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REVIEW

Park district adjusts to COVID restrictions PAGE 7 Holiday recycling tips PAGE 15 @FP_Review @ForestParkReview

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

@FP_Review @ForestParkReview

County to help village enforce restrictions as state increases mitigations

Mayor emphasizes role of residents and importance of education

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

All regions of Illinois are under Tier 3 COVID-19 mitigation as of Nov. 20, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

“This new tier aims to limit gatherings and encourages people to stay home to the greatest extent possible, while permitting some industries to remain open at significantly reduced capacities with proper safety measures in place,” said the IDPH in a statement.

In Forest Park, this means that bowling alleys (there’s one) will be closed. Gyms can no longer offer group fitness classes, and reservations for working out must be made, with only 25 percent capacity allowed and masks worn by everyone at all times.

Funerals can be attended by a maximum of 10 mourners, not including funeral parlor staff.

Big-box stores like Walmart will need to limit caSee COVID-19 ENFORCEMENT on page 7

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Proviso Math and Science Academy principal Willian Breisch helped distribute frozen Jennie-O turkeys to D209 families during the district’s “Turkey Express” event on Nov. 21.

Free turkeys provided to D209 families District hosts first ever ‘Turkey Express’

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Nearly 300 turkeys were gifted to Proviso Township High School District 209 families on Saturday, Nov. 21, in a

IN Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 THIS Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

drive-through giveaway, the first ever for the district.

During the event, known as “Turkey Express,” turkeys were distributed via contactless drive-throughs set up in the parking lots of Proviso East, Proviso West and the Proviso Math and Science Academy (PMSA). Free turkeys were provided to families with children in the D209 school district.

How much do 300 turkeys cost? About $3,200, according to a press release from the district. The money was raised by D209 administration, faculty and staff.

According to the district, Superintendent James Henderson and D209 employees realized that COVID-19 has been difficult for families, including See TURKEYS on page 10

Another Forest Park COVID death

Teaching art, gym and library remotely

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

I

Studying ancient culture, B.C.

’ve been researching ancient cultures and went as far back in time as possible — to B.C. (Before COVID).

The first thing that struck me about this primitive civilization was that most people worked outside their homes. This required them to expend considerable time and expense traveling to their offices. They called this ancient practice “commuting.”

Commuting involved riding crowded trains and buses or fighting traffic in a car. But some social benefits were involved.

Workers gathered to talk in break rooms, or simply stopped to chat in the hallways.

There was a feeling of “teamwork.” This sense of shared purpose sometimes extended beyond the work day, when co-workers would gather at “watering holes.”

Besides traveling to work, these primeval people trekked to sports events. Experts are puzzled why they would go to so much trouble to attend an event in-person when they could more comfortably watch on TV. Nonetheless, they would pack stadiums, where they spent enormous amounts of money on food and drink. There is no recorded complaint about paying these prices, nor the astronomical cost of tickets and parking.

Apparently watching sports relieved stress, and they found it fun to socialize with likeminded people.

People from this era would also pack stadiums to hear music concerts. They could

easily stream these events in their living room but insisted on going to the trouble and expense of watching and listening to “live music.” Some reported that attending concerts was exhilarating and “life-changing.”

They treasured the feeling of togetherness and sometimes sang along with the band.

Besides sports and music, people attended plays and movies. This is especially baffling because they could easily watch these productions on their many devices. They insisted, though, on packing into auditoriums with strangers and paying for costly concessions.

These special events aside, everyday life was far different back then. Wearing masks was not widespread. In fact, the only ones who wore masks were health-care workers, superheroes and bank robbers.

People also practiced elaborate greeting rituals, like shaking hands, hugging and, in extreme cases, kissing cheeks. Some members of this ancient society advanced to the fist bump but they knew nothing of the elbow bump.

Physical affection was rampant in those days. Much of it took place at frequent family gatherings. These get-togethers featured some kind of feast. Food hygiene was almost unheard of back then. People clung to an ancient superstition which said that dropped food was still safe if it was picked up in five seconds. They didn’t scrub their groceries

JOHN RICE

A

L O O K

B A C K

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when they got home from the store. They were so ignorant of disease, they encouraged the guest of honor to blow out the candles on their birthday cake.

Celebrations like these would also take place outside the home at restaurants.

Though the health benefits of eating only home-cooked meals is obvious, people insisted on having meals that others had prepared. This was known as “eating out.”

Experts discovered there were emotional benefits to sharing meals and drinks at bars and restaurants.

There were many other strange practices during this bygone era, including students sitting together in classrooms, worshippers sitting together in pews and neighbors clustering in kitchens.

Now that I have a greater understanding of mankind’s past, I can’t wait to study modern civilization. I’m going to start with the A.C. era. College kids will again congregate on Madison Street, with “Black Wednesday” serving as a huge reunion. On Thanksgiving morning, some hearty souls will have the stamina to play touch football at The Park. Afterward, there will be a feast at grandma’s house. Instead of fist-bumping, there will be warm hugs — and possibly a kiss on the cheek.

■ John Rice is a columnist/private detective, who has seen his business and family thrive in Forest Park. He thoroughly enjoys life in the village and still gets a thrill smelling Red Hots, watching softball and strolling through cemeteries. Jrice1038@aol.com

T I M E . . .

FROM HARLEM MEAT MARKET TO FAT DUCK Harlem Meat Market, located at 22 Madison St. (today 7218 Madison St.) circa 1899. Today, it is Fat Duck Restaurant, at the corner of Elgin Ave. and Madison St. In 1920, it was known as Gottlieb Schwab Grocery and advertised “homemade sausage of all kinds, a specialty.” In addition, Gottlieb Schwab Grocery delivered groceries to your home.

For many generations it was referred to as Schwab’s Hall, with incarnations as Forest Park Tavern (1950s), Alpine (early 1970s), Bill’s Pub (mid 1970s), and Horan’s Snug (1980s). No matter the generation, the atmosphere and spirits there have always been worth celebrating.

–Jill Wagner

From the Historical Society of Forest Park archives circa 1899. Notice the wooden sidewalk and the meat hanging outside, plucked and ready to cook.

F O R E S T PA R K

REVIEW Editor Maria Maxham Senior Editor Bob Uphues Contributing Reporters Tom Holmes, John Rice, Bob Skolnik, Jackie Glosniak, Robert J. Lifka Columnists Alan Brouilette, Jill Wagner, Tom Holmes, John Rice Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Sales and Marketing Representatives Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Publisher Dan Haley Business Manager Joyce Minich GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA Board of Directors Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer HOW TO REACH US ADDRESS 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE 708-366-0600 ■ FAX 708-467-9066 EMAIL forestpark@wjinc.com CIRCULATION Jill@oakpark.com ONLINE ForestParkReview.com TWITTER @FP_Review Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Forest Park Review,141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302-2901. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, IL (USPS No 0205-160) In-county subscriptions: $28 per year. $42 for two years, $58 for three years.

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Responsible for their own destiny

EQUITY IN HEALTH RESEARCH: Gary Arnold, program director at the Progress Center for Independent Living (PCIL) on Madison Street, is encouraging staff and clients to participate in the All of Us project.

Progress Center participates in NIH research program

File Photo

By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter

Equity is being discussed a lot these days.

Justin Dart, called by many the father of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act), said in 1990, “We must invest in a continuum of new and strengthened programs to liberate people with disabilities from dependency, and empower them to be equal and productive participants in the mainstream.”

The problem with Dart’s statement is that most people with disabilities do not in general have “mainstream” bodies, and therefore their health-care needs are often unique.

That is why Gary Arnold, program director at the Progress Center for Independent Living (PCIL) on Madison Street, is exhorting the staff and clients at PCIL to participate in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) program called All of Us. Last week Arnold sent out an email in which he quotes the American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD): “Historically, people with disabilities have been excluded and ignored from research studies. That ends NOW because of the All of Us Research Program!

“For the first time, people with disabilities are being encouraged to participate and are being asked to enroll in a study that can directly impact how health care is received in the future.”

The NIH website acknowledges and a

promises: “Medical research hasn’t always seen you. We’re changing that.”

NIH says they are seeking one million people throughout the U.S. to participate in a study that may last up to 10 years. “At the moment, health care is often one-size-fitsall. But imagine a future where your health care is tailored to you. We want to make that future possible. How? By creating a resource that allows researchers to conduct thousands of studies on health and disease.”

Arnold gave one example of how people with disabilities are often not treated equitably. “Weight,” he said, “is a basic statistic that is taken from every patient at nearly every visit. The data is taken because it is important. Yet sometimes for people with disabilities the data is left out because the doctor’s office does not have the equipment a person with a disability may need to get on the scale.”

Another example: “My old boss at Access

g n a H e r e in th k r a P t s e For

Living studied to be a nurse. In her experience, she noticed from the charts of people with disabilities compared to the charts of non-disabled people that a lot of information from disabled people was missing. It was missing because either they weren’t asked the same questions or because there were access barriers.”

AAHD added, “People with disabilities know all too well that health status isn’t just dependent on a medical diagnosis. The onesize-fits-all method is not effective, as each person is unique and requires individualized care and treatment. There are many physical and environmental barriers that are unique to the disability community, and the presence of secondary conditions and health disparities is often overlooked by health-care providers.”

NIH is gathering data in the study to move the medical profession toward what the literature calls “precision” or “personalized”

medicine. Participants answer health surveys, donate DNA samples and share their electronic health records.

The Progress Center, Arnold explained, is a sub-awardee of the AAHD as part of the Community and Provider Gateway Initiative (CPGI), which is funded by NIH to lead grassroots engagement efforts. AAHD reached out to Progress Center.

PCIL is encouraging participation in All of Us by sharing information each week over social media and is integrating brief presentations about the program into standing progress center meetings and support groups. Each Monday at 3 p.m., for example, they have a Community Check In. If you are interested in participating in the research program, enroll at JoinAllofUs.org/together.

To talk to Gary Arnold, call 708-209-1500, extension 14.

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

GET INVOLVED THIS #GIVINGTUESDAY Every single person has the power to change the world.

Together we give.

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MAKE A DONATION ON DECEMBER 1ST Donate online, mail a check, or drop off a donation at the shelter. Remember: all donations matched dollar for dollar!

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation It’s easy to take the Forest Park Review for granted. What makes the paper special and important, though, is that we’re here. At the school board meetings. Reporting on the village council. In tune with the businesses. We’re a source for hyper-local news about what’s happening HERE. I live in town and have for over 18 years, I care deeply about what happens here -- it’s more than just a job -- and I work hard to report on all aspects of life in Forest Park.

Maria Maxham, Forest Park Review editor

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Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation Food writing has become especially valuable in recent months and GCM supports my tireless desire to bring attention to the restauranteurs, chefs, and artisans who form the spine of our local food scene.

Humanizing the people who nourish our community is essential in times of both struggle and triumph.

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Another COVID death brings Forest Park’s total to 14 All of Illinois under Tier 3 mitigation efforts

and many other business sectors.

The full list of restrictions can be viewed here: coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restoreillinois-mitigation-plan IDPH is looking at positivity rates, hos-

pital capacity metrics, and COVID-related hospitalizations in all the state’s regions over a two-week period to determine if and when mitigations can be relaxed, if additional restrictions are needed, or if current

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

COVID-19 has claimed its 14th Forest Park life. On Nov. 19, a 74-year-old man died from coronavirus at 1020 Desplaines Ave. Underlying health conditions included diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease.

Forest Park has had 603 total COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health. Of those, 78 cases were reported last week, and the town experienced an 82.7 percent increase in reported cases over the past two weeks. This is down from last week, when the two-week percent change in confirmed cases was 118 percent.

All parts of Illinois are currently under Tier 3 mitigation efforts, as the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has put in place stricter guidelines in an effort to reduce the positivity rate and number of cases of COVID-19. These tighter restrictions include measures related to bars and restaurants (no indoor service), gyms, funerals,

ZERO DAYS: According to this graph from the IDPH website, as of Nov. 20 Region 10 had spent zero days, on a 7-day rolling average, under the 12 percent positivity rate threshold, one of the metrics used to determine if a region can step down to Tier 2 mitigation.

guidelines are sufficient to control infection in the area.

To move back down to Tier 2 mitigations, a region must experience the following: - Less than a 12 percent positivity rate for three consecutive days, - 20 percent or greater available intensive care unit and hospital bed availability.

- And declining COVID hospitalizations in seven out of the last 10 days.

Region 10, which includes Forest Park, has seen its 7-day rolling average positivity rate fall slightly over several days. On Nov. 15, it peaked at 16 percent. On Nov. 16, it was 15.5 percent, on Nov. 17 it was 15.5. percent, and on Nov. 20 it was down to 15 percent.

Still, however, it is well over that 12 percent threshold set by the state that would allow a region to move back down to Tier 2 mitigation efforts.

In terms of hospital beds, on Nov. 23 the IDPH website reported that Region 10 had been under the 20 percent capacity for two consecutive days, although ICU beds were above the 20 percent threshold.

As for COVID-19 hospital patients, on Nov. 23 the IDPH website showed that Region 10 had seen 10 days of patient increases, on a seven-day rolling average. See dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics for more information.

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation

I’ve worked at Growing Community Media for nearly 25 years – for the last 17 as editor of the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark -- for one reason: Community newspapers are an endangered species, but they’re indispensable. We’re the place where our communities tell their own stories.

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Alex Rogals, Staff Photographer

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

COVID19 ENFORCEMENT Coordinating with county from page 1 pacity, but according to Casey Staheli, senior manager of national media relations for the company, that’s already happening.

“Walmart began limiting capacity in our stores to 20 percent in early April, or lower if mandated by a local government, and that limit has remained in place since then,” Staheli said. “We know from months of metering data in our stores that the vast majority of the time our stores didn’t reach our self-imposed 20% metering capacity. Out of an abundance of caution, we have resumed counting the number of people entering and leaving our stores.”

The most problematic enforcement in town, however, relates to bars and restaurants, which were supposed to close all indoor service on Oct. 28 when Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the region had surpassed COVID-19 related thresholds.

But several restaurants and bars in town have continued to offer indoor service, and so far the village, county and state haven’t stopped businesses refusing to comply with the state guidance.

Mayor Rory Hoskins said on Nov. 19 that the incremental warning system implemented originally is still in effect, with the village first educating the establishments on the state guidelines, then issuing a cease and desist notice, and finally notifying the county of any noncompliance.

That first step, providing the state guidelines to bars and restaurants, is what the village plans to focus on the most, said Hoskins.

“The village’s stance is that we will be very active in the public education piece of the state regulations,” Hoskins said. And it will be the residents and consumers who will ultimately be the ones that force compliance.

But the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) will help, Hoskins said.

In fact, Cook County employees are currently spending two weeks in Forest Park as part of their biannual sanitation inspections, and they will be reinforcing the importance of COVID compliance with local businesses, according to Steve Glinke, director of public health and safety.

“We are coordinating all enforcement measures with the CCDPH,” Glinke said, and the county will be “reeducating people on the new guidelines and investigating complaints.”

Hoskins said enforcement will also come in a round-about way: through consumer choice.

“Residents and consumers know the guidelines and understand why mitigation orders have been issued,” Hoskins said. “The consumers are ultimately going to regulate themselves.” And, theoretically, thereby the businesses as well.

Hoskins talked about the difficulty of coming down hard on businesses in town, both from a legal perspective (revoking a liquor license, for example, is a costly and time-consuming process) and from a broader understanding of the needs of businesses right now. It’s a balancing act between understanding the financial crisis faced by businesses and responding to the governor’s guidance, he said.

“We get calls and emails from residents, but when we’re dealing with a small business person who’s been on Madison Street for over 20 years, that insistence on strict compliance isn’t always realistic,” Hoskins said. He expressed sympathy for the businesses, saying that if you compare revenue from last year at this time to this year, you can see what an impact COVID-related financial difficulties have had.

“We want to preserve the competitive culture of the village while ensuring public safety,” said Hoskins. “We’re not trying to put people out of business but modify the public’s behavior so it’s consistent with the government’s plans.

“Rightly or wrongly, the hospitality industry has felt targeted [since the beginning of COVID],” said Hoskins.

“They’re not necessarily being targeted, but since they operate in a business that is susceptible to public health concerns, they’re often subjected to restrictions related to the virus.”

Toilet paper a hot commodity, again With COVID on the rise and new mitigations in place for the entire state of Illinois, will people start stockpiling toilet paper and cleaning supplies again?

In an interview with CNN, Walmart officials said on Nov. 17 that it’s been harder to stock some items, such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies, at many of their stores nationwide, although Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said the company is better prepared to respond to demand than it was in the spring.

At Forest Park’s Walmart, the toilet paper shelves had lots of empty spaces on Nov. 19, but no limits were being placed at that time on how many items a customer could purchase.

The Jewel in River Forest, however, was limiting paper products, including toilet paper, paper towels and napkins, to one per customer.

More to come as this situation develops.

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Park district alters services in response to Tier 3 mitigations Recreational programming suspended; Roos restrictions in place

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

In response to Governor J. B. Pritzker’s release of Tier 3 COVID-19 resurgence mitigations, which went into effect on Nov. 20, the Park District of Forest Park announced changes to activities and services.

“As we have maintained throughout this whole pandemic, the health, safety, and wellness of our residents and staff is our number one priority,” said the park district in an announcement last week. “We will continue to navigate the recommendations and guidelines to the best of our abilities and follow the protocols set forth to ensure we can offer our limited services safely.”

As follows are some of the changes to park district services: Administrative building Office hours still run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but residents are asked to call ahead at 708-366-7500 and make an appointment rather than dropping by. Efforts will be made to provide as much help over the phone as possible to avoid person-to-person contact.

Recreational programming All recreational group programs, including dance classes, youth activities, and indoor athletics are suspended until at least Dec. 31.

D91 childcare and after-school program Daytime supervision of D91 children and the After School Recess program will continue, and park staff are ensuring that all health and safety measures are being met.

“Staff worked diligently to ensure that we can continue to provide a safe environment for children to learn,” the park district said in their announcement.

Park and playgrounds The park and playgrounds will stay open, as will outdoor courts, weather permitting.

Roos Recreation Center The Roos Recreation Center is open only to members for now; drop in and day passes are not being issued.

A capacity limit of 10 members in the fitness room will be in effect during Tier 3 mitigation, and reservations are required to work out. Walk-up reservations can be made, but if the facility is at capacity, people will be turned away.

Members can call ahead at 708-866-7667 to reserve a spot.

Without exception, masks must be worn upon entry to the Roos Recreation Center and remain on during the entire visit. Sanitizing wipes are provided at multiple stations throughout the facility, and machines have been moved to increase spacing for proper social distancing.

Basketball reservations and use of the court are temporarily suspended.

Bathrooms are available, but the locker room area is taped off and unavailable.

A full list of Roos Center Tier 3 rules can be found at bit. ly/RoosTier3Update.

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Aggravated carjacking in alley

An 80-year-old woman was struck in the head from behind and her vehicle stolen on the 300 block of Marengo on Nov. 17 at 5:37 p.m. She had parked her car in the garage, and as she exited, she was struck from behind. She attempted to get up and was hit again in the head.

The victim stated that the man who hit her and another man got into her car and drove away. Her purse, wallet and cell phone were in the car.

Last week, the Review reported on a 74-year-old woman struck by an unknown assailant from behind and her car stolen on the 600 block of Marengo on Nov. 15

Victims, exchanging cookies, robbed at gunpoint Two former co-workers, meeting to exchange Girl Scout cookies and catch up, were the victims of an armed robbery on Nov. 20 at 7:23 p.m. at Forest Park National Bank, 7348 Madison St. Two men, one with a handgun, stole purses, wallets, cell phones, keys and other items from the victims before getting into their car and driving away.

The incident was caught on bank camera.

Man walking down street robbed at gunpoint Officers were called when a man reported being robbed at gunpoint at Harlem Av-

enue and Franklin Street on Nov. 16 at 3:52 p.m. The victim said he was approached by a man who asked for money for the train.

The victim replied that he had no money, when the offender struck him in the cheek with his fist. The offender then grabbed the victim’s backpack and ran. The victim pursued the offender, who turned around and displayed a handgun before getting into a vehicle, which fled the scene.

Attempted armed robbery at Wing Stop Officers were dispatched to Wing Stop, 1215 Harlem Ave., for an armed robbery on Nov. 16 at 7:39 p.m. The victim, an employee of the restaurant, said she was at the front register when an unknown offender came in, displayed a handgun, pointed it at her and demanded money. She told him there is no cash in the register because the restaurant is currently only taking credit cards.

The offender left the store and entered a car which drove away. The incident was captured on surveillance cameras.

Car, left running, stolen from gas station A car was stolen from Thornton’s, 601 Harlem Ave., on Nov 16 at 12:41 a.m. when the owner went inside the store, leaving her vehicle running and the keys inside. She exited the store and discovered her car had been taken.

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation Community matters. The lives, the people, the personalities, the ways and whys and how things work (or don’t work) is covered in our hyper local news. Caring about how our taxes are being spent, how our neighborhood children are doing and knowing that a duckling is rescued from a fall in a sewer, matter. Growing Community Media takes the time to tell these stories, because these stories matter. I care deeply about our communities and it is an honor to be a part of this local journalism team and be supported by the neighborhoods we serve.

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Shots fired on Harlem Avenue

Shots were fired at 700 Harlem Ave. on Nov. 16 at 9:10 p.m. near the I-290 expressway. Forest Park and Oak Park police were called, and traffic was stopped in order to investigate.

Police observed approximately seven bullet holes in the driver’s side of the victim’s car, but both occupants were not being fully cooperative and kept walking away from the vehicle, from which emanated the strong odor of pot.

One of the occupants provided only the detail that he ducked when he saw that the offenders were going to fire at him, but he couldn’t provide any information about the offenders or their car. He said he didn’t see them because he was ducking down. When asked how he knew to duck if he couldn’t see them, he became confrontational.

His mother showed up at the scene, and he walked away with her. When he returned, his story changed, and he was able to provide details about the vehicle and its occupants.

According to the police report, the victim said, “he had been shot at before in 2016 but has not had any problems since then due to going to prison.”

A background check revealed an “extensive history for narcotics.”

Officers located shell casings at the top of the Harlem Avenue and I-290 bridge.

Cat stolen A woman reported her cat had been stolen from her apartment on the 200 block of Circle Avenue on Nov. 16 around or just after midnight. She said she had left her apartment to do laundry on the first floor of the building, and when she returned about 15 minutes later, her cat was gone. She told police she will contact the property manager to access camera and will post fliers in the building. Her cat, Lizzie, is gray with brown spots and approximately a year old.

Reckless drivers ticketed during funeral procession Eighteen citations for reckless driving were issued to vehicles in a funeral procession on Nov. 17 between 2 and 2:40 p.m. on Desplaines Avenue. According to the police report, the cars were driving into oncoming traffic head-on, blocking traffic by cutting off other motorists in intersections, taking up multiple lanes, and had occupants hanging out of open windows, doors, roofs. They were also doing burnouts. As the police report states, those actions were taken “without regard to the public, their passengers or themselves, everyone in danger of being seriously injured.”

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation Working in this job, in this place, has made me a better person. I wrote about so many quality people, who made me want to be a better person, too. This job’s other gift is meaning. Thirty years ago, I boomeranged back to the town I grew up in and got to know it for the first time, burrowing beneath the surface, where meaning lies.

Ken Trainor, Viewpoints editor and columnist

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

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Nov. 25 - Dec. 2

BIG WEEK Virtual Beyblade Chat and Battle On Nov. 28 from 2 to 3 p.m., middle grade kids are invited to show off their Beyblade skills using one that they’ve made (from the library’s kits) or one that they own. Whose will spin the longest? This is a virtual event, and registration is required at fppl.org/events.

Harmonica Music Sing-Along

Holiday Home Makeover Contest As the streets of Forest Park start to shine with all sorts of vibrant lights and decorations, residents are invited to enter the Park District of Forest Park’s Holiday Home Makeover Contest. Best in Show will receive a family four pack of pool passes for the 2021 season. The park district will also take a photo of your house and create an album and a map so our great community can tour the houses and cast their votes for People’s Choice. For more, or to register, visit bit.ly/HolidayHomeMakeover2020

Join John Milan and the Forest Park Public Library for an all-ages online show and sing-along on Nov. 29 from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Songs you hear might include “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and “Roll out the Barrel.”

Find out more at fppl.org/events.

Bake Sale for Animal Care League Pre-order goodies through Nov. 29, and pick them up on Dec. 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Animal Care League. Shop the bake sale at https://bazaar2020.givesmart.com.

Pictures with Cardboard Santa The Animal Care League, 1011 Garfield in Oak Park, is offering photos with a cardboard Santa, a twist on classic photos.

Photos will be taken on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3 by appointment only. Photo sessions are $15 and include a digital and hard copy of your photo. Limited appointments available.

Register and find out more about the bazaar at animalcareleague.org/holidaybazaar. html.

Virtual Write-in for Young Authors On Nov. 29 from 2 to 2:30 p.m., middle aged kids are invited to build a paper fortune teller using the Forest Park Public Library’s Make-and-Take kit of the month, which will tell you what kind of story to write. There will be an interactive writing activity, discussion of different types of stories, brainstorming, and more. Details at fppl.org/events.

10

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation One day several years ago, a candidate running for a local school board seat said she got involved in local school politics, in large part, because of an article she’d read in Forest Park Review. Moments like that are why I work for Growing Community Media. We have impact.

Michael Romain, Equity reporter and columnist

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ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

TURKEY EXPRESS: District 209 administration and staff distributed free turkeys to school families at Proviso Math and Science Academy on Nov. 21. Turkeys were also given away at Proviso East and Proviso West.

TURKEYS

Why I work at Growing Community Media, and why I’m asking you to make a donation I value that at GCM we write and design content that is relevant to the local community.

We are not influenced by large corporations who cater content that has underlying motives. As designers, we have the freedom to create imagery that we feel showcases our community in a way that truly represents the spirit of the area.

Contactless delivery from page 1 presenting economic hardships for many.

“This has been a particularly difficult year,” Henderson said in the release. “Some of our families are struggling and, unfortunately, we may never know which of the students sitting across the computer screen need help.” He said the $3,200 to purchase the turkeys was collected in less than a week.

“I could not be more proud of my team for their generous spirits and for stepping up to make sure our families have a great holiday,” Henderson said.

Ensuring safety during the giveaway was a priority, and public health guidelines were followed. In fact, parents never left their cars at all. They pulled into the lot, popped their trunk, and a turkey was dropped into their car by a D209 staff member.

State Representative Chris Welch, who graduated from Proviso West High School and is a past president of the Proviso school board, stopped by the event on Saturday.

“This is a great way to give back to our families,” Welch is quoted as saying in the release. “I am a proud alum of Proviso West and it makes me even more proud to know that the faculty and staff pitched in to make this happen for our community. It is a tremendous showing of care and concern and it means nearly 300 families will have turkeys on their holiday tables. This is a noteworthy effort.”

Mark Moroney, Editorial designer

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

O Christmas Tree On Nov. 20, the public works department, led by director John Doss, delivered and erected the village’s Christmas tree in Constitution Court. The 24 foot tree from Michigan will be adorned with lights, and a virtual tree lighting is being scheduled in lieu of the traditional mayor’s lighting of the tree during the annual holiday walk.

Photo provided

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Making the ‘specials’ special, remotely Library, art and gym teachers talk about distance learning

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Reading, writing and arithmetic are obviously essential parts of elementary education, but in schools everywhere, “specials” like art, gym and library are important parts of a well-rounded education — and even remotely, teachers are finding ways to make these classes meaningful.

For Nitasha Ali, who teaches physical education to students in preschool through fifth grade in District 91, keeping kids active on a regular basis is the goal.

“For physical education, it’s important that they get their 30 minutes of movement at least each day, so we do a lot of movement and basic skills,” Ali said.

Ali teaches gym to preschool students for half an hour once a week, to kindergarteners twice a week, and older students three times a week, and she focuses on using things they have around the house instead of special equipment only available at school.

“For younger kids, for example, we do a lot of hand-eye coordination, like touching your nose. Older kids enjoy the water bottle flip challenge, and with something like that, everyone can participate,” she said.

She keeps in mind, too, not to be too active. “I don’t want them to break any furniture, or their mom’s pictures or something.”

Parents have reached out to her, thanking her for the physical break her class gives students.

Emily Bruzzini teaches art to kids in the same grades as Ali, and she sends home supplies to make sure everyone has access to materials, even basic ones like paper, markers and crayons.

Oil pastels are a special supply she sent home, useful for mixing colors, a project

she recently did with the kindergarten students.

But art can act as a way to express feelings too, something particularly necessary during these strange times.

“We talk about emotions and how we can show those,” Bruzzini said. “Something great about art is that it can be really personal.”

Through technology, she’s found ways for her students to express themselves and stay in communication with one another too. She uses Seesaw, an app that allows students to post their art assignments. The platform also allows them to record voice messages about their projects for the other kids to listen to, and a comment feature allows students to respond to each other’s work.

“They say really nice things to each other in the comments,” Bruzzini said.

She’s found that it’s been a source of friendship and social connection for students too. Oftentimes, they share extra drawings. Sometimes they post riddles or drawing challenges (elephants have been popular lately) or just say hi. In fact, in one fifth-grade class, in addition to assignmentrelated posts, Bruzzini said there are over 150 posts “that are just for fun.”

“They even write math problems,” she said. “I’ll approve anything as long as it’s appropriate. If they’re doing their work, and it’s something they’re posting during offtimes, it’s fine. I want them to stay in touch with their friends.”

Art in Bruzzini’s class also reflects what’s going on in the world today. Her students re-

cently did a project featuring masks.

Heath Mills is the library media specialist for D91 kids in grades three through five.

For Mills, teaching — and reaching — kids remotely has been a huge shift from in-person school.

He said at the beginning of a typical school year, he jokes with his third graders, whom he’s just met, that he’ll know what they like to read before he even knows their names.

He connects with students through their reading preferences.

“It will be October, and I’ll say, ‘Hey, you, kid who likes Lego books.’ Because that’s what that student is looking for. I take a lot of pride in knowing what they like to read and giving recommendations to them. But it’s been different making a connection with them remotely,” Mills said.

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

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ART IMITATING LIFE: In Emily Bruzzini’s art class, students created art that folds, showing self-portraits masked and unmasked. Above, Ma’Leah shows her work. Below and previous page, Jayden displays his project, both unmasked and masked.

Reading books to kids presents extra challenges and work too. Prep time is increased because instead of just picking up a book and reading, he photographs the pages and uploads them to a Google slide show so kids can see the pages as he reads them. Holding up a book in a Zoom session wouldn’t work quite as well.

But technology has provided some benefits too. Early in the school year, he worked to get Epic Books accounts set up for the students. It’s a service that allows kids to read books online — or have books read to them.

This way, all ages and levels of readers, including struggling or emerging readers, can benefit.

Another change for Mills is scheduling of curriculum. For example, digital citizenship, something he teaches at the end of the year, when kids might have more unsupervised device time, has been bumped up since kids are online so much now.

“I remind the kids of how to stay safe online, and maybe what to share, what not to share. We talk about cyber-bullying because I know that they’re going to have some unsupervised device time,” Mills said.

Connectivity issues have limited some of the things he does with students. One thing he misses a lot this year is Reader’s Theater, an activity he said the kids really love.

They take turns reading from a script, but remotely, even with cameras turned off and all tabs closed, there’s too much lag and connectivity problems for it to work.

For many teachers, connectivity issues present one of the biggest challenges with remote learning, and Bruzzini said she hates when technology prevents a student from participating.

“It’s heartbreaking when their connection won’t let them participate in class the way they want to, especially with like younger students who can’t really type in the chat,”

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

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nstalling decorations, holiday cooking, and watching holiday movies are some of the Clancy family favorite holiday traditions (really my favorite holiday traditions). Another Clancy family holiday tradition is the annual Christmas card with a photo of the Clancy kids on the hallway stairs.

By the time our son Luke (our youngest child) was born, our narrow hallway staircase became the traditional holiday photo location. Every year there was great hope that the photo session would be short and sweet. Perhaps, even a one-take event.

Surprise! Young children do not always take direction well, particularly when they are sitting next to each other in a narrow hallway. So, there were outtakes.

Many, many outtakes in my pursuit of that one PERFECT Christmas photo.

When I look at those old Christmas photos, it is not the perfect ones that bring me the most joy. It’s the outtakes that warm my heart. All those perfect photos depict four lovely Clancy children. The outtakes depict Clancy

Start Before You’re Ready life. Looking at those outtakes I remember the fun, the humor, and the wonder of those early years.

I have come to realize that perfection THERESA CLANCY is overrated.

Estate Planning Attorney Perfection can become a quest that obscures the joy of life. Thankfully, those young Clancy Christmas card photos were taken before digital photography. Otherwise, I may have deleted all those imperfect joyful moment reminders.

Perfection can also waste time and energy. The quest for the perfect picture caused unhappy Clancy kids and a frustrated mom photographer. It would have been much better to take a few photos for the Christmas card and spend the rest of the time doing something fun, like baking cookies.

Nowadays, I have seen the error of my

ways, and the Clancy photo session is much shorter and happier.

Like wanting the perfect photo, we sometimes wait for the perfect time to act. A perfect time when we are ready to accomplish a task. In life is there ever really a perfect time? So very often waiting for the perfect time is just an excuse for inaction. Inaction (procrastination) due to fear, feeling overwhelmed, or just plain laziness.

Winston Churchill said, “perfection is the enemy of progress.” Bestselling author, Marie Forleo, advises that we should “start before you’re ready” because action generates motivation.

I think this is good advice for life and for estate planning. I hear so many people say they have been planning for years to create an estate plan. My husband Mike and I kept putting off creating an estate plan largely because we did not know much about it.

Our lack of knowledge became a vicious cycle. We did not create an estate plan because we lacked

information about the process, and we lacked information about the process because we did not pursue creating an estate plan. Now that we have an estate plan, I realize had we just started we would have been halfway to completion.

Like many things in life, estate planning action creates motivation.

Like embracing photo outtakes, I think we can all learn so much from our kids. In the Berenstain Bears children’s book series, Mama Bear states that her children cubs learned to do by doing.

They learned to walk by walking, and they learned to climb by climbing. The same can be said for estate planning.

We learn to create an estate plan by creating an estate plan. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Progress not perfection. Start before you’re ready. No one, anywhere, has ever said, I created an estate plan and now I regret it!

Start creating an estate plan today.

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Holiday recycling tips Spoiler: Avoid glitter and foil

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

As packages are delivered, wrapping paper purchased (it matters what kind!) and gift cards distributed, Republic Services has provided the village of Forest Park with guidelines about holiday-specific recycling.

There are lots of statistics on how much waste is produced annually in the United States during the holiday season. Republic Services cited the organization Earth911, which said that 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper go to landfills each year.

With a little foresight, however, residents can reduce the amount of holiday refuse that ends up in the dump. Here are some tips: Although ribbons and bows aren’t recyclable, they can be reused.

When shipping holiday packages, consider using crumpled paper to secure items and keep them from moving. Reusing bubble wrap and foam peanuts from previous purchases is another way to cut down on waste. This is especially important because a lot of packing material, aside from pa-

per, isn’t recyclable.

Choose wrapping paper and gift bags wisely.

Glittery or foil paper or gift bags are not recyclable, only reusable, so choosing less-flashy wrapping is better for the environment.

Republic Services recommends using the “scrunch test” to see if wrapping paper — or any paper, for that matter — is recyclable. It’s easy. Crumple the paper you’re not sure about into a ball. When you open your hand, if it stays scrunched up, it most likely can be recycled. But paper that opens back up most likely can’t.

The glitter and foil rule applies to greeting cards and envelopes too. “Just remember, the fancier the paper, the less recyclable it is,” says Republic Services’ website on holiday recycling.

Cardboard shipping boxes and gift boxes can usually be recycled. Toy packaging that is made of heavy cardboard must be separated from any plastic packaging before recycling.

Sticky gift tags are not recyclable on their own, but if already affixed to plain paper or envelopes (remember, no foil or glitter!), they can be recycled.

Gift cards you’ve used can’t be recycled. Although they’re plastic, they’re too small to go through the sorter at the recycling center. But many retailers offer digital gift certificates that can be delivered via email, a much greener option.

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation

For me, shining a light on the arts and the people involved in their creation – musicians, visual artists, authors, singers, dancers – is only part of the story. Getting to know details, like all the ways they are adapting during the pandemic, and then being able to share that is a great feeling.

My work at Growing Community Media working in Homes has been such a gift.

It has grounded me in the community and opened doors into the lives of countless residents in Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and beyond. When people welcome you into their homes, they are welcoming you into their lives.

I hope that each week we share a bit of that humanity with our community.

Michelle Dybal, Arts Editor

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

17

Puerto Rico, the 51st state?

Local talks held about non-binding referendum

By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter

On Nov. 3 Forest Parkers may have been so anxious about who would win the presidential election that they might not have noticed their fellow Americans living in Puerto Rico were that day voting on a nonbinding referendum that asked, “Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state? Yes or No?” Vivian Ramos noticed. Her grandparents moved from the island to Chicago in the 1950s looking for work. The 41-year-old Forest Park resident has ties to the island, located at the far eastern end of a chain of islands in the Caribbean known as the Greater Antilles. Through her grandmother, she is one of over 5 million people claiming Puerto Rican heritage who are living in the 50 states, compared to just 3.2 million living on the island itself.

But because she has lived in the Chicago area her whole life and has only actually been to the island twice, she thinks of herself as an American more than as a Puerto Rican. And that’s where the identity confusion begins, not only for her but for everyone who has ties to the island. First, because Puerto Ricans are already Americans in a legal sense.

The island became a territory of the U.S. at the end of the Spanish American War in 1898 and was given the status of a commonwealth in 1952. Commonwealth status means that residents are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in U.S. elections and have no elected representatives in Congress. They pay no federal income tax, but they can be drafted when a draft is in effect.

That means Puerto Rico’s identity is in a hard-to-define place somewhere between a state, a colony and an independent country.

Vivian sees both sides of the status debate. Statehood, she reasoned, would mean that island residents could finally vote in U.S. elections, have representation in Congress and be eligible for more federal programs. Remaining a commonwealth means that Puerto Ricans on the island would not have to pay federal income tax and would be able to attract businesses to the island by giving them tax breaks not available in the 50 states.

Vivian’s first cousin, Norverto Ramos, however, is definitely in favor of statehood.

Puerto Ricans on the island do send money to the federal government in the form of payroll taxes, social security taxes, business taxes, gift taxes and estate taxes.

He did some research into what percent-

TOM HOLMES

TWO PARTIES: Forest Park resident Vivian Ramos sits between the flag of Puerto’s new progressive party (left) and the flag of the Puerto Rican Democratic Party. age of every tax dollar returns in the form of services and grants. “Connecticut,” he argued, “gets back 74 percent for every dollar they pay the federal government. That’s the least amount any state gets back, per dollar.

In comparison, Puerto Rico gets back about 50 percent per dollar, and they get less services than states do. If they were to become a state, they would get more federal aid, more Social Security, more welfare, more SNAP, more services. Plus they would be allowed to vote in elections and have representatives in Congress.

“Funny,” he added, “the U.S. was started because they didn’t feel that taxation without representation was correct and yet that is what is happening to Puerto Rico.”

As it turned out, a very slim majority of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood.

Of those casting ballots 623,053 or 52.34% voted “yes” and 567,346 or 47.66% said “no.”

What doesn’t show in the vote is revealed in the results of the election for governor of the island which was also held on Nov. 3.

The winning candidate, who was from the New Progressive Party (PNP), which favors statehood, got only 33 percent of the vote. The candidate from the Progressive Democratic Party (PPD), which wants to remain a commonwealth, received 32 percent of the vote.

What is significant is that neither of the two major parties got even close to winning a majority of the vote. There is growing support for third parties outside the traditional two-party system in which statehood has been a main issue.

Time Magazine reported that the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the newly registered anti-colonial Citizen’s Victory Movement (CVM) and the anti-corruption Project Dignity Parties together received

nearly 35 percent of the vote.

Vivian, who self-identifies as a progressive, was uncertain what the vote totals from the island really mean. Referring to previous statehood referenda on the ballot in 1967, 1993, 1998, 2012 and 2017, she said, “I don’t know what these votes are actually doing, because there is no follow up in Congress.”

If Puerto Rico did become a state, she said, it would probably vote Democratic.

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18

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

OPINION O U R

Y

V I E W

Plenty to be thankful for

ou’d think that given the state of the situation – still mid-pandemic with more cases of COVID-19 exploding around us than ever and facing a Thanksgiving (and probably Hanukkah and Christmas) without family – that might be hard to find things to be thankful for in 2020.

But, that’s just not so.

While there has been plenty about 2020 to make us wish it disappear and consigned to oblivion, the pandemic also brought out, as Abe Lincoln might have said, “our better angels.”

In fact, so many people stepped up to respond in the face of crisis, that we’re sure to leave some out. But, we’ll take that risk, simply to remind everyone just how thankful we ought to be as a remarkable year draws to a close with the prospect of a new dawn approaching.

We’re thankful this year for …

Our small businesses which have been through the ringer but fight on through the pandemic. We’ve watched and admired small businesses which have actually found ways to give back to Forest Parkers in ways quiet and loud even as they struggled.

The local chamber of commerce which has been at the forefront of supporting local independent businesses even as its own revenue sources via events have been shut down. Not every business will survive this pain but the chamber gets credit for its determined efforts to support and cheerlead. Love those flower pots on Roosevelt and Madison.

Need evidence that governance matters? We see it across the board in our local taxing bodies which have been there in these endlessly difficult circumstances.

There’s village hall which has made endless hard frontline choices. Our parks and library have been nimble in finding ways to serve even as month by month the rules of the road have shifted from being open to being closed to the public. And those two entities have somehow not lost a sense of positive energy and even fun. The elementary schools have been determined as they have invented and then improved remote learning even as parents and students have become Zoomed out.

We’re thankful for the impromptu birthday caravans that told kids and neighbors that caring doesn’t disappear when a virus arrives. The treasure hunts and arts walks and front porch concerts – safe and masked – are the very stuff of community. They’ll get us through this horror and make us better when we emerge.

Now as Thanksgiving arrives and the final batch of winter holidays comes up fast, we are thankful for the white lights and holiday decorations that are multiplying. If ever we need light in the darkness it is this next month.

We’re separated. We’re distanced. But we’re still one great community finding new ways to show it day by day.

Genes + Geography + Grace = Gratitude

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ince 2014, Phil Jimenez has been CEO of West Cook YMCA in Oak Park. His resume includes vice president for Institutional Advancement, Lutheran Child and Family Services; president of San Miguel School, South Side of Chicago; and president and CEO of the National Museum of Mexican Art. When people applaud him for his achievements, for working hard and pulling himself up by his own bootstraps, he deflects their praise, giving much of the credit to “genes and geography.”

By genes, he means he had nothing to do with the genetic code his parents handed down to him. His native intelligence and other attributes are not products of his own efforts but gifts.

By geography, he means that he was raised partly in Forest Park and attended Grace Lutheran School in River Forest, locations where he could thrive. To use the imagery in the Parable of the Sower, his seed did not fall among thorns which choked it, or on the path where it got trampled, or on a rock where it couldn’t take root, but on good soil in a nurturing environment.

Comparing his life to the thousands of refugees with Hispanic surnames like his who are languishing in camps just across the Rio Grande, hoping against hope to be admitted to the U.S., he notes that many have similar IQs and talents. The main difference is the geographical bad luck of being born in Central and South American countries where violence and corruption made living intolerable.

Rev. Dean Leuking, his pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, said, “Phil Jimenez is the capable man he is today because of what he has gained from the skills and values derived from his mother, a woman with amazing strength and panache.”

After his father died when Phil was just 1, Sophie opened a wig-making shop and raised her family as a single parent.

“Many people,” Jimenez recalled, “would come into my mother’s salon [as] broken people. They had lost their hair because of cancer treatments or because they suffered from alopecia. She had a style about her that allowed her to connect with people. All I knew was that a person would walk in not whole, and when they left, they were feeling better. My mother put into my heart and mind this idea of being a person who helps people feel whole again.”

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1993 with a degree in political science, entertaining fantasies

of becoming the first Latino mayor of Chicago, and then spent a year on his own working in Spain and exploring Europe where he was less religious.

“I always knew I had a strong faith, but I was probably more resistant to structured religion than I was to the concept of faith. I wore a cross, so I always had that connection, but it was not always a screen I looked through intentionally.”

On returning to the U.S., Jimenez worked for Inland Steel, and three years into that job he was asked by the company to open an office in Mexico where he met his wife-to-be, Beatrice. They were married at Grace Lutheran in 2005.

As he prepared for marriage, he questioned what his career meant to him.

“Phil was a rising star at Inland Steel,” recalled Leuking. “While at home on break from his work in Mexico, he took me out to lunch and said, ‘Now that I’ve landed such a good job and am making lots of money, I’m finding it unsatisfying. I don’t want to chase dollars as the goal of my life.’”

“It was 2001,” Jimenez explained, “and I’m struggling whether to go into a nonprofit because I’m scared of how sacrificial a nonprofit would be.”

But he accepted the position of vice president for Institutional Advancement at Lutheran Child and Family Services which was at that time located in River Forest.

Part of it was his experience at Grace Lutheran during his grade school years and reinforced by Bible studies there as an adult. He believes that God calls us to see our work not as a job or even a profession but as a vocation.

Even more important was the witness his mother gave him.

“You have to understand,” he said, “I grew up very blessed. I am not the traditional Mexican immigrant.

I had a private education. I lived in the suburbs. I had access to everything I needed. I had support systems that not all of us have when we move to a new country, so for me education and winning the geography and gene lottery were things that I can’t take credit for. So the idea here becomes, how do I dedicate my time to making the world a better place for others, which is what my mom got to do?

“From that perspective,” he added, “the greatest gift my mom transferred to me was about helping people without seeing it as a sacrifice. I never felt my mom sacrificed anything at what she did.”

Genes + geography + grace all added up to gratitude and a life devoted to making the world a better place.

It’s a good story to share as we approach our national day of thanksgiving.

TOM HOLMES

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor should include the author’s first and last name, town of residence and phone number for authorization purposes only. The Review will not publish phone numbers. All letters are subject to editing for space and content

purposes and typically will be printed in the order they are received. While the Review does not impose a word limit, we encourage comments be held to 300 words.

Letters to the editor can be received by e-mail at ktrainor@wjinc.com, or by mail to Forest Park Review, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, Ill., 60302.

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GIVING TUESDAY

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Giving OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST

Community Foundation

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your Community your Foundation Please, give to the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation's Annual Fund today.

OA K PAR K-R I V ER F OR E ST

Community Foundation

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation is a unique and vital part of the fabric of our community. With leadership, advocacy, and perseverance, the Foundation has mobilized essential resources to help those most in need in our neighborhood and beyond. Our service to our local organizations, donors, and scholars has continued without interruption, pushing for a more just and socially equitable community.

Together, we can create a brighter future for all.

Donate today at oprfcf.org or call 708-848-1560

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Building skills, gaining confidence at New Moms “New Moms helps me gain experience in a paid job training program. It’s amazing. They teach us about teamwork and how to be leaders. They tell us about opportunities, like applying for student financial aid to go to college. I didn’t know that I’m flexible at work or that I have good time management skills, but I learned that about myself here…My mind was broken down before.

Now, I feel confident. I built my strength back.

As soon as I finish New Moms, I’m going back to college to study child psychology and become a therapist.”

– Kanesha, New Moms’ Participant Learn more about New Moms, and donate at newmoms.org.

Kanesha

Every single person has the power to change the world.

Together we give.

Tuesday, December 1st

SCAN TO DONATE Let’s build a sustainable future while building community

ALL DONATIONS MATCHED DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR Get involved at animalcareleague.org/givingtuesday

Clean water. Clean air. Healthy food. Environmental justice. Climate action.

If these are important to you, please become a One Earth Film Fest member.

Your contribution will help us present 17 solution-packed, view-from-home films and action-inspiring programs from Oak Park to the South Shore and beyond! Plus, members get additional benefits! Memberships start at $25 and make terrific gifts. Join here: oneearthfilmfest.org/members

Save the date for our 10th Anniversary Fest March 5-14, 2021

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Interim Connecting your child to Housing everything they need. Targeted at Securing a Permanent Home

Mentor Case Manager

Special Advertising Section

Therapist T

Family Counselor

Crisis Worker Outreach Worker Care Coordinator

Prevention Specialist

In-person counseling and telehealth services available.

Donate at www.yos.org/donate or call 773-777-7112.

Ronald

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f you shop at the Oak Park Target store, you may recognize Ronald.

That was his regular spot when he lived on the street. It’s where Danette, a member of our Street Outreach Team, got to know Ronald, before referring him to our new Interim Housing Program.

The COVID-19 pandemic added a new challenges for people experiencing homelessness. The shelter-in-place order and closures have made life even more of a struggle. To respond quickly, Housing Forward moved away from the PADS Emergency Shelter model as the congregate setting made social distancing challenging. We shifted to temporary individual accommodations in local motels, where clients could stay 24/7.

As colder weather approached, Housing Forward took the bold step of signing a 12-month lease for the 65-bed Write Inn hotel as an Interim Housing site.

The location and accommodations are ideal for a program model offering a temporary place for people to stabilize while seeking housing as soon as possible.

After a screening and assessment, Ronald entered the program and his team immediately focused on making connections to resources. His stay will not be long-term but is an opportunity to regain his bearings and participate in structured programming with the goal of permanent housing.

After securing a temporary job with the board of elections, Ronald enrolled in our employment program, and is working with his case manager to find an apartment. “I’m so proud of the positive steps Ronald has been making,” said Danette. “We believe in him and know he will keep on winning.”

To learn more and to donate, visit housingforward.org.

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Student thinks his tutor is a ‘Super Teacher’

ust like in school, tutors and students must work through the challenges of remote learning. Cluster Tutoring’s Maggie Boyaris and her student, Kevin, have developed a winning tutoring structure — they’ve met four times each week since September.

Maggie and Kevin started tutoring together in summer 2018 at Oak Park’s Mathnasium for special math tutoring. Maggie joined Cluster that fall to keep working with Kevin, who is now a 6th grader.

The two meet over Zoom Monday-Thursday afternoons. They work on all subjects, but have the most fun with math, “where Kevin has made leaps and bounds of improvements. One of Kevin’s greatest strengths is his ability to keep trying and to keep putting in the effort when things are hard.”

“I love working with Maggie,” Kevin said. “She helps me understand my work and makes me feel comfortable when I’m wrong.”

evaluate how the school year was going, and his parents sent Maggie links to access Kevin’s classes and teachers. “It’s been a real team effort,” Maggie said.

After their first summer tutoring together, Kevin wanted to find a special way to thank Maggie. His mother, Yolanda, told him that a gift “has to be about that person. I told my mom, ‘I think she is a super teacher.’ My mom made her a Super Teacher shirt like the hero Superman!”

Kevin’s parents agree. “We really appreciate Cluster for bringing Ms. Maggie into our and Kevin’s world,” Yolanda said. “She’s always cheering him on and reminds him to believe in himself.”

Donations to Cluster Tutoring go toward materials that help students learn. Learn more and donate at clustertutoring.org.

Kevin and his Super Teacher, Maggie

Maggie also credits Kevin’s parents. She had a Zoom call with the family in September to

MAKE 2020

DONATE ONLINE TO UCP SEGUIN ON

DECEMBER 1 DONATIONS WILL BE DOUBLED BY CHALLENGE GIFTS GIVE O N GIVI NG TUE S DAY AND THR O UGHO UT THE HO L IDAY S E AS O N TO MAK E A D I F FE R E NCE IN YO UR CO M M UNITY.

ucpseguin.org UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago 332 Harrison Street Oak Park, Illinois 60304

GIVING TUESDAY Special Advertising Section

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November 25, 2020

Neighbors helping neighbors

ak Park Mutual Aid was formed in spring 2020 by neighbors who came together to care for each other. Since its inception, this grassroots, resident-led group has distributed more than $30,000 in direct financial assistance, food, cleaning supplies, and clothing. Volunteers have also made nearly 500 deliveries of food and other essentials, and helped more than 180 families and individuals in and around Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park.

True to its name, mutual aid builds community and reciprocity. Some of OPMA’s own volunteers are having to navigate official systems of assistance for the first time, making them uniquely suited to help others in the same position. One aid recipient said, “I’ve never had to look for help like this and I appreciate you guys helping us out. Other places we’ve went were so judgmental…(it) is so nice to not feel bad

or made to feel like garbage when you need help.”

One resident contacted OPMA needing help to cover a utility bill.

She then started volunteering, helping call aid requesters and making deliveries.

Another resident who received direct financial assistance got back in touch with OPMA weeks later, this time to donate several bags of warm winter clothing.

The power of mutual aid is found in these small gestures of care—doing a grocery run, covering a copay, making a phone call—that form meaningful connections

Oak Park Mutual Aid volunteers distributing groceries.

between neighbors and give new resonance to the notion of community.

To get involved with OPMA, either through donations and/or volunteering visit oakparkmutualaid.com.

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Investing in the futures of OPRF students

osh Ogunsanya, an Oak Park and River Forest High School class of 2020 graduate, is one of 63 graduating seniors who received scholarships from the OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation last spring.

In addition to his academic achievements, Ogunsanya won a State championship in wrestling as an OPRF senior and helped start OPRFHS’s History Club.

In recognition of his many accomplishments, Ogunsanya was awarded two scholarships, including the Dr. Gerald L. Clay Scholarship. Donor Evelyn Clay, who worked with the Scholarship Foundation to create this scholarship in honor of her husband, Dr. Gerald L. Clay, said “Josh is an outstanding student and has accomplished so much already. Gerald would be so proud of him.”

“Your support and investment in my education has made the financial toll on my family less burdensome,” says Ogunsanya.

“I do not take your contribution lightly and aspire to continue giving my best effort.”

We hope you will join us by investing in the future of OPRFHS students like Josh and make a tax-deductible donation to the OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation. Please visit our website at scholarships4oprfhs. org and make a gift to our General Fund or any specific Scholarship Fund, including the College Knowledge Project (CKP) Scholars Fund that supports our CKP alumni, many of whom are first generation college students.

Contact scholarshipsoprfhs@gmail. com to learn more about all scholarship opportunities.

Ogunsanga is now thriving as a freshman at Columbia University in New York City.

While he still plans to wrestle for the Columbia team, wrestling is currently on hold due to COVID-19.

Josh Ogunsanya flanked by his parents, Demoda and Peter.

THROUGH DECEMBER 15

THROUGH DECEMBER 31

DONATE A WISH LIST ITEM

MATCHED GIVING

We are currently collecting gifts for children living at Hephzibah Home and in our foster homes, and for families receiving our services. You can find our wish list at hephzibahhome.org/donate/wishlist

Make a contribution online by December 31 and your gift will be matched by generous benefactors through our annual Hephzibah Holiday Challenge. Double your gift today at hephzibahhome.org

Your donation will impact a child's life.

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Your donation on #GivingTuesday will impact the lives of MORE than

2,000

Hephzibah Salutes Our Exceptional Essential Heroes

individuals and families

in the coming year.

www.HousingForward.org/donate

DECEMBER 1, 2020 Hephzibah Home

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hile many organizations were able to transition to remote operations at the start of the pandemic, Hephzibah’s essential workers have continued delivering in-person services to vulnerable children and struggling families. More than 70 percent of Hephzibah’s staff are designated essential workers.

Hephzibah Home’s 40 residential counselors, supervisors, therapists, cooks and maintenance staff work around the clock on-site caring for the 26 children who live there. Since March, the home has been on lockdown with only staff permitted to enter.

“While our roles haven’t changed, the anxiety of keeping the children and our coworkers safe, is different,” explains Scott Bruckman, supervisor in the Diagnostic Treatment Center.

“That stress switches off however, when I arrive and a child really needs my attention. I know I am here for this guy today. I am reminded why I’m here and why I do what I do.”

Hundreds of foster care children and families in crisis rely on the support and services provided by Hephzibah’s Family Based Services team. Every day, 30 therapists and caseworkers don protective gear to visit the children and families in their homes. “There is tremendous stress on families, and often we are their only source of support,” says Piper Caldwell, LCSW, Foster Care supervisor. “The need is great and resources are scant.”

Additionally, Hephzibah’s 50+ child development specialists follow rigid health and safety protocols while providing quality, affordable day care with e-learning support for over 200 elementary school children. Undeterred by the pandemic, Hephzibah’s essential heroes will continue to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families, with support from our generous community.

Find out more about Hephzibah and make a donation at hephzibahhome. org.

TODAY’S LEARNERS. TOMORROW’S LEADERS. Now enrolling Preschool Through 8th Grade www.saintangela.org (773) 626-2655

This is a time for big dreams.

For our neighborhoods, our city, our country, our planet.

To learn more about the people, the programs, and our vision for the future at St. Angela School, please visit www.saintangela.org

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Special Advertising Section

We believe a commitment to equity and diversity is what makes our community strong.

Please give to the Annual Scholarship Appeal – you can help a child or adult pursue a dream participating in Park District programs!

OPRF students in a Japanese classroom.

To learn more and to make a donation visit parksfoundationop.org

is as easy as 1•2•3!

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Order Chef Woody’s Take Home Meals  Contactless Wednesday Pickup  New Menus each week  Give yourself a night off from cooking!

Attend a Monday Virtual Program Be it Art, Literature, Music, Science or Social Science, our weekly afternoon Zoom programs will quench your creative thirst

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Donate Help us keep our lights on while our doors are closed due to the Pandemic.

Menus, Upcoming Programs and Donation Opportunities are available at www.nineteenthcentury.org or 708-386-2729 x 3

Offering life-changing opportunities for OPRFHS students

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hrough its Bobbie Raymond Summer Enrichment grant program, the OPRFHS Alumni Association helps current students take part in cultural exchanges, camps, and enrichment opportunities that advance their interests, knowledge and preparation for future goals.

Teanla went on the OPRFHS Japan Exchange program, where she lived with a host family and attended a Japanese high school. As Teanla describes it: “This program gave me many wonderful things to learn and build on. I enjoyed seeing the Japanese culture close up living with my host family, they really tried to help me feel at home. We went out and I discovered landmarks and different traditions every day. I felt nervous at the beginning of the trip but my host family and other friends helped me relax. I learned that

we should not feel ashamed of who we are, we all are different and that is what makes us ourselves.”

Lila attended an international music exchange program with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and says: “I made many very close friends with the people on the program. Not everyone that I traveled with held the same political viewpoints as me and I found that difficult initially because I was used to the liberal perspective of Oak Park. However, I found that it was an opportunity to grow and consider how other people see things.”

Our ability to fund these life-changing opportunities for students most in need depends on your support today. Please donate now at https:// tinyurl.com/oprfalumni-donate. Find out more about the Alumni Association at oprfalumni.com.

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The Joyful Giving Catalog Browse, read, share with your children. Give Locally – Give Joyfully!

Everything you need for a better world: • More Art

• More Food

• More Compassion

• More Health

• More Education

• More Housing

• More Equity

• More Peace

Each of the organizations listed in this catalog paid a fee to participate. If you run a nonprofit and you would like to be listed here, or if you would like to sponsor a nonprofit to be listed here, please contact Lourdes Nicholls (Lourdes@oakpark.com) or Marc Stopeck (Marc@oakpark.com).

Animal Care League Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need. Rooted in the community since 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities.

With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery.

Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting animalcareleague. org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.

Beyond Hunger When the pandemic hit, we revamped our service model to keep everybody safe. Instead of inviting people to shop inside our food pantry, we now prepack boxes with nearly 80 pounds of groceries and pop them into car trunks or shopping carts for participants. We’ve added more home delivery recipients knowing that elderly and disabled individuals are more at risk for COVID-19. The contents of each box is tailored to meet the needs of our community.

Along with food, we include toilet paper, toothpaste, and reusable washable masks. With your support, we can make sure no one in our community goes hungry this winter. Even a little goes a long way: every $1 donated can feed a neighbor for an entire day.

To donate, visit GoBeyondHunger.org or send checks payable to Beyond Hunger, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301

BUILD Since 1969, BUILD has helped Chicago’s most vulnerable youth escape gangs and violence to become positive leaders in their

communities. These young people face enormous obstacles and trauma, and so we surround them with the counseling, mentoring, training, and opportunities they need to build a future and succeed. We engage youth at every stage, with specialized teams dedicated to street violence interventions, gang detachments, creative after-school programming, academic school and college support, mental health care, community violence crisis response, and enrichment activities ranging from art and music to sports, podcasting, engineering and gardening.

Potential doesn’t discriminate, neither should opportunity.

Join us in BUILDing a better future. Visit and donate at buildchicago.org/

Celebrating Seniors Coalition Since our inception a decade ago, the Celebrating Seniors Coalition has been passionate about dispelling outdated and inaccurate myths about what it is to be a senior in our society.

At the same time, the Coalition has raised funds to help meet the basic needs of daily living for dozens of elders in our community. As we get to the “other side” of the pandemic and embark on our second decade, join us in Celebrating Seniors—those people 60 and over in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park.

Learn how you can join honor and support these esteemed elders at our updated website: www.CelebratingSeniors.net.

Cluster Tutoring

Cluster Tutoring is a nonprofit, communitybased organization that provides free one-toone tutoring to students in grades K through 12 from Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Tutorstudent pairs work together during the school year on reading, math, and other homework to prepare the student for a successful academic career. When Cluster started nearly 30 years ago, fewer than half of Chicago Public Schools graduated from high school. Now, all of

Cluster’s seniors not only graduate but are accepted at colleges and other post-graduation programs. Donations go toward materials that help students learn.

To learn more or to donate, visit clustertutoring.org.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood

preparing students for success in their chosen vocations. Beyond academics, Concordia offers NCAA Division III athletic teams, intramural sports, touring music ensembles and numerous student clubs and organizations focused on service, recreation, spiritual life and more.

Currently, more than 6,400 students are enrolled.

To learn more, please visit CUChicago.edu or CUChicago.edu/GiveNow to support our students.

The Day Nursery Support young children this giving season. For over 15 years, the Collaboration for Early Childhood has embraced the vision that all children should arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, and ready to thrive. This year we sharpened our equity focus and responded to the needs of our community members affected by the health pandemic and national events of racist violence. We launched Ready, Set, Kindergarten! a virtual support system for 30 families whose children transitioned to kindergarten in the midst of COVID-19. We distributed 175 ‘Activity Kits’ to families of children with disabilities to enhance their at-home learning. We supplied 62 families in need with essential items, and the work continues.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit us at www.collab4kids.org or follow us on Facebook.

Concordia University Chicago Concordia University Chicago is a liberal arts, Christ-centered, Lutheran university where truth, freedom, and vocation form students for lives of influence and service for the common good. Founded in 1864, the University is located on 40 acres in River Forest, Illinois. Historically a college for teachers, it now offers more than 100 areas of study through traditional, blended or online classes. Students can earn a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees through one of four colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Graduate Studies. Professors are passionate about teaching, learning and

Since 1912, The Day Nursery has provided exceptional early childhood education in an environment that welcomes all children, enhances individual strengths, and fosters the academic, social-emotional, and physical development that leads to school readiness. You can help lay the foundation today for successful adults tomorrow.

To learn more about us and to donate, visit www.thedaynursery.org Randolph St, Oak Park, IL 60302 The 1139 Friends the Oak Park 708.383.8211of - Fax: 708.383.0692 Email: info@thedaynursery.org - www.thedaynursery.org Conservatory A United Way Community Partner/NAEYC Accredited

The Oak Park Conservatory began as a community effort to house exotic plants residents collected during their travels abroad. Completed in 1929, it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Free to the public with 50,000 visitors annually, the Conservatory offers a rich atmosphere throughout three indoor showrooms featuring more than 3,000 plants.

The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory offers programs focused on enriching the visitor experience at the Conservatory. Toddlers through adults can participate in year-round educational and recreational programs, volunteer opportunities and special events. To learn more or to join, visit fopcon.org.

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The Joyful Giving Catalog Growing Community Media Growing Community Media is dedicated to building community through independent, non-partisan local journalism. We believe that high quality community journalism preserves and strengthens the fabric of our democracy.

Independent community journalism holds local governments to account. It connects neighbors. It is the credible source when social media goes haywire, and it allows a community to debate and celebrate. Through Austin Weekly News, Wednesday Journal, Forest Park Review and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark, Growing Community Media reports local news and tells compelling local stories across many platforms. Our mission calls us to build fact-based accountability and connection, conversation and civility, diversity and a sense of belonging.

Join our mission by donating at growingcommunitymedia.org or contacting dhaley@wjinc.com

Hephzibah Children’s Association Hephzibah is making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and struggling families. Oak Park’s oldest social service agency, Hephzibah is the only program in Illinois designated to care for the most severe cases of abuse and neglect of young children ages 3-11. Hephzibah Home provides comprehensive, therapeutic care for traumatized young children. Our Family Based Program supports more than 100 foster care children and stabilizes 150 families in crisis. Our Day Care Program delivers quality, affordable day care and summer camp programming for elementary school children in Oak Park.

Make a difference with us at hephzibahhome. org.

Historical Society Forest Park The Historical Society Forest Park was founded in 1975 for the purposes of “collecting and preserving the rich heritage of Forest Park.” The historical society offers tours of Haymarket Martyr’s Monument in Forest Home Cemetery every Saturday in the summer, collect oral histories of Forest Park Veterans of Military service, hosts several historical events a year and celebrates Forest Park.

For more information about the Society, its events and programs, or to donate visit forestparkhistory.org or mail us: Historical Society of Forest Park, PO Box 311, Forest Park IL 60130

Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest We are the community’s story tellers and our new facility is an 1898 Oak Park Landmark at Lake and Lombard called Oak Park River Forest Museum, selected

by Illinois Association of Museums as Small Museum of the Year. We invested $1 million in private funds to create a welcoming space in a former firehouse. Come and check out featured exhibit “Open House: The Legacy of Fair Housing,” before it closes in 2021. We are not supported by tax dollars and a gift of any amount funds our 2021 schedule of programs, our research center, and our knowledgeable staff.

Learn more and donate at oprfmuseum.org or 708-848-6755

Housing Forward Housing Forward is passionately focused on one vision – ending homelessness. We believe in bold, comprehensive approaches to prevent homelessness whenever possible, respond to housing crises, and stabilize individuals and families through permanent housing. With offices in Maywood and Oak Park, we offer wraparound services including case management, housing, outreach, employment, and emergency assistance. Last year, we served over 2,000 adults and families across 20+ communities. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our emergency shelter and supportive services programs consolidated into a 24/7 Interim Housing model for clients on a path to permanent housing—including medical respite. This site joins Sojourner House and Ohana House in assisting individuals and families, plus two new housing programs focused on youth and veterans.

To learn more, volunteer, or donate, visit housingforward.org, email giving@ housingforward.org or call 708.338.1724 ext.

262.

IWS Children’s Clinic Help us champion childhood health! The OPRF Infant Welfare Society and our Children’s Clinic have continuously been there for at-risk children and families since the start of the pandemic. We serve the dynamic whole health needs of children: sick visits, critical vaccines at well child check-ups, integrated behavioral health services, and preventive and restorative dental care, including for children with special needs.

Together, we are ensuring the health and well-being of children in our community, including Oak Park, Chicago’s West side, Berwyn, Cicero and beyond.

IWS Children’s Clinic serves 3,400 children each year, and your generosity is key as our costs of providing care have increased substantially due to COVID-19. A gift of $50 pays for two essential vaccines. A gift of $150 provides specialized dental services.

Champion Childhood Health – Give Today! www.oprfiws.org/donate or 708-406-8661.

L’Arche Chicago L’Arche Chicago provides high quality care in community-integrated homes for adults with intellectual disabilities in the OPRF area. Our mission is lived through daily life shared in mutuality: afternoon walks to the park, doctor’s appointments, and dinner parties. Moreover, L’Arche is committed to life together in a way that welcomes difference. As our society seems increasingly fearful of difference, L’Arche offers a counter story: that the differences so often keeping people apart can become the substance of joyful and transformative relationships.

Make a needed local impact through our people and mission at www.larchechicago. org/opendoors

Maywood Youth Mentoring Program Organized in 1993 as a 501c3, the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program has served hundreds of middle to high-school youth providing a variety of programs, workshops, field trips, and experiences designed to increase academic potential and instill cultural pride. Since 2008, the program has hosted free monthly youth breakfasts with topics ranging from anger management/and conflict resolution, etiquette, police/community interactions, sexual health, drug and alcohol avoidance, and academic excellence.

Youths practice critical thinking skills to encourage positive life choices. Volunteer mentors interact with youth providing positive role models for college and career choices. Funds are needed to continuously provide free services and incentives for participation.

To volunteer, or to donate, visit us at maywoodyouthmentoring.org, or contact Barbara Cole, founder/CEO at 708-344-3577.

New Moms

New Moms believes in the strength, skills, and potential of all families and communities to achieve audacious possibilities for their futures.

At New Moms, young moms take powerful first steps towards economic mobility and family well-being. Our 2-Generation Approach puts families experiencing poverty in control of their goals and unleashes their potential. We partner with families to construct the foundations of well-being by strengthening core life skills, incorporating early childhood development supports, building pathways to and preparation for education and employment, and expanding positive social networks and access to community resources.

Learn more and donate at newmoms.org.

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building through space grants to local non-profits (80% of its usage is non-profit). During COVID-19 our building has been largely closed, but we have been connecting with our community with weekly Monday Enrichment Zoom programs.

We are also providing community outreach to food pantries, shelters and first responders. We need your help keeping our ‘doors’ open.

If you would like information about donating, please contact us at 708-386-2729 x 3 or epayton@nineteenthcentury.org. You can also make a donation at nineteenthcentury.org.

Oak Park Art League Celebrating its centennial in 2021, the Oak Park Art League (OPAL) is one of the longest, continually running non-profit arts organizations in Illinois. OPAL is a vibrant cultural center where the invitation and challenge to use art as a medium for personal and community growth is made available to people of all ages. Since 1921, OPAL has brought arts education, appreciation, exhibitions, and the spirit of artistic inquiry to the surrounding community.

OPAL is committed to meaningful community outreach to the population that makes up our greater community through partnerships and on-site art and programming with local social service agencies through our “Family stARTs” program.

For more information about membership, volunteering, or to make a donation, please

Special Advertising Section

GIVING TUESDAY

November 25, 2020

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For 20 years, L’Arche Chicago has opened doors ~ providing lifelong homes for people with intellectual disabilities, building communities of mutuality and belonging, and revealing the many gifts of people with disabilities.

‘Pouring out’ resources, support and love

2020

has been a year of challenge and re-imagination at Opportunity Knocks.

This has meant drawing on inspiration and love from our Warriors and our community to continue to meet the needs of young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Our staff has responded to these challenges with resilience.

We have restructured programming to provide both a virtual program platform as well as safe, cohort-based in-person activities so that all Warriors could maintain access to life skills, wellness and social connections with friends and peers.

The perseverance of our Warriors throughout this period has also been remarkable. “I missed being with all my friends,” said Warrior Madeleine Gancer.

“It feels a little different and weird, but it felt amazing to be back.”

Despite the hurdles within our organization, we felt it necessary to spread love back to our community, especially those dealing with job loss and food insecurity issues. Our social enterprises, which employ many of

our Warriors, worked to spread love to community beneficiaries through donated meals from our Knockout Catering, donated produce boxes to families in need from our Knockout Farm, and donated harvest to local food pantries.

We are grateful to our community of supporters who have helped our mission meet this moment thus far but we’ve still got a long way to go. The cancellation of many key fundraising events continues to constrain our financial resources. In the words of Warrior Jess Wood, “People should support Opportunity Knocks because you’re supporting people who love to do activities and an organization who accepts people for who they are.

Please support OK so that the staff can pour their love out to us and have the resources they need to support us.

Thank you so much. We love you all.”

With the high, state wide demand for community integrated living spaces and the growing accessibility needs of our aging members, L’Arche Chicago plans to acquire a fully accessible home for adults with intellectual disabilities. A new home provides opportunities for existing members to thrive in an adaptive environment as well as creating room for new members, who seek the same thriving community.

Join this effort and make a needed impact by donating towards a home for life!

Go to: www.larchechicago.org/opendoors

P

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

JOHN 14:27

Giving Tuesday

Consider a donation this season so that we can continue to create opportunities, change lives, and spread love. Love Grows Here. Visit opportunityknocksnow.org/annualgiving-fund

CUChicago.edu/GiveNow

7400 Augusta St. River Forest, IL 60305

Concordia_Season of Giving 2020_Giving Tues Ad.indd 1

(708) 771-8300

CUChicago.edu

11/12/2020 9:10:09 AM

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GIVING TUESDAY

November 25, 2020

Special Advertising Section

The Joyful Giving Catalog contact Executive Director, Jill Kramer Goldstein at 708-386-9853 or director@ oakparkartleague.org. The Oak Park Art League is located at 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302.

Oak Park Regional Housing Center For more than four decades, the Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) has been an advocate for fair housing. Our mission is to achieve vibrant communities and promote intentional and stable residential integration throughout Oak Park. The OPRHC is the only non-profit in Oak Park and the Greater Westside Region that encourages pro-integrative housing options.

Our work is at the heart of why Oak Park is such a wonderful, diverse, and vibrant community, welcoming to everyone.

Support our work with a donation at oprhc. org/donate. To learn more about the OPRHC call 708.848.7150, inforequest@ liveinoakpark.com, 1041 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302.

Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation The Oak ParkRiver Forest Community Foundation is based on a powerful promise: to create an enduring institution where people can come together and pool their resources to meet our community’s most pressing needs — not just now, but forever. For sixty years, generations of thoughtful and caring donors and residents have empowered the Foundation’s work to safeguard and advance the community in which we live, raise our families and work.

From helping donors with legacy gift planning, to managing donor advised funds, to strengthening local non-profits, we connect. Visit oprfcf.org or call Rhea Yap at 708-848-1560 to start a fund, discuss your charitable estate plans, or make a donation today.

Oak Park and River Forest High School Alumni Association Through its Bobbie Raymond Summer Enrichment grant program, the Oak Park and River Forest High School Alumni Association helps current OPRFHS students experience life-changing experiential learning opportunities that advance their interests and knowledge in preparation for higher education and future career goals. All freshman through juniors are

eligible to apply for awards, though students from under-resourced families receive greater consideration. For more than 20 years, students have traveled to destinations throughout the U.S. and the world, taking part in cultural exchanges, camps, and enrichment opportunities. The future outlook of these life-changing opportunities, and their accessibility for students most in need depends on your support today.

Donate at https://tinyurl.com/oprfalumnidonate

OPRF High School Scholarship Foundation In May 2020, the Oak Park and River Forest High School Scholarship Foundation granted $140,000 in scholarships to 63 graduating seniors. Since 1924, the Scholarship Foundation has been an important and growing partner in the community, providing much-needed financial assistance to OPRFHS students as college tuition and expenses continue to increase.

Please visit our website at www.scholarships4oprfhs.org. and make a gift to our General Fund to help increase the number and amount of scholarships we offer or to the College Knowledge Project (CKP) Scholars Fund that supports our CKP alumni, many of whom are first generation college students.

We hope you will join us by investing in the future of OPRFHS students today and make a tax-deductible donation. Contact scholarshipsoprfhs@ gmail.com to learn more.

Oak Park Mutual Aid Oak Park Mutual Aid (OPMA) is a coalition of neighbors dedicated to directly caring for one another and those around us in greatest need. We provide direct community support including food, clothing and limited financial assistance. Our website and volunteer responders also share a collection of resources that can help support those living in Oak Park and the surrounding area during this difficult time. To date, we have raised more than $47,000 in donations and assisted hundreds of area residents.

As the situation will remain difficult for the foreseeable future, we need your help through donations and volunteering! https://oakparkmutualaid.com/

One Earth Film Festival By taking care of each other, we take care of ourselves. That’s the lesson that the COVID19 pandemic and the growing social & environmental justice movements are teaching us. And that’s the Power of We! The One Earth Film Festival continues to grow and expand our circle of engagement. Save the date for our exciting 10th anniversary One Earth Film Fest, March 5-14, 2021. The Festival was born in Oak Park, and this year, we will be screening virtually to a national audience. Join us for quality films, engaging discussion, meaningful action opportunities and community-building.

Memberships start at $25 ($15 for students / seniors). 0 For more information and to donate, visit oneearthfilmfest.org/give.

Opportunity Knocks Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to enriching life and community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community. We use a dynamic, person-centered and communitybased approach to programming that serves to engage the voice of our participants, foster interdependent connections, encourage exploration, promote holistic wellness and healthy relationships.

We are 95% privately funded so your support is more important than ever this year in keeping our mission moving forward. To join us in creating a more dynamic and inclusive community for all, visit opportunityknocksnow.org, 8020 Madison Street, River Forest, IL 60305.

The Parks Foundation of Oak Park The Parks Foundation of Oak Park promotes giving opportunities to support initiatives for the Park District. Our mission is to collaborate with residents, community groups and partner organizations to support exceptional projects that enhance and enrich our parks and community life.

We believe a commitment to equity and diversity is what makes our community strong.

Our fundraising efforts enhance scholarship funding to make it possible for all community members to participate in Park District programs. Last year over 200 scholarships were provided to enable individuals and families to

participate in park district programs.

To learn more, and make a donation, visit parksfoundationop.org

PING! Providing equitable access to instrumental music for students in grades 4 through 12 in Oak Park and River Forest public schools has been the mission of PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation) for more than 20 years. PING! loans band and orchestra instruments to students in need, and provides music enrichment through workshops; mentoring; and scholarships for summer music camps, school music trips, and private instruction. In this challenging year of COVID, PING! is adapting these enrichment programs to fit the needs of our students learning at home.

Community support for our PING! students this year is more important than ever.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit our new website at pingoprf.org.

If you have an instrument to donate, send us an email at pingoprf@gmail.com.

Pro Bono Network We believe access to justice should not depend upon your ability to afford an attorney. There are simply not enough legal aid lawyers to help people in dire need of civil legal aid. These include issues of safety from an abuser, adequate housing, critical care documents, and more. Pro Bono Network has enabled 400+ attorneys to give more than 24,000 hours of free legal assistance to over 4,300 clients whose lives were meaningfully changed.

To get involved or donate, visit pro-bononetwork.org. Your support will make an impact the lives of many!

River Forest Public Library Foundation

River Forest Public Library connects our community with information and entertainment, with each other and the world. RFPL Foundation works to enhance the Library today and for the future through fundraising and advocacy. The Foundation fully funded major updates in the Children’s Room in 2019. We have provided support for the Lobby/Circulation renovation, Summer and Adult Reading Programs, special programming, and the Anne Smedinghoff Memorial Garden.

GIVING TUESDAY Special Advertising Section

November 25, 2020

Explore Local History at oprfmuseum.org

John Miniutti with his dear late son Fritz

UCP Seguin – Loving Father Gives Generously to Honor Son

J

ohn Miniutti has a wealth of expertise and successful business experience. But most of all John has a wealth of kindness, informed by the loving relationship with his late son Fritz. In 2011, John sought an effective organization to provide support for Fritz, his son with disabilities who resided with him in their River Forest home. John found a willing partner – UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago – to support Fritz with a range of services to make his life more productive and meaningful.

John wanted to be an advocate for his son and other individuals with disabilities. In 2012 he joined UCP Seguin’s Board, providing his keen insights to ensure excellence in its programs and soundness in its finances.

But John has provided so much more, generously donating his treasure to help sustain UCP Seguin’s innovative services.

Sadly, John’s son Fritz Miniutti passed away in August 2014. Fritz was an intelligent, active man with many interests – going to the gym, working with computers, watching movies,

dining out, playing with pets, and working, either at the local theater or as a volunteer for the office of State Senator Don Harmon. Fritz received Life Skills Training, Employment and Respite services from UCP Seguin, accessing social-recreation venues with a UCP Seguin staff member who became his good friend.

Imbued with his love for Fritz, John has been a generous donor to support UCP Seguin’s programs. He sees his gifts of time and resources as going hand in glove to ensure the success of the agency that gives so much to individuals with disabilities. Through these years of dedicated service and giving, John Miniutti has been a philanthropist in every sense, keeping individuals with disabilities served by UCP Seguin foremost in his thoughts and deeds.

Like John Miniutti, you too can help provide life without limits for people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin.org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304

Even when state health guidelines keep us physically apart, we are open 24/7 online to share stories and be a resource. Explore oprfmuseum.org to: • Sign-up for on-line programming, including a Christmas visit to Marshall Field’s on Dec. 5 • Shop from your home and order unique gift items delivered right to your door • Learn about the fascinating people, places, and events that shape or villages • Share your own stories of life in 2020

oprfmuseum.org • 708-848-6755

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GIVING TUESDAY

November 25, 2020

Special Advertising Section

The Joyful Giving Catalog Help ensure a strong community and a bright future for River Forest Public Library with your gift. We gratefully accept cash, credit/debit, securities and bequests. Visit RFPLFoundation.org/donate.

UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago

West Suburban Special Recreation Association

St. Angela School St. Angela School has walked with the families of Chicago’s west side for one hundred years— walked with a deep commitment to enriching the lives, and the futures, of their children. We have a rich and varied history – and a future of great promise. We provide our children with a safe and loving environment and challenging academics; we help them explore paths that lead to meaningful and rewarding careers; and we teach them, above all, to believe in themselves. As we prepare for our next hundred years, we’re proud to reaffirm our commitment to love and serve all those who choose to be part of our community.

UCP Seguin believes that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community. So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children. Our goal: life without limits for people with disabilities.

therapeutic interventions, and mentorship to improve their safety and well-being. Through the past 60 years, YOS has offered outpatient, community-based behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, after school mentoring and outreach, family therapy, crisis intervention services, case management, foster care, transitional living and housing services, inschool prevention curricula, and juvenile justice programs.

West Suburban Special Recreation Association provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest & nine other surrounding communities.

Join us for our Virtual Celebration Benefiting the Stars of WSSRA. Auction opens 9:00am November 30. View Auction Items or make a donation at https://one.bidpal.net/ wssrastars2020

Help youth flourish by donating at www.yos. org/donate or text @YOSCARES to 52014.

Or help empower youth to reach their goals, by calling 773-777-7112 to refer them for services.

Youth Outreach Services

Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin. org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304

Learn more about St. Angela School at saintangela.org or call us at (773) 6262655

Building the ‘Power of We’ with One Earth Film Festival

Youth Outreach Services supports youth ages 12 to 21 and their families, by providing free programs that offer skill development,

While the health pandemic overtakes the headlines, One Earth Film Festival continues crucial work on the climate crisis and inequality.

One Earth leverages its greatest asset— The Power of We—to inspire people to build an equitable and sustainable future.

As One Earth plans for its 10th anniversary season, the Oak Park-based nonprofit is deepening its work at the intersection of environmental and social justice.

Environmentalists of Color joined One Earth in putting on a highly successful July virtual screening, “Outdoors While Black: Unpacking History, Reframing Safety, and Taking Action.” From that event grew an environmental justice bike ride through community gardens and environmental fallout sites in Chicago’s North Lawndale and Little Village neighborhoods.

One Earth also focuses on youth engagement and education through programs including “Young Filmmakers Contest,” “Austin Grown” youth agriculture and mentoring program, the Pilsen-based

“HEALTH” program, and “It’s Our Future” leadership program.

Each March, One Earth activates thousands of people through environmental films, discussions and action opportunities through hundreds of environmental partners. In 2020, One Earth pivoted to view-from-home screenings in a virtual environment: Over 3,000 viewers from more than 15 US states participated.

One Earth continued its partnership with a diverse range of local communities, including Oak Park and River Forest, plus surrounding communities and Chicago neighborhoods such as Austin, Englewood, South Shore, and Little Village.

In 2021, as the pandemic continues, One Earth will expand its audience globally through virtual film programs that inspire people to solve our “other pandemic”— the climate crisis—and build a healthy sustainable future for all.

For more information and to donate, visit oneearthfilmfest.org.

GIVING TUESDAY Special Advertising Section

F

November 25, 2020

Plant a garden and support the Conservatory

or over 30 years, the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory in partnership with the Park District of Oak Park has offered one of the most anticipated and abundant plant sales in the Oak Park area.

From the first “Herb and Scented Plant Sale” in 1989 until today, the Annual Plant Sale has provided carefully grown plants while raising funds in support of the historic Oak Park Conservatory.

Each year, thousands of plants are grown in the Conservatory greenhouses using healthy soil and integrated pest management (IPM) practices providing healthy, sustainable plant products. From hearty vegetables and popular herbs to a unique array of colorful annuals and perennials, there is something to delight gardeners old and new.

Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory volunteers make this community event possible. They begin in the early days of fall by selecting the plants, then starting seeds in winter and nurturing the seedlings into plants. In the days leading up to the Plant Sale, dozens of volunteers give their time and energy to pull orders and make the Plant Sale days run smoothly.

Gardeners and volunteers at the Annual Plant Sale Community support of the Plant Sale helps The Friends provide quality educational programs, volunteer opportunities, community events, and other support for the historic Oak Park Conservatory. The 2021 Plant

Sale will take place May 11-13. To learn more, visit fopcon.org

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation For over 25 years I have worked at Wednesday Journal because I believe in local, public interest journalism.

Wednesday Journal is the best independent news platform in the area, reporting only on Oak Park and River Forest issues. I am proud to be a part of this amazing team!

Lourdes Nicholls, Sales and marketing rep

Please support our independent community newsroom.

Right now your match is doubled by NewsMatch and our local supporters.

Visit www.GrowingCommunityMedia.com/donate and donate today!

95% of Day Nursery children transition into Kindergarten with the skills for school success.

1139 Randolph St, Oak Park, IL 60302

Quality early childhood education all children IS social equity.

708.383.8211 - Fax: for 708.383.0692 YourEmail: gift today creates the foundation for tomorrow's adults. info@thedaynursery.org - www.thedaynursery.org thedaynursery.org/donate/

A United Way Community Partner/NAEYC Accredited

1139 Randolph St, Oak Park, IL 60302 • 708.383.8211 Email: info@thedaynursery.org • www.thedaynursery.org

A United Way Community Partner/NAEYC Accredited OPRF Chamber Local Legend Spotlight Award

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GIVING TUESDAY

November 25, 2020

Special Advertising Section

presents

A Wednesday Journal & A Tribe Called Aging Production

wabi sabi F I L M F E S T I V A L

Our Covid-19 free gift to the community watch it free on ZOOM in your own home

Appreciating the beauty of impermanence, a quarterly Film Series encouraging everyone to embrace and respect our aging population and the transformation of our society.

Olympia Friday, December 4 • 10am This sublimely intimate, fly-on-the-wall verité documentary tells a poignant story of a woman finding her own voice on her own terms to assert a gigantic creative force into the world. Throughout an engrossing story that seamlessly blends past and present, Olympia Dukakis opens her heart and exposes her truest self to Harry Mavromichalis’ unobtrusive camera.

Exhibiting both candor and vulnerability, we see her deal with age, grief and sexuality while opening up about her struggles with motherhood, depression, suicide and drug addiction. Through her brutal honesty and sincerity, Olympia compels us to confront our own shortcomings and differences by letting go and moving forward with defiant conviction.

This intimate portrait of a working-class professional, a scholar actor of intense intuitive power, and a woman beloved around the world, culminates on the steps of the Dukakis’ humble ancestral home in Lesbos, Greece. Here we see Olympia’s life come full circle, both personally and professionally.

Joining us for Q+A/discussion is the film’s Director Harry Mavromichalis, moderated by Elizabeth White.

Signature Sponsors

Non Profit Patron Sponsors

Oak Park Township/River Forest Township

Learn more and register at: wabi-sabi-olympia.eventbrite.com

GIVING TUESDAY Special Advertising Section

November 25, 2020

Why we work at Growing Community Media and why we’re asking you to make a donation.

Across our pages today you’ve seen our colleagues here at Growing Community Media explain why their work in our independent community newsroom is so important to them.

They write about the impact they feel they have on our communities, about the accountability we bring to local government, about the stories we tell, especially in these hard days of COVID-19.

Underlying the 50 words each contributed is their sense of privilege that we get to do this work, to connect our neighbors, to be that glue in a moment when things feel tugged apart.

All of us are also asking you to consider making a donation to our non-profit during this exciting national NewsMatch opportunity. Local news isn’t guaranteed. It needs to be paid for and these days a portion of that cost has to come from our readers.

Between NewsMatch honoring us as one of 267 non-profit newsrooms in America to be funded this year and the generosity of so many in our seven neighborhoods we’re off to a strong start.

Now we need you.

On behalf of my colleagues please become a member of this team.

Dan Haley, Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

Stacey Sheridan, Staff reporter

Michael Romain, Equity reporter and columnist

Lacey Sikora, Real Estate editor

Jill Wagner, Reader engagement manager

Maria Maxham, Forest Park Review editor

Michelle Dybal, Arts editor

Melissa Elsmo, Food editor

Ken Trainor, Viewpoints editor and columnist

Alex Rogals, Staff photographer

Bob Uphues, Senior editor

Mark Moroney, Editorial designer

Lourdes Nicholls, Sales and marketing rep

To donate, visit www.growingcommunitymedia.com/donate

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November 25, 2020

GIVING TUESDAY

Special Advertising Section

WEST COOK YMCA

48th Annual

Christmas Tree & Wreath Sale

CONTINUE THE TRADITION THREE WAYS TO PURCHASE

Curbside Pickup With Online Purchase Reserve Private Viewing of Lot Your purchase comes with this special offer:

NO JOINER’S FEE PLUS 1 MONTH FREE CREDIT (to be applied towards annual membership fees) Offer Code: 20TreeMem Expires: 12/31/2020

Open Lot with Social Distancing For more details, to purchase online, or to make a reservation, visit: www.westcookymca.org/christmas-tree

Tree Sale Begins Friday, November 27

Your purchase ensures access to the West Cook YMCA through a scholarship to those who may not have the means to join. We change lives every day, and you can help us make that happen.

COVID-19 measures in place.

255 S. Marion St., Oak Park, IL 60302

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Each week Forest Park Review delivers in-depth local news, local opinions, local people, local schools, and local ads from local businesses.

Miss a week... miss a lot.

Subscribe and for only $28/year and we’ll give you a MONTH FREE! Visit ForestParkReview.com/subscribe, call (708) 366-0600, or return the below form.

Start delivery today!

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Mail to: Circulation Dept., 141 S. Oak Park, Oak Park, IL. 60302 Offer valid for new subscribers in Cook County only • www.ForestParkReview.com

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Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020 New local ads this week

WEDNESDAY

CLASSIFIED

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI

Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

Place your ad online anytime at: www.ForestParkReview.com/Classified/

YOUR WEEKLY AD

REACHES SIX SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES: OAK PARK, RIVER FOREST, FOREST PARK, BROOKFIELD, RIVERSIDE, NORTH RIVERSIDE, AND PARTS OF CHICAGO

Please Check Your Ad: The publisher will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion.

Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion.

The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement.

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@FORESTPARKREVIEW.COM ANNOUNCEMENTS

HELP WANTED

LIBRARY SERVICE UPDATE The Library is now under the Essential Service Model. Computer Sessions by appointment only. 30 min sessions. Call 708-366-7171 or sign up at fppl.org/computersignup. Copy machine (copy/scan) available for drop in. Vestibule Pick Up of library holds available. Place holds online at fppl.org or call.

PERSONAL ASSISTANTS TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Progress Center is hosting five personal assistant orientations in November. Personal Assistants earn $13.48 an hour to support people with disabilities so that they may live independently in their own homes, instead of institutions. Duties may include dressing, bathing, cooking, toileting, and cleaning. The orientations will be over zoom on November 13 (9:30 a.m.), 17 (9:30 a.m.), 21 (10 a.m.), 24 (9:30 a.m.), and 30 (9:30 a.m.). For information, contact garnold@progresscil or 708-2091500.

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

River Forest Public Schools District 90 is seeking a Part-time School Social Worker (One Day a Week) Qualifications: a) Valid State of Illinois Professional Educator License b) Licensed Clinical Social Work (LCSW) preferred Job Duties: The School Social Worker provides needs-based behavioral and social-emotional services to the students, parents, and faculty/staff of a school. The role includes, but is not limited to, individual and group counseling with students; direct and indirect consultation with students and teachers; assessment, behavior planning and intervention implementation and monitoring; and universal screening/prevention of behavioral & social-emotional concerns. The individual hired for this position will be required to develop ISP goals, monitor progress towards goals and participate in annual reviews and re-evaluations as needed.

The School Social Worker hired for this position will work with D90’s team and provide services at one of the private and parochial schools located in River Forest. The social worker will collaborate with parents, faculty and administration at the private and parochial school to meet the needs of students. This individual fulfills the requirements of the role as stated in Rules and Regulations for Special Education. Apply online at district90.org TEACHER AND TEACHER AIDE MINI ME BUNCH seeks teacher and teacher aide to enhance and expand daycare serving children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Teacher must have at least Associates’ degree in Early Childhood Education. Minimum 1 year experience preferred in each position. Must love children and be outgoing, patient, flexible.

Contact 773-521-9499.

SUBURBAN RENTALS OAK PARK 2BR 2BA CONDO Condo for rent on a great location near downtown oak park: 2 bedroom 2 bath condo, only electric bill not included. $1400 a month, $1400 deposit. For more information please call 224-475-7929.

OAK PARK: ROOSEVELT/ OAK PARK AVE. CORRIDOR 2BR 4RMS close to blue line. On site laundry, parking, heat & water incl. $1200/ month 708-383-9223

Attention! Homeimprovement pros!

Reach the people making decisions.

Advertise in Wednesday Classified.

Call 708/613-3342

SUBURBAN RENTALS

COMMERCIAL/ RETAIL SPACE

COMMERCIAL/ RETAIL SPACE

A RETAIL SPACE FOR RENT–

1635 Sq Ft. IN SHOPPING CENTER: 315–325 S. Harlem Ave., Forest Park, IL.

• Very Good Condition–Recent Updates: NEW: Ceiling/floor tiles, basebrds, HVAC Unit, bath lav & sink/faucet, drywall. White primed walls throughout. • Suitable for almost ANY business type.

• Heavy traffic area; Across: Rush-Oak Park Hosp.

No Agents, pls. CALL: Jim (708) 828-6491

OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT RIVER FOREST–7777 Lake St. *1116 sq. ft. suite *569 sq. ft. with patio OAK PARK–1053 Lake St. *Entire 3rd Floor, 1275 sq. ft.

OAK PARK– 6142-44 Roosevelt Rd. *3 and 5 room office suites Strand& & Browne Strand Browne 708-488-0011 708-488-0011

ITEMS FOR SALE SMALL CHEST Small plastic chest with six dustproof drawers. Pretty burnt orange color, like new. 33”h x 12”d x 15”w.

708-488-8755 SMALL METAL FILE CABINET 13”w x 30”h x 10”d. 6 skinny drawers.

708-488-8755

CEMETERY PLOTS

Lost & Found, Items for Sale, and To Be Given Away ads run free in Wednesday Classified. To place your ad, call 708-613-3342

TWO BURIAL PLOTS WOODLAWN (2) burial plots at Woodlawn Cemetery side by side. Located in Birchwood Section. $5000 for both 847-858-7726 Andytarnoff@comcast.net

SUBURBAN RENTALS

ITEMS TO BE GIVEN AWAY

M&M

property management, inc.

708-386-7355 • www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park Contact us for a complete list of available rentals throughout Oak Park and Forest Park.

Apartment listings updated daily at:

FREE SPINET PIANO You arrange and pay for mover.

708-383-7993

WANTED TO BUY WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead, plastic – other misc. toys.

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

PETS While you’re away, your pets are okay . . . at home

Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue.

Or call us toll free at 1-833-440-0665 for an appointment.

Starting a New Business?

cat calls

Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986

Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home )PVTF TJUUJOH t 1MBOU DBSF Bonded References

524-1030

ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed

PAINTING & DECORATING

ELECTRICAL

A&A ELECTRIC

CLASSIC PAINTING

Let an American Veteran do your work

Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost

We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.

708.749.0011

PLASTERING McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.

708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848 Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area

FIREWOOD

HANDYMAN

FIREWOOD HANDYMAN Roofing Repairs UNLIMITED

Fast Delivery MIXED HARDWOODS CBH & MIX 100% OAK CHERRY OR HICKORY 100% BIRCH Seasoned 2 years Stacking Available

847-888-9999 Order online:

www. suregreen landscape.com

Credit Cards Accepted

FLOORS KLIS FLOORING INC.

New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured.

Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com

HANDYMAN Mike’s Home Repair Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do

708-296-2060

CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair

FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small

708-488-9411

Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates

773-637-0692 Ask for John

HAULING BASEMENT CLEANING

Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery.

708-848-9404

HEATING/ AIR CONDITIONING HEATING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Furnaces, Boilers and Space Heaters Refrigerators Ranges • Ovens Washer • Dryers Rodding Sewers

Small & big work. Free estimates.

Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services

708/386-2951 • ANYTIME Work Guaranteed

Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20005127 on November 9, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of FOODIE AND FABULOUS with the business located at: 728 N AUSTIN, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: SHERRIE GREEN 728 N AUSTIN OAK PARK, IL 60302, USA Published in Wednesday Journal 11/11, 11/18, 11/25/20

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20005108 on November 5, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of LA CUCINA DI SCUDIERO with the business located at: 2113 W LAKE STREET, MELROSE PARK, IL 60160. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: ALEX A SCUDIERO 2113 W. LAKE STREET MELROSE PARK, IL 60160, USA

Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience

FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.

708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000

Call the experts before you place your legal ad! Publish your assumed name legal notice in Wednesday Classified! Call Mary Ellen for details: 708/613-3342

Published in Forest Park Review 11/11, 11/18, 11/25/20

P

PB

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

CLASSIFIED

21

(708) 613-3333 • FAX: (708) 467-9066 • E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@FORESTPARKREVIEW.COM

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know

In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year ForestParkReview.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE SERRANO LEGAL SOLUTIONS, LLC Attorney for Petitioner P. O. Box 3581 Oak Park, IL 60303 Attorney for Petitioner

In re the marriage of MARIA ESPARZA, Petitioner and BRADLEY HILLERVIK, Respondent, Case No. 2020D007886 The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before December 11, 2020, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

HEARING DATE: December 10, 2020 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits APPLICATION: The Village of Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission (“Commission”) will conduct a public hearing on the Historic Landmark nomination filed by the property owners for 609 Linden Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois (P.I.N.: 16-06-414021-0000), which is located in the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District.

LOCATION OF HEARING: The Historic Preservation Commission will conduct the public hearing remotely with live audio available and optional video. The meeting will be streamed live and archived online for on-demand viewing at www. oak-park.us/commissiontv as well as cablecast on VOP-TV, which is available to Comcast subscribers on channel 6 and ATT Uverse subscribers on channel 99. The remote public hearing is authorized pursuant to Section 7 (e) of the Open Meetings Act. The Village President has determined that an in-person public hearing is not practical or prudent due to the COVID-19 outbreak during Governor JB Pritzker’s current disaster proclamation. It is also not feasible to have a person present

at the public hearing due to public safety concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Written testimony or comments regarding the application may be provided prior to the public hearing by email to historicpreservation@ oak-park.us. The individual’s name and a reasonable part of their testimony or comment will be read aloud into the record at the public hearing if received no later than 30 minutes prior to the start of the public hearing. If email is not an option, written testimony or comment can be dropped off in the Oak Park Payment Drop Box across from the south entrance to Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, to be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 10, 2020. All written testimony and comments will be distributed to the Commission and made a part of the official hearing record. Those wishing to provide public testimony at the hearing must contact the Village Historic Preservation Planner at historicpreservation@oak-park.us for instructions on attending the hearing live via Zoom by 5:00 PM the day of the hearing. Interested persons may also participate in the hearing to cross examine the applicant and its witnesses by contacting the Village Historic Preservation Planner

at historicpreservation@oak-park. us for instructions before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing to sign up. Individuals who sign up to participate in this manner will receive an email from Village staff with information about how to join the hearing online through Zoom webconference means or by phone.

Questions regarding written testimony, comment or cross examination may be directed by phone to 708358-5420 or email to historicpreservation@oak-park.us.

A copy of the application and each of the applicable documents are on the Village Website at www. oak-park.us and also on file and available for inspection at the Village Hall, Development Customer Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, during current business hours, Monday and Tuesday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Historic Preservation Commission may continue the hearing to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof. Anyone with questions about the application may contact the Village by phone at 708-358-5420 or by email at historicpreservation@oak-park.us.

Published in Wednesday Journal November 25, 2020

DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.

Published in Wednesday Journal 11/11, 11/18, 11/25/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20005148 on November 12, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of FREELAND & THATCHER with the business located at: 805 LAKE ST UNIT 429, OAK PARK, IL 60301.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: HAWANYA BLAKELY 479 N HARLEM AVE UNIT 501 OAK PARK, IL 60301, USA Published in Wednesday Journal 11/18, 11/25, 12/2/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20005178 on November 12, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of INCLINE REAL ESTATE ADVISORS with the business located at: 319 UVEDALE ROAD, RIVERSIDE, IL 60546. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: JEFFREY K. CERMAK, 319 UVEDALE ROAD, RIVERSIDE, IL, 60546, USA Published in RB Landmark 11/18, 11/25, 12/2/2020

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

FORESTPARKREVIEW.COM

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION

STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE LAW OFFICE OF LINDA EPSTEIN Attorney for Petitioner 722 W. Diversey Parkway, Ste. 101B Chicago, iL 60614 STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

In re the marriage of WILLIAM JESUS GONZALES, Petitioner and FRANCISCO JAVIER ESPARRAGOZA ESPINOSA, Respondent, Case No. 2020 D 008427 The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your Appearance and Response electronically to said Petition in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on or before December 23, 2020, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.

Published in Wednesday Journal 11/25, 12/2, 12/9/2020

Selling your condo by owner?

Advertise here!

Call Mary Ellen for details 708-613-3342:

Selling your home by owner?

Make it stand out!

Advertise here. Call 708-613-3342 to place your ad.

Sealed separate bids will be received by the Board of Education, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 (the “Board”) for the following project: OAK PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 97 SD97 - SUMMER 2021 ADDITION & RENOVATIONS BEYE, LINCOLN, LONGFELLOW, WHITTIER OAK PARK, IL 60302 BID GROUP 1 – DEMOLITION, EXCAVATION, CONCRETE, MASONRY, STEEL, GENERAL TRADES, MILLWORK/ CASEWORK, ROOFING, METAL PANELS, DOORS FRAMES & HARDWARE, GLAZING, DRYWALL & ACT, FLOORING, PAINTING, SPECIALTIES, ELEVATOR, WHEELCHAIR LIFT, PLUMBING, HVAC, and ELECTRICAL Bids will be received until 2:00 p.m.

CST on Friday, December 11, 2020 at the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Administrative offices, 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302, and will be virtually opened via zoom and read at 2:30 p.m. CST on that date. Bids shall be submitted in an opaque sealed envelope clearly marked: Oak Park Elementary School District 97 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302 Attention: Bulley & Andrews Project: SD97 - SUMMER 2021 ADDITION & RENOVATIONS Virtual Bid Opening will be held at 2:30pm CST on 12/11/2020 per link: https://us02web.zoom.us/ j/84381616944?pwd=cGRPcVZuVVh5S0tmZmVBUXlFSEJ5QT09

Meeting ID: 843 8161 6944 / Passcode: 039859 / +13126266799,, 84381616944# US (Chicago)

LLC One Drive, located at the following link. No username or password is required.

Scope of work for Bid Group 1 generally includes, but is not limited to: Demolition, excavation, concrete, masonry, steel, general trades, millwork/ casework, roofing, metal panels, doors frames & hardware, glazing, drywall & ACT, flooring, painting, specialties, elevator, wheelchair lift, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.

https://bulleyandrews-my. sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/amantel_bulley_com/ EnFU50U2lZJHvgH8M5EOgUsB37AO8_Gejp_4_ry47Ql0mQ?e=AyfkWu

All bids must be submitted in accordance with the bidding instructions contained in the Bidding Documents for the project. Bid security in the form of a bid bond in an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the base bid amount shall be submitted with the bid. Should a bid bond be submitted, the bond shall be payable to the Board of Education, Oak Park Elementary School District 97, 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302. All documents and information required by the bidding instructions contained in the Bidding Documents for the project shall be submitted with the bid. Incomplete, late or non-conforming bids may not be accepted.

No bids shall be withdrawn, cancelled or modified after the time for opening of bids without the Board’s consent for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled time of bid opening.

The Bidding Documents for the project (which include the bidding instructions for the project and other related documents) will be available Wednesday November 25, 2020 and are available for viewing/ download online without cost or purchase on the Bulley & Andrews,

The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids or parts thereof, or waive any irregularities or informalities, and to make an award that in the Board’s sole opinion is in the best interest of the District.

The site will be available for visits by appointment to be coordinated with Bulley & Andrews, LLC. Interested parties may inspect the existing conditions. Schedule an appointment with Alex Mantel of Bulley & Andrews in advance if you wish to visit the sites.

All bidders must comply with applicable Illinois Law requiring the payment of prevailing wages by all Contractors working on public works. If during the time period of work, the prevailing wage rates change, the contractor shall be responsible for additional costs without any change to the contract amount. All bidders must comply with the Illinois Statutory requirements regarding labor, including Equal Employment Opportunity Laws.

For additional information on the project, contact Alex Mantel of Bulley & Andrews, LLC at amantel@ bulley.com or 219-678-8383.

Dated: 11/5/20 Alex Mantel Bulley & Andrews, LLC

Published in Wednesday Journal November 25, December 2 and 9, 2020

local employees = happy employees!

Hire Local.

Place an ad on the Review’s Local Online Job Board.

Go to ForestParkReview.com/ classified today!

Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information.

(708) 613-3342 Classifieds@ForestParkReview.com

22

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

Find the GCM donation envelope in this week’s paper

Why we work at Growing Community Media and why we’re asking you to make a donation.

Across our pages today you’ve seen our colleagues here at Growing Community Media explain why their work in our independent community newsroom is so important to them.

They write about the impact they feel they have on our communities, about the accountability we bring to local government, about the stories we tell, especially in these hard days of COVID-19.

Underlying the 50 words each contributed is their sense of privilege that we get to do this work, to connect our neighbors, to be that glue in a moment when things feel tugged apart.

All of us are also asking you to consider making a donation to our non-profit during this exciting national NewsMatch opportunity. Local news isn’t guaranteed. It needs to be paid for and these days a portion of that cost has to come from our readers.

Between NewsMatch honoring us as one of 267 non-profit newsrooms in America to be funded this year and the generosity of so many in our seven neighborhoods we’re off to a strong start.

Now we need you.

On behalf of my colleagues please become a member of this team.

Dan Haley, Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

Stacey Sheridan, Staff reporter

Michael Romain, Equity reporter and columnist

Lacey Sikora, Real Estate editor

Jill Wagner, Reader engagement manager

Maria Maxham, Forest Park Review editor

Michelle Dybal, Arts editor

Melissa Elsmo, Food editor

Ken Trainor, Viewpoints editor and columnist

Alex Rogals, Staff photographer

Bob Uphues, Senior editor

Mark Moroney, Editorial designer

Lourdes Nicholls, Sales and marketing rep

To donate, visit www.growingcommunitymedia.com/donate

Forest Park Review, November 25, 2020

INC., REALTOR

23

(708) 366-8989 7342 MADISON ST, FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS 60130

928 S. Kenilworth Ave. Oak Park ....................$275,000

1028 Beloit Forest Park ....................$289,000

CONTRACT PENDING!

Property has been owner occupied by the same family for 50+ years. 1st fl has spacious living rm and dining rm, kitchen and 1/2 bath. 2nd floor has three bedrooms and full bath. Stucco exterior and 2 car detached garage.

Great location in south west Oak Park. Needs some updating but livable as-is.

935 Elgin Avenue, Forest Park ........................$489,000 This is a money maker! This early 1970s brick four flat houses two one bedroom apartments on the top floor, a large three bedroom two bath apartment on the first floor, and a large two bedroom two bathroom apartment in the lower level. Tandem parking for 8 cars.

Meticulously maintained by the current owner for several decades.

The numbers work! This one really won't last long.

SOLD!

This 3 BR, 2.1 BA home has not been available in over 55 years.

It has been meticulously maintained within the same family for that time. This home offers two first floor good sized bedrooms and a large second floor master. Each floor has a full updated bathroom. The first floor living room, with it's vaulted ceilings, fill with sunlight pouring from the front foyer windows.

1117 Marengo Avenue, Forest Park .......................$263,500 What a great opportunity to get into Forest Park at an affordable price! This home offers four total bedrooms, two on the second floor and two on the first floor. The home is in perfect condition!

Living room, dining room, and eat in kitchen, plus a finished basement. Huge deck off the back of the house and a very large two car garage!

Why I work at Growing Community Media and why I’m asking you to make a donation Community journalism matters. While large media organizations place focus almost entirely on national news, what happens at home matters just as much.

If there’s no local newspaper, what can citizens rely on to stay informed about their schools, their elected leaders, their businesses? Every community deserves access to local news and that’s why I work at Growing Community Media.

Stacey Sheridan, Staff Reporter

Please support our independent community newsroom.

Right now your match is doubled by NewsMatch and our local supporters.

Visit www.GrowingCommunityMedia.com/donate and donate today!

337 Marengo Avenue, Forest Park ......................$275,000 Fantastic location alert!! Just a stones throw from Madison Street shopping, restaurants, and night life makes this a very desirable piece of real estate! This is two flat is ready for some love and attention. Just stuck in time is all. Or a fantastic de-conversion to single family! So bring your decorating ideas, and be prepared to fall in love!

SOLD!

ASSISTED LIVING • SHELTERED CARE • MEMORY CARE • SKILLED NURSING

Now safely moving new residents to our small, wooded campus.

A safe & smart choice.

Choosing a community you can trust has never been more difficult.

Our community has an impeccable record of safety during the COVID-19 crisis and we will stop at nothing to make sure it continues.

We would be honored for your family to be part of ours.

CONTACT US FOR AN OUTDOOR VISIT 2800 Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, IL 60546 (708) 477-5092 | CaledoniaSeniorLiving.org

Limited availability!

24

Forest Park Review November 25, 2020

PROUD TO PARTNER WITH THE FOREST PARK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Five family meals in Forest Park

Shanahan’s manager, Esthela Gonzalez, shows off their shrimp and sausage jambalaya for four.

Eat well, support local favorites

We are all spending more time at home these days but getting a hot family dinner on the table every night has not gotten much easier. Thankfully, several Forest Park restaurants are ready to ease your cooking burden.

Check out five family-sized meals you can carry out tonight.

Since 1969 Golden Steer Steakhouse, 7635 W. Roosevelt Rd., has been serving up classic steaks, Food Writer mouthwatering ribs and first rate French onion soup, but a few weeks ago the 50-year-old restaurant added family meals to their carry out menu for the first time.

“We wanted to give another option to families who are missing the Golden Steer experience,” says manager Tom Tzouras. “We are offering well-rounded meals that are both comforting and healthy.”

The steakhouse offers six family meals designed to feed five including Grecian chicken and vegetarian pasta. Beef tenderloin medallions are a popular selection – our steaks were cooked to a perfect medium-rare and served with a satisfying combination of house salad, twice-baked potatoes, and a broccolicarrot side dish.

Tim Shanahan is known for bringing a taste of New Orleans to Madison Street and now his

MELISSA ELSMO

namesake restaurant is poised to bring its special brand of southern hospitality to your dinner table. Shanahans, 7353 W. Madison St., has five affordable family dinner offerings including red beans and rice, shrimp etouffee, and The “small batch” from Small Batch Barbecue feeds 3-5 people mix and match po’boys. shown here with two specialty menu items (beef rib and pork Shanahans’ manager, Esthela belly burnt ends) as well as smoked wings, beans and coleslaw.

Gonzalez, is eager for people to try the New Orleans influenced meals and believes the shrimp and sausage jambalaya will be a particular favorite among customers.

“Things have been hard,” said Gonzalez gesturing toward Shanahan’s empty bar. “We are hoping people will support us by ordering our family Shanahans offers several family meals.

The option shown here serves four and meals.”

For 16 years, includes shrimp and sausage jambalaya, Mexican Republic co-owners Fernando Manriquez and Enrique Caffé De Luca, 7427 a quart of Chicken Gumbo (an upgrade) Madison St., has and bread pudding with vanilla sauce.

Gomez show their fajita family meal. relied on regulars and Stinton has bottled up his sweet and tangy positive word of mouth sauces for sale. The handsome bottles can to keep them going strong according to owner white bean dip are an addictive snack.

Greg Stinton found his way to restaurant be returned to the restaurant for recycling in Art Sundry. ownership through competitive barbecue. exchange for a discount on a subsequent sauce Sundry recently invested in a second pizza Today his eco-friendly joint, Small Batch purchase. oven to meet increased delivery demand, but Barbecue, 7441 Madison St., is turning out Fernando Manriquez and Enrique Gomez a hearty family meal has always been a part of Caffe De Luca’s catering menu. The pandemic, some seriously good meat-focused fare are eager to get their fajita kit to your family table. The co-owners of Mexican Republic however, has brought more attention to the including award winning ribs.

You can order a la carte, but savvy barbecue Kitchen and Cantina, 7404 Madison St., are generous meal for six. lovers know Stinton has created family friendly enhancing their menu of Mexican favorites Chicken and pesto farfalle, rigatoni and options in tiny, small, and large sizes.

We with high-value chicken, steak or combination meatballs, as well as salad and garlic bread ordered up the “Small Batch” with three meats fajita dinners for four. Served with rice, beans, will easily fill up your family, but don’t discount Caffe De Luca’s appetizer offering. and two large sides including a dinosaur-sized tortillas, guacamole, and house made salsas The crispy lavosh crackers and garlicky beef rib, pork belly burnt ends and smoked this meal is sure to turn your next meal into a wings tossed in Small Batch medium sauce. proper fiesta.

The family meal from Caffe De Luca in Forest Park easily serves a family of six.

all photos by Melissa Elsmo

Owner Art Sundry shows off a photo of his grandmother, Constance De Luca. Caffe De Luca is named after her and serves her homestyle meatballs with rigatoni in their family meal

Chefs Gus (left) and Charlie (center) Tzouras bring decades of cooking experience to Golden Steer. They are assisted by Octavio Guijosa (right).