By a Lake Forest Love Writer The Lake Forest Civic Orchestra (LFCO) performed its final concert of the 2025-2026 season on May 3 at the John & Nancy Hughes Theater at Gorton Center. Guest conductor Nicholas Wallin led the orchestra and appreciative audience on a journey of mostly American music focused on the Appalachian region of the United States. Midwest Young Artists Conservatory competition winner Andrew Schinler performed the Rimsky-Korsakov trombone concerto on this

By David A. F. Sweet A Lake Forest Community High School student was frustrated with the 16th-century language of Romeo & Juliet. He struggled to relate to the Shakespearean tragedy involving teenage lovers. Peer Tutoring, which nurtures student-to-student sessions, helped bring understanding. “Everybody has big hearts,” says Elaine Metz about the Scout Buddies program, one of many where students help students. “The peer tutor told him, ‘You’re absolutely right,’ and got t

By David A. F. Sweet During this 50th anniversary year, no one would have been surprised had the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation (LFPF) quietly celebrated its many accomplishments and eschewed any new initiatives. But under Executive Director Jennifer McGregor, who replaced longtime leader Marcy Kerr in 2024, the foundation is charging forward with important work as it continues a decades-long collaboration with the City of Lake Forest that has helped preserve the commun

By David A. F. Sweet “Act well your part,” wrote essayist Alexander Pope in the 18th century. “There all the honor lies.” Acting well has never been a problem at Lake Forest Community High School, whose commitment to theater harkens to the school’s founding during the Great Depression. Today, students continue to carry out their roles with aplomb across an amazingly diverse selection of plays. Lake Forest High School depends on students to build sets for plays. Greek traged

By David A. F. Sweet Lake Forest Community High School has always embraced the spirit of an East Coast prep school, from the façade of its original building to the rigor of its curriculum. So how does it enjoy so many national success stories in the world of sports? Consider this roster encompassing one generation: Matt Grevers (‘03), a four-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming; Tommy Rees (’10), a University of Notre Dame quarterback who now serves as the offensive co

By David Sweet and Alexa Moreno What started as a simple classroom idea is quickly becoming a meaningful solution for families across Lake Forest. Scout Your Sitter, a startup created by Lake Forest High School juniors Claire Maguire, Jenna Nagel, Andrew McIntyre, and Emma Engelberg, is rethinking how families connect with trusted babysitters, making the process faster, easier, and more reliable for everyone involved. Andrew McIntyre, Claire Maguire, Emma Engelberg and Jenna

By David A. F. Sweet In celebration of Ragdale’s 50 th anniversary in 2026, Lake Forest Love is highlighting a few of the many prominent authors who have benefited from a residency at the campus off Green Bay Road. Christina Clancy has crafted a number of bestselling novels, including The Second Home, Shoulder Season and, most recently, The Snowbirds. As she notes on her website, “My novels feature restless people trying to figure out how—and where—they can feel at home in

By Kristin Elliott Smiles, laughter, and a whole lot of eggs highlighted Lake Forest Parks & Recreation’s 2026 Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza at Deerpath Community Park on Saturday. Kids took off in a flash, racing across the fields to collect colorful eggs, stopping only for bunny hugs and photo ops along the way. From giggles to golden eggs, the morning was packed with excitement and springtime magic. There’s nothing better than seeing families come together to celebrate the seaso

By Carol Summerfield In the 1950s, the interpretation of the American lifestyle underwent a seismic shift that was felt both inside and outside the home. As World War II ended and the massive factory-based industries that supported it sought new ways to use their machinery and floor space, they turned to the new needs of the American home. The ease of producing aluminum, glass, and plastic materials opened myriad possibilities. The factories offered three important things to

By David A. F. Sweet How many high-school friends end up teaching together – at the same high school they graduated from? Meet Julie Crouch and Carolyn Konz. Friends since fourth grade, both graduated from Lake Forest Community High School in 1993. Soon after college, they both returned to LFHS as teachers. But that’s not all: for the past dozen or so years, they have even co-taught an English class for sophomores, featuring books such as The Crucible and The Catcher in th

By David A. F. Sweet In celebration of Ragdale’s 50th anniversary in 2026, Lake Forest Love is highlighting a few of the many prominent authors who have benefited from a residency at the campus off Green Bay Road. Jessamine Chan has enjoyed four residencies at Ragdale. Her debut novel, The School for Good Mothers, was a New York Times bestseller. It has been translated into about two dozen languages. Chan lives in Chicago with her family. How did you come up with the idea fo

By Carol Summerfield In case you’ve opted out of large words this year, it is the 250 th anniversary (the semiquincentennial) of the United States. Or, as it’s being branded by history museums across the U.S., America 250. Many of the historical societies and small local history museums in America began around our Bicentennial in 1976. With the 200 th anniversary, we realized there was enough history that collecting and preserving it was worth undertaking. (Lake Forest was

By David A. F. Sweet When a first-time visitor to Lake Forest heads north on McKinley Road, oftentimes he or she is stunned by the view outside the window. “That’s your high school?” is the typical comment when seeing what, to most eyes, looks like a mansion. The Lake Forest High School building was designed by Stanley D. Anderson and opened in 1935. Once deemed the prettiest high school in Illinois by Architectural Digest , the landmark Lake Forest High School building de

By David A. F. Sweet More than 500 crisis calls were received by the Lake Forest Police Department in 2025. Some required emergency medical services: all were related to mental health. Later this year, a new member of the department will be part of the response: Winston, a 100-pound (and growing) St. Bernard who is training to become the City’s first comfort dog. K-9 dogs have long been part of police departments, but comfort dogs – which provide emotional support to those

By Alexandra Moreno Last fall, something unique happened at Lake Forest College. At the Krebs Center for the Humanities, residents of Lake Forest gathered as participants to engage with one of the most transformative forces of our time: artificial intelligence (AI). Not your typical school building: The Krebs Center is a stunning spot to learn about AI. The four-week course, Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life: Understanding, Engaging, and Applying AI in the Real World

By Kristin Elliott Dickinson Hall was packed with energy as dads and daughters took over the dance floor for Lake Forest Parks & Recreation's annual Daddy Daughter Dance on Feb. 28. The evening was filled with dancing, laughter, and unforgettable memories as dads and daughters celebrated a special night together. The hula hoop contest brought out the competitive side, and the dance floor stayed busy all evening with daughters pulling their dads out for “just one more song.”

By Laurie Stein Chicago's retail landscape transformed dramatically in the early 1900s. At the heart of it was the emergence of the department store, which provided a more efficient and appealing shopping experience by consolidating merchandise categories under one roof and offering more sizing options for clothing. No name loomed larger in this revolution than Chicago’s flagship department store Marshall Field & Co. With gleaming marble floors, soaring atriums, and iconic s

By Megan Ross Officer Matthew Allen is a name that is new to many, but in the 2026-2027 school year, his name will flood the halls as he fills Officer Mark Long’s shoes as Lake Forest High School’s new School Resource Officer (SRO). LFHS welcomes a new school resource officer as Long’s four-year rotation is coming to an end. Allen comes from seven years at the Lake Forest Police Department, and he has training in different specialties at the LFPD, such as: SWAT, drone opera

By David A. F. Sweet For about 18 months, Sophie Lupini worked with youth in detention facilities only a few miles north of Lake Forest. “I loved it. I loved them,” she said. “But I felt someone could do it better than I could because I hadn’t walked in the shoes of those I worked with.” “It’s important to be open, accepting, and non-judgmental," says Sophie Lupini about her role at CROYA. In December, she was hired as the full-time Service and Leadership Youth Worker at CR

By Carol Summerfield After weathering the Great Depression and the austerity and rations of World War II, downtown Lake Forest was ready for a shopping bonanza. Decades of restrictions meant there was an incredible pent-up demand for shopping: residents sought out everything from new clothes to imported food to the new craze for midcentury home décor. Americans were ready to get their consumerism on. And they did. Local shopping districts like Market Square were ripe to benef

By David A. F. Sweet When star center Connor Bedard first donned a Chicago Blackhawks’ jersey, he was 18 years old – so young that he was three years away from legally drinking a beer. When hockey beer-league goalie David Nozzolillo pulled on a Blackhawks’ jersey earlier this year, he was 45 – old enough to have forged a career at Wintrust Bank in Orland Park and serve on its executive team. Only 2 1/2 hours before gametime on Jan. 9, Nozzolillo’s phone rang. Flu had upend

By David A. F. Sweet As a girl, Samantha Hiller loved playing hockey. At age 12, her mother said she could earn extra money by being a referee. More time on the ice sounded better to Hiller than being a babysitter. After officiating many youth games in Boulder, Colo., four years later Hiller departed her home state for a refereeing camp in Utah, where she could learn how to administer high-level games. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was 18," says Samantha Hill

By Caleb Pope After 60 years welcoming young Lake Forest children -- about 3,000 in total -- Joytime Preschool closed its doors in 2013. For decades, the school had been run by Joy and Earle Hodgen, alumni of Lake Forest College who had founded it in 1953 on Maywood Road near South Park. After her mother Joy passed away in the 1990s, Kathleen Hodgen – who had served as a teacher there – operated the school until it shut down. Kathleen Hodgen (third from left) and others ce

By Kristin Elliott Lake Forest Parks & Recreation’s Junior Scouts Travel Baseball players got a big-league boost when Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin stopped by winter workouts for a visit they won’t soon forget. Durbin shared his path from Lake Forest High School baseball to the Major Leagues, talked about the work it takes to chase big goals, and answered thoughtful questions from players and parents. The event wrapped up with plenty of smiles as he posed for