Northbrook in 60 seconds

Cleanup Northbrook

A number of openings remain for the Northbrook Civic Foundation's second community cleanup effort of numerous spots around the village on Saturday, May 15.

The Civic Foundation and Village of Northbrook will provide group safety vests, garbage bags and pickup sticks at the Civic Building, 2002 Walters Ave., from 8-10 a.m. Filled garbage bags will be picked up at the cleanup sites. People are asked to bring their own work gloves and to wear face coverings, and to return the vests and sticks to the Civic Building by 3 p.m. Saturday.

For a list of locations and pickup times and to sign up, see www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b44aeaa2ca1f85-clean.

Book smart

The Northbrook Public Library is offering volunteer opportunities to students who will be attending high school in the fall.

This year volunteers will have the choice to work from home individually on group assignments or to participate in small groups working outdoors at the library.

Applicants are required to read an information packet and to submit an application online by noon May 23.

For details, visit www.northbrook.info/summer-high-school-volunteer.

Finals care packages

In partnership with the Glenview Northbrook Coalition for Youth, the Northbrook Public Library is inviting high school students, or their parents, to come by and pick up finals care packages filled with goodies to enjoy while students study at home.

Finals care packages will be available outside of the library's main entrance, on the east side of the building, on two dates: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. May 29 and 1-4:30 p.m. May 30.

Welcome

Jane Lee Homes recently celebrated the ribbon-cutting of a new office at 1354 Shermer Road, Suite A. The Lee Team also has an office at 124 N. Waukegan Road, Lake Bluff.

In 2006 Lee was named one of the Top 50 real estate brokers in the United States by The Wall Street Journal. She has earned a RE/MAX lifetime achievement award among a wealth of other honors, and her group annually amasses between $150 million and $207 million in sales. Chicago Agent Magazine listed her as the No. 1 agent in Lake County from 2007-2020.

Dark skies

Tickets remain for the virtual presentation of "Protecting Dark Skies," a joint production of the Northbrook Public Library and Go Green Northbrook. The free program will be held over Zoom from 7-8:15 p.m. May 18.

Barb McKittrick, a Kane County Forest Preserve District naturalist, and Adam Kreuzer, a delegate of the International Dark Sky Association, will discuss light pollution and how nighttime light affects people, plants and wildlife. They'll also offer "dark sky-friendly" lighting practices and ways to restore dark skies to neighborhoods.

Registration is required to get the proper Zoom information. Visit the library website at visit.northbrook.info; select "Events" on the landing page, and choose the May 18 date on the calendar, then scroll to the appropriate program.

Dine and dash

People can support the 20th Lew Blond Run by ordering lunch or dinner from Grill House, 3061 Dundee Road, on May 17. The restaurant will dedicate 20% of the profits from that day to the Lew Blond Memorial 5K Run/Walk. The 20th run will be held Oct. 16 in Northbrook.

The Lew Blond run benefits the Les Turner ALS Foundation and supports high school scholarships as well as Northbrook School District 30 projects. Lew Blond was a District 30 teacher at Maple School who died of ALS in 2000. The event in his name is run through neighborhood streets around Maple School.

Those who register for the Oct. 16 race at www.lewblondrun.org can receive 40% off the registration price for next year's event, which will be held May 21, 2022.

They're back

Kohl's Children's Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview, is reopening for general admission and members-only hours on June 2, subject to a number of conditions.

Guests must reserve time slots for a two-hour session, in 15-minute increments, as the museum will be operating at 25% capacity. Non-mesh masks that cover both the nose and mouth are required for everyone 2 and older. Individual exhibits will be closed for brief periods for cleaning throughout the day.

Kohl's cafe will not be open for food purchases, and food will not be allowed in exhibit areas. Guests are encouraged to bring bottled water, spill-proof mugs or sippy cups, which will be allowed in the exhibit areas.

Reservations are currently being taken through June 20. Tickets to the museum's SummerBurst outdoor special event must be purchased separately. (SummerBurst offers STEAM-focused outdoor events every Tuesday through Sunday from June 2-Aug. 29.)

Currently, reservations are being taken for a May 26 member preview.

For details about the reopening, including membership and guest pricing, visit www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org.

Reorganization

On April 27, Northbrook School District 27 seated its new board members, elected its officers and bid adieu to outgoing board members.

DeShawn Arms, Matt Cassidy and Shweta Jinkala were sworn in as new board members for four-year terms, following their successful April 6 elections.

Board President Tracy Katz Muhl was reelected as president, returning member Michelle Kohler was elected as vice president and incumbent Jennifer Gallinson was elected as secretary.

The board also recognized outgoing board members Tony Forchetti, Michael Gilmore and Lou Gross for their combined 28 years of service. Forchetti was on the board for 12 years, with both Gilmore and Gross having served eight years apiece. None sought reelection.

All four district schools - Greenbriar, Meadowbrook, Northbrook Junior High, Westmoor - have building improvement scheduled for this summer. Greenbriar and the junior high will get upgrades to their HVAC building automation systems and all four will receive security system enhancements.

As well ...

At a Northbrook/Glenview District 30 meeting on April 29, the district board of education also reorganized its positions.

Vice President Nancy Artz, who joined the board in 2015, was unanimously elected as the new president. Jeff Zuercher took Artz's place as vice president.

He and Keith Karchmar resumed their positions on the board and were joined by newly elected member Dr. Stephanie Yohannan.

Michele Polina and Terry Wolf were appointed as co-secretaries of the board until June 30, 2023.

The meeting also featured the end of the term of Ursula Sedlak as board president. A member of the board since 2013, she was board president the past two years.

This fall the district will see the return of daily in-person instruction for all students - at Willowbrook for students in kindergarten through fifth grade; at Wescott for kindergarten through fifth grade; and at Maple for sixth through eighth grades.