Davis: Some stories seem better than they are
Word of the first elevator coming to Hawthorn Woods had, as we say in the news biz, all the elements. People in the supposedly sophisticated suburbs getting excited about something we all take for granted. Some quaint, Mayberrian charm. Admittedly no blood and guts, but still, as we also say in the biz, "a talker." You knew that when Lake County Editor Pete Nenni threw it out at our morning news meeting, virtually all participants had something to say on the topic.
What caught Pete's eye was a press release from St. Matthew Lutheran Church & School announcing a ribbon-cutting dedication Feb. 15 of its just-installed elevator - the first elevator in the village. Dignitaries attending the event included the mayor, architect and project contractor.
Other editors pounced on Pete. How could a suburb exist without an elevator? Surely some private homes in Hawthorn Woods have elevators, one editor opined. That doesn't count, another replied. Can we see if the state has a list of towns and their elevators? Could Hawthorn Woods be the only 'burb without an elevator? Mick Zawislak, the reporter assigned to this story probably didn't see all this high-level interest coming, but he set out to answer all the' questions - questions that undoubtedly would be on the minds of our readers.
On Day 2 of our elevator epic, the morning editors group had more advice and questions after learning such a list from the state wasn't immediately available. We can call our smaller towns and see what they say, one editor said. Wait a minute, said another: What about the towns that imply great height in their title? What if they don't have elevators? Reporters would check in with Tower Lakes, Prospect Heights, Campton Hills. Some other genius (OK, this was my idea) suggested we contact our bigger towns - say, Naperville and Schaumburg - to see how many elevators exist in those no-longer-quaint communities.
But, it turns out the church elevator wasn't quite as landmark as we thought. After some checking, Mick discovered a home and a Hawthorn Woods business both had elevators. Pete passed along the sad news to the other editors, adding, "There seems to be some confusion/disagreement between the village and church over who was the source of the statement 'first elevator in the village' that went out on a church press release to us. Sorry, the bottom has dropped out of our story." Yes, pun intended.
But we wouldn't let it go. A new round of emails ensued:
"Schaumburg has more than 600 elevators and Prospect Heights has 42. Who knew?"
"Hawthorn Woodians fighting over who has the first elevator is still kinda funny."
"Not sure it's actually fighting or bad Intel."
"I call dibs on this for a column. Outta my way, Slusher!!!"
Yes, the last line was mine. And just to get a bit more serious for a moment, let me point out that while this might not have turned out to be the quirky, offbeat "talker" we initially envisioned, it certainly is still news. In fact, it's the kind of news that's been our bread and butter for decades.
So sometime this week, we plan to have a story in our Lake County Neighbor editions announcing the dedication of the new elevator at 9:15 a.m. in Krueger Hall, following the 8 a.m. worship service.
Refreshments will be served.
jdavis@dailyherald.com