Northern Illinois Weekender - 112820

Weekender NORTHERN

ILLINOIS

YOUR GUIDE TO ARTS & LEISURE IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2020 • ShawLocal.com

CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS

LaSalle display is brighter than ever / 3

GOOD NATURED

Squirrels enjoy ‘heated’ winter quarters/ 7

LIGHT IT UP

Morton Arboretum kicks off holiday season with Illumination / 5

UNCORKED

SHAW MEDIA

An expert taster shares favorite finds to consider adding to your own wine racks.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

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By JAMES NOKES

Santa Lucia Highlands lend magic to wines

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ommunity service led James Ewart to an early wake-up call.

The Diora winemaker had a board meeting at a local hospital. There are limited medical services where Ewart makes wine in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The Salinas Valley is an agricultural oasis for Americans’ salad bowl, but in the last 10 to 15 years, wine grapes have thrived, particularly pinot noir and chardonnay, in the predictably cool, sunny climate where foggy mornings and windy afternoons allow grapes to reach full maturity and develop deep, distinct flavors.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, Ewart’s service is more important than ever.

“I’m on a hospital board and this is my fourth year of doing the community service,” Ewart said.

“We live 60 minutes from another major hospital, so this is important for the community. It’s tough right now. We’ve had our fair share of cases and people are afraid.”

But he soldiers on professionally as Diora’s winemaker. A native of Australia, Ewart came to America as an intern 20 years ago and has been constantly tinkering and discovering new sites since.

“The Santa Lucia Highlands are a pretty unique place,” Ewart said. “I love Australia, they make great wines, but it’s pretty flat for the most part.

You have to go a long way to see diversity in climate. Within California, the diversity with the strong marine influence and geography is remarkable. Within a five- or 10-mile radius, you can have very different climates. Coupled with various soil types, you’ve got a very special place to make wine.”

Experimentation is encouraged for Ewart, part of the Delicato Family, Transcendent Wines portfolio. Ewart has worked various sites with different clones in search of the right mix.

“I have the flexibility, freedom and support from ownership, they tell me to go push boundaries,” Ewart said. “There’s something that might lead to us having a program in five to 10 years – I get told [to] just go play with it and see what happens.”

The results are flavorful wines that hit a pricerange sweet spot. The Diora La Grande Majesté Pinot Noir 2018 ($40) has spice and tea leaves on the nose; there was strawberry, cherry, cranberry blood orange and a metal-like minerality on the finish.

At just $25, the Diora La Petite Grace 2017 is a good introduction into the SLH appellation and the ripe fruit flavors it can produce. A more hedonistic pinot with blackberry, cherry, baking spices. Each sip is a mouth-filling experience for pleasure-seeking pinot lovers in search of instant gratification.

“For pinot, that’s a really special site on a hill that faces east,” said Ewart about San Bernabe. “We get some nice morning sun and are a little protected from the west and the late afternoon sun. But we get exposed to late afternoon wind. Those vines are really working hard and are well-balanced. I’ll pick some early and pick the bulk later to get nice ripe notes.”

Ewart said the Santa Lucia Highlands, specifically the San Bernabe Vineyard, is a magical place for chardonnay. There’s a big swing in temperature between the daytime highs and nighttime lows, which allows the fruit to retain acidity. Yet the long hang time allows for tropical notes to develop, and it

Photo provided

Diora wines are shaped by the Santa Lucia Highlands in California. shows in the wines’ concentration. Because the fruit flavors wouldn’t be overwhelmed, Ewart was able to use 40% new oak barrels in the cellar.

The Diora La Grande Lumière Chardonnay 2018 ($40) has baking spice, warm, fleshy golden apple and toasty almond flavors. Its round mouthfeel is offset by a crisp finish. The Diora La Splendeur Du Soleil 2018 ($19.99) taps into more tropical fruit flavors and creme brulee.

From various soil types to the east at the foothills of the Santa Lucia Highlands mountain range, there are sandy, alluvial soils brought to the property via the winds that race through the Salinas Valley.

To the west, it’s a rock shale loam that is a heavier type of soil. Combined, they help create an impressive palate of flavors for Ewart in the cellar.

As he moves up the mountain to sites with higher elevation, he’s noticed more mineral notes emerge.

Which is the lure of the Santa Lucia Highlands – the endless possibilities and near perfect weather lead to vintage after vintage loaded with potential.

“We do have a similar climate where each year is a lot alike, but it’s really not,” Ewart said. “Sometimes there are more grapes. Sometimes there are [fewer]. That’s the magic of winemaking, sometimes flavors come on early, sometimes they don’t.”

The flavors came with the Diora wines and did so at prices that beg for an introduction.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

STARVED ROCK COUNTRY

3 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

Dedicated to growing the awareness of everything the Starved Rock area has to offer

Scott Anderson photos - sanderson@shawmedia.com

La Salle’s Celebration of Lights will burn bigger and brighter this year.

Celebration of Lights back brighter than ever

By RYAN SEARL

rsearl@shawmedia.com

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he city of La Salle’s Celebration of Lights is back and bigger than ever before. The festive drive-thru light show, conveniently located near I-80 and I-39, now features more than 300 themed holiday displays for you and your family to enjoy from the comfort of your own car.

Located in the city’s Rotary Park, just a short drive from Starved Rock, this sprawling, social distance-friendly event features 25% more displays than previous years. An additional quarter mile of visual attractions has been added to the park’s winding, drive-thru route.

You’ll see animated dolphins leap out of a pond, watch Santa and sleigh fly skyward, and maybe even see some of your favorite characters from popular Christmas specials like

“Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” These elaborate and larger-than-life displays are all sponsored by area businesses and nonprofits. Be sure to patronize

these generous businesses while you’re in town.

It is completely free to come and see the Celebration of Lights, but donations gladly are accepted at the

gate. The donations received will go back to the park, funding capital improvement projects and future lighted displays. Previous years’ donation money has helped pay for additional electric power at Rotary Park, necessary for putting on a light show of this size and scope.

In a time when everyone is looking for a fun, family-friendly seasonal event that’s still socially distant, there’s never been a better moment to make a trip out to see La Salle’s Celebration of Lights for yourself.

The displays are open from 5 to 9 p.m.

Sunday through Thursday and from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and the week of Christmas.

To learn more and to see a video of the lights for yourself, be sure to follow the event at https://www.facebook.com/LaSalleLights. Rotary Park is at 2837 E. Fifth Road, La Salle. For information, call 815-223-3755.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

SHAW MEDIA

4 STREAMING THIS WEEKEND

Photo provided

This image released by Peacock shows Elizabeth Berkley as Jessica Spano, Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater, Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Kapowski, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris, who appear in the reboot of “Saved By the Bell.”

‘Saved by the Bell,’ Miley, McCarthy on tap

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

Movies

The Christmas movie, that yuletide evergreen, is subtly changing. “Happiest Season,” on Hulu, has many of the genre’s comforting standards – a homecoming trip, family discord, a secretly planned engagement – but it opens the holiday comedy to a fresh cast of characters and comes away all the more charming for it. Writer-director Clea DuVall’s film – originally planned as a theatrical release by Sony Pictures – stars Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis as Harper and Abby, a couple who travel to Harper’s Waspy family for the holidays. Just before they arrive, Harper confesses she isn’t out to her family. The spirited supporting cast includes Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen and Daniel Levy.

“Superintelligence” is also a studio film uprooted to a streaming service by the pandemic. The Melissa McCarthy comedy, her latest with director-husband Ben Falcone (“Tammy,”

“The Boss”), had been headed to theaters but instead debuted on HBO Max. In it, an artificial-intelligence supercomputer voiced by James Corden tasks McCarthy’s unemployed character with saving the world.

Ironically, the week’s top Netflix release is the one that’s been playing in theaters. After two weeks in select cinemas, Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy” began streaming. The adaptation of J.D. Vance’s much-talked-about 2016 bestseller hasn’t been a hit with critics (including this one), but it’s also a kind of regular feature to the season: a big ol’ helping of awards bait, with a handful of big performances by elite actors (Glenn Close, Amy Adams).

– Film Writer Jake Coyle

Music

Miley Cyrus is ready to rock ‘n’ roll on her new album. The pop star recruited some famous rock stars to help on her seventh studio release, “Plastic Hearts,” including Stevie Nicks, Billy Idol and Joan Jett. And Mick Rock, the iconic rock ‘n’ roll photographer who has shot everyone from David Bowie to Debbie Harry, photographed the “Plastic Hearts” cover art. But pop fans shouldn’t worry too much about Miley’s rock sound, the album also features a collaboration with hit-mak-

er Dua Lipa and includes producers swabs to remove toxic lead. Everyone such as Mark Ronson (Amy Winewears full hazard protection gear as house, Bruno Mars) and Louis Bell they navigate a “giant house of cards.”

(Post Malone).

Can you have a “Saved by the Bell” Grammy-winning Chicago-based without Screech? Peacock is hoping rockers Smashing Pumpkins just refans won’t notice that character’s leased a double album. “CYR” feaabsence when its sequel to the popular tures 20 tracks produced by founding TV series brings back members of member and frontman Billy Corgan. the original cast – Elizabeth Berkley, The band’s 11th album also features Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen and founding members James Iha and Mark-Paul Gosselaar – but not Dustin Jimmy Chamberlin as well as guiDiamond, who played the quirky tarist Jeff Schroeder. “CYR” is the Screech. Gosselaar plays a California followup to 2018’s “SHINY AND OH governor with a son at Bayside High.

SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. Berkley is a guidance counselor, and NO FUTURE. NO SUN” – Corgan, Iha Lopez is once again A.C. Slater, now a and Chamberlin’s first collaborative gym teacher. album in 18 years.

It happens all the time: You wake – Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu up next to a dead body in a Bangkok hotel. In the case of HBO Max’s adTelevision aptation of “The Flight Attendant,” the If you like “Bones” and “CSI” but comedy and darkness work simuljust need more French accents, your taneously. Kaley Cuoco of “The Big best bet is the terrific NOVA special Bang Theory” plays an air hostess “Saving Notre Dame.” The hour-long with a drinking problem whose loony PBS documentary shows the incrediattempts to cover up her part in the ble lengths architects, engineers and death place her in the crosshairs of craftspeople have gone to restore the the FBI. The first three episodes of the iconic Paris cathedral stricken by limited series premiered Thursday, 2019’s fire. There is detective work – where did the original limestone come with the first one free now if you’re willing to give HBO Max your email. from – along with painstaking efforts – Entertainment Writer to reclaim the building’s glory, like stained glass specialists using cotton Mark Kennedy

5 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

SHEER BRILLIANCE Morton Arboretum reimagines Illumination

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SHAW MEDIA

he eighth annual Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum has kicked off the holiday season as a reinvented driving experience with new displays and a customized music soundtrack – all enjoyed from the safety and comfort of one’s vehicle.

Through Jan. 3, guests will drive a 2-mile route to view 11 light displays, including six new features and five returning favorites. Specially curated music will be available on a dedicated radio station. In prior years, the exhibition was a 1-mile walking path.

“Decisions about how to ensure staff and guest safety during Illumination had to be made earlier this year, when the status of the pandemic in winter was unknown,” Preston Bautista, vice president of Learning and Engagement, said in a news release. “Transforming it into a driving

experience also gave us the opportunity to create an innovative, new and expanded exhibition that can’t be seen anywhere else.”

Embracing the Arboretum’s mission and identity as The Champion of Trees, the reimagined exhibition will take guests on a journey past a variety of tree collections.

New displays

• Gateway to Illumination begins the experience with passage through a brilliant tunnel of light.

• Frost Hill Fantasy meanders through a grove of LED reeds woven into the landscape, creating a dynamic vista.

• Crabapple Lake Magic recreates the previous Meadow Lake Magic by showcasing the natural beauty of the new location.

• Winter Brilliance turns Crowley Marsh into the first of two laser light experiences.

more glowing ornaments in its new location across from Crabapple Lake.

• Crystal Promenade, a grove of trees lit with beautiful chandeliers arching over the roadway, moves to a new location.

Also new this year, the exhibition will stay open later: until 10 p.m. SunReturning favorites days through Thursdays, and 11 p.m.

• Symphony Woods is back with Fridays and Saturdays, and will be its dramatic, motion-filled woodland open on Christmas Eve and Christlighting in the same location across mas, in addition to New Year’s Eve from Meadow Lake. and New Year’s Day. • Woodland Wonder moves to Frost Ticket prices range from $29 to $49 Hill to offer an entrancing view of laper vehicle; a 15-person passenger van ser lights and mirror balls, hung lower ranges from $54 to $64. Timed tickets to the ground for car-window viewing. for Illumination must be purchased • Crown of Light, created excluin advance online at www.mortonarb. sively for The Morton Arboretum by org/illumination or in person at the Smithsonian-featured collaborative in- Arboretum Visitor Center in advance stallation arts collective HYBYCOZO, of arrival at Illumination. Tickets will returns in 2020 in a new location near not be sold on-site during the event.

Crabapple Lake.

The Morton Arboretum is at 4100 • Ornament Meadow, the redesigned Route 53 in Lisle. For more information, visit www.mortonarb.org.

Ornament Hill display, will feature • Enchanted Grove provides a second spectacular array of laser planes of light beaming into the night sky.

• Radiant Wonder is a grove of trees silhouetted by brilliant up-lighting, providing the final view of Illumination before exiting the exhibition.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

SHAW MEDIA

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Cantigny part of global Museum Store Sunday SHAW MEDIA Cantigny Park invites everyone to get a jump on holiday gift giving and support local museums and cultural institutions on Museum Store Sunday on Nov. 29.

The worldwide shopping event is sponsored by the Museum Store Association. More than 1,400 stores are involved, representing all 50 states and 22 countries. Among participating stores is the Cantigny Shop, located in the Cantigny Park Visitors Center in Wheaton.

Cantigny will offer 10% off all items on Museum Store Sunday, excluding sale merchandise. Cantigny members receive an additional 10% off. The Cantigny Shop’s first 25 customers will receive a free Cantigny tote bag and free parking pass for future use.

Those who spend $25 or more can choose a bonus thank you gift – a hummingbird ornament or Battle Ready! Deluxe Strike Force Playset. All customers may enter a raffle for a chance to win a one-year Cantigny membership or a basket of best-selling merchandise.

Shopping hours on Nov. 29 are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cantigny’s regular $5 parking fee will be waived for those who mention Museum Store Sunday at the entry gate.

“We are proud to participate and offer quality gifts filled with inspiration and educational value,” said Alicia Catalano, Cantigny Park’s manager of membership and retail operations, and former treasurer of the Museum Store Association’s Midwest

Photo provided

The McCormick House (shown) and the First Division Museum are among the attractions at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Chapter. “We’ll be showcasing a broad assortment of unique gifts, and every purchase directly supports the educational mission of Cantigny.”

Museum Store Sunday, now in its fourth year, is the global annual day to “Be a Patron” through conscientious shopping that supports museum stores

and their missions. For more information and a current list of museum store participants, visit museumstoresunday.org.

Cantigny Park hours are 9 a.m. to sunset in November and December. Parking costs $5, but is free on the first Wednesday of the month.

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By PAM OTTO

Taking interesting dives into the natural world around us, Pam Otto opens new avenues of exploration.

Squirrels enjoy ‘heated’ winter quarters

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here’s no place like home. Dorothy says it, clacking her ruby slippers together, and Perry Como and the Carpenters sing about it, noting that it’s even better at the holidays.

In fact today, given our COVID mitigations, we often find we really have no place BUT home.

With the prospect of a long, cold winter just ahead, we want to make sure our chosen domiciles are warm and snug. We caulk around our door and window frames; we toss extra insulation down in the attic; we pile extra blankets on the bed and thumb our noses at Ol’ Man Winter.

But you know whose homes are the warmest? The most windproof and waterproof? It’s not yours, and it’s not mine.

It’s squirrels’.

Oh, I know they don’t look like much. A pile of leaves high in a tree.

How could they possibly offer any sort of protection from the elements?

I tell you though, they do. Driven by instinct, but certainly with some learning along the way, our local squirrels create some of the best-engineered winter homes around. Twigs, often gnawed from a tree when the leaves are still intact, form the framework upon which layer upon layer of more leaves are stacked, woven and stuffed. The thick walls of overlapping material keep wind, water and snow from penetrating to the interior, while pockets of air provide insulation that keeps cold air out and warm air in.

How successful are these structures? Numerous studies have tracked the temperatures inside of squirrel nests – which, incidentally, are sometimes referred to as dreys. Researchers in Lapland, where winters are c-c-c-cold, found that dreys routinely measured 20 to 30 degrees Celsius (that’s 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the ambient air temperature, provided the squirrel was tucked inside providing body heat. Researchers monitoring dreys in Russia, where it’s also quite c-c-cold, noted similar results.

Closer to home, in the woods of Maine, where it’s still ch-chilly, Bernd Heinrich – one of my favorite naturalist authors – has examined the materials and designs of all sorts of nests, including those of gray squirrels. In “Winter World” – one of my favorite nature books – Heinrich describes the structure of a gray squirrel drey that blew down during a rainstorm. (OK,

Photo provided

Firmly anchored in the space between the main trunk and a large branch of a silver maple tree, this winter drey is home to a fox squirrel. so maybe that calamity shoots a tiny hole in my statement that these nests are weatherproof. But I’ll bet it’s the only nest, ever, that’s suffered such a fate … lol … ) During his investigation, Heinrich found that the 12-inch-diameter nest featured 26 layers of oak leaves – flattened, dried and overlapped like shingles – that sheltered a 1 1/2-inch layer of shredded bark, which ensconced a 3 1/2-inch-wide central chamber. The layers inside the leaves were all bone dry, despite the nest having come down during a driving rain. Home sweet home at its finest.

So at this point you might be wondering, “This is all great for the squirrels. But how does it affect me?”

Well, truth be told, other than knowing our local squirrels retreat to well-insulated nests on cold winter nights, your direct benefit from dreys could stop right there.

Or it could save your life.

That’s right. Creating a framework of sticks and twigs, then insulating it with leaves, is commonly taught

as a method of wilderness survival.

Known as a debris hut, it’s based on drey construction methods and keeps its human occupant warm and toasty – just like those squirrels in Finland, Russia and Maine.

And Illinois.

Take a look around your neighborhood and, so long as there are trees, it will not take you long to find one with a leafy nest. Examine it as best you can from a distance – most squirrels like to build at a height of around 30 feet – and see if it looks like a well formed ball of leaves. If it does, congrats! You’ve found a winter drey.

But if it’s loosely constructed, flat or falling apart, you might have found a summer drey or even a fake one. In “Winter World,” Heinrich tosses out this latter possibility after having examined many dreys he called junk.

He also mentions that squirrels may build these phony nests as a way of deceiving drey-raiding predators.

At any rate, once you’ve found one solid squirrel nest, see if you can find another and another. Tree squir-

rels, both gray and fox, are plentiful throughout our area, and they all need a place to call home. But the savvy squirrels – most who survive their first year qualify – don’t stop with just one drey. Building at least two means the animal will have a backup when the gales of November, or really any winter month, come early. A spare also will come in handy if fleas or other parasites proliferate or if a marauding owl or raccoon destroys a drey.

In its heart of hearts, every squirrel would no doubt prefer to have a tree cavity to call home. Even the sturdiest dreys can’t compare to a house made of wood. But such accommodations are rare indeed, especially in suburban environments. So dreys it is.

Warm, dry, safe, secure. Even if it’s just a ball of twigs and leaves, there’s no place like home.

• Pam Otto is the outreach ambassador for the St. Charles Park District.

She can be reached at 630-513-4346 or potto@stcparks.org.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

GOOD NATURED

WOODHAVEN LAKES Private Recreational Campground

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, November 28, 2020

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So Much to See. So Much to Do.

Hiking Trails. Woodlands. Nature. Lakes. WiFi. Pools. Crafts. Movies. Fitness Center. Prairie. Deer. Pavilions. Arcade. Mini Golf.

Day Camp. Tennis. Basketball. Live Music. Theme Activities. Fireworks. Painting Parties. Open Markets. Social Events. Volleyball.

Shuffleboard. Teen Dances. Car Show. Paddleboats. Sledding. Farmers Markets. Night Hikes. Campfires. Fishing. Tournaments.

Pickleball. Acoustic Nights. Wine & Cheese Social. Road Rally. Golf Outing. 5K/3K. Haunted House. Canoing. Anything That Floats.

Horseshoes. Petting Zoo. Wagon Rides. Aqua Zumba. Playgrounds. Karaoke. Family Fun Night. Coffee Hour. Clubs. DJs. Scavenger Hunts. Kayaking. Tug of War. Food Fairs. Picnics.

Sublette IL | 815-849-5209 SM-LA1827209

www.woodhavenassociation.com

Call us for a tour!