HOPE Fair Housing Center, serving DuPage, Kane, McHenry and 27 other northwest Illinois counties, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a benefit dinner on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Hyatt Lisle Hotel, 1400 Corporetum Drive.

The Western DuPage Special Recreation Association recently announced the winners of the 2008 WDSRA Community Spirit Awards.

La Grange-based Southwest Suburban Center on Aging will host its annual luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at La Grange Country Club. Melissa Isaacson, Chicago Tribune feature writer and sports columnist, will give the keynote address, sharing experiences from having both parents diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Marilyn King, a Olympic pentathlon competitor who placed at the 1980 trials after an auto accident left her unable to train, will be the keynote speaker for DuPage PADS’ 6th Annual Wake Up Your Spirit Breakfast from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the Krasa Center at Benedictine University, Lisle.

“She’s Got the Look 2” offers women 35 and older a chance at supermodel stardom. No modeling experience is required and women from all walks of life are encouraged to compete for a modeling contract with Wilhelmina Models and other prizes.

Organizers said suburban women are a contest target.

Building Design + Construction Magazine has named Hinsdale and Elgin architecture firm, DLA Architects, Ltd., the 30th largest architecture firm in the United States in the category, “K-12 Schools Design Firms.” To date, DLA Architects has provided comprehensive architectural and planning services for 41 Chicagoland school districts representing 127 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 48 high schools. Each year, Building Design + Construction Magazine editors survey the country’s largest architecture firms in the nonresidential building industry to create the 2008 Giants 300 Report. DLA Architects has two offices located at 15 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 400, Hinsdale and 462 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin. For further information, call (630) 230-0420 or visit www.dla-ltd.com.

Since about third grade, Jennie Kamrath has come home from school every day with a splitting headache. The Downers Grove resident, now 17, usually makes a beeline for her bedroom, where she closes the blinds, pulls the covers over her head and tries to sleep off the pain for a couple of hours.

There’s a new kid in town who’s challenging the dessert monopoly of his more traditional counterpart: the cake. A cupcake revolution is afoot. As the mini sweet muffins gradually increase their market share, they’re being seen as a more unique and casual alternative to a three-tiered monstrosity.

The Elmhurst American Legion Auxiliary will be holding its Fourth Annual Chili Cook-Off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at the post home, 310 W. Butterfield Road, Elmhurst.

The 34th Annual Ray Graham Association Gala, themed after the monarch butterfly, celebrated the efforts of local folks in the community who have given their time and money to help support and provide services for more than 2,500 children and adults with disabilites.