Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 369

mm (Chicago (Tribune Sunday, March 1, 1992 Section 18 3. Wi Vc A i Iff vV I i Yi 4 Rick Sayre makes clarinet mouthpieces 1 11 181 Voice coach Rosalie Loeding (right), master ot a human instrument, tunes the tone of Helen Acke. Near the end of his long life, Kaspar made an offer to young Sayre, then fresh out of college: "He asked if I wanted to learn to do the mouthpieces," said Sayre, who was also learning his repair techniques. "I think he was looking for someone to pass it along to." They worked together for eight years, one day a week, and although Sayre insists that most of Kaspar's success came from his passion for precision and detail, he said, "Yeah, there were some secrets, too, some ways of doing things, processes. Although I think there are probably other people out there somewhere that have figured out some of those things for themselves." Sayre, who had built models as a boy and ranks the cutting of a straight line or drilling of a fine hole as one of the joys of his work, mastered Kaspar's lessons well.

Withtheaskills, he also inherited the Kaspar tools, some of which date back through several generations of craftsmen. "Frank Kaspar was the meister," said Robert Marcellus, former principal clarinetist of the Cleveland Orchestra and now professor of clarinet at Northwestern University School of Music. "And Rick is very much preeminent, not only in his own brand of mouthpieces but in his reworking, adjusting and voicing of others. So much depends on the facility of a good mouthpiece." Just how much is obvious when clarinetists talk about mouthpieces and the trouble they go to to find the right one. Gregory Smith of the CSO had searched in See Music, pg.

6 Stan Schmidt's forte is creation, restoration and repair of fine stringed instruments. 3 backstage specialists are instrumental By Betty Lundy Photos by Michael Budrys phonies around the country, you'd probably find more Kaspar mouthpieces still being played than any other single maker." Sayre has traced a direct line of clarinet expertise back nearly a hundred years: "I learned from Frank. Frank learned from his cousin whose name was Frank L. Kaspar. He learned from Frank Goldbeck, who learned from a Moeller that Lyon Healy (instrument manufacturers) brought over from Germany just before the turn of the century." Sayre, now 36, grew up in Olympia Fields with tales of Frank Kaspar's skill.

His father. Dean, had played saxophone with the big bands of the '30s and '40s. "My father would always wait until he knew he would be going through Chicago to get his instruments worked on (by he said. the musicians step into the spotlight, their instruments are as good as they can be. Sayre constructs clarinet mouthpieces, as well as doing repairs and adjustments, in his storefront Lombard shop called Sayre Woodwinds.

It is painstaking work and something more: "It is not only a craft; it is an art," Gregory Smith, second clarinetist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, said of Sayre's technique. "For a professional, it is essential to have the finest equipment to bring the music to life. Rick has a unique sensitivity to a clarinetist's needs." Whether innate or acquired, Sayre's woodwind vibes were certainly enhanced by an early working relationship with a legendary clarinet mouthpiece maker, Frank Kaspar of Cicero, who died three years ago at 87. Sayre said, "If you polled the major sym Fou're not likely to see their names up in lights or even in the tine print on the con cert notes, but three Du Page music special ists get star billing from the professional musicians who know their work. Rick Sayre, Stan Schmidt and Rosalie Loefling neither compose, conduct nor perform.

They play their parts behind the scenes to ensure that when Du PageYaSlt Handicapped tykes take flight with trikes By Mike Comerford the mid-1980s, a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America drove by the Naperville home of Richard and Susan Bergquist and noticed stollers for the handicapped in their front yard. The Bergquist family didn't know it at the time, 'a i w. i i -w- a. ni but that day would lead to many more days of fun for three of their nine children. Two of their daughters have spina bifida and their son is mentally challenged and blind.

The Pioneers gave the family a beeping Nerf ball for Michael, 5, and two specially developed tricycles, called Hot Trikes, for Gloria, 7, and Kathy, 8. "We didn't even know they existed before they drove by and stopped in," said Susan Bergquist, adding that Gloria and Kathy often ride the Hot Trikes together in the parking lot of nearby Elmwood Elementary School. Michael uses the beeping Nerf ball to play catch with friends. "Our kids were just beaming when they got their things. They get to play with the other kids and it is good therapy, too," said Susan Bergquist.

"Our children bring us joy and they (the Pioneers) brought a lot of joy to our children." The Hot Trike is aimed at helping children like Kathy and Gloria who have little or no use of their legs. It is propelled by hand-crank handlebars, and no pedaling is necessary. Children ages 3 to 9 can rest their feet on special pads. The tricycle is made to help children with spinal problems build their upper torso muscles. The Bergquist family is just one of thousands of families in the United States, Canada and Mexico that have benefited from the Hot Trike, the brainchild of the Rolling MeadowsWest Chicago chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America.

Pioneers from Naperville, Aurora, Glen Ellyn and other Du Page County communities have contributed See Pioneers, pg. 4 imaa-msnn Physics meets the fast ball: Here's where your fast ball hits the Doppler, and the truth comes out. You've been telling 'em you're another Nolan Ryan Prove it at the new "Doppler Baseball" exhibit at SciTech in Aurora. Named for the physics principle that police radar guns depend on, the SciTech exhibit tells pitchers their ball speed by computerized voice and displays it on a monitor. Unlike the Chicago Cubs and other major league teams that use similar guns to check the speed of balls, SciTech pitchers don't throw a real baseball.

"It would be too hard," said Olivia Diaz, president of the board of directors. "Ours is the same size, but softer." Another hazard that is tougher to control, she said, is that good old American spirit of competition: While most kids throw from about 5 mph to 19 mph, some score much higher. She said, "We're seeing many adult men who are throwing their arms out. They come and they don't warm up; some kid has just done it at 45, and they have to beat it. We tell them to be careful, warm up first." Sore muscles and all, SciTech visitors are loving Doppler Baseball, which opened Feb.

1. Diaz said, It's used hundreds of times every day, and we're looking for a corporate sponsor to keep it in good working order." If you're willing to pitch in and help, call SciTech at 708-859-3434. Betty Lundy Adept at adapting: The recently opened Harold Washington Library is Chicago's own, but the sights (and soon the sounds) of the ninth floor WinterGarden area of the handsome new building owe something to Du Page talents. First, about that awful din whenever the WinterGarden is the scene of a gala event, such as the opening of the library last October or the mayor's reception for the consular corps: Help is on the way. Lawrence Kirkegaard, the Downers Grove acoustician who has won acclaim for his work on Orchestra Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Ordway Music Theatre in St.

Paul and many other concert halls around the world, is fine tuning the WinterGarden. Library commissioner John Duff said, "We have to do something. The sound is not good for many performance-type things or speaking to a large crowd. We consulted Mr. Kirkegaard because of his reputation.

Second, an Elmhurst College art professor, John Pitman Weber, was part of the team that painted the murals in the vestibule and corridor adjacent to the WinterGarden. Six artists worked on the project, which Weber described as a living metaphor for Harold Washington's city functioning cooperatively." As with the city, all was not harmony at times. "Six different people, six styles, six visions the difficulties were very real, he said. "The results are not the personal work of any one of us, but we were all slightly amazed and definitely pleased with it," Weber said. "The library staff who have to live with it every day are very pleased with it, too." B.L.

The bagel-making Stolzer family of Naperville surrounded by delectables: Amanda, 6, held by Barbara, Shannon, 1 (somewhat upset), Paul, and Maddie, 4. Bagel baron Baker's success is anything but half-baked By Michele L. Fitzpatrick Photo by Gerald West I is high school guidance counselor was right. 1 Paul Stnlypr Ifi unnM havp. mnHp.

orpflt I plumber. "Anything Paul does, he does vigorously. He does it 100 percent, no hesitation, no another Naperville retail store at 1783 Washington a third Westmont and a fourth in Elmwood Park. The company services more than 350 commercial accounts, including hospitals, supermarkets, businesses and restaurants. Recently, ne sold the Westmont and Elmwood Park locations to focus more time on a new interest: consultant to others who want to get into the bagel biz.

A local newspaper editorial praised his success during the recession and the Du Page Area Association of Business and Industry invited him to be a guest speaker at its annual luncheon in 1991. Kathy McAuliffe Duda, director of corporate communications, Dauphin Technology Lombard, said: "In my former position as communications manager for the association, I sought out successful, dynamic business people to speak to members. "Paul isn't merely successful; he's personable, articulate and lively; he stimulates enthusiasm. Besides, he brought bagels for everyone. The audience loved it.

He's on a roll and loving every minute of it. He's a hands-on owner who knows when to See Bagels, pg. 8 indecision," said friend and associate Michael McCormick, vice president, investments, Kemper Securities Group, Chicago. Fortunately for those who devour the more than 90,000 bagels Stolzer's Big Apple Bagels company in Naperville bakes each week, he ignored the counselor's advice, which was to consider a profession in the trades, since his grades were, well, not great. Stolzer said: "I was a classic case.

You know, teachers said, 'He's smart but he doesn't apply What teachers overlooked is the energy core that triggers Stolzer's power: doing things his way. Fueled by personal dreams, Stolzer is dynamic, tireless, a quasar of business energy. He opened the first Big Apple Bagels, a sit-down and retail shop, at 1220 W. Ogden Ave. in Naperville in 1985.

Within months he added Try the indoor links to get yourself up to par Entrepreneurs answer the demand for year-round golf with a variety of ways to play and practice indoors..