Cue the bass.
Ready the drums.
And then whistle … the 1938 jazz hit titled “The Big Noise from Winnetka.”
Why?
It’s the perfect set piece for the “noise” now blowing in Winnetka, an upmarket North Shore enclave of “old” money, “new” money and “just enough” money to live there.
The big “noise” hit the suburb last year when a group of dog owners decided to bow wow proposed Winnetka Park District plans to improve Centennial Park, a fido haven and dog beach, and nearby Elder Lane Park.
Enter villager Randy Whitchurch, who walked his beloved golden retriever Geoff frequently to Centennial Park and was suspicious that the dog beach was in the crosshairs of the park’s proposed 2030 beach improvement plan.
Yikes!
In June 2021, Whitchurch then started barking big time, enlisting the help of his formidable Winnetka canine cadre to petition and protest at village meetings, targeting the salvation of the 26-year-old Winnetka dog “amenity” at Centennial Park.
Then, all hell broke loose. In August 2021, Whitchurch kicked open the hornet’s nest at a Winnetka Park District meeting.
“Who knew, when we raised hell about the loss of the dog beach, it would morph into questions about the entire beach improvement project,” Whitchurch said. “One issue after another snowballing.”
“It got a lot of attention,” said Winnetka Village President Chris Rintz.
And when it was reported in 2021 that billionaire Justin Ishbia, a private equity executive, had spent $40 million acquiring four mansions along the Winnetka lakefront next to Centennial Park — but not ALL on the same side — and a park district land swap might be in the works to unite his estate landwise, the barking dogs went berserk.
“Everyone really started asking questions then,” said Whitchurch, a former CEO of a tech firm.
This past April, early estimated costs of $21.5 million for the three phases of the Winnetka Park District’s beach improvement seemingly shocked members of the Winnetka Park Board. Since then, the Winnetka Park District has begun adjusting the first phase of the beach design at Elder Lane Park to lower the $14 million cost to $10.5 million, which was already in hand.
Randy Whitchurch and his golden retrieve Geoff frequent Centennial Park.
Provided
There has been no official Winnetka Park District land swap with Ishbia due to litigation, and the Ishbia estate is now in the beginning process of clearing land on three of his properties on the south side of Centennial Park.
“The park district appears to have taken public comment to heart and is making efforts to modify their plan to be more consistent with community input,” added Rintz.
After all of the barking, the Centennial Park dog beach looks like it will remain where it has been for the past 26 years.
Sadly, a beachfront incident near Winnetka’s Elder Lane Park, this/close to Centennial Park, turned to tragedy on the Fourth of July. Winnetkan Luke Laidley, 43, the father of three children, died soon after jumping from a boat with friends near Elder Lane Park beach when they spotted children having trouble tubing in the lake.
The children were wearing life jackets in their inner tubes. Sadly, Laidley, who was pulled back into the boat struggling soon after he jumped into the water, wasn’t wearing a life jacket.
A top Winnetka village source tells Sneed he knows of no other drownings on the Winnetka beaches, “at least not for decades.”
“It’s truly tragic,” Winnetka Fire Chief John Ripka told Sneed on Wednesday, describing Laidley’s action as heroic.
Sneed is told there were no children at the scene when the paramedics arrived at the beach.
“It’s not uncommon for children to go tubing on the lake, pulled behind boats parked at a close but safe distance offshore,” said Whitchurch, who did not know the Laidley family. “It’s fun. The boats park correctly. We see it all the time”
Laidley was a survivor of the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. The family put out a written statement saying Laidley was on the second day of his first job out of college at the Morgan Stanley Co. in New York when the attack occurred.
“Laidley was on the 61st floor when the plane hit the first tower,” according to the statement, which said, “He would move back to Chicago after 9/11.”
The family statement described Laidley as someone who wouldn’t hesitate to act to save a life: “Luke lived his life guided by his experiences, and he had several that allowed him to bestow compassion, love, inspiration and leadership to others. He lived a hero’s song.”
Late Thursday, a prayer service was held at Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic Church in Winnetka, Laidley and his wife Lauren’s church.
Funeral services will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Libertyville, where the family formerly lived.
“This is such a tragedy,” Whitchurch said. “An act of heroism on such a special day.”
And it must have been a heavenly Winnetka wind blowing across Centennial Beach that day.
Sneedlings
Saturday birthdays: actor Jaden Smith, 25; actor Sophia Bush, 41, and actor Kevin Bacon, 65. Sunday birthdays: musician Jack White, 48; musician Courtney Love, 59, and actor Tom Hanks, 67.
