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Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Long Grove beginning free summer Music in the Park at Covered Bridge Park
The historic covered bridge in Long Grove has become the backdrop for a new free summer music series. 'Music in the Park' runs from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursdays in the Covered Bridge Park, June 5-July 31. 'We're always about giving back to the community,' said Dave Gayton, vice president and marketing chairperson of the Historic Downtown Long Grove Business Association, which is sponsoring the series. 'We thought by offering live music in a relaxing and friendly environment, it would be what people are looking for to do on a nice summer night.' They chose the Covered Bridge Park as the setting because the Covered Bridge 'is our signature piece and very iconic and historic,' Gayton said. In choosing performers, they focused on local talent, Gayton indicated. They also looked for diverse styles of music. 'We want to appeal to a broad audience,' Gayton explained. The series began on June 5 with the vocal/guitar trio Toe Tappers, featuring Ken Kuhn, Mitchell Marcus, and Paul Hilderbrand. The group plays music from different decades, as well as some of songwriter Kuhn's original songs. Kuhn was particularly excited that his group inaugurated the concert series because of his close ties to Long Grove. 'It's such an honor,' Kuhn said. 'I have played in Long Grove before, and I had such wonderful experiences. It turned out to be a wonderful and magical evening.' Kuhn said that he grew up in the Long Grove area, in a place that was then called Farmington, which is now part of Kildeer. 'I went to Long Grove Community Church as a young boy and my parents were both in the choir at the church,' Kuhn said. 'And my wife and I, 31-1/2 years ago, were married in Long Grove Community Church.' The town is also where Kuhn got his first job as an eighth-grader, washing dishes at Long Grove Tavern. 'I have a lot of fond, sentimental memories of Long Grove,' Kuhn said. 'For me to play there as an adult is a real dream come true.' Gayton reported that they were pleased with the turnout of about 40 people at the first concert. 'For being right out of the gate, we thought that was fantastic,' he said. 'People loved it. They especially loved the environment. One group brought out a whole big picnic.' The concert series continues on June 12 with singer-songwriter Nicole Nystrom performing with her three-piece country band. 'I'm going to do a mixture of classic country covers and then original music,' Nystrom said. There's sure to be a diverse selection of music because, Nystrom reported, 'I love the fact that we have band members from different genres. We have a lot of country to Americana sounds with a western-bluesy flair.' Nystrom revealed that she creates songs about the simple country life. 'I write a lot of songs out with my horses or when I'm driving my truck,' she said. 'I love the storytelling part of songwriting.' Her songs cover a diverse range of topics, including love and heartbreak. That topic comes up in 'Hearts First,' a single that's out now. She has also written some faith-based songs, including some about 'the hardships I've gone through in life and how God has helped me through those,' she said. Some of Nystrom's songs, like 'Casualty,' are about bad guys who don't treat women right. She has also co-written songs with other songwriters in Nashville. The singer-songwriter said that her audiences seem to react the most when the character sings a love song she wrote—about a guy's relationship with his truck! The Long Grove audiences will also hear classic numbers of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, and others. Nystrom indicated that she enjoys performing outdoor concerts. 'I think it brings a really fun, family-friendly feel,' she explained. The series continues on June 19 with Bluewater Creek from Lake County playing folk, country, and rock 'n' roll covers and originals. The July 10 concert will feature Lake Zurich singer and musician Bill Uhler, who is known for his high-energy shows. There will be Nashville-style rhythm and blues and country rock on July 17 when singer-songwriter and guitarist Colin Cimmarusti performs. He frequently performs locally including in Barrington, Long Grove, Crystal Lake, and Cary. The July 24 concert will feature the Big Sky Acoustic Duo playing bluegrass, blues, and roots-infused covers. The series concludes on July 31 with L&M Experience performing eclectic acoustic covers and original songs. For more details about the concerts, visit
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Americans Who Left
The presidential pardon signed by Jimmy Carter in 1977 was a sweeping invitation to thousands of Americans to come home and help heal a nation torn apart by the Vietnam War. Those who had left for Canada to avoid the draft had wanted no part of the conflict, which killed about 60,000 Americans. Canada had offered a refuge. It did not support the war and was willing to welcome, with few questions asked, those crossing the border. Many war resisters, or draft dodgers as they were often called by others, were not interested in returning when Mr. Carter made his amnesty offer. Their decisions had come with high costs: ruptured family ties, broken friendships and, often, shame. While some hailed those who went to Canada as principled, others considered them cowardly. Now, the 50th anniversary of the war's end arrives at another turbulent moment. For Americans living in Canada, President Trump's economic attacks and threats to Canada's sovereignty have again stirred uneasy feelings about the United States. I traveled across Canada and spoke to roughly a dozen people who had left America, most now in their 70s or 80s, who reflected on their decisions to leave and their feelings about both countries. Here's what they had to say. The Optimist Richard Lemm saw Canada as a mythical land of beautiful vistas and a peaceful government. He applied for conscientious objector status in the United States, which was meant for people who refused military service because it was incompatible with their religious or moral beliefs, among other reasons. He was denied, and fled north in 1968. 'The principal motivation for leaving was political and moral,' said Mr. Lemm, a professor, writer and poet in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. As for today, when he looks at the United States, he sees a deeply polarized society. 'People are not listening to each other enough and really, really need to,' he said. The Activist Peace activism in the 1960s held a lot of promise for Rex Weyler, a writer and ecologist who was born in Colorado. But things changed when the F.B.I. came knocking after he ignored multiple draft notices. Mr. Weyler fled to Canada in 1972 and now lives on Cortes Island in British Columbia. He went on to become a founder of Greenpeace, the environmental group. In the past several months, he said, several people in the United States have asked his thoughts about coming to Canada. In this case, he said, he doesn't believe that leaving is the right answer. 'You can't really run away from political opinions that you don't like,' Mr. Weyler said. The Family Don Gayton spent two years serving in the Peace Corps among poor farmers in Colombia. When he returned to the United States in 1968, a draft notice awaited him. 'My country had sent me to help peasant farmers in Colombia,' Mr. Gayton said. 'And now they want me to kill them in Vietnam.' Mr. Gayton and his wife, Judy Harris, packed their belongings and two children and went to British Columbia in 1974. The couple's departure led to a decade-long rift with Mr. Gayton's father, who was furious that his son had turned his back on his military duty. 'We were proud of it, that we stood our ground,' Mr. Gayton said. 'The shocking part is that people will go to their grave never forgiving the war resisters.' Seeking an Authentic Life Born in Los Angeles to a family of hunters, Susan Mulkey was a vegetarian. At 20, she took a bus to British Columbia because she opposed the war and wanted to pursue a more environmentally oriented lifestyle. She now lives and works in community forestry in Kaslo, British Columbia, but has dabbled in American political activism, helping expatriates vote in U.S. elections. 'Canada facilitates my capacity to live an authentic life,' she said. The Environmentalist In 1969, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, declared that the draft status of young Americans moving to Canada was not relevant to their being allowed to legally enter the country. That was one reason John Bergenske moved to British Columbia in 1970 after the United States granted him conscientious objector status. 'I left because I fell in love with this landscape,' Mr. Bergenske said. 'The politics were secondary.' He focused on environmental work and was the longtime executive director of Wildsight, a nonprofit conservation organization. 'If you're going to leave your home country, you should be sure that where you're going to is a place that you really love,' Mr. Bergenske said. The Integrationist Three generations of Ed Washington's family served in the U.S. military. They were Black and considered the military more hospitable than the civilian world. 'My grandfather felt it was the least racist place for him to be,' said Mr. Washington, a legal aid lawyer in Calgary, Alberta. His mother, a Quaker, sent Mr. Washington to a Quaker boarding school in British Columbia. When he returned to the United States to attend college, he applied for conscientious objector status because of his pacifist beliefs and taught at a Quaker school in California where he met Jerry Garcia and became immersed in rock 'n' roll subculture. But Mr. Washington said he soured on the drug use in his circles and moved back to British Columbia in 1974. He hasn't spent a lot of time dwelling on the past. 'I just thought it would interfere with me living my life today,' he said. The Pragmatist As a university student in Washington state, the draft policy allowed Brian Conrad to defer his military service as long as he was enrolled in school. After completing his studies, he hitchhiked through Latin America in 1972, eventually marrying and using his Canadian dual citizenship to move to British Columbia, where he spent 30 years as a high school teacher and an environmental activist. Mr. Conrad has considered returning to the United States, but two things keep him away: Canada's tight control of firearms and its public health care system. Still, he said, 'I don't want to paint one with roses and the other with thorns. We have our challenges and problems.' The Pacifist Ellen Burt grew up in a Quaker family in Eugene, Ore., shaped by a culture that opposed many U.S. policies, even before the Vietnam War. At 19, Ms. Burt decided she wanted to live in the wilderness. She traveled to British Columbia, where she had connections to Quakers living there. She started her family while farming and caregiving and holding seasonal jobs. She never considered going back to the United States because her relatives there were so supportive of her move. Today, however, she said she feels Canada does not have quite the same reputation for being a haven. 'This right-wing takeover of governments is happening all over the world,' she said. The Mountains Were Calling Canada felt more like a giant backyard than a separate country to Brian Patton. The border was just a short drive from his job in Montana as a park ranger. After taking an injured woman across the border to a hospital in Alberta one night in 1967, he decided he wanted to live in the Canadian Rockies. He ignored a draft notice in the mail, went on to become a Canadian citizen and wrote a hiking manual called, 'The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide.' The mountains were Mr. Patton's sanctuary, he said: 'Sanity was just a step across the border.' The Politician When his draft notice arrived, Corky Evans stuck by the rules and took an Army physical exam. He passed. Mr. Evans tried to obtain conscientious objector status, but his Christian minister refused to write a letter of support. He married a woman with children from a previous marriage and they moved to Canada. He became a child-care worker on Vancouver Island and toiled at odd jobs before running for a provincial office, which led to a long career in British Columbian politics. 'Canada let me build a life here,' Mr. Evans said. The Father Bob Hogue was serving in the army and stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco, at the time an army base, where he unloaded the body bags of American soldiers who had died in Vietnam. He dreaded the moment when he would be called to the front line. When the day came, he decided to go AWOL. He said he couldn't bear the possibility that his 1-year-old son might grow up without a father. In 1969, he crossed the Canadian border with his wife and son. 'Not once did I ever feel guilty about it or that I was betraying my country,' said Mr. Hogue, who lives in northern British Columbia. He took on various jobs, including firefighting and carpentry, before eventually owning a small logging company. Still, Mr. Hogue never gave up his American citizenship and feels an affinity for the country he left behind. 'I'm worried for the state of our world,' he said.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sister of Queens hit-run victim, 62, blasts driver who fled as ‘a disgrace'
The sister of a man killed after two motorists hit him outside his Queens home — including one who did not stop — said she could not believe that neither driver saw him in the street. 'The fact of the matter is it's just a disgrace that someone would blatantly hit someone and keep going,' said Debora Ferguson, days after her brother Christopher Gayton was mowed down by two cars outside his South Jamaica home. 'An accident is an accident, but you stay to see what happened. You could say, 'Well, it was the lighting there that was not that great.' We see that. But you see a person. He wasn't in all dark colors. He had beige pants on and a white T-shirt, so you have to see a person, you felt the hitting.' Ferguson said her brother, a father of two, who walked with a cane, was returning from a grocery store on April 24 when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver along Linden Blvd. near 166th St. around 8:45 p.m. A 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge then ran into the victim, cops said. Gayton, 62, died the next day at Jamaica Hospital. Japneet Signh, who is running for City Council in southeastern Queens, posted graphic video on Instagram of Gayton lying in the road, writing that he witnessed the hit-and-run on his way to a meeting. 'He was just merely trying to cross the street from going to the store to go back to his house,' Ferguson said. Ferguson said Gayton worked for many years as a driver, but didn't like getting behind the wheel anymore. She said a work injury damaged his spine, and left him relying on a cane. 'He has a license, but he wasn't, he didn't like to drive,' she said. 'So to ride a bike and walk, and then your life is taken by somebody driving and being reckless is just crazy to me. So I really think that they need to do something.' She said Gayton, who was divorced, is survived by a daughter, 47, a son, 43 and five grandchildren. 'Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood knew him,' Ferguson said. 'He was friendly with everybody. You never saw much of a frown on him. He always smiled and [was] always a practical joker.' Ramona Henderson, 71, lives across the street from the senior-living building where Gayton lived, and has been in the neighborhood for 21 years. She said speeding is a big issue on Linden Blvd. and thinks there should be stop signs or a speed bump added to protect seniors. 'They speed a lot, and they don't stop,' she said. 'The vehicles don't give them time to cross.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man, 62, killed in front of his Queens home by hit-and-run driver, second motorist
A 62-year-old man walking with a cane was killed crossing the street in front of his Queens home when a hit-and-run driver struck him and a second driver then ran him over, cops said Wednesday. Christopher Gayton was just outside his South Jamaica home when a driver zipping east on Linden Blvd. slammed into him near 166th St. about 8:45 p.m. Thursday and kept going, cops said. A 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge then ran into the victim, cops said. Gayton died the next day at Jamaica Hospital. 'Today is a sad day. We lost a brother, father, son, uncle, and cousin. [He] has been snuffed from us by a hit and runner driver,' a relative wrote on Facebook Friday. 'He was just crossing the street to get home.' Japneet Signh, who is running for city council in Southeastern Queens, posted graphic video on Instagram of Gayton lying in the road, writing that he witnessed the hit-and-run on his way to a meeting. 'It felt so surreal witnessing a hit and run crash in front of my eyes,' he wrote. 'I saw an elderly [man] with a cane get ran over twice. It was so horrific.' The Ford driver remained at the scene and has not been charged. Cops are still hunting for the driver who fled the scene. 'We will miss you forever,' the relative wrote on Facebook. 'Your laugh, calm personality.'
