RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Also serving North Riverside $1.00
Vol. 33, No. 17
April 25, 2018
How sweep it is
Follow us Online!
Carson’s closing at North Riverside Mall PAGE 3
LTHS takes double header from OPRF
Religions assembly OK’d at art gallery PAGE 14
PAGE 15
rblandmark.com @riversidebrookfieldlandmark @riversidebrookfield_landmark @RBLandmark
Pitch perfect sendoff for D96 music teacher
Stage named in Gill’s honor and christened with song commissioned for het By BOB SKOLNIK
Contributing Reporter
A
s an avid bicycle rider Patricia “Patty” Gill has done a lot of long rides. Thirty years ago, she rode a bike across the country from Seattle to Bar Harbor, Maine. But her longest ride will come to an end in less than two months, when she retires after 29 years as a music teacher in Riverside Elementary School District 96. Last week District 96 honored Gill by naming the stage in the Hauser Ju-
nior High auditorium after her, christening it the “Patricia Gill Stage” at the April 17 spring orchestra concert. The district’s music teachers also raised $4,500, all through donations, to commission piece of music from composer Brian Balmages to honor Gill. At last week’s concert the Hauser orchestra, helped out by about 25 alumni, played the new piece “A Riverside Celebration,” for the first time in public. The idea for naming the stage after Gill came from Hauser Band Director See GILL on page 10
ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
CHANGE OF KEY: Patty Gill sits on the stage dedicated in her name at Hauser Junior High School in Riverside.
New fire chief named in Brookfield Duffek takes reins as Lenzi steps down after more than 12 years
By BOB UPHUES Editor
Mark Duffek, veteran of more than three decades with the Brookfield Fire Depart-
ment, took the reins as chief being sworn in by Village Clerk Brigid Weber during a sometimes emotional ceremony at the April 23 meeting of the village board. Duffek, 57, replaces Chief Patrick Lenzi,
who has served in that role since October 2005 and announced his intention to retire last month. Like the outgoing chief, Duffek is a lifelong Brookfield resident. “I still love this job, and I felt I can do it in a
different capacity, if I was fortunate enough to be chosen,” Duffek told the Landmark in an interview prior to being sworn in. “I can See FIRE CHIEF on page 6
got agent? Call Lauren Cody, listing expert, and get a complimentary consultation, at 708-514-3367