City of West Chicago, Illinois

Where History and Progress Meet

At Home with Merle Burleigh – March 22, 2023

By

At Home with Merle

MERLE’S CORNER

The West Chicago Fire Protection District hosted a special ceremony for the retirements of Battalion Chief Jason Day and Lieutenant Mike Korzen and the promotions of Battalion Chief Ric Ciszewski and Lieutenant Michael Buenrostro Jr and Frank Smogur. Fire Chief Patrick Tanner officiated, providing the importance of the ceremony in a limited time period. “Each of these men are certified, educated and qualified and understand the importance of community.” All the badges are custom made and the numbers are assigned to each individual and are retired when the individual retires. They each received a special U.S.flag encased in a frame The wives of all honorees received a floral bouquet as a small thank you for their contributions and sacrifices.

After 28 years, Day is retiring. He started with the WCFPD in 1999, bur, prior to that, was a cadet. His number was 35. He said, “I had a career here and could not ask for better. We are a part of the community…There are challenges, but each individual can make it work better.. The community has supported us for 125 years.”

Korzen started his career in 2002. His number was 43. “I second what Jason said about working here and being part of the community.” He accepted a new position as Battalion Chief with the Roselle Fire Department. “ It is a great opportunity to stay in our Alliance.”

Steve Usedom, President  of WCFPD Trustees, administered the oath of office to Ciszewski and  Smogur. Their wives did the pinning.Ciszewski came on board in June 2003. His number is 43. Smogur began his career in 2001. His number is 41. Trustee Melissa Medeiros administered the Oath of Office to Michael Buenrostro Jr. His father Michael Buenrostro Sr did the pinning.

After the ceremony, the guests congratulated the honoree, plus greeting friends. All in all, it was a very happy and memorable occasion. https://merleburl.com)

 

AROUND AND ABOUT

 

  • West Chicago Garden Club meeting is Thursday, March 23, 2023, at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N. Prince Crossing Road. Social time is at 6:45 p.m., short business meeting at 7 p.m. and program at 7:15 p.m. David Kusnierz presents “Tree Pests and Diseases of the Urban Forest,” a comprehensive presentation of the insects and diseases that are currently impacting trees and shrubs throughout the Chicago Metropolitan area, especially the far western suburbs. He details each pest and its impact on trees and shrubs found in gardens and landscapes. Attendees learn what constitutes an invasive pest as opposed to a native pest, why the right tree in the right place is so important, and how to maintain healthy trees and shrubs so they can withstand the onslaught of pests and diseases as well as climate change. Kusnierz currently is an Arborist at SavATree.https://merleburl.com)

 

  • People Made Visible hosts Re-New Your Wardrobe workshops from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 25, and April 15 through 29, 2023, 2023, at Gallery 200, 103 W. Washington St. Florella Hilda Gomez Bermudez. Teaches the class.

Bermudez is a Peruvian multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Wheaton. Through performance and the re-activation of recycled materials, her work explores the complexities of migration, belonging and colorism within the Latinx community. She is a teaching artist for CAPE, an organization partnered with the West Chicago Elementary School District 33 system that fosters collaboration between teachers and students experimenting with art. Her work has been on display in several national and international galleries and institutions.

  • West Chicago Public Library holds the program, “A Tale of Beatrix Potter,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in the main meeting room, 118 W. Washington St. To make a reservation, visit https://wcpld.info/, under calendar. Debra Miller from Historical Women of Letters, portrays Beatrix Potter, one of the most beloved children's authors and illustrators. Potter's attention to detail and skill goes far beyond Peter Rabbit and his friends.  She produced and copyrighted stuffed toys, developed board games, coloring pages, and wallpaper; and her drawings of fungi are still used in instruction and identification texts.

Debra Ann Miller is a professional actress, vocalist and voice-over talent with more than 30 years of experience as a performer for live audiences, television, and film. Miller has balanced her career between commercial and educational theater since graduating from Michigan State University’s Department of Theater in 1985. She toured the country with children's theater companies. Since 1997, she has traveled the country with Michael Krebs of With Lincoln Production as one of our nation’s more controversial First Ladies, Mary Todd Lincoln. In 2010 she began creating her own company focused on writing and producing one-woman plays in which she portrays important historical figures. She still works in the Chicago Theaters.

  • West Chicago Public Library presents a virtual program, “Danny Trejo Talks Tacos, Hollywood, & Redemption,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2023. To register visit ly/ILP_DannyTrejo. This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.

Actor, author, and restaurateur Trejo discusses how he developed a prolific career in the entertainment industry with a hard-earned and atypical road to success. From years of imprisonment to helping troubled youth battle drug addictions, from acting to producing, and now on to restaurant ventures, and an intervention counselor.He has starred in dozens of films, plus television. He has also starred in and voiced various popular video games. He shared his love of food with the world in the release of his first cookbook “Trejo’s Tacos: Recipes and Stories from LA.” https://merleburl.com)

 

  • West Chicago Public Library holds Gettin’ Crafty program, ”Paint & Sip,” Wednesday, April 5, 2023, The virtual class is at 6 p.m.; the in person class is full .Virtual program registration ends Tuesday, March 28. To register visit info, under event calendar. Participants pick up a kit a week before the program. It contains some juice for sipping and supplies to paint watercolor flowers.

 

  • West Chicago High School Boosters host “Trivia Night” Thursday, April 6, 2023, at North Avenue Pub & Grill, 27W371 North Ave. Check-in is from 6 to 7 p.m., and games commence at 7 p.m. Persons can enter as a team of six people for a full table of as an individual to be placed on a team. The charge is $20 per person to be paid by cash, check or charge at the time of registration.There is a first place prize to the winning team. To register, email jwasserstrom@comcast.net. Also available are raffle tickets for $2 each and Split the Pot for $5. All proceeds go to the West Chicago Boosters to benefit all West Chicago Community High School students. https://merleburl.com)
  • Wayne/Winfield Area Youth/Family Services host its annual Luncheon and Silent Auction fundraiser, “40 Years and Growing.” It takes place at noon Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Wayne Township building, 27W031 North Ave.Lunch is catered by Augustino’s Rock and Roll Deli & Grill. The ticket price is $10. Reservations are due by Tuesday, April 4, 2023, and may be made at charity auction.bid/WAYS40years. There also is a Silent Auction.

WAYS is a community-based 501(c)3 not-for-profit agency providing individual, couple, and family counseling in English and Spanish; Parenting and Anger Management classes in English and Spanish; summer day camp, tutoring, and other social services for the residents of West Chicago, Winfield, Wayne, Warrenville, Bartlett, Carol Stream, and Hanover Park.

 

  • West Chicago Community High School seeks nominations for the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award. The purpose of the program is to recognize West Chicago Community High School graduates whose accomplishments serve as an inspiration for current students to dream and achieve. Nomination deadline is Monday May 1, 2023. The nominee must be a graduate of the high school for at least 10 years prior to the nomination, be distinguished by accomplishments in academics, the arts, athletics, business, community service, the environment, human rights, justice, medicine, research or science that reflect outstanding ability and dedication which contributes to the betterment of the community. Also the nominee must be available by telephone, email or in-person interview by the selection committee, willing to participate in the Distinguished Alumni Award Ceremony, willing to submit a photograph and available to interact with WCCHS students in a forum, seminar or assembly. To submit a nomination, visit d94.org/distinguishedalumni.

Past honorees are 2008, Kirk Johnson, Class of 1998, Human Rights; 2009, Pam Kuhl Davis, Class of 1967, Justice; 2010, Michael Lach, Class of 1986, Education, and Tom Marziani, Class of 1943, Entrepreneurship; 2011,Butch Hansen, Class of 1955, Education, and Scott Dierking, Class of 1973,Athletics; 2014, Beth Barrett, Class of 1986, Visual Arts; 2015, Ray Stejskal, Class of 1982, Community Service; 2016, Chris Voelz, Class of 1966, Athletics; 2018, Bruce Guevara, Class of 2006, Entrepreneurship, and Dr. Don Stockton,  Class of 1979, Academic Leadership; 2019, Abe Mashal, Class of 1998, Justice, and Rachel Moguel, Class of 2003, Immigration Law; 2022, Karina Villa, Class of 1996, Public Policy, and Matthew Potts, Class of 1997, Humanitarian. https://merleburl.com)

 

SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES

 

  • Many of the eating establishments offer Breakfast with Bunny events or Easter brunches.

 

  • At its 2023 Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser, We Grow Dreams Greenhouse and Garden Center, more than $20,000 was raised. Two of the local business sponsors were Jel Sert and Kramer’s Tree Specialists.

 

  • A recent “Chicago Tribune” review stated. “The Slice Spot delivers better than just almost any place in the state.” The restaurant is located at 960 Roosevelt Road. https://merleburl.com)

 

COVID-19

 

The DuPage County Health Department developed a dashboard to provide information on the total number of people, in DuPage County, who have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, the dashboard includes a map which shows the distribution of reported cases by municipality and is updated at 4:00 p.m. daily. DuPage County's "COVID-19 Dashboard" is a one-stop-shop for all the information it offers including a town-by-town breakdown of cases. As of Monday, March 13, 2023, there were11,801cases and 67 deaths; this is the number from the beginning of track recording.

 

REMEMBRANCES

  • Sincere sympathy is extended to the family of Leticia D. Correa (Leticia Duran Mendoza), who at the age of 70 passed away on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

SCHOOLS

 

  • Hosted by the League of Women Voters of Wheaton, Leman Middle School students in the seventh grade Civics class of Matthew Wood and Latinos in Action participated in the West Chicago Elementary School District 33 Board of Education Candidate Forum Monday, March 13, 2023. The students asked questions of the candidates on the ballot for the Consolidated Election Tuesday, April 4.Tom Doyle was unable to attend. In West Chicago Elementary School District 33, there are three four-year seats open for the Board of Education. On the ballot are Rita Balgeman, Kathleen Fry, Janette Hernandez and Tom Doyle. For those unable to attend, thevideo recording is available on the League of Women Voters Wheaton website, https://my.lwv.org/illinois/wheaton. https://merleburl.com)

 

  • Named as an Honorable Mention on the “Daily Herald” DuPage All-Area Basketball team was Wandy Munoz, a junior at Wheaton Academy.

 

  • The National Merit finalists at Wheaton Academy are Luke Dederich, Vander England, Greta Gustafson, and Katherine Johnston. More than 1.5 million juniors entered the competition last year by taking the PSAT exam. Approximately fifteen thousand of these students, less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, were selected as finalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship program.https://merleburl.com)

 

  • Dayanna Sanchez, a senior at West Chicago Community High School, is the Student of the Month for February. Her selection was due to her scholastic excellence and extracurricular participation.She has been on the regular or high Honor Roll every semester, earning a cumulative weighted Grade Point Average of 5.040. She is a member of the French Honor Society and National Honor Society.

Sanchez is a member of ROAR.Throughout the year, she volunteers with organizations including Healthy West Chicago, Feed My Starving Children, Cardz for Kids and the City of West Chicago. She previously interned for State Senator Karina Villa, giving back to her community and organizing events. She currently works part-time at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, where she implements the early learning stages of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics.

After graduation, Sanchez plans to attend a four-year university to double major in Biology and Neuroscience on a pre-med track. https://merleburl.com)

 

  • The D33Pride awards for second trimester are announced. Winning the Student Group category were the Turner School students in the fourth grade reading enrichment class of Amanda Eakins. She said, "I truly believe this group of students is something special. They are kind and supportive of each other, other students, and the staff at Turner School. They have an enthusiasm for learning and are eager to meet each school day. These students have created a learning environment where they feel comfortable trying new things and making mistakes…I am very grateful to get the opportunity to be with them.” https://merleburl.com)

Winning in the D33Pride student category was Audrey E., a fifth grader at Gary School. Her teacher Marilyn Zable stated, "Audrey embodies our classroom mission statement to ‘learn as much as possible to be proud of ourselves and become quality people.’ She focuses on producing quality work in whatever task a teacher assigns. One of my favorites was a mini-unit of study about how plants grow and what they need. For her final product, she used her resources to write a paragraph in Spanish, using the content of our research. Then she added elements of graphic design using Canva to make a lovely finished product. When she has finished her assigned work, Audrey continues her learning independently.” https://merleburl.com)

 

  • Two students representing Gary Elementary School recently received perfect scores in the first and second out of three meets in this year’s WordMasters Challenge™, a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 125,000 students annually. Competing in the difficult Blue Division of the WordMasters Challenge™, fifth-grader Anna S. from Gary School earned a perfect score of 20 in the first meet and Kaylee C. earned a perfect score in the second meet. Other students from District 33 who achieved outstanding results with a score of 19/20 in one or both of the meets are fifth graders Gideon C., Kaylee C., Theo P., Anna S., Sven Axel A., and Livia W. https://merleburl.com)

 

  • Following an impressive showing at the Lake Park Sectionals, WeGo Drama at West Chicago Community High School advances to the IHSA State Finals this upcoming weekend in Springfield. The IHSA Drama Competition events advancing are the 40-Minute Contest Play, the Group Interpretation, and the Student Short Film.

The Contest Play and the Group Interpretation both took second place in Sectionals. Additionally, several students were recognized and named All-Sectional Cast Members. Named All-Sectional for the Group Interpretation were Michael Angeles, Alexander Bradley, Sentia Irakoze, Kayliana Koeune, and Karidja Monjolo. Receiving All Sectional Honors for the Contest Play were Stephanie Alfaro, Kenya Bahena, Alexander Bradley, Lucas Brown, Ellie Hurley, Sentia Irakoze, Karidja Monjolo and Ryley Salazar. The company of actors and crew included Alex Durkin, Arson Gutierrez, Sarah Larimer, William Wenberg, Mariana Acosta, Stephanie Alfaro, Noemi Amaro, Michael Angeles, Kenya Bahena, Jacob Benitez, Alex Bradley, Lucas Brown, Guadalupe Carreto, Wil Cooper, Pamela Cruz, Danais Gomez-Garcia, and Daniel Guevara,

Others were Sentia Irakoze, Kayliana Koeune, Matthew Krysinski, Chris Nunez, Edg Oropeza, Romina Pietanza, Baron Plumlee, Jocelyn Ramirez, Alex Rocha, Vincent Ross, Ryley Salazar, Dayan Zenteno;, Carolyn Fleming, Elizabeth Hurley, Avery Moffatt, and Mariah Varnado.

Mark Begovich directed the WeGo Drama stage productions with Nicole Stadler. Technical Direction was by Christopher Jensen.  Hair and make-up was by Jaime Elza. The student film was directed by Ryley Salazar with Alexander Bradley. https://merleburl.com)

 

WEST CHICAGO FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT

 

  • Girl Scouts Daisy Troop 56548 visited the Station 5 crews of the West Chicago Fire Protection District. They also gave them cookies. Station 5 is located at 1651 Atlantic Drive. https://merleburl.com)

 

COMMUNITY MEMBERS HIGHLIGHTS

 

  • For the month of March, Maggie Capettini, former education director at West Chicago City Museum, has a solo display of an entire series of plein air paintings of Schweikher House at Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court. Also on display are her paintings of peonies from her own peony collection. Meet the artist is from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 25, 2023. She also is the Water Street Studios "Artist of the Month" in the March issue of Kane County Magazine .https://merleburl.com)

 

  • John Blane did the music preparation for the Broadway production, “Parade,” at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, a Broadway theater in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opening night was Thursday, March 16, 2023. He is the brother of West Chicago resident BarbToney.https://merleburl.com

 

CLUB/ORGANIZATION NEWS

  • Mildred Vargas is the first student artist to exhibit in the Minor Artist display area at Gallery 200, 103 W. Washington St. Her acrylic paintings show a talented technique with interesting subject matter and style. She is a student at West Chicago Community High School.

CITY OF WEST CHICAGO

 

  • The City of West Chicago was awarded a $25,000 grant to complete tree inventories and develop a management plan for its urban forest.The funds were provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Partner Grant Program and administered by the Morton Arboretum and Chicago Region Trees Initiative.

The City plans to utilize the grant funds to complete a Citywide parkway tree inventory in its Geographic Information System as well as to prepare an Urban Forestry Management Plan.The inventory will provide the City with a better understanding of the urban forest areas it manages by revealing an estimated number of trees, their size, condition and species. The inventories also will identify opportunities to increase planting, and will inform the development of a comprehensive, long-term urban forest management plan.

  • Nikki Giles is the new Finance Director for the City of West Chicago.

 

ODDS AND ENDS

 

  • Persons drive by the sign that says Winfield Mounds, but most do not know the history of it. I just came upon a video; there are five videos in the series, each averaging about 30 minutes. Part One of the video series explores the history and archeology of the Winfield Mounds, the prehistoric effigy mounds and associated village site, located in the Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve. This first episode provides an introduction to the mounds, the sources used in the series, and a virtual walking tour of how to find the Winfield Mounds site within the DuPage County forest preserve, as well as some introductory facts associated with the mound site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi9A_Zy7Fog . https://merleburl.com

 

  • Nicholas Del Giudice is the new Public Relations Specialist at the West Chicago Public Library.

 

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