 years old and I have no idea where my life is going,' and I thought, 'That's it!' I called Ned Tanen (head of Paramount films) and said, 'I want to do this movie about a kid who takes a day off from school and … that's all I know so far.'' Hughes was fresh off 'The Breakfast Club' release in February 1985, 'Weird Science' in August 1985 and filming for 'Pretty in Pink' in Los Angeles. He had just signed a five-movie deal with Paramount Pictures. Ferris Bueller, Hughes told the Tribune, would be 'the most popular guy in school, a guy with everything going for him, who could be really obnoxious except for the fact that he polices himself.' The character on the precipice of graduating high school but also about to miss his ninth day of school during the spring semester. Hughes choose the then-23-year-old actor to portray the teen, who was on the precipice of graduating high school but also about to miss his ninth day of school during the spring semester. Broderick accepted a Tony Award for Neil Simon's 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' and starred with 'The Breakfast Club's' Ally Sheedy in 'WarGames.' Three years before he became Ferris Bueller, Broderick told Gene Siskel that he didn't regret skipping college. 'It wouldn't have worked for me,' I would have ended up doing the minimum amount of studying to just pass, and I would have resented even giving up that much time. I love acting.' Ferris Bueller's iconic vest goes up for auction 40 years after famously skipping schoolBroderick was announced in June 1985 as the lead in 'Ferris.' He initially had doubts about the role, which breaks the fourth wall. 'I was just starting out. I had done two Neil Simon plays where I spoke to the audience and Ferris spoke to the camera, and I had done (the 1985 movie) 'Ladyhawke,' where the character sort of talks to the camera,' Broderick said in 2016 interview. 'And I thought, 'I'm always going to be like this comedian who talks to the camera. I have to get a real part,' or some stupid like that.' Cleveland native Ruck graduated from the University of Illinois, then headed to Chicago to pursue theater. He starred as a 'mischievous manservant' in Halcyon Repertory Co.'s September 1979 production of 'Mandragola.' He then starred opposite Jennifer Grey and Megan Mullally in David Rimmer's 'Album' at Apollo Theater Chicago followed by 'a marvelous cameo' in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at Wisdom Bridge Theater in March 1982. Ruck had a role in June 1983's, 'One Shining Moment,' which was a musical about a group of students recreating the Kennedy years that debuted in Chicago at Drury Lane Theater in Water Tower Place. Before he became Cameron, Ruck struck a nerve with military-themed scripts. He was a weird military academy student in the 1984 NBC made-for-TV movie 'Hard Knox.' Ruck portrayed Canadian World War I pilot Billy Bishop in a one-man show at Wisdom Bridge Theater in March 1984, a soldier injured during the Korean War who comes home to sell body parts in 'Life and Limb,' and finally opposite Broderick on Broadway for Neil Simon's 'Biloxi Blues.' Broderick and Ruck — then 29 years old — left the Broadway production to film 'Bueller' in Chicago. They could reunite soon to star in another film together. Sara, who was 18 years old during filming of 'Ferris,' starred on 'All My Children' and as princess Lili with Tom Cruise as Jack in 1985's 'Legend,' which Tribune critic Gene Siskel gave 1½ stars and called a 'truly awful film.' Married to Jim Henson's son Brian, Sara returned to the red carpet this week for the premiere of 'The Life of Chuck.' Gene Siskel gave 'Ferris Bueller' just two stars, describing it as 'a film that doesn't seem to know what it's about until the end.' Still, the movie was a commercial success. As of February 1987, when his next film 'Some Kind of Wonderful' was released, 'Ferris' had earned a $70 million domestic gross. Hughes died of a heart attack on Aug. 6, 2009, at age 59 while he was visiting family in New York. Here's a guide to the Chicago-area locations as they appeared in the film. Unfortunately, the Bueller house is not in Chicagoland — it's in Long Beach, California. Many of the interior scenes were also shot in Los Frye tells his best friend Ferris Bueller that his father, Morris Frye, loves his 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder — with Illinois license plate 'NRVOUS' — and it 'is his passion.' The song that plays when the car was revealed in the movie? That's 'Oh Yeah' by Yello. But you can't buy a soundtrack for the film — it was never released per Hughes' order. The home was built in 1953, for textile artist Ben Rose. The steel-and-glass house was designed by A. James Speyer, a disciple of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The pavilion (where the Ferrari was housed) was built 20 years later. Rose died in 2004, and his wife, Frances, followed in 2009. That's when the 5,300-square-foot estate was listed for sale for $2.3 million. It was on the market again in 2013, for $1.5 million. How did Ruck get chosen for the role of Cameron Frye? He showed up to an open-casting call for 'The Breakfast Club.' 'I love them because they give young actors a chance to go in front of real casting directors for real parts,' Hughes told the Tribune in 1986. 'They get their feet wet. And while the casting directors may not use them for that particular part, they may pull them out for something else.'No longer home to the Koenig & Strey real estate office, but the building in downtown Winnetka looks almost the same as it appeared in the and his wife, Nancy, who like Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson, were high school sweethearts when they both attended Glenbrook North. In 'Ferris,' it became Shermer High School, the same fictional high school where 'The Breakfast Club' took place (but that was filmed at the former Maine North High School in Des Plaines). went down a rabbit hole that concludes the characters from both films probably knew each other. The boring teachers were portrayed by Ben Stein and Del Close. Stein described the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act before a classroom of bored students. Hughes told Close he could write anything he wanted on the blackboard in the classroom his scene was set. Close wrote 'The Harold,' which was the name of the improvisational game he invented. Hughes held a private screening of 'Ferris' at the high school since many of its students were extras in the Tom Bueller looked out his office window upon hearing The Beatles' 'Twist and Shout,' he would have observed the Chicago River — not Dearborn Street. The curvy, green glass-walled structure was designed by New York-based architecture film Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, which also designed 300 W. Monroe St. Completed in 1983, the building has 36 stories and more than 6 acres of glass that create a reflective facade that seems to bend along with the river just opposite the Merchandise Ferrari was entrusted to an attendant at a parking garage, which was owned by the Chicago Board of Education in the 1970s. Locals might have one bone to pick with the setup of one shot. The parking garage attendant, who takes the Ferrari out for a spin, clearly turns off Wells Street when he leaves the garage, but then unbelievably ends up underneath the 'L' tracks on Wells again. The West Loop garage still has 12 levels of parking — but now it's all self the movie was filmed, the Sears Tower was the world's tallest building — it had been since iron workers bolted the last girder into place in 1973. The Skydeck observation area opened in 1974, on the building's 103rd floor, which is 1,353 feet up in the air. Though Cameron Frye probably couldn't see his dad from up there, visitors can see up to four states and 50 miles out on a clear day. The 1,451-foot structure lost its crown as the world's tallest when it was surpassed in 1996 by Malaysia's Petronas Towers, and the American title in 2013 when New York City's One World Trade Center was completed. After decades of construction in Asian countries, it's now the 25th tallest in the Chicago Board of Trade opened on March 13, 1848, making it the world's oldest and largest commodities futures trading center. In 1930, it moved into its 45-story art deco skyscraper by Holabird & Root. Its first tenant: Quaker Oats Co. The statue of Ceres that tops the structure has no face, reportedly because it was thought no other building would ever be as tall as the Board of Trade, therefore no one would realize that statue's head was featureless. At the time the film was shot, visitors could take free tours of the CBOT building on weekdays and observe the trading floor from galleries. True to the movie, the floor jumped to life at 9:30 a.m. when trading opened as brokers negotiated transactions face to face in the pits using hand signals and shouted commands, known as open outcry. Transactions were then recorded via computer and relayed to the big board and communications networks around the world. The process was an ironic combination of Stone Age communications and 20th century technology. The trading pit is no longer open to the public. In 2007, the Chicago Board of Trade merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The merger created what was, at the time, the world's largest derivatives French name, which roughly translates to 'the house of who,' was not found in any Tribune restaurant reviews. With good reason — it was never a restaurant. The private residence was used for a brief exterior shot only in the movie. Abe Froman, 'Sausage King of Chicago,' had a reservation at a Los Angeles restaurant instead. Siskel called it, 'a weak ripoff of a similar scene in 'Beverly Hills Cop.''If the buildings in the background look familiar, then it's because the same area was used in 'Home Alone' for Santa Claus' shack. The pizza parlor Rooney wandered into? Though it looks similar to a Barnaby's, it was really in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.A producer inspected Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park as possible locations for the movie, but Wrigley won when the White Sox (Hughes was a fan) schedule put the team on the road. Broderick had received batting lessons from White Sox coach Charley Lau in the 1983 film 'Max Dugan Returns.' Ferris and friends were sitting in the 100-level near the left-foul pole. The Cubs game on TV at the pizza place took place June 5, 1985, against the Atlanta Braves. But when Ferris Bueller caught the foul ball? That was shot during a Sept. 24, 1985, game at Wrigley Field. Ruck recalled, according to he took inspiration from a catcher at his high school for his, 'Hey batter, batter, batter, sa-wing batter!' chant. Hughes' own father-in-law was an extra seated behind Broderick, according to the death notice for Henry 'Hank' Ludwig published in the June 2, 2013, edition of the Tribune. Ludwig suffered a major heart attack the day after filming and drove himself 20 miles to the hospital. Doctors gave him 7-12 years to live — he made it trio joined a line of schoolchildren in front of 'Paris Street; Rainy Day' by Gustave Caillebotte. Cameron Frye contemplated Georges Seurat's 'A Sunday on La Grande Latte – 1884.' The second is a prime example of pointillism — the closer one stands to the painting, the more noticeable the tiny dots of color become. Siskel's critique: 'The paintings are delightful, but Chicago purists will wonder why Ferris doesn't spend more time with the Impressionists or, earlier, why he didn't try to sit in the bleachers at Wrigley Field along with the other kids ditching school.'Ferris Bueller lip-synced to 'Danke Schoen' by Wayne Newton and 'Twist and Shout' by The Beatles near the intersection of Dearborn and Adams streets. Unlike 'The Fugitive,' where filming took place during an actual St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Chicago, the Steuben Parade was staged on Sept. 28, 1985. Though snippets from the real German American Parade on Sept. 21, 1985, were peppered into 'Ferris.' Hughes put out a call for 5,000 extras dressed in mid-spring attire to recreate the German American Parade (which actually took place the week before). The names of people who showed up had their names put into a raffle. Prizes included 'a trip to Mexico, a motor scooter, several weekend hotel packages, gift certificates, movie passes and record albums,' the Tribune reported. The woman on accordion? That was 'International Queen of Polka' Vlasta Krsek. 'Those were real faces, real people,' Hughes told the Tribune in June 1986. 'That guy twisting up on that scaffolding was no actor. He was a real guy. That was spontaneous, and we were lucky enough to catch it.'For months during filming, Northbrook residents wondered why 'Save Ferris' was written on their village's water tower. Now, they embrace their connection to the film. Northbrook held 'Ferris Fest' in 2016, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie. Cast members Edie McClurg (Grace), Cindy Pickett (Katie Bueller), Lyman Ward (Tom Bueller), Jonathan Schmook (maitre d' at Chez Quis) and Larry 'Flash' Jenkins (garage attendant) mingled with Frye's breakdown was captured overlooking the serenity of Glencoe Beach on Lake Michigan. The area is named in honor of longtime Glencoe resident, former president of the park district, lawyer and scoutmaster, Stanton Schuman. Glencoe fixture also well-known in deathThanks for reading!
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Yahoo
JoJo Siwa Goes Bed Selfie Official With ‘Celebrity Big Brother' Cast Mate Chris Hughes: ‘Not Platonic Anymore'
JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes have gone bed selfie official. The pair who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother UK earlier this year first sparked rumors of a possible romance after they seemed to get close during the taping of the series and Siwa broke up with her then-partner, Kath Ebbs, at the wrap party. Less than a month later, Siwa and Hughes appear to be the real deal. Both have been posting snuggly pictures together for the past few weeks. But after Hughes shared a snap of the happy couple in bed together on Snapchat on Sunday (June 1), with Siwa, 22, resting her head on a shirtless Hughes' chest, Siwa told The Guardian newspaper that 'it's not platonic anymore, and it's been a beautiful development, a beautiful connection, and I'm absolutely head-over-heels for him and he's the same way.' More from Billboard Kneecap Announce Massive Wembley Arena Headline Show Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR Announce '$ome $pecial $hows 4 U.K.' Tour Dates Marcie Jones, Lead Singer of Marcie & The Cookies, Dies at 79 Siwa and Hughes appeared to bond on Big Brother after Hughes stood up for the singer when cast member Mickey Rourke, 72, made a series of homophobic remarks he later apologized for. In the Guardian interview, Siwa appeared to swat away suggestions that the pair were playing up their romance for the cameras before their run in the house ended. 'No, this is a very genuine connection, we're not faking a thing,' Siwa — who dated Mark Bontempo in 2020 before coming out as queer and dating a series of women — told the paper. As for suggestions that their made-on-TV romance is a PR stunt for the cameras from the performer who has been in the public eye since bursting onto the scene more than a decade ago on Dance Moms, Siwa said that's not at all the case. 'Clearly, you've never been around us. I won't ever speak for him, but for me personally, the happiness in my life just radiates off of me right now,' she said. 'Literally yesterday, I was massaging my cheeks; I've never [before] been in pain from smiling so much.' Siwa and Hughes are all over each others' feeds, with Hughes playing a big role in a series of pics JoJo posted around her May 19 birthday, including a roll of snaps in which they share a cozy breakfast, Hughes stacks up a pile of gifts for Siwa and another bed selfie where they are smiling at the camera. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
