Wheaton North senior and multiple honor society member Robert Wertke leads our 2008 Leaders/News/Press all-area soccer team

Donna Eisner of Lombard makes amazing gingerbread houses. She is seemingly ceaseless in her efforts to crank out dozens of houses each year to give to her childrens' teachers and donate to church bazaars. Donna holds a decorating party in which friends and family get to work on this fun task.

Craig Chidester of Westmont is an avid train collector to put it mildly. His basement is filled with more Lionel product than some hobby stores.

The Riverside Public Library is hosting a Marine display with World War II memorabilia. Local residents can enjoy the display. On Veterans Day people came and shared their stories about war and the memorabilia they still have.

 The annual Elmhurst Veterans Day memorial service included recognition of veterans, Mayer Thomas Marcucci as a speaker, music, and a rifle squad. The ceremony was held at Wilder Park.

Treading lightly on Mother Earth can extend to the flooring you select, thanks to a growing number of green options. Conscientious consumers can find bamboo grasses that act like hardwood, or carpeting sprouted from corn. And organizations that certify planet-friendly forestry practices track lumber from the spot it was harvested all the way to the retail shop.

The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform the first two concerts of its 33rd season, “Sinfónica,” on Sunday, Nov. 9. The theme of the 2008-09 season is “Americans We,” with the first concert exploring the music of Latin America.

About a year after he began working for Peabody Energy in 2001, Morry Davis was looking for a venue for his wedding.

Nowadays, artists have to be equipped with a business plan — not just a paintbrush.

The Quaglia family of 113 Adams St., in Westmont, goes all out for their Halloween display. Check out this video of the spooky scene.

A 159-year-old Bensenville cemetery will not go quietly.

More than 300 people descended on the small St. Johannes Cemetery Sunday, Sept. 28 for a memorial service to honor and remember more than 1,200 people buried there, graves that are slated to be relocated to expand Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The chimney of  the old Ovaltine factory in Villa Park was imploded Wednesday afternoon.

An endangered species now numbers one stronger with Brookfield Zoo’s latest red-headed addition — and the zoo is taking a week to celebrate.

The La Grange Hobby Center has been a fixture of downtown La Grange for 65 years. Even though it is smaller than once remembered, it still offers the same amazing variety of hobby staples that we have loved throughout the years.

"Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters" is a highly anticipated exhibit at The Field Museum in Chicago that runs through Jan. 4, 2009.