Author: Ann Marie Scheidler

On December 20, twenty-four young women from all over the Chicago area made their debut at the 66th Annual Presentation Ball presented by the Illinois Club for Catholic Women (ICCW).

Debutantes were presented to the Archbishop of Chicago, His Eminence, Blase J. Cardinal Cupich. The orchestra played in the flower-filled Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Chicago Hotel, where guests wore black tie and ball gowns and danced the night away. Patricia Peck, a former Texas debutante whose two daughters have also been debutantes, chaired the ball.

The 2024 Presentation Ball Debutante class included the following high school seniors from Lake Forest and Lake Bluff: Anna Braun, Abigail Bruskin, Grace Donovan, Anna Claire Giese, Victoria Hirs, Bria Mancuso, Madison McCain, and Harriet Pierce.

Julia Deal Lewis founded ICCW at the request of His Eminence George Cardinal Mundelein in 1921. The ICCW is a nonprofit organization that offers service and relief to the poor, the distressed, and the underprivileged of the Chicagoland area. Its primary fundraiser is the annual Presentation Ball. The first Presentation Ball was held December 29, 1958.

“This year, we had two legacy families attend the ball. This means that the grandmother, mother, and now the daughter is being presented as a debutante. Tradition plays such a big role in everything we do.” Peck says.

According to the ICCW archives, the practice of “presenting” young women to society—meant to mark the beginning of adulthood—dates back to the middle of the 18th century in this country. Debutante charity balls flourished in the 1940s and 1950s and are currently held in nearly every major U.S. city, usually during the months of November and December.

The young women invited to become debutantes commit to a year of preparation and service. This year, Lake County Catholic Charities, Chicago Catholic Charities, Share Our Spare, House of the Good Shepherd, and Fill A Heart 4 Kids were all part of the debutantes’ outreach.

Each debutante invites two male friends as escorts to accompany her that evening—often turning to her friends, brothers, or cousins. In addition to participating in the presentation and the cotillion dance formations, the escorts are invited to join the social and service opportunities that take place leading up to the ball.

When the debutante is presented to the Cardinal by her father, she receives a Papal Medallion that is brought over from Italy. Only 3,000 bronze medallions are minted each year. “There are so many elements that make the Presentation Ball an unforgettable event for all,” adds Peck.

The ICCW Presentation Ball is a magical evening filled with tradition that is celebrated with family and friends. For more information, visit iccw.org.

“I never thought I could design and launch an app,” says Rebecca Asfour, owner of Bird Barre Studio, a boutique fitness studio in Lake Forest. “But I ended up designing and launching two apps in one year!”

After navigating the challenges of being a small business owner during 2020 and successfully emerging on the other side, Asfour became clear on how to evolve her business into more than a fitness studio.

“Having a small business during COVID was a huge challenge,” she says, having just celebrated 10 years of owning the fitness studio. “I wanted a strong sense of community to be at the core of my business, so I closed our Vernon Hills’ studio and doubled down on Lake Forest. We signed a long-term lease, rebranded, renovated the studio, and updated the technology platform we were using with a studio-booking app.

“And after all of that was done, I invested in myself. I studied the science of happiness, nutrition, and longevity. I wanted to figure out how to optimize my own wellness and how to find real, lasting joy. I went back to school and became a certified health coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. The experience was amazing.”

Before the program was complete, Asfour was tasked to come up with a product or business she would want to launch. “For me, it was an app on my phone,” she says. “My daily focus for a happy life is relatively simple: move your body, eat nutritious foods, and practice mindfulness every day. I put all of this into my new app—Bird Barre Online. I have scoured the wellness landscape, studied thought leaders, and I have more than a decade of movement experience. I put all of this in one place for you.”

Beginning February 1, Bird Barre Online is live and available in the app store for less than $20 per month.

“The app has an ever-growing library of barre, strength, and functional fitness workouts,” Asfour explains. “Some of the classes are full-length and full body. But some are short and focused for those days you just don’t have time for a full class, but still want a little movement. The music is awesome and will keep you going.”

Asfour says launching Bird Barre Online fulfills a long-term career goal she has had for connecting with the community.

“I hope this beautiful, easy-to-use app helps women move and feel good about themselves,” she says. “I’ve also added my favorite meditations and my tried-and-true recipes. I really think I can help people by putting this goodness and positivity out into the universe. Women are constantly taking care of other people, and this is a platform that will take care of them. That’s what Bird Barre Online is all about.”

To check out Bird Barre online, visit birdbarre.vhx.tv.

When Ashley Lillis was teaching herself how to knit in college, she never imagined that one day she would be sharing patterns she designed with her creative followers from all around the globe.

“Of all the things my roommate and I could have been doing when we were in college, we were making trips to Michaels to buy yarn,” Lillis says. “That’s pretty funny to think about.”

It wasn’t until many years later when the world was wrestling with COVID-19 that Lillis decided to take her knitting seriously.

“Everyone was on YouTube—there was nothing else to do,” she says. “I know that lots of people are visual learners, so I thought to myself, what if I design knitting patterns, but also do accompanying videos? At the time, there were very few places where you could find a pattern and also watch how to make it from start to finish.”

Lillis got to work, not only mastering the skills it took to design workable knitting patterns, but also learning to film herself, edit her tutorials, and sharing her videos to a growing audience across a variety of social media platforms.

“I’ve always been super creative, but I wasn’t sure how I could turn that into a business,” she explains. Lillis’ years working in digital marketing gave her the skillset and confidence she needed to monetize her designs as she amassed a huge following on both You- Tube and Instagram.

Lillis’ favorite part of becoming a “knitting influencer,” a label she’s not entirely comfortable with, is pattern design— a surprising revelation when she shares it’s the hardest part of her business.

“It’s a long and laborious process to publish a pattern,” she says. “I tend to knit a sweater in one size. Good designers publish size-inclusive patterns, ranging from extra-small to 5X. To create a design that accounts for all of those different sizes takes a lot of math.”

Lillis has built spreadsheet upon spreadsheet to calculate the intricate dimensions needed for her designs. From there, she knits a sample and writes out the pattern. She shares that document with her knitting technical editor. After she receives her editor’s comments, she then sends her pattern to at least three testers per size—that’s more than 25 people testing her pattern. Once she receives input from them and incorporates their feedback, she publishes her pattern on Etsy and Ravelry. She strives to create designs that appeal to everyone from a first-time knitter to those who are more advanced.

“I absolutely love the design part,” she says. “I can see a sweater from labels like Jenny Kane or Sézane and know exactly how it was made. That’s not to say though that after weeks of work and calculations on a design, it still might not come out right. The design process can be so love-hate, but mostly satisfying when I see the final product.”

One of Lillis’ challenges has been to charge for her patterns, something she didn’t do when she first started releasing her designs in 2020.

“At the beginning, it didn’t feel right to charge people because I loved thinking that knitting was bringing joy to people during a difficult time,” she says. “But, there is so much hard work that goes into the finished product of these patterns, I can’t really afford to give them away any more.” To date, the most expensive of Lillis’ patterns retails for $10.

As Lillis’ popularity grew on social media, so did the demand for her to release more designs. After a case of the shingles put Lillis into the hospital for a week last spring, she realized she would like to scale her business without it being all-consuming.

“I’ve stepped back and taken the pressure off of myself to grow my brand,” Lillis says. “Being sick really forced me to slow down and get back to what I really love. I needed to tune out all of the noise about starting a podcast, growing brand partnerships, or doing more on social media. I love designing so that is where my focus is now.”

That’s not to say that Lillis, who is also a busy mom to three young children, doesn’t have a few ideas for her growth up her well-knit sleeve.

“I’d love to write a book,” she says. “It’s a little intimidating to think about how I could come up with enough content for one, but that’s definitely on my mind. I’d also like to design the perfect blazer. A blazer is tough to knit because it’s hard for it to keep its structure. But I’m bound and determined to figure that out.”

To learn more about Ashley Lillis, follow her on Instagram at @ashley_lillis.

“The children at Allendale, on average, experience 14 different living arrangements before they find their way to the residential program at Allendale,” says Lake Forest’s Cassie Mancuso Carver. “They experience so much trauma and instability, how can someone not be driven to help?”

Allendale Association is a nonprofit child welfare agency based in Lake Villa, dedicated to excellence and innovation in the care, education, treatment, and advocacy for disadvantaged youth and their families. It’s more than a safe haven from a life of crisis, trauma, and neglect. The school strives to empower each child to transcend their circumstances with positive support and consistent, ongoing guidance. Allendale gives these children the transformative experience of simply being kids in a safe environment—the chance to make friends, play, explore, have an adventure, and make their own happy childhood memories.

“We believe everyone deserves a healthy childhood, a caring family, and a chance to learn, grow and change course,” explains Allendale Association President and CEO Jason Keeler. “Allendale is a place where kids have the opportunity to restore their life and discover a better future.”

Carver, who serves as Chief Marketing Officer for her family’s business Ferrari Lake Forest, is a relatively new member of the Allendale Women’s Board—newly renamed from the 118-year-old organization that was once called the Allendale Shelter Club.

She is co-chairing an exciting new fundraiser for Allendale called “Après Ski-Aspen” with Claire Concannon, Karen Anderson, Samantha Trace, Whitley Bouma Herbert, and Meredith Mitchell. The event will take place on February 22 at Conway Farms Golf Club. The indoor/outdoor party will bring the beloved postski celebration to Lake Forest with specialty cocktails and champagne, fire pits, and VIP yurts paired with a menu designed by famed chef Paul Kahan of One Off Hospitality.

“When I heard about Allendale, I was heartbroken and hopeful at the same time,” Carver says. “I’m really excited to be a part of a group that is making a difference in the lives of these children. I met a child at Allendale who is the same age as my youngest daughter and it really resonated with me. I am lucky to be in a position to help the children of Illinois who are most in need.”

“Après Ski–Aspen” will channel the action on and off the slopes that takes place after an epic day of skiing. This will include revelry in Aspen-inspired attire, dancing with glasses raised to the beats of deejay Sleepy Eagz, VIP champagne service, and incredible cuisine to keep the party going. “Après Ski–Aspen” is being supported by many of Aspen, Colorado’s favorite luxury brands with trips being auctioned to Mexico’s Hotel Esencia and more.

“I have a background in fundraising,” Carver says. “I don’t care if you’re raising $10,000 or $10 million, fundraising is challenging. It’s especially hard the night of an event. Our push as co-chairs is to raise 90 percent of our goal before the event. Then that night, our party can be more a celebration of hard work and a thank you to our supporters as we build more awareness for Allendale.”

The Allendale Women’s Board takes pride in offering a “mother’s touch” to the lives of the kids in Allendale’s care with a Christmas holiday party with gifts delivered by Santa Claus, brunch enjoyed on Christmas morning, graduation celebrations, career counseling, and a “School’s Out!” Spring Carnival at the Lake Villa campus.

“Allendale believes in every kid until they can believe in themselves.” explains Allendale Women’s Board President Karen Anderson.

Carver’s three children are a huge motivation for her commitment to help some of Illinois’ neediest children.

“There is no better way to show my children the importance of giving back than being involved with an organization like Allendale,” she says, explaining that they have taken an active role in Allendale’s new Youth Board as well. “If you’re in a position to help, you have an obligation to help. When I told my father about Allendale, his first words were ‘We’re in!’ I’m able to help because of the support of my family and our business. This really is families helping families.”

To learn more about Allendale Association, visit allendale4kids.org. Follow Allendale Women’s Board on Instagram at @allendalewomensboard.

Dina Besic almost can’t retell the story of the March day last year when she learned that her 2-year-old son Maxwell had leukemia.

“Max is our rainbow baby,” Besic says of her oldest child. “My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for 10 years and of course, during the apocalypse of 2020, we finally found out we were expecting him.”

In spite of the difficulties of having a newborn during COVID-19, the Besics were over the moon. Max was a very easy baby to love.

All had been smooth sailing with their toddler until March 2023 when Max just seemed off.

“Mothers will understand when I say this, but I just knew something wasn’t right,” Besic says. “I knew it was more than just the stuff that’s always going around when you have little ones. But when I took him to urgent care, they just told me that he had the flu.”

Besic accepted this until Max’s fevers wouldn’t subside.

“My husband and I decided to take him to Children’s Advocate in Park Ridge,” she says. “They were so good to us when we got there and quickly put us all at ease. I remember my husband and I having such a fun conversation with the doctor.”

After running some tests, the doctor returned to the Besic’s room.

“Immediately, I knew something was wrong,” Besic remembers. The doctor said, ‘We suspect your son has leukemia.’ I just started screaming at him. I was sure they ran the blood tests wrong, there was no way that what he was saying could be right. I feel so badly thinking about this now—I called him later and apologized, but we were just so shocked. Max was admitted to the pediatric ICU that night. When we got upstairs, there were 13 people waiting for us to discuss his treatment plan. Even after seeing all of those people, it still didn’t seem real.”

In addition to leukemia, Max was suffering from a terrible infection and had almost no immune system to fight it. The Besic family ultimately spent 33 days at Children’s Advocate.

“My husband and I look back on that time and we’re like, how did we do that?” she says of juggling their days with Max, their jobs, and their new baby Lenna who was only six months old at the time.

“Max made it through that dark time because of prayer, family, positivity, and loads of antibiotics,” Besic says. “When we were getting ready to go home, the doctors told us that at the beginning, they weren’t sure Max would get better— he was just so sick. While he was fighting the infection, he started chemo. He went through so much. He was only two years old and trying to explain all of this to a little guy was so hard. It was truly 33 days of uncertainty.”

Since being home, Max has continued his treatment. He’s been back to the hospital seven times. He’s now on a maintenance regimen where he takes an oral chemo medication. And every three months, he is sedated and receives a spinal tap—chemo in his back.

“Watching your child be sedated is so hard,” Besic says. “But when it’s over, Max gets up and is like ‘Mama, what are we doing today?’ And I’m always like, whatever you want.”

It was on one of Max’s many visits to Children’s Advocate when they were waiting in the bright playroom for their appointment that Besic had an idea.

“Max was happily playing, and I said, ‘Max, wouldn’t that toy grocery store we have be great here?’ Or, what about a toy train because he’s obsessed with trains. Max then would say, ‘Mama, go buy?’”

Besic asked her husband what he thought of her putting together an Amazon wish list and sharing it with their family and friends. She posted it on her social media, with no obligation, and quickly received 108 toys. After sprucing up the children’s hospital’s toy room, they had 50 toys left that the Besics gave to the hospital to distribute to other pediatric oncology patients.

“Toys bring a sense of normalcy, childhood, and joy to these amazing kids in the not-so-normal world of cancer. People sometimes associate toys only with fun, but there is a lot of purpose to them. With Maxwell’s Toy Box, we focus on ensuring we provide developmental toys since these kiddos tend to miss 40-50 days of school due to illness, hospitalizations, or appointments. Cancer is incredibly dark and navigating it with your child is so hard,” she says. “No one can really understand what you’re going through unless they’re in your shoes. So, it was really therapeutic for me to look at toys and channel all of our sadness into something positive by bringing little moments of joy to other families. The toys to me were so much more than toys. Collecting them did so much to heal my mind and soul and it felt so good to give back.”

Besic formally organized her toy collection into Maxwell’s Toy Box, a nonprofit organization, in January 2024. As of publication, Maxwell’s Toy Box has collected 1,929 toys and 51 gift cards. It has also distributed 249 goody bags to children receiving treatment filled with things to keep them busy and engaged with their parents. Maxwell’s Toy Box is currently supporting the Children’s Advocate locations in Park Ridge and Oak Lawn, and anticipate making donations to Lurie Children’s Hospital, as well.

“My big, audacious goal is for Maxwell’s Toy Box to be a national nonprofit where we service every pediatric hospital. My hope is to also create an advocacy division where I can bring more awareness to childhood cancer,” says Besic, who has completed advocacy training and met with the offices of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Brad Schneider to ensure that Illinois representatives are supporting childhood cancer laws to improve access to treatment. “I’m a childhood cancer advocate because it’s the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children, yet only 8 percent of federal cancer research funding is dedicated to pediatric cancers. Every day, 43 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer—a statistic that demands action. Most treatment options for kids are outdated, relying on therapies developed more than 40 years ago, leaving these children to face devastating side effects and long-term health challenges. One day, we’ll get to a better place with all of this. I’m sure of it.”

To learn more about Maxwell’s Toy Box, how you can host a toy drive, or donate, visit maxwellstoybox.com. Additionally, follow the organization on Instagram @maxwellstoyboxnfp.