Blog

By Kristin Elliott If you’ve called Public Works, you’ve most likely spoken with Becky Pocasangre, the department’s Administrative Assistant and a friendly, knowledgeable first point of contact for residents. For 22 years, Becky has been helping connect residents with the right information, people, and Public Works services, all while keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes. What does a typical day look like for you? There really isn’t a typical day! I respond to r

By Jillian Beaster After achieving her childhood dream of becoming a law-enforcement officer in 2019, today Ashley Molinelli is one step closer to another dream: working with dogs through the Lake Forest Police Department K9 program. “I absolutely love dogs … [and] I love proactive police work,” Molinelli said. “I think it's the best way to combine the two.” "I'm excited to learn about my dog and reading my dog to the point where I know everything about them," says Ashley M

By Jillian Beaster Lake Forest College (LFC) has often been referred to as a “best-kept secret,” but based on its recent growth, the secret seems to be out. In August, LFC welcomed 539 students to campus, the largest incoming class in its 169-year history. With 423 first-year students and 116 transfer students, the administration attributed the growth to various factors. Members of the largest incoming class in Lake Forest College history gather on the basketball court. “We

By David A. F. Sweet Lake Forest boasts an illustrious golf past. Charles Blair Macdonald, who became an esteemed architect nationwide, created the first golf course in the United States beyond New York – featuring seven holes with tomato cans buried in the ground – by Lake Road in 1892. Both the U.S. Open and BMW Championship have been held in Lake Forest. And now, the Deerpath Golf Course is making history; the venerable public course is about to celebrate its 100th anniv

By Laurie Stein Historians estimate that, by the end of the 1920s, three-quarters of the American population visited a movie theater every week. Locally, at the beginning of the decade, movies were shown at the DeLuxe Theatre at Westminster and Bank Lane. Joseph O'Neill opened Lake Forest’s first motion picture house on Westminster in 1912, next to the new location of his hardware store. The Lake Forest City Council spent the next six years regulating this new-fangled oper

By Spencer Trees The Lake Forest High School Boys Varsity golf team is no stranger to success. In their time in the North Suburban Conference (NSC), the Scouts have won three state championships in the past 20 years and captured numerous NSC titles. “Our goal is to win state,” said senior golf captain Michael Hahn. Added senior captain Raunak Whadera, “We came in fourth last year, but five out of our six starters have returned, and we think we have a really good chance to

By David A. F. Sweet Growing up in the Milwaukee area, Elizabeth Sweet loved playing all sorts of sports, from basketball to soccer to cross country. She dreamed of playing varsity basketball at Homestead High School in Mequon. She achieved that goal – but few watched their games. Elizabeth Sweet's Fill The Stands helped girl athletes attend a pro women's soccer game recently. “We had a big field house, and 200-300 watched the boys. For us, it was just parents and the band

By Kristin Elliott From Market Square to our neighborhood parks, Lake Forest has been filled with free concerts, great music, and plenty of summer fun. Families, friends, and neighbors came together to enjoy everything from local favorites to lively cover bands, making the most of warm summer evenings in our community. A couple of concerts had to be postponed due to wet weather, but that extended our season, and we have one more summer night of music to enjoy! Join us Thursda

By Carol Summerfield In looking at the photos of Lake Forest’s 1800s business district, it is hard to see any hint of the picturesque city that we know today. The East Lake Forest train station and the business district looked as much like a rugged Western town as anything in a John Wayne Western film. Dirt roads, clapboard buildings, and the telltale evidence of horses in the roadways definitely gave little indication of the elegant city that was to come. Western Avenue loo

By Lucy Hanlon The City of Lake Forest is expanding its use of technology to help Police and Fire personnel respond to emergencies faster and with better information. City Council recently approved the establishment of a Drone as a First Responder pilot program, a joint Police and Fire initiative that will provide critical information to emergency responders within seconds of a 911 call. Beginning this Fall, the Lake Forest Police Department and Lake Forest Fire Department wi