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14 | May 11, 2017 | The highland park landmark sound off hplandmark.com Writing Life A matter of class in Highland Park Wendy S. Anderson Contributing Columnist Living in a wealthy suburb presents clarifying moments that could be attributed to class. On a recent Saturday I walked my dog by a house where three men and some kids were gathered outside. One man animatedly talked to someone on his cell phone about someone else “with a lot of connections.” Another was doing tasks with his boys. A third ambled down the sidewalk with his big, loose dog, which ran straight to my small, unappreciative leashed dog, to sniff him all over. I was caught in the midst of this scene, literally entwined with the dogs and within a few feet of the three men as they greeted one another. No one acknowledged me in any way; it was as if I wasn’t there. Were they so wrapped in their togetherness they forgot to be polite? Or was I not worth a nod? This situation put me back to when my children were small and I’d wait for them outside Ravinia School. Many moms would chat freely, yet there were a few who had a practiced aloofness, a way of looking right through you, as if you weren’t there. They did this even when they walked by within a few inches, even if your kids had been at the same birthday party the day before. Whether you didn’t drive the right car or live in the right house or wear the right clothes, something about you, or everything about you, did not pass muster. One apparently misinformed mom invited herself to my place for coffee. Although I lived in coveted east Highland Park, my home had not changed dramatically from the time it had been a summer cottage for city dwellers — a few rooms, low beamed ceilings, a Franklin stove. What I found quaint and charming, she found tiny and alarming, I could tell at once. We spent an uneasy hour in awkward conversation. When I next saw her, she was decidedly cooler. I was not the person she’d imagined. Highland Park is full of such stories. A friend who works in child care said she suggested to a mom, whose girl wore very pricy, slippery and impractical boots, that the mom consider buying the child sneakers, someplace like Target, for active playtimes. The mom’s decisive response? “I don’t buy shoes at Target.” This reminded me of when my little girl and I were at Target. We ran into a fellow kindergartner with her grandma, their cart full of cleaners and other household items. When the girl asked to look at some clothes, her grandma snapped, “We don’t buy clothes at Target.” The child looked crestfallen. My own daughter said she felt sorry for the classmate because her grandmother was mean. She did not understand that the woman was only asserting her class. Way back when I worked for the local paper, I got calls from residents who demanded that their names, or their wives’ names, or their kids’ names, be kept out of print for whatever driving offense they’d committed, from speeding to a DUI. Some offered to pay. The assumption was that they were entitled to have a legal embarrassment erased. The police reports in our community these days seem to contain a disproportionate number of Hispanic-sounding Please see wendy, 15 Classic, Traditional, with a taste of Modernity! • Nearly a decade of consumer and commercial awardwinning marketing experience • A fantastic listener and reliable communicator Luis G. Mota Realty A Global Reach. Big City Views. A Local’s Perspective. • Talented precision of recognizing the desires of clients and customers’ insights • Strong negotiator, driven to complete projects and achieve desired results • Known for integrity, being highly-ethical, a trustworthy reputation, motivated and proactive, so you don’t have to worry LUIS G. MOTA Broker, e-PRO, and GREEN Cell: 8.5.5 Email: Luis.Mota@BairdWarner.com Website: LuisMota.BairdWarner.com Blog: LuisGMota.com • Detail oriented and a thorough knowledge of current market trends
hplandmark.com sound off the highland park landmark | May 11, 2017 | 15 Social snapshot Top stories: From hplandmark.com as of May 8 1. 10 Questions with Tyler Gussis, Highland Park High School baseball 2. Photos: HPHS Focus Art Night 3. District 112 moving forward with new board members, same issues 4. HP native living the dream with Marco’s Northside Grill 5. School News: HPHS senior awarded NMSC scholarship Become a member: hplandmark.com/plus Downtown Highland Park posted a photo May 2 with the caption: “Kudos to Chase Bank for featuring our local businesses for National Small Business Week!” Like The Highland Park Landmark: facebook.com/hplandmark It’s TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK at HP! A GIANT thank you to our teachers and coaches for all that you do! #hpgiantpride @HPHS_Athletics Highland Park High School Athletic Department tweeted May 2. Follow The Highland Park Landmark: @hparklandmark go figure 4 An intriguing number from this week’s edition The number of new NSSD112 board members sworn in May 2. See more on Page 4. From the Editor Saving the Earth, one banana peel at a time Courtney Jacquin courtney@hplandmark.com All right Highwood, it’s time to down and dirty with composting. Starting this month, Highwood is becoming the first municipality in Letters to the Editor Proud to be a part of caucus After reading several cynical and inaccurate explanations of the NSSD 112 Caucus process on social media, I am writing to share my experience and respect for the Caucus process and what it offers to our community. When asked to serve as a nonparent delegate to the Caucus, my initial response was a series of questions: What is the Caucus? How is the community represented? And, why does the community need a group to make endorsements? I was interested in a process that wasn’t agenda oriented and where the delegates would represent the entire District. I was informed that the Caucus representation includes five delegates from each of the District 112 schools: four parents and one nonparent. The group meets with a goal to vet, without any specific agenda, and endorse up to the number of open seats in a District 112 election. I the state to offer yearround organic waste collection. This means you’ll now have three bins: one for garbage, one for recycling and one for composting, all year long. Change can be hard, confusing or just downright annoying, but once you get used to composting, I promise this is a change that is worth it. Sure, it might take some getting used to what goes in the compost and what goes in the trash — there’s a full list on Page 3 this week to help you out — but it will be worth it. agreed to be a delegate. Between mid-October and early December, four meetings were held. The meetings led by the chairpersons, insured respectful discourse of multiple viewpoints, and a common goal. These well organized meetings included: agenda provided in advance; approval of an amendment to the Caucus by-laws (established by previous Caucus groups); review of valuable traits in a BOE member; break-out groups focused on questions for the candidates; review of responses to candidate questionnaires; open meeting candidate presentations; closed meeting reviews; and completion of final endorsements. As an example of the Caucus process, break-out groups were intentionally formed with delegates from different schools. My group debated differing views; documented findings; and reviewed, concurred and submitted our questions for final review by the entire With everything going on in the world, it can sometimes feel like everything is out of our hands and there’s nothing we can do. It may seem small, but composting is a realistic, tangible way to cut back on waste, reduce what’s going into landfills and ultimately reduce your carbon foot print. Sure, we might not be able to single-handedly solve global warming ourselves, but if everyone took small, concrete steps like this, the world would certainly be a better place. Caucus. Before the candidates’ presentation day, delegates received each candidate’s responses to the finalized questionnaire. Following presentations, our reviews included challenging discussions and multiple rounds of voting before endorsements were finalized. As a service to the community the Caucus held multiple Coffees and a Forum for ALL candidates. Almost 60 community members, devoting many hours of service, participated in the Caucus. The process was: objective; well defined and executed; offered broad community representation; and, at no point was motivated by a specific agenda. The community reaps great benefits from the Caucus’ longstanding tradition of objectivity and positive and collaborative stewardship. I am proud to have participated. Nancy Goldberg Highland Park wendy From Page 14 names. I doubt that predominantly people with Hispanic-sounding names commit traffic offenses, but there they are. It’s a puzzle. Which returns me to our recent, contentious school-board elections, when a parent at a candidates’ forum had the audacity to ask if anyone planned to give presentations in Spanish to the Spanish speakers whose kids attend our schools. One parent – who had crossly revealed her intention to enroll her child in a private school to avoid the messiness of potential school closings — literally rolled her eyes, as if the very idea of addressing Spanish speakers in our city was ludicrous. No doubt she saw herself in a class above the fray. Yet her behavior exhibited so little class. The Highland Park Landmark Sound Off Policy Editorials and columns are the opinions of the author. Pieces from 22nd Century Media are the thoughts of the company as a whole. The Highland Park Landmark encourages readers to write letters to Sound Off. All letters must be signed, and names and hometowns will be published. We also ask that writers include their address and phone number for verification, not publication. Letters should be limited to 400 words. The Highland Park Landmark reserves the right to edit letters. Letters become property of The Highland Park Landmark. Letters that are published do not reflect the thoughts and views of The Highland Park Landmark. Letters can be mailed to: The Highland Park Landmark, 60 Revere Drive ST 888, Northbrook, IL, 60062. Fax letters to (847) 272-4648 or email to courtney@hplandmark. com.
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