The Soapbox: Thanks for Lazarus House in St. Charles, a band in Mount Prospect, special citizens in Geneva and Sugar Grove and more.
MAC celebrates 30 years
All the folks at the McAninch Arts Center can be thankful as the MAC celebrates its 30th anniversary at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn this month. The MAC has become a suburban hot spot for the arts, putting on roughly 200 shows a year by both student and professional groups. Bravo!
Take a bow
Political opinions took center stage last week at "Hamilton" productions in New York and Chicago. Election feelings aside, it's a good time to give thanks for the bounty of great theater in Chicago and the suburbs - and for productions that entertain, inform and, yes, provoke.
And then another
Suburban schools have so many excellent programs to celebrate, and what better venue to show one off than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? The Prospect High Marching Knights did us proud strutting their stuff before a TV audience of 50 million, and co-drum major Hannah Thornton added a personal touch winning the Bob Hope Band Scholarship.
Many thanks in the Fox Valley
We're thankful for the folks at Lazarus House in St. Charles who, along with the Salvation Army, sponsors Thanksgiving dinner for all who show up. Ditto for Aliano's restaurant in Batavia and Jeff Turner from Elgin's In The Neighborhood Deli. He spearheads a feast at First United Methodist Church that feeds 1,000 people.
Gracious hoops hosts
In the high school sports world, the week of Thanksgiving is one of the busiest of the year. We're thankful for all the schools hosting boys and girls basketball tournaments, from West Chicago to Mundelein to St. Charles and Arlington Heights. And a special good-luck wish to the Vernon Hills football team vying for a Class 5A state championship.
Special thanks, too
While we're on the subject of sports, we're also thankful for Special Olympics and the many suburban recreational agencies that provide year-round opportunities for mentally and physically disabled men, women, boys and girls to experience athletics, competition and the joy of participating on a team.
Celebrate civility
We are thankful for the Ed Cranes of the world. Ed, who was elected mayor of Geneva in 1980, died recently at 75. He committed his life to furthering the notion of a civil society, working for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the international Loccum Academy for social justice and as civil society consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Remembering Beverly Holms Hughes
Beverly Holmes Hughes, who died a week ago at age 56, was Sugar Grove's Citizen of the Year in 2010, for two decades the executive director of the Sugar Grove Public Library and founder of the community's chamber of commerce. She lived a life of dedication.