11 minute read
Opinion
OUR VIEW
Tri-village trifecta
With federal infrastructure money slopping around like never before, here is the single, most obvious project that needs to get done. The railroad underpass at Harlem Avenue between North and South Boulevards is fully obsolete. The clearance is too low for many trucks. The lanes are too narrow for Harlem’s heavy traffic. The center support clogs up any traffic flow. And it is an absolute bottleneck at a critical juncture of three villages — Forest Park, River Forest and Oak Park.
The obstacle, and the opportunity, for the fierce lobbying that must be done to gather in the estimated $30 million it will cost to fully reimagine and rebuild this underpass is that there are three villages determined to get it done.
First proposed in 2008, the rebuild has never gotten past some initial engineering studies. And those studies make clear the complexity and the necessity of the work.
Now Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins, River Forest President Cathy Adduci, and Oak Park President Vicki Scaman are unified in the effort and working with both state and federal legislators to secure the funds.
This underpass is now 100 years old. Built originally to carry Chicago and Northwestern tracks over Harlem Avenue, it is now a workhorse carrying Metra and CTA commuter lines as well as the Union Pacific (UP) freight trains. It is Union Pacific that owns the underpass. In a typical cheapskate, offloading maneuver, an early hang-up in the planning discussions is that the UP does not want to own the underpass and does not want responsibility to maintain it once the work is done.
A railroad that has clearly not invested a nickel in this vital piece of infrastructure over the course of a century should not get off scot-free when the real work gets done.
With the president of the state senate, Don Harmon, and the speaker of the Illinois house, Chris Welch, living in or adjacent to our communities, and with Democratic senators representing Illinois, this is the moment to get this project funded and rebuilt.
Forest Park’s urban forest
Smart move by the Forest Park Village Council to seek a grant from the Morton Arboretum to undertake a full inventory of all the trees in the public way in the village. The arboretum would pay half of the roughly $20,000 cost of a professionally done audit. Creating a baseline of the number and location of trees, the variety of species, and the size and condition of those trees is an essential starting point for Forest Park’s continued investment in this great community asset.
It is a progressive move by a Forest Park administration and council that is more ambitious in seeking out support for green initiatives.
We are all in favor.
OPINION
Waiting rooms and missing missed connections
Sat waiting in the empty doctor’s office last night and there was a single magazine in the waiting room. It was a real, honest to goodness magazine with pages that turn, bound with a narrow spine. It was the New York Times Book Review magazine supplement which gets printed and published weekly and inserted into the Times.
Like a glove, I slipped into the act of waiting, sitting in the dedicated space reserved waiting. Magazine racks and tables were barren to prevent microbes from transmitting between readers, yet there was this single magazine, on a chair, calling to me. Turning and scanning pages of something as foreign to me as the latest books reviewed by NYT allowed me to take a brief trip far away from Ukraine, the Proviso schools and Jussie Smollett.
After scanning each page, the classified section on the final page drew me in — ads for wrinkle creams, ghost writers for hire, French-English songwriter for hire and ads for companionship. The mostly sweet-sounding middle-aged romantics in New York or the Bay Area looking for a partner to share wine, theater, poetry and a dance in the living room had me lost in a daydream of other peoples’ lives.
Struck by nostalgia, and an itch for the beauty of humanity, I took a chance to see if missed connections still existed locally. Indeed, Craigslist has a place for those who are desperately seeking interconnectedness. Missed connections, once a regular part of classified ads, are a personal ad that flashes a moment when there might have been a missed relationship, a distinctive moment that someone is stuck reliving and wishing they would have reacted differently and, odds against them, they are seeking to reconnect. In case you haven’t checked, and you recently winked at someone at Menards in Melrose Park or if you were nice to someone at the Blue Line train in Oak Park, head over to the local missed connections on Craigslist, someone is looking for you. A little bit of hope, a flash of faith, even a nudge of anticipation. I was recently reminded of Winnie the
JILL Pooh’s take on anticipation. “‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘what I like best,’ and WAGNER then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what that was called.” The constant reminders of fear, mistrust and what is going wrong both locally, nationally, and globally sure make a jar of honey seem trivial and even suspicious. Watching egos clash globally and locally, and powers destroy the very things they want to protect-both globally and locally, and watching broken systems produce broken results-both globally and locally, sure, can take the wind out of anticipation. So for at least a moment every day, I am going to indulge in the trivial, the simple jar of honey, a crocus making its way out of the ground or a random act of kindness, just enough to replenish my faith in the interconnected and that magic that I do not want to miss.
LET TER No Park Forest Park
An Open Letter to those who run Forest Park:
If you want people to patronize the shops in your village, perhaps do something about all of the broken meters along Madison Street that won’t take change, so your only choice is pay the exorbitant 45-cent fee on a 25- to 50-cent parking cost, or use a CC, or stop ticketing people until they get fixed.
It was pitiful enough that Forest Park decided to sink to the level of Oak Park and implement paid parking via the use of the inconvenience meters that are few and far between. When I called (the police department apparently) to report a broken meter, the answer I got was: “We’re aware they’re broken, we’re looking into it, we’re going to ticket you if you don’t feed the meter, we won’t give you a pass because the meter you must use is broken, go elsewhere to park.” And then they hung up. They literally told me to park elsewhere. Like where, Oak Park?
I’m a customer and that response is unacceptable and will keep me from patronizing anyplace in Forest Park until it’s warm enough to ride my bike as I refuse to put any more money into the police department or village coffers.
If you’re wondering why people continue to shop online and aren’t coming back to the brick & mortar stores, you only need to look at the policy of your local police department. The meters were broken last July, but then the FPPD was responsive and sent out someone to look at it and asked me for my license plate. So this is a long running issue, which they don’t seem motivated to fix. Why fix a meter that’s collecting $0.25-$1 at a time, when you can just ticket unsuspecting customers and reap $25 or $30 or more in parking fees/customer? I feel sorry for your chamber of commerce members, who try and eke out a living during these challenging times in a “village” that seems to enjoy putting up road blocks to their customers.
This is one customer who won’t be back.
Donna Oswald
FOREST P ARK REVIEW
Editor Andy Viano Senior Editor Bob Uphues Equity Editor/Ombudsman Michael Romain Digital Publishing & Technology Manager Briana Higgins Contributing Reporters Tom Holmes, John Rice, Bob Skolnik, Jackie Glosniak, Robert J. Li a Columnists Alan Brouilette, Jill Wagner, Tom Holmes, John Rice Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Sales and Marketing Representatives Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Development & Sales Coordinator Stacy Coleman Circulation Manager Jill Wagner
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SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE ‘Songs for Ukraine’ raised funds for relief
Many Ukrainian children are traumatized by the violence caused by the invading Russian army. So it’s only fitting that a group of young musicians from this area put on a concert to benefit the young victims of this war. “Songs for Ukraine: A youth piano and strings concert to support the children of Ukraine” was held on March 12 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park. Among the musicians participating were five students from the Gasse School of Music, in Forest Park. The concert was the brainchild of two young musicians, Dariusz Radziszewski and Matilda Murphy. Two weeks ago, Dariusz’s mother contacted Good Shepherd Pastor Kathy Nolte to see if holding a benefit concert for Ukraine would be possible. Though it was short notice, the church and the musicians pulled it together. They decorated the pews with yellow and blue ribbons, and performers wore pins with the Ukrainian colors.
A collection basket was placed near the entrance to the sanctuary. It overflowed with cash and checks. The pews were packed with musicians and their families. The 20 students who performed were from 10 local music schools. Following an introduction by Dariusz and Matilda, the audience stood as Evan, Liam and Duncan Campbell performed an instrumental rendition of Ukraine’s national anthem. Titled “Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished,” it contains the line, “We will lay our soul and body down for the cherished freedom.” Pastor Nolte then narrated a brief video for one of the charities the concert benefitted: “The Voices of Children Charitable Foundation.” This organization helps Ukrainian children express their feelings and fears about wartime violence. It also promotes a lifelong love of sports.
In the video, a 6-year-old Ukrainian boy shoots baskets in a gym, while calmly talking about staying safe from gunfire and landmines. He doesn’t seem personally afraid but is afraid for his parents. The concert then commenced. It featured 20 classical pieces for piano and strings.
Good Shepherd’s sanctuary has superb acoustics and Daniel Gasse describes their grand piano as “fantastic.” This is why the Gasse School of Music holds its annual spring recitals at the church. Unfortunately, the recitals here have been on hiatus for several years. The church suffered a devastating fire in 2018.
During reconstruction of the sanctuary,
they created more performance space for musicians and dancers. They also consulted with renowned sound engineer, Rick Talaske, who approved the acoustics. The church was just getting ready to reopen when the pandemic struck. “Songs for Ukraine” marked the triumphant return of the spring recital. During the concert, Gasse could feel the “very intense vibe” of a group of people united in a common cause. The audience JOHN wasn’t just appreciative with their applause, they were generous with their RICE money, collecting $5,000 — of which $2,600 went to Voices of Children and $2,400 went to the Lutheran World Relief Fund for Ukraine. The concert was such a success, Gasse said he would collaborate in any future programs involving the other schools of music. The Gasse School of Music is now in its 21st year in Forest Park. Students range in age from 3 to 66. I became a student at Gasse at the age of 50. I had never played an instrument, or learned how to read music but my piano teacher, Hulya Alpakin, taught me both. Thanks to the solid foundation she gave me, I’m still playing 17 years later. Learning an instrument is a lifelong gift. Attending “Songs for Ukraine” provides lifelong memories of how a group of young musicians cared for young victims of violence in a war-torn country.
A L OOK BA CK IN TIME
Remembering the man behind the Snug
By JILL WAGNER
Contributor
Aeneas Horan, who immigrated to the United States from Ireland, was known for his generous spirit and hearty character during the 20 years he owned Horan’s Snug at 7218 Madison St. Prior to owning the Snug, as it was known, Horan also owned the Elgin Tap (Elgin Avenue and Roosevelt Road) and Pat’s Pub (now Blueberry Hill at 427 Des Plaines Ave.).
Horan retired in 1999 and sold the Snug, which continued to operate under that name for another decade. New ownership took control of the restaurant in 2010 and implemented several menu changes, including cooking fries in duck fat and offering Kobe beef burgers. Fat Duck, as it is now known, has kept the well-known corned beef from Horan’s Snug on the menu.
