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Politics & Government

Fun Abounds at Winter Celebration

Annual Village event draws good crowds according to Mayor Rosenthal.

Deerfield’s annual provided a different variety of favorite treats to different people as everyone found something special Friday and Saturday throughout downtown Deerfield. 

Families rode ponies, were pulled on , heard music of Christmas and Chanukah, enjoyed a petting zoo, had plenty of opportunities to meet Santa Claus, donated food and toys and made holiday treats. 

Muffy Collins of Deerfield and her three grandchildren—Maggie, Kathleen and Tommy Mosher—decorated a gingerbread house at . Collins liked transporting the effort to the store. 

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“This is our family treat on grandma’s dime,” Collins said. “By the time you do all this stuff in the house it’s a mess and they like being with other kids.”

Maggie liked the individuality the decorating offered. “You get to do it yourself,” she said. “You can let your imagination run wild.”

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As Collins and her grandchildren made their gingerbread houses, they and the other customers in the store heard music of the season provided by the All Singers Village Chorus. The group of singers from all over Chicagoland was led by Karen Whiteman of Deerfield.

“This is fabulous leading the chorus in my hometown,” Whiteman said of the all volunteer group. “I’ve lived in Deerfield since I was seven and I know a lot of people,” she added as her neighbors gave her and the group accolades.

Not far away at , The Shining Lights, a group of teenage singers, was entertaining the lunchtime crowd. While the All Singers Village Chorus sang primarily Christmas music, The Shining Lights sang Chanukah songs.

All of the group’s tunes are original numbers written by Larry Kaplan of Long Grove. He got the idea for the group from his father. “My father told me there were all these Christmas songs and there should be Chanukah songs,” he said.

Deerfield singers in the group are Ari Brown, Lillie Becker, Sarah Glieberman, Ricky Jacobson, Sydney Kayman, Amelia Levine, Alyssa Robin, Eli Singer and Miranda Singer.

A popular activity for the children was the pony rides. They were a big hit for the Frank family of Deerfield and the Gleich’s from Highwood. George Gleich rode a pony while his brother, Patrick, preferred the shoulders of his father, John, a Trinity International University graduate student.

“This is great fun. The boys each got a dollar from their aunt and we’re going to go to Walgreen’s and get something special,” Kate Gleich said. She looks forward to the day her family may live in Deerfield. “We’d love to live in poet’s corner,” she added referring to a favorite neighborhood.

For Erin Frank, who was riding ponies with her brother, Alex, and her father, Bob, it was all about enjoying the ride. “It was super fun,” Erin said. “We actually got to ride the horse,” she added explaining why she enjoyed it even more than the sleigh.

, who helped serve more than 150 people dinner Friday night at Village Hall, was pleased with the weekend. She felt it was a good celebration for the community and a boost to local business.

 

“People were singing and happy,” Rosenthal said. “. They were bringing bags of groceries for the drop off,” she added referring to the Police Department’s effort to collect food for the West Deerfield Township Food Pantry.

spent much of the day at a municipal parking lot helping collect the food. “People took the opportunity to be giving and generous,” she said.

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