The North Shore Weekend East, Issue 169

SATURDAY JANUARY 2 | SUNDAY JANUARY 3 2015 FIND US ONLINE: DailyNorthShore.com

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BY EMILY SPECTRE DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM

W ILMETTE — Sisters f rom the Fraternite Notre Dame religious

order are seeking a special use permit to open a French bakery in the storefront previously oc-cupied by Heavenly Hearth Bread Company at 1101 Central Avenue. Called St. Roger Abbey Patis-serie, the bakery plans to serve an assortment of baked goods, soups and sandwiches — with all pro-ceeds donated to charity.

Residents who frequent the Wilmette French Market may be familiar with the sisters from St. Roger Abbey who sell organic baked goods there and donate the proceeds to charity.

“Whatever we sell is to help our mission,” Mother Superior Marie Martha told the Zoning Board of Appeals on Dec. 2. “Our mission is to help the poor [and] the needy. So this is a good cause.”

The order also sells baked goods on its St. Roger Abbey website,

NEWS

Continued on PG 8Continued on PG 8

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

The suburbs of the North Shore have a long and en-during history and presence

in the world of modern rock music. Members of Fall Out Boy, singer/songwriter Liz Phair, mu-sicians Jason Narducy and Freda Love Smith, and Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan are just a few music makers with connec-tions to the stretch between Evanston and points north. It’s time to add the trio Yoko & The Oh No’s, featuring magnetic lead singer Max Goldstein (from Highwood) on vocals, drummer Stef Roti (from Wilmette) and bass player Max Loebman, to the list.

It takes more than a clever name to get people’s attention (although it doesn’t hurt) and Yoko & The Oh No’s have been getting plenty, including a mention in the December 2015 Out 100 issue of Out Magazine (featuring President Barack Obama on the cover).

Working in the band’s favor on its eponymous Autumn Tone Records debut is a strong set of tunes, including “Heart Attack,” “Nobody Wants To Know,” “In Pieces,” “Lone Wolf ” and “Who’d Stop Me,” all performed with a youthful exuberance. I spoke with Max Goldstein and Stef about the band and more.

THE NORTH SHORE ROOTS OF YOKO & THE OH NO’S

A Slice of Heaven For Wilmette?

OPEN HOUSE:Thursday, January 14, 9:00 a.m.Tuesday, February 9, 9:00 a.m.

Curious about the LFCDS Experience?Please call (847) 615-6151 oremail [email protected] toregister for an Open House.

145 South Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045 | www.lfcds.org

ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

Left to right: Max Loebman, Max Goldstein, and Stef Roti.

SOCIAL The Women’s Board of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital’s held it’s annual benefit. P12

SPORTSHighland Park hockey player Garrett Collopy develops into an all-star. P14

SUNDAY BREAKFASTWe talk with Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern as the critically acclaimed show returns to PBS for its sixth season. P18

2 | SATURDAY JANUARY 2 | SUNDAY JANUARY 3 2016 THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

A FRESH START

THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND SATURDAY JANUARY 2 | SUNDAY JANUARY 3 2016 | 3

[ NEWS ]

6 APARTMENT PLAN 5-Story building could be coming to Green Bay Road.

8 LAKE BLUFF MIDDLE SCHOOL $9.2 million project set to start.

[LIFESTYLE & ARTS ]

9 LOVE AND MARRIAGE A look back at 2015.

9 NORTH SHORTS Life Lesson

10 NORTH SHORE FOODIE A Taste of Wheeling

[ REAL ESTATE ]

13 HOUSES OF THE WEEK Intriguing houses for sale in our towns are profiled.

[ SPORTS ]15 STAT KING

Ramar Evans leads the Loyola Academy boys basketball team in points, rebounds and assists.

[ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ]

18 SUNDAY BREAKFAST From Downtown Evanston to Downton Abbey: Interview with Elizabeth McGovern.

8

10

15

For professional advice from an experienced Realtor, call Jean Wright at (847) 217-1906 or email at [email protected]

Let’s Talk Real Estateby Jean Wright, President/Broker Owner CRS, GRI

UNITED YOU STANDBuying a new home can be an exciting prospect. You’ve done your homework you know what you want; you just have to find it. Everything is negotiable except the location of the house, and your Realtor® can help you with sorting through the rest of your considerations when choosing a home—provided that you have come to a clear understanding and are able to unify your efforts together. After all—your happiness and successful closing is the end goal for both of you. Your Realtor® will know what to keep an eye out for, what the seller is willing to compromise on and what they are firm on. There are a few things you need to remember when house hunting: • Always be united. If the seller sees that one person loves the house while the other person is on the fence, they may use this information to sway one or influence the other.• Leave your ego at home. If you’re looking at a home and you like it, but there’s something that doesn’t appeal to you, ask the question nicely about it. Being rude gets you nothing except the likelihood of paying more for the home than you would have paid otherwise. It also makes the seller reluctant to try to work with you to reach a compromise.• Be skeptical. Not ‘I don’t believe anything you say’ skeptical, but a little skepticism is healthy and can help with the negotiations.

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BY STEVE SADIN DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM

LAKE BLUFF—If the mild winter weather keeps up, construction could start on

a $9.2 million renovation project redoing almost every aspect of the Lake Bluff Middle School in February.

The Lake Bluff Village Board of Trustees unanimously ap-proved Lake Bluff School Dis-trict 65’s plan at its Dec. 14 meeting but placed a condition on the consent essentially requir-ing the district to keep the noise down.

A group of residents living near the school raised the noise issue stemming both from the construction and the heating, ventilating and air conditioning sy s tem, accord ing to

Superintendent Jean Sophie.Sophie said there would be

discussions with the neighbors throughout the project from its commencement until completed before the start of the 2016-17 school year in September.

“We are going to consult with the neighbors to make sure we meet their needs as far as noise abatement is concerned,” Sophie said. “We will test the impact of the ABR (auditory brainstem response).”

The district has hired two acoustic engineers who will measure the impact to assure the noise will not be a nuisance in the neighborhood, according to Sophie.

Lake Bluff residents will also see evidence of the impact of the cost of the project when their next real estate tax bill arrives.

The district upped the levy six percent, according to Jay Kahn, the director of finance and op-erations for District 65.

The owner of a $600,000 home will be paying $325 more than a year ago in property taxes, according to Kahn. The bump includes $40 for continuing op-erations, $160 for existing debt service and $125 solely for the middle school renovation.

Sophie said the project is scheduled to begin March 1 or sooner weather permitting. When it is done, she said nearly every space at the school will be updated for 21st century learn-ing.

“With the exception of the gym and the band room, every other space will be touched in some way,” Sophie said in a Nov. 17 Daily North Shore story.

The project will have an ad-dition with five classrooms, a completely redone library, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) facility, three new science labs, a new cafeteria, enhanced security and more, according to Sophie.

With the remodeling and expansion there will be a change in the school calendar giving the school community a longer summer vacation, according to Sophie. After school is over for the summer, she said the stu-dents will not return for the 2016-17 school year until a week after Labor Day.

Sophie said the reason school is starting late in the fall is to get significant work done before the students return and the roof on the addition to avoid delays from inclement weather.

Middle School Project Set to Start in Lake Bluff

The project will have an addition with five classrooms, a completely redone library, a STEM (science, technology,

engineering and math) facility, three new science labs, a new

cafeteria, enhanced security and more, according to Sophie.


NEWS

BY JAKE JARVI

When we think of sword fights, we think of daring swashbucklers

back to the days of Errol Flynn, maybe the cliffside battle of The Princess Bride, or, given the current climate, maybe a lightsaber or two. What we tend not to think of is women. Vicky Pappas is changing that. As a co-captain of the New Trier High School (NTHS) épée division of the women’s fencing team, she’s been showing people how it’s done. She took first place in épée at a pre-season fencing meet at the beginning of Novem-ber.

“It was exciting,” Pappas says. “I’ve placed in tournaments before, but I’ve never placed first. I had to fence my co-captain (Amanda Wong) to win. She got second. In the next meet, though, I had to fence her again, and she beat me. So, that’s good.”

With the two co-captains of the NTHS women’s épée team facing off for first place after all the other schools fell away, it’s a real indica-tion of the seriousness with which they approach the sport and the high level at which they’re achiev-ing.

There are three types of com-petitive fencing—foil, saber, and épée. Foil is the version depicted in most media. Competitors wear electronic jackets called lamés and the torso is the only area where a hit, called a touch, counts. In saber, the target area includes the head and neck, and touches are achieved with the side of the blade as well as the point. In épée, the whole body counts as the target area and they compete with a stiffer, heavier blade. The fencer’s blades are all attached to electric wires to keep score electronically. The first com-petitor to five touches wins. Matches are typically quick. If a match lasts three minutes without

anyone scoring five touches, the person with most touches wins.

Pappas originally became inter-ested in fencing when her older brother took a fencing extension class the summer before his fresh-man year at New Trier. She signed up for the extension class the summer before she started eighth grade and has brandished the blade

ever since.“I like how we work a lot more

on strategic ideas, so it’s not just about how strong you are or how fast you are,” Pappas says. “If you are holding your weapon incor-rectly, then your arm is open and someone can hit you. You can also pretend to have your arm open, someone could try to hit you, and you could parry their blade and hit them. Or you could feint, pretend to hit them, disengage, then hit them. It’s just really interesting.”

NTHS fencing teams have proven a major force in the Great Lakes High School Fencing Con-ference. The girls team has won their annual championship nine times out of the last 20 champion-ships, by far the best win record for women’s teams in that time period. The NTHS men’s team has won 14 championships in the last 20 years, including an unbroken winning streak for nine years in a row.

EN GARDE!STANDOUT STUDENT

“ We are here I’ve placed in tournaments

before, but I’ve never placed

first.” –Vicky Pappas

NEWS


as well as at a store in Vernon Hills and at other markets, such as the Christkindlemarket in downtown Chicago. All of the baked goods are made by nuns at the monastery using organic ingredients.

According to their applica-tion, the sisters will sell an as-sortment of baked goods such as macarons, French breads, crois-sants, cakes, cookies, pies and savory pastries. Also for sale will be sandwiches, soups, and salads, as well as soft drinks and coffee.

“We are here to serve the community and serve good product, quality, product,” Mother Marie Martha said. “I am sure you will enjoy it.”

While the sisters originally sought approval for outdoor seating, after receiving objections from neighbors they decided to drop that portion of their ap-plication. Zoning Board Chair-man Patrick Duffy noted at the meeting that the sisters could re-apply for outdoor seating at some time in the future if they were interested.

The Zoning Board of Appeals was enthusiastic about the new business, voting unanimously to recommend the special use permit to the Village Board.

“I can’t wait for you to open. My mouth is watering. I am very excited that you are coming to the village and we look forward to having you,” Chairman Duffy said.

Gregg Shapiro: Max and Stef, I’d like to begin with the basics, such as what is the genesis of the band’s name?

Max Goldstein: We were with some of our band-mates from (our previous band) The New Originals. We were coming up with funny band names; some that were puns and some that had “and the” (in the title). They were all really goofy and sort of jokes. When one of our old friends said, “Yoko & the Oh No’s,” something about it stuck. When we put the band together it was there. And we love Yoko!

GS: That was actually my next question. Does Yoko Ono know about the band?

MG: Yes! She does Q&As on her website every week and I actually submitted a question. I have her book, I have her CDs, I read her Twitter every day. My question was, “Do you feel that all people are connected in some way? If yes, why do we try so hard to separate ourselves from one another.” I also mentioned that I am in this band called Yoko & the Oh No’s and I asked her if she liked our name. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a reply at all, and it took longer than I thought it would be. Stef sent it to me.

Stef Roti: She responded that she thought we were funny.

MG: That we have a good sense of humor.

GS: How did you all meet and how did the band form?

MG: Me and Max (Loebman) met at a rock summer camp. He was 11 and I was 13. A year or so later, I ran into him at a coffee shop. We started talking and then we formed The New Originals. Probably a year after we started The New Originals, I quit. It

wasn’t really for me, I wasn’t feeling it. After that, Max and I really wanted to make music together. We started working together again because we both missed it. We also learned from The New Originals. What worked, what didn’t and what we liked. The music that we make is fun.

SR: Max and Max started making music on the side for fun. Then they asked me to join. It was really like a side project of that band and we just kept going with it.

GS: In what year did all of this taking place?

SR: The New Originals started in 2010.

MG: Two years ago (2013) was when I came home from school and The New Original broke up. That’s when Yoko became the main focus.

GS: The song “Nobody Wants To Know” includes a Velvet Un-derground reference. How would you define the band’s musical influences?

MG: They’re very all over the

place. The other Max is really into 1960s garage rock. We all really like The Kinks. I’m obsessed with Amy Winehouse. We like a wide variety of music and it often overlaps, too. With The Beatles, for example.

GS: Stef, who are some of the drummers, female and male, that you look to for inspiration?

SR: I admire a lot of different drummers. I like when drummers don’t try to be fancy and don’t try to overtake the band. They just play what they’re supposed to. I really liked (the late) Keith Moon (of The Who) because of his energy.

GS: Songwriting on the Yoko & The Oh No’s disc is credited to the band. How does that process work?

MG: Max wrote some songs and I wrote some songs. Then we put our heads together. Each song isn’t necessarily written by all of us, but it’s a representation of who we are. The album wouldn’t have existed if any one of us wasn’t a part of it. That’s we decided to put that down. This album rep-resents us as a collective and not as individuals.

GS: Chicago is well-known for its diverse and fertile music scene. Do you feel like the band has been embraced by area music fans?

MG: Yes, definitely! It took a while to really feel it, especially in the beginning. I’m not sure how much of it was reality and how much of it was my own in-security. It took me a long time to feel comfortable talking to other bands at shows, to feel like a part of the scene. They’ve defi-nitely embraced us. We’re doing something that’s pretty different than a lot of the other bands playing in the scene. It’s been cool to see that shift on a local level.

GS: Being a band based in Chicago, home of venerated music festivals such as Lolla-palooza and Pitchfork, do Yoko & The Oh No’s have a preference for one fest over the other?

MP: I went to Lollapalooza every year from eighth grade through high school. It’s an amazing festival and it brings a lot to the city. I personally prefer Pitchfork a little bit. It’s a little less overwhelming. I would love to play either of them [laughs], I’ll say that.

GS: Do you think there’s a chance that Yoko & The Oh No’s will be playing one or both this summer?

MG: Hopefully! If we are, we don’t know yet. That’s definitely a goal of ours for the future.

SR: Especially as a hometown

band, it would be great!GS: Yoko & The Oh No’s have

North Shore roots, with you, Max, being from Highwood and Stef being from Wilmette. Would performing at Ravinia

have special meaning to the band?

MG: I worked at Ravinia [laughs]!

GS: What did you do at Ravinia?

MG: I was an usher. I swept garbage in the pavilion. To be honest, it would be awesome to play there. To play for the people I used to work for.

SR: I’ve been there so many times with my family. I don’t know of another concert (venue) around the North Shore that can bring everyone out there. They have all types of music. I’d love

to play there.GS: What’s next for the band?SR: We’re going to focus on

recording our second album. We’re also planning to play SXSW (in Austin TX). We’re hoping to get some (show) dates on the way there and back.

MG: We want to go on tour this summer. We’re really looking forward to that.

GS: When do you think the new album will be available?

MG: That’s a good question. We have the material and we want to get it down while it’s still fresh in our minds. The (songs on) album we just put out is very old for us. We wanted to learn from that, how to play songs that are four years old. We wanted to get those down so that we, as a band, could start moving forward.

WILMETTE Cont. from PG 1

YOKO Continued from PG 1“ We’re doing

something that’s pretty

different than a lot of the other bands playing in the scene.”

–Max Goldstein

PHOTO BY KAYLI NARTATEZ

“ We are here to serve the community

and serve good product,

quality, product.” –Morther

Marie Martha


LIFESTYLE & ARTS

At this time of year, we can’t help but reflect on where we have been, and where

we are headed. In that spirit, a

much younger friend recently recapped an exchange between her and her boyfriend:

“We had a pretty great year,”

she told her boyfriend.“Eh. It was average,” he

replied.I don’t know enough to take

sides in their debate (though I’d probably side with her anyway), but I know that I, too, have had a pretty great year in this space. I am most appreciative of the feedback I’ve gotten from readers. I responded to all of it privately, and shared much of it in follow-up columns. This weekend, I’m looking back at the notes I’ve kept in my inbox.

Without question, I receive the most feedback when I write about divorce.

In September I wrote about two Canadians whose selfie went viral. They were smiling ear to ear outside of the courtroom after their divorce was finalized. Shannon Neuman wrote along-side her photo, “We have respect-fully, thoughtfully and honorably ended our marriage in a way that will allow us to go forward as parenting partners.”

Among the responses was a long note from reader Jennifer Rosen, who divorced her husband in 2003. She described spending time with her two children and her ex-husband after the divorce, and how it feels normal and comfortable. “Relationships are all about choices. My relation-ship with my ex is a crucial one not only to me but our children. We have chosen the better path for our family.”

I also heard from attorney Jennifer Cunningham Beeler,

who alerted me to some changes in family law for 2016. “The biggest impact will be that the term ‘sole custody’ will be elimi-nated; the thought has been that the majority of divorcing couples want to, and are able to, coop-eratively joint parent, and de-manding to be the sole custo-dial parent has caused costly and divisive custody battles. The new term will be an allocation of parental responsibilities, and the law changes ‘visitation’ to the more neutral ‘parenting time’ for

each parent.” I plan to learn more about this in the coming weeks.

But before I look back at any more of 2015, let’s consider some advice I relayed in my favorite column from 2015. I asked residents of Vi at the Glen this summer to reflect on their expe-rience and share their best advice for newlyweds. A study from the Harvard Business School re-ported that individuals who seek advice are perceived as being more competent than those who do not seek advice – especially

when the task for which they need advice is difficult.

From Jim and Dolores Conway, married 59 years: “We have learned, sometimes the hard way, that there are three - not always easy - rules to follow. But it’s well worth the effort. First, compromise: no one is always right and no one is always wrong. Second, communicate: no one is a mind reader, so let your partner know what is bothering you. And third: keep your sense of humor. Life is short, so enjoy each other.”

Musings by Mike Lubow

North Shorts

“Life lesson”

There’s a youngster who lives around here. Call him Paulie. We don’t use real

names, but always use real stories...Paulie’s in one of those North

Shore neighborhoods where

there’s a ravine nearby, and he likes to explore it.

The other day he got tangled in some dead branches and was pretty banged up. Scary looking cuts and probably a sprain.

But after a few hours in the ER, a few stitches, a few meds, and

one of those inflatable casts that lock tight with Velcro straps, Paulie was getting life back on course.

You hear that he even kept a play date arranged by his folks. This involved a ride. Stops, starts and bumps in the road couldn’t

have been comfortable for him, what with stitches and the blow-up cast that made him look and feel like a creature from another planet.

But, he ignored all that, and had a great time. He even got a little more active than he was sup-

posed to. Lots of running and fun. But Paulie’s a fun guy and accepts things that can’t be changed.

Which is why you take notice. After the play date, after he got

home, you saw Paulie and his folks getting out of their car. He ran up to you, all happy, friendly, full of

his usual enthusiasm, living large in every small moment.

Later, you muse to yourself: gotta be more like Paulie. What-ever life throws, roll with it and have as much fun as you can. Imagine, getting a life-lesson like that from a one-year-old dog.

A LOOK BACK AT 2015: WHAT

READERS THINK ABOUT

DIVORCE

Joanna Brown

LOVE & MARRIAGE

LIFESTYLE & ARTS


Exploring a Taste of WheelingBY SIMON MURRAY

Frank D’Angelo had never been treated like the Pope before. So it was altogether

surprising when the general manager of Tuscany in Wheeling was treated like one in Lyon, France; people—friends of friends—came to meet him “because they thought we were important,” he said. He chuckled, recounting the memory fondly.

They had found out through the grapevine that they were from Wheeling, and needed to see for themselves, he explained.

Why? Well, because . . . Le Francias.

What was once known as one of America’s finest restaurants, Le Francias was the brainchild of Jean Banchet, a larger-than-life figure in the kitchens and minds of a whole generation of

American chefs. Born in Roanne, France (a small town near Lyon), the eccentric Banchet loved to ride motorcycles and had a knack at playing cards. He also affixed what would be a lightning rod for the restaurant industry in Wheeling, attracting the most electric and eclectic restaurants as a result: the collection of which on Milwaukee Ave being known to this day as Restaurant Row.

Which is why Wheeling’s Taste of the Town is such a big deal. A little over a month ago, restaurants from all over the town descended on the Westin Chicago North Shore to show off their plates, bites, dishes, and hor d’oeuvres to a salivating crowd of lucky guests. This year, close to 1,000 attendees and over 20 local restaurants mingled in the Westin’s spacious Ravinia Ballroom.

“The chamber has been real supportive to the restaurant com-munity in Wheeling,” said D’Angelo, who would be ad-dressing the crowd at 5:30 p.m. “Wheeling is like a small big town . . . Restaurant Row has some world-class restaurants: we have Bob Chinn’s Crab House, [Tuscany], RAM [Restaurant & Brewery], and many of the res-taurants that are represented here tonight.”

At their own booth were Ex-ecutive Chef Peter Menteer and Sous Chef Yo Chang of the Westin. Serving seasonal bisques off their banquet menu, the chefs ended up being a big hit with the attendees, who kept coming back for more of their different colored creamy vegetable soups.

“Some variations may require tweaking here and there with different steps and cooking methods but they all have the same basic base ingredients,” said Menteer. “One thing to keep in mind is that the vegetable needs to be cooked for quite some time in order to have a nice velvety consistency.” He added: “If the veggies are not cooked long enough, your soup will be grainy.”

For more information about the Wheeling/Prospect Heights Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry, please visit wphchamber.com. The Westin Chicago North Shore is located at 601 N Milwaukee Ave in Wheeling.

6 large carrots, peeled and chopped1 small onion, diced1 tablespoon garlic, minced1 small ginger bulb, grated3 cups carrot juice2 veggie bouillon cubes1 cup heavy creamLemon juice, salt & pepper to taste

1. Sauté carrots, onion, ginger, and garlic until vegetables start sweating and onions are translucent. Pour in carrot juice to cover. Bring to a boil, put in

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2. Puree using a stick blender. Add a couple tablespoons of lemon juice and some salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Beet Bisque6 beets, peeled and chopped1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced3 cups fresh beet juice2 veggie bouillon cubes1 cup heavy creamLemon juice, salt & pepper to taste

Butternut Bisque1 large butternut, peeled, seeded and chopped1 small onion, diced1 tablespoon garlic, minced3 cups veggie stock2 veggie bouillon cubes1 cup heavy creamSalt & pepper to taste

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Sous Chef Yo Chang, Executive Chef Peter Menteer

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LIFESTYLE & ARTS

SOCIALS

ONE DREAM GALATHE JDRF ILLINOIS

CHAPTERPhotography by Art Antonik

and David Blachman

Supporters of the Juvenile Diabetes Re-search Foundation’s ( JDRF) Illinois Chapter took over McCormick Place Lakeside Center and Arie Crown Theater on December 12 for a memorable evening of fundraising and entertainment. Hosting 2,000 guests and volunteers, the evening featured the organization’s Fund A Cure program, a sit-down dinner, exciting live and silent auction, and ended with a roof-raising performance by REO Speedwagon. In its 36th year, the event raised $4 million to further JDRF’s work to support research to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes. The One Dream Gala was co-chaired by Michael and Sarah Alter of Glencoe.

jdrf.org/Illinois/galaKEN ALDRIDGE, AMY GEORGE

LEE SHAPIRO, PATRICK REEDY, GLEN TULLMAN JIM ROBINSON SARAH ALTER, KRISTEN ROSATI, ALLISON ROSATI, MICHAEL ALTER

JENNIFER SIDAWAY, JOE LACHER, MARISUE LACHER, GLEN TULLMAN, MICHELLE PAULSEN

LIFESTYLE & ARTS


SOCIALS

THE GIFT OF GIVING GALAPhotography by Nan Stein

Onwentsia Club set the festive back-drop for the c, recently held in mid-December. The largest fundraising effort for the organization, the Gift of Giving Gala was a black-tie affair with more than 250 guests, silent auction, dinner, and dancing to the popular band Final Say. The Women’s Board has pledged $2 million to the new hospital, making it the largest gift in the Board’s history. Proceeds from the Gift of Giving Gala will support the pledge.

lfh.org/womens_board

DR. DEAN TSARWHAS, AMY TSARWHAS

LIAM & FRANCESCA CONNELL, APRIL & ALEX TOMPSIDIS

DR. DEBORAH GULSON, ROGER STOIBER

STANLEY & JENNIFER JANOWIAK MICHAEL MCAFEE, SASHA STEINBERG

KATIE DONOVAN, LINDSEY ANDERSON

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2016!

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SPORTS FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @tnswsports

Garrett Collopy was on an ice rink, down on all fours, gasping, wheezing, wonder-

ing if the wind that got knocked out of him would ever return. He also had never felt more … alive. Collopy was a grade-schooler at the time, a rookie Chicago Youth American hockey player, and he loved everything about hockey, even the harsh stuff.

He was new to the checks-are-legal games on that day. A check into the boards had reduced Collopy to an ice chip in skates.

“That happened to me all the time,” Collopy, a Highland Park Giants senior center/wing, recalls. “Collisions, so many collisions.”

He would pop back up, breathe again and skate again, sore but more than eager to catch up to a free puck and make it do what-ever he wanted it to do. A nine-inch glove on a nine-inch hand, Collopy on ice. Good fits, both of them. The 5-foot-6, 136-pounder is a third-year varsity member of the Giants. He is lightning fast and running-bull-in-Pamplona tena-cious. He administers board-rat-tling, wind-snatching checks these days.

“Garrett plays like a 6-foot-6, 260-pounder,” Highland Park hockey coach Sean Freeman says of his alternate captain. “He’s a spitfire, plays a lot like I played when I was young. He’s got skill and fire, a tough kid. If I am ever in an alley, and I need someone there with me, I’m picking Garrett.”

Through Dec. 16, when HP and visiting Evanston skated to a 1-1 tie, Collopy had scored 14 goals and delivered 13 assists (in 27 games) for a 15-14-2 club, both of the stats ranking second among teammates. Forward David Shapiro had scored 24 goals (in only 19 games), and forward Kieran Jagadeesh had provided 23 assists (in 23 games). Collopy, Shapiro, Jagadeesh, defenseman Casey Eisenberg and goaltender Ty Jablonski, along with Coach Freeman, were picked to represent HP in an Illinois High School Hockey League (IHSHL) All-Star game at West Meadows Ice Arena in Rolling Meadows on Jan. 3.

The Giants sat atop the IHSHL North-Central standings, with a

7-3-2 record, before the winter break.

Collopy struck for 17 goals and had 12 assists in a 35-13-2 season last winter. That crew featured plenty of leaders, many of them HPHS graduates today. Freeman wanted a leader, needed a leader, with some feistiness and resolve, in 2015-16. He is getting that, and more, from Collopy. Daily.

“I have to be a leader,” Collopy, author of six goals and seven assists as a sophomore on varsity, says. “We’re young; we have a ton of young kids on varsity. I’m here to teach them a work ethic, the right work ethic, in the most demanding sport. We play really, really good teams on varsity, established teams. There’s a huge difference between junior varsity and varsity hockey games, and part of my job is to make sure our young guys are ready for that difference.”

Collopy does not have to say a word to get his teammates inspired in games. Teammates watch him. Teammates get energized, in-stantly. It is a good thing referees do not issue speeding tickets to skaters in games, because Collopy would be a serial offender if they did, a teen without a license to thrill. There is a sandpaper side to him, too, a critical trait in hockey, one that comes in handy when a puck has to be dug out of a corner or when a situation calls for a brash check.

“Garrett is the energy behind our team a lot of the time,” Giants junior left wing Jake Mandel says. “He pumps us up before games, makes big hits and big plays in games. If we need a spark, he gives us that. I love it when someone takes the puck away from him and he does everything he can to get that puck back. He’s showing ev-

erybody he’ll never back down. He’s illustrating his true grit to everybody.

“On the ice,” he adds, “Garrett never runs out of fuel.”

Collopy’s first major hockey influence was one of his Falcons Hockey Association coaches, Jan Masopust. Collopy was seven years old, showing up for practices and games but “not showing much as a hockey player,” Collopy admits. Masopust sensed something in Collopy, something special. Maso-pust helped Collopy find that something and exhibit that some-thing in practices, in games. The coach coached. Hard. The player listened. Intently. The sport was no longer just a sport to Collopy; it had become a passion, plus a part of his identity.

“[Masopust] was the first to push me to my limits,” Collopy says. “He convinced me that I had

a future in this sport. I’m glad he did that. I’m glad he believed in me. I still, because of him, try to be the best all-around player I can be when I’m on the ice. He gave me the edge I still have today.”

Freeman took Collopy’s hockey game to another level by being, well, Freeman: highly competitive, mad about hockey. He works in the construction industry. Collopy served as an intern for Freeman at construction sites last summer. Collopy, son of a former biochem-ist ( Jim) and a marketing profes-sional (Fran), cleaned up sites, bashed walls, cleaned up the stuff that used to be walls. The grinder on ice was a grinder outside, adept at transitioning from a worker with a hockey stick to a worker with a shovel. The grinder made things happen in chilly ice arenas and under an unforgiving sun.

“Coach Sean, his work ethic …

it’s unbelievable, in hockey and in construction,” Collopy says. “That guy loves to win more than anybody else I know. That guy loves to work. Nobody is as competitive as he is. His desire to win continues to rub off on me.”

Highland Park’s Giants play their home varsity hockey games at Centennial Ice Arena. The arena was where a tot named Garrett Collopy, between his second and third birthdays, first wore a pair of skates, beginner skates, the ones with double blades attached to each boot. Ice, ice, baby. Giants pour out of their locker room, hit the ice, start to warm up for a mid-De-cember game. A board door slams shut. An opposing team warms up at the other end of the rink. Blades produce soothing music. Collopy, wearing skates with single blades and jersey No. 79, is all grown up, faster and grittier and a nice, nice player.

“The biggest difference I’ve noticed from Garrett this year is his leadership,” Freeman says. “He has ownership of this team, pro-prietorship of this team. He also gets that the clock is ticking, that there’s going to be a last dance soon, that the last song in his high school hockey career is about to play. Garrett is fully aware of the invest-ment he has made as a hockey player.

“I love Garrett, the hockey player,” the coach adds. “But there’s more to him than that. Every day, be it at a practice or at a game, Garrett makes me laugh, and that makes me remember why I coach high school hockey.”

Notable: HP hosts Latin at Cen-tennial Ice Arena on Jan. 9, begin-ning at 8:20 p.m. It will be HP’s first game since a 1-1 tie vs. Evan-ston on Dec. 16. … Highland Park’s top six Giants, in points, through Dec. 16: Kieran Jagadeesh (36 points — 13 goals, 23 assists); David Shapiro (27 — 24, 3); Garrett Collopy (27 — 14, 13); Dylan Abt (19 — 11, 8); Thomas Quirk (18 — 10, 8); and Kyle T. Powers (15 — 8, 7). … Giants goaltender Ty Jablonski was 13-9-2, with four shutouts, after that 1-1 tie on Dec. 16. He stopped 16 shots against Evanston.

BY BILL MCLEAN, [email protected]

CHECK, PLEASE Highland Park’s Collopy eats up physical play of high school hockey

Lightning fast Garrett Collopy skates with the puck during earlier action this season. The 5-foot-6, 136-pound senior continues to come up big for the Highland Park hockey team. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER.


SPORTS

He went to middle school at Chicago’s Walt Disney Magnet — a hop, skip and

jump shot away from Lake Shore Drive.

So it’s only fitting that Loyola Academy’s Ramar Evans experi-enced a magical moment in the third-place game of the New Trier/Loyola Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 28. With 1.3 seconds left in regulation, he hit an off-the-dribble, step-back 17-footer to beat Lake Forest 37-35 in overtime.

Evans was the star attraction that night. With that one follow-through jumper, Ramar-velous turned the basketball court at 1100 Laramie Avenue in Wilmette into his own personal Magic Kingdom.

Everyone in the house, includ-ing the Lake Forest defender, knew he was going to spread the court, drive hard with the dribble and take the final shot.

It goes down as Evans’ finest basketball moment — so far.

But don’t worry, the kid is just getting warmed up.

“His best days on the court are coming,” Loyola Academy head coach Tom Livatino says.

Evans has a unique skill set. He’s a five-positional player.

He’s Ben Zobrist in basketball shorts.

“A multi-dimensional player,” says Livatino. “Things are going to work out for him. He’s got great quickness. Great explosiveness.”

His versatility allows him be a stat stuffer.

“He leads us in points (13.4 per game), leads us in rebounds (6.4), leads us in assists (2.3),” Livatino adds.

“He’s really good.” But Evans’ game remains in

construction.“He’s playing at a high level

right now,” says Livatino. “But he knows he should be playing at an even higher level. That’s our expec-tations of him.

“He still needs to be more con-sistent,” the LA coach adds.

That love for the game thing? He’s got that on LockDown.

Last offseason, Evans played club basketball with the U16 Chicago LockDown team, which was coached by current LA assis-tant Nick Oraham. He teamed up

with some talented folks and learned a ton.

He also kept close tabs with fellow Ramblers. He constantly received text messages throughout the offseason from senior shooting guard Brandon Danowski, who played for the Chicago LockDown U17 squad.

Most likely, their text conversa-tion went something like this:

Hoops?What time?“We played a lot of one-on-one.

A lot of King of the Hill,” says

Danowski.The dedication paid off — es-

pecially in the shooting depart-ment.

Evans’ outside shot has never been better.

“He’s definitely progressed in that area,” Danowski says.

Currently, Evans is shooting a lofty 52 percent from three-point land (17-33).

“Being in the gym and shooting all summer really helped,” says Evans. “It’s the part of the game that I really worked on.”

Last season, he was only a mar-ginal three-point shooter, hitting 23 of 62 from beyond the arc.

With his ability to knock down long-range shots, Evans has become even more difficult to guard. Possessing a rock-solid 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame, he’s a match-up nightmare for most teams.

“He’s a powerful guard,” says Danowski. “With the way he uses his body, he’s especially tough driving to the basket and taking it to the hole.”

There’s no way to pigeonhole his game. Evans’ passing is just as effective as his shooting. He’s bound and determined to get the ball into the right hands.

“Our offense is now second nature to me,” Evans says. “I have a good feel for it. I know the ins and outs.”

Feeding the ball to Danowski, who made 99 three-pointers last year, is never a bad option. The same holds true of senior sharp-shooter Will Plodzeen.

“I trust Brandon,” Evans says.

“And Plodzeen has been out-standing for us. I’ve been very impressed with Will.”

Being the team’s point guard doesn’t stop Evans from going all out on the glass.

“Rebounding,” he says, “is my favorite thing to do. Love it. Nothing like gathering in a rebound and going with it.”

He developed his inside game years ago.

“I’m a former big man. I played a lot of four and five when I was younger,” says Evans. “But my dad (Ramar Evans, Sr.) always told me to work on my handles. He always wanted me to have something to fall back on.”

Being a two-year starter, Evans has been asked to be a team leader.

“That’s been the biggest change from last year to this year,” he says. “Last year, I was the kid. Other guys on the team were looking out for me.

“This year, I’m the parent. It’s tougher. But I like it,” Evans adds.

He definitely didn’t shrug off his responsibilities in that over-time game against Lake Forest. He had the closing seconds all mapped out in his mind.

“I took the ball with 45 seconds left and held it until there were 12 seconds left,” he recalls. “Hon-estly, I was trying to take it the rim. That was my first instinct. That was my thought process.

“But I ended up taking what he gave me,” Evans adds. “I had to go with the flow. I had to make a quick decision. So I went with the step-back jumper.”

And he couldn’t have shot it any better.

Nothing but … magic.

Notable: The Ramblers, who are playing in the VisitMeza.com Basketball Challenge at Moun-tain View High School in Meza, Arizona, improved to 7-4 on Dec. 22 by downing visiting Taft 70-51. The Ramblers made11 three-pointers in the contest. Will Plodzeen hit five threes to finish with a game-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Eddie Trapp had 12 points, while Brandon Donows-ki added 10 points.

BY KEVIN REITERMAN, [email protected]

UNIQUELY QUANTIFIED Loyola’s multi-dimensional Evans continues to expand his game —

and fill the stat sheet

Loyola Academy’s Ramar Evans (No. 25) applies defensive pressure on Taft’s Arnel Grozdanic. The junior standout leads the team in points, rebounds and assists. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER.

SPORTS


Colleen Palmer, known for her book smarts, is one of the top students in the

junior class at Regina Dominican.Her basketball IQ?It’s also high.Backboard high.Executive suite (23rd floor) at

the Chicago Palmer House high.In the second quarter of the

final game — a 54-43 setback to Maine East — at the St. Viator Snowflake Tournament on Dec. 23, the multi-dimensional Palmer scanned the court and decided to play waitress. Over and over again, she passed up shots in order to serve the ball inside to the team-mate with the ideal Regina Do-minican first name: Regina Trejo.

It was the right thing to do. The suite thing to do. Trejo, a junior, ended up having the quarter of her life — scoring 10 of her team-high 13 points in that eight-minute stretch.

“Regina was having a good day, and I wanted to get the ball inside to her as much as I could,” Palmer said.

Palmer changed things up in the second half.

She sea-changed it.The 5-foot-9 Panthers guard,

who was named to the all-tour-nament team, decided to assert herself on the offensive end. And the hard-to-guard inside/outside player with a three-point shooter’s touch scored all 11 of her points came in the final two periods.

“That’s her game,” said Regina coach Kerry Durham. “She’s not going to be a one-dimensional player.

“She’s very much the quarter-back on this team. She’s going to get everyone in the right spots. She’s going to share the ball. She’s going to try and lift the level of everyone’s game,” the coach added. “And, what she did in the second half today is pretty typical of her.”

A three-year starter on varsity, Palmer came into the four-game set at St. Viator averaging 11.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

“She’s got the fundamentals of this game down,” said Durham.

Playing the tough ‘D’ also is a must with Palmer. She doesn’t skimp.

Her main defensive assignment in the Maine East game was Janelle Alba Garner. Palmer never lost track of the senior star, and her glove-like defense limited Garner to 10 points.

“I knew she (No. 5) was a good player,” said Palmer, who did a good job of taking away Garner’s

right-hand dribble. “I was just trying to shut her down.

“Our whole team takes pride in playing good defense,” she added.

Black kneepads come standard with Regina Dominican uniforms. Everyone wears them.

Palmer wouldn’t want it any

other way. Diving on the floor for a loose ball is big part of her game.

Palmer’s bent for defense runs deep. Her other sport is soccer. And she’s all about denying the opposition. She lines up at sweeper for her Glenview-based club soccer team: FC-1 Academy. She’s a goalie’s best friend.

Basketball? Soccer?She’s got next-level talent in

both sports. Her sister, Maggie Palmer, currently plays Division III basketball at Illinois Wesleyan.

No doubt, Durham, a former college basketball player at Xavier University, will push her toward the hoops.

“Colleen’s stature? It lends itself well to the college game,” said the Regina coach.

Palmer definitely has the right court demeanor. In the second quarter of the Regina-Maine East game, she had a referee’s call go against her.

Instead of challenging the call, Palmer raced back to the defensive end, looked over at her mother and sister in the front row and cracked a respectful and knowing smile. The ref missed that one, didn’t he?

No complaint. No malice.“My dad tells me to just walk

away,” said Palmer. “Once they make the call, they’re not going to change it.”

Palmer, however, will do every-thing in her power to change the direction of her current team. The Panthers lost three of four at the St. Viator Tournament and sit 3-10 at the break.

“It’s a growing year for us,” said Palmer, who was part of an 18-win team in 2014-15 and a 17-win squad in 2013-14. “We’ll pick it up.”

Notable: The Panthers opened play in the St. Viator Classic by falling to Zion-Benton 57-20 on Dec. 19. Colleen Palmer finished with a team-high 11 points. … In Round Two, Regina took care of Elmwood Park 51-31. Sopho-more Kelly French led all scorers with 23. Palmer had 10 points. … And in a Round Three contest, the Panthers came up short against Glenbrook North 43-35. Palmer (13 points) and French (10 points) led the way. … French, who also plays club volleyball, is starting to come into her own. According to coach Kerry Durham, the 5-10 French didn’t decide to play hoops until two days before practices started. “She’s a great shooter. And she’s versatile. She brings a lot to the team,” said Palmer. French came into the tourney averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game … The Panthers have no seniors on the squad. But Durham is excited about her freshman trio: Caitlin Ward, Kaitlan Byrne and Mary Grace Stanton. “Watch those three,” said the Regina coach.

BY KEVIN REITERMAN, [email protected]

GRADE A PERFORMERMulti-dimensional Palmer turns in all-tourney performance at St. Viator Classic

Regina Dominican junior Colleen Palmer drives to the bucket against Glenbrook North’s Jordan Davison during Round Three action at the St. Viator Classic. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER.


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BY KAREN ANNE OVERTN

“The thing I really love about Cora is that she can embrace the proto-

col, the parties, the menus, the servants, the grandeur, but she could also walk away from it without batting an eye. She loves it but it’s not essential to her, she doesn’t need it,” explains Eliza-beth McGovern at the London launch of the final series of Downton Abbey.

McGovern is discussing the impending downsizing of Downton and the inevitable re-percussions on the pampered aristocrats that reside there as the hit series comes to a climax. “I think, to a certain extent, Cora is naïve about what it will be like to live with no money, but she’s very happy to embrace the idea of having absolutely nothing, because she’s never experienced what that is. So, I don’t think she’s particularly stressed about the changes. She can roll with the punches,” smiles McGovern.

Lady Cora’s looming lifestyle change aside, the same could be said for the actress herself, who, despite finding huge success both at home and the UK, isn’t fazed one bit by the announcement that the upcoming sixth series will be the last. “I’m ready to put Cora to bed for a while, I really am. I tried my best to bring her to life for six years but I’m looking forward to doing the same now for somebody else.”

With her flawless complexion, incredible cheekbones, and regal air, it’s hard to believe McGov-

ern’s 54 years; her beauty is timeless and no doubt part of the reason she was chosen to play Lady of the house Cora Crawley back in 2010, when Downton began. A woman of grandeur and matriarch-in-waiting to the f e a r s o m e D o w a g e r Countess, p l a y e d impec-cably by Maggie Smith, Cora is also the most ‘real’ p e r s o n amongst the Crawley char-acters; unafraid to cross the boundaries between master and servant, a woman not con-strained by the usual trappings of English, post Ed-wardian society.

She is also the only American in the aristocratic Downton household; born and bred in the city of Evanston, McGovern’s family moved to Los Angeles when she was 10. While admit-ting she feels shaped by Los Angeles as much as Illinois, she still has very fond memories of her birthplace. “It was an abso-lutely brilliant place to grow up. Evanston is one of the great American cities; it’s got a lot of the culture that New York offers

and not so much of the angst, because there’s more space. The Midwest tends to be more open and accepting, there’s a lot of music, a lot of theatre, it’s a great culture, and a beautiful city. The people are just more accepting and nice,” she says with charac-teristic warmth.

During Downton’s five years on our screens, we’ve watched the lords and ladies— and their staff—go through many highs and lows, both private and in-tensely personal. The series spans

a significant time period in British history, beginning on the day after the sinking of The HMS Titanic in 1912 right through to the frivolous yet austere roaring 20’s. Lady Grantham endured a significant amount of the heart-break, losing beloved son-in-law Mathew in a car crash and her daughter Sybil during childbirth. Surprisingly, these are the story-lines McGovern relished playing.

“I thought the writing really got

across the impact of the sudden death of Sybil on Cora and Rob-ert’s relationship. It was really great writing because it wasn’t just generic grief,” she says.

“Julian (Fellowes, show creator) really addressed the spe-cific impact of grief on

specific relationships and the kind of fallout that often occurs from a child’s death, the dif-ferent stages of grief and forgiveness. I thought that it was done in an interest-ing way and I loved playing that.”

However, one aspect of D ow n t on McGovern admits she won’t miss i s the drawn out

process syn-onymous with creating such a huge production: “The biggest challenge to surviving Downton Abbey would be surviving the tedium. It’s always the same on any TV show—it’s a slow, labori-ous process that actually has not changed that much since film began. I mean, it’s gotten a little bit more streamlined but you still do shot after shot and it’s still laborious, no matter how ahead of time we are technologically! So, you name it, I’ve tried every-thing—from reading books to joking around with people, listen-ing to music on earphones,

playing games. You just have to get a process.”

Now based in London with her husband, British filmmaker Simon Curtis, and two daughters, McGovern says that while she has a couple of projects in devel-opment, her main focus will be on her family and her other passion, music. “I’ve got plans to record some new songs with my band but that will be quite low-key and I’m looking forward to some quiet time. Not leaving the house, hanging out with my kids!” she smiles. McGovern is the lead singer and guitarist in the folk-rock band Sadie and the Hotheads. When not on screen in those period costumes, she can be found rocking out on stage to a unique blend of 60’s pop-tinged country. What Lady Grantham would make of her rock star alter ego, we’ll never know.

Over the last six years, Downton Abbey has become a worldwide phenomenon. The Crawleys have fallen in love, fought in The Great War, and in Lady Grantham’s case, hosted the kind of epic and decadent parties that are now an echo of a more glamorous age. One thing’s for sure, there will be gap in our TV schedules and our hearts once the final series wraps.

What does Elizabeth McGov-ern think about the rumoured movie of the series? “I really don’t know; I can’t say,” she insists. “At the moment, I’m very happy to take a break from it.” But of course, Downton Abbey simply couldn’t survive without the lady of the house.

FROM DOWNTOWN EVANSTON TO DOWNTON ABBEY

Elizabeth McGovern Illustration by Barry Blitt


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