Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 15

36 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 26, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020 Background: One of Don Levinson’s first pin designs for an outgoing Ravinia Women’s Board chairman, a Martin Theatre window From top: Three pins depicting Ravinia’s historic wooden entrance gate; two designs based on the popular 2007 and 2011 winners of the Ravinia Season Poster Competition, hosted by the Women’s Board; a pin featuring a carousel horse, a motif of Ravinia’s centennial season in 2004 Pinned A steady relationship with the Ravinia Women’s Board was a jeweler’s gem By Donald Liebenson DON LEVINSON HAS HELPED MAKE RAVINIA SPARKLE. He is not a prominent nancial benefactor (although he and Elaine, his wife of years, have been patrons and have contributed generously to the festival for decades), a visionary executive, or even a beloved musician who makes it a point to return to the Ravinia stage annually. Levinson is a jeweler, a Chicago icon, who has used his artistry to cre- ate commemorative pins to honor outgoing chairmen of the Ravinia Women’s Board at the end of their three-year terms. Recently retired at the age of (“It went like a ash,” he states buoyantly), Levinson re ected on his unique connection to the Ravinia Fami- ly—one whose origin he admits has been lost to time. “It was a real labor of love,” he told Ravinia . “It was a pleasure meeting the various board mem- bers, some of whom eventually became the board chairmen for whom I would design and fabricate these pins.” In , at the age of , Don Levinson bought the jewelry store Trabert & Hoe er. “I worked with and for my father [Harry, who opened Levin- son’s Jewelers on Clark Street in ,] for years,” he said. “He gave me his blessing to acquire this company on Michigan Avenue across the Drake Hotel. My father wanted to see if I could do it on my own using that company’s name rather than the family name of Levinson. I had a following from working with my father, and for years, we continued in a friendly competition. For many customers, my location [on Oak Street] was more appealing, and a little to my dad’s chagrin, they decided to come to me.” Levinson raised his family in Glencoe, where he and Elaine moved in the mid- s. Ravinia was a favorite destination, and it remains so, even though the couple has moved to Chicago. “As a youngster, I lived in the city, but I remember taking dates and sitting on the Lawn,” he said with a laugh. “When I got married, we always sat in the Pavilion. It’s a fantastic venue, and there are not too many like it in the United States. My relationship with Ravinia has been a joy and one of the high- lights of my career. I only charged the Women’s Board a nominal fee [for the stones and labor]; I tried to keep it on a nonpro t basis because I was doing it for Ravinia.” e Ravinia Women’s Board was founded in and has raised more than million to bene t the festival over its half-century as an active volunteer board. Proceeds from its fundraising e orts— which include the annual gala (this year’s event, headlined by Jennifer Hudson in her debut with the Chicago Sym- phony Orchestra, raised . million), lawn chair and table rentals, and e Festival Shop—go toward the Reach Teach Play music education programs, including the creation and support of the Sistema Ravinia orchestral pro- grams, which this summer expanded into Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood to reach more young musicians like those at Catalyst Circle Rock School in Chicago and the ve Lake County–area schools that form a Nucleo hosted at Ravinia’s Harza Building. e Women’s Board has a further hand in supporting musical activities in that same building, funding fellowships and a faculty chair at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute. Levinson has created brooches for outgoing Women’s Board chairmen over the past years. “Each of us cherishes them,” said Em- ily Knight, who served as chairman between and . “ ey rep- resent something that may have happened during our tenure or some- thing associated with the park that we care deeply about. For example, the pins for Jeannie James and Jean Bergho depict Martin eatre windows, which were restored and renovated during their tenures. My pin depicts Ravinia’s front entrance gate [the historical wooden Tyler Gate]. I love the gate.” But the recipient of the pin was never part of the artistic process. Levinson would meet with the board members and past chairmen, who shared their ideas for the recipient with him. He would come up with a drawing for them to approve and proceeded to fashion the pin in white, yel- low, and rose gold. “He’s a very sweet and very thoughtful man,” Knight said. “He always worked collaboratively and took our requests seriously.” “ e women were a delight to work with,” Levinson stated. “I took a lot of pride and sat- isfaction creating something that would be distinctive.” Levinson retired a er closing Trabert & Hoe er last June. None of his four children or grandchildren, he said, had any interest in carrying on the jewelry business. “I closed the store with regret,” he stated. “I never con- sidered it work. It was a real joy going in each and every day.” His last pin for the Women’s Board was fashioned last year, for Judy Castellini. He would welcome the opportunity to give his successor (as yet undetermined) the bene t of his experience. Creating the Ravinia pins, Levinson said, is emblematic of what he loved about the jewelry business. College class- mates, he said, went into law and medicine. “ ose are esteemed professions,” he said, “but they had to deal with illness and disease or with people who had contentious issues. As a jeweler, I dealt with people celebrating happy and special occasions.” Just as are o en found at Ravinia, thanks in no small part to the e orts of its Women’s Board. Donald Liebenson is a Chicago-based writer. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune , Chicago Sun-Times , and Los Angeles Times .