The Week in Pictures features photographs made during November and December
Yuri Hiramatsu, of Rolling Meadows, waits in line to see Santa with her yorkies Ohagi and Kinako during the pet photos with Santa experience on Sunday, November 23, 2025 at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Pets of any type and families were welcome to visit and take photos with Santa during the annual event.
Ryan Rayburn / for the Daily Herald
Guests tour Freedom Hall inside historic McCormick House during a Christmas at Cantigny preview Wednesday.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Second grader Sara Petrie hugs her grandfather, CMSgt. Bill Petrie, who served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and four tours in Viet Nam. He surprised her at her “Thank A Vet Concert” after she read her essay about him in Schaumburg.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Rylee Sammons, 14, of Palatine and the Fremd gymnastics team helps pack more than 1,200 Thanksgiving food baskets for Chicago-area families in need Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 at Lou Malnati’s Tastes of Chicago Warehouse in Buffalo Grove.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Agnieszka ("Aga") Bazan-Guzman, a volunteer and cat lover from Elmhurst works with one of the cats available for adoption at DuPage County Animal Services Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Wheaton.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Luke Charly, 4, and bother Alec, 2, of Elgin, pose with Santa and their dog Kovac, a giant Alaskan malamute, during the pet photos with Santa experience on Sunday, November 23, 2025 at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Pets of any type and families were welcome to visit and take photos with Santa during the annual event.
Ryan Rayburn / for the Daily Herald
First-grade teacher Mrs. Wallesca Reyes’ works with her class Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 at Hanover Highlands Elementary School in Hanover Park.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Kraige Wiltshire of Reno, Nevada, takes his cap off upon entry at the Adopt-a-Sailor Thanksgiving dinner at the American Legion Post 690 on Nov. 27, 2025 in Palatine.
Karie Angell Luc/for the Daily Herald
Around 150,000 lights were lit Friday, Nov. 28, 2025 during the annual holiday tree lighting event in Arlington Heights North School Park.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
Mounds of processed concrete now sit where Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee once stood. All structures of the mall have been demolished except for the Cinemark West Dundee. The theater remains open as a developer eyes the nearly 70-acre property for redevelopment. A recent study suggests that the 70 acres within the ring road of the mall property and 32 acres adjacent to it could support up to 1,500 residential units and 325,000 square feet of commercial use.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
Hiram De Hoyos shovels his elderly neighbor’s driveway along Kirchoff Road on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025 in Rolling Meadows. “I try to help out as much as I can,” De Hoyos said. My parents are from Puerto Rico, and over there we take care of our seniors, so I have the same mentality over here.”
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Agnieszka Morini, of Wheeling and her daughter, Halina, 2, look at books during the opening of a new “gently used” toy shop on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025 in Arlington Heights. Nonprofit organization C.I.T.Y. of Support (Children In Therapy and You) has opened the GENEROC.I.T.Y. Toy Shop featuring gently-used toys, books and materials, and program space for story times, therapy dog visits, respite care and therapeutic enrichment classes.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Some flowers adorn a statue of an angel Friday Dec. 5, 2025 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines. Some Catholic immigrants may be afraid to make a pilgrimage to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 11-12 in Des Plaines because of the immigration crackdown.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Santa arrives prior to the lighting of the holiday tree at Metropolitan Square on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 in Des Plaines.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Despite having a disability herself, volunteer Amy Laskeiwicz works the main lobby of Journeys the Road Home, a shelter that provides many extras for clients in Palatine.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Marshall Miller, 2, of Schaumburg has his picture taken inside a penguin prop before Santa arrives by helicopter at Schaumburg Regional Airport Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. The event was sponsored by the Schaumburg Park District.
Patrick Kunzer/ for the Daily Herald
Amelia Bolton, 3, of Schaumburg dances to Christmas music before Santa arrives by helicopter at Schaumburg Regional Airport Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. The event was sponsored by the Schaumburg Park District. “We love this,” said Sarah Bolton of Schaumburg. “It’s the third year we have come to see Santa come in on a helicopter.” Sarah is Amelia’s mother.
Patrick Kunzer/ for the Daily Herald
Santa arrives by helicopter at Schaumburg Regional Airport Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. The event was sponsored by the Schaumburg Park District.
Patrick Kunzer/ for the Daily Herald