W E D N E S D A Y
December 11, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 19 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL
Holiday events Pages B21 - B26
of Oak Park and River Forest
Winberie’s is closing Dec. 28 After 30+ years serving Oak Park, restaurant calls it quits By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
Since its opening, Winberie’s Restaurant, at 151 N. Oak Park Ave., has served all-American fare to the people of Oak Park and its neighboring communities, but the window of opportunity to eat there is narrowing rapidly. In a Dec. 5 press release, Select Restaurants Inc., which owns Winberie’s, announced the restaurant will cease operations Dec. 28. “With the lease expiration in 2020, the company has decided to close the business at this time,” the press release stated. Select Restaurants also expressed thanks in the press release, saying, “We would like to gratefully acknowledge the efforts of its dedicated staff and the loyal support of the many thousands of customers who have visited the restaurant over the years, and we look forward to serving our customers one last time over the next several weeks.” The press release also stated that the Ohio-based restaurant group “will make every effort to assist its employees with future job placement.” The restaurant group will honor gift certificates through the rest of December at Winberie’s and at any of its other establishments. “I’m still processing the shock of it,” said Jim Solnes, who owns Scoville Square, the building in See WINBERIE’S on page 16
SHANEL ROMAIN/Contributor
BOARD MASTER: Ellie Skalla, 12, invented the board game GalactiQuest when she was just 10 years old. The game is now available at most Target stores nationwide and on the retailer’s website.
Student invents a gift that keeps giving GalactiQuest board game available at Target nationwide
By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
This Christmas season, Oak Park 12-year-old Ellie Skalla hasn’t really stopped thinking about one gift item, in particular — a strategy board game
called GalactiQuest. The objective of the two- to four-player game designed for age 7 and up is simple and echoes aspects of the popular board game Monopoly. Win the galaxy by acquiring planets you don’t have while defending the ones you do.
Skalla can’t stop thinking about GalactiQuest, but not because it’s on her gift list. It’s because the Julian seventh-grader invented it. Some 13,000 units of the board game See GALACTIQUEST on page 17
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