CELEBRATING FREEDOM

PHOTOS BY MIKE ELLIS

Thousands of area residents watched the return of the Hinsdale Fourth of July parade a day early on July 3. Until late this spring, the fate of the parade was uncertain, as the state only progressed to Phase 5 of the "Restore Illinois" plan last month.

The parade consisted largely of familiar acts and faces, including Hinsdale village president Tom Cauley, Burr Ridge mayor Gary Grasso and DuPage County board member Greg Hart.

The Hinsdale Central marching band and color guard delivered their first parade performance in nearly two years, followed by the Central and Hinsdale Falcons cheerleaders.

The Medinah Shriners and trick bicyclists bedazzled spectators with their entertaining maneuvers and daring stunts, while Civil War re-enactors returned to startle the crowd with their buzzing cannon.

Although the parade contained little of novelty, the environment felt fresh nevertheless, with families, friends and neighbors elated at the chance to gather again on the Fourth of July. ■

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Dr. Rachel Bognet Dr. Christina Steil

We Keep Your Skin Looking Its Best

Dermatologists Christina Steil and Rachel Bognet, and their staff can help you and your skin, no matter your age. Providing the appropriate cosmetic and medical skin care to patients suffering from various skin ailments, they help you achieve a more beautiful, healthy, natural look.

If you are younger, they emphasize prevention with an individualized skincare regimen. For middle years, a combination of techniques is used to both prevent and correct aging problems. More mature age groups have the most skin issues such as dryness, thinning, wrinkling, loss of elasticity and spottiness - and some of those spots can even be skin cancers. The team encourages these patients to have a skin cancer check prior to treatments to cosmetically treat their skin.

At age 65, team member Kathy Mandarino, RN is a great example of how taking proper care of your skin throughout your lifetime will prevent the typical changes expected.

Kathy, who is fair-skinned, started using sunscreen in her late 20’s and skin care products in her early thirties. In fact, when she sent her daughters off to college, she sent vitamin c serums with them. She has been getting Intense Pulse Light treatments (IPL/BBL) bi-annually since age 46, and has treated patients with the IPL/BBL devices just as long. As CSC Dermatology has adopted the latest and most advanced skin care devices and treatments, she added new treatments to her regimen.

Favorites include the CoolMini and Ultherapy that colleague Amber Maloni treated her with, to maintain her jawline and avoid developing a double chin; the Silhouette Instalift that Dr. Bognet treated her with, to lift her jowls and the fillers done by Dr. Steil to maintain her natural lift and volume without being overfilled.

Kathy’s treatment plan has helped her to keep her beautiful skin and is proof that treatments, combined with healthy skin care habits, do work. Treatment can be started at any age, and with the right program, you too will have your best skin. You are never too young or too old to take care of your skin.

Drs. Steil and Bognet and the staff at CSC Dermatology look forward to helping you keep your skin beautiful.

Kathleen Mandarino, RN, BSN

Phil Kommer's Story

How did you first become involved with Diveheart?

It’s a funny story on how I got involved as a volunteer with Diveheart around eighteen years ago. It all started when my dive buddy and Diveheart Adaptive instructor Bob Hemmidinger, tried talking me into volunteering. I told him I’d be happy to work with veterans, but had a fear of being responsible for kids. He assured me that Diveheart worked with veterans. So I showed up at the next pool event at 8am on a Saturday, and all I saw was kids. I said, where are the veterans? He said, they get here at noon, now get in the water and help us out. I reluctantly did help with the kids and after that I fell in love and I was hooked.

I work as a facilities engineer at Edward-Elmhurst hospital and I was just a recreational diver before working with Diveheart. I had no experience in working with people with disabilities before that either. Now I am a Divemaster, and am confident that my adaptive scuba training and experience has helped me become a better diver and adaptive dive buddy.

I’ve had so many wonderfully moving experiences that have brought me to tears it’s hard to keep track or pick out a favorite one. It’s like asking a five year old what their favorite ice cream is. I’ve seen some participants really overcome their fear and come out of the water exclaiming I did it, I did it. It really builds confidence. After a Diveheart pool session the kids go to school on Monday and the "able bodied kids" ask what they did over the weekend. They say, Oh I went scuba diving. Whaaaaaat? Oh yeah, here's some pics of me playing catch at the bottom of the pool! Now the term "Special" takes on a whole new meaning. They become special for what they CAN do, not what they can’t. That confidence effects these kids in so many ways. Little kids I worked with years ago are now teens or older. I can see over time the long-term effects of our work.

I have received some recognition as someone who is involved with the community through my employer who has made a modest donation in my name to Diveheart. My wife worked with the Philanthropic department of her company to grant a sizable donation. Anytime a situation arises where we can help the organization, we try to. Neither of us has a lot of free time, so we do what we can. If someone asked me what the best part of volunteering with Diveheart is, I would say the feeling I get seeing the smiles and the look of accomplishment on our participants faces. There's nothing like it. I feel like the most selfish person in the world at times because of the amazing feeling I get working with our participants. And anybody can feel that way by just helping out. No task is too small. I think that Diveheart participants and volunteers are both positively affected ,and you can tell by the smiles.