Mayor Announces Forest Park Partnership

In letter to the city, Mayor Schoenheider describes public-private partnership to work on Forest Park.

Dear Fellow Residents:             The City of Lake Forest has joined with a group of citizens, the Forest Park Project Corporation, to undertake the restoration, enhancement and preservation of Forest Park.  The City has had a number of public/private partnerships to renovate and enhance our public spaces, such as Market Square and Elawa Farm, and we are excited about this latest project.             As you know, Forest Park is one of the signature elements of Lake Forest.  It is the gateway to our wonderful beach and lake front facilities.  Many people come to the Park to enjoy a quiet moment overlooking Lake Michigan.  Over the years, some of the Park’s original character, dating back to the very early days of Lake Forest, has been lost…

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Gallery: Lake Forest Beach Bash ball for all

Lake Forest hosted a beach fest celebrating Forest Park Beach’s 25th anniversary and hundreds showed up for the sun and sports.

Families showed up by the hundreds throughout this past weekend's Beach Bash, hosted by the Parks and Recreation Department, and held at Lake Forest’s Forest Park Beach to celebrate its 25th anniversary.  What took many years to conceive and build is now part of everyday lives according to many residents who attended. From the north end’s sunbathers and swimmers to the south end’s volleyball players and boaters, and a mish-mash of metal detectors, sand architects and artists, sun worshippers, bookworms and water-logged kids in the middle, the weekend’s weather was just right – hot but not too hot, and warm, pleasant water – except for tall, choppy waves during the barely-attended Coho fishing derby just after sunrise Saturday morning. “Why…

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Restored Forest Park Beach Turns 25

The hard work of the Shoreline Restoration Advisory Commitee in 1987 has resulted in Lake Forest's most-used facility

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the grand opening of Forest Park Beach, the culmination of an $8.5 million investment made by the people of Lake Forest and the Shoreline Restoration Advisory Committee in 1987.  To celebrate the occasion, the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Department will be having a Beach Bash with activities for the whole family today through Sunday. Earlier: Three Day Beach Bash Starts Friday “It’s a celebration to honor the Shoreline Restoration Advisory Committee and all the countless individuals including the city council, former mayors and former city manager, who had a vision for Forest Park Beach,” Jeff Wait, superintendent for special facilities of the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation department, said. …

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Three Day Beach Bash Starts Friday

Lake Forest to celebrate 25 years of a revitalized Forest Park Beach.

A three day beach bash celebrating 25 years of the revitalization of the Forest Park Beach begins at 7 p.m. Friday featuring a variety of adult and family events from a bonfire to a volleyball tournament. The bonfire with S’mores—free as long as the supply lasts—will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday. At 8:30 p.m. Friday there will be a story teller and a movie as well as an astronomy program. The fun resumes at 6 a.m. Saturday for a Coho fishing derby. From 1 to 3 p.m. the pace picks up with carnival games, kayaking, sail boarding, paddle boarding, metal detecting and a volleyball tournament. Johnny Russeler & the Beach Bum Band will perform at 5 p.m. The pace will not slacken Sunday with another fishing derby at 6 a.m. At 1 p.m. there will be …

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Updated: Lake Forest Woman Identified from Lake Michigan Drowning

No signs of foul play; toxicology results pending.

  The 44-year-old Lake Forest woman pulled from Lake Michigan Sunday morning following a seven-hour search has been identified as Victoria Kut. Earlier: Updated: Lake Forest Woman's Identity Withheld To Contact Family Kut, a resident in the 1200 block of Windwood Drive, drowned in Lake Michigan, according to Lake County Coroner Artis Yancy. Kut was reported missing at 3 a.m. Sunday by her husband, who called Lake Forest Police after discovering she was not at home. At 10:15 a.m., a U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter spotted her body floating about two miles east of Forest Park Beach. Yancy said there was nothing unusual about Kut's body, no signs of trauma or foul play. He indicated a toxicology report is still pending and could take up to a …

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Updated: Lake Forest Woman's Identity Withheld To Contact Family

The Lake County Coroner's office is waiting to release the identity of a Lake Forest woman pulled from Lake Michigan Sunday morning.

  3:45 p.m. Monday (July 16): The identity of a Lake Forest woman pulled from Lake Michigan Sunday morning about two miles east of Forest Park Beach has been made by the Lake County Coroner's office. However, the name cannot be released until the family's son, who lives outside the country, has been reached, according to a Lake County Coroner official Monday afternoon. The official added once their office receives clearance from the woman's husband, the name will be released. The 44-year-old woman was found floating in Lake Michigan by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter about seven hours after her husband contacted Lake Forest Police at 3 a.m. Sunday. **** 1:23 p.m.: Lake Forest Police have released a press release on the incdient. According to…

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Updated: Fishermen Identified from Sunday Rescue Off Burning Boat

Lake Forest Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard aid rescue; boat sinks afterward.

  June 26 The two fishermen rescued from a 20-foot Sylvan fishing boat were Carlos Rotman, 64, of Lake Bluff, and Mark Karsten, also 64, of Lake Forest. The two left the Lake Forest harbor at 5:15 a.m. Sunday to go fishing. At approximately 6:15 a.m., the boat's 90-horsepower engine caught fire with the duo now four miles off shore, according to a Lake Forest Police Department report. The cause of the fire is still unknown. *** Two fishermen from the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff area were rescued early Sunday morning off a 20-foot boat that caught fire about four miles off the coast of Forest Park beach by the Lake Forest Fire Department (LFFD) and the U.S. Coast Guard out of Wilmette. The boaters were not injured, according to a spokesperson …

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Saturday Cleanup Set for Forest Park Beach

Lake Bluff, Fort Sheridan also need volunteers.

Lake Forest will be among a host of beach clean-up efforts Saturday (Sept. 17) across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin to remove trash and collect data spearheaded by The Alliance for the Great Lakes. Additionally, volunteers are being sought to clean-up Sunrise Park and Beach in Lake Bluff and the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve. Each effort will take place between 9 a.m. and noon. Participants may want to bring water, gardening gloves, sunscreen and wear close-toed shoes. There will be extra gardening gloves and other supplies.

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Video Gallery: Lake Forest

Hook, Line & Sinker: Lake Forest Smelt-O-Rama Lures Residents to Lakeshore

Little fish has long history in the area.

Smelt fishing enthusiasts flocked to Forest Park Beach last weekend in Lake Forest to observe first-hand how to lure and catch the Lake Michigan fish.

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