Joining the Club

Area country clubs are changing with the times — they’re still posh, but more family-oriented and not as exclusive.

By Jay Copp

Everyone knows country clubs are the last fortress for the American male’s way of life. It’s where men of means can enjoy pampered leisure, taking their whacks for 18 rounds and then retreating to the clubhouse for scotch, cigars and ribaldry.
   
John Potts fits the profile. He’s president of the exclusive Medinah Country Club near Bloomingdale. He holds a high-stakes job as a lobbyist in Springfield. So what’s his story? Every Friday afternoon for years, he headed to the country club to meet . . . his son. “We’d play 18 or 27, have a nice dinner together and be home by 9:30,” says Potts.
   
Jim and Alison Kelly of LaGrange are country club members, too. Their four children range in age from four to 11. The LaGrange Country Club is the center of her family’s recreational and social life. Her kids swim at the club, play tennis and golf and ride the ponies hauled in for the summer parties. “The kids can run around here and have fun. It helps me out a lot to have them in one spot. It’s a treat,” Alison says. “This place is very comfortable and homey. It’s our anchor.”
   
You may think you know what country clubs are like. Maybe you just know what they used to be like.
   
(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)

Going Green
Practical Steps You Can Take for More Ecologically Sensitive Living

By Sara Pearsaul Vice

It seems that everything is turning green these days — green homes, green cleaners, green furniture, even green food. The trend toward the green lifestyle is omnipresent in our society — and in the western suburbs — where green products and green businesses are springing up like, well, weeds.

There’s so much green these days that it’s hard to know where to begin. As it turns out, the answer is right at home. With all the new options for more ecologically sensitive living, you can begin taking steps toward helping the environment in your own home.

(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)

Golf Guide 2008
The western suburbs are home to some of the best public courses in the country

From tee to green, take our tour of more than 90 area public golf courses.

(For full story and listings, see May/June 2008 issue)

Eco-Landscapes
Integrating environmentally friendly design into your yard

By Sara Pearsaul Vice

The pristine suburban landscape we have come to enjoy — with its large swaths of weed-free lawn and carefully manicured flowerbeds — rarely is achieved by environmentally friendly means. In fact, such perfection in nature requires an arsenal of  pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, irrigation systems and a small army of landscape technicians equipped with those noisy, polluting lawnmowers and leaf-blowers.

With the dawn of global warming and the growing concern over leading sustainable lifestyles, we are learning that we need to take better care of the natural world, even in our own backyards. Enter ecologically sensitive landscaping and a return to many of the environmental practices of generations past. Indeed, some enthusiasts would advocate returning the  modern suburban landscape to its original prairie style.

(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)

Period Pieces
Boosting your home’s character by incorporating distinctive furnishings that evoke the past

By Lisa Sloan

Most of us yearn for a home that conveys a warm welcome, filled with things that fit today’s lifestyle, yet reflect our unique personality. One of the best ways to lend character and a distinctive touch to your space is to layer in furnishings that have a history — either antiques, vintage pieces or quality reproductions.
   
“By incorporating old things with new things, you can make your house special, not just like your neighbors’,” explains Barb Mueller, co-owner of JB Winterberry, a Wheaton shop known for its selection of antiques and home decor items.
   
Bill Walker, owner of Barley Twist, an Oak Park shop specializing in English antiques, says, “People want to walk into their homes and know that nobody else has the same thing.”

(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)

Treating That Aching Back
New surgical and chiropractic techniques restore function and
minimize pain

By Denise Linke

Like thousands of Americans, Mary Bonda of Winfield had back surgery four years ago to cure chronic leg pain caused by damage to her lumbar vertebrae. Like many others, she endured a long and painful recovery, only to feel the leg pain return short weeks later.
   
Just over a year ago, Bonda went under the knife again — but with a radically   different outcome, thanks to a new surgical technique called extreme lateral body fusion (XLIF). Dr. Ronjon Paul, Bonda’s surgeon, accessed her spine through a two-inch incision in her side instead of slicing open her entire lower back. Since she was lying curled on her side during the procedure, her spine rested in a more natural position,        making it easier for Paul to reverse her earlier surgery and fuse her third, fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae. And since Paul did not have to cut through the small muscles that stabilize the spine, Bonda was back on her feet within 12 hours of surgery and was exercising again within a few weeks.
 
(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)

Town Focus on Naperville
With its dynamic downtown and strong business community, Naperville is a commercial and entertainment hub for the region

By Lynn Petrak

It’s where quaint covered bridges meet sleek office towers, where a sandy beach is within strolling distance from global high-end retailers, where earphone-wearing college students scurry to class not far from a 19th century settlement teeming with men and women in authentic garb.
   
Naperville, the oldest city in DuPage County, isn’t so much a dichotomy as it is a town that has expanded continually and in diverse directions while celebrating its heritage. Although not unique in the western suburbs for simultaneously heralding the past and building for the future, Naperville has captured a certain buzz over the past couple of decades for its burgeoning residential and business population.
   
(For full story, see May/June 2008 issue)