Gina Grillo

Gina Grillo is a freelance reporter for the Tribune.

Celebrate Earth at Mellody Farm Nature Preserve in Lake Forest on Saturday, April 26, 2025, offered families an opportunity to slow down and recharge with guided nature hikes, hands-on activities on restoring native habitats, a birding station, nature journaling and readings by environmentally-themed children’s book author, Ruth Spiro and much more. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest Open Lands holds Celebrate Earth at Mellody Farm Nature Preserve

April 29, 2025 at 11:27 a.m.

At Lake Forest Open Lands, celebrating the Earth and connecting communities to the natural world is a practice that goes far beyond Earth Day Weekend.

The Lake Forest Showhouse becomes a revelation of the designer’s ability to honor and interpret the history while adding a freshness to the interpretation. Designers like George Markoutsas, CEO, Ablaze Design Group in Highland Park, (pictured here far left), and his multisensory and nature-textured kitchen, reimagined with elements of Biophilic design, like an air purification system, concealed appliances, and light fixtures that mimic the body’s natural circadian rhythm. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest Showhouse & Gardens showcases 50 interior and exterior spaces

April 30, 2025 at 1:54 p.m.

The Lake Forest Showhouse & Gardens, opened Saturday, offering a sublime showcase of the transformation of almost 50 interior and exterior spaces, each with its own designer, in a salute...

Lyla Gleisner, age 6, and Sophie Gleisner, age 4, of Lake Forest participate in Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza 2025, hosted by Lake Forest Parks and Recreation on Saturday, April 19. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest’s annual Eggstravaganza attracts hundreds to collect 9,000 eggs on Easter Saturday

April 21, 2025 at 12:17 p.m.

On the Saturday morning before Easter, fog and light rain didn’t hinder the 20-year tradition of a good old-fashioned family egg hunt in Lake Forest.

Congregants gathered at the neighborhood Starbucks on Western Avenue at 8:30 a.m., before congregating in Market Square, for a brief outdoor service and singing, and to take part in a Palm Sunday procession from Market Square to the Church of the Holy Spirit, at 400 East Westminster in Lake Forest. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest holds Palm Sunday procession to begin Easter week

April 14, 2025 at 4:17 p.m.

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest invited the community to begin their journey through Holy Week on Sunday morning, with a celebration of the Sunday of the...

The 7th Annual Lake Bluff St. Patrick’s Day Parade took place on March 16. This small but mighty Celtic celebration featured a community parade with marchers, bagpipers, and Irish dancers, all gathering at the Gazebo on the Village Green at noon, before marching through Lake Bluff’s downtown business district, and then gathering post-parade at Lake Bluff Brewing Company, at 16 East Scranton Avenue. (Gina Grillo/ For the Pioneer Press)

Lake Bluff St. Patrick’s Day Parade tradition not deterred by snow showers on Sunday

March 18, 2025 at 2:35 p.m.

Sunday’s snow showers didn’t dampen the spirit of the 7th Annual Lake Bluff St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Lake Bluff.

The house at 775 Mawman Avenue in Lake Bluff, according to local legend, is considered to be the second oldest home in Lake Bluff, built in the pre-Civil War era when Lake Bluff wasn’t even called Lake Bluff, but a town called Rockland. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Couple brings Lake Bluff history to life with renovation of a Mawman Avenue home

March 4, 2025 at 9:05 a.m.

Chris and Brittany Davis, owners of Davis Home Renovations, Inc., a well-respected local contracting firm, bought the property at 775 Mawman Avenue in Lake Bluff in 2023.

A group of hearty souls gathered at Forest Park Beach Saturday morning to plunge into the freezing waters of Lake Michigan for a cause. The Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Polar Plunge – Hearts for Honduras are raising funds for a second trip to the Agalta Valley of Honduras to volunteer in schools and communities to help families there secure clean drinking water. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Bluff-Lake Forest group takes Lake Michigan polar plunge to aid Honduras

February 3, 2025 at 4:54 p.m.

A group of hearty souls gathered at Forest Park Beach in Lake Forest Saturday morning to plunge into the freezing waters of Lake Michigan for a cause.

Todd Ozog, Maeve Ozog, 5 years old, and Vera Ozog, 7 years old, of Lake Forest attended The Superhero Soirée – Daddy Daughter Dance, this year’s incarnation of the much loved annual daddy-daughter date night hosted by Lake Forest Parks & Recreation, which took place Saturday, Feb. 1, from 6 – 7:30 p.m., at Dickinson Hall, 100 East Old Elm Road in Lake Forest.

(Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Annual Lake Forest Daddy-Daughter Dance chooses Superhero Soiree for 2025 theme

February 3, 2025 at 3:33 p.m.

The Superhero Soirée invited guests in Lake Forest to step into a world of heroism and adventure for an event honoring the dynamic duo of fathers and daughters.

Kids from the Northshore chapter of Jack & Jill of America, Inc.,

participate in the Fill a Heart 4 Kids Martin Luther King experience on Monday, Jan. 20 at The Gloria Dei Center, located in the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Fill A Heart 4 Kids hosts Day of Service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Lake Forest

January 21, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

Fill a Heart 4 Kids works to help homeless and foster children build a brighter future.

Rachel Robinson, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and native Chicagoan with the Rev. Jihan Murray-Smith, senior associate rector at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest and keynote speaker, Spencer Nabors, PhD Candidate in philosophy at Northwestern University and associate minister at Second Baptist Church of Evanston,

during the 2nd Annual Martin Luther King Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast, presented by the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Ministerium, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Gina Grillo/ for the Pioneer Press)

Lake Forest church holds 2nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast

January 20, 2025 at 4:12 p.m.

The 2nd Annual Martin Luther King Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast, was presented by the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Ministerium on Friday morning, in an event...

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