Forest Park Review, May 25, 2022
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Hoskins declares
t is no surprise that Rory Hoskins is running for re-election as Forest Park’s mayor. And good for him to make this announcement a full 11 months ahead of the April 2023 municipal election. In his announcement over the weekend, the mayor touts as accomplishments the strength of business along Madison Street, progress on remaking village property at the Altenheim, economic development overall, tighter connections with leaders of neighboring towns and fostering support for local schools. We’d point out, despite some criticism, that everything Hoskins has accomplished has been done with a thick overlay of COVID-19, making every step more difficult. Madison Street has been a mixed bag. Yes, it is positive that the street, even through COVID, remains largely filled and fairly vital. Not mentioned, unsurprisingly, are the ongoing issues related to a few bars and the rowdy behavior they engender. Kudos, though, to Hoskins for his determined efforts to squelch a complex problem. As we’ve noted repeatedly, progress at the Altenheim has been too slow for too long. We’re dubious a newly appointed village commission will move the needle without more transparent leadership from the mayor. We wait. Hoskins does get credit for working on improved relations with the mayors of neighboring towns, including Maywood, River Forest and Oak Park. We share challenges and opportunities and Hoskins sees that. He has also been good, again not a surprise, in working Democratic allies in Springfield. At a moment when money is finally flowing from state and federal sources, it is a good moment to have a mayor who knows how to work the levers. We are especially appreciative that Hoskins singles out his support for the District 91 Forest Park elementary schools. These schools are absolutely central to the future of this village. Going back a decade, we’ve listened with horror as elected village officials trash-talked our schools or downplayed their significance. Our schools have virtues and they have a gigantic enrollment/ public confidence challenge. Hoskins showing up for the schools is vital to changing the perception of our public education. Now we watch with interest to see who else joins this race. There are rumors and social media conversations about potential candidates. Forest Park will benefit from a contested election and we look forward to covering it.
Jean Lotus rocks
There are, to our chagrin, a great many former editors of the Forest Park Review loose in the land. We’ve lost track of a good number of them but a person we happily can’t shake is Jean Lotus, a strong and community-focused editor of the paper back in the previous decade. She has since relocated to Colorado and actively reports on issues related to the hemp industry. But her picture is in this week’s paper as her 1980s girl punk band — Barbie Army — reunited in Chicago recently. They also played a set in Oak Park last weekend. She is a woman of many talents and passions.
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OPINION Learning how to speak ‘country’
‘C
ommunication” was the most important thing our therapists dealt with in marriage counseling, right? That’s if we wanted the relationship to last. If the most important thing was winning, that’s what you focus on in divorce court. There’s an old saying: when two people get married, the two become one. The question is, which one? Liberals, and I’m one of them, sometimes act like we know all the answers. After all, we’re more educated than rural and small-town folks in red states. So I decided that one way to learn to communicate with red-state voters and to really hear where they’re coming from — since there aren’t many in this lifestyle enclave and those who exist stay in the closet — is to listen to some country & western songs. Here’s what I heard:
It’s where I learned about workin’ hard And having a little was just enough It’s where I learned about Jesus And knowin’ where I stand You can take it or leave it This is me, this is who I am
The simple life Wendell Berry writes poems and stories about small-town living. He celebrates simplicity. His characters don’t need the stimulation of Lyric Opera, Goodman Theater, watching professional sports live, the excitement of living in the midst of diversity. “I like to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there,” is what red-state folks say about the city. That’s what Forest Parkers also say about small towns. We live in bubbles, don’t we?
TOM HOLMES
Home I have lived in nine communities for at least a year. In country songs, the place where you’re living now is the place in which you grew up. There are often tradeoffs, of course. You give up opportunity, culture, wealth, education and in return you get lifelong relationships — family and buddies you see every day. You get the experience of community which is more difficult in the big city. Alabama Sampler I was born country And that’s what I’ll always be Like the rivers and the woodlands Wild and free (running wild and free) I got a hundred years of down home Running through my blood I was born country and this country’s what I love Fishin’ in the Dark I’m proud of where I came from I was born and raised in the Boondocks ... Five-card poker on a Saturday night Church on Sunday morning I’ll keep my heart and soul in the Boondocks. It’s where I learned about livin’ It’s where I learned about love
Summer in the Country Sippin’ sweet tea, soakin’ up the breeze The birds and bees, and the creaking’ of an old screen door (---screen door) Talkin’ ’bout the good life The bullfrogs singin’, fireflies blinkin’, me and my girl, swingin’ out on the porch Remindin’ each other just what we’re livin’ for Summer in the country
Anti-political correctness Red-state voters tend to be less educated than folks who voted for Biden and Harris. They want well-educated people to teach their children and to take care of them when they’re sick, but they get mad as hell when pretentious elites from the East and West coast (and near western suburbs of Chicago) tell them how to live. Friends in Low Places I got friends in low places Where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away And i’ll (sic) be okay I’m not big on social graces Well i guess i was wrong i just don’t belong See TOM HOLMES on page 16
