Downers Grove Magazine | Speical Feature
FAMILIES ON BLODGETT AVE. PREPARE FOR THE LUMINARIA.
Local Holiday
Traditions BY VALERIE HARDY
Two neighborhoods in Downers Grove have made it a tradition to deck the streets—rather than the halls—each winter. The neighborhoods that feed into Whittier and Lester Elementary Schools make holiday decorating a collective effort, brightening up their blocks on the coldest of days and darkest of nights by embodying both the spirit of community and giving. Back in 2001, Heather and Scott Isacson, residents of the Randall Park neighborhood near Whittier, wanted to bring one of their childhood holiday decorating customs to their current
decorated Park from Summit to Randall Street with luminaria, and some friends around the corner on Randall also put luminaries out. “After a couple of years, someone further south on Park said, ‘Hey, we want candles too.’ So it expanded south on Park to Farley,” Heather said. “At the beginning, all of the [costs for the luminaria supplies] were out of our pocket. As we expanded, we asked for donations to help cover costs.” The first year they collected money, there were contributions beyond the cost of the luminary supplies, so they donated the extra funds to the Whittier PTA. Each year that followed, the number of Randall Park neighbors that wanted to put out luminaria on Christmas Eve snowballed. “As it got bigger, there were lots of people participating who didn’t have any connection to Whittier, so we decided on donating the extra money to St. Jude’s,” Heather said. “After that year, we decided the proceeds should go to a non-profit that is more local, so we donated to Sharing Connections.”
KIDS ON PARK AVENUE HELP LIGHT UP THE HOLIDAYS WITH LUMINARIA.
block on Park Ave. “Coincidentally, both Scott’s family and my family put out luminaria growing up,” Heather said. The Isacsons began putting luminaria in front of their own home on Christmas Eve for a couple years, before asking some neighbors to join in. “It’s so pretty in Randall Park, so we thought, ‘Let’s do the whole street,’” Heather said.
Initially, the Isacsons and a few neighbors
Now every block in the Randall Park neighborhood is lit up with luminaria on Christmas Eve, thanks to the coordination of not only the organizers, but also the captains from each block, who coordinate the materials and accept the monetary contributions from their neighbors. After Downers Grove resident Noah VanHoutan was diagnosed with the rare genetic condition CLN2 Batten disease, the annual proceeds from the Randall Park luminaria have been donated to the non-profit Noah’s Hope. “We had raised over $12,000 over the years to Noah’s Hope by the time I passed the leadership of the luminary process,” Heather
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said. The Isacsons transitioned the luminaria coordination to Susan and Simon Lorenc, residents of Lyman Ave., in 2016. The Lorencs lived on Lyman south of 55th Street before moving into the neighborhood, and they “used to look across 55th on Christmas Eve, and enjoy how beautiful the luminaries were,” Susan said. The Lorencs shared that while coordinating and setting out the luminaria takes time and work, it is undoubtedly worth the effort, and has become an extended family affair for them. “My dad and brother, in particular, look forward to coming in town, and helping put out luminaria on Christmas Eve morning," Susan said. "It’s kind of become a larger family tradition as well. Our kids love it too. They look forward to it, and they know the charitable aspect of it; so it helps drive home the meaning of Christmas.” Cindy Maquet, who lives on 5th Street, also saw the value and beauty in the luminaria, and led the extension of them across Fairview Ave. in
