Most suburban politicians and business people know NSACI, the chamber of commerce and industry that serves Schaumburg and the northwest suburban region, by its sassy acronym. Probably not as many know what the letters stand for, but if you don’t, don’t bother to learn. The name just changed.
No longer the Northwest Suburban Association of Commerce and Industry, it is now the Northwest and Schaumburg Association of Commerce and Industry, so no one can say the group is giving short shrift to one of the region’s most business-intensive suburbs.
Every year, NSACI picks the snowiest day in January (it’s a coincidence, we are sure) to hold its annual Town Meeting for local mayors, which was last week.
What this boils down to is a chance for a half dozen northwest suburban mayors to brag about all the good things that happened in their suburbs last year, engage in a little good-natured bantering and answer written queries from the audience about tedious subjects such as zoning and building-permit procedures in their towns.
Every mayor there noted that the permit process in his or her community had been streamlined, overhauled, improved and perfected in the last year–in fact, listening to them talk, we would guess it only takes about 15 minutes to get any kind of permit anywhere in the northwest suburbs these days.
Spreading the good word about their municipalities this year were Tom Menzel, Rolling Meadows; Rita Mullins, Palatine; Craig Johnson, Elk Grove Village; Al Larson, Schaumburg; Arlene Mulder, Arlington Heights; and John Tatooles, Inverness.
Here are a few highlights of the mayors’ brag lists. All but Tatooles, whose affluent suburb is mostly residential, boasted about current and future redevelopment projects, many of them in their downtowns.
Menzel noted the expected arrival of 3Com in Rolling Meadows, while Mullins mentioned that Palatine had been given the Lincoln Award, a state honor analogous to the national Malcolm Baldridge Award for Excellence. Johnson discussed improvements in access to Busse Woods, which attracts roughly the same number of visitors a year as Yellowstone National Park.
Larson put in a plug for a rail transit corridor from O’Hare to the northwest suburbs, and Mulder noted that Arlington Heights officials are in close contact with Arlington International Racecourse management over future uses of the 326-acre property, once the state’s most elegant racetrack.
Tatooles pointed to a new senior home in the village and the hiring of a new village administrator, Curt Carver.
Mayor Mike O’Malley of Hoffman Estates had to miss the event because of a family funeral. We hope he gets double bragging rights next year.
Sound of silence: On Feb. 1 (or maybe a little later, if no replacement can be quickly found), 86-year-old Kenneth Goodman, the pianist who has thrilled Barn of Barrington patrons with his classical music for 25 years, will retire.
According to catering manager Kathy Excell, Goodman has played in the rambling restaurant’s lobby, music room and Carousel Bar, which, she insisted, was built with Goodman in mind.
Goodman, who played nightly until a few years ago, now plays only on Fridays, Saturdays and special occasions.
“I have never had a negative moment there,” he said. “It has been a party every single day.”
Goodman got his classical training at the Juilliard School of Music. During his 60-year concert career, he played classical music on the organ throughout Europe, Australia and “every single town and city in New Zealand.”
But it was while he was doing demonstrations for Baldwin pianos in Chicago during his summers off that he was noticed by a wealthy customer, who hired him frequently to play at her parties. It was there he was discovered by the owners of the Barn of Barrington, who hired him in 1973.
“My music has been a ministry with me,” Goodman said. “And my audiences have all been marvelous.”
No more deliveries: Jim Spencer, 55, won’t be carrying a mail sack anymore, but that doesn’t mean he is going to quit making his rounds in Rolling Meadows.
Spencer ended his 37-year career at the Rolling Meadows Post Office on Jan. 3; he spent 35 of those years on the same route, which is right next to his home.
“I love to walk, so I plan to keep walking my old route every day, until I move to Florida next year,” he said.
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