Good News Sunday: How a retired music professor and cardiologist are bringing joy to Edward Hospital

This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published recently by the Daily Herald:

Don’t be surprised if the next time you are at Edward Hospital you hear a jazzy tune coming from the direction of the heart hospital.

The founding conductor of NaperVoice, Philip Spencer, drops by Tuesdays and Thursdays to tickle the ivories of a grand piano tucked away in the lobby. On occasion, David Kim, a cardiologist at the Naperville hospital, stops to sing a few tunes.

“It’s wonderful,” said Norm Olsen, a Woodridge man who visits regularly to hear Spencer play and Kim sing. “I think this is great therapy.”

Studies have shown that music can help lower stress, decrease pain, increase focus and boost moods.

As the music fills the lobby on a recent day, passersby smiled. Patients checking in at registration turned to watch the duo.

The duo, who typically perform together on Thursday mornings if Kim’s schedule allows, never practice, don’t have a song list and don’t need sheet music. They have a few favorites including Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” and Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are.” They pull songs from Elton John, Stevie Wonder and other artists.

“We’re just a couple of guys having fun in the middle of the day,” Kim said of their sessions, dubbed “Music from the Heart” by the hospital’s volunteer department.

For the full story, click here.

90-year-old swimmer has logged 10,000 miles at Elgin YMCA

Swimming slowly and deliberately, creating only the gentlest ripple in the water, 90-year-old Lavon Bayler of Elgin side-stroked her way the length of the 25-meter pool at the Taylor Family YMCA in Elgin in late June.

Up and back eight times, Bayler, who has been swimming there for 45 years, took roughly 40 minutes to conclude her quarter-mile for the day. It was a momentous quarter-mile.

Bayler finished her 10,000th mile in the pool.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “10,000 miles just seems ridiculous.”

The staff watching from the pool deck and fellow swimmers had no trouble believing it.

“She’s always the first one here before the building even opens,” said Erika Bopp, the facility’s aquatics director. “She might be our oldest swimmer, but she’s definitely the most dedicated.”

Bayler joined the YMCA in 1978 when there was a special on their family memberships. She started swimming daily and filling out a record card that the Y kept at the pool to keep track of the miles swimmers logged in the water. They offered a free T-shirt when someone reached 50 miles. She’s been keeping track of her distance ever since.

Bopp said she always sees something reflected in the seniors who swim. “There’s something different about their energy — about their mobility,” she said.

For the full story, click here.

Wheeling girl builds grocery pantry for local library

A small grocery repository has been installed outside Wheeling’s Indian Trails Public Library to help people struggling to afford food or personal care products.

The house-shaped, wooden pantry — resembling many of the Little Free Library book exchanges that can be found across the suburbs and around the world — stands on a post on the north side of the library at 355 Schoenbeck Road, near the drive-through lane.

Anyone can take a can or two or leave items.

The miniature pantry was the brainchild of Indian Trails patron and Wheeling resident Maya Schaab, who celebrates her birthday each year with public service projects.

“I really like helping people and animals,” said Maya, who recently turned 9. “A little act of kindness can help people a lot.”

The pantry at Indian Trails is the first to be registered in the Wheeling area. Others can be found in East Dundee, Elgin, St. Charles, Glen Ellyn, Warrenville and Aurora, to name a few suburban locations.

For the full story, click here.

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