Skokie Review

Jewish festival draws families for day of fun

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:17:22 -0500

It wasn’t just a parade or a fair packed with games and rides nor was it just a musical concert or an offering of favorite summer foods. It wasn’t just a sing-along around a bon fire either. The Great Jewish Family Festival, held May 10 at Westfield Old Orchard, was all of the above, and to leave out any of these features was to miss some of the fun. The festival drew from nearby communities, synagogues and schools. Visitors met Chicago Bear Adam Podlesh and enjoyed the music of Israeli superstar Joel Sharabi. The Great Jewish Family Festival was sponsored …

Old Orchard Junior High stages concert for ages

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:14:31 -0500

Making music together has no age barrier. That was proved last week by the Old Orchard Junior High School Band at its unique spring concert — especially the final two numbers. That’s when mothers, fathers and siblings, friends and family members and teachers and even administrators picked up their own instruments and joined the students on the gymnasium floor. Together, they offered up booming renditions of the theme to “Mission Impossible” and “Great Locomotive Chase,” but the experience was about more than just making music together. “This has been so much fun,” said Old Orchard Junior High School Band Director …

Soccer is more than a game to AYSO commissioner

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:41:34 -0500

If the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) was only about playing a game, it’s doubtful that Nives Bernardi would have been commissioner of the Skokie region for the last 16 years. True, she became involved in the organization 20 years ago because her son was playing soccer. Her husband, Larry Reis, an AYSO volunteer referee then, registered him when he was only a first-grader. “It’s a marvelous organization,” Bernardi said. “Once I became involved, I thought I would be here forever and I still may be but not as commissioner.” Bernardi is stepping down from her commissioner role in July …

New trail delights preschool students

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:36:59 -0500

Devonshire Preschool students May 9 became the first users of the new Born Learning Trail at Devonshire Park. Following a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, the children engaged in outdoor games and took in colorful and educational signs that emphasize positive behavior all along the trail. The new trail is intended to help parents and caregivers create learning opportunities for young children. Located on a short stretch of pathway at Devonshire Park, the trail also aims to encourage families to get active and to boost children’s language and literacy skills. Children who use the trail can log activity points for the Skokie Public …

Jewish World War II vets tell of battle experiences

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:56:29 -0500

“War. You can’t describe the damage it does, and you have no idea how scary it is to be in a war.” These are the words of 92-year-old Monty Nachman, a Jewish World War II veteran who served on the front lines and who experienced firsthand the horrifying atrocities of the Germans. Nachman and his platoon found dead bodies of thousands of Jews in the death camps in Poland. “There was this terrible smell I’ll never forget,” says Nachman, who grew up in Detroit and who volunteered in the Navy in 1939 and served in Europe from that time until …

Nanotech business uses tax break to move to Skokie

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:43:01 -0500

A deteriorating building that has been vacant for about six years will have new life again after Village trustees May 7 unanimously signed off on a tax incentive for the new owner. A Class B property tax incentive issued by Cook County requires approval by the Village Board and the Cook County Assessor’s Office. Trustees have approved only about a half-dozen previous tax incentive requests of this kind, all of which were ultimately granted by the county. The property at 8261 Elmwood Ave. was previously a production distribution facility for Wm. Meyer, Inc., which primarily manufactured air moving machinery and …