North Shore Views

Archive for the 'Local gems' Category

Share the Love with the New Trier Food Pantry This Valentine’s Day

Living in an affluent area like the North Shore, we sometimes forget that not everyone is well-off. In fact there are a growing number of families right in our backyard who rely on the New Trier Food Pantry to be able to put food on their table.

So, when you’re out shopping for your Valentines, please share the love and pick up a few items for the Food Pantry. Here are some of the specific things they really need right now:

• toilet paper
• facial tissue
• paper towels
• canned fruit
• healthy snacks
• cookies and crackers
• cooking oil and condiments

What they DON’T need is Mac and Cheese or beans of any kind – they have enough to last a while.

You can take your donations directly to the Food Pantry at 739 Elm St. in Winnetka. Or drop them by our office (Coldwell Banker) at 568 Lincoln Ave. and we’ll deliver it. Go here to learn more about the New Trier Food Pantry.

“We cannot live only for ourselves.  A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”  ~Herman Melville

Tags: New Trier Food Pantry, Valentine's Day

Wilmette Bicycle and Sport Shop

How is it that an old school retailer like the Wilmette Bicycle and Sports Shop can survive and even thrive in today’s big box world? That was the subject of a Today Show segment this week. Mike Leonard visited with his camera crew and interviewed proprietors Jim, Al and Larry , sons of Jim and John Versino, who founded the shop 80 years ago.

It may be a cramped and crowded throwback to an earlier day, but that doesn’t bother loyal patrons, who come to buy or repair bikes, sharpen their skates and order team uniforms for the local sports teams their children play for. They love the familiarity, personalized service, information and advice that’s freely given by the shop owners and their employees.

You can watch the TV segment here:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tags: shopping in Wilmette, Wilmette Bicycle and Sport Shop

Tripping the Light Fantastic in Wilmette

At our house we have gotten a little lax in the Christmas decorating department, and at this point I’m wondering when we’ll even have time to go get the Christmas tree between hockey games and pageant rehearsals. But luckily for us, most of our neighbors take this decorating thing a bit more seriously and we can enjoy their Christmas lights. One neighbor, in particular, puts on a display worth going out of your way to see. It’s grown every year and has gotten so popular that this year they set their lights to music and invited everyone over to munch on cookies and drink hot cocoa while enjoying the show. Even Santa stopped by to hear last minute gift requests from neighborhood kids.

Steve Maris, a self-proclaimed Christmas junkie, has been decorating with lights every year, adding more and more to his collection each Christmas. At this point he has about 30,000 lights on his house and garage, in the trees and all over the yard. In the past year he has spent countless hours programming the lights to blink to the music until he had a two hour long show. It truly is an awesome sight and will put even the most Scrooge-like person in the Christmas spirit. You can get a taste of it here:

Want to check out Steve Maris’ handiwork in person? The show will go on nightly through Christmas at 1200 Cleveland Street in Wilmette, but don’t count on hot cocoa or cookies unless you bring them yourself. And Santa has headed back to the North Pole to prepare for the big night.

Tags: Christmas light shows, holiday decorating

Stormy’s Tavern and Grille

The other night after a hockey game in Winnetka, we stopped at Stormy’s in Northfield for dinner with another family from the team. Stormy’s, formerly Seul’s, changed hands last summer and reopened in September, and we had not yet had a chance to check it out. I guess we weren’t the only ones with that idea because, when we got there, we ran into three other families from our hockey team and discovered that one of Emma’s hockey coaches also tends bar at Stormy’s, so it was like old home week. Probably not surprising that it’s a big Wilmette Hockey hangout given that owner Chad Bidwell coaches Bantam AA for the club. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: restaurants

Foreign Films in Wilmette

Last week the Tribune ran a story about Wilmette’s arts and culture scene (“Wilmette: Not Like Other Towns”, by Lauren Viera). The article talked about the diverse programming at the Wilmette Theatre, the “Starlight Theatre” series at the Wallace Bowl, the Wilmette Historical Society and the new Studio North Academy of the Performing Arts.

But there’s another great cultural offering the article didn’t mention, and that is the Foreign Film Club at the Wilmette Library. The club meets monthly and and screens great foreign movies from all over the world. And it’s free! The movie club is the brainchild of fellow Coldwell Banker agent, Daverille Sher.

I interviewed Daverille for the back-story on the club:

Anne: When did you start your movie group and what gave you the idea? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: movies

North Shore Estate Sales – An Interview with Mike Welsh

Last weekend I had a chance to visit an estate sale conducted by a new firm called North Shore Estate Sales. North Shore Estate Sales is the brainchild of Mike Welsh, an attorney and fellow Coldwell Banker Realtor.

After I got done browsing and buying, Mike was kind enough to let me interview him to learn more about his new business.

Anne: How (and why) did you get started doing estate sales?

Mike: I have been involved with senior citizens and the disposition of estates in one form or another for many years. I am a trial lawyer, licensed in Georgia and Illinois, and one of my focuses has been the legal needs of senior citizens. I pursued an auctioneer in Federal Court a few years ago on behalf of a senior citizen who had hired him to dispose of her mansion full of antiques. He gave her a check for only $21,000 several weeks after the auction which emptied her house. After that experience I realized I really like being the solution to those kinds of problems.

I had a good friend start an estate sale company when he retired from real estate – this was in South Carolina – and I helped him set up the business and worked on sales with him. I really enjoyed the hands on aspect of the sale – bringing value just by being part of the process, organizing, smiling at people, making it work.

Then I started as an agent with Coldwell Banker for a lot of the same reasons – being a solution, making things work. And the estate sales just evolved out of that. I consider the two businesses to be very complementary. First, because I meet a lot of people at the sales that I wouldn’t have otherwise met – which expands the network of people I can potentially find solutions for, both in estate sales and real estate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: estate sales

Dogs Run Free at Pawgust

My three labs are not real happy with me at the moment. They just found out that the 7th annual Pawgust is this weekend and we will not be here to participate.

What’s Pawgust, you ask? In a nutshell, it is heaven on earth for dogs. It’s the one day of the year when dogs can run free on 21 acres of open land, swim in the pond, dive for tennis balls or chase lures on a grassy lure course. It is hosted by Mitzi Heytow on her Libertyville estate. There will also be food and drink for both people and dogs.

Ms. Heytow hosts the event as a fundraiser to benefit LEARN, a Laborador Retriever rescue and adoption network. The organization has saved an estimated 1,600 labs to date. Although this is a fundraiser for labs, dogs of all breeds are welcome at the event (even mutts).

Event Details:

When: Saturday, August 13, from 10:00 to 4:00
Where: 25775 St. Mary’s Rd., Libertyville, IL (3rd driveway south of Rt. 60 on the east side of the road) – Look for the balloons marking the entrance.
Admission: $10/person or $15/family

Dogs must be socialized and current on vaccinations

Tags: L.E.A.R.N., Pawgust

Pete Wentz’s Favorite Chicago Spots

We haven’t heard much about Wilmette celeb Pete Wentz since Fall Out Boy broke up, but Pete will be back in Chicago in August to perform at Lollapalooza. Wentz has a new band called Black Cards, described as a reggae-infused, 80’s British Rock sound. The lead vocalist is Bebe Rexha (pictured above with Wentz).

In this video Pete names his favorite Chicago area spots, and three of them are in Wilmette: Walker Brothers, where he and his family used to go after church on Sundays, Chuck Wagon and Lou Malnati’s. Keep a lookout for him in August, as he’ll probably stop in to one or more of these places for a meal. But you may not recognize him now that’s he’s ditched the black eyeliner and bangs.

Tags: Black Cards, Chuck Wagon, Pete Wentz, Walker Brothers

Birdhouse Garden in May

I first wrote about this delightful garden back in April, when there wasn’t much to see.

Here it is again in the middle of May, when the tulips were in bloom and other perennials were starting to sprout. And the birdhouses have come out to join the flowers.

Here’s how it looked just one month before:

Tags: gardens, Kenilworth Gardens

North Shore Farmer’s Markets

Hallelujah! Now that spring is here (I think), we can stop eating frozen food and start enjoying nature’s bounty.  At farmer’s markets up and own the North Shore you can buy locally (or regionally) grown fruits and vegetables and locally produced cheeses, baked goods and arts & crafts. They run from late spring through the fall, mostly on Saturdays. Here are dates and times for 2011. The first one to open is the French Market in Wilmette, this Saturday, April 30th.

Evanston

Downtown Market: Corner of University Place and East Railroad Ave.
Saturdays, 7:30 am – 1:00 pm
May 7 – November 15

West End Market: Church St. and Dodge Ave. (Evanston High School Parking Lot)
Saturdays, 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
June 4 – October 29

Central Street Farmer’s Market: Independence Park (Central and Stewart)
Wednesdays, 3:00- 7:00 pm
June 1 – October 26

Wilmette

Wilmette French Market: Downtown Metra Parking Lot
Saturdays, 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
April 30 – October

Northfield

Northfield Farmer’s Market: 6 Happ Rd. (across from New Trier High School’s Northfield campus)
Saturdays, 7:30 am – 12:00 pm
June – October 22

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: farmer's markets