HS Board

The Mount Prospect Farmers Market, run every Sunday morning by the Mount Prospect Lions Club in one of the train station parking lots, carried on in a slightly-diminished manner during 2020. 

Prior to opening for the 2020 season, the four-person committee that coordinates the local staple consulted with the Village and the Illinois Environmental Health Department; visited other local Farmers Markets to see how they were conducting their markets; and studied the CDC guidelines so they could relay them to the vendors. 

“Since we had to social distance, our vendor space was limited and we wanted to have enough room for parking, as well. Fortunately, some vendors decided not to participate. Overall, I don’t think business was down, but attendance may have been,” said Fred Steinmiller, chairman.

“It was a big adjustment,” he continued. “For instance, we needed additional Lions to monitor all the exits and entrances, armed with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. And finding people willing to work on Sunday mornings is tough.”

For the most part, according to Steinmiller, the public accepted the restrictions and followed the guidelines. He said that residents and guests were generally very appreciative of the MP Lions’ efforts, although they did receive some pushback from shoppers on the mask mandate.

“But we reminded them that this was a guideline set by the CDC and since we were operating on Village property, we had to comply,” he added.

During the 2021 season the Lions hope to gradually add more vendors and maybe some special events. The Sister Cities Commission also hopes to bring back their French Market one Sunday in September, but social distancing requirements, if they persist, might make that impossible. 

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Photo credits; William Wille

by Kiersten Cannizzaro

During the spring of 2020, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, professional photographer Kiersten Cannizzaro offered free group photos via her photography Facebook page and the Mount Prospect Neighbors page. The response was amazing. About 80 families and even a number of businesses in Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Park Ridge, Chicago, Palatine, Elk Grove, Wheeling, Lake In The Hills, Elgin and Algonquin took her up on her offer!

“I had seen a clip on the news about other photographers doing porch portraits and I thought it was a great idea,” Cannizzaro explained. “I had seen how much restaurants in our area were struggling and thought I could do some shoots and ask people in return to order from local restaurants to help boost business. I thought this would be the perfect scenario to get me out of my four walls and interact with people at a safe distance and make people smile again (which makes my heart smile) while giving back to the local restaurant businesses that were needing business now more than ever.”

“And shortly after that, I learned Station 34 was donating meals to first responders so I started asking for donations and sending the money to Station 34 where Joe, the owner, was making and delivering meals to police stations, fire stations, hospitals, nursing homes, public works etc.”

“I started my career at Leo Burnett Advertising and there I was trained to always be looking for ways to promote a product or business, but this was really something different,” Cannizzaro said. “The pandemic brought out a lot of good in people. It made so many of us want to do something good; to make a difference; or to help in some way.”

“I’m not a doctor or in healthcare, so what good could I do?” she continued. “I can make people smile! So that is exactly what I did. I made people smile and then helped feed those that are helping take care of those who are sick. It felt good to do something nice for people and to make people feel better at a time when we all really weren’t feeling so great. Maybe I wasn’t saving lives, but I was saving a few smiles and that was just as good for me.”

Looking back on that time, Cannizzaro said that she has many wonderful memories of her photo shoots.  There were the graduates who didn’t get the big commencement pomp and circumstance; the first wedding anniversary when they shared their wedding cake; the baby announcements; and the First Communions with girls in their beautiful white dresses with gloves and boys in their suits, all growing up with such dignity and grace in these unprecedented times. “There were also lots of families with their proud service members, police officers, firemen, nurses, doctors, teachers, as well as the proud parents sending their sons and daughters off to the Army and Navy or off to college, all with tears streaming down their faces and beaming with pride.” 

“There were so many happy faces and goofy families who made the spring of 2020 a better spring overall,” she added.

Randview Highlands Artwork

When Karen Luehr and her 11-year-old daughter, Emma, found themselves locked down in their Randview Highlands home east of Prospect High School in the spring of 2020 because of COVID-19, they quickly began putting hand-drawn photos in their windows and doing chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their home – all to entertain the increased number of walkers suddenly parading by each day. Emma was the artist.

“Our neighbors all seemed to love it!  The artwork brought a smile to people’s faces,” Karen said.

The Luehr home artwork even ended up on a neighborhood scavenger hunt!

“Live In The Drive” is a group of full-time professional musicians who came together as a way to continue performing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four of them are long-time Mount Prospect residents. 

“We have been providing our community with a diverse array of music and a safe concert environment,” explained Lisa Fako, violinist. “We gave a total of nine outdoor concerts during the summer of 2020, seven in Mount Prospect and one each in Elmhurst and Beecher.”

Besides Fako, the group includes: Amy Barwan, oboe and English horn; Laura Fako Utley, harp; Jocelyn Davis-Beck, cello; Peter Brusen, bassoon and saxophones; former District 57 School Board member Joe Sonnefeldt, percussion, and Phil Orem, our composer/arranger/conductor. 

“We are all classically trained musicians and longtime colleagues who have worked together throughout our careers. Between us we have played in orchestras for countless Broadway shows, The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. We have performed with artists from Luciano Pavarotti to Bernadette Peters to Frank Sinatra to The Who.”

“Live In The Drive” began in June of 2020 when the Fako sisters decided to play an impromptu concert in front of Lisa‘s home on South Wille Street. Their intention was to create a way to continue to perform, to bring people together, and to remind them that the arts and especially live music, are essential in our lives, they said.

Neighborhood children became a big part of the concerts. They went door-to-door to pass out invitations and handed out programs at the concerts. Also, a group of little girls from the block danced on the grass at every concert. 

“We did not ask for payment nor did we have a tip jar, although one of our concerts was sponsored by the Chicago Federation of Musicians M-HART program (Music- Helping All Recover Together), and we received generous donations to that fund. Eventually we set up a PayPal account and are using those funds to create a professionally-produced video which we will share on our social media very soon,” Fako stated. 

“The most rewarding result of our concerts was the powerful effect it had on our community. Our neighbors were so grateful to gather together on a beautiful afternoon or evening to hear music and to socialize safely. It was really magical and unexpected during this time of COVID-19 isolation,” she continued.

“Although this is a very difficult time for professional musicians, we feel fortunate to have had such a rare opportunity to make personal connections with our audience members. It has been incredibly moving to hear about the joy we have brought to people’s lives, especially during this time when we are all separated. These shared experiences have truly reminded us of how important our work is in bringing people together.”

“As musicians, we spend years working on our art and sometimes overlook what it’s truly all about,” the “Live in the Drive” artists said in a joint statement. “When we give live, outdoor performances in our yards to our friends, neighbors and family, it is clear… It is about community. Music brings people together, but the audience is the most important part of this community. We are so grateful to our Mount Prospect neighbors for supporting our love of music and for coming together to create this wonderful experience for us all.”