Village Free Press_110123

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Nashville-style chicken restaurant coming to Bellwood Page 3

Maywood parks transfer in jeopardy amid financial crisis

Vol. VIII No. 43

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

vfpress.news

Seniors shine at Hillside fashion show Page 5

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

More details about the Maywood Park District’s financial and managerial turmoil were released during a scathingly tense special Maywood village board meeting on Oct. 24, where park district officials were lambasted for the poor state of the parks by a mayor called a dictator by one trustee and blasted by some people in the audience for what they considered to be his meddling in the affairs of another taxing body. Mayor Booker said he called the Tuesday meeting after learning “about some disturbing matters” at the park district, including the sudden resignation of two park district commissioners, Jeffrey Dean Harris and June Price-Shingles on Oct. 14. By the meeting’s end, Mayor Nathaniel George Booker and most trustees signaled that they had lost faith in the park district to operate, maintain and manage three villageowned properties as the park district has done since the two taxiing bodies signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) in 2022. The board unanimously voted to direct Michael Jurusik, the village attorney, to draft new license agreements for seven community organizations operating out of one of those properties, the Maywood Multipurpose Building at 200 S. 5th Ave. The park district’s new attorney, Adam Simon, said while the park district has its own insurance, it doesn’t require the organizations who use the 200 Building to have liability insurance, a legal hazard for the village and the park district. Jurusik said the 2022 IGA expired in FebSee MAYWOOD PARKS on page 8

Shanel Romain

The Vallentuna Gospel Choir from Stockholm, Sweden performs during a concert at the Second Baptist Church in Maywood on Oct. 29. The concert commemorated the second pastoral anniversary of the church’s pastor, Rev. Chauncey D. Brown.

Q’s voted ‘Best Pizza’ at Westchester Chamber’s Pizza Palooza By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

The roughly 200 people who attended the first-ever Pizza Palooza hosted by the Westchester Chamber of Commerce at the Westchester Recreation Center, 10835 Wakefield Ave. on Oct. 27, have spoken. They saw, they tasted and they decided. Q’s Restaurant & Pizzeria, 4841 Butterfield Rd. in Hillside, was voted the “Best

Pizza” among six restaurants competing for the honor, along with two niche prizes for “Best Crust” and “Best Sauce.” So, what makes Q’s pizza so good? It might be the popular thin crust. For others, it’s the old-school neon sign that’s become somewhat iconic on Butterfield. One blogger wrote of the sign: “I can pretty much tell upon sight if a place is good or not … The lighted sign was the first sign that Q’s was serious.”

The old-school Italian tavern has been an institution in Hillside for more than 60 years, so it may have had the edge over its competitors. Or not. Sam Failla came to Pizza Palooza from Downers Grove, so he may not have had a dog in the fight. “This was great,” he said of Friday’s

See PIZZA PALOOZA on page 2


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