Inspiration

Woodland Wonders

angie
Beautiful woodland flowers such as these bluebells are blooming this week at Reed-Turner Woodland.

Beautiful flowers such as these bluebells carpet the ground this time of year at Reed-Turner Woodland in Long Grove.

Last Friday marked the end of a hectic workweek, and I needed to go someplace to relax and mull over a few Village concerns tossing about in my mind. Since it was about as perfect of a Spring day as we get here in Long Grove, I decided to take a stroll through one of my favorite places–Reed Turner Woodland Nature Preserve. Early May is an ideal time to experience this local treasure because a majority of the native Illinois wildflowers are in bloom and it is simply glorious! With the redbud trees flowering alongside the phlox, violets, and Virginia bluebells, the palette of purples at the moment is stunning. Some of the other woodland varieties that I spotted blooming right now include: trout lily, jack-in-the-pulpit, May-apples, and red and white trillium. Several years ago, resident Kathy Wiberg trained me to be a guide at the preserve so that I could lead groups on field trips, and to this day I appreciate knowing the names and stories of so many wonders to be found in the woodland.

But to me, the greater beauty of Reed-Turner Woodland is intangible; it’s not the flowers but rather the serenity of the setting. The first visit I make in the Spring always gob-smacks me with the grandeur of nature and my own insignificance. I came to the preserve this particular day to let the woodland comfort me and to be reminded why I love Long Grove so much. At times, that can be a challenge. I have a favorite bench that sits up high on the ravine, overlooking the curving creekbed below. Our recent Spring rains have left a gentle but steady flow of water over the rocks and fallen limbs, and the murmur of this never fails to soothe my soul. For me, this is a tranquil place where I sometimes ask silent questions. And if I can calm my mind enough to allow peace to come, I will usually hear some answers.

This 36 acres of high quality biological diversity was given to the community many years ago by the Reed-Turner family and in the 1980’s was dedicated as an Illinois State Nature Preserve. The property is currently maintained and restored by the Long Grove Park District, with Barbara Reed-Turner still leading the way for preservation with her ongoing spirit and love for the land. When I need some personal inspiration to keep going, she is one of the residents that I most often think of.

This coming weekend, May 14th and 15th, the Long Grove & Kildeer Garden Club will be holding their annual native plant sale at the log-cabin Nature Center located at Reed-Turner. In addition to knowing that you are supporting the major fundraiser for our local community group (which sponsors a Stevenson High School scholarship and paid summer internships at the Woodland), you can rest assured that the plants for sale will work in your Northern Illinois yard, because they all come from local gardens. If you are interested in visiting the plant sale (I’ll be working on Sunday from 10-12–come say hello!) or strolling the woodland trails, Reed-Turner Woodland Nature Preserve is located at 3849 Old McHenry Road, in Long Grove. For hours and more information please call 847-438-4743.

Girl’s Leadership Tea

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Enjoying High Tea with Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman (4th from left) and area Girl Scout leaders on April 14th.

Enjoying High Tea with Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman (4th from left) and area Girl Scout leaders on April 14th.

As a female in the predominantly male field of politics, I think it is important to do what we can as women and mothers to encourage leadership in young women. My neighbor and colleague Beverly Sussman, Village President of Buffalo Grove shares this sentiment, and recently the two of us teamed up to host a Leadership Tea for local Girl Scouts. Last Thursday, fifteen girls from Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, and Arlington Heights joined us at Gerri’s Tea Room in Long Grove to enjoy a three course High Tea complete with finger sandwiches, pastries, and freshly baked scones with cream. As we were supping on our English Breakfast & Earl Grey blend, Gerri (who grew up in Ireland) provided us with some history on teatime customs and etiquette.

As we learned, the tradition of sharing tea is really more about the conversation than the food (although those scones were scrumptious!) To that end, Beverly and I engaged the girls in some conversation about our jobs as Village Presidents, and how our different leadership roles throughout life have lead us to the positions that we now hold. We talked about how women have unique contributions to make to this world, and encouraged the girls to rely on those strengths, say yes to opportunities in life, and not be afraid to “reach for the stars.” The idea was to enjoy a relaxing ladies afternoon together and hopefully provide some inspiration for the future.

The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana also blogged about this event. Click here to read more.

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Gerri Gwarnicki (in green dress at right) explains the proper way to drink from a china tea cup.

 

Vision and Goals

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Long Grove Village Board elected officials and staff: (L to R) seated, Village President Angie Underwood, Trustee Lori Lyman, Village Planner Jim Hogue. Standing, Trustees Mike Sarlitto, George Yaeger, Bill Jacob, Village Manager Dave Lothspeich, Trustee Stan Borys, Village Clerk Heidi Locker-Scheer, and Village Engineer Mike Shrake.

Long Grove Village Board elected officials and staff at our recent workshop meeting: (L to R) seated, Village President Angie Underwood, Trustee Lori Lyman, Village Planner Jim Hogue. Standing, Trustees Mike Sarlitto, George Yaeger, John Marshall, Bill Jacob, Village Manager Dave Lothspeich, Trustee Stan Borys, Village Clerk Heidi Locker-Scheer, and Village Engineer Mike Shrake.

On Saturday, February 27th, members of the Board of Trustees and Village Staff met for a five hour strategic planning workshop at the offices of our Village Engineer, Gewalt-Hamilton. This was a great opportunity to work together as a group to brainstorm and identify some short-term and long-term strategic goals for the Village.

When discussing our vision for Long Grove, now and in 20 years time, the prominent theme was the preservation and enhancement of our quality of life. Appreciation for the natural beauty of our open spaces, ponds, prairies, and woodlands, and the serenity that it brings to our lives, is a value shared by each one of the Trustees. We are all mindful of the need to protect the native areas that have been preserved over time; to maintain them so that they can be enjoyed by residents of today and to take steps to allow these green spaces to flourish in future years. Even though the Trustees on the current Village Board have demonstrated differences on individual issues that have come before us, it was striking to see that our overall vision for our community is very, very similar. When our facilitator, Greg Kuhn, shared the results of prior workshops done with different Long Grove Trustees going back to 2011, the same sentiments were echoed, even repetition of the same words (for example, describing our village as Brigadoon).

One exercise had us breaking up into two smaller groups to assess obstacles, challenges, and other factors that may impact the attainment of our shared Village goals.  An important area of focus that was identified by both groups is the need for cohesive economic development, not only in our historic downtown but in the periphery areas of our Village bordering our neighboring communities. In addition, both groups zeroed in on the fact that our biggest chance for success with this will be the current board’s ability to work together by putting individual differences aside and collaborating as a team. Community support of this will be key. I am hopeful that our candid discussions will prove productive.

At the next several Village Board meetings we will be discussing and refining the goals that were identified this weekend. The results of our workshop will set priorities, define responsibilities, and help us take the necessary steps to achieve our vision. I remain optimistic about the year ahead because of something else we all agreed on–our Board is brimming with passion. Passion from your elected officials for our Village. Long Grove has a motivated and hard working group of volunteers in place who all care deeply about our community and genuinely have the Village’s best interest at heart. Let’s harness that passion and work together, to build an even stronger future for Long Grove!

Bark less, Wag more!

angie
My grand-puppy, Willa.

My grand-puppy, Willa.

As I was exiting the health club this morning I noticed a bumper sticker that made me smile…a cute dog proclaiming, “Bark less, Wag more!” You know how sometimes the right message hits you at the right moment? This week I’ve heard my share of concerns from several residents on various different issues, and sometimes we all have valid reasons to “bark.” But instead of letting it get me down, I am going to choose to “wag” my tail a little harder. Because there are a lot of really good things to love about Long Grove, and I hear about them from residents that I listen to, who write to me, and who commented on our recent community survey. Here is just a snippet off the top of my head:

What Do We Love About Long Grove?

  • Seeing the sunny daffodils bloom each spring along the right-of-ways and getting free bulbs to plant each fall.
  • Witnessing a huge herd of deer bounding through the snow in the backyard.
  • Christmas lights on the covered bridge.
  • Open spaces that sport native and sometimes rare prairie wildflowers.
  • Knowing that Sunset Foods donates a little bit more to our local school districts each time we use cloth or reusable bags.
  • Having a drink at a tavern that has been in continual operation since the 1800’s.
  • Enjoying beautiful music on Towner Green on Sunday afternoons in the summer.
  • Friendly neighbors who share our “Long Grovian” tendencies.
  • Neighborhood walking trails and nature preserves we can use everyday.
  • Schools that prepare our children for the future with a high quality education.
  • Safe and tidy neighborhoods and volunteers who step up to keep them that way.

I hope your tail is wagging with many, many more reasons to love Long Grove.

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

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An Excellent Evening

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Britteny and Barb Gesheidle, owners of Smokin' T's BBQ and nominees for Business of the Year.

Brittney and Barb Gescheidle, owners of Smokin’ T’s BBQ and nominees for Business of the Year.

The Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce recently held their annual dinner and awards gala, an “Evening of Excellence.” Last year I attended this event for the first time, and made a promise to myself that I would nominate some Long Grove residents for awards in 2015. Smokin’ T’s is a favorite local restaurant not only for the BBQ, but because of the service they do to our local veterans in providing free meals for needy families at Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this was an obvious choice for my nominee as “Business of the Year.” I was also motivated to nominate one of our recently retired Village Trustees, Joseph Barry, for his three decades of service to Long Grove in many different volunteer capacities. And I am happy to announce that Joe was presented with the “Citizen of the Year” award! As luck would have it, Joe was in Hawaii last week so I had the honor of going on stage and accepting the award for him, and we will have a repeat awards presentation with Lake Zurich Chamber officials at our next Village Board meeting on February 9th. And even though Joe was having a much better time in paradise, our Long Grove table whooped it up for him in celebration of his big win. The event was attended by many local business owners, community volunteers, and government officials on the national, state, and local level. It certainly was an excellent evening of fellowship, great food, dancing, and recognition of some of the best individuals our community has to offer.

L to R Outgoing Chamber President Ken Grooms, me (doing my best Joe Barry impersonation), and State Representative Ed Sullivan. Photo credit: ANICHOLEPORTRAIT

Office Hours

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Signing a liquor license for Finch's Beer with Village Clerk Heidi Locker-Scheer at the Four Seasons in Chicago.

Signing a liquor license for Finch’s Beer with Village Clerk Heidi Locker-Scheer at the Four Seasons in Chicago.

One of the questions that I am often asked is how many hours a week do I spend volunteering as Village President? Is it a full-time job? While the time spent on Village concerns varies widely from day to day, one thing that I can guarantee is that this is a job without regular “office hours.”

Most weekdays I spend a minimum of two hours answering emails and phone calls, oftentimes more. Several days a week I have meetings to attend, many in Long Grove but others further afar in Lake County or downtown Chicago. Quite a few of my meetings are in the evening, including Village Board meetings which typically run until 10 pm or later. Invariably, issues “blow up” on weekends, and I will spend time dealing with something unexpected on a Saturday afternoon or while on vacation. The demands on my time are consistently unpredictable!

More of a surprise to me are the various locales that I find myself working in. Our Long Grove Village Hall is in a restored 1850’s Tavern, and while quaint and charming, it is short on work space. I do not have an office, and the only place for me to work at Village Hall is in the public meeting room, when available. So when I need to meet with someone, I most often go to them. I sometimes joke that our local coffee shop, Beans & Leaves, is my office because I use it so often as a spot to be available to others who want to talk with me one on one. I have also conducted meetings in many of the shops and restaurants in our historic downtown, and really, can you beat the atmosphere of the Village Tavern for a serious discussion with a couple of merchants? Recently, a liquor license needed to be signed ASAP for our newest establishment, Finch’s Beer. Neither I nor our Village Clerk work at Village Hall more than once or twice a week, but I just happened to be seeing Heidi that evening at a charity event in Chicago, so I took the document along and we were both able to sign it. And since our office that evening was the Four Seasons, we were able to enjoy a Finch’s Beer after making it legal to be sold in Long Grove!

Of course, a major amount of my work is done on the computer or over the phone from my home office. One benefit from working at home is that you can work from wherever that home may be at the moment. I am extremely blessed to have a personal “Camp David” where I can retreat for a few days of R & R with my family. And while it is mentally helpful to occasionally get out of Dodge, I do find myself working from my vacation home on a regular basis. The most unusual places I have worked on Village issues include exotic spots like Bora Bora and Anguilla. I used to quip that a tropical vacation for me would not be complete without a call from our Village attorney detailing some new threat of litigation. My husband broke the string recently by taking me to a tiny island in the Caribbean where my cell phone would not work. It was bliss! Probably the strangest experience of working for the Village remotely is when a reporter for the Daily Herald tracked me down at my hotel in Salzburg, Austria for my thoughts on the antics going on in Long Grove during a contentious Trustee election.

I do actually have an answer for that question about how many hours I put in on a weekly basis. For a three month period last fall, I kept track of my time spent volunteering for Long Grove and it averaged out to 30 hours per week. And for the record that does not include time spent blogging!

Honoring the Heroes of 9/11

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The newly dedicated Heroes of Freedom Memorial in Wauconda.

The newly dedicated Heroes of Freedom Memorial in Wauconda.

This morning I had the honor of attending a dedication ceremony for the new Heroes of Freedom Memorial in our neighboring community of Wauconda. Frank Bart, Mayor of Wauconda extended a personal invitation to me to attend, and I am so grateful that I took the opportunity. This memorial has been years in the making, and is a tribute to those who sacrificed so much on September 11, 2001 and for those who have served in the years since in Afghanistan and Iraq in the Global War on Terrorism. The impressive memorial features a 19 foot tall beam from the World Trade Center North Tower, set on a Pentagon base, surrounded by four benches representing each of the four hijacked planes that crashed that morning.  The memorial was constructed entirely with donated items, labor, services, and funds from Wauconda and the greater community.

Mayor Bart, himself a veteran, opened the ceremony which featured patriotic music from local bands and choirs, along with remarks from dignitaries. Three members of the NYFD traveled to Illinois to attend this service and speak of their experiences that day. Kirk Morris, a Gold Star father of Marine PFC Geoffrey Morris, spoke on behalf of all families who have lost loved ones to this cause. The Morris family has contributed greatly in the creation of this memorial. Dylan Morris took on the management, design and installation of the landscaping as his Eagle Scout project, and as a tribute to his fallen brother. He traveled to Shanksville, PA with his father to bring back soil from the crash site to be used in the raised flower beds.

I was most moved by hearing the words of Lt. Colonel Ryan Yantis, who is a 9/11 Pentagon Survivor. His personal story and remembrances, along with his encouragement to all of us to “continue to do what is right, to do what you can in your own life to serve our country,” was touching and inspiring. Today’s ceremony was an expression of honor, love, and support and I am humbled to have been able to participate.

Captive to the Keyboard

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In my home office, where I spend several hours each day responding to email and blogging!

In my home office, where I spend several hours each day responding to email and/or blogging!

One of my Trustees said to me recently, “Angie, it’s great that you like writing so much.” Actually, sometimes I really dislike writing. I often procrastinate when I have to write an article for the Village newsletter. Writing a formal letter or email response to a resident sometimes takes me five times longer than it should. Writing a speech can be agony. And coming up with topics for Long Grove Living articles is sometimes really a challenge. Like many jobs, my job as Village President involves a large amount of writing. Because of this, I was hesitant to add to the workload by committing to maintaining a blog.

But to my surprise, I love being a blogger. I guess it’s not that different than keeping a journal, and I have throughout different stages in life kept diaries, journals, and scrapbooks. In many ways, this is the digital version of keeping a record of my days, except that it is shared with everyone on the internet. Not that anyone on the internet would care to read my 16 year old dramas in exquisite detail, but you get the similarity.

When I asked my colleague why he thought I liked writing so much, he said “because you’re so good at it.” I have never really considered myself a good writer. I am an avid reader though, and maybe some of the millions of beautiful words and phrases I’ve consumed over the years have somehow rubbed off on me. Also, being proficient at a skill doesn’t necessarily correlate to liking it–such as mopping the floor or changing a diaper!

The writing that I get to create as a blogger is much more enjoyable though, because I get to use my own voice. When I write a piece as the Village President, I have to be so very careful of the tone and political correctness, because I am representing the entire community in what I say. In my blog entries I get to be Angie, and what you read is coming from my own point of view. It is infinitely easier to write when you can just be yourself, and hopefully some of my personality is coming through as well. There is always the risk that someone will be offended when being sincere and honest. But that is the beauty of the blog–no one is forcing you to read this. It is not an officially endorsed Village Communication.

I am very grateful for the feedback that I have gotten from my posts here since starting this new project, most have been positive and supportive. If you will keep reading, I will keep blogging about the never-ending ways in which I am surprised, delighted, and challenged by this crazy job as mayor. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of stories to tell!

Lions Club Reaches a Milestone

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Downtown Long Grove Merchants Ryan Messner (L) and John Kopecky(R) preview a Lion's fundraising idea.

Downtown Long Grove Merchants Ryan Messner (L) and John Kopecky(R) preview a Lions fundraising idea.

Congratulations are in order to the Lions Club of Long Grove for recently reaching a significant milestone. Since they were first organized in 1983, the club has donated a cumulative total of over $800,000 to local and international charitable causes. That’s fantastic! During a recent chat with local Lion John Kopecky, who is a Past-President of the club, I learned that the organization was started in 1913 by Helen Keller. She is the inspiration behind the Lions long-standing support of charitable causes benefitting sight and sound. As far as local charities, the Long Grove club supports many area food pantries including those in Waukegan, Lake Zurich, Buffalo Grove, and Vernon Township. They are an annual contributor to the Long Grove Arts & Music Council, helping bring free local concerts to our community. Other agencies they have helped include: Omni House, Center on Deafness, Misericordia, and many, many other worthy causes. The Lions Club does all this with the help of 47 members, headed up this past year by Jeff Taylor as President, and Craig Cosik taking the lead as the new incoming President. To do all these good works, the Lions must continually raise funds, and they have done this in the past by sponsoring the “Lion’s Den” concession tent near the covered bridge at the Long Grove festivals. Candy Days in September and the annual Golf Outing in October help bring in needed funds as well. New this coming year is a plan to sell Long Grove T-shirts. I am very impressed by the generosity this group has shown both to our community, and the international community at large. Well done, Lions Club of Long Grove, and best wishes as you work to reach your next charitable goal!

Breathe Deep North Shore

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With my fellow Mayors and Village Presidents at the Joint Proclamation Ceremony, April 2014

With my fellow Mayors and Village Presidents at the Joint Proclamation Ceremony, April 2014

One important thing that I can do to help others as Village President is to lend my voice in support of worthy causes.  Lung cancer is a disease that has affected members of my community and my own family.  Today was the annual Breathe Deep North Shore 5K run, walk, and balloon launch event held in Deerfield to support LUNGevity Foundation and the fight against lung cancer.  I joined together with 18 fellow Mayors and Village Presidents from the northern suburbs to jointly proclaim today Breathe Deep North Shore Day, and bring awareness to this cause.   Did you know that 1 in 14 Americans is diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime?  Or that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, taking more lives than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined?  These are pretty sobering statistics.  Fortunately, groups such as LUNGevity are working hard to raise funds to have an immediate impact on increasing the quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments.  By providing community, support, and education for all those affected by this disease, we can all make a difference in the fight against lung cancer.  It is an honor, to play my small part in helping this succeed.