Issuu

Local Matchmakers double your donation. GROWING COMMUNITY GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA, NFP ForestParkReview.com ForestParkReview.com Vol. 103, No. 50

$1.00

Details on page 20

F O R E S T PA R K

REVIEW DECEMBER 9, 2020

Bridge mural vandal caught PAGE 6

Gift wrapping for the food pantry PAGE 12

@FP_Review @ForestParkReview

D91 spends $18K on ads in Bears magazine. Supt. unhappy Half of PR budget spent on spread in football magazine, 2 years in a row By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

A two-page ad for District 91 schools, which cost $18,000, is running in the Chicago Bears Season Preview 2020 magazine this year, a publication sent primarily to Chicago Bears season ticket holders. A similar ad was placed last year in the same publication. In both 2019 and 2020, the $18,000 ads were paid in three installments of $6,000 each. The annual communications budget for the district is between $35,000 and $40,000 annually, according to Superintendent Lou Cavallo. The magazine, available online at publogix. com/e/20-CHBYB (the D91 ad is on page 140), features football-related content such as statistics, rosters, and NFL player match-ups. Most of the advertisements are from big-name companies. Mercedes. Heineken. Calvin Klein’s Eternity for men. A few colleges have run ads, including Dominican University’s one-page listing. It seems an unusual placement, however, for an ad for a public elementary school district, which can only be attended by residents of a particular town. See D91 AD on page 13

ALEX ROGALS, Staff Photographer

CREATING PURPOSE: Joshua Longbrake, who crafts wood furniture in his garage in Forest Park, found his way to this profession along a winding and unpredictable path. But he says it’s where he is meant to be.

Furniture, poetry and finding purpose

One artist’s path from the seminary to woodworking By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

This is a story about an artist and woodworker, Joshua Longbrake, who makes beautiful live-edge furniture out

IN Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 THIS Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

of his garage in Forest Park. But it starts with a poem by William Stafford. The poem’s called “With Kit, Age 7, at the Beach,” and it begins with the narrator standing with his daughter watching the storm-ridden ocean, waves and motion and chaos. The last stanza is this: “How far could you swim, Daddy, in such a storm?” “As far as was needed,” I said, and as I talked, I swam.

Longbrake included that poem in his most recent newsletter, after describing a dream and depression, and how sometimes signs, like billboards, give us what we need in the moment. For him that particular morning, it was driving and listening to one of his favorite poets, Robert Bly, reading the Stafford poem about the ocean. After hearing the poem, he said, he thought of his two young boys, “sweet See WOODWORKER on page 5

Council discusses hiring new village admin

Chamber plans safe holiday celebrations

PAGE 4

PAGE 7

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

sponsored content

Fair Housing: Its Impact Athena Williams, Executive Director, OPRHC

or over four decades, the Oak Park Regional Housing Center has been committed to its mission of promoting and sustaining Athena Williams, Executive Director residential OAK PARK REGIONAL integration HOUSING CENTER in Oak Park and the region. Our Fair Housing programming has been recognized as a model and a best practice within the community and across the nation. Through our rental referral program, OPRHC helps individuals expand their housing options by providing them with the ability and encouragement they may need to rent or purchase a home in any area regardless of their race or ethnicity. Oak Park Regional Housing Center works to continue to maintain residential integration in Oak Park and the region, block by block, building by building. Many people say, “Oak Park has achieved integration, why do we need the Housing Center”? Obviously I am going to tell you. OPRHC is needed now more than ever. With the growing developments, increase in market rate rents, there are segments of our population that we must target to help Oak Park remain true to its core values and its brand, the market of “excellence” that has been built into the Oak Park Housing stock. Excellence that arrived from the high market demands, not because of the location to the City of Chicago; not because of the good schools; not because of the beautiful community characteristics, but the racially and ethnically integrated fabric of which the Village of Oak Park has become. Even though the Oak Park Regional Housing Center has established this national model for integration, our work and our impact is not fully recognized. What is the impact of integration? Research has shown that a diverse workforce can improve financial performance. Racially diverse schools and classrooms create cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. In addition, living in a racially integrated community can positively impact an individual’s identity and how they interact with others. These actions require on going intention, and that

is what Oak Park Regional Housing Center is here to continue to do. Without this intention, these great benefits and impacts would diminish. This is why investments in the Oak Park Regional Housing Center is critical. OPRHC’s efforts to continue to promote and maintain integration positively affects property values, social and communal relations. In the past 48 years, OPRHC has introduced more than 70,000 new people to the Village of Oak Park. This alone has

increased the market value and notoriety of the greatest Village to live in the United States. In 2020, during one of the most anomalous times of our generation, OPRHC continued in our work and registered over 1200 individual apartment renters seeking to reside in Oak Park; another 100 seeking to reside in the region; provided homebuyer education to over 300 households; assisted others with improving their credit score; and helping over 75 individuals and their families become homeowners! And this is

Join Athena Williams, Executive Director of Oak Park Regional Housing Center and David Mendell, Oak Park Resident, journalist, and author of OBAMA: From Promise to Power, as we discuss racial inequalities and how the work of OPRHC has and continues to address these issues.

Guest Host: Regina Waldroup NBC5 Reporter

For more information: oprhc.org/eoygiving, or email egraham@oprhc.org

just some of our impact for 2020. You live in Oak Park because you choose this community! Oak Park is not just a place to live but a way of life committed to diversity, integration, and equality. If you would like to see all of Oak Park continue to flourish with strong stable property values and a foundation of community integration as an asset, support the Oak Park Regional Housing Center! You can get more info at oprhc.org/donate.

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Count your blessings this Christmas

ou never forget your first movie. Mine was White Christmas and it became a holiday classic. The movie was made in 1954 but I caught its re-release in 1961. My brother Dan and I saw it at the State Theater on Madison Street in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. I was not prepared for what I was about to witness. That’s because I grew up in a world of black-and-white films and TV shows. In terms of entertainment, it was like living in Pleasantville. When The Wizard of Oz changed from black and white to color, it was considered one of the most breathtaking moments in film history. This moment was completely lost on our black and white TV, along with Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. White Christmas was my first encounter with the world of color. When the movie began, I was blown away by the images. It was filmed in Technicolor and the first film to be released in Vista-Vision. The big screen was filled with figures twice the size of a standard film. The movie also had state-of-the-art sound quality and featured unforgettable songs. It even had a decent plot for a musical. It starts with a scene in World War II France

that quickly turns dangerous. Two performers, played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, survive to sing another day. They later lend their talents to save the ski resort owned by their commanding officer, played by Dean Jagger. His slopes are as bare as his bald head. The boys team up with a sister act, played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen. The high point is when Bing croons “White Christmas,” which was written by Irving Berlin in 1942. Berlin lived in hotels and stayed up all night composing music. He wrote “White Christmas” at a hotel in California. The next morning, he told his secretary, “Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it’s the best song anybody ever wrote.” Berlin was right. “White Christmas” became the top-selling single in history, with worldwide sales of 100 million. It changed Christmas music forever, establishing themes of home and nostalgia. Without “White Christmas,” we might not have “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” The film was equally successful and became the biggest money-maker of 1954. I didn’t know any of this in 1961. I simply enjoyed the comic antics of Crosby and Kaye and the feel-good ending. A longtime neighbor reminded me of the film when she

JOHN RICE

L O O K

B A C K

I N

F O R E S T PA R K

posted a video of Crosby and Clooney singing “Count Your Blessings.” The song is a soothing tonic for these days of COVID and quarantine. “When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep. When my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all. Just count your blessings instead of sheep and you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.” Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former time. I rarely indulge in it because I tend to be forward-looking. This Christmas, though, I can’t help looking back at better times. I remember how Forest Park has always kept Christmas well. We hold food drives, toy drives and coat drives. Our schoolkids collect gloves and hats. We distribute these items to the less fortunate. We also showcase our local businesses with the annual “Christmas Walk,” a joyous event for adults and kids. This year it was canceled. But our spirit of Christmas is still strong, as we do our best to support our struggling businesses. Count your blessings during these difficult times. It sure beats counting sheep.

■ 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

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

T I M E . . .

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE’S DELIGHTFUL In 1998, Santa visited Madison Street at the annual Holiday Walk on a Saturday. It was unseasonably warm, a balmy 66 degrees and partly sunny. Children wore T-shirts, Dorothy Gillian, of My Sister’s Cafe, dressed in shorts and a Santa hat, and Jim Nadeau carved an ice sculpture that melted within two hours. Forest Parkers lingered by the live reindeer, strolled and shopped Madison Street and 120 photos were taken with Santa in the lobby of Forest Park National Bank and Trust. Ed Fee and Judy Trage decorated every parking meter, as free parking days began.

–Jill Wagner

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. Out-of-county subscriptions: $36 per year. Forest Park Review is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. © 2020 Growing Community Media NFP. F O R E S T PA R K

REVIEW

Photo by Frank Pinc

MERRY MELTDOWN: Santa shed a few pounds in the unseasonable heat as he greeted children at the 1998 Chamber Holiday Walk. Forest Park Review archives, Dec. 9, 1998.

Share photos on Instagram using #fpreview or email alexa@oakpark.com. All photos become property of Forest Park Review for possible future use in print or digital capacities.

@ForestParkReview

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Council considers next steps in hiring new village administrator Replacement will ‘probably not’ be in place by time Gillian retires By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Forest Park’s village council considered a range of approaches on how to hire a village administrator to replace the retiring Tim Gillian during a special meeting on Dec. 4. The council discussed hiring a search firm, seeking help from a local government consortium or simply advertising the post and screening candidates on its own. The council also considered the likelihood that a replacement will not be in place before Gillian departs in late January. Although an open meeting, it was attended only by three spectators, including the Review. The meeting was also attended and facilitated by Vanessa Moritz, village clerk and human resources director. By the end of the meeting, it was determined that two things will happen: First, each commissioner will email a “hit list” of requirements they think necessary in a candidate for the position. This will allow Moritz to amend the job description based on commissioner feedback. Second, Moritz will provide research on third party search firms, including costs, to Mayor Rory Hoskins and commissioners so a decision about using a firm can be made. The goal is to have these pieces communicated among the commissioners and clerk by the end of the week, so decisions can be made at the Dec. 14 village council meeting. Commissioner Dan Novak said he wants to make sure the village takes its time to make the right decision instead of rushing to get someone in place. Before Gillian was hired, the village went between seven to

File

RETIRING SOON: Village Administrator Tim Gillian’s last day is January 29. nine months without someone in the position. Currently, said Novak, the department heads have a solid handle on their jobs; he’s confident, he said, in the roles they provide. “We need to start smart, execute with excellence and finish with success,” Novak said. Commission Jessica Voogd agreed that taking time, including evaluating the role itself, is important. “We have a unique opportunity to set the tone for the future management style we want in Forest Park,” Voogd said. She added that taking into account the long-term goals of the town is essential, so a “rough around the edges” strategic plan would be part of the process of determining what’s needed in the next village administrator. “We have serious financial obligations we need to tackle,” said Voogd, and that would be one of the considerations to weigh heavily when looking for Gillian’s replacement.

In additional to financial considerations, Commissioner Joe Byrnes brought up the fact that the village needs someone with exceptional people skills, since the job requires daily interaction with the various department heads. In terms of whether an outside firm should be hired to assist in the recruitment and hiring process, Commissioner Ryan Nero suggested reaching out to the West Central Municipal Conference (WCMC), which can provide resources for recruiting and hiring. This option, which would come at a relatively low price ($3,500 was mentioned), will be considered, as will hiring a more expensive firm, such as GovHR. “Getting help from an outside firm would expedite the process,” Novak said. Hoskins said he thinks the recruitment and hiring of a new village administrator can be done in-house because cost is a consideration for the village right now. “This is a talented group,” he said about the commissioners. “I think we can do it.” Byrnes said he was “kind of torn on the issue.” “I think we might need professional people who do this for a living to help us,” Byrnes said. “We should consider professional advice on this.” Voogd said she would be interested in learning about third party assistance, but was worried, like Hoskins, about expense. “I don’t know if we should be spending Cadillac dollars on this,” Voogd said. In an interview on Dec. 2, Mayor Rory Hoskins said the village will “probably not” have a new village administrator in place by the time Gillian leaves, and the commissioners during the meeting echoed this sentiment. “Let’s get our ducks in a row,” said Novak during the meeting. “We have to hit the breaks to do it right.” Hoskins said Gillian will still be around to consult until a replacement is found.

Hiring an interim person to oversee things until someone is hired is a possibility, said Hoskins, who said he spoke to the village attorney about “the parameters for the process.” When Gillian was hired in 2009, Hoskins said, the council set up a three-person review team to go through applications. They received about 20, and those applicants were whittled down to 10 people, who were interviewed by the full village council. Hoskins said he envisions a similar process this time around, but they haven’t yet formed the interview team. “We’ll have no trouble attracting a broad pool of candidates,” Hoskins said, though he added that finding the right person is important. “Sometimes you have someone who, on paper, looks like a great hire. But then they may have some personal communication deficit, or what have you, that make them hard to get along with. We obviously want to find someone who will be able to work with a small group of people with strong opinions and unconventional styles. We want someone who knows about Forest Park and who is sincerely committed to its success.” At the Dec. 4 meeting, Hoskins spoke about Gillian’s strengths, about his ability to build relationships with people around him and his hands-on approach to jumping in when needed. Hoskins mentioned a recent storm, during which Gillian missed a village council meeting because he was working a chainsaw, helping Public Works clean up the streets. Hoskins added that he wants someone who plans to stick around for more than a few years. “We don’t know exactly what the talent pool looks like. But I’ve never thought that we wouldn’t have a broad pool of applicants. Forest Park is an attractive place to live, an attractive place to dine. And it’s an attractive place to work.”

Triton gets $1M grant for job training, placement Tuition-free certifications available to in-district students By MICHAEL ROMAIN Contributing Reporter

For the second year in a row, Triton College, 2000 S. 5th Ave. in River Grove, received a $1 million Workforce Equity Initiative Grant from the Illinois Community College Board, Triton officials announced on Dec. 2. The grant allows residents who live in

the college’s district, which includes Forest Park, to enroll tuition-free in order to receive training and industry certification in a variety of occupational fields, including automotive, business, health care, information technology and horticulture. Students who qualify for the program can apply to one of 13 pre-selected certificate programs. The programs can be completed in a year. Students also receive assistance with applying and enrolling, resume-writing and career counseling, among other services, Triton officials said. “The grant allows the college to provide access to education for those who have the desire to upgrade their skills, but have lim-

ited resources,” said Mary-Rita Moore, Triton College president, in a statement. “We are committed to serving the community and strengthening the local workforce,” Moore said. “The grant renewal helps to close the education gap and makes access to earning higher wages more equitable.” Lee Jackson, executive director of the Workforce Equity Initiative, said the grant comes “at a time when unemployment rates are high,” adding that the program “presents an opportunity for students to switch careers or advance in their current role.” The 13 short-term certificate programs that Triton has selected for Equity grant recipients include: • Sterile Processing Technician

• • • • • • • •

Emergency Medical Technician Phlebotomy Technician EKG Technician Medical Billing and Coding Specialist Nurse Assistant Dental Assistant Pharmacy Technician Commercial Vehicle Technology (CVT) Diesel Brake and Suspension Repair • Windows Programming • Bookkeeper • Commercial Pesticide Applicator • Contact Tracing Anyone interested in learning more about the Workforce Equity Initiative Grant can call 708-456-0300, ext. 3016, or email: wei@triton.edu.

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

WOODWORKER ‘Feels like a gift’ from page 1 and wild,” and his wife. “I remembered the why,” he wrote in his newsletter. It might seem incongruous: a rugged, bearded craftsman sending newsletters that include poetry. Add in his website at longbrakesupply.co, where the FAQ has some laugh-out-loud writing, and the complexity and depth of Longbrake becomes clearer. First, he sells custom wood, metal and leather products that he makes in his garage in Forest Park, where he’s lived for four years. He has a wife, Kirby, and two young sons. He creates pieces for people, furniture and art for both indoor and outdoor use. On his website, examples of his work are displayed. For interiors, he creates dining room tables from slabs of wood. End tables. Desks. For outside, his artistry ranges from dining tables to play equipment. Recently, he made “a really big table for a family; they wanted an outdoor table to gather. And that just tickled me to get to be part of that process. To make something beautiful that facilitated relationships. I hold that stuff in really high regard,” Longbrake said. He can put up trim. He can do basic carpentry. But his love is to create pieces “that can be manipulated.” “I like building tree houses or big modern play sets. I love that stuff. I want to build things that can be interacted with.” That applies, he said, to both indoor and outdoor equipment, such as rustic kitchens and firepits. He made a playset for his own two kids, and they paint it and hammer on it and explore. “The beauty gets added as they play,” Longbrake said. He feels the same about indoor pieces he makes too, that it’s the interaction between the furniture and the people using it that makes it special and meaningful. “I like signs of life in furniture and I say, especially on big slab tables, you can sand them down for the rest of your life and remove marks, but I tend to leave all marks our kids make because all the little marks tell a small story. I love a good worn table.” Longbrake’s path to woodworking wasn’t straight. The path he was on, actually, led to him first becoming pastor of a church he started, a plan he walked away from when he realized that what he was meant to do was create. Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in a religious family, he attended a Christian school, where his father was the principal

and his mother a teacher. “I was on this trajectory my whole life,” Longbrake said, so the natural progression was for him to attend seminary school. “I went to a very conservative and fairly dogmatic Christian seminary school,” he said. But soon, he wanted something different, so he switched to what he calls “a really progressive seminary.” “I still wanted to stay within the faith tradition, but I wanted something different,” Longbrake said. After school, he worked in churches, but he was miserable. “And I couldn’t understand why,” he said. By the time he realized that creating art, though he wasn’t exactly sure what kind yet, was what he needed to do, he’d already started a church, and he was going to be the pastor. “It was a hard decision to walk away from that,” he said. “But one that thankfully my spouse was very affirming of and I decided to make a career shift into art making. I didn’t know what that meant.” The seeds had been planted, already, though. About five years ago, in Arizona where he lived with his wife for about a year and a half, he’d started doing some woodworking at home. “I just looked up how to build a bench, and I built a very okay bench,” Longbrake said. He used scrap mesquite firewood he found lying around. “I bought a bandsaw on Craigslist, a very bad but wonderful bandsaw,” he said. And he began to experiment. “I think that benefited me,” he said. “Just trying to respect the tool and respect the materials and do my best to listen to them. To say, ‘I’m the newcomer here. So how does this all work?’ So it started with a small bench and then a bigger bench.” He also built garden planters and, he said, for the first time ever sought help for mental health issues. “My anxiety and fear lessened substantially. I allowed myself to play and gave myself room to try things without needing an outcome. My perfectionism died down just enough that I gave myself room to learn.” Back in Chicago, he got a job at a bronze foundry, and he loved the shop environment and creating every day. He stayed there for about a year and a half until the pandemic hit. And then he jumped to a new job, but he continued making his own pieces on the side, creating sculptures and furniture. He got to a point, he said, where he realized he could start his own business. “I had a lot of affirmation from my family and the community around me saying, ‘Yeah, this is really what you should do.’ And so I’m making the jump to full time on my own.” Longbrake says he never takes for granted the gift of pursuing art as a career nor does he forget the meaning behind the wood itself. “There’s something poetic about trees and the materials they provide. It all feels like a gift. And so I feel like it’s my responsibility to somehow steward that gift as best as I’m able and be responsible with the material,” said Longbrake. Learn more at longbrakesupply.co.

Merry Christmas! ON SALE!

Brushless, Trackless, Scratchless

TOUCHLESS CARWASH 4 -$10 wash for $31 4 - $8 wash for $23 4 - $7 wash for $19

$4.75

sh for a TOUCHLESS car wa with air dryer when you buy a pack of 4. Sale ends 12/30/20

Heated Bays for Winter Washing

The ONLY Touch Free Car Wash in Forest Park!

Spotless Carwash • 7802 Madison St. & 7343 Roosevelt in Forest Park 708-771-2945 • We Accept All Major Credit Cards

You can purchase tokens from an attendant weekdays from Noon to 5pm or Sat. & Sun. 9am-4pm. OR YOU CAN BUY THEM ONLINE AT:

spotlessautowash.com

Welcome Our New Dermatologist Dr. Regina O’Brien Dr. O’Brien is now accepting patients at IDI Oak Park.

719 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302 Schedule your appointment. Call (708) 419-3216

IDI PRINT AD.indd 1

11/23/20 4:52 PM

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Bridge mural vandal finally caught 62-year-old man says he’s done it before By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

At long last, the Circle Avenue bridge vandal, who on at least 15 occasions defaced the “No Human is Illegal” mural, has been caught. The 62-year-old man from Oak Park was arrested on Friday, Dec. 4, when a citizen witnessed vandalism in progress, called the police, and pointed out the offender to the officer. The citizen, part of a small group of regulars who looked out for the mural and repainted or fixed it after it was vandalized, had gotten dinner at Tacabron, near the foot of the bridge, on the night in question. He was sitting in his car when he happened to see a man walk up the bridge and stop in front of the mural. He immediately called the police, who quickly arrived. The witness identified the suspect, who threw a red Sharpie style

File

VANDAL CAUGHT: A 62-year-old man from Oak Park was finally caught after at least 15 incidences of defacing the “No Human is Illegal” mural on the Circle Avenue Bridge. marker at the officer upon his approach. It was red marker that had been scribbled over the mural. The offender was placed into custody. He admitted defacing the mural previously but couldn’t or didn’t provide specifics about the dates it had occurred. He was issued a local ordinance citation for the incident. According to the related police report of the incident, when asked why he defaces that particular mural, he said, “I support the police.” The mural in question was painted by a group of students during the Cover our Rust

project, organized in 2017 by Sally Cody, executive secretary and deputy village clerk at the time. Sometimes covered with paint or marker, the “no” in the phase “No Human is Illegal” has also been covered by glue and cardboard or wood, usually in the evening or late-night hours and discovered early in the morning. These acts of vandalism, always targeting the same mural, go back to April 2019. The mural has been repaired or repainted each time, sometimes by that group of Forest Park residents who keep the right colors of paint on hand to fix the sign; sometimes by the village’s public works department;

and sometimes by the police, who have wiped away marker and glue. Last November, Mayor Rory Hoskins responded to repeated acts of vandalism against that mural by displaying the words “No Human is Illegal” on the Howard Mohr Community Center’s digital billboard at the corner of Desplaines Avenue and Jackson Boulevard. Upon the arrest on Dec. 4, Hoskins said, “Our police department worked really hard to determine who was repeatedly vandalizing the mural. I think that our residents appreciate their diligence and their determination.”

Attempted vehicular hijacking

On Nov. 30 at 3:21 a.m., a man driving southbound on Harlem Avenue stopped at the light near I-290, when a white Chevy Malibu with Uber stickers on the front and rear windows pulled up alongside his vehicle. Two men exited the Malibu and approached his car. One of the men came to the driver’s side door, displayed a handgun, and ordered the driver out of the vehicle. The other man attempted, unsuccessfully, to open the rear driver’s side door. A third man remained in the driver’s seat of the Malibu. The victim said he put his head down and accelerated quickly to escape from the offenders. He continued to drive south until he saw an Oak Park police officer at the BP gas station at the corner of Harlem Avenue and Roosevelt Road. He pulled over to report the incident, and Forest Park police were called.

Suspicious people on porch A resident on the 500 block of Thomas Avenue was inside his foyer on Dec. 4 with a contractor when he happened to see a man and woman on his front porch, peering inside his front window and making a “furtive move to enter [his] partially open front door,” according to the police report. When he asked if they needed something, they left

A man on Madison Street in Constitution Court on Dec. 4 at 5:37 p.m. was caught with an open can of Steel Reserve Alloy Series Spiked Watermelon beverage. He was sitting on a bench and, when questioned by an officer, spoke with slurred speech and had difficulty maintaining his balance when he stood, according to the police report. He was given a local ordinance citation for open alcohol.

yelling and arguing outside in front of the house. Other people were walking away from the residence, and officers heard more arguing inside. While talking to someone at the front door, officers observed two female subjects pushing each other. The officers entered the home and separated the women. Another woman, with whom the police department has had “numerous” contacts with at the same address, came out of a bedroom yelling and swearing. The house has been deemed a chronic nuisance property in the past, and multiple citations have been issued to the owner, according to the police report. Other incidents at the house include parties, fights, drug investigations and arrests, domestic disturbances, and an unlawful discharge of a weapon, most involving the same subjects.

Fight at chronic nuisance property

Christmas lights stolen

Police broke up a fight at a house party on the 1100 block of Thomas Avenue on Dec. 6 at 2:16 a.m. They were dispatched to a “fight in progress,” where approximately six or seven people, both male and female, were

A woman on the 500 block of Grove Lane went outside her residence on Dec. 3 at 4:40 p.m. to admire the Christmas lights she’d recently set up, only to discover they had been stolen.

the porch, got into their vehicle and fled. Surveillance video from his front porch showed a good image of the two, which he sent to the police. But he also discovered footage from his camera showing the same man on his porch on Dec. 2, carrying a black backpack and a blue bottle of detergent and peering into his window. About 45 minutes later, the woman is seen on video, walking past his porch, backing up, then stopping in front of his house and staring at it.

Open container in Constitution Court

Man walks out of Walmart with big, expensive TV A male in his late teens put a 60-inch television, valued at $998, into his shopping cart at Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Ave., and walked out of the store without paying on Dec. 3 at 5:45 p.m. He put the television into a black SUV and drove away. These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Nov. 30-Dec. 6, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.

Compiled by Maria Maxham

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Park district’s ‘Home for the Holidays’ replaces annual Window Walk Chamber aims to annual craft fair allow safe celebration and drive business goes virtual Online event features many Forest Park artisans By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

This winter would have marked the fifth year the Park District of Forest Park (PDOFP) hosted its annual craft fair, known as Candy Cane Lane Craft Fair. The event brings local artists and artisans together to sell mostly hand-made gifts during the holiday season. But with COVID-19 restrictions in place and safety a priority, the park district is holding the craft fair online instead, utilizing the Facebook group platform. Organizer Rachell Entler has created the PDOFP Holiday Marketplace, a virtual event that begins Dec. 9, when the businesses will introduce themselves. From Dec. 10 to 15, vendors will showcase products and advertise sales. “This is meant to be an interactive event so group members will be encouraged to comment and ask questions,” said Entler. To join the group, visit facebook.com/ groups/pdofpholidaymarketplace/. It’s free for shoppers, and you can browse and shop, safely, from the comfort of your home. A large number of the vendors are from Forest Park, including many woman-owned businesses. Businesses participating in the event include: Leah Gedvilas- Norwex* (home cleaning products) Mary Kay* (skincare and make up) Institute for Positive Mental Health (wellness products like lotions and soaps) Too by Three (handmade dolls, stuffed animals, and plushies) AlwzJazzie Design* (custom tumblers, keychains, ornaments and shadow boxes) Day of Vibrancy (bead woven jewelry) Usborne Books & More Natural Vibes (all natural and organic skin care) Olive & Windsor* (a simple, classic 100% soy wax candle company) Bianca Ingwersen Art* (ink flower/plant drawings and custom drawings) Dye’s Place (baked goods, crochet items) Zyia Activewear* (active and leisurewear) B & T Designs* (handmade signs) Another Glass* (clean-crafted wine, spritzers, and mixables) *Businesses owned by current or former Forest Park residents

to Madison Street By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Forest Park’s annual Window Walk, with live-action decorations in store fronts, horse-pulled carriage rides down Madison

Street, and hot chocolate served by District 91 cannot happen this year. Like so many other things, the event has been canceled because of COVID-19 safety concerns. But the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the annual event, isn’t going to let the holidays go uncelebrated in downtown Forest Park. This year, the chamber is sponsoring “Home for the Holidays,” a series of events focused on keeping safe while celebrating and promoting local businesses. Tentative events include: ■ Decorated merchant windows begin-

ning Dec. 11 ■ Santa’s mailbox at two different locations, where believers of all ages can drop off letters to Santa ■ Photo op with “Cool Santa,” a life-size Santa ice sculpture, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 18, 19, and 20 ■ Holiday Flowerpots on Parade, in which businesses and local organizations decorate the planters along Madison Street, like they did for Halloween Visit the chamber’s Facebook page at facebook.com/forestparkchamber/events for updated events.

River Forest

FOOT CLINIC

7351 Lake St. (Just west of Panera Bread)

Do you have diabetes?

f you do, you should know how important foot care is. Over time, diabetics risk developing foot complications. When the nerves are damaged from chronic high blood sugar, feet can become numb or painful with burning or tingling. This is called diabetic neuropathy. When diabetes affects the arteries, circulation to the legs and feet may be compromised. Either of these conditions may lead to serious problems including ulceration, even amputation. The key to prevention is early diagnosis of diabetes, and regular foot exams from a podiatrist. Diabetics who receive regular foot care, including paring of calluses and debridement of thick fungal toenails, are almost four times less likely to undergo an

Dr. Linda Lambert

amputation than those who do not seek treatment. Medicare and some private insurances cover 1 pair of diabetic shoes and 3 pair of protective insoles each calendar year. Dr. Lambert has been a supplier of diabetic shoes since 2002. The shoes come in 30 different styles each for men and women. These include boots, lightweight colorful athletic shoes, and dress shoes. Even patients who are not diabetic love the look and comfort of the footwear. Diabetic socks, slippers and compression hosiery are also available. Protecting your feet with appropriate footgear is an important aspect of preventive care for diabetics.

Aetna, AARP, Blue Cross PPO, United Healthcare, Healthspring, Humana, PHCS, Medicare Assignment & most other insurances accepted • CIGNA PPO

26 Years’ Experience • Se Habla Espanol • Free Parking

708.366.FOOT (3668)

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

I’ll be ‘home’ for Christmas

FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN: Sean McElligot (left) and Kevin Garcia, who both work at Fitness Factory in Forest Park, have also both served in the military.

The difficult transition from military to civilian life By TOM HOLMES Contributing Reporter

Bing Crosby made “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” a hit in 1943, a year when over 9 million Americans were in uniform and this country was much more culturally united than it is today. Unlike today when wearing a face mask has become a political statement, during World War II the GIs knew why they were sacrificing, and those they left behind understood why rationing was necessary. Instead of being divided by cultural polarization, the country for the most part was on the same page. Sean McElligot and Kevin Garcia have a few things in common. They work at the Fitness Factory, located at the corner of Desplaines and Industrial Drive. Both are Millennials, and both served in the military. Although their experiences were very different — McElligot in the Air Force and Garcia in the Marines — they agree that transitioning from military to civilian life has been difficult because of the cultures are different. We hear all the time about the “culture war” between conservatives and liberals. What the two young veterans experienced was the extreme difference between the culture in the military and the values and world views of the 93 percent who have never been in uniform. Coming “home” was difficult in some ways not because home had changed but because the military had changed them, causing them to view what they had returned to from a whole new perspective. Garcia said in his three-month-long Marine boot camp experience, the goal of the drill instructor is to tear you down psychologically and build you back up as a Marine. “Your world and the way you think about life is turned completely upside down,” he explained. “They don’t want to add on to who you are. They want to erase everything that you thought was normal, stop thinking of yourself as an individual and make you feel that the platoon’s needs are more important than your own.” In other words, the “we” is more important than the “me.” Robert Putnam in The Upswing argues that when “I’ll be Home for Christmas” was written, our country valued “we” more than “me.” Garcia could have been talking about those WWII GIs when he said, “I began to feel like my needs were not as important as the platoon’s. My unit came first. If I as a machine gunner had to go on a ridge and get

TOM HOLMES

killed so my squad could move up, that’s my job and I’ll do it without thinking.” McElligot returned home from the Air Force right around the time Obama was elected president. What struck him was how individualistic civilian society had become in contrast to what he experienced in the Air Force. “Everyone [in civilian society] thinks that they are the star of their own movie,” he explained, “and everyone else is a supporting actor. These days it’s all about self-glory. The military, in contrast, teaches self-lessness, service before self, it’s a team effort.” Another jarring difference had to do with structure. McElligott’s mother, for example, was in the Air Force for 22 years and happens to be married to his boss Stuart Glenn, who said, “When she was in the Air Force, she didn’t have to fret about what to wear that day or make appointments with doctors or dentists. All of that was scheduled for you and could be done right on the base. When she got out of the military, she’s like, ‘I need a dentist. Where do I go and what do I do?’” The transition also can be felt as a comedown in authority. In the Air Force, Sean’s mother was addressed as Chief Master Sergeant Linda K. McElligott, the highest noncommissioned rank in that branch. She was in charge of Air Force recruiters in the whole country. But she couldn’t take that rank into civilian society. Likewise, Garcia was a corporal at the time he left the military and was in charge of 35 Marines. “When you get out, you’re starting from scratch again,” he said. “Nobody cares what you were. It was a huge hit. I went from a person who was in charge of 35

people to mopping the floor in my part-time job while going to college after getting out.” And that requires a major adjustment in your identity. “I wasn’t Corporal Garcia anymore,” he said. I had to kind of reinvent myself. I’m in customer service at Fitness Factory. When a customer is upset and abusive on the phone, Corporal Garcia wouldn’t tolerate that, but I have to. You have to adjust.” McElligott said he got a lot out of his time in the military — little things like learning to iron, sew on his stripes and make his bed perfectly. Big things like a sense of pride, learning to not procrastinate, and an increased love of country. “I was patriotic before going into the service,” he said, “but I’m definitely more so now. When I see people disrespecting the flag, it hurts me. I’ve lost buddies serving that flag. We live in a free country so people can express their opinions but some don’t understand that the flag is not the politicians. It stands for the country.” In that regard, six and a half years in the Air Force taught him to distinguish between the rank [or government office] and the person. “In the military,” he explained, “I might not have liked one of my superiors but I still respected his rank. I just wish they would teach that in school more to younger children.” Garcia revealed that he has a tattoo of an Eagle, Globe and Anchor, the Marine Corps insignia, on his chest to remind him of what he went through in boot camp and to give him perspective. Now he remembers not to sweat the small stuff. Stuart Glenn said the veterans he has hired — four altogether — have proven to

be great employees. They are disciplined, punctual, polite, and know how to set goals. Both veterans acknowledged some of their experiences have not been of help in the civilian world. McElligott, who was a military policeman in the Air Force and was in a few fire fights in that role, said that even after eight years he is still hyper-vigilant. “When I’m in a restaurant, I have to sit with my back to the wall so I can see the whole area. It’s built into my brain now. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on me.” Garcia was a machine gunner. Although he was never in combat, he was for a time placed in a unit with other machine gunners who had done tours in Afghanistan and who insisted that you had to learn to hate, because in a combat zone, that’s what will keep you alive. The enemy is out to kill you, they insisted, and you can’t feel empathy for them. “I was raised to love my neighbor,” he said, “but I found myself hating certain groups of people. After I returned to the states, I entered the College of DuPage where there is a lot of diversity, and although I never said or did anything disrespectful, when a Middle Easterner or a Muslim would walk by I would cringe. When I would talk to them I would be nervous.” Because there are people like Osama bin Laden who want to do bad things to good people, he said, we need people like the Marine machine gunners who are trained to pull the trigger and kill people, so the rest of us can live in peace. “I don’t want hate to be in my mind anymore,” he concluded, “but even though I am healing, those feelings are still there.”

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Colorful carryout from Inari Sushi Sushi is a solid selection, but do not discount frie fare

MELISSA ELSMO Food Writer

Inari Sushi and Sake Lounge, 7428 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park, is on the cusp of celebrating a milestone anniversary. For nearly 10 years the sushi-first establishment has been crafting noteworthy Japanese fare with focus on quality and attention to detail. Affiliation with trailblazers Tank Sushi and Sushi Wabi in Chicago helped owner, Sara Kate, hone her skills in the restaurant industry. Her deep knowledge, industry connections and respect for topquality ingredients

helped her Elmwood Park eatery distinguish itself from others in the area. And now, facing new challenges, Kate has transitioned Inari to offer first rate carry out and delivery fare. All sushi and maki travel well, making them ideal carryout cuisine. Traditional maki rolls, like well-loved salmon avocado and Philadelphia rolls, can be ordered as part of Inari’s affordable lunch specials, but their array of specialty rolls are creative and colorful at any time of day. Since we are all supposed to stay at home for the time being, it seemed fitting to order Inari’s S.T.A.Y Rolling specialty roll. The spicy and indulgent offering features salmon, tuna, avocado, and yellow tail with tempura crunch, sweet soy sauce and spicy mayonnaise. Tis the season to try the X’mas roll, too. The rich and festive specialty roll is filled with spicy tuna, spicy snow crab and cucumber with a garnished of lobster, avocado, cherry red masago and sweet soy sauce. In addition to stand out maki and sushi, Inari also offers bento boxes, poke bowls and ramen as well as wine, sake and martinis to-go. Kate was also quick to remind that Inari’s fried items travel better than most thanks to including a little egg yolk in the

Give a Taste of Donny G’s for the Holidays

Let Donny G’s help you with all of your Holiday Catering needs...

Call us - Let us do the cooking!

Italian Specialties

708-456-3644 7308 W. North Avenue • Elmwood Park donnygs.com • donny.greco@yahoo.com The newest hot spot for Live Entertainment

Great Food Full Bar Italian Specialties

Live Music

DONNY G’S HOLIDAY CHEER! OFF SITE CATERING!

Let Us do the Cooking f You

Homestyle Italian Specialties from Our House to Yours

e F tival of the Seven Fish

The Best Ever!!!

GRILLED SHRIMP - FRIED SHRIMP - SCAMPI SHRIMP - RAW CLAMS - BAKED CLAMS STEAMED CLAMS in RED or WHITE SAUCE - FRIED CALAMARI - GRILLED CALAMARI CALAMARI in RED SAUCE - FRIED SMELT - STEAMED MUSSELS in RED or WHITE SAUCE WHITE FISH - GRILLED SALMON - FRUTTI DI MARI

Christmas Eve Packag

Pick up only • 2pm until 5pm Cooked or ready for your oven FOOD FOR CHRISTMAS DAY CAN BE PICKED UP WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO HEAT ON 12/24

The S.T.A.Y Rolling roll (left) and the X’mas roll are among the many colorful specialty maki offerings at Inari Sushi.

Melissa Elsmo

Call to place your order 708-456-3644 7308 W. North Avenue • Elmwood Park donnygs.com • donny.greco@yahoo.com

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Inari’s fried ravioli filled with cream cheese and crab is topped with light sweet soy and masago. batter. The yolk trick prevents Inari’s fried offerings from becoming soggy by creating a protective barrier that prevents excess oil absorption. The yolk also helps the coating fry to a pleasing golden brown while maintaining a crisp and delicate texture. See the technique star in Inari’s crab ravioli. Packed with fresh crab and cream cheese, the appetizer is akin to crab rangoon frequently offered at Chinese and Thai restaurants, but Inari’s tempura style coating remains crunchy for an extended period. Garnishes of sweet soy sauce and masago elevate the dish. The global pandemic has taken its toll on the diminutive sushi bar, but Kate remains optimistic. She notes that words of encour-

Inari to go: Staff at Inari in Elmwood Park are masked up and ready to hand over thoughtfully packaged carry out fare.

Gyoza (bottom) and the vibrant salmon and tuna poke bowl from Inari Sushi.

agement from community members have made a big difference during these dark days. “Through this difficult time the Village of Elmwood Park and our customers from Oak Park and River Forest have been generous and supportive,” said Kate. “This year has shown us we are among good people.” *All food items were ordered via carry out and plated at home. All photos, Melissa Elsmo

Spicy tuna ravioli from Inari in Elmwood Park.

The two maki roll lunch special also comes with a piping hot cup of miso soup. Shown here with a Philadelphia roll and salmon avocado roll.

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Wrapping for the food pantry Resident providing free gift-wrapping in exchange for donations By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

Forest Park resident Kristen Lyons will wrap your holiday presents for you, providing paper, ribbon and bows. All you need to do is make a contribution of any amount, in either non-perishable food items or a financial donation, to the Forest Park Food Pantry. For several years, Lyons has been active in volunteer work through the community center, which runs the Forest Park Food Pantry. She’s delivered turkeys for Thanksgiving and presents for Christmas in past years. “The outreach of our community center and the hard work of Karen [Dylewski] and her staff is amazing, especially at the holidays,” Lyons said. “Now in these times of COVID, food pantries and other social services are seeing an increase in demand. Forest Park is no different.” This year, instead of helping deliver turkeys and presents, which are being done

through drive-through events instead, Lyons decided to find a way to increase donations to the food pantry. And since she enjoys wrapping gifts (“Maybe I was an elf in a past life?” she suggested), she came up with the idea of exchanging free present wrapping, paper included, for donations to the food pantry. Her stepdaughter Emily helps Lyons choose the paper, especially for toys and kids’ gifts. Her husband John “is not that great at wrapping,” Lyons said, but helps with deliveries when needed. Some guidelines for Lyons’ present wrapping service: – Any donation amount, either in money or non-perishable food items, will be accepted. – It’s helpful if boxes (for a shirt, for example) are provided, though Lyons has some on hand. – All the gifts for a single person will be wrapped in the same paper, if possible, so it’s easily identifiable for the gift giver. – Those who already have wrapping paper picked out can drop it off with their gifts to have it wrapped in the paper they’ve already chosen. – Lyons’ last wrapping day is Thursday, Dec. 17. – Donations of ribbons, bows or wrapping

ALEX ROGALS, Staff Photographer

HOLIDAY HELPER: Kristen Lyons is wrapping holiday gifts, including providing paper and ribbon, in exchange for donations to the Forest Park Food Pantry. paper will be gladly accepted. Lyons said her goal is to continue doing this next year, perhaps expanding the service to every weekend during the holiday season on Madison Street. This Saturday, Dec. 12, Lyons will be on Madison Street for a “drive by and drop off” at 7347 Madison St., under the covering of

the Brown Cow marquee, from noon to 2 p.m. for people who’d like to drop off gifts, walk around Madison Street, and come back for their wrapped gifts, with a donation for the Forest Park Food Pantry too. Contact Kristen Lyons at FPwrapper@ gmail.com with any questions or to set up drop-off and pick-up times for gifts.

ONLINE and IN PERSON options for Private Lessons for Language, Music and Academic Tutoring. In Person option for 2020/21. Multi-Age K-5th Grade “Homeschool in School“ program

The Language and Music School At International Mansion 509 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 info@internationalmansion.com • (708) 524-5252 • InternationalMansion.com

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

D91 AD

$36K over two years from page 1 When asked why this publication was chosen for advertising, Cavallo said in an email, “Good question. There is really no good reason to advertise in this publication, and I was not at all pleased to find out that we placed a very expensive ad in a publication that has limited reach.” Cavallo said he knew nothing about the ads run in either year and was unaware of them until a community member recently brought it to the attention of a board member. Within the district, only Scott Dunnell, communications and public relations manager, and Ed Brophy, assistant superintendent of operations, who signed off on the ads, were aware of them, Cavallo said. Invoices from D91 were paid to Professional Sports Publications (PSP), which publishes annual yearbooks for professional sports teams, including the Chicago Bears. Board President Kyra Tyler said the invoices were part of the list of bills approved in the consent agenda during board meetings, but they never stood out to board members. “Without any information or narrative about the purchase (the line item in the bills never mentions the Chicago Bears), it wasn’t seen as anything suspicious or unusual,” Tyler said in an email, adding that $6,000 expenditures in an almost $20M budget “is just a small fraction.” Additionally, said Tyler, the expenditure was never mentioned in monthly updates from the PR director, and “the board doesn’t formally vote on anything under $25,000 as an agenda item during the meeting, so that’s another reason why we weren’t aware.” To get a clearer understanding of the rationale for placing the ad, the Review reached out to Dunnell, who agreed to a meeting but then received a phone call from Brophy on the way to the meeting forbidding him to speak about the issue. The Review received an email from Brophy stating that any follow up questions regarding the ad must go directly to Cavallo. When asked, via email, if a larger context or explanation for the ad purchase could be provided, Cavallo said no. “It seems that you would prefer that I give you a rationale for why it was done when I clearly don’t think it was a wise decision to purchase such an expensive ad and I am not going to lie to you about it and make up a reason for why it was done,” Cavallo said. “Purchasing that ad with taxpayer dollars was a mistake.”

Three more COVID deaths: 19 total among Forest Park residents Who has died in Forest Park Since the beginning of the pandemic, Forest Park COVID-19 deaths have been as follows:

Four died within one week By MARIA MAXHAM

March 30: 86-year-old white male April 26: 32-year-old Black male May 1: 62-year-old Black female May 9: 57-year-old white male May 19: 65-year-old Black male May 22: 74-year-old Black male June 4: 71-year-old Black female June 12: 83-year-old Black female July 4: 57-year-old Black female Aug. 2: 66-year-old Black male Aug. 14: 86-year-old Black male Oct. 8: 71-year-old Black female Oct. 25: 84-year-old white male Nov. 19: 74-year-old white male Nov. 26: 80-year-old Black female Nov. 29: 73-year-old white male Dec. 2: 68-year-old Black male Dec. 5: 90-year-old Black woman Dec. 5: 106-year-old Black woman

Editor

Three more COVID-19 deaths among Forest Park residents, one on Dec. 2 and two on Dec. 5, bring the town’s total to 19. On Dec. 2, a 68-year-old man died from acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and coronavirus infection. On Dec. 5, two women died, one 90, the other 106. Including the death of a 73-year-old man on Nov. 29, there have been four COVID-19 deaths among residents in one week. Of Forest Park’s 19 COVID-19 deaths, 12 have been among residents of Aperion, 8200 Roosevelt Rd. All deaths among Forest Park residents were among people with underlying health conditions, from obesity to diabetes to hypertension to congestive heart failure. Forest Park’s total confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic is 713. There were 66 new cases reported last week. The good news is there was a 2.31 percent drop in confirmed cases

g n a H e r e in th

k r a P t s e r o F

over the past two weeks, so, at least temporarily, the town saw a slow-down in positive cases. For more information, visit the Cook County Department of Public Health’s website that tracks COVID by town at https://ccdphcd.shinyapps.io/covid19/. As for Region 10, the portion of the state that includes Forest Park and all of suburban Cook County in Governor J. B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, it, like all of Illinois, is still under Tier 3 mitigations. These include no indoor dining or drinking at restaurants or bars, among other restrictions. To be allowed to relax mitigation efforts, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, a region must experience: ■ less than 12 percent test positivity rate (on a 7-day rolling average) for three consecutive days and ■ greater than 20 percent availability in both ICU beds and medical/surgical beds for three days (on a 3-day rolling average) and ■ a decline in the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital (on a 7-day rolling average) in 7 out of the last 10 days. As of Dec. 7, Region 10 met only the third of these criteria.

We are here for you! You can get local news delivered right to your email in-box. Sign up for FREE at ForestParkReview.com

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Season’s Greetings Virtual LEGO Master Challenge Think fast and bring your bricks to participate in fast timed challenges on Dec. 12 from 1 to 2 p.m on Zoom. This event, geared toward middle grade children and sponsored by the Forest Park Public Library, will have a seasonal theme, and prizes will be awarded for each round. If you don’t have LEGO bricks at home, no worries: email ys@fppl.org or call the youth services desk to request a grab-bag of bricks to use for the challenges and keep afterward. Learn more or sign up at fppl.org/events.

Book Discussion: My Antonia The Forest Park Public Library’s Reading Awake Book Group will be discussing Willa Cather’s My Antonia on Dec. 16 from 7 to 8 p.m. The discussion will be online. Please contact slavin@fppl.org to register for this Zoom event.

Dec. 9 – 16

BIG WEEK 2020 Holiday Home Makeover Contest There’s still time to register for the Park District of Forest Park’s holiday home makeover contest. Show off your fun creativity and help illuminate the streets of Forest Park with imaginative displays. Prizes will be awarded to Best in Show and People’s Choice. Visit bit.ly/HolidayHomeMakeover2020 to register.

Live with Chef Ashley Simone On Dec. 14 from 6 to 6:45 p.m., Forest Park’s own Chef Ashley Simone will be online demonstrating how to make a delicious holiday appetizer: spiced baked sweet potato fries with homemade lemon garlic aioli. The event will be live on Facebook, so registration isn’t required. For more information, visit fppl.org/events.

Online Breast Cancer Support Group On Dec. 14 from 7 to 8 p.m., wellnesshouse.org is sponsoring an online opportunity for breast cancer survivors to come together to exchange information and strategies for making decisions and navigating the breast cancer experience. Visit wellnesshouse.org for more information.

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

OPINION O U R

V I E W

D91’s inexplicable Bears ads

ostly local governments make reasonable choices when spending the hard-earned dollars of their taxpayers. We object at times to raises maybe a point or two rich by our measure. Sometimes a building project can be a bit grand. But overall our experience is that local governments attempt to be responsible stewards of our precious resources. That is why our report this week is so stunning and repugnant that for each of the past two years the Forest Park public elementary schools spent $18,000 to purchase a two-page ad in a slick football magazine targeting season ticket holders of the Chicago Bears. Thirty-six thousand dollars fully wasted, flushed. There is no rationale for spending this money in this way. There is no possible return, no possible benefit to the school district, to the village. We spent some time paging through the virtual edition of this promotional magazine. It is packed with Bears minutiae — rosters, stats, schedules, a little nostalgia, glossy pictures, letters from the team president, general manager and head coach — all of whom the sports columnists in Chicago believe should be canned after Sunday’s humiliating loss to the Lions. The target audience for the magazine are the wealthy and the obsessed who hold season tickets or maybe are on the waiting list for season tickets. How many Forest Parkers hold those tickets, are on that list? Not too many. How many Bears season ticket holders are contemplating moving to Forest Park to enroll their young kids in our grade schools? None is our best guess. The Bears magazine is, as you’d expect, packed with ads for luxury cars, luxury sneakers, high-end alcohol. We did not see any other small public school districts buying ad spreads. The superintendent said he was unaware of this expenditure and did nothing to defend it. He also prevented the two colleagues most likely involved in making this purchase from talking to the Review. We’ve seen the invoices after we FOIA’d them. They are broken into more bite-sized chunks of $6,000 each, likely to call less attention to the spending. The school board needs to ask tough questions and we expect public answers to just how this massive error in judgment could have taken place unquestioned for two straight years.

The mural protected

It took awhile and it took a village, but the alleged pathetic perpetrator who has repeatedly defaced the “No Human is Illegal” mural on the Circle Avenue bridge has now been found, arrested, and cited with a local ordinance violation. Active citizens have been keeping their eyes open around the bridge and late last week a man was spotted trudging up the hill, police were called and they made the arrest. What possesses a person to repeatedly mar so hopeful a message is discouraging. That Forest Park, its citizens, its cops, its public works staffers were so vigilant in protecting this aspirational speech is a credit to our village.

Christmas (Baby, please stay home)

’m tired from this. COVID, I mean. I’m tired of it, too, don’t get me wrong, but I am also tired from it. Things I should be able to do on autopilot, like take the Green Line downtown, or walk to Whole Foods and Petco, all require presence and focus now. Is my mask on right? Am I staying distant? Did someone cough? Don’t breathe. Don’t touch your face. What did I come here for, again? If this is what the Enlightened mean about staying in the present, they can f-----have the present. This is exhausting. I think I’m mostly grouchy because I love Christmastime, and we are making the best of it but there’s stuff we’re just not going to get. We gave up on Thanksgiving. Just announced to the family that we were going to “observe” Thanksgiving 2020 on May 27, 2021 and treated the day itself like a Thursday off. We’ll get everyone together in May, when we will be able to eat inside or outside, so no matter what the CDC says we can all hang out. My wife already ordered an inflatable yard turkey for the occasion. I’m trying to make the best of this. I put up lights for the first time in years. Twinkling blue and white lights and a wreath and 10 sidewalk lights in the style of old-fashioned outdoor bulbs but that looked much, much larger on Amazon. I had expected waist height, though, which they are only if one is an elf. Still, it’s festive to have the little things down there to light the way for passing Pomeranians and Chihuahuas to have a pee and feel tall. Speaking of dog-walking, I have, while walking a dear friend of mine, noticed something about

the various nativity mangers we pass: While most (but not all) subscribe to the convention of leaving the baby Jesus in the green room until Christmas morning, they are all set up so the people and livestock are already peering with interest at the empty cradle here in early December. Shouldn’t they be doing manger things? And why are Mary and Joseph there already? The presence of Mary, come to think of it, raises several other questions given that she is not visibly uncomfortable in these dioramas despite the imminence of a new baby. I have been around several women in the last few weeks of pregnancy, and they do not generally look quite so serene. I’m really trying to make the best of it, though. We’ve got a bunch of show tickets this year, all for variations on The Nutcracker — Russian! Balanchine! Hip-hop! Burlesque! — and we have done multiple drive-through light displays. I mulled some cider with chai. We’ll probably put up the tree at some point so I can spend the next few weeks yelling at the cats. I saw Elf at a popup drive-in in Pilsen, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is ticketed for this weekend. I’ll probably receive a virtual present or two, and maybe bake some cookies. Gotta make the best of it, you know? Still, we — all of us, including you — are all just so, so tired of making the best of it. I would like not to have to make quite so much best of anything. I would like the best of it to be made already, possibly for pickup. Ideally I might have some best of it made by someone else and brought to me. Maybe I’ll ask Santa.

ALAN

BROUILETTE

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. All letters are subject to editing for space and content purposes.

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.

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

O B I T U A R Y

Timothy McNeil, 45 Longtime Jewel, White Hen and Mariano’s employee Timothy Allen McNeil, 45, of Forest Park, died Nov. 1 at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County from complications following an aortic dissection. A longtime resident of Oak Park and Forest Park, he worked for many years behind the deli counter at Jewel-Osco in River Forest and held earlier grocery-related jobs at the old White Hen Pantry on South Boulevard in Oak Park and at the long-defunct Oak Park Market on Oak Park Avenue. He more recently worked at Mariano’s in Lincoln Square and two years ago returned to manage the deli at Jewel-Osco in Stickney. Born on June 18, 1975 and raised in the southwest suburbs, Tim was a 1993 graduate of Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park. A lifelong autodidact, he had a complicated relationship with formal schooling, eventuTIMOTHY McNEIL ally earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from Roosevelt University in 2008. He also spent time at Triton College and those classes were among his best experiences in higher education. He had a ranging, curious mind and a decade ago undertook a self-directed, multi-year reading program, which he chronicled in a blog for friends and family. The Forest Park Public Library served as his base of operations for that project. He was active in the Chicago-area gaming community for several decades. Dungeons and Dragons was a mainstay, but he dabbled in many group roleplaying games. He enjoyed creating fantasy worlds for others to explore at area game stores and at regional and national gaming conventions. He enjoyed immersing himself in fictions and was passionate about movies and books — low-brow, high-brow, and no-brow. Tim never married and lived for many years with his mother, Brenda B. McNeil, who preceded him in death in 2015. He is survived by his brother, Brett; his sister-in-law, Lindsay Koriath; and his nephew, Ian McNeil, all of Mishawaka, Indiana. Also surviving are multiple aunts and cousins. Tim’s family wants to acknowledge the extraordinary care he received at Stroger Hospital during a lengthy hospitalization. The doctors and nurses of Stroger’s SICU and MICU departments deserve special thanks. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorial donations in Tim’s name to the Forest Park Public Library. The donations will be earmarked for history and fiction titles.. Tim was a donor to Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue in Itasca. Cremation was handled by Neptune Society in Downers Grove. A memorial service will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 inside the Aquatorium in Gary, Indiana’s Miller Beach neighborhood. Please write to brettmcneil@gmail.com for information about the service or to RSVP.

Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home

Since 1880 Family Owned & Operated Charles Williams, Owner/Funeral Director 203 S. Marion St. Oak Park 60302 708/383-3191

To run an obituary Please contact Ken Trainor by e-mail: ktrainor@ wjinc.com or fax: 708/524-0447 before Monday at noon. Please include a photo if possible.

Season’s Greetings

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020 New local ads this week

YOUR WEEKLY AD

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

WEDNESDAY

CLASSIFIED

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI

Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

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.

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

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

SUBURBAN RENTALS

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:

ITEMS FOR SALE 10 FT CHRISTMAS TREE In box. 708-447-1762 POOL TABLE Complete setup pool table 708-447-1762 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 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.

SUBURBAN RENTALS FOREST PARK 3BR Jackson Blvd, 3 BR apt., 2nd ﬂoor w/dining room and breakfast nook. New kitchen w/granite & stainless, new bath, central air, free laundry. 2 blocks to blue line, 2 blocks to Madison Street. 1700 + deposit & credit check required. Garage available. 312-802-8291 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

COMMERCIAL/ RETAIL SPACE

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

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

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

AUTOS FOR SALE 2013 CHEVY CAMARO 3000 certified miles. 708-447-1762 2002 MERCEDES BENZ S430 10,000 miles. 708-447-1762

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 PLEASE HELP! Black cat lost near Marion & LeMoyne on 11/25/20. Will be hiding, please check engines, garages, under decks, etc. Do not attempt to capture, call/text 708-415-7012

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

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

SELLING YOUR HOME BY OWNER?

Make it stand out. Advertise here! Call: 708-613-3342

ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed

ELECTRICAL

A&A ELECTRIC

Let an American Veteran do your work

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.

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

FIREWOOD

HANDYMAN

FIREWOOD

Mike’s Home Repair

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

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

HANDYMAN

HEATING/ AIR CONDITIONING HEATING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Furnaces, Boilers and Space Heaters Refrigerators Ranges • Ovens Washer • Dryers Rodding Sewers Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience

FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.

708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000

HAULING BASEMENT CLEANING

Appliances & Furniture Removal Pickup & Delivery. 708-848-9404

PAINTING & DECORATING CLASSIC PAINTING Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost

708.749.0011

PLASTERING McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.

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

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

local employees, happy employees!

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

773-637-0692 Ask for John

Attention! Homeimprovement pros! Reach the people making decisions your target demographic Advertise in Wednesday Classified. Call 708/613-3342

Hire Local.

Place an ad on Wednesday Classified’s Local Online Job Board. Go to ForestParkReview.com/classified today!

Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information. (708) 613-3342 classifieds@ ForestParkReview.com

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

CLASSIFIED

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

Public Notice: Your right to know In print • Online • Available to you 24/7/365 ForestParkReview.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE TO BIDDERS 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

LEGAL NOTICE VILLAGE OF RIVER FOREST NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR Bicycle Sign and Pavement Marking Project The Village of River Forest is now accepting sealed bid proposals for the Bicycle Sign and Pavement Marking Project. TIME AND PLACE OF OPENING BIDS Notice is hereby given that the Village of River Forest, Illinois, will receive sealed bids at the River Forest Village Hall, 400 Park Avenue, River Forest, Illinois until Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. local time for Bicycle Sign and Pavement Marking Project, at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read. Bid proposals for this project will be considered not only on the basis of cost, but also on past performance, experience and ability to perform the work. The Village of River Forest reserves the right to accept the proposal deemed to be in its own best interest based on all of the above considerations. Bids will be acted upon by the President and Board of Trustees. DESCRIPTION OF WORK The proposed work is officially known as “Bicycle Sign and Pavement Marking Project” and further described as the construction of bicycle signs and pavement marking at various locations in River Forest, Illinois, as further described in the contract documents for the said work prepared by Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc. (KLOA, Inc.). AVAILABILITY OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS Prospective BIDDERS and suppliers may obtain contract documents at Village of River Forest, 400

Park Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 60305, upon a non-refundable deposit of $45.00. Payment shall be in cash or check payable to the Village of River Forest. Contract documents may be examined at Village of River Forest, 400 Park Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 60305. BID SECURITY All bid proposals must be accompanied by a bid bond, certified check, or bank cashier’s check payable to the Village of River Forest for five (5) percent of the amount of the bid as provided in the General Provisions. No proposals or bids will be considered unless accompanied by such bond, or check. PREVAILING WAGE RATES When engaged in construction of a “public work,” within the meaning of Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, 820 ILCS 130/.01 et seq. (“the Act”), the Act requires Contractors and Subcontractors to pay laborers, workers and mechanics performing services on public works projects no less than the “prevailing rate of wages” (hourly wages plus fringe benefits) in the county where the work is performed. For information regarding current prevailing wage rates, please refer to the Illinois Department of Labor’s website at: www.state.il.us/agency/ idol/rates/rates.HTM. All Contractors and Subcontractors rendering services under a Contract for the construction of a public work must comply with all requirements of the Act, including but not limited to, all wage, notice and record keeping duties. Published in Wednesday Journal December 9, 2020

The term general prevailing hourly rate, when used in this requirement will mean the hourly cash wages plus fringe benefits for health and welfare, insurance, vacations and pensions paid generally, in the locality in which the work is being performed, to employees engaged in work of a similar character on public works. As a condition of making payment to the Contractor, the Village may require the Contractor to submit an affidavit to the effect that not less than the prevailing hourly wage rate is being paid to laborers, mechanics and other workmen employed on this Contract in accordance with Illinois or federal law, as applicable. PERFORMANCE BOND The successful BIDDER for the construction of the improvements will be required to enter into Performance and Labor and Material Payment bonds equal to 100% of the amount of the bid with sureties to be approved by the President and Board of Trustees, when entering into the contract for the work, which shall be conditioned upon the proper and faithful performance by the CONTRACTOR of the work specified in accordance with the contract documents therefore, and the ordinances providing for the work. REJECTION OF BIDS The VILLAGE, reserves the right to defer the award of the contract for a period not to exceed eighty (80) calendar days after the date bids are received, and to accept or reject any or all proposals and to waive technicalities.

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICE VILLAGE OF STICKNEY, COUNTY OF COOK, ILLINOIS PROPOSED CICERO/PERSHING TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT REGISTRATION FOR INTERESTED PARTIES REGISTRY

LEGAL NOTICE LAW OFFICE OF LINDA EPSTEIN Attorney for Petitioner 722 W. Diversey Parkway, Ste. 101B Chicago, iL 60614

On December 1, 2020, the Village Council of the Village of Stickney (the “Village”) adopted “An Ordinance Authorizing the Establishment of Interested Parties Registries and Adopting Registration Rules for Such Registries for Redevelopment Project Areas in the Village of Stickney.” The purpose of the Ordinance was to establish a system for interested persons to obtain certain information relating to the Village’s establishment or amendment for any redevelopment project area under the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act (65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-1, et seq.) (the “TIF Act”). The Village is currently exploring the proposed Cicero/Pershing redevelopment project area (the proposed “TIF District”) under the TIF Act. The proposed TIF District is located within an area that is generally bounded by: 35th Street to the north; Cicero Avenue to the east; Sanitary and Ship Canal (the “Canal”) to the south; and Laramie Avenue to the west. The Registry for the Cicero/Pershing Redevelopment Project Area, together with the rules and regulations approved by the Village Board for the Village of Stickney for the Registries (the “Rules and Regulations”), are on file and available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Village of Stickney Village Clerk’s Office, Village Hall, 6533 Pershing Road, Stickney, Illinois 60402. All interested persons or organizations may register with the Village Clerk for the Registry for the proposed Cicero/Pershing Redevelopment Project Area, as provided in the Rules and Regulations, in order to receive information related to this proposed Cicero/Pershing Redevelopment Project Area. Audrey McAdams Village Clerk Village of Stickney, Illinois Published in RB Landmark 12/09/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY Request of Simone Michele Bartlett Paul Case Number 20206007305 There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: Simone Michele Bartlett Paul to the new name of: Simone Michele Bartlett. The court date will be held: On January 11, 2021 at 9:00 AM at 16501 S. Kedzie Parkway, Markham, Cook Count, Illinois] in Courtroom # 207 Published in Wednesday Journal 12/9, 12/16, 12/23/2020

Wednesday Classified 3 Great Papers, 6 Communities To Place Your Ad, Call: 708/613-3333

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

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR MASTR ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGES TRUST 2007-1, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-1 Plaintiff, -v.ELLEN M. RAVITZ, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 18 CH 03457 123 S. EUCLID AVENUE OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on February 13,

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 123 S. EUCLID AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-07-400-0160000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence. The judgment amount was $657,505.06. Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no

representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information. If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales. For information, Alexander Potestivo, POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610, Chicago, IL, 60606 (312) 263-0003. Please refer to file number 109484. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. POTESTIVO & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 223 WEST JACKSON BLVD, STE 610 Chicago IL, 60606 312-263-0003 E-Mail: ilpleadings@potestivolaw. com Attorney File No. 109484 Attorney Code. 43932 Case Number: 18 CH 03457 TJSC#: 40-924 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Case # 18 CH 03457 I3155622

Starting a New Business in 2021?

Call the experts before you place your legal ad! Publish your assumed name legal notice in • Wednesday Journal • Forest Park Review • Riverside/Brookfield Landmark • Austin Weekly News Call Mary Ellen for details: 708/613-3342

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

INC., REALTOR

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

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

SOLD!

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

SOLD!

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!

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!

SOLD!

We are OPEN Christmas Eve!

RibFest Every Day! Mickey’s is the place!

Mickey’s Rib Special

B.B.Q. RIBS & CHICKEN BURGERS & HOT DOGS

1/2 Slab Dinner

$11.99

Full Slab Dinner

$17.99

includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread

525 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park (708) 848-3333 11am - 9pm Daily

3 Vienna Hot Dogs w/ Fries $ .49

Italian Beef Sandwich w/ Fries $ .49

Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $10.99

Every day Special!

Gyros with fries $7.99

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.

Wednesday

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.

1/4 Lb Double Cheeseburger

Big Mickey! $ .99

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!

Forest Park Review, December 9, 2020

Strike a match Advocates for Wednesday Journal, Austin Weekly News, Riverside-Brookfield Landmark and the Forest Park Review came together with commitments totaling $18,000. And now they are asking you to match it. What appeals to this group we’re calling the MatchMakers? Sustaining an authentic, trusted source of fact-based, independent news. These 46 individuals were among our earliest supporters at GCM. The people listed here generously committed $250 or more. Their conviction, combined with new contributions (we’re suggesting $60 or more), will help us reach the combined goal of $36,000 by Dec. 31. Local news isn’t guaranteed. Our growing community of donors knows this. Hundreds contributed to meet two earlier financial challenges: the national NewsMatch and a $10,000 commitment sponsored by our board of directors. I gratefully, and humbly, join the Matchmakers in their appeal to all of you – to help raise the money that makes your local newsroom possible. With gratitude, to all those listed here and those to come! Dan Haley, Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media P.S. Please share this with your friends and family. And especially, share it with someone whose opinions you don’t agree with.

Catherine Baumann

Heidi Ewell

Rich Kordesh

Bob Spatz

Marc Blesoff

Elizabeth Freeland

Ralph Lee

Sue Sporte

Mark Carroll

Tom Gallagher

Edward Malone

Robert Trezevant

Ginnie Cassin

John Haley

Dick McKinlay

Bob & Vicki Tucker

Nancy Clark

Mary Haley

Dennis Murphy

Johan/Margaret Walsh

Brian Crawford

Tom Healey

Donna Myers

Barbara Watkins

Judith Crown & Richard Roth

Case & Pat Hoogendoorn

Charles Myerson

Lisa Wilkinson

Don Nekrosius

Cathy Yen

Judy Das Gupta

Bernice Hopkinson Juettner

Kathryn & Alan Nesburg

Deb Zari

Patrick Deady

Brynne Hovde

Joan Radovich

Alana Elsner

Andrea Kayne

Marian Sassetti & Bob Kent

To donate, visit www.growingcommunitymedia.com/donate