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Wilmette Junior High Gets a State-of-the-Art Recording Studio

Anne West — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:36:26 +0000

WJHS and the District 39 Educational Foundation will host an open house at 6:15 this Friday evening, February 3^rd to dedicate a new state-of-the art recording studio to be used by students at the Junior High.

Funding for the studio was provided by the District 39 Educational Foundation’s Paul Tilley Music Fund, which was established by Cristina Tilley in memory of her husband. “ The recording studio seemed like the perfect way to honor Paul’s memory, “ said Ms. Tilley. “He was an exceptionally creative person who loved music. I wanted to do something that would celebrate music and encourage our kids to express their creativity.”

The Foundation’s grant of approximately $15,000 covered the cost of the engineering console, computer equipment, keyboard, soundproofing and a number of professional microphones designed specifically for individual recording tasks – voice, drums and so on. The recording software will be “ProTools,” an advanced program that is also used at New Trier High School’s recording studios.

Equipping the studio was done under the guidance of Steve Pont, a professional audio consultant who designs studios for music and advertising professionals. Stan Xidas, a D39 parent, musician and contractor, donated his time and expertise to retrofit an unused office into a studio. Another D39 parent, Tim Scherman, customized a “studio window” that directs the sound waves for optimum sound quality in the room.

The dedication of the recording studio is directly before the annual Youth Connection “Battle of the Bands”, which will be held this Friday at 7:30 pm at the Junior High. The Youth Connection has been an enthusiastic supporter of the studio from its inception and will be taking a leadership role in developing extracurricular uses for the studio.

Wilmette Bicycle and Sport Shop

Anne West — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:44:03 +0000

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

Winnetka Community House Birthday Bash

Anne West — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:27:59 +0000

The Winnetka Community House is celebrating its 100th birthday with a big House Party this Friday and word has it that it’s going to be a blast.

The menu will include pizza from the Homemade Pizza Company and Finch’s beer, as well as wine. Dance to live music from Molly’s Suite 7.

When: Friday, January 27from 7:00-11:00 pm

Where: at the Community House, of course (620 Lincoln Ave.)

Tickets are in $50 in advance, or $65 at the door. Visit winnetkacommunityhouse.org for tickets.

Avoca Home Sales in Winnetka – 2011

Anne West — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:13:09 +0000

There is one small part of Winnetka that does not attend District 36 schools and that is the unincorporated area that includes Woodley Road, Woodley Woods and part of Indian Hill. Most of this area is served by Avoca District 37 (and another small part of Indian Hill is served by Wilmette District 39, just to further confuse you). These are neighborhoods with expensive homes, as you can see by the average prices below, but not all of Avoca is this pricey. In fact, Avoca’s service area also includes parts of Glenview, Northfield and Wilmette, which tend to have more modest housing stock than the Winnetka part of the district.

Avoca Home Sales in Winnetka – 2011 vs. 2010

Source: MRED llc- Single family home data – Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Crow Island Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Anne West — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:47:40 +0000

This is the third installment of neighborhood-level real estate stats for Winnetka. It covers the Crow Island School “footprint,” the area bordered on the north by Pine St., on the west by Hibbard Rd., on the east by Green Bay Rd. and on the south by Hill Rd. Although sales in this area were up dramatically over 2010, median and average sales prices decreased 14% and 15% respectively.

Crow Island Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011 vs. 2010

Source: MRED llc- Single family home data. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Wondering what your neighbor’s house sold for? Just email us with the address of the property and we’d be happy to send you that information (caveat: only if the transaction has closed. Until then the information is not available).

Hubbard Woods Neighborhood Home Sales -2011

Anne West — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:54:40 +0000

Here’s the second in a series of posts providing hyper-local home sales data for Winnetka. Yesterday was Greeley. Today is Hubbard Woods, the area north of Pine St. on the west side of Green Bay Rd. and north of Tower Rd. on the east side of Green Bay. This neighborhood, whose sales were a bit lackluster last year, came charging back in 2011, posting a 31% gain in sales and a 17% increase in median price.

Hubbard Woods Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011 vs. 2010

Source: MRED llc – Single family homes data. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Greeley Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Anne West — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:22:35 +0000

Last week I provided some hyper-local home sales data about Wilmette’s neighborhoods. This week I’m heading north to Winnetka, where I have broken down the numbers by the three elementary school neighborhoods in District 36 and one in District 37 (Avoca). First up is Greeley, which covers the area east of Green Bay Rd up to Tower Rd.

Although Winnetka sales overall were down 4% from last year, Greeley’s were down 29%. Greeley’s median sales price, on the other hand, was up 5% while Winnetka on the whole declined by 9%. Days on market for those homes sold decreased 37% vs. 16% for Winnetka as a whole.

Greeley Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011 vs. 2010

MRED llc- Data for single family homes. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Romona Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Anne West — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:16:27 +0000

The most affordable of Wilmette’s neighborhoods, the Romona School neighborhood had the biggest sales increase (+8%) in 2011. It also suffered the biggest decline in home prices, with a median selling price of $350,000 and an average selling price of $420,824 for 2011. Market time jumped in the last year, to 93 days or three months. Four of the homes sold were short sales and one was a foreclosure.

Source: MRED llc – Data for single family homes. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Related articles:

Harper Neighborhood Home Sales

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales

East Wilmette (Central School) Neighborhood Home Sales

Harper Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Anne West — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:04:41 +0000

Sales activity in the Harper neighborhood was down in 2011 vs. 2010. There were fewer listings on the market and 22% fewer sales. Those that came on the market, and were well-priced and well-presented, sold quickly, which brought the average market time to 72 days (2.4 months), the shortest market time of any of Wilmette’s neighborhoods.

Harper Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Want to know what your Wilmette neighbor’s house sold for? You can see that here. Want to know what your home is worth in today’s market? Give us a call at 847-881-6657 and we’d be glad to provide you with a complimentary, no obligation, home value analysis. Or you can get a free, quick, over-the-net evaluation.

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Anne West — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:16:29 +0000

This is second in a series of posts about neighborhood level data for Wilmette. McKenzie neighborhood home sales in 2011 were roughly even with 2010 and 19% higher than 2009. As with Central School, prices declined in 2011, while market time increased by 27% to an average of 89 days or three months.

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Source: MRED LLC – Single family homes data. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Want to know what your neighbor’s house sold for? You can see that here. Want to know what your home is worth in today’s market? Give us a call at 847-881-6657 and we’d be glad to provide you with a complimentary, no obligation, home value analysis. Or you can get a free, quick, over-the-net evaluation.