Good News Sunday: Former Daily Herald executive named Carnegie Hero after saving children
This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published recently by the Daily Herald.
A year to the day that former Daily Herald Media Group Vice President of Sales and Digital Strategies Pete Rosengren died saving children from a dangerous rip current while on vacation in Florida, he was posthumously named a Carnegie Hero Medal winner.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced late Monday that he was among the first 18 winners of 2022.
The commission awards medals four times a year to those "who risked their lives to save others. North America's highest honor for civilian heroism," according to the news release.
"From what I understand, someone saw Pete's story in the national news and nominated him as a hero," said Maura Rosengren, Pete's widow.
Maura said the nomination process was rigorous, with investigators from the commission researching the events around Pete's actions through interviews with her and others who were there the day Pete went into the water.
"To be honest, this was an extremely emotional process for me and took a while for me to get all of the forms completed and sent back to them," she said. "I kept going back to it, starting and stopping, but it was just so very emotional."
"This award comes as no surprise to those of us who knew Pete and worked with him these many years," said Daily Herald Media Group President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Stone. "Whether at work or home, Pete was the type of person you could count on to do the right thing."
For the full story, click here.
Elgin native lands lead role in national tour of tuner 'Moulin Rouge!'
Broadway veteran Courtney Reed so loves "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" she would encourage people to see it even if she wasn't starring in the pandemic-delayed national tour, now in previews at Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre.
The Elgin native says the tuner has everything audiences expect from a Broadway show: spectacle, energy, familiar tunes and "a ginormous cast of hungry actors at the top of their game" and eager to be back on stage after nearly two years.
The Tony Award-winning musical was adapted from director Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
"I fell in love with the film the first moment I saw it," said Reed, who performed with Light Opera Works (now Music Theater Works) in Evanston and with the now-defunct Noble Fool Theatre at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles before leaving for New York, where she originated the role of Jasmine in "Aladdin" on Broadway.
She plays the chanteuse Satine, a courtesan in 19th-century Paris pursued by a poor poet and a wealthy duke.
Reed auditioned for the show hoping to be cast in the New York or London production, but was hired for the national tour, which, as a result of the pandemic, is commencing practically in her backyard.
"It feels surreal," she said. "Being home, doing this massive first national tour, getting to play the lead ... Every morning I wake up and think: 'Pinch me, I can't believe this is happening.'"
For the full story, click here.
Elk Grove groups team to collect supplies for veterans in need
The Elk Grove Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9284 and the Community Character Coalition of Elk Grove collected needed supplies last week in Elk Grove Village for the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.
The shelter, based in Wheaton, is a nonprofit that provides housing, supportive services and community outreach to help homeless and at-risk veterans and their families achieve self-sufficiency.
According to its website, the nonprofit, founded in 2007 by Vietnam War veteran Bob Adams and Gulf War veteran Dirk Enger, operates on a vision of no veteran left behind due to homelessness, joblessness, poverty and/or mental health issues.
For the full story, click here.
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