The Doings Western Springs

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Viki Gonia

Viki Gonia is adjunct faculty in the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago and recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing. She has lived …

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  • Western Springs Garden Club keeps things cool

    WESTERN SPRINGS — The Western Springs Garden Club is pretty cool. Not only do members hold their annual plant sale the day before Mother’s Day every year (making it an ideal place to shop for Mom), the club is responsible for much of the blooming …Read More

  • Western Springs grilling demo just in time for Father’s Day

    WESTERN SPRINGS — A few years ago, I moved within Western Springs to a new house (well, new to me) and one of the first things I purchased for my home was a new gas grill. Sure, I love the flavor of real charcoal, but …Read More

  • Springtime activities abound in Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have virtually forgotten about the cold, rain and snow that haunted our every move so recently Everything is blooming, the air is fragrant with the smells of lilacs and freshly-mown grass (and …Read More

    • Kelli O’Laughlin memorial and fund keep positive outlook

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I think I can assume that every one of you reading has driven west on either 47th Street or Plainfield Road many times over the course of the last 18 months or so. You’ve surely noticed the ever-changing memorials created with colorful …

  • Time to make spring cleaning a reality in Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I am constantly making plans to clean out my house. Big, big plans. I get excited thinking about having extra space, not having boxes filled with stuff I haven’t looked at or looked for in at least five years on the shelves …Read More

  • Why a special week to target distracted driving in Western Springs?

    WESTERN SPRINGS — Did you know that April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month? A recent press release from the Western Springs Police Department shared some disturbing statistics: More than 3,300 people in the U.S. were killed in 2011 and 387,000 were injured in crashes …Read More

  • Western Springs received a wake-up call with suspicious van

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I missed the opportunity last week to offer my congratulations to a pair of Western Springs longtime residents, Jack and Jacque Walsh. On April 10, they celebrated their 65th anniversary. I don’t know if “Congratulations!” really covers it. 65 YEARS! Nine kids! …Read More

    • Spring means time to clean Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — Some signs of spring are better than others, but this year, I’ll take what I can get. That includes seeing the first landscaping crews hitting yards in Western Springs, and though their giant mowers and blowers were doing a better job of …

    Surviving the staycation in Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — My spring break staycation (which was less of a stay-cation and more of a I-have-to-workation) went about as I’d expected. I got to see spring arrive, though at this point I’m not quite ready to trust that it’s going to stick around. …

    Living the high life in Western Springs for spring break

    WESTERN SPRINGS — This week marks the first in I don’t know how many years that I have not gone to Florida for spring break. I don’t know what to do with myself, except go to work as usual, and gaze longingly out the window …

    Western Springs recreation offerings will keep summer busy

    WESTERN SPRINGS — It’s that time again, when we flip through the Western Springs Recreation Department Summer Recreation Brochure and wonder how it’s even possible that it will ever be summer again. Because it sure doesn’t feel like it’s gonna happen. But unless the world …

    High school band finding their niche

    If there are two things I love, it’s discovering new music and meeting young, motivated people who do cool, awesome things. Enter Community Service, a band comprised of three Lyons Township sophomores: Jimmy Kourafas, 15 (guitar, vocals); Max Romero, 15 (bass, vocals); and Steven Rejdukowski, …

    Social groups grow with members

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I’ve been playing Bunco with the same group of Western Springs women for about ten years now. Bunco, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is an utterly, ridiculously simplistic game played with dice, and its true purpose, what with changing tables and …

    When it’s time for your children to fly away from Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — You know, I’m one of those parents who believes in letting her children spread their wings. But when my daughter got her heart set on attending a university roughly eight million miles away, I found myself yearning to reverse that position. This …

    Western Springs police share texting and driving video

    WESTERN SPRINGS — There’s this thing about texting and driving. I’ve done it. I’ve done it more times than I care to admit to having done it. Probably around the same number of times I’ve complained about some other driver being an idiot on the …

    Tower Green in Western Springs is looking good

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I guess I don’t drive by the Tower Green all that often, or else I’m not as observant as I’ve always thought I was, but some pretty big changes have happened in front of the Water Tower. And by “pretty,” I mean …

    Taste buds watering for new restaurant in Western Springs

    WESTERN SPRINGS — I get pretty darn excited about restaurants in general (this may or may not be considered a deficiency in my personality. I do love food. Probably too much.), but I get even more excited when a new restaurant comes to Western Springs. …

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