HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GORTON!

It’s hard to run into someone who has lived in Lake Forest for any period of time who doesn’t have an experience to share about the city’s incomparable Gorton Center.

“There are so many residents of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and beyond with fond memories and tight emotional connections to Gorton,” says Amy Wagliardo, Gorton Center’s Executive Director. “People come into our building and reminisce all of the time about when they went to school here, when they participated in a community theater performance, when their kids were at the Gorton Children’s Learning Center (formerly known as the Drop-in Center), and more. Gorton is woven into the story of their lives here, and they love sharing these memories.”

Since transforming from a school to a community center in the 1970s, Gorton Center has a history of community gathering, performing arts, enrichment classes, and local nonprofit support. If you visit Gorton today, you may see children performing, adults taking classes, local organizations holding meetings, families hosting celebrations, friends enjoying live music or a film, and so much more.

Next month, Gorton Center celebrates 50 years of serving Lake Forest and the nearby communities with a weekend-long 50th Birthday Bash. The two-day event— on September 14 and 15—will have something for everyone.

Gorton Center’s beloved Dog Day event will return that Saturday morning, followed by an afternoon full of festivities in its outdoor spaces including food vendors, live music and entertainment, games and activities, giveaways, and raffles. In the evening, ’90s alternative rockers, “Fastball,” will headline in the John and Nancy Hughes Theater from 8 to 10 p.m. On Sunday morning, Gorton will highlight its wellness programming with a restorative yoga class and community sound bath with two of Gorton Center’s favorite instructors. The weekend will conclude with a John Hughes movie marathon that will showcase the incredible filmmaker and his contribution to Gorton Center’s history and building. Food trucks and concessions will be available throughout the film festival.

“Gorton is a place where everyone belongs—no matter what school or neighborhood you might live in, regardless of what other sorts of clubs or religious organizations you participate in, everyone convenes at Gorton,” Wagliardo adds. “This makes Gorton so unique. Gorton still provides some of the same enrichment it did back in 1974 when it first opened, but it has also always evolved to meet the needs of its patrons. My hope is that this will be true for the next 50 years as well—that Gorton Center will always be a place for connection and community, a place where people can feel like they’re a part of it all.”

To learn more about Gorton Center and its 50th Birthday Bash, visit gortoncenter.org.