Peter Boutsikakis, co-owner of Riverside Foods in Riverside, was honored on Jan. 22 with the Olmsted Spirit Award by the Frederick Law Olmsted Society, for his leadership in the society’s HopStop 2015 event last fall.
HopStop, a collaborative program educating the community on local plants, foods and beverages, was a craft beer festival held at the downtown train station. Boutsikakis was a driving force behind the event, and his vision and contacts in the craft brewing community were essential to its success.
Boutsikakis coordinated a home brewing demonstration during HopStop using elderberries grown in Riverside and hops grown in Riverside by Joe Dvorak. The resulting brew was served at the Riverside Holiday Stroll.
The event served as a fundraiser for the Olmsted Society, which is targeting Sept. 17 for HopStop 2016.
Also on Jan. 22 at the Frederick Law Olmsted Society’s Annual Meeting, members selected its 2015 board and officers, including President Rob Dixon, Vice President Abby Randall, Secretary Janice O’Flaherty, Treasurer Thomas Guardi; new board members O’Flaherty, Michelle Roblee and Dr. Michelangelo Sabatino; and returning board members Yvonne Lucero, Jim Harrington, Mary Judy, Bill Judy, Holly Machina, Jason Kinnan, Anthony Pecelunas and Phyllis Pecelunas.
The Olmsted Society is dedicated to sustaining Olmsted’s vision for Riverside for generations to come.
Hockey doc
Riverside resident and Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Dr. Douglas Evans served as team physician for the American hockey team in an international tournament in Slovakia in December 2015.
Dr. Evans was rink side as USA Hockey’s Under-17 team competed in the Four Nations Tournament against Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
He also served as team physician for the U.S delegation during the World University Games in Spain in 2015, Italy in 2013 and Turkey in 2011. He played varsity hockey in college and continues to play and coach hockey.
Dr. Evans is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist. He is an associate professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at the Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine.
Well done
Riverside Police Operations Lt. William Gutschick successfully completed the 158th Command Leadership Institute instructed by the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association in Mundelein on Jan. 18-22.
The program was developed and designed to fill voids in the FBI executive training programs for municipal, state and federal leaders of smaller law enforcement agencies. Gutschick has been a member of the FBI-LEEDA program for eight years.
On campus
Brookfield resident Megan Walsen and North Riverside resident Emily Filec have been initiated into the honor society Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Both Walsen and Filec are students at Elmhurst College.
Monica Mascitti, of Riverside, was named to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater dean’s list for the 2015 fall semester after attaining a grade-point average of at least 3.4 on a 4-point scale for the semester.
Hofstra University (Hampstead, N.Y.) has named the following local students to its 2015 fall dean’s list for attaining a GPA of at least 3.5 during the semester: Brookfield resident Libby Creek and Riverside resident Sarah Javors.
Riverside resident Tara Kaplan has been named to the 2015 fall semester dean’s list at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, for attaining a GPA of at least 3.75.
Lewis University in Romeoville has announced that Riverside resident John Cairo was named to the 2015 fall semester dean’s list for attaining a GPA of at least 3.5. Cairo is studying criminal/social justice.
Riverside resident Katie Buckley and North Riverside resident Bridget Halvey have been named to the 2015 fall semester dean’s list at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for achieving a GPA of at least 3.5 for the semester.
Brookfield resident Mark Deweese, a freshman at Lyons Township High School and a member of the school’s speech team, won first place in the Humorous division of the junior varsity Turkey Tournament in late 2015. The junior varsity team placed fourth overall with 10 individual winners.
Lyons Township High School senior Juan Ortega, of Brookfield, played the role of Bottom in the LTHS Theater Board production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in December 2015.
