Opinion

OUR VIEW

Focus on sustainability

High among the progressive values taking root in Forest Park is climate action. So it is good to see the village council re-energize and focus the Environmental Control Commission. At a December council meeting, there was a unanimous vote to focus the charge of this commission, to reappoint most members, and to clarify the terms they will serve.

This commission actually dates back to the early 1970s when most of us first began to have fragmented worries about the impact we were having on our planet. As always, the formation of the original commission was spurred by local activists. However, as happened in many places, energy around climate change has waxed and waned. And Forest Park’s climate commission has been dormant more than it has been active over the decades.

That didn’t stop legitimate progress in areas of recycling, creating a community garden, and beautification (anti-litter). But the focus was lost until the commission was reinvented in recent years. Then came COVID and the nascent return to action was grounded — until now.

It is an impressive group of volunteers who have recently been reappointed to the commission. There is work to be done and collaborations within the village and among neighboring communities to build. Hard choices, sometimes expensive choices, need to be made as the village invests in its lagging infrastructure.

That’s where a sustainability mindset will be so important. Progress is taking place. Much more needs to be fostered and, if necessary, forced. Clearly climate is a global unraveling that needs action on a massive scale and soon. That does not, for a moment, diminish the critical role of each village and city in taking determined steps to save this Earth.

A campaign pledge

The filing deadlines have passed for the April municipal elections. We know where we have contested elections in Forest Park and in Proviso Township.

We also know there is a recent history of dirty campaign tactics in our local village elections. Late, anonymous and venomous campaign flyers in the mail. Social media now plays a divisive role. It has been beyond discouraging to watch this garbage being deployed in the last days of campaigns.

The Review has worked hard to find the sources of the disinformation and defamatory charges. We’ve worked to follow the money. But for all its crude content, the execution has been somewhat sophisticated and we’ve been unable to nail down perpetrators.

With the new year comes the start of the active campaign. We’re particularly focused on the two-man race for Forest Park mayor. Incumbent Rory Hoskins will face John Doss, a man well known in town for his work as an elected official at the park district and as the retired chief of public works at the village.

We believe these are two honorable people who have a proven love for this village. We would ask each of them to make a pledge now to refrain from personal attacks in this campaign and to actively control the dark forces that somehow run parallel to legitimate campaigns.

Forest Park needs to be better than this in 2023.

OPINION

The only thing we haveto fear is …

On the Christmas cards we received last week angels are quoted as saying to the shepherds, “Don’t be afraid.”

To which I want to reply, “Yeah, right. You live in heaven where, I assume, there is a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines.”

It does feel like there is more to be afraid of these days, doesn’t it? Go ahead and prioritize the following list: mass shootings in schools, a climate change apocalypse, World War III starting in Ukraine, long Covid, violence in our neighborhoods, the end of democracy, big government taking away our freedoms, too much religion, too little religion. …

Are we becoming paranoid or is the world really going to hell? During the months preceding the November election, Democrats fanned the flames of fear by repeating that democracy itself was at stake. Republicans warned that Biden was steering the nation on a course leading to godless Soviet-style communism.

“But, but it’s not fear mongering,” say people at both extremes of the political spectrum. “The world really will come to an end if the other side gets/stays in power.”

So what are we to do with our fears? External vs. internal Demagogues manipulate people’s fears by blaming someone or some group external to those who are experiencing fear. Insecure people find it easier to blame something outside themselves instead of owning their own emotions. Perpetrators of road rage are a good example. It’s easier to say “you made me mad” than to say “I was having a bad day and I overreacted.” That’s not to say that fear is always an

TOM insecure reaction. What secure people do is when they feel fear, they ask themHOLMES selves, “How much of my fear is coming from the outside and how much is a result of my still unpacked baggage?” Are we spoiled? Scott Peck begins The Road Less Traveled by declaring, “Life is difficult.” Most of us who read the Review have it pretty good — if you compare our lives to living east of Austin Boulevard or, more dramatically, in Ukraine or Somalia. In The Big Sort, Bill Bishop argues that we tend to migrate to locations where people see the world through the same lenses we are looking through. In Forest Park you might say we are spoiled. To a large extent we’ve had the means to escape the realities that frighten others on a daily basis. So in a sense, our emotional immune systems are vulnerable.

Conducting a fact check

One thing we can do when we feel fear rising inside us, is to do a fact check. For example, mass shootings account for 0.1% of firearm homicides in this country, according to the Congressional Research Service, while suicides make up 54% of deaths by firearms.

The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that in the 2019-2020 school year there were 98,000 public schools and 30,000 private schools, while Education Week says that so far this year there have been 34 school shootings, a record.

If we do the math, the chance of there being a mass shooting at the Forest Park Middle School is 1 in 3,500 or .0003.

When I was a kid, we used to do fire drills at my elementary school. The tone was one of due diligence, not fear. If we feel like the sky is falling, we need to do a fact check. Is the sky falling or an acorn hitting us on the head or something somewhere in between?

Transcending fear

Fear is a normal emotion, but there are some among us who have put themselves in emotional/spiritual places where they are not controlled by it. I’m thinking of Ken Gross and the 30-some officers in the Forest Park Police Department and Chief Chiappetta and his firefighters.

When angels told the shepherds to not be afraid, they did not remove the tyrant King Herod from his throne or Caesar Augustus from power. In fact, Joseph had to take the holy family to Egypt and become refugees for a time because of Herod’s slaughter of the “innocents.”

The baby in the manger didn’t change the world. It can still be frightening. What he did was to give people what Psalm 138 calls “strength of soul.” If you want examples of what I mean, read about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and a host of other witnesses, many of whom lived courageous lives under the radar.

We staged a comeback in 2022

This was Forest Park’s comeback year. Many of our in-person activities returned after being canceled during the pandemic. We give credit to local organizations for the revival of the events that make Forest Park special.

The Forest Park Arts Association organized the Stoop Session concerts, Garage Galleries, and Storytelling at Exit Strategy. The Chamber of Commerce revived Casket Races and the Holiday Walk. The village again sponsored Groovin’ in the Grove concerts and Ribfest at Altenheim. German Fest made a comeback.

Some decrepit buildings at Altenheim were finally torn down. This freed up greenspace and placed the remaining buildings in a more attractive setting. Forest Park Theatre put on a production in the field south of the retirement home.

Brandon Prasek and Monica Berns helped raise money for the theater group by reviving their Faux Pas Comedy Shows at Lathrop House Cafe. They recruited top-quality comedians to perform at the restaurant’s new backyard venue.

The Park District brought back the No Gloves Tournament. A few weeks later, on Aug. 18, they finally held our 4th of July celebration with music and fireworks. They

also took over re-designing of the village’s pocket parks. And now that the Pines Restaurant and Oak Leaf Lounge have been leveled, the district is expanding south of Harrison Street. Young musicians, including some from the Gasse School of Music, put on a “Songs for the Ukraine” concert, which raised $5,000 for the children of JOHN Ukraine. Forest Park playwright Kevin Bry wrote The Ebony RICE Streak about OPRF football star Lewis Pope, who wasn’t allowed to play in a 1937 national showcase game because he was Black. Concordia University put on a moving play titled, The Woman of Lockerbie, about the women of a small Scottish village overcoming grief with love. We also had a warm-hearted holiday commercial filmed on the 7700 Block of Adams Street. And speaking of warm hearts, a pleasant visit with retired columnist Jackie Schulz, who is still going strong at 92, was a special treat. Celebrated sculptor Edmonia Lewis had a good year. She was honored with a Black Heritage Forever Stamp and finally received her posthumous diploma from Oberlin College. Another Black hero, Professor Joseph Corbin, is having his Forest Home Cemetery grave placed on the National Register. The company that restored Lewis’ The Death of Cleopatra statue, received another important commission. The lions that have long guarded the Art Institute were brought to the Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio to be cleaned and waxed. The Review scooped all the major news outlets with this report.

The Review also shrank to a square after more than a century as a rectangle.

Public Works hired 10 teenage boys from Maywood, giving them to opportunity to earn their first paychecks. They also gave Will Schumacher, from Opportunity Knocks, a job cleaning the streets. He uses a broom but remains fascinated by the department’s street-sweeping vehicles.

We spoke with Luke McConnell about his illustrious cross-country career. The fifth-grader trains on the streets of his native Forest Park. We celebrated the career of crossing guard Valerie Sivels-Jones, who died on June 20. Valerie was a village resident who protected the students of Garfield School. A bench was decorated in her honor.

My wife, Diane, retired from Garfield School after 25 years. We have been enjoying retirement, with trips to Door County and San Diego. It was also a banner year for nostalgia with my 50th high school reunion.

Finally, I received an unexpected Christmas gift. After two years of numbness resulting from nerve damage to my right leg, all I wanted for Christmas was two legs that worked. Sensation finally returned.

Thanks, Santa.

A L OOK BA CK IN TIME Goldstein’s then, Goldyburgers now

This photo features Joe and Barney Goldstein behind the bar at Goldstein’s Cocktail Lounge circa 1933. During its early years Goldstein’s hosted dances 6 days a week, served a famous burger known as the Goldyburger and a shrimp cocktail sauce that customers claimed was “unmatched.” It was founded in 1926 by Jack Goldstein, who converted the horse barn in the front of the house into a bar. The neighborhood spot would be a mainstay in the Goldstein family -- including Barney, Joe and Max who would run Goldyburgers for 60 years. Their slogan was “never had a bad one.”

Goldyburgers, of course, is still going strong at 7316 Circle Ave.

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