Here at Ageless North Shore we favor the counter-intuitive approach to stories. Why else would we feature Traeger Furs now that spring is upon us? And why feature a furrier at all? Doesn’t that play into the North Shore stereotypes that Ageless often debunks?

Well, as our good friend Walt Whitman used to say;

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Barry Traeger

Barry Traeger’s family-owned business has been in Skokie for 40 years. Before that, Traeger Furs plied their trade at 190 N. State, the historic State/Lake building in Chicago. Back in the day, 190 N. State was a hub for small shops who saw customers by appointment only. As the customer base moved to the suburbs, Traeger Furs joined in the migration.

So Barry and I sat down last Friday afternoon at his show room on Lincoln Ave. We spoke about Skokie’s redevelopment and the Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie (IMODS). Barry suggested that I meet with Howard Meyer, executive director of the Skokie Chamber of Commerce and Randy Miles, owner of the Village Inn. Click here for that post.

Traeger wanted to talk about fur. Or as he told me, “the fur fair this May in Montreal is now called the Luxury Outer Wear Show.” Traeger embraces the “New Attitude” which is the theme for the 2010  North American Fur & Fashion Exposition in Montreal (NAFFEM).

The selection at Traeger Furs reflects the changing styles and lifestyles of their customers. In most suburbs, where you are in and out of your car all the time, you are naturally going to favor a jacket or mid-length over a full length coat. But if you live in the city or a more walker-friendly suburb, Traeger has elegant full length coats for you as well.

Sheared Beaver Jacket designed by Jean Crisan

And then there is weight. Long hair raccoon, fox, and beaver coats are not as fashionable as they once were. They are just too heavy in today’s slender world. In fact, capes and ponchos are a big part of the product mix in the more casual 21st century.

Today, the buzz word is shear…as in sheared mink and shearling.

Sheared mink has a sleek look while maintaining the shiny appearance and luster of the long haired coats. And as importantly, the sheared mink maintains the warmth in winter that has traditionally been the attraction of the fur coat.

Shearling has become a very popular alternative to mink and sable. The lightweight lambskin has the look of leather but is softer and much lighter weight.

Traeger Furs carries the unique knit designs of Paula Lishman. Through a patented process Lishman transforms strips of fur into fur yarn. Lishman’s collection includes strollers, full length coats, shawls, blankets, jackets and other accessories.

Woven Fur Jacket by Paula Lishman

By nature and by design, the world of fashion is one of change and innovation. But Traeger Furs maintains the lessons learned at 190 N. State. Early on, Arnold Traeger, company’s founder took advantage of the larger space available in Skokie and built a cold storage vault  And I can attest that they are cold and spacious. Your furs will spend a comfortable and rejuvenating summer in their humidity controlled facility.

Repairs, reconditioning and even restyling are done on site. Barry told me about a full length mink coat that their designers refashioned into a shorter length coat. And then used the extra fur for a detachable hood. Doesn’t a fur hood sound cozy?

Lazaros Kapetanou, master furrier

The official End of the Season Sale runs through March 13. There are some serious savings for real, North American, luxury outerwear. For women and men.

Any Ageless North Shore readers…you can go to Traeger furs ANY TIME through the end of March and ask for Barry. He’ll take good care of you.

The revitalization of Downtown Skokie is a work in progress. Howard Meyer, executive director of the Skokie Chamber of Commerce and Randy Miles, president of IMODS and owner of the Village Inn are working with the Village of Skokie to make it happen.

Randy Miles and Howard Meyer...casual Friday

The Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie is

Continue reading Howard Meyer, executive director of the Skokie Chamber of Commerce and Randy Miles, president of IMODS and owner of the Village Inn are working with the Village of Skokie to make it happen.

Randy Miles and Howard Meyer...casual Friday

The Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie is a nonprofit organization composed of business people, property owners and concerned citizens that propose ideas for downtown development.

I met with Howard and Randy at the Village Inn on a Friday afternoon. Howard and Randy had had a meeting at the Village Inn earlier in the day and Howard told me the place was packed.

Old time Skokians remember this location where Lincoln and Niles Center meet across from the historic St. Peter’s Church (built 1894) as Alberti’s. Randy greets his customers like friends or family. The Village Inn serves thin, thick and stuffed pizza included in a menu of 165 items. In fact, a flaming platter of saganaki interrupted our conversation as Randy shouted “opa,” (isn’t that a law?)

Randy offered me a beverage. I ordered a Coke because one can lose your concentration at the Village Inn surrounded by the 6 big screen TV and 39 smaller monitors.

We talked about business. Namely the business of filling vacant store fronts, improving facades, and generally creating the goods and services that the downtown Skokie workforce needs and Skokie residents want.

Illinois Science and Technology Park photo: C&M Photographics

With the growing base of the Illinois Science + Technology Park developed by Forest City Enterprises, the Skokie Campus of Oakton Community College (site of the former Niles East High School–go Trojans) and expansion of the Skokie Swift, aka the Yellow Line, Skokie business is poised for a growth spurt.

Even better; with consultation from IMODS the Village of Skokie has embarked on an ambitious redevelopment program. Features of the program include:

• Facade Assistance
• Interior Rehab
• Design Assistance
• Change of use allowance
• Parking Requirement Waiver
• Broker’s Bonus Program

This program offers real money…Up to $100,000 in matching grants–not loans– to update and renovate an existing building for approved use.

But the program and redevelopment of Skokie faces significant challenges. Not the least of which is the recession, which began in late 2007 and continues to hold the economy in its icy grip. Also, the retail building stock in Skokie is older as are its landlords. Some building owners have been slow to recognize the new economic realities.

Festival of Culture 2009 : photo by Ruth Sinker for Skokie Public Library;

One of Skokie’s greatest strengths is its ethnic diversity. Howard told me that in Skokie schools, “over 90 languages are spoken.” And yet this diversity can be a challenge in crafting an identity or brand for Skokie’s downtown.

When asked what types of businesses they’d like to see downtown, Randy and Howard pretty much agreed…galleries, restaurants, crafts & artisan shops, independently owned boutiques and jewelry stores, an upscale grocery, a health club, even a movie theatre.

Upside down at the Backlot Bash

I told Randy and Howard that we’re big fans of Al Curtis and the Skokie Theatre and that we attended last year’s Back Lot Bash in Skokie. Howard told me about the Skokie Festival of Cultures coming up on May 22 & 23.

As Skokie competes with surrounding suburbs and Chicago, the Village never loses sight of the culture advantage of diversity.

Tomorrow we will feature a profile of a member of IMODS, Barry Traeger, of Traeger Furs, inc

Rachael Ray

Montana Leaf, Widman Designs

A necklace created by Lake Forest jewelry designer Diana Widman will be worn by Rachael Ray on the Rachael Ray daytime talk show Monday, December 21 – that’s 10 am on WGN, Channel 9, in the Chicago area, or check here for your local show time.

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Rachael Ray

Montana Leaf, Widman Designs

A necklace created by Lake Forest jewelry designer Diana Widman will be worn by Rachael Ray on the Rachael Ray daytime talk show Monday, December 21 – that’s 10 am on WGN, Channel 9, in the Chicago area, or check here for your local show time. Rachael Ray will be interviewing Rod Stewart, and Ray will be wearing a piece called Montana Leaf.

Widman started her professional career as a journalist, then studied graphic design at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago while she was rearing her two kids in Lake Forest. After a stint as a printmaker, Widman turned to jewelry design.

How did your necklace land on Rachael Ray?
I got lucky.  Her lawyer and his wife are customers of mine and a mutual friend happened to mention that Rachel is his client. One of those times that serendipity comes to town.

Please tell us about this particular piece; what was your inspiration?
The piece she is wearing, from the “Big Sky Collection,” is one of my favorites because it combines my hand-folded 18KT gold with the beautiful and very rare sapphire from Montana. These stones with their muted colors  suggest sea and sky to me although they come from underground. Montana is the only source of sapphire in the United States, hence the name of the collection.

Diana Widman photo: Evan Schwartz

How did you get interested in jewelry design, and where did you begin? Jewelry as a career started with some boring pearl studs that I never wore. The  bookbinding I was doing helped me with 3-D concepts, so I just drew a schematic of a pearl design and had them made. People kept asking me where I got them and before I knew it, I had ten pieces to “show.”

One hundred and fifty different designs and ten years later, here I am. I learned metalsmithing so I could make pieces that had the texture of paper and fabric. I make all the models for my pieces, then we cast them into different metals. That was my way of bringing the printmaking and bookbinding along with me.

Can you tell us about a favorite design project?
Yes! One of my best custom projects was for a soldier in Kandahar who saw the work on the internet and emailed me about creating a pendant for his girlfriend. We arranged to talk by phone and he very sweetly called from his post on his morning off. I was very moved by his love for his girlfriend and his thoughtfulness under duress.

Do you have a studio and/or showroom?
I have a new studio space at 55 East Washington St. in Chicago, Suite 301, under the auspices of Pia Jewelers. Sami my partner, has been making all my complicated pieces for many years and we finally joined forces. I sell the work in galleries around the country and here at CityWoods in Highland Park. Neiman Marcus is on the horizon for early next year. Also, we sell out of the showroom downtown or many customers come to my home office when that is convenient.

You designed a pendant for the Institute of Ocean Conservation Science – what inspired that?

I.O.C.S. Pendent

I decided to create the “SeaGems” line after a life-altering expedition to Antarctica in 2008 with the Institute’s Executive Director, Dr. Ellen Pikitch. The first piece is a pendent that can be purchased through my website, and 50 percent of net proceeds will go to the Institute in support of vital marine science research and conservation efforts around the world.

What are you currently working on?
Right now, I am working on a technique called Married metals, so called because the two metals are merged so that they become one skin. I am using gold on silver so that the price point is reasonable but we can still have gold, which is the loveliest metal to work with and wear, despite its ridiculous price.

Married Metal pendents photo credit: Evan Schwartz Photography

Doing this work is a privilege and a joy. Making things to bring delight and value and last through generations is very special and I never take it for granted.

1. Why is Chanukah early this year?

This year Chanukah falls as usual on the 25th day of Kislev in the year 5770 (according to the Jewish calendar).

But seriously folks…Jewish people and their friends will begin their celebration at sundown on Friday, December 11. (Sundown, by the way, is at a depressing 4:01 pm that day.)

Continue reading earth which takes 29 1/2 days. Do the math and you come up with 12.4 lunar months per year. To keep the months falling at the right time of year, the Jewish calendar is 12 months long with an extra month thrown in occasionally.

For a more detailed explanation of the Jewish calendar, click here.

Bottom line. Jewish holidays float around the civil calendar in about a three week window. Rosh HaShana/Yom Kippur in the late summer/fall, Passover in the Spring, Chanukah in the winter.

2. What is the true story of Chanukah?

It all goes back to Alexander the Great. He conquers Judea in 334 BCE. (Jews prefer to use Before the Common Era as opposed to BC [before Christ] because in general Jews don’t refer to Jesus as Christ, which means Messiah). Alexander brings Greek culture to the region, but allows the Jews to maintain Temple, their sacrifices, and their High Priest who governed the country. Some Jews, particularly in Jerusalem, begin to dig the Hellenistic culture and assimilate.

Fast forward to Antiochus IV, in 165 BCE. For political reasons or revenge, he began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar.

The authorities ordered Mattathias, a priest of the Hasmonean clan, to perform the non-kosher sacrifice of the pig. He refused and killed the Jewish guy who told him to do it AND a Greek officer. Then Mattathias and his five sons including Judah (the Hammer) Maccabee, headed for the hills and mounted an insurgency against the Greeks which last three years. The Maccabees victoriously entered Jerusalem, cleaned up the defiled temple, and declared a celebration.

The dedication of the Temple took place on the 25th of Kislev and, like Sukkot, lasted for eight days. The Hebrew word for dedication is Chanukah.

Nambe Menorah by Marilyn Davidson. Available at Hamakor

3.What about the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days?

That bit of news came out about 700 years after the event in the Babylonian Talmud which was written down in 500 CE. The Maccabees found only eight day’s worth of oil that was santified by the High Priest but, well, miraculously the oil lasted for eight days. Symbolically, the same number of days as the festival.

The only religious observance related to the Chanukah is the lighting of candles. The candles are arranged candelabrum called a Chanukia (often called a menorah). The Chanukiah holds nine candles: one for each night, plus a shamash (servant) candle that lights the candles.

Want more details? Click here.

4. What’s up with the dreidel?

Religious correct: During times Hellenistic repression, Jews were forbidden to study Torah and other holy books. So, if a Greek or Syrian came by, the Jews would hide their holy books and play with the spinning tops.

Enameled dreidel, available at Menshenables

More likely: There wasn’t much to do in 1500 in Europe so gambling on spinning tops was a big hit. The Yiddish word dreidel is derived from the German word drehen, which means “to spin.”

Here’s one way to play. Everybody ante up. You can choose your own stakes. The foil wrapped chocolate coins are popular. The dreidel has 4 sides, each marked with a Hebrew letter. נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin). You spin.
Nun: spin again
Gimmel: you get the whole pot
Heh: you get half the pot
Shin: you put in a coin.

Click here for a more symbolic look at the dreidel.

5. What’s the deal with Latkes? What are latkes? What kind of a name is latkes? It sounds like the cab driver from Taxi.

Latkes means potato cake in Yiddish. No one really knows why Ashenazic (of European ancestry) Jews eat potato pancakes on Chanukah. The rationale is that the potatoes fried in oil commemorate the “miracle” of the oil lasting either days. My guess is that it potatoes were relatively plentiful and when fried in oil they are filling and taste really good.

Latka portrayed by Andy Kaufman

Israelis favor jelly doughnuts for Chanukah. Some say it’s because they’re fried in oil. Others says the sweetness of the jelly celebrates the story of the festival.

Naturally, it’s more complicated. Check it out if you’d like.

And the cab driver, played by Andy Kaufman, was Latka.

6. Is Chanukah the Jewish Christmas?

No: It is a minor Jewish holiday and the Book of Maccabees 1 and 2 are not even in the Jewish Bible. They are canonized in the Christian and Eastern Orthodox Bibles. While Christmas may be the most important family holiday, for many Jews it is a day to go to the movies and eat Chinese food. For other Jews, it is another day to observe traditional prayer services, depending on the day of the week.

Yes: C’mon. Seriously. At least, the gift giving part. There are probably many traditionally observant Jews who might give their children those chocolate coins or an orange for Chanukah. But everyone I know treats the gift giving for children just like Christmas except for the different day. (See question 1). And now that are kids are grown, Peggy and I buy each other eight small gifts to keep us interested in lighting the candles. Right, we bribe ourselves to observe!

7. Where do I shop for Chanukah stuff?

Here on the North Shore you can get the basics…candles, dreidels, latke mix, blue paper plates at nearly any grocery store. But if you want some quality Chanukah menorahs, dreidels, and gifts, here are our picks:

Menshenables Judaica, located at 225 N. McHenry Road (Rte. 83), in Buffalo Grove, is filled with all your Chanukah needs.
They have great gifts for everyone on your list, lots of collectible dreidels, and beautiful menorahs in every price range.  Their eclectic inventory even has gift ideas for your friends who aren’t Jewish.

We are very impressed by their dreidel collection. Pewter, fused glass, ceramic, aluminum, olive wood, and papier mache.

They have a full line of talisim, Bar/Bat Mitzvah gifts, wedding gifts and lots of books filled with invitations.
Sundays 9 to 2, Tuesday 12 to 8, Wednesday 11 to 7, Thursday 11 to 6, and Friday 11 to 2.
www.Menshenables.com.

Hamakor Gallery, 4150 Dempster St, Skokie. Open everyday but Saturday. (847) 677-4150

We like the large selection and the variety. I like their Jewish books and CDs which you don’t often find at brick and mortars these days.

8. What’s the correct spelling anyway

in Hebrew.

As for English…here is what Google search came up with.
Hanukkah 5,230,000
Chanukah 1,450,000
Hannukah 626,000
Hanukah 363,000
Hanuka 196,000
Chanuka 180,000
Hanukka 70,700
Hannuka 58,800
Khanuke 3,410

Last week, I had lunch with a friend who after 13 years of working for a large company was now starting his own business. We talked about the mixture of freedom and anxiety that accompanies that kind of change. It is a familiar topic for me, as I have been either on commission or self-employed

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Mendel the Doom Sayer (artist's conception)

My voice is “Mendel the Doom Sayer.” Mendel always seems to pop up when business is slow, I’ve made a mistake, or someone or something has triggered a negative emotion. Then Mendel is all over me. Mendel particularly enjoys berating me over things that I can’t control. Like time-travel. Why didn’t you go to graduate school in education? Or move to LA in 1973 and become a screenwriter? Or stay in the family business in Chicago? Or keep working for the government in the 80s? Then, Mendel says, you would be retired by now.

There is no reasoning with Mendel. He’s always right. Mendel can see into the future. And as his name suggests, the future is not going to be cool. There isn’t anything I can do about it. “Sucks for you,” says Mendel.

The late Rodney Dangerfield used his inner voice as part of his act.

I get a lot of pressure and this pressure is like a heaviness. It’s always on top of me, this heaviness. Other people wake up in the morning, “Ahh new day, up n’ at-em!” I wake up, the heaviness is right there waiting for me. I say “Hi Heaviness.” And the Heaviness looks back at me, “Today you’re gonna get it good, you’ll be drinkin’ early today.”

Tracy Morgan, star of 30 Rock and SNL, tells Teri Gross on Fresh Air how he co-opted his alter ego:

GROSS: You describe in your book that you kind of turned your demons into a persona that you named. You called him or it Chico Divine?
Mr. MORGAN: Chico Divine. Yeah.
GROSS: Yeah. So who is Chico Divine?
Mr. MORGAN: Chico Divine is Tracy Jordan (Morgan’s character on 30 Rock). Now I don’t do it real life. Now I do it on TV. I exorcise my demons.

Click here for the whole interview.

Here are Tracy Morgan and Ice Cube plugging their film “First Sunday.”

How do you handle your alter ego? Do you engage it? Hide from it? Does it have a name?

Mendel is pretty sure no one will relate to this. That’s the beauty part of being an alter ego.