The Faces of Philanthropy

A year-long celebration of events for Barrington’s Sesquicentennial didn’t happen overnight.

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Produced By Lisa Stamos | Photography by Matthew Bowie

In fact, planning for 2015 began in 2010 with Village of Barrington President Karen Darch appointing long-time Barrington citizens to lend their time and expertise. Month after month led to years of discussions, meetings, and coffees—moving a world of possibilities into final decisions. The calendar of events was set. Meet some of those leaders who volunteered their guidance, historical perspective, time, and talent to imagine and then produce unforgettable moments.

Here’s a look back at this historic year from a thankful community, before setting our sights on our next hometown milestone.

Debbie Villers

Sesquicentennial Committee Co-Chair

Our planning started in 2010 and it went fast! I was hoping to be asked to help, because I love Barrington. People told stories about our fascinating history in meetings and I loved learning about that, as well as making new friends and seeing old friends. We spent the first year in committee getting to know each other. There were a million ideas but in the end, we wanted to make sure that all the events would be open and include everyone and anyone who wanted to attend.

Debbie Villers has lived in Barrington for 40 years.

Tim Dunn

Sesquicentennial Committee Co-Chair

Karen Darch asked me if I would co-chair the committee while running into each other at the Jewel. The response to the many committee members being asked to help was amazing. People stepped up and were very responsive to helping. Sam Oliver, Ron Hamelberg, Peer Lykke, Chris Griffin, and others rose to the occasion. Rose Faber and the library staff were a great help to us. The work between the Village of Barrington and the Barrington Park District was incredible. The Civil War Reenactment at Citizens Park looked like Northern Virginia. The weather held up and only one event had to be moved up a day. This was a wonderful year in Barrington that truly brought the community together.

Tim Dunn has lived in Barrington his entire life. He is the grand-nephew of Barrington historian, Arnett C. Lines.

Peer Lykke

Chairman, Sesquicentennial Committee History Work Group

My favorite aspect of my role was to be part of putting the history together—to see what three years of planning turned into with the Quintessential Barrington Special Sesquicentennial Edition. I enjoyed being a part of organizing the Sunday Ice Cream Social on July 5 (2015) for the Barrington Area Ministerial Association’s celebration. Our churches play an important role in our communities. I hope this event happens every year! The most fun I had was the role I played at Barrington History Day at Hough Street School. I dressed in a period costume as Milius B. McIntosh, Barrington’s first elected mayor after incorporation. The whole school participated and the students asked great questions. I tried to help them feel what is was like to be a kid in Barrington right after the Civil War.

Peer Lykke has lived in Barrington for 29 years.

Rev. Jeanne Hanson

Chairwoman, Civil War Reenactment

We had a steep learning curve to envision and frame the challenges of the Civil War Reenactment. I had seen one similar event in Lake County, but still didn’t know where to start or who to call first. Personally, having this event go off as well as it did was a joy—and a relief! It was fun, and a collaboration between the Village of Barrington, the Barrington Park District, and the Barrington Fire Department. My committee members really pitched in. Barrington Police Chief Dave Dorn was amazing and able to handle challenges with such calm and focus. Tim [Dunn] and Debbie [Villers] were awesome to work with. The committee was filled with enormous hearts and a deep love for Barrington.

Jeanne Hanson has lived in Barrington for 28 years.

Mary DiGiulio

Co-Chair, 1865 Street Festival

Planning the 1865 party started with a blank piece of paper and a few years later, ended up with a crowd of 3,000 attending the festival. Chris [Griffin] and Jennifer [Wondrasek] asked me to join the board. We sat in Cook Street Coffee and shared ideas. We wanted the event plans to be sensitive to the merchants involved, and to bring people into town. We have a very friendly small town atmosphere. Everyone in the Village we reached out to helped. It was great meeting and knowing so many people and seeing us all come together.

Mary DiGiulio has lived in Barrington for 27 years.

Chris Griffin

Co-Chair, 1865 Street Festival

I was appointed in 2010 and thought, “Oh my, what will we talk about for five years?” At first we thought about hosting a gala, but that did not make sense to us. We wanted to do something downtown and with the merchants. My job was the food and beverages. I asked for a lot of support and no one said no to me. I made a lot of nice new friends. We heard it was going to pour on April 25, so we moved the festival to the next day and had a bright blue sky. Our event was the big kick-off to the whole Sesquicentennial year. The Village of Barrington was nice to work with. Some families came in costume. There was a good community feel. Stores stayed open. It was one of the happiest days I’ve ever seen in Barrington. I’m still pumped about it!

Chris Griffin has lived in Barrington for 31 years.

Jennifer Wondrasek

Co-Chair, 1865 Street Festival

My favorite aspect of the job was seeing how excited and willing the residents and businesses were to be a part of the Sesquicentennial. So many people stepped up to help and make the events so special and memorable for Barrington. The merchants went above and beyond for what we asked for. Pepper delivered the small houses used as booths at 3 a.m., and Pasquesi’s loaned beautiful greenery to dress up the space. Calico Corners made a large number of quilts to place across bales of hay for people to sit on. My most memorable event was the amazing and beautiful day we had for the festival. We had to move the day from Saturday to Sunday due to rain, and everyone involved made it work, and, better than we could have hoped for.

Jennifer Wondrasek has lived in Barrington for 30 years.

Linda Kemper

Chairwoman, History Committee and
Co-Chair of “Honoring the Past and Celebrating the Present”

It’s exciting to have seen how people are so proud of the heritage and showing enthusiasm for sharing Barrington’s history. When asked, no one turned us down to participate.

Linda Kemper has lived in Barrington for more than 60 years. Her great grandfather, David Richardson, was one of Barrington’s first doctors.

Rose Faber

Head of Adult Services, Barrington Area Library

I was on the History Work Group subcommittee that supported the Sesquicentennial efforts with research. The history fair in April at Barrington’s White House was so much fun. Committee members, as well as the public, shared memories and stories. I totally enjoyed seeing the memorabilia people brought to share with us. People have realized that we need to preserve our history. Everyone was enthused and passionate. The Civil War Reenactment was one of my favorite events. They did a marvelous job.

It was a totally enjoyable, wonderful year.

Rose Faber, a Palatine resident, has worked at the Barrington Area Library for 26 years.

Bob Lee

Sesquicentennial Committee, Marketing

I worked with the Sesquicentennial Committee with a focus on marketing. We had a 14-person marketing subcommittee. I had the joy of photographing most of the events throughout the year. My favorite aspect of the job was having the opportunity to meet and work with people whom I did not know previously. There are so many people willing to enrich our community and our lives. Every major event exceeded my expectations. To me, most impactful was to see the celebration initiated at Hough Street School. The research, creativity, hard work, and commitment by students, teachers, and the staff will be remembered by some when the Village celebrates its 200th anniversary. It is also very special that our Village and its citizens are leaving a gift for the next 150 years—Barrington’s White House!

Bob Lee has lived in Barrington for 36 years.

Barbara L. Benson

Sesquicentennial Committee, History Work Group

I started working in Barrington at the Historical Society in 1980, and happily moved here in 1985. The opportunity to research again, and delve even more into Barrington’s history has been amazing. The greatest satisfaction has come from working with our committee and the editors of QB towards the publication of the QB Special Sesquicentennial Edition, which is one of the most important additions to the iconography of Barrington’s history to be published in years. I am honored to have had a part in this.

Barbara L. Benson has lived in Barrington for 35 years.

David Nelson

Sesquicentennial Committee Member

I was a member of the Sesquicentennial Committee, and was responsible for the Baby Face Nelson Reenactment called “The Battle of Barrington”. My favorite aspect of the reenactment was bringing together the community, the actors, the vintage car owners, the Barrington Police Department, the Barrington Park District, and even an 87-year-old witness to the event who spoke there. Selfishly, I loved working with my son, Dylan, on a community event, but also loved the opening event, the 1865 Street Festival at Cook and Station Streets which had my favorite musicians, the Sons of Bildor!

David Nelson has lived in Barrington for 42 years. He is not related in any way to Baby Face Nelson.

Dylan Nelson

Baby Face Nelson Reenactment Actor and Choreographer

I enjoyed the role of playing Baby Face Nelson tremendously. When I was much younger, every time we drove by the McDonald’s in town, my dad would mention the Baby Face Nelson story, so I was familiar with it. I gathered several of my friends from high school to be the actors for this event. The crowd that attended at our November 27th event was much bigger than we expected. Several kids came up to me for photos. It’s great to give back to the community and this was a fun project to work on.

Dylan Nelson has lived in Barrington for 35 years.