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River Woods

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

It’s Maple Syrup Season at Ryerson Woods near Riverwoods

The trees will be tapped at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 at Ryerson Woods. Maple syrup hikes will be offered the first three weeks in March.

A sure sign that spring is on the way is the tapping of sugar maple trees at Ryerson Conservation Area near Riverwoods. This year, however, drought conditions that have continued since spring of 2012 are being taken into account. With the recent snow and cold weather, last summer's dry heat seems like a distant memory. Yet, it was only this past week that the National Weather Service officially changed its "moderate drought" designation to "abnormally dry" for most of Lake County. While every drop of rain and flake of snow are helping to slowly ease our way out of last summer's dryness, the damage already done by the drought will determine the sweetness of this spring.  Ryerson is one of the few local areas where climate conditions are …

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

79-Year-Old Artist Turns Her Focus to Making Dolls

Riverwoods resident sells custom made dolls for hundreds of dollars.

Riverwoods resident Lenore Sollo has been doing artwork all her life. But when she injured her back, the 79-year-old was no longer able to walk upstairs to use her studio. “My husband had to be the one dragging everything around for me,” Sollo said. “It got to be too much.” Looking for something she could work on downstairs in the kitchen, Sollo began making dolls. She sews and stuffs the doll’s bodies, molds their faces and covers them with fabric. Sollo studied dress design at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and puts that knowledge to use designing ornate clothing for her figures. Each doll has a name like Guinevere the Puppeteer, who sits dangling marionettes on strings, or Alice, who is posed with smaller dolls portraying other …

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