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SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 | SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 2016
SPORTS SUNDAY BREAKFAST ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT
Soprano from Wilmette set to belt ‘Messiah’ solos. P38
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fter a national search for a new superintendent, New Trier Township High School looked to its internal talent, unanimously approving Dr. Paul Sally to lead District 203 at its Board of Education meeting on November 21. Dr. Sally currently serves as associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “I am truly honored to be the next superintendent of New Trier,” Dr. Sally told the board. “It really is the people that make it a special place.” The board undertook an extensive search process that spanned five months and included hiring the search firm search School Exec Connect, which conducted 19 focus groups and an online survey over the summer. The board utilized feedback from this research to create a profile it used to recruit over 30 candidates who applied for the job. Dr. Sally received a standing ovation by the board and audience when President Gregory Robitaille Continued on PG 12
The second annual Storybrook Gala raised funds for the Wood Family Foundation’s youth mentoring program, Pitch In. P16
A Purr-fect ending
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BY EMILY SPECTRE DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
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New Trier looks within for superintendent
Running back Kyle Rock put up big numbers in Loyola Academy’s loss to Maine South in the state championship game. P29
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BY EMILY SPECTRE DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
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longhaired domestic black cat named Jackie O went missing for two months, but thanks to a caring community, a team of dedicated veterinarians and a Good Samaritan, this story has a happy ending. It also features a Chicago Bear. “I have practiced emergency (veterinarian) medicine for 12 years, and Jackie O is the first pet I have seen that has survived for two months on its own, lived through sepsis, liver failure, severe malnutrition and still made it home,” said veterinarian Meredith Maczuzak of BluePearl Veterinary Partners in Northfield. “I loved the moment when she (left) our hospital to continue her life with the love of an entire family that waited patiently to make sure she was on the road to recovery.” Amy Davis lives with her daughter, Brelana, son-in-law Ted Larsen and 14-month-old granddaughter Charlotte. After the cat went missing on September 1, Davis said, “We never expected to see Jackie O again, with the coyotes out there, the rain and the cold weather. Jackie O is very tiny, so Ted and I thought she was gone after a couple of weeks, but Brelana never gave up hope.” The family recently moved to Lake Forest when Larsen became an offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears. Davis explained that Jackie O must have slipped out when people were making deliveries to the house. “Ted was very involved in her search,” Davis said of the
Amy Davis with recovering feline Jackie O, who was found in Lake Bluff two months after she went missing from her Lake Forest home. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER.
Chicago Bears’ 6-foot-2, 315pound guard. “Several times a day, he would put Charlotte in a backpack and hike along the perimeter of the neighborhood and golf course, searching for Jackie O.” Davis said as the family combed the neighborhood and put up posters of Jackie O, the neighbors were extremely supportive, and someone suggested posting on the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Lost Pets
Facebook page, which has a dedicated following and has helped reunite many human families with their furry and feathered companions. “Everyone who sees these posts is so inclined to share with their friends, so you can imagine how wide that net gets thrown across Lake Forest and Lake Bluff,” Davis noted. On the morning of October 28 — nearly two months since the Davis family last saw Jackie
O — Lake Bluff resident Mindy Walker, her dog, Jackson, and her sister-in-law saw something in Walker’s front yard that, at first glance, looked like a black garbage bag. But then they took a closer look and realized it was a black cat that wasn’t wearing a collar and had been declawed. When Walker’s dog started barking, the feline didn’t move. Walker tried feeding her, but the cat wouldn’t eat. “We called the Lake Bluff
Police Department, who gave us a police escort to the Knollwood Animal Hospital, and they scanned her to find she had a chip, which revealed a Lake Forest address,” said Walker. The officer, five minutes later, spoke to Brelana, who was overcome with relief. “It was so nice to reunite them, and I’m so glad Jackie O was OK,” Walker added. “I’d like Continued on PG 12
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