Northbrook in 60 seconds
Two accounting firms set to merge Jan. 1
Karlin, Kerschner, Sharpe & Co is joining The Dolins Group, effective Jan. 1, combining two longtime Northbrook CPA firms. Karlin, Kerschner, Sharpe & Co LLP has been in business for 32 years; The Dolins Group has been in business for 28 years. The merger will allow both firms to continue - and to improve - their quality tax and accounting services that they have provided to clients for years.
Shop Local contest offers $500 shopping spree
As the holiday shopping spree moves into high gear, local businesses are ready and willing to connect customers with the perfect gifts to treat family and friends. The Northbrook Chamber of Commerce and Village of Northbrook encourage all residents to take the Shop Northbrook Pledge, promising to spend as much of their holiday budget as possible at local stores and businesses that make the village a fun, vibrant place to shop throughout the year.
"Shopping local benefits everyone in the community," explains Tensley Garris, President of the Northbrook Chamber. "It preserves the health of community businesses that provide access to products and services, employment and support for local nonprofits. It also generates critical sales tax dollars for public services that we all use."
To encourage residents to fulfill the pledge, the Chamber is promoting a Shop Northbrook contest through Dec. 18. One lucky winner will be selected to receive gift cards from up to five Northbrook businesses of their choice, up to a grand total of $500. To enter, shop or dine at five different Northbrook stores or restaurants and submit a photo of your five receipts by Dec. 18. Photos of receipts can be emailed to info@northbrookchamber.org or mailed to the Northbrook Chamber at 2002 Walters Avenue. For complete contest rules, visitLiveShopDineNorthbrook.com/promotions.
The Village and the Chamber work together on marketing programs to connect residents with great gift ideas from local businesses. The Northbrook Shopping Elf pages on Facebook and Instagram share timely tips from stores and restaurants throughout the Village. The Live Shop Dine Northbrook website, above, provides a comprehensive list of restaurants as well as overviews of popular shopping centers. A free mobile text program provides subscribers with updates on community events as well as special offers from over 90 Northbrook stores, restaurants, salons, and service businesses; sign up by texting NBK to 55678.
By shopping local, you ensure a happy holiday for your family as well as a healthy start to the new year for the larger community. For more information about Northbrook Chamber shop local initiatives, email info@northbrookchamber.org.
Holiday concert
Glenbrook North High School's annual Holiday Concert is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, in the school's Sheely Center for the Performing Arts. The concert, which includes all bands, orchestras and choral groups, will feature songs of holiday season and the traditional group performance of "White Christmas." Admission is free. Audience members must wear masks while inside the building.
New Trier's Gates Gym to host final events
Making way for new athletic and academic spaces at New Trier's east campus in Winnetka, the high school's classic Gates Gymnasium is coming to the end of its 93-year run.
The gym, built in 1928 for $675,000, will host two more events before groundbreaking for the new construction.
Collectively titled "A December to Remember," one of the events already occurred on Dec. 4, an open house and commemoration that included tours of the campus and drawings of the new buildings.
Remaining is the New Trier Winter Music Festival at 3 p.m. Dec. 12. A combined effort of jazz, band, choir and orchestra, this will be the 104th performance of the festival - and the last at Gates Gymnasium.
Tickets to the Winter Festival will be reserved for families of the performing students, but livestreaming will be available on the New Trier Television website.
On Dec. 16 at 5:45 p.m., New Trier will induct new members into its Athletic Department Hall of Honor. This year's class features outstanding former Trevians coaches.
They are cross country coach Ben Almaguer, golf coach Gary Groh, baseball coach Ron Klein and badminton coach Deborah Ofcky, who also has been inducted into the Illinois Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame.
In a ceremony held on Alumni Night, the inductees will be honored between the girls and boys basketball games against Evanston, which will be the final games played at Gates Gymnasium. The teams will play subsequent games at the main gym in the Northfield campus.
Approved by the New Trier Board of Education this past January after more than a year of study, the Gates Gymnasium and a circa-1925 boiler plant will be replaced with a new, multipurpose facility.
The new project will include a multipurpose competition gym, 6-lane indoor track, 12 new classrooms, auxiliary gyms, strength and conditioning rooms, a climbing wall and a high ropes course.
Some elements from Gates, including the distinctive curved "barrel roof," will be included in the new design.
The project is scheduled to be finished by the start of the 2023-24 school year.