The North Shore Weekend, January 16, 2021 by JWC Media

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NORTH SHORE FOODIE Get cozy on a winter's night with Short-Rib Stroganoff P12 FOLLOW US:

NO. 431 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION

A RARE GEM BRAZIL NATIVE GRAZIELA KAUFMAN HAS ASSIMILATED BEAUTIFULLY TO LIFE IN HIGHLAND PARK AND CRAFTS JEWELRY COLLECTIONS WITH ARTISTRY, SOUL, AND A BRAZILIAN FLAIR. BY ALLISON DUNCAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Despite being the woman behind a thriving business, Graziela Gems founder and jewelry designer Graziela Kaufman finds her truest success in the balance of work, family, friends, philanthropy, and, oh yeah, a little bit of time for herself. “When I feel it’s all balanced, I feel successful,” she says. “My heart, mind, and soul have to be fulfilled.” As a self-described positive and determined person, Graziela takes calculated risks to get to the next level. One such risk was moving to the United States after growing up in Brazil. She’d been visiting the United States since she was a child and then lived in New York for six months in her 20s and in England for one year. Both stints overlapped with the winter so, “The cold weather wasn’t new for me,” she explains about eventually relocating to Chicago. But she does miss her family and tries to keep the Brazilian culture alive in her North Shore home (her family moved to the North Shore 17 years ago) through food and language. She also takes her family—husband John and sons Nelson (25), Johnny (20), Kevin (19), and Kristopher (17)—to Brazil at least once a year so her kids are able to consider the country as a second home. Luckily, they all love to do the same things, despite having different personalities. “We love to watch movies or shows, play poker and board games, play charades after dinner, exercise, and in the summer spend long days by the pool grilling, and take the dogs and cat

Highland Park jewelry designer Graziela Kaufman's one-of-a-kind creations have become celebrity favorites. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN SUBAR

for a walk down to the beach close to our home,” Graziela says. “Yes, my cat walks on a leash.” An animal lover, Graziela has a rescue Bernese Mountain Dog, one Savannah feline, a 13-year-old Yorkipoo, and a new rescue named Frankie. Graziela met her husband 22 years ago on Fisher Island, where both of their parents had vacation homes. What she’ll say about their story is that it involved 16 trips to Brazil in seven months, a hurricane, an almost called-off wedding, and eventually an unforgettable dream wedding. “My heart is half-American, half-Brazilian,” Graziela says. “I actually feel that having a Brazilian around was sometimes a bigger shock to the community than moving here was to me.” Much of Graziela’s aesthetic and inspiration today comes from Brazil, which is the largest producer of gemstones in the world. “It’s ingrained in my soul,” she says. “Colors, energy, movement, curves, sexy shapes, nature, breathtaking landscapes—I lived in a visual paradise. Growing up, my ‘backyard’ was a gemological treasure. My Brazilian ‘roots’ are evident in all of my designs.” Graziela recalls watching her grandfather Mario Barone, an Italian jeweler, make other’s dreams come true through design. And now she’s doing the same, amassing quite the celebrity following with fans like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Hudson, Gigi Hadid, and 300 other celeb clients donning Graziela Gems. It all started when she hired a PR firm and started meeting stylists and celebrities, many of whom became close friends. Graziela is also making a profound impact in the community through her charitable contributions to make a difference in the lives of homeless and abused animals. She’s involved in several organizations that help rehabilitate animals of all sorts—like MCP Rescue (where she is vice president) and The Puppy Mill Project—and even donates a portion of her sales to help further that mission. In 2020, she designed the Pawsitivity Collection partnering with celebrity friends who share her passion for animals. Thirty percent of the sales Continued on PG 8

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Max Group Recent Closings

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Mark Goldberg

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847.254.8800 • mark.goldberg@evrealestate.com Engel & Völkers Chicago North Shore

847.441.5730 • chicagonorthshore.evrealestate.com 903 Green Bay Road • Winnetka, Illinois Some sales sold while affiliated with another brokerage. ©2020 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.

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We are please to announce the appointment of

Karen Arenson As Designated Managing Broker Engel & Völkers Chicago North Shore With 20 years of award-wining sales experience and an incredible ability to inspire the best in the sales teams she leads, she is an ideal fit for this critical leadership role in our firm. Engel & Völkers Chicago North Shore serves lakefront communities from Chicago to Lake Bluff, as well as the adjacent communities to the west. Engel & Völkers is a global boutique firm specializing in residential real estate sales. With shops throughout the United States and around the world. Engel & Völkers Advisors are uniquely positioned to support all your real estate needs. Karen can be reached at karen.arenson@evrealestate.com 773.501.6201

Engel & Völkers Chicago North Shore

Engel & Völkers Chicago

847.441.5730 • chicagonorthshore.evrealestate.com 903 Green Bay Road • Winnetka, Illinois

773.797.9500 • chicago.evrealestate.com 2401 N. Clark Street • Chicago, Illinois

Some sales sold while affiliated with another brokerage. ©2021 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.

THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

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INDEX

WINTER IN STOCK SALE EVENT. Hurry in while quantities last.

NEWS 10 getting warmer

A North Shore author sheds new light on a decades-old cold case

John Conatser FOUNDER & PUBLISHER

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Wendy Franzen, Dustin O'Regan, Kemmie Ryan, Sherry Thomas, Megan Weisberg

LIFESTYLE & ARTS

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12 north shore foodie

Beef stroganoff is elevated with this yummy recipe

Allison Duncan, Bill McLean

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Banner Plumbing's Gene Hara leads by example, at home and on the job

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6 Cliff Road

Literally step out of your yard and onto the beaches of the shore of Lake Michigan. Designed by legendary architects Holobird & Root and built in 1890, the former Fort Sheridan Pumping Station was transformed to residences in 2008. A stunning harmony of old and new, industrial and organic, open up to sweeping views of Lake Michigan, with easy beachfront access and the quiet trails of Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve. Gorgeous hand-scraped walnut flooring, classic archways and wooden beams recall the structure’s past life providing fresh drinking water to historic Fort Sheridan. You have NEVER seen a house like this.

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The Matlin Group thematlingroup@compass.com

The Matlin Group is a team of Real Estate agents affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed Real Estate broker with a principal office in Chicago, IL and abides by all applicable Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only, is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, and changes without notice. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of Real Estate brokerage. 320 Tudor Ct, Glencoe, 60022.

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NEWS A RARE GEM

From PG 1

price of each piece is donated to a rescue selected at checkout. Kaley Cuoco’s charity of choice is Mutt Scouts, Olivia Munn’s is Love Leo, Nikki Reed’s is Rancho Relaxo (which saves farm animals around the world), Beth Behrs’ is the wonderful horse rescue ranch Blue Apple Ranch, and Graziela’s is MCP Rescue and Outreach in Chicago. “I believe that each of us in this world can make a difference and that we have to fight for what we believe in,” she says. To that end, Graziela found a kindred spirit in actress Nikki Reed, who she met six years ago through their common love of animals. “We felt an immediate connection and decided to do something positive with it,” she shares. “I designed a collection inspired by our planet, our animals, our oceans, and by Nikki and Ian Somerhalder (Nikki’s husband), where 60 percent of all the profits went to the Ian Somerhalder Foundation.” The collection is sold only through Graziela’s website and features Nikki and Ian’s favorite gemstones: turquoise, jade, and jasper. One of Graziela’s personal favorite gemstones is the Paraiba tourmaline. “From the time I saw it to this day, I have never seen anything like it,” she says. “It was discovered in Brazil, and it’s extremely rare. It’s so alive and electric that it’s mesmerizing.” Graziela’s “Something Blue” collection has plenty of Paraiba gems that range from the Brazilian Paraiba, which is the rarest and most expensive of them all, to Mozambique Paraiba. The gems are only found in three places in the world and are very difficult to extract. Nevertheless, in 2017, Graziela decided every woman that purchases a piece of Graziela jewelry should have one to three Paraiba pavé stones encrusted somewhere in their piece,

and she began adding them to her couture designs and necklaces. “My goal is to have every woman that buys one of my pieces feel as rare as the stone itself,” she explains. But ultimately, Graziela doesn’t have a favorite collection, as every collection comes from her heart. “From the time I design a collection to when the collection is ready takes approximately three months,” she says. “So much time and effort of our incredible team goes into the making of a piece of jewelry that sometimes I think we are all crazy, but when we finally see the finished product, it’s magical.” For more information, visit grazielagems.com.

John and Graziela Kaufman in their kitchen with their pets as photographed for the Chicago Pet Project—a collaborative fundraising effort produced by the Puppy Mill Project. PHOTOGRAPHY BY K MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Where dedication takes root.

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Thaank You Th to My Clients and Friends. Wishing you a happy & healthy new year!

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NEWS

GETTING WARMER NORTH SHORE NATIVE GLENN WALL’S SECOND BOOK ABOUT THE 1966 VALERIE PERCY MURDER HELPS MELT WHAT HAD BEEN A COLD CASE. Thoresen was in his late 20s at the time of Valerie Percy’s murder. He would live for only four more years. He terrorized his wife, Louise, in the spring of 1970 in California, making her write suicide notes and threatening to throw her off the Golden Gate Bridge. He also battered her, resulting in a hairline skull fracture and a punctured eardrum, among other injuries. Thoresen then told his wife of three murders he had committed. The next morning, June 10, Louise feared her husband would attack her again and fatally shot him with a revolver. “All but one of the six shots hit the target,” Wall writes in the Zodiac Maniac chapter “Payback.” Chicago homicide detective Joe DiLeonardi worked the Valerie Percy murder investigation in Kenilworth during its early phases. Wall interviewed him extensively, along with several of Sen. Percy’s aides and friends, for his two books. Sen. Percy, who died in 2011 at age 91, ended

BY BILL MCLEAN THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Back in his New Trier East High School days in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Glenn Wall attended classes and performed in a band. “I wish I had taken more advantage of what New Trier had to offer,” Wall admits. But the 1981 graduate wasn’t a slacker. The former Wilmette and Winnetka resident—Wall and his family moved to Winnetka when he was 14—worked diligently after school hours, including stints as a busboy at North Shore restaurants. Since 2011, when he started researching for his first true crime book, Wall has been setting the table for the possible crack in a decadesold cold case stemming from the September 18, 1966 murder of 21-year-old Valerie Percy, a daughter of former Republican U.S. Senator Charles Percy. Valerie, who was working on her father’s campaign at the time of her death, was stabbed 14 times by a bayonet-wielding intruder in the Percys’ house. She was found dead in her bedroom. Nothing from the house on Sheridan Road had been stolen. Wall’s book Sympathy Vote: A Reinvestigation of the Valerie Percy Murder was published in 2013, and he followed that up last year with the release of Zodiac Maniac: The Secret History of the Zodiac Killer. Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of a serial killer who slayed five known victims in Northern California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. His identity remains unknown. A movie based on the killings and directed by David Fincher, Zodiac, hit theaters in 2007. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., and Chloe Sevigny. The indefatigable Wall builds a compelling case that an unhinged Kenilworth man named William Thoresen III—who moved to San Francisco in the 1960s—was the monster behind the carnage in at least Illinois and California. Thoresen’s parents’ house stood a block and a half from the Percys’ abode. Wall plans to publish an expanded edition (22,000 more words) of his second book later this month or in early 2012, spotlighting more than a handful of other cases and nearly 30 additional victims. “It has been confounding to me, the secrecy surrounding the murder of Valerie Percy,” Wall says, alluding to the decision to keep the original Kenilworth police reports on the murder under wraps. “William’s wife, Louise, attempted to illegally ship weapons, including bayonets, in New York months after the murder in Kenilworth, and FBI agents believed William to be a prime suspect in the murder of Valerie Percy. “But Illinois authorities,” he writes in Zodiac Maniac, “never knew of Thoresen’s connections to bayonets and the FBI’s suspicion that he killed Valerie Percy.” There appeared to be plenty of evidence to target Thoresen as a suspect in the death of Percy, but that wasn’t the case. Authorities couldn’t allege Thoresen was at the scene. A new suspect in the murder hasn’t been named since 1973. Also alarming, to Wall, was how often judges allowed Thoresen to post bond at hearings. As a youth, Thoresen had entered homes in

A sequel by North Shore native Glenn Wall delves into a 1966 murder to help heat up a decades-old cold case. Kenilworth without permission. In 1970, his wife claimed he had confessed to three murders, including one involving a gunshot that occurred in Lake Forest in 1965. The victim? Richard Thoresen, William’s brother. William had hired a man to kill Richard, he revealed to Louise late one night. William then murdered the hit man. “There could not have been a scarier free guy than William Thoresen,” Wall says. “I can’t help but think there’s an ongoing cover-up, and, in time, there should be an independent investigation. What led me to writing the second book was noticing the similarities of the Zodiac cases in California, specifically witnesses in separate cases describing the suspect’s voice. They said he had a most unusual voice—robotic, as if he were reading something. Then you have the use of a bayonet as a weapon in California, that Thoresen lived in San Francisco at the time of the Zodiac crimes, the FBI’s suspicion of what he committed in Kenilworth … all strongly indicate that Thoresen was Zodiac.” Wall was 3 and living in Wilmette, about a mile away from the Percy house, when news of the Valerie Percy murder—the first murder in the village of Kenilworth’s then 75-year history—shook the North Shore. Wall, an

advertising/communications major at Cal State Fullerton, originally set out to write about Sen. Percy’s political campaigns before he became intrigued with the murder of the ex-Bell & Howell president’s daughter. “It reminds me some of Watergate, believing there’s this cover-up; it fascinated me as I looked into it,” says Wall, who lives with his wife, Lexa, in Milwaukee, where he met his future bride. “There are a lot of questions about Thoresen’s interactions with the justice system. A question I kept asking was, ‘What’s the bigger story?’ “There’s more to this out there,” he adds.

| SATURDAY JANUARY 16 | SUNDAY JANUARY 17 2021

up serving as a U.S. Senator from 1967-1985; DiLeonardi perished in 2017. “I was hugely fortunate with the sources I used,” Wall says. “They were great, all of them. I was amazed that they took so many of my calls and agreed to meet with me and take the time to describe what they had remembered all those years ago.” Wall has been grateful for the attention his second book has received since its publication last year, especially the interest it has generated in the Chicago area. “Nobody,” he says, “has refuted my claims that Thoresen should be the prime suspect in the Valerie Percy murder.” The cold case gets toastier, thanks to Wall’s digging. THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

GRIFFITH, GRANT & LACKIE A Real Connection. A Real Advantage We are proud to be your North Shore real estate experts since 1903, upholding the highest standards of ethics and providing the best customer service experience. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, call us today for an expert consultation!

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LIFESTYLE & ARTS

NORTH SHORE FOODIE

SHORT-RIB STROGANOFF For many during childhood, unexpected company meant Mom whipping up the two cans of condensed soup, ground beef, bacon, and sour cream stroganoff. Although that was a comfort classic for then, this deeply-flavorful short-rib rendition elevates this dish to gourmet status you’ll enjoy now. A slow-braise with red wine and sherry, rosemary and thyme, mushrooms and bacon, crème fraiche and truffle oil, it is very good. For best results, make the short ribs the day (or night) before you plan to serve the dish.

INGREDIENTS For the Braised Beef Short Ribs: (Note: Make one day in advance of serving finished dish) 3 lbs. beef short ribs 3 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped 2 celery ribs, chopped 2 pieces of smoked bacon 6 cloves garlic 4 ounces tomato paste 2 cups red wine 3 quarts high-quality veal or beef stock 1 fresh rosemary sprig 1 fresh thyme sprig

For the Short Rib Beef Stroganoff: 1 and 1/2 lbs. braised beef short-rib meat, cut in bite-sized pieces (from recipe above) 1/2 lb. high-quality thick-cut bacon or pancetta (small dice) 1 medium yellow onion, small dice 6 large cloves of garlic, roughly chopped 1 lb. mushrooms (assorted wild, shiitake or crimini) cut in fourths 1 cup dry sherry 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves 2 tsp fresh rosemary, snipped 3 Tbsp stone-ground mustard 1 quart of the braising liquid left from the short rib braise recipe above 6 to 8 oz crème fraîche 2 tsp white truffle oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste One package pappardelle egg noodles, prepared according to package instructions 2 tsp butter to butter noodles 1/4 cup snipped parsley, divided over each serving as garnish

RECIPE AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MONICA KASS ROGERS METHOD Make Braised Short Ribs: In a large heavy skillet over high heat, brown short ribs on all sides in vegetable oil. Remove ribs from pan and place in a Dutch oven or roasting pan. Turn off heat. Leave the oil in the skillet. Over medium-low heat, saute the bacon in the fat until lightly crispy. Scoop bacon out into the short rib pan. Return skillet, with some oil still in it, to the stovetop. Increase heat to medium-high and add onion, carrot and celery, sautéing until lightly caramelized. Add garlic to the other vegetables and saute one more minute. Add tomato paste to the softened vegetables and stir frequently for 2 to 3 minutes. Add red wine; heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half. Add herbs. Add stock and heat to boiling. Remove skillet from heat.

render bacon (or pancetta) until lightly crispy. Remove bacon and reserve; leave rendered fat in pan. Sauté yellow onion in the bacon fat until lightly caramelized. Add mushroom and saute 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Deglaze pan with sherry; reduce by half. Add reserved bite-sized short rib meat, mustard, and herbs. Add the reserved reduced braising liquid. Over low heat, warm the mixture until simmering. Allow to reduce and thicken. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Prepare noodles according to package instructions. Butter noodles and divide into individual serving dishes. Whisk crème fraîche with white truffle oil. To serve, ladle meat/mushroom sauce over butMake Short Rib Stroganoff: tered pappardelle noodles, garnish with dollop of In a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat, creme fraiche and sprinkle with snipped parsley. Pour vegetables and liquid over the short ribs and bacon in the Dutch oven or roasting pan. Meat must be completely submerged in liquid. Cover pan with lid, or aluminum foil. Roast in 250 degree oven 2-1/2 to 3 hours until beef is very tender but still holds a shape. Remove from oven. Cool. Dump everything into a large colander, capturing all of the braising liquid. Set the liquid aside. Separate the meat from the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Strain the braising liquid through a mesh strainer into a heavy skillet. Reduce liquid by half. While the braising liquid reduces, cut meat into bitesized pieces. At this point, refrigerate the meat and reduced braising liquid until about an hour before you are ready to serve your meal. Overnight would be great.

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THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

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Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker Realty. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Realty fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC. Coldwell Banker, the Coldwell Banker logo, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury and the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.*Source: Wall Street Journal Real Trends 2019. Based on closed transactions from the Midwest Real Estate Data and Southwest Florida MLS and other internal sources 1/1/2019 – 12/31/2019. Coldwell Banker Real Estate #10 Large Team in Rental Income for North America; #1 Large Team in Rental Income for Illinois

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S U N D AY B R E A K FA S T

THE DAD GENE HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT AND BANNER PLUMBING CO-PARTNER GENE HARA IS A FIXTURE AS A FERVENT FATHER. BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

Gene Hara has held several titles in his lengthy and highly successful career at Banner Plumbing Supplies Inc.—from bookkeeper only two days after graduating from the University of Kansas in 1993 to the position of co-partner that he retains today. But the title that the lifelong Highland Park resident cherishes more than any other is one that you’ll never see on a business card: Dad. “I enjoy everything about being a parent,” says the 49-year-old Hara, the father of son Parker, a 19-year-old freshman at New York University, and daughter Bailey, 17-year-old student at Highland Park High School. “I love watching them grow, develop relationships with friends, mature, and learn. They’re both very good students. I’m extremely proud of both of them, and I consider them dear friends. “To them, though, I’m probably just that guy who has an insanely sarcastic sense of humor and likes to tell corny jokes.” Not likely. Humble Gene Hara is much more than that, with plenty of incontrovertible evidence available for all to see. Hara’s leadership style at Banner Plumbing—he manages the company’s Buffalo Grove branch, with the other co-partner heading the company’s Chicago site—must have something to do with multiple employees working in at least their 20th year for an industry leader that opened its doors on Chicago’s South Side in 1946. Plus Hara has answered the call to serve others for most of his adult life. Recent examples include being a mentor in Highland Park High School’s INCubator business classes during the 2018-19 school year; guiding the bulk of Banner Plumbing’s efforts to donate dinners and hand sanitizers to frontline personnel at three hospitals—Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Rush Medical Center in Chicago—during the early months of the pandemic; and taking on the role of fundraising point man in Banner Plumbing’s presenting sponsorship of the Park District of Highland Park’s SMILE program, which provides funds to families that can’t afford fees to participate in park district offerings. “Giving was important to both of my parents when I was growing up,” says Hara, the youngest of four children of Judy and the late Sherwin. “My dad always did what he could to help others, and I wanted to continue his legacy and pass it along to my kids at the same time. My kids have been generous with their time for others. Before we donated those meals, Bailey called to find restaurant partners and alerted the hospitals of our

plan. Both Bailey and Parker have been involved with HEEF (the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation),” which is committed to embracing life’s challenges through gastrointestinal cancer research and education. A young Gene Hara seized—and appreciated— each opportunity he got to spend with his father during his father’s workdays as owner of a car dealership on Chicago’s South Side. Before receiving his driver’s license, Gene joined his father for the commute on most Saturdays for a couple of years and worked in the dealership’s accounting office as a bookkeeper. Gene then drove himself to work right after school throughout his junior and senior years at Highland Park High School, often toiling over numbers until 9 p.m. Hara’s head and his green visor became virtually inseparable. “I learned a ton at the dealership, which was not far from our Banner Plumbing location in C h i c a g o, ” says Hara, who earned a degree in human development at the University of Kansas. “I was a

sponge around my father, even during our dinner conversations. And I saw and admired my dad’s great work ethic. He owned the dealership, but he was a CPA by trade. We’d talk about anything and everything on our rides to work. He’d share with me stories about his customers at the dealership, and he’d discuss situations involving his employees and how he had resolved them.” For about 90 percent of each workday at Banner Plumbing—deemed an essential business at the outset of the pandemic—Hara can be found working, by choice, in a cubicle, just like the staffers who report to him. He’s a straight shooter, a tell-it-like-it-is manager. But he’s also a good listener, brimming with empathy. His company boasts more than 125,000 square feet of warehouse space to accommodate the trade and a 15,000 square-foot, awardwinning state-ofthe-art kitchen and bath showroom. People have been putting more money into their homes during the pandemic because they’re spending more time than ever there. “Not one layoff because of COVID19,” says Hara, who’s still grateful that, after nearly five years as a bookkeeper at Banner Plumbing in the 1990s, owner Lee Greenspon allowed him to make bigpicture decisions and

Gene Hara

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Giving was important to both of my parents when I was growing up. My dad always did what he could to help others, and I wanted to continue his legacy and pass it along to my kids at the same time.

become more than “just a pencil guy.” “Today,” Hara adds, “we continue care about the big picture, along with our customers’ and employees’ experiences. We’re not a million percent driven by the bottom line, and we’re not a cut-throat business; we’re concerned about doing the right thing all the time.” What Hara’s father, the consummate people person, liked to do incessantly and earnestly: approach people from all walks of life and get them to divulge their life stories to him by using his disarming demeanor. Sherwin Hara, who died in 2013 at age 75, might have paced the Western world in acquaintances made. “My dad was a smoker who, when our family was eating out, liked to leave our restaurant table for a smoke and then talk to anybody who happened to be outside,” Hara, also personable, recalls. “Doormen, valets, other diners, anybody. He had this wonderful knack for connecting with people immediately. He’d return to our table five minutes later and tell us all about the stranger he got to know so well. “We'd all laugh.” Chuckling with his children has heartened Hara since then, be it during two-hour, highly engaging dinners at home or—in pre-pandemic times—nights at comedy clubs and concerts. The trio attended a Jerry Seinfeld performance in Chicago. “Experiencing the arts has always been of love of mine, especially when I get to do it with Parker and Bailey,” Hara says. “I also loved watching Parker play in hockey games and Bailey compete in cheerleading events.” Parker suited up and skated for Highland Park Giants Hockey Association games for three seasons. His father served the program as a team manager, a board member, and chairman of the rules and ethics committee. Three more titles. A hat trick, off the ice. But none came close to supplanting the title of “Dad” at the top of Gene Hara’s list. For more information about Banner Plumbing Supplies, Inc., visit bannerplumbing.com. Its Buffalo Grove location (847-520-6100) is at 1020 E. Lake Cook Road. THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

FINAL DAYS LIQUIDATION SALE FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BEAUTIFUL STYLES STILL AVAILABLE SALE IS IN-STORE ONLY ONLY 5 CUSTOMERS IN SHOP AT A TIME LINE FORMS OUTSIDE CASH, CHECK, DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS ONLY – NO EXCEPTIONS

everything must go

Thank You For Nine Fabulous Years! Due to COVID-19, we will only host five customers at any time. Masks are mandatory at all times. We have hand sanitizer, counter cleaner, personal care products and disinfectant wipes available. Last days to use in-store credit. All sales are final. No returns, exchanges, or adjustments on previous sales.

9 07 G R E E N B AY R OA D W I N N E T K A | 8 47. 3 8 6 . 7 9 0 0 H O U R S M O N DAY - S AT U R DAY 1 0 - 5 | C LO S E D S U N DAY THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

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7 REALISTIC TIPS FOR SELLING YOUR HOME 1. Start Packing Now | It will take longer than you think. Start with closets, basement, attic and garage. Box, donate or toss! 2. Repair Everything You’ve Been Meaning to Fix | Includes anything squeaky, leaky, loose or broken. Don’t forget pet repairs, scuffed paint and scratched floors. 3. Edit Your Stuff | Highlight your home, not your personal possessions. 4. Consider Updates That Will Help Sell Your Home | Paint, hardware and lighting can transform a home. 5. Line Up Contractors Now | They’re busy and you may have to wait weeks. 6. Make Your Space Neutral and Photo-Ready | (You already knew this one!) 7.

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| SATURDAY JANUARY 16 | SUNDAY JANUARY 17 2021

THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND