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SATURDAY JANUARY 20 | SUNDAY JANUARY 21 2018
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
SPORTS
Manager steers youth from his CROYA nest. P34
Kristin Fisch proves to be a freshman sensation for Lake Forest High School’s girls gymnastics team. P28
SOCIAL SCENE
Supporters step up for Bravo Waukegan. P22 FOLLOW US:
NO. 276 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
NEWS
Sick of the flu? You’re not alone BY LIBBY ELLIOTT DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
A particularly virulent strain of the seasonal flu is making waves across the United States and abroad this winter, leaving a wake of sickness in its path. Stories reporting severe flu activity have been featured in national media outlets across the U.S. as well as in Great Britain, where this season’s scourge has been dubbed the “Aussie Flu.” “Flu Stomps The Nation, Overwhelming ERs and leaving 20 children dead,” read a January 13 CNN headline. In The New York Times on January 8, director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s influenza branch, Dr. Dan Jernigan, confirmed that about 80 percent of current flu cases are of the Type A H3N2 strain, which caused numerous hospitalizations and deaths this year in Australia, where winter rolls around in July and August. In contrast to H1N1, the other seasonal Type A strain, and to B strains that usually strike later in the flu season, the Times reported, H3N2 tends to kill more of the very young and very old. “H3N2 is a bad virus,” Dr. Jernigan was quoted as saying. “We hate H3N2.” Recent CDC reports also confirm that influenza-like illness activity is currently widespread across Illinois. In a January 9 statement distributed by the Northern IlContinued on PG 14
Backyards of Dreams FAMILY ICE RINKS: IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL SKATE BY LIBBY ELLIOTT DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
A frigid Chicago winter can send even the heartiest outdoor sports enthusiast scurrying indoors for a warm spot on the sofa and quality time with Netflix. But if you build it, they will come. Many active, local families have shifted their mindset on cruel winters. Instead of dreading the coldest, darkest days of the year, they celebrate the season by installing backyard ice rinks, thereby supplying hours of healthy, old school entertainment for their children and friends during the long winter months. And since these natural, homemade rinks are only functional when the mercury drops below freezing, for backyard skaters, the colder, the better. In their home on Oak Street in Winnetka, Sara and Colin Knight enjoy watching their three hockey-playing sons, Will, 12, George, 9, and Henry, 5, scrimmage and shoot out with pals and teammates on the 53’ x 32’ ice rink the couple constructed in their backyard the weekend after Thanksgiving. Between school, homework and team hockey practice, Sara said her older boys rarely have time for unstructured play. The family’s outdoor ice rink, she said, provides a natural outlet for unbridled, neighborhood fun. “When you think about it, these kids are told what to do all the time,” said Sara, who, for safety reasons, requires that skaters wear shin guards and helmets on the ice. “The fresh air and exercise really does them good.” Between the lumber, structural supports, and the plastic liner sheet needed to contain the rink’s water, Colin Knight estimated start-up costs on his homemade backyard rink ran between $700-$800 at Lowe’s, with additional expenses for LED string lights to illuminate the rink for evening skating sessions.
Eleven-year-old William Knight shoots a goal on his family’s backyard ice rink in Winnetka. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
By comparison, a similar-sized backyard ice rink kit can be purchased online from ezicerinks.com for approximately $3,900. The company, which markets its product as “The 60-Minute Backyard Ice Rink,” sells plastic panels that fix into place on any flat surface without hammering stakes into the ground. Other companies, like backyardrink.com, sell pre-assembled kits that range in price from $400-$1,000. An engineer by profession, Colin constructed the rink largely from his own know-how, with additional help from You
Tube and conversations with local backyard ice rink die-hards. “Amongst the hockey parents, you get bits of advice,” said Colin. And since this annual project is always a labor of love for his children, Colin insisted his kids pitch in to build and maintain the family’s ice rink. The Knight boys helped level the foundation of the rink. The boys then marked up new pieces of lumber with an impact driver before Colin screwed Continued on PG 14
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