Latest news with #GlenviewPoliceDepartment
Chicago Tribune
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Glenview Squares celebrates 75 years of square dancing with ‘Denim & Diamonds'
For 75 years, square-dance lovers have heeded the call—or should we say calls—of Glenview Squares. The second oldest square dance club in Illinois has been thriving since it started in September 1950 at the Junior High School Building on Waukegan Road, which later became the site of the old Glenview Police Department. To celebrate the 75th anniversary, the Glenview Squares hosted a 'Denim & Diamonds' dinner and dance on May 16 at White Eagle Banquets in Niles. Nationally-known square dance caller Andy Allemao came from California to call the dances. Janice Cha of Morton Grove, who joined Glenview Squares in 2003, said 130 people attended the Denim & Diamonds event. 'We had a silent auction, photo booths, a raffle, a cash bar and a delicious dinner,' Cha said. 'We had half dancing and half chatting and visiting with friends.' Mundelein resident Marla Schneider, who is president of Glenview Squares along with her husband Kerry Stein, said the event 'was wonderful. It really turned out well. We recognized all our visitors who attended the dance and supported us. We also recognized all of our current board members and committee chairs for all the work they've done in the past year. And then we introduced the newly elected board. Then we danced and celebrated the night away.' A video of photos from the past 75 years was going and there was a writeup about the history of the club, Schneider said. The start of Glenview Squares was part of a trend, Cha indicated. 'Seventy-five years ago, square dance clubs were popping up all over the place,' she said. 'You could have found a square dance club in almost every town.' She believes that the reason Glenview Squares is still going strong is because, 'We had the right people in place—people who were able to envision different ways of doing things.' That was particularly apparent in 2014 when Glenview Squares reduced the teaching list from 100 calls to 50 calls. 'That's way too much for people to learn,' Cha explained. Cutting the number of calls to learn in half allowed the club to offer lessons twice a year and welcome more new members. There are currently around 110 members in the club. In order to become a member, you have to have learned the first 50 calls. The membership fee is $125, which covers all regular club dances between June and May. There are dances the first and third Friday of each month, September-May. The main dance venue is First Presbyterian Church, 824 Waukegan Rd., Deerfield. Cha reported that Glenview Squares has done fun things over the years. 'I took it into my head that we should do flash mobs,' she said. 'Pre-pandemic, I helped spearhead several flash mobs.' The first flash mob was near the Bean sculpture in Millennium Park. The group has done demonstrations of square dancing at such places as Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo. 'During the pandemic, we took square dancing online,' Cha said. 'When the weather got better, we took square dancing from Zoom to outside in a parking lot.' The club is run by 17 members—elected officials and committee chairs. Some club members take the next step, as did Cha's husband, James Cha, who became a caller in 2017. After taking two classes in calling, 'I got hooked,' he said. 'I kept going to caller school and I kept working with much more senior established callers and I learned how to call.' He described square dancing as a puzzle. 'Everybody starts on a square called their home spot,' James Cha said. 'My job is to move them all around into different formations, have them interact with the other members of their square, and then get them back home using only square dance calls. There's a lot of strategy in moving folks around and making sure that they end up back with their original partner back home.' Club President Schneider praised 'the teamwork, the camaraderie, and the fellowship' of belonging to Glenview Squares. 'Also, it keeps your mind very active.' Cha concluded, 'Square dancing is such a natural way to meet people who are generally nice folks and learn something that will keep you active well into your later years, challenging your body and your brain at the same time.' Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
Lake County man charged in car crash that killed Glenview police officer Robert Fryc in Barrington on Sunday
BARRINGTON, Ill. — A Lake County man has been charged with reckless homicide in the Barrington car crash that killed Glenview Police Department Officer Robert Fryc early Sunday morning while Fryc was on his way to work. Christopher Lopez, 23, of Cary has been charged with one count of reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony, the Barrington Police Department announced Monday. Police say Lopez was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence following the crash and was taken to an area hospital for further DUI testing. Lopez will be taken to the Cook County 3rd District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows on Tuesday for a detention hearing. Glenview police officer killed in car crash on the way to work, department says Fryc, a 43-year-old from Cary, had been with GPD since 2007. He was recently recognized at the village's Feb. 4 Board of Trustees meeting for being one of the first responders who helped save the life of a fellow officer last summer. According to police, Fryc was driving his 2004 Volkswagen Jetta on Northwest Highway (Route 14) in Barrington early Sunday morning when, just after 4 a.m., a 2020 Kia Forte driven by Lopez collided with him. Child drowns at home in Bannockburn, police say Police say a preliminary investigation shows that Lopez was traveling northwest in the 200 south block of Northwest Highway when he veered into the southeast-bound lanes and struck Fryc's vehicle. Barrington first responders arrived at the scene, and Fryc was transported to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, where he was later pronounced dead. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
18-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Glenview police officer killed in car crash; other driver charged with reckless homicide
The Glenview police department and village officials and staff are mourning the loss of Police Officer Robert Fryc, 43, who was killed in a traffic crash Sunday morning in Barrington while on his way to work, per a police department news release. On Monday night, Barrington police announced they have charged a 23-year-old man with one count of reckless homicide in the crash. Fryc, who had been with the Glenview Police Department since 2007, had been honored at the Feb. 4 Glenview Village Board meeting for his quick thinking and response that helped save a fellow officer's life during an incident last year. Barrington police said in a news release late Monday night that their preliminary investigation shows that Christopher Lopez, 23, of Cary was driving northwest-bound in the 200 South block of Northwest Highway in Barrington at 4:09 a.m. Sunday when his 2020 Kia Forte crossed into the southeast-bound lanes and struck Fryc's 2004 Volkwagen Jetta. The Barrington police and fire departments responded and took Fryc to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Barrington police news release. After reviewing the police investigation, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved one count of reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony, against Lopez, Barrington police said. He was scheduled to have a detention hearing Feb. 18 at the Cook County 3rd District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows. At the Glenview Village Board meeting just 11 days before Fryc was killed, Glenview Police Chief William Fitzpatrick recounted a story of the life-saving work of Fryc and his colleagues. When Fryc drove by the car of a fellow officer who had arrived in the police department's parking lot to start work one day, Fryc noticed the fellow officer, Mark Amerazian, was slumped in his vehicle, Fitzpatrick said. Fryc stopped to check it out and set in motion a chain of events that summoned paramedics, who took Amerazian to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a brain aneurysm. Fitzpatrick told the Village Board that without the work of Fryc and fellow first responders, Amerazian might not have survived. On Sunday, after learning of the crash that took Fryc's life, a news release from the Village of Glenview and the Glenview Police Department announced they had sent home the day shift officers who normally worked with Fryc, and that coverage of the shift was being temporarily assisted by law enforcement from Cook County and neighboring communities. 'Officer Fryc was more than just a colleague,' said Fitzpatrick. 'He was a part of our family and a part of this community. Our hearts are broken by his passing, and our priority now is to support his loved ones and our department as we grieve this unimaginable loss together.' After expressing his devastation and offering condolences to Fryc's family, Village President Michael Jenny said, 'When the time is right, we will come together as a community to honor and remember his service.'
