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SATURDAY DECEMBER 28 | SUNDAY DECEMBER 29 2019
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
A legacy comic on cancel culture, positive laughter, and self-awareness. P18
SPORTS
A sprinter and a football team’s run to a state quarterfinal bookend our Top 19 Sports Stories in 2019. P16
SOCIAL SCENE
Scenes from Glenkirk’s annual fundraiser. P12 FOLLOW US:
NO. 376 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
NEWS
A North Shore New Year LOCAL EVENTS FOR RINGING IN 2020 EDITED BY DEBBIE LEE THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Chicago will have no shortage of bashes and balloon drops this New Year’s Eve, but why not celebrate closer to home? From family-friendly programs to Champagnefueled festivities, there is something for everyone. NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA
Enjoy butler-passed hors d’oeuvres, a decadent four-course dinner, wine, a fivehour open bar and Champagne toast at midnight—then burn it off by dancing to the sounds of an elite DJ. Party hats and favors will be provided. Package includes deluxe overnight accommodations and late check-out (2 p.m.) Hilton Chicago Northbrook, 2855 Milwaukee Avenue, Northbrook. 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.; $442 per couple; 847-509-7072, hilton.com. NEW YEAR’S EVE BURLESQUE EXTRAVAGANZA
Like your celebrations saucy? The Peckish Pig hosts its sixth annual New Year’s Eve with burlesque and cabaret performances by Eva La Feva. Expect hors d’oeuvres, a dessert buffet, and brews and bubbly all Continued on PG 10
TELLING TALES
IF YOU’VE GOT A LAKE FOREST STORY, ANNE PURKY WANTS TO HEAR IT BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
There is the story, and there is the telling. The jumble of wordplay, timing, whimsy, and daring that comes together to make a great story always transcends, leaving the listener wanting more. Anne Purky knows this from doing it. And she wants the rest of Lake Forest to know and do it, too. “Lake Forest has stories—great stories— to tell. And I’m here to help that happen,” says an impishly smiling Purky. For three years now, Purky has co-produced the highly successful “Truth be Told” storytelling series at Gorton Community Center, bringing top tellers in front of capacity audiences two to three times a year. This spring, she and her co-producers Amy Wagliardo and Ann Wildman are expanding on that with the debut of a new show in Gorton’s intimate Stuart Room. Launching February 28, the first show, “Stand and Deliver,” will be an open mic where Lake Forest residents will have the opportunity to tell stories of their own. For those who want a glimpse of what that looks like, Purky will be doing a show on January 12 at the 2020 Fillet of Solo Festival at Lifeline Theatre in Chicago. A lifelong resident of Lake Forest, Purky’s storytelling includes raucous rants about everything from being a Weight Watchers drop-out to a hamster-laden volunteer rescue gone wrong. These honest, rarely given glimpses from the underbelly of a North Shore mom’s life are irreverently funny. But Purky is not afraid to go deep—and sometimes dark. In fact, the subject matter that first brought her to the storytelling stage centers on 20 years of experience raising a daughter with cerebral palsy. Lelia, now a straight-A student at John A. Logan College in Carterville, was diagnosed with CP at 18 months old, didn’t Continued on PG 10
Lake Forest resident and storyteller Anne Purky. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MONICA KASS ROGERS
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