Pink-glove dancing to help a good cause

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The Neuqua Valley High School team that participated in the Northside/Southside Challenge included (from left) Kyle Blacker, Shelton Boclair, Taylor Soltys, Drew Smith, Xander Jacobson, Mark Derrick and Steven Krauklis. | Courtesy of Neuque Valley High School

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Updated: November 16, 2011 10:37AM

They may not be dancing with the stars, but they are pretty in pink.

Residents and staff members from St. Patrick’s Residence in Naperville proved they can cut a rug when they entered the 2011 Pink Glove Dance video competition.

“We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Stephanie Donaghey, St. Patrick’s assistant administrator. “We encourage our residents to become involved in community projects. As residents and staff were able to participate together, this seemed an ideal opportunity to celebrate our breast cancer survivors.”

The Naperville group
is among 150 organizations from across the country competing in the national Pink Glove Dance competition, sponsored by Medline. Check out their video
at www.pinkglovedance.com. Voting runs now through Oct. 21.

Three national winners will be announced on Oct. 28, with the winning organizations receiving a donation in their name to the breast cancer charity of their choice.

tasty help

Chef event aids drug treatment

Chefs from a dozen local restaurants and Casey’s Foods volunteered their talents for a chef’s tasting Oct. 2 at Naperville Country Club that brought in more than $75,000 to help area teens from the metropolitan Chicago area who need addiction treatment.

The second annual “Cooking Up Hope,” a benefit sponsored by The Rosecrance Foundation Chicago Board, drew more than 200 people who had a chance to chat with the chefs as they cooked up specialties on the spot.

Last year’s inaugural event raised more than $40,000 for the cause. The Rosecrance Foundation provides an estimated $350,000 in charity care annually to families who do not have insurance or personal resources to pay for treatment.

Rosecrance offers free screenings and assessments at five satellite offices in the Chicago area, including sites in Naperville and Geneva.

Sweet music

Museum gets
visitors of note

Naperville was pretty in pink last week when the cast of “Pinkalicious: The Musical” arrived at the DuPage Children’s Museum.

“We always strive to expand our members’ and visitors’ experience and bringing in the cast from this Chicago-based production is just one way to do that,” said Alison Segebarth, director of marketing and membership at DuPage Children’s Museum. “The museum has always been a supporter of the arts and is happy to make theater more accessible to our audience through this opportunity.”

Now playing at the Broadway Playhouse, “Pinkalicious: The Musical!” is based on the popular book by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann. The story of Pinkalicious Pinkerton, a little girl who eats one too many pink cupcakes, was brought to life by Chicago’s Emerald City Theatre’s cast.

“‘Pinkalicious’ is such a lovable story, and the cast members really brought it to life,” said Segebarth. “Judging by all the smiles on their faces, the audience seemed to really enjoy themselves throughout the performance.”

Chance to star

Teen may perform with Rascal Flatts

Concert-goers who are also performers hoping for glory can certainly relate to this: Imagine one of your favorite bands is going on tour and asks if you’d like to be the opening act.

Naperville’s Deanna Wisniewski, 16, a student at Neuqua Valley High School, may be doing just that for Rascal Flatts, now that she learned she’s in the running as part of a contest where the winner will join the country group on stage.

Wisniewski’s mother Susan said both she and her daughter are big country music fans and that Deanna got involved in the ongoing contest this summer.

“Deanna went to the Flatts concert on June 27 in Tinley Park and found out about this karaoke sing off where you can post videos of yourself online and have people vote,” Wisniewski said. “My understanding is that the voting through Facebook starts on Nov. 1, and the winner will have a chance to participate in a recording session as well as sing two songs as part of the opening act for a concert next year.”

Wisniewski said her daughter “is all over” the singing and performing thing and showed signs of being musically talented when she was just 3 or 4 years old.

“Deanna is very active at school and has been in choir and the fall play and she’s even participating in a benefit this weekend,” she said. “We’re all excited about this, and we’ll see how the voting goes.”

Sox it to ‘em

Family helps team get special plates

President of the Naperville Development Partnership Christine Jeffries is also a Sox fan. She and her family got a little miffed this summer when they realized the state of Illinois offered a variety of professional sports team logos on license plates including the Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks and Cubs, but no Sox license plates.

So the Jeffries family took up an email campaign and started asking the Secretary of State’s office why there were no Sox plates.

The family was later told that the state was more than happy to issue plates for the South Siders but that they needed the OK from the White Sox to go ahead.

Jeffries said she checked the state’s website about 3 weeks later and voila, there they were.

“I really started to think our family actually had something to do with getting these out,” Jeffries said. “The timing between our emails and the release of the plates just seemed to be too circumstantial.”

Spokesman for the Secretary of State Dave Drucker said the introduction of the Sox plate was all about coordinating schedules with the team.

“We’re big fans of the White Sox and all they do for organ donation,” Drucker said. “Our introducing the plate was just a matter of coordinating schedules with the Sox and our people here. Former Sox players Bill ‘Moose’ Skowron and Minnie Minoso came down this summer and helped us get things rolling.”

Dream walk

Event to aid
disabled

Everyone’s invited to come along when We Grow Dreams hosts a 4-kilometer walk Oct. 22 to support its mission: helping people
with disabilities lead fulfilling lives and train and work in a supportive, safe and caring environment while producing and providing products and services to
the community.

The 4K Walk for Dreams starts at 8:30 a.m., with walk-in registration opening at 7:45 a.m. Walkers of all ages — and strollers, wheelchairs, wagons, pets on leashes, service dogs, families, corporate teams — are welcome. Participants will step off at Freedom Commons, Route 88 and Diehl Road, Naperville.

Registration costs $25 for adults and $10 for kids under 10. Proceeds will benefit the West Chicago organization’s innovative approach to job training and employment for people with disabilities.

To register or become a sponsor, call 630-293-0100 or go to www.wegrow
dreams.org.

Off and running

Students part of Chicago Marathon

On Sunday morning, while tens of thousands of runners started the 26.2-mile marathon in Chicago, a group of Neuqua Valley High School cross country athletes also were on the course, competing in the 2011 Nike Northside/Southside Challenge.

The race took place on the last 2.62 miles of the Chicago Marathon’s course, ending at the same official finish line of the marathon, albeit almost two hours earlier than the first marathon finishers.

The Wildcats, who competed with the Southside team, took first place, with seniors Mark Derrick and Taylor Soltys taking first and third respectively. Of the 150 boy runners, all from Neuqua finished impressively within the top 15.

Neuqua head men’s cross country coach Paul Vandersteen said he has made it a tradition to take his top seven seniors to participate in the event, which in addition to the race, includes meeting some of the elite athletes and being able to watch the finish of the marathon in a section reserved just for them.

Derrick said he fully enjoyed the overall experience for the team and himself.

“Running on the course and ending at the actual marathon finish with people cheering was pretty unique,” Derrick said. “It was my first win in my high school career for cross country so I was really excited about winning and I kind of felt a relief that I finally won a race, because I definitely should’ve of won one before that.”