DuPage County News Briefs

Chronicle Media

Alpine Thunder will perform at this year’s Oktoberfest in Camera Park, 101 E. Fullerton Ave., Glendale Heights.

NAPERVILLE

Program salutes WWI in music

The U.S. tour of an operatic tribute to World War I will begin in Naperville Sept. 28.

Tickets are on sale for “A Silent Night: A World War I Memorial in Song” that will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Naperville’s Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., on the campus of North Central College.

In this program, presented by the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park, baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan pay homage to the centennial of World War I through the music of composers who lived through, fought in and died in the Great War.

Brancy and Dugan debuted their World War I tribute in 2014 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The program includes works by George Butterworth, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Ivor Gurney.

Brancy has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and on tour with Glyndebourne Opera. Dugan has performed as a soloist with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, and in duo collaborations with violinists Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell.

Tickets are available at the Wentz Hall box office, online at finearts.northcentralcollege.edu or by calling 630-637-7469. Regular admission is $28. Tickets for students and seniors are $25.

Wentz Hall is the first stop on Brancy and Dugan’s U.S. tour. Stops following Naperville include Stanford University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institute.

ELMHURST

Grace Café to serve food, fellowship

Fifteen churches in Elmhurst will gather this month through May 2019, to share meals they will serve through an effort called Grace Café. The public is invited to join the congregations for the free meals on 16 dates.

Grace Cafe began in 2007 as an ecumenical mission project to provide a free hot meal to anyone in the community. Community members who are facing a tight budget or are eager to share a delicious dinner, companionship and conversation are invited.

Families are welcome. Doors open at 4:30; meals are served from 5-6:30 p.m. No reservations are needed. For additional information, contact Bethel United Church of Christ at 630-279-4040.

The Grace Cafe schedule follows:

  • Sept. 24: Epiphany Lutheran Church, 314 W. Vallette St.;
  • Oct. 8: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 893 N. Church Road;
  • Oct. 22: St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, 125 Church St.;
  • Nov. 5: Elmhurst Presbyterian Church, 367 Spring Road;
  • Nov. 19: Christ United Methodist Church, 920 Swain Ave.;
  • Dec. 3: Redeemer & Immanuel Lutheran Churches, 345 S. Kenilworth Ave.;
  • Dec. 17: First United Methodist Church, 232 S. York Road;
  • Jan. 7, 2019: Visitation Church, 779 S. York Road;
  • Jan. 21: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 893 N. Church St.;
  • Feb. 4: Immaculate Conception Church, 217 S. Cottage Hill;
  • Feb. 18: Redeemer Lutheran Church, 345 S. Kenilworth Ave.;
  • March 4: Yorkfield Presbyterian Church, 1099 S. York Road;
  • March 18: Episcopal Church of Our Savior, 116 E. Church St.;
  • April 8: Mary Queen of Heaven Church, 425 N. West Ave.;
  • April 29: First Congregational United Church of Christ, 235 S. Kenilworth Ave.; and
  • May 13: Bethel United Church of Christ, 315 E. St. Charles Road.

GLEN ELLYN 

Drive-up window opened at library

In a hurry to get books at the Glen Ellyn Public Library? Patrons can now pick up books and other library materials without getting out of their cars. Just drive up to 400 Duane St.

A drive-up window has been installed as part of a $1.7 million renovation of the library’s first floor. The new window is open to the public during regular library hours – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Next to the window is the library’s new drive-up book drop, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Soon, patrons inside the library will be able to purchase hot and cold beverages, snacks, sandwiches and salads at a café, The Garden of Reading. The café will be owned and operated by two local restaurateurs, Brian Duffy and Danny Sronkoski. An opening date for it has not been set yet.

Earlier this year, the Glen Ellyn Library Foundation donated $50,000 for the expansion project. The donation, the majority of which was raised at Jungle Book Ball, will help fund the café.

The project is the third phase of the library’s master renovation plan. Other phases were the remodeling of the library’s adult department in 2014 and the remodeling of the youth department the following year.

GLENDALE HEIGHTS

Festival serving up a healthy amount of oompah

An opportunity to enjoy hearty Bavarian food and beverages and the sound of traditional German music continues through Sept. 23 in Glendale Heights at the village’s seventh annual Oktoberfest in Camera Park, 101 E. Fullerton Ave.

Authentic German food prepared by Schnitzel Platz Restaurant is being served. The festival menu includes Austrian and German pastries, German pretzels, fried sauerkraut balls with honey mustard, pork shank with bread dumplings, roast chicken, bratwurst and foot-long frankfurters. Side dishes include German potato salad and Bavarian red cabbage.

The beer being sold is imported from the Hofbräu Brewery in Munich as well as Weihenstephan Hefe Weiss Bier, one of the oldest breweries in the world.

The fest has strolling oompah bands as well as numerous German bands.

Vendors are offering German products, souvenirs, hats and steins. Attendees who purchase a souvenir stein will be entered into a raffle for a trip to Germany.

The fest will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, 5 p.m. to midnight Sept. 21, noon to midnight Sept. 22 and noon to 10 p.m. Sept. 23. Admission is $5 for adults after 4 p.m. Children younger than 16 are admitted free.

Limited VIP boxes under the grand festival tent also are available. A VIP pass includes admission, parking, premium seating, an appetizer platter, one meal, two drinks, private servers and food served on china with silverware and glassware. Prices range from $60 to $80 per person.

 

 

–DuPage County News Briefs–