Gina Grillo

Gina Grillo is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

At Oktoberfest, hosted by the Gorton Center on Oct. 18 Chicago area band, Die Musikmeisters, provided live music with an Oktoberfest vibe, while dance instructors, Elizabeth Bushell and Brenda Good showcased polka and German folk style choreography, encouraging patrons to join in throughout the evening. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest’s Gorton Center holds Oktoberfest celebration with German food, dirndls and lederhosen

October 24, 2025 at 7:19 a.m.

Dirndls, lederhosen, bratwurst, beer, Bavarian bells, and German folk dancing, all part of the Oktoberfest celebration at the Gorton Center.

Busy community carving stations where the finishing touches were being made to pumpkins in preparation for Saturday’s 7 p.m. pumpkin lighting ceremony. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Highwood celebrates its 15th Annual Pumpkin Fest with tradition and a great wall of pumpkins

October 7, 2025 at 8:41 a.m.

When autumn leaves start to fall, one North shore town has created a seasonal tradition that honors everybody’s favorite gourd. Celebrate Highwood’s 15th annual Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival, October 3-5,...

Pipe Bands Prairie March & Traditional Massed Bands with Drum Major Jason Paguio included participants from Chicago Highlanders, City of Chicago Pipe Band, Dundee Scottish Pipe Band, James Enright Memorial Pipe Band, Midlothian Scottish Pipe Band, and Milwaukee Scottish Pipe Band, all part of the Bagpipes & Bonfire at Middlefork Farm Nature Preserve in Lake Forest on Sunday. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest’s annual Bagpipes & Bonfire attracts hundreds to celebrate the gift of the land

September 29, 2025 at 6:51 p.m.

Hundreds gathered in the golden warmth of an autumn afternoon on Sunday for a multi-generational celebration of nature. Bagpipes & Bonfire, generally held on the last Sunday in September, is...

Sharyn Procaccio, a collector from Hawthorn Woods peruses items for sale in the Treasures Tent on Sunday during the 57th annual Antiques & Treasures, an annual fundraising event of the Lake Forest Chapter of the Infant Welfare Society, featuring over 70 vendors from across Chicagoland and the Midwest offering furniture, glassware, garden accessories, vintage jewelry and clothing, all looking for a new home in the parking lot of the East Lake Forest Train Station. (Gina Grillo/ For the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest’s Antiques & Treasures, in its 57th year, attracts over 70 vendors to annual event

September 9, 2025 at 8:54 a.m.

Wendy Franzen, president, Infant Welfare Society of Chicago, Lake Forest Chapter, says Antiques & Treasures started very simply, with IWS members bringing treasures from home to sell from an open trunk.

Daniela Popovic member of the Ansambl Sokoli folklore group (far right), during the Taste of Serbia Festival, hosted by St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church in Lake Forest-Mettawa on Saturday. (Gina Grillo/ For the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest’s annual Taste of Serbia Festival brings Serbian cuisine, culture and faith to Lake County

September 1, 2025 at 3:25 p.m.

Christian hospitality, Kolo dancing, stuffed cabbage rolls, and plum brandy were all part of this past weekend’s Taste of Serbia.

All Lake County Queens pose together during the 11th annual Lake Forest Lake Bluff Community Pageant. (Gina Grillo/ For the Pioneer Press)

Contestants in the 11th annual Lake Forest Lake Bluff Community Pageant experience new trends in event

August 18, 2025 at 4:45 p.m.

Historic notions of the beauty pageant are evolving, and local community pageants are becoming more complex, not simply judging contestants on the way they look.

Two-year-old Rose Otto of Lake Forest enjoys the carousel with her grandmother, Shirley Lipke. The 117th Annual Lake Forest Day parade and carnival has become the largest fundraising event of the of the Lake Forest American Legion McKinlock Post 264.
(Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest Day brings the community its annual summer tradition for the 117th time

August 11, 2025 at 4:18 p.m.

For more than 100 years, Lake Forest Day has been an annual ritual providing a sense of familiarity for the city. The tradition continued once again this year, albeit with...

Meeting of the prison pen pal ministry at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, where they have developed a dedicated group of parishioners corresponding with men and women incarcerated in Illinois prisons. With a 10-plus-year history at the church, ministry members have written to over 100 prison pen pals in prisons such as Dixon, Pinckneyville, Danville, Western Illinois in Mount Sterling, Illinois River in Canton, Stateville, and others. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

A group of parishioners from a Lake Forest church uses the art of letter writing in prison pen pal ministry

August 4, 2025 at 4:31 p.m.

At the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, a prison pen pal ministry has been created with a group of about 40 parishioners corresponding with men and women...

Saturday’s full-day racing lineup featured nine pro and amateur men’s and women’s bicycle races with cyclists from more than 42 states and many foreign countries. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

13th annual Northwestern Medicine Lake Bluff Criterium sees over 500 Cyclists compete on Saturday

July 28, 2025 at 4:22 p.m.

Under the threat of rain, over 500 racers took part in the 13th annual Northwestern Medicine Lake Bluff Criterium in downtown Lake Bluff on Saturday, for an all-day racing event...

The cast of The Queen’s Museum, written by Mark Adamczyk, presented by Citadel Theatre with outdoor performances that ran July 17 through July 20, at Lake Forest Open Lands, 350 N Waukegan Road in Lake Forest. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest theater company premieres The Queen’s Museum in outdoor venue

July 22, 2025 at 11:48 a.m.

A theater not bound by walls or a building, a performance written to be performed out in nature, all characteristics of this weekend’s world premiere of The Queen’s Museum.

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