Issue 8 · Week of October 26, 2026
This issue reminded me how much of community life is created by people deciding to give something away: their time, their humor, their passion for books - or their front yard, temporarily surrendered to skeletons. Communities thrive when the people in them figure out ways to share what they genuinely love with everyone else - something our book experts, Meghan, Morley and Erin, have mastered.
I was so curious about Alison Hartline before I met her - who was this person offering this incredible joke board every day? I admire her not only for making people laugh, but for continuing to put that laughter into the world during an exceptionally difficult time in her own life. Offering your neighbors joy when it would be understandable to keep your energy for yourself is remarkable. That generosity is everywhere during Halloween in Lake Bluff. Families spend hours hauling pumpkins, hanging ghosts and building elaborate scenes for our children and for anyone who happens to walk by. They put a little magic outside and invite the rest of us to share it.
Maybe that is the spirit of this issue: people giving us something to gather around. Happy Halloween, Lake Bluff.
Thank you for always leaving the porch light on.
In Community, Megan Paszczykowski