BY JUDY CARMACK BROSS
The soaring Tiffany windows of the Second Presbyterian Church, and the inventive hors d’oeuvres of Acadia’s chef, Ryan McCaskey, made a recent Sunday in the South Loop a truly movable feast.
Joe Gromacki with Barbi and Tom Donnelley.
Barbi Donnelley and other descendants of some of Chicago’s legendary founders, who were members of the historic church, toured Chicago’s only National Historic Landmark Church then walked to airy Acadia.
Mary Bucaro and crowd in front of the 1893 Tiffany window, Angel in the Lilies.
Off to New York for a celebration of Michelin-starred restaurants (Acadia has two), Ryan described the impact that summers with his parents, Judy and Ray McCaskey, on the coast of Maine have had on his menu, providing lobster rolls that more than proved his point.
Ryan McCaskey, owner:chef of the two Michelin-starred restaurant, Acadia, welcoming the crowd.
The sanctuary. Photo by James Caulfield.
Ryan, Judy and Ray McCaskey, Barbi and Tom Donnelley, and Joe Gromacki hosted the event. A descendant of Silas Cobb, a very early settler who became one of our city’s most successful real estate tycoons and most generous philanthropists, Barbi told guests that the Friends of Historic Second Church were almost at goal to restore the magnificent 1903 Peace Window.
The Peace Window at Second Pres. Photo by Mark Heffron.
Peace window (detail). Photo by Mark Heffron.
The Robert Todd Lincolns, George Pullmans, John Crear, several branches of the Armour family, John and William Bross and their families, and Norman Williams were early members of the South Michigan Avenue church, which features nine dazzling Tiffany windows.
1917 Tiffany Pastoral window. Photo by Martin Cheung.
Tiffany Jewel window donated by Marshall Field I. Photo by Martin Cheung.
A majestic mural by Art Institute major donor Frederic Clay Bartlett, who heralded the arrival of the Arts and Crafts movement to Chicago, bordered by chandeliers from the World’s Columbian Exposition, served as the backdrop to a narrative by Ann Belletire, a founder and treasurer of the Friends.
Linda Miller, President of the Friends, commented, “The Peace window will be returning to its treasured place in June 2018 after a year-long conservation. We hope all of Chicago will join us for the re-installation.”
Linda Miller speaking to the crowd in the sanctuary of the church.
Mary Bucaro and Phyllis Norman.
John Bross, Judge Ilana Rovner, and Joe Gromacki.
Jane Tiffen and Anne Brinsmade.
Event photos: Matt Tuteur
