Jim Piontkowski, building maintenance supervisor for Hinsdale, celebrates 40 years of working for the village this year.
Piontkowski, of Darien, is a Hinsdale Central High School alumnus and a St. Isaac Jogues Church parishioner who was married in the church in 1981 and held his wedding reception at the lodge in Katherine Legge Memorial Park, a building he is responsible for maintaining.
Q: Do you have any children?
A: My wife Nanette and I have a grown daughter, Ashley.
Q: Where did you meet your wife?
A: At a country and western bar in Willow Springs, called Spanky’s.
Q: What is your favorite local restaurant?
A: We love Giuliano’s in Hinsdale.
Q: Do you have a favorite dish there?
A: The gnocchi
Q: Do you play any sports?
A: I work out and I run the trails at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve.
Q: What are some of your memories from working for the village?
A: On my wedding day in 1981, my family’s house in Hinsdale had no water. I had worked for the village about a year and I thought the guys were playing a joke on me. When my mom called the village water department, they said they had made a mistake and meant to turn the water off at the house across the street.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I take lessons and play electric guitar. I especially like Chicago blues.
Q: What is the last live entertainment you saw?
A: We went to Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago in November.
Q: What was your best vacation?
A: When my daughter was 7 or 8, we took a big vacation with my parents and their camper, and went to South Dakota and Wyoming and saw Mount Rushmore and other sights. It was phenomenal. We still have the camper and take weekend camping trips in Illinois.
Q: What superpower would you like to have?
A: To be able to make everybody get along and stop the violence.
Q: If they made a movie of your life, which actor would you want to play you?
A: Jimmy Stewart
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.
