8 | March 7, 2019 | The highland park landmark community hplandmark.com Lucy Submitted by the Kelly family Lucy is a feisty and affectionate 3-year-old cockapoo mix who was found wandering the streets in Tbilisi, Georgia, where her owners, Ambassador Ian Kelly and his wife Francesca, were living. Now that Ian has retired from the State Department, all three are living in Highland Park, where Lucy is enjoying the high life of squirrel-chasing and napping by the fire. There are many street dogs in countries like Georgia, but there the problem is visible. Here in the U.S., unwanted dogs and cats are put in shelters and euthanized each year away from public eyes. Please consider rescuing a homeless dog. To see your pet featured as Pet of the Week, send a photo and information to Editor Erin Yarnall at erin@hplandmark.com. MYAC wins big at Celebrate Highwood casino event Doug Rapp Freelance Reporter The Mayor of Highwood was in a back room on Saturday night, trying to win at the craps table. But he wasn’t squandering taxpayer dollars on gambling—he was there to raise money for a good cause. Mayor Charlie Pecaro and other North Shore residents were attending the third annual Jazzed Up Dining & Classical Cocktails, a benefit for the Midwestern Young Artists Conservatory (MYAC) and Celebrate Highwood, a non-profit organization that runs charitable community events. Held in MYAC’s facility, a restored army stockade building for Fort Sheridan, on Lyster Road, the event featured cocktails, dinner and dessert buffets, a silent auction, casino games and live jazz and classical from some MYAC musical groups. “MYAC is such a big part of Highwood,” Pecaro said. “It brings families from all over the North Shore into this great building. We get to listen to these wonderful kids play music all night. It’s unbelievable.” Ilyse Strongin, who handles media and PR for Celebrate Highwood, said the third year’s a charm for any event. “This has always been a smashing success,” she said. Although this is the third year for the MYAC fundraiser, Eric Falberg, president of Celebrate Highwood, said this is the first time they’ve added the casino. “We wanted to add a little spice and give people something to do,” Falberg Highwood Mayor, Charlie Pecaro, with his wife, Jessica (left), Dave Puttlak, and Lorenzo DeVito are pleased with the dice Lindy Fox threw Feb. 23 at Celebrate Highwood’s Jazzed Up Dining and Classical Cocktails event. Nicole Carrow/22nd Century Media said. “It’s not just going to eat and listening to jazz. Now you get a casino night.” Falberg said students from MYAC go on to “phenomenal schools” and professional careers. “It’s keeping music alive,” he added. Allan Dennis, founder and president of MYAC, said his nonprofit youth organization serves 900 students a year, some international, with orchestras, jazz bands, chamber music, choruses, and early childhood education. “We’re really happy they’re [Celebrate Highwood] coming here,” Dennis said. “It gives us not only a chance to have fun ourselves and to use our beautiful facility, but it raises awareness of who we are and what we do here.” Dennis said a lot of people in the area don’t know what MYAC does and it’s a “great opportunity” to show people. He said they money raised at Jazzed Up helps with MYAC scholarships and supporting students who otherwise couldn’t afford to attend. Grace Mockus, a junior at Lake Forest High School and MYAC student, played with the chamber quartet during the opening cocktail hour as guests mingled, eating appetizers and taking redcarpet style photos in front of a Celebrate Highwood backdrop. “It’s a great atmosphere,” said Mockus, whose twin sister, Jane, is also an MYAC student and played with the chamber quartet. Regarding her time at MYAC, Mockus said, “It’s been absolutely amazing. It’s a really fantastic experience to get more knowledge about playing in an ensemble with a lot of great teachers and mentors.” In the South Hall, casino gaming ran the entire time of the event, from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. At the craps table, Jim Hospodarsky, a Highwood alderman, said the casino was a great addition that added even more fun. He joked that he’d been “playing but not winning.” “It’s a great event for MYAC and a great start of the year for Celebrate Highwood,” Hospodarsky said. “It’s a fun event that brings the community together for a good cause.” Ilyse Strongin said the casino was added this year to raise more funds. Guests received one $5 chip with their purchase of a $75 ticket. Additional chips could be bought but there was no cash buyback since all proceeds were considered donations. The prizes, in order, for the three highest earners were a 55-inch smart TV, a full auto detail and safety check plus a weeklong test drive of an Alfa Romeo or Maserati, and a $500 gift card to Capital Grille Restaurant and Steakhouse. Chips could also be used toward the silent auction, which included gift baskets, gym memberships, musical memorabilia, and packaged spirits. Doug Blount, of Highwood, and Enrique Lipezker, of Highland Park were viewing items in the silent auction together. “It’s a good event that supports the arts and that’s something we’re for,” Blount said. Lipezker said he was supporting the event because his son, Enrique, is in the MYAC choir and his daughter, Elise, is a former MYAC student. M. Brad Slavin, an alderman, a Celebrate Highwood board member and owner of Farmers Insurance in Highwood, said it was his third time attending the event. “It’s great,” Slavin said. “In combination with MYAC we’re able to combine our charitable organizations…it keeps it in Highwood, it keeps it fun. [The casino] adds a whole new element to it. The event’s been building and building, and this is certainly going to be our best year ever.”
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