Good News Sunday: Elgin's Senior Services Associates celebrates diversity with quinceañera

This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published recently by the Daily Herald:

It might have come 50 years late, but Clara Martinez wasn't complaining as she was crowned the "Quinceañera" during an event Wednesday at Senior Services Associates in Elgin.

"I'm so excited. I never had a quinceañera," the 65-year-old Martinez said. "This is the best one ever."

The second annual quinceañera celebration was organized by Senior Services Associates and the Elgin Police Department. It's part of an effort by SSA to offer more multicultural events for its seniors.

In the past year, SSA has celebrated the heritage of the Filipino, Guatemalan and Southeast Asian communities. It also has hosted Oktoberfest, Hanukkah, Mexican Independence Day and Black History Month parties.

SSA activity coordinator Minnie Vasquez said it's never too late to learn about other cultures.

"We have such diversity here, and we want everyone to feel welcome," Vasquez said.

For the full story, click here.

Music teachers' nonprofit helps people afford private lessons

Brooke Schrager and Ella Bracero would like to teach the world to sing.

And they're looking to do that no matter people's financial resources thanks to their nonprofit Cadence Music NFP.

"In our world today, private music lessons are considered a luxury. They're available to those who have the privilege of paying for the best music education money can buy," said Bracero, co-founder and executive director of Cadence Music NFP, in an email.

"Brooke and I created Cadence specifically to break those barriers, and I hope that in the future we can view private music lessons as a necessary investment that are accessible to any and all students interested in pursuing music."

Schrager, who started her own business teaching music lessons in 2016, now called Lessons By Brooke & Company, was joined by Bracero in 2019. In 2021, the Elmhurst University grads decided to join forces to start the nonprofit to give people of all ages the opportunity to sing and play instruments.

They do this with their Music Lesson Scholarship Program through the parent company. According to Schrager, several students receive full-ride scholarships, some pay 50% tuition and others a flat fee that is comfortable for their family's needs.

For the full story, click here.

A taco crawl is coming to downtown Naperville

To help kick off Hispanic Heritage Month in mid-September, the Downtown Naperville Alliance is holding the event that will feature 10 participating restaurants.

The Downtown Naperville Taco Crawl is slated for 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 19. Tickets cost $30, with a portion of the profits benefiting the Naperville Sister Cities Foundation.

"We're just looking for new, fun, engaging ways to bring people into our downtown," said Danielle Tufano, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance. "We thought doing a taco crawl was a perfect fit to bring a couple pieces of the puzzle together."

Tufano said the event also is designed to support the Hispanic Heritage Festival taking place Sept. 16 in Central Park. Tufano spoke with festival organizers to come up with a way to work together, and they landed on the taco crawl.

"There's already been a lot of interest," Tufano said. "Once we posted it on social media, it blew up. We definitely anticipate it selling out."

For the full story, click here.

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