Wednesday Journal 061020

W E D N E S D A Y

June 10, 2020 Vol. 40, No. 46 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

‘We have to own this’

Oak Park considers budget cuts Reductions for 2020 leads to contentious exchange

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

SAY THEIR NAMES: Austin and Oak Park residents marched June 4 from Oak Park’s village hall to Central Avenue in Chicago.

Peaceful protest from Oak Park to Austin

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

At least 1,500 people marched from Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison St., and held vigil in front of the 15th District Police Headquarters in Austin before walking to Central Avenue on Thursday evening to protest against the systemic racism that many of the participants believe is the root cause of the May 25 death of George Floyd.

Floyd died handcuffed while Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes and as three other officers looked on. Chauvin has since been arrested and charged with second degree murder. The other three officers have been charged with aiding and

abetting the crime, court records show.

Kris Simmons stood on the westbound side of Madison Street as the protesters, most of them white, streamed past her. The sight brought Simmons to tears.

“Everybody is trying to make peace and that touched my heart,” she said.

The 55-year-old Austin resident said she’s been depressed over the last several days, as much of Chicago and the suburbs have been ransacked by looting, vandalism and arson in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“I’ve been scared to go to work,” Simmons said. “I’m afraid out here, so I just want everybody to come together. I love this. At least somebody is fighting for our rights.”

But some black bystanders were more ambivalent about Thursday’s demonstration, which was organized by state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (4th) and other West Side community leaders.

“I strongly feel that white people are

beginning to understand,” said Beatrice Starcks, as she stood outside of AA Rayner & Sons Funeral Home, 5911 W. Madison St. “I like to see this but are they true?” said Starcks’ friend, Sandra Turner, 72. “That’s my concern. The bottom line is, if they’re so into us, why didn’t they try to do something prior to this?”

Starcks added that the white demonstrators “might be true to what they’re doing, but it won’t do no good for us at the bottom if they don’t care of what needs to be taken care of at the top.

“We’re both educators,” Starcks said. “We work in the school system to try to teach these children how to think. You weren’t born a racist. You weren’t born to hate. You were taught to hate. So, we have to start teaching history. History has left the building. Everything is technology now. They’re See PROTESTS on page 13

The economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the village of Oak Park to examine potential financial cuts to remain solvent. During a June 8 board meeting, village staff presented just over $17 million in recommended reductions by department and village fund. The village board did not approve any of the recommended reductions that night; a budget ordinance, drafted by staff, will go to the village board for a vote on June 15.

“Tonight is more for us to understand if there’s consensus of board direction,” Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said during the meeting. The subsequent discussion led to one contentious exchange.

Trustee Simone Boutet wanted to examine possibilities related to reductions related to staff pay, which, she said, took up about 80 percent of the village budget.

“We have to look at our org chart,” she said. “I don’t see any other way around it.”

Boutet said her husband, a municipal attorney for different towns, has been coming home depressed every day because he has had to issue layoff notices, “It’s not what anyone wants to do but it’s what’s happening all around us,” she said, adding that the board needed to take a “hard look” at staffing and its configuration for any inefficiencies.

“And also, not pay people if they’re not actually working,” said Boutet. “They probably would make more if they’re on unemployment anyway.”

Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb wanted to know what she meant by not paying staff when they weren’t working.

“We were paying our staff when they weren’t at work. I think that’s wrong,” See BUDGET on page 13

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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n May 30, SpaceX, a private rocket company founded by the eccentric and egocentric billionaire Elon Musk, propelled two NASA astronauts into space.

“Meteorologists had forecast only a 50:50 chance of favourable conditions around Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at lift-off, but, as luck would have it, the weather window stayed open and the SpaceX controllers grabbed their opportunity,” the BBC reported.

“The Falcon soared off the spaceport’s famous 39A pad to head northeast out over the Atlantic. After two-and-a-half minutes, the lower-stage of the vehicle had separated to return to a drone ship at sea. And after a further six minutes, the crew were safely inserted into orbit.”

Meanwhile, back on Earth, another black man — this time George Floyd — was dead, the victim of very ancient prejudices. And protesters were taking to the streets.

And in a few days, people would march to the White House. And the President of the United States, wanting to appear strong on TV and on Twitter, would tear-gas the marchers in order to clear the scene for a photo opp.

“Accompanied by a small cadre of top advisers — including his daughter Ivanka Trump, clad in dark coronavirus mask — the president then made his way over to the church,” the Washington Post reported.

On Monday afternoon, I headed to Oak Brook Shopping Center to take in the sight of stores like Apple and Macy’s and Gucci boarded up, as masked shoppers strolled by their humbled facades. The Barnes & Noble here was finally open for in-person shopping after some two months closed.

The threat of vandalism, such a clear and present threat a week ago, had receded.

On the disinfected shelves, The Decadent Society, a book by conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, caught my eye. Reading the book on Monday evening, I found myself disagreeing with some of Douthat’s points but rather persuaded by

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The decadent apocalypse his overarching prognosis. get all of the upside (they profDecadence, it seems, does it from the harvest) with none rule this current moment. For of the downside of having to Douthat’s purposes, decadence deal with the consequence (the refers to “economic stagnation, headache of regulating coninstitutional decay, and cultural tent). That’s what makes them and intellectual exhaustion at a so attractive to investors, who high level of material prosperity are always hungry for even and technological development.” more profit.

In a decadent society, prowess Tech overlords like Ohanian masks impotence and instituand Mark Zuckerberg are tional decay. afraid that if they got serious Decadence is the richest counabout reforming their plattry in the world outsourcing its forms, then the profits would Commentary national galactic ambitions to a decrease and the whole house billionaire cryogenics enthusiof cards would fall. ast who wants to bring the gig economy to A more robust federal government would space with the help of private equity funds. have found the power to force companies Decadence is Alexis Ohanian Sr.’s decilike Reddit, Facebook and YouTube to be sion last week to resign as a board member more responsible for the toxic content that of Reddit, the social media company he is pumped onto their platforms. But even co-founded. Ohanian urged the board to fill the government is hollowed out. his seat with someone black and announced As George Packer, writing in the Atlantic he would pledge $1 million to Colin Kaeperlast week, pointed out, after the riots in the nick’s Know Your Rights Camp. late 1960s, the federal government respondI hope that no white person (or any ed with the Kerner Commission, which person for that matter) genuinely commit“called for policy reforms in housing, emted to bringing about racial justice follows ployment, education, and policing, to stop Ohanian’s lead, which is the SpaceX the country from becoming ‘two societies, equivalent of taking social responsibility. one black, one white — separate and unThat Ohanian would renounce his board equal.’” The report was basically shelved, seat, in exchange for what I can only see as but at least the decade ended with the Civil racial tokenism, and guilt-giving is both ab- Rights Act of 1968. And the existence of the surd and futile. The cause of racial justice commission itself demonstrated at least would have been better served if, while he the semblance of a functioning federal was still on the company’s board, Ohagovernment. nian Sr. had worked harder to keep Reddit Today, the federal response consists of from being hijacked by white supremacist Donald Trump’s antics and stunts, and groups that have used it to sow the kind Nancy Pelosi, wearing Kente cloth, taking of hate and racial division that played a knee for nine minutes in honor of George into last week’s events and that, alas, led Floyd. Perhaps the U.S. House will take to Ohanian’s personal reckoning, which is some measure of action to address the deep probably trending. causes of Floyd’s death, but they will inI understand what’s keeping companies evitably confront a Senate that cannot pass like Reddit and Facebook from policing even a symbolic anti-lynching bill without their platforms more responsibly. Their a spastic demonstration of its institutional atrophy. platforms depend on harvesting informa“The private objections of one Republition about human behavior that is then can, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, have sold for profit. Currently, those companies

MICHAEL ROMAIN

succeeded for months in preventing it from becoming law,” the New York Times reports.

“A responsible establishment doesn’t exist,” Packer writes. “Our president is one of the rioters.”

And Mitt Romney, of all people, is one of the protestors. Nowadays, in fact, we’re all among the protestors, which does not inspire optimism.

Last Thursday, at least 1,500 people, mostly well-meaning whites, marched from Oak Park to Austin. The march was unlike any I’ve witnessed in my years of covering them. That march was civil society protesting against itself. White professionals (lawyers, accountants, financial analysts, software engineers, etc.) whose skills administer this racist society had become fed up with the very beast their professions feed.

But if that unrest is to translate beyond the merely performative, if it’s to become more than prowess masking impotence, we must recognize the void we’re in.

“After half a century of social dissolution, of polarization by class and race and region and politics, there are no functioning institutions or leaders to fail us with their inadequate response to the moment’s urgency,” Packer writes. “Levers of influence no longer connect to sources of power.

Democratic protections — the eyes of a free press, the impartiality of the law, elected officials acting out of conscience or self-interest — have lost public trust. The protesters are railing against a society that isn’t cohesive enough to summon a response.

They’re hammering on a hollowed-out structure, and it very well may collapse.”

But that collapse, as Douthat mentions, may not necessarily mean apocalypse. It could be worse. “‘There was nothing left that could conquer Rome,’” G.K. Chesterton wrote … “but there was also nothing left that could improve it. … It was the end of the world, and the worst of it was that it need never end.”

Hey, we’re in a pickle. And the only way out of it is by first acknowledging that we’re in it.

To our readers Talk about a strong close The first ever fundraiser for the Chicago Independent Media Alliance came to a thunderous close on Friday. Our Growing Community Media is part of CIMA and we’re one of 43 independent newsrooms around the city that took part in this valiant effort.

With a $50,000 rush in the final days, more than 1,000 readers pushed the total raised for CIMA to $100,149. Add in the $60,000 already banked as matching funds from an array of Chicago foundations and that is $160,000 and a lot of love/respect that will be divvied up among these worthy newsrooms this week.

Thanks to the Growing Community Media partners who joined this effort to nourish independent community journalism in Chicago.

Google has affection for us It’s not a donation. It’s not a grant. Google is clear about that. But happily it is $7,000 in U.S. currency we can use toward our coverage of COVID-19 in our seven neighborhoods. Growing Community Media was chosen for a first wave of funding from among 12,000 applicants across the globe for Google’s Emergency Newsroom Fund.

We’re grateful. And whatever Google

wants to call it is fine by us.

One million page views There has been a lot of news to cover in our seven neighborhoods this past month.

And our small hard-working newsroom has been hard at it from the West Side to Forest Park to Brookfield.

How do you measure impact? There are a lot of ways from talking to appreciative marchers along protest routes to that call from a local village president with a heads up on what might happen next.

For the data-driven here’s another mea-

sure: In the trailing 30 days the combined flags of Growing Community Media – Austin Weekly News, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park & River Forest, Forest Park Review and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark – posted just over 1 million page views. That’s more than double our average.

Thanks for your trust in our coverage.

Thanks to our reporters, our photographer, our freelancers for being on the street doing this work.

Dan Haley Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

BIG WEEK June 10 - 17 Many Voices, Many Stories Now through August, virtually with the Oak Park Public Library The summer reading program for adults and teens features six titles of different genres connected through the theme of immigration. They are 1919

by Eve L. Ewing, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (Join the discussion, June 19, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. register: oppl.org/calendar), The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas (Join the discussion, June 17, 1 to 2 p.m., register: oppl.org/calendar), Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Titles available as ebooks and some audio books through Media on Demand, Libby and/or Hoopla. More: oppl.org/ read-listen-watch/many-voices-many-stories

Summer Reading with the River Forest Public Library June 15 through Aug. 21 All ages can join the 2020 reading challenge. Track your reading on a computer or the Beanstack Tracker app. Enjoy programming from the library, which includes prizes, virtual programs and more. Sign up: riverforestlibrary.org

Stay Fit with the YMCA With 12 Bursts, the whole family or individuals can stay active with 5-minute bursts of daily physical activity that can be done anytime, anywhere. The program encourages everyone to achieve 60-minutes of daily recommended physical. Stack or mix and match to complete a Daily Dozen challenge. No two days are the same. Free.

Get started: 12bursts.org Or get fit with YMCA 360 Virtual Health and Fitness Videos, such as Active Older Adult Strength Training, Youth Dance, Bootcamp and Core & More. Also find yoga, barre, Pilates, cycling, Tai Chi and other workouts. Free.

Go to: ymca360.org/on-demand

Queerios Summer Meetups Saturdays, 2 to 4 p.m., Zoom through the Oak Park Public Library Queerios is an LGBTQ+ positive group for those in grades 6-12. It is a way to get together, discuss different issues, share favorite books, support activism and more. In partnership with OPRF High School’s A Place for All and the Rainbow Tribes of Julian and Brooks middle schools.

June 13 Peace circle check-in and JackBox games July 18 Mask of Shadows & other teen LGBTQ+ books discussion August 8 D&D and Honey Heist virtual tabletop gaming Register: oppl.org/calendar

Wildly Beneficial: Native Plants See a recording of the virtual lecture by Stephanie Walquist of West Cook Wild Ones, who spoke at the Oak Park Conservatory last month. Learn the benefits of native plants and consider adding them into your home landscape. Find it: fopcon.org

What’s Cooking: Now and Again Sunday, June 14, 4 to 5 p.m., Zoom through the Oak Park Public Library Join others and discuss Julie Turshen’s book Go-to Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers, with more than 125 recipes and 20 menu ideas.

Available through Hoopla. Register: oppl.org/calendar

Play at Home

Memory Cafe

An Afternoon of Music

Tuesday, June 16, 2 to 3 p.m., Zoom through the Oak Park Public Library Join for conversation and enjoyable activities at this welcoming virtual event for individuals living with memory changes along with their families and friends.

Register: oppl.org/calendar

Wednesday, June 10 at 1:30 p.m., Zoom through the Nineteenth Century Charitable Organization Hear composer/arranger and award-winning flautist Michele McGovern and composer/pianist Kristofer Spike.

The program will be both pre-recorded and live, and include a Q&A. More/to access the virtual program, go to: nineteenthcentury.org

A group of theaters across the country came together to create the Play at Home project, a series of 10-minute plays to inspire joy and connection. Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater’s Associate Artist Juan Muñoz received a commission to create a Play at Home script. His work, Moles, to be performed by four humans, is about Greg, who accidentally creates a giant sinkhole at work. His supervisor tries to control the situation from a radio tower hundreds of miles away. Neither is prepared for the disaster awaiting them beneath the ground. Find it: playathome.org/ plays/munoz-moles. Donate to 16th Street: boxoffice. printtixusa.com/16thstreet/donate

Summer Art with Gene Ha Wednesdays, June 17 through July 22, 2 to 3 p.m., Zoom through the Oak Park Public Library Join creator of the Mae comic book series, learn basic steps artists use to develop their own comic books and design your own comic strip this summer. Grades 1-8.

Free. Supplies, such as pencils, paper, black markers, are needed. Register for each Wednesday event: oppl.org/ calendar

Searching for South America Saturday, June 13, 1 to 2 p.m., Zoom through the Oak Park Public Library Brian Michalski spent a year trekking the Inca Trail, navigating Patagonia, exploring the Amazon and more.

Live Q&A after talk. Register: oppl.org/calendar

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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ART LIVES ON: The sons of Leslie Ann Jones and Tom Johnson are funding an arts scholarship in their mother’s name.

Visual arts scholarship honors Leslie Ann Jones

By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor

The Oak Park Area Arts Council (OPAAC) has added a new scholarship for 2021 to the awards it already grants for graduating high school seniors. The Leslie Ann Jones Memorial Award is a $1,000 scholarship that will go to a female of color planning to major in visual arts. Jones was a board member and president of OPAAC from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.

Jones and her husband Thomas E. Johnson were murdered in their Oak Park home in April. It was their sons who wanted to set up the Memorial Fund.

“Both were the salt of the earth,” Wilson White said of Jones and Johnson. “They were always trying to make it a better place and stand up for the underserved. They were both just good people.”

Wilson White worked with Jones at the Art Council, including on the Continental Harmony Project, a White House Millennium Council Project. “Professional composers worked with local musical organizations to create compositions that reflect the past, present and future of the local communities,” a White House newsletter from the time stated.

In Oak Park, one of 58 communities across the country that were chosen to participate, the composition “Symphony of Place” celebrated the village’s racial diversity and its Fair Housing Ordinance passed in 1968.

Early in the process, Jones opened her home to the community to voice their thoughts on the project to the composer James Kimo Williams, a professor at Columbia College and composer in residence for

the Chicago Sinfonietta. Wilson White said 40 to 45 people attended the reception and that Kimo said it was one of the most wonderful things he ever saw someone do.

The performance, on Jan. 27, 2001, included 450 people on stage according to Wilson White. Two of those were Harriette and McLouis “Mac” Robinet, among the first African American home buyers in Oak Park, who used a straw buyer to accomplish this feat in 1965. During Williams’ symphony, they spoke in time to the music of The Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, while reading the Village of Oak Park’s Diversity Statement. Also performing that night were OPRFs Jazz Ensemble, Heritage Chorale, Pro Musica, an assembled community gospel group and others.

It was Jones’ idea to keep ticket prices affordable and most seats were filled in the Oak Park and River Forest High School Auditorium, Wilson White recalled.

Jones also was passionate about public art. While a public art ordinance was being written by the village government, she crafted more robust language, Wilson White said, and started a public art advisory commission within the village government. Now, that function is carried out through OPAAC. “We have a heightened visibility of art and get calls all the time from cities and towns all over about our public art,” Wilson White said. “We have gained credibility when it comes to public art.”

It was Jones who said they should put public art near businesses and in some parks for increased visibility.

The Leslie Ann Jones Memorial Fund is accepting donations. More: oakparkareaartscouncil.org/2020/04/17/leslie-annjones-memorial-fund

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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Rethinking Oak Park policing

t’s hard to get ahead when you’ve got a blind spot. And Oak Park has a blind spot when it comes to its pretty good police force. Reminds me of Oak Park’s self-indulgence when it looks back at its early experiment in racial integration in the 1970s. Community leaders went from wholesale innovation into a posture of believing its own national press clippings. Made it hard to ask tough questions. It’s still hard.

Now we’ve got a police department that is better than many.

But not good enough, going forward. Thankfully, we’re in a moment where all policing is intensely, rightly under scrutiny.

There is the horror of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis piled on the murders of so many other black men by police.

And then there is the stunning aftermath of Mr. Floyd’s death where videos just spool up of cops nationwide proving the point that they are too often unaccountable bullies, proving the point in Buffalo and in Philadelphia that cops, white cops specifically, will always defend other white cops.

The code is real. It is them vs. us.

Especially but — wake up, white people — not only when the “us” is a man of color.

So Monday, Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb announced he will take Oak Park into a process urged by the Obama Foundation that will address police violence and systemic racism through an intense and open review of Oak Park’s use-of-force policies. He promises that review will “engage the community” and include diverse experiences and stories.

Sounds good. Now prove it.

In the press release announcing this progress, Village Manager Cara Pavlicek reports that, since LaDon Reynolds was promoted to police chief last year, “an internal review of all Oak Park police operational procedures and policies has been underway.” The internal review sounds decidedly tone deaf at this point. The oppressed would like a word about this process.

(Not a great time for Chief Reynolds to be out on family leave. But family leave is there for the moments you are needed at home. And no doubt the chief is playing an active role from home.)

While we are theoretically doing a deep dive into policing here, it’s time to

reopen the police contract and extract all the language guaranteeing privacy to cops who receive citizen complaints, who are written up for internal discipline. The citizens allow officers to carry a badge and a gun, and a baton and a Taser. We need access to understand how individual officers use that privilege.

Oak Park, and every other police department, needs to assess its hiring and promotion practices. This department is not diverse enough and current hiring practices don’t further diversity.

And it is past time for Oak Park to require every officer wears a bodycam. We need to invest in policing technology that grows accountability.

While “Defund the Police” has become a catchy slogan in the astounding and ongoing national protests, I would go with “Rethink Policing.” We need great police officers. But their job is ever more complex and will, perpetually, be under video scrutiny by citizens. So how do we improve training as we reset our expectations for what makes a great cop? It’s not by measuring arrests, certainly. Can we teach and measure de-escalation? Can we teach engagement with citizens who are black, brown, poor, dispossessed, mentally ill?

Oak Park can make a good case that training works on issues of mental health. This has been a priority of the past three chiefs, a focal point of training, an area where Oak Park has invested in supplementing social work and mental health professionals to work alongside officers. And it has worked. At the same time Oak Park has gotten into a pissing match with the township over funding for the valued youth interventionist program. Not smart.

At the close of a powerful, well attended protest march Thursday from Oak Park’s village hall to Austin’s Central Avenue and back, Rep. LaShawn Ford, a key organizer, said he and other legislators will have wide-ranging police reform policies ready by the fall session. Racial bias training. Retaining all records of police discipline. Creating paths to firing bad cops. All on his agenda.

And on Monday Gov. J.B. Pritzker reinforced that saying “major police reforms” are coming statewide.

It can’t happen too soon. Oak Park’s opportunity to lead on policing is short.

Make it count.

DAN HALEY

‘Slow Streets’ needs speed

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The Oak Park Transportation Commission will meet for the first time in months on June 9 to hear a proposal for the implementation of “Slow Streets” within the village. “Slow Streets” is a temporary program intended to enable greater social distancing opportunities while outside walking, biking and exercising by allowing only local automotive traffic, emergency vehicles and deliveries on certain streets.

Full closure of streets is not required, nor advocated for, in the “Slow Streets” proposal, which was created by the advocacy group Bike Walk Oak Park [BWOP].

“Slow Streets is not intended to be a permanent thing,” said BWOP member Jenna Holzberg. “This is a temporary thing that’s really in response to COVID and opening up space for people to have more room to get exercise and be outside comfortably among each other without congregation.”

BWOP recommends the commission designate all village greenspaces as “Slow Streets” until Oak Park enters phase five of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, created to safely reopen the state after COVID-19 prompted widespread closures.

With the village already in phase three, BWOP would like to see “Slow Streets” implemented in Oak Park with celerity.

“This is a very time-sensitive initiative,” said Holzberg. “This is an initiative that has the potential to have a positive effect on the community between spring and early fall. After that you’re going to get crappy weather where people aren’t going to want to be outside.”

The “Slow Streets” proposal includes two suggested street networks mapped out by BWOP members and Franny C. Ritchie, assis-

tant urban development director at University of Illinois at Chicago.

The execution of “Slow Streets” poses no real threat to the village of Oak Park’s financial state, nor does it require any additional policing.

“It’s very low to no cost to actually implement this – some temporary signage, some traffic horses, maybe some signs that say, ‘Yield to pedestrian traffic,’” Holzberg said.

She believes the Public Works Department may have traffic horses and signs in storage, making the implementation of “Slow Streets” easier.

“There’s going to be absolutely no policing of this. Nor should there. We’re not advocating for that in any way,” Holzberg said. “We want to make sure people feel comfortable using the streets.”

Despite the uncomplicated nature of the program, Holzberg fears government bureaucracy will inhibit the progress of putting “Slow Streets” into effect.

“If the project unfolds according to the typical timelines within the village, this could take several months for this to get approved,” she said.

According to Holzberg, village staff have expressed hesitation in moving forward with “Slow Streets.”

“Village staff are nervous. This is through email communication that I’ve received from commissioners,” she said. “I haven’t necessarily spoken directly with village staff members. There’s hesitation to do this.”

Holzberg thinks staff will do a pilot program on a weekend, when people spend the most time outdoors.

Reluctance to move forward with the project, she believes, boils down to a potential lack of understanding.

“There needs to be greater understanding of what Slow Streets actually is, what it entails and how easy you can put it into effect and also to take it away,” she said. “We’re not asking for permanent infrastructure.”

Many countries and U.S. cities, including Dallas and San Francisco, have already put “Slow Streets” into effect. The Oak Park proposal contains information regarding the methods other communities have used to implement “Slow Streets.”

While not included in the proposal, BWOP members do not oppose using the program to broaden outdoor dining opportunities in addition to giving residents more space to safely exercise outdoors.

Holzberg sees only benefits and no drawbacks to implementing “Slow Streets.”

“This is an opportunity to create more positivity within the community.”

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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ART BEAT

Take a front porch family portrait and help fund Beyond Hunger

Photos for Food Project has raised $10,000, so far

Easing the Pain of May’s Record Rain

By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor

What started as a hobby, taking photos at sporting events, has turned into a fullfledged organized operation, the Photos for Food Project, which now includes 140 families, and all proceeds going to help stop hunger.

Cory Kessler of River Forest has been taking photos for fun since 2012, shooting at local sporting events, and dance recitals, sharing the pictures with the families, bringing joy and getting a bottle of wine and a thank you now and then. By 2015, wanting to do some good, and perhaps not needing any more wine, he began asking for donations to Beyond Hunger, which provides food and more to those in need. He really stepped up these efforts the past two years. In 2019 he raised enough to feed four families for a year, Kessler said.

And then a worldwide pandemic struck.

For someone who attended as many at 11 T-ball games in one week last summer, quarantine is quite a change.

“Everything was so new, so scary, so apocalyptic, like the world was ending,” Kessler said.

But another photographer, Steve Scheuring, who Kessler met as a fellow photo volunteer with the Oak Park and River Forest Marching Band, saw opportunity. Scheur-

brought to you by

Photo by Corey Kessler

ing, a local Realtor, had more time on his hands and already expressed interest in family photography, Kessler said. And so, they began a campaign to capture images of families at home during quarantine, the Front Porch Project.

April 4 was the first Saturday they went out. The two each spent four hours total, approximately 10 minutes with each family before zipping to the next appointment.

Families are asked to donate to a specific fund set up by Beyond Hunger. Photos for Food asks for a minimum of $35, but Kessler said the average donation is $80. Families receive 10 or more images from the sittings.

Photo bySteve Beck

PHOTOGENIC: The Beckmann family mugs for the camera in front of their River Forest home for the Photos for Food Project. (Above) Dr. Desmond Ponder, a recent graduate of the Ross University School of Medicine, poses with his family in Oak Park.

They range from serious to silly, cuddly to creative, and those posing give input on what they are interested in from the start.

“People say they haven’t had family pictures done in forever, let alone at their house,” said Kessler.

He likes to think of the funds raised in terms of meals -- each dollar buys three meals. Since Kessler began, $10,000 has been raised --- 30,000 meals. Most of that has been raised since COVID-19 entered the scene, $9,300, or 27,900 meals.

Kessler said he has heard a coach explain to his team about the food pantry and, from those he provided photos to, that it has introduced them to Beyond Hunger, which makes him feel like a “hunger advocate.”

A similar set up, Front Steps Project, started in mid-March in Massachusetts. It also has local volunteer photographers take family photos at homes while donations are given to nonprofits. The concept has spread worldwide. Front Steps Project is publishing a book and Kessler said his team’s images will be included.

Now, Kessler hopes to raise more for Beyond Hunger by taking graduation photos.

Another photographer has joined the team, Steve Beck, also a Marching Huskie parent. All three men have daughters graduating from Oak Park and River Forest High School this year; Beck has twins.

It takes more time to set up graduation photos, so there are 15- and 30-minute time slots offered, available for $50 and $100 donations, respectively. Graduates already photographed range from 5th grade through medical school.

Images can be viewed and photo appointments can be set up on Instagram @photosforfoodproject or by email at kes_cor@ yahoo.com.

2020 has been … unique, to say the least.

And just when we thought last May was excessively rainy, May 2020 decided to surprise us with another record for monthly rainfall!

While moisture is a necessity for plant Scott growth, too much McAdam Jr. of a good thing can become a bad thing.

Many people experienced flooding, even if they have not had this problem before. With saturated soils and nowhere for the water to go, this rainfall submerged lawns and landscapes. That phenomenon caused a multitude of issues, including: 1. Excessive rainfall can submerge plantings, which results in losses due to the plants essentially “drowning.”

2. Soil erosion occurs due to runoff when soils are already saturated.

3. Nutrients can be leached from the soil and any pre-emergent herbicides, due to dilution, will lose effectiveness much more rapidly.

4. Disease presence will become much more noticeable as we enter the period of hot, dry weather.

So, what can you do? Be sure you have proper drainage solutions in place, as well as guidance from an expert who can manage your stormwater to keep your lawn and landscape thriving.

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Taxing bodies, businesses react to Floyd’s death Statements of support for racial justice poured in

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

Since mass protests have erupted across the country over the May 25 death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers — one of whom, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes — a variety of Oak Park institutions have released statements supporting the protests and denouncing racism.

LeVar Ammons, District 200’s executive director of Equity and Student Success, urged Oak Park and River Forest High School students to “stay safe and healthy in your passionate advocacy and pursuit of racial justice,” and to “learn and share information about what systemic racism is.” (See Viewpoints, page 25) Ammons also suggested that students “consider donating to organizations supporting our work to eradicate racial injustice.”

District 97 Supt. Carol Kelley struck a personal and candid tone in her statement on the Floyd’s death.

“As a mother of two Black sons, an educational leader and a woman of color, I am frankly unsure if reaffirming who we are and what we believe as a school community is enough to dismantle white supremacy in our country — a country who has witnessed another senseless killing of a Black man at the hands of a legal authority figure,” she wrote.

David J. Seleb, executive director of the Oak Park Public Library, directed patrons to a section of the library’s website to find “ebooks and more, curated by our librarians as we proclaim Black Lives Matter.”

Seleb said the library joined with the Urban Libraries Council, of which it is a member, in releasing a statement “to communicate our shared commitment as

library leaders to dismantle systemic racism.”

Jan Arnold, executive director of the Park District of Oak Park, wrote in a statement released last week that the park district “stands in support of black and brown people who are suffering under racial inequity that divides our country and many communities.

“We are committed to taking positive actions that build more inclusive and supportive programs and places that help ensure the health and wellness of all our residents by providing all a place to belong.”

In response to Floyd’s death and an alleged hate crime that took place in the parking lot of the River Forest Jewel on June 3, the Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and staff released a statement expressing their “outrage” and anger at both instances of racial injustice.

“We are outraged by not only the continued misuse of lethal force but by the troubling legacy of police brutality and racial injustice in America,” they said.

“Most recently this is represented by the homicide of George Floyd by three former Minneapolis Police Officers who held him under their knees while one watched. We believe the actions of those former officers is inconsistent with the oath all police officers take to ‘protect and serve’ their communities.

“We are angry and upset about the recent confrontation that happened at the Jewel Osco in River Forest. We commend the River Forest Police Department for swiftly dealing with the situation. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction in healing racial injustice,” they wrote, before directing people to the Chamber’s diversity statement.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Oak Park chief appointed to state police standards board Governor J.B. Pritzker has announced five new appointments, including Oak Park Police Chief LaDon Reynolds, to the Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. The Governor’s Office issued the announcement in a June 8 press release.

The Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board is dedicated to promoting and maintaining high standards of professionalism in law enforcement and

correctional officers.

Along with Reynolds, Pritzker appointed Highland Park City Manager Ghida Neukirch; Village of Richton Park Police Chief Elvia Williams; McHenry County Sheriff ’s Office Chief of Operations and Undersheriff Ricardo Pagán; and Village of Hazel Crest Police Chief Mitchell Davis.

Stacey Sheridan

Online petition demands justice for late Oak Parker Tyler Lumar Family pushes its lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department and Cook County Jail, launches online petition to raise awareness

By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Contributing Reporter

The family of a black Oak Park man who they say was arrested by the Chicago Police Department and then unlawfully detained and falsely accused [https://www.oakpark. com/News/Articles/5-8-2018/Remembering-Tyler-Lumar/] of possessing crack cocaine in 2016, has launched a Change.org petition [https://www.change.org/p/blacklives-matter-justice-for-tyler-lumar].

As of June 6, the petition “Justice for Tyler Lumar” had amassed more than 15,000 signatures.

It tells the story of Lumar, who was arrested in August 2016, following an incident that took place at a West Side pharmacy after Lumar was denied service.

Lumar was arrested [https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/4-24-2018/’A-civiland-moral-tragedy’/] based on a faulty war-

rant out of Lee County over parking tickets; he was then denied bail, although he had enough cash on his person to secure his release; and then he was accused of possessing crack cocaine, which his lawyer says video evidence proves was not his.

While incarcerated in Cook County Jail, Lumar allegedly attempted unsuccessfully to take his own life. He was hospitalized until 2018, when he died as a result of his injuries.

Lisa Alcorn, Tyler’s mother, is suing [https://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/8-7-2018/Tyler-Lumar-case-advances-/] the Cook County Sheriff ’s Department and other law enforcement officials over the arrest and detainment.

“We need your help in sharing Tyler’s story and having his name be HEARD,” the Change.org petition page states. “The more public attention Tyler’s case garners, the better the chances are that Tyler will receive the justice he deserves!”

The petition adds that “Tyler’s fight is not over; we need YOUR HELP to continue to share Tyler’s name and his story.”

“There is an ongoing case seeking justice for Tyler and with your help, we can make sure Tyler receives the justice he deserves,” the petition page adds, encouraging signers to include the hashtags #JusticeForTylerLumar and #TylerLumar.

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Man faces hate charges after Jewel confrontation

Alleged attacker is prominent River Forest local developer

By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter

River Forest resident and prominent local developer Rob Palley was charged with one count of a hate crime and one count of aggravated battery by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on June 4 after attacking a woman on June 3 in the Jewel parking lot on Lake Street.

The village of River Forest released a statement June 4 saying that following an investigation by the River Forest Police Department and prosecutors, the Cook County Felony Review Unit recommended the charges.

“Mr. Palley is alleged to have committed a battery against a female, African-American woman in the parking lot of a Jewel Foods store (7525 W. Lake St.) following a verbal exchange that, according to the victim and witnesses, was racially-motivated,” reads the statement.

“We have no tolerance for hate in River Forest,” said River Forest village president Cathy Adduci. “We appreciate and support the thorough work of our River Forest Police Department as well as the cooperation

Rob Palley of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to hold those who engage in criminal activity that is motivated by hate fully accountable. And, we applaud the witnesses that helped the investigators determine the facts in this case so that felony charges could be brought against this individual. Finally, we’re pleased that officials from Jewel-Osco cooperated immediately by providing video footage, which helped us move forward quickly on this case.”

On June 3, a Twitter video was posted and began drawing attention. The video appears to show a white man attacking a black woman, who was filming him as he walked to his car outside Jewel.

In the video, posted at 10:49 a.m. on June 3,

the woman follows a man, later identified as Palley, wearing a white “Aruba” T-shirt and blue mask. She says, “I’m in Starbucks getting my coffee and this man calls me a black bitch and tells me this is why everyone’s dying.”

Palley doesn’t immediately respond.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself now?” she asks. She repeats the question.

Then asks it a third time.

At this point Palley stops and turns to face the camera, hand on hip. He stares for a few moments, then suddenly seems to grab or swipe at her phone.

“You touch me, I’m going to beat your ass,” says the woman. There are struggling noises, but the camera doesn’t capture what’s going on, though it appears there is a physical altercation occurring.

“Don’t f-----g touch me,” yells the woman.

Then, “Don’t f-----g put your hands on me!”

The phone seems to have fallen to the ground, capturing two people who appear to be grappling.

There are more sounds of struggling, then the woman screams loudly and someone in the background says, “Oh!” as though commenting on something that just happened.

A man is heard in the background saying, “Hey, hey, hey,” in what might be the sounds of bystanders breaking up the apparent altercation.

Multiple sources shown the video by

Wednesday Journal identified the man as Rob Palley, a prominent River Forest developer and head of Granite Realty. By 5:39 p.m. on June 3, the company’s website had been taken down. The site was functional as recently as Wednesday afternoon.

On Twitter, the video was posted with the following description: “I was attacked at Jewel Osco in Oak Park, IL [in a response the poster said it was actually the River Forest Jewel] while I was trying to purchase Starbucks. This man called me a black bitch and said I couldn’t speak English. Then he proceeds to say this is why black people are dying.”

Palley did not respond to Wednesday Journal’s request for comments but said the following to ABC7: “I wish I hadn’t acted the way I did. I am sorry that my actions were so painful for the young lady in line at that Starbucks. She deserved better. I am sorry that this happened in such a painful week in such a painful year, in a world that has caused far too much pain to African Americans for far too long.”

His bond was set at $50,000.

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

River Forest trustees approve parking recommendations No more wait list for commuter permits, free street parking near universities continues

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

The members of the River Forest Village Board were generally receptive to recommendations in a comprehensive commuter parking study presented by a transportation engineering consulting firm at the May 26 virtual village board meeting.

The exceptions to the recommendations made by Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hare, Alboona Inc. (KLOA) were to switch the parking lane on Central Avenue near River Forest Village Hall from the north side to the south side and to maintain free street parking around the campuses of Concordia and Dominican universities.

The village board awarded the $24,500 parking study contract to KLOA last October. In making his presentation, Eric Russell of KLOA said a key component to the study was a parking questionnaire that

drew 348 responses from residents and nonresident commuters who park in village lots or on village streets.

Trustees Tom Cargie and Bob O’Connell argued against maintaining free street parking around the university campuses, instead advocating the installation of metered parking. But were in the minority on the issue and the KLOA recommendation was approved.

Cargie noted that residents who use the Metra station lots are required to pay for parking but students and faculty members of the universities, who are not residents, do not have to pay to park on streets near their campuses.

“I don’t understand why we require residents to pay to park but don’t require non-residents to pay to park,” he said. “It seems to me that requiring metered parking around Concordia and around Dominican is both equitable and beneficial to the village.

To me that’s blatantly unfair.”

He said that potential problems with metered parking could be mitigated with residential parking restrictions and cited the potential financial benefit of metered parking.

In response to a question from village President Cathy Adduci, Russell said sur-

vey responses indicated that students parking on the street were doing so because it was less expensive than using campus lots or because it was more convenient to their classes.

O’Connell contended that the practice of the universities to charge students for parking on campus is causing an increase in street parking near the campuses.

“They are charging for parking and they’re making money,” he said. “Now their problem becomes our problem. They should reduce the price to park in their garage or eliminate it.”

Adduci and Trustee Respicio Vazquez said the universities provide benefits to residents, with Adduci noting residents are not charged to park on campus for university events and Vazquez noting that Concordia officials are “very good” with sharing the running track and meeting spaces.

Police Chief Jim O’Shea opposed the parking lane shift on Central Avenue between Park and Lathrop avenues, citing safety reasons related to police vehicles traveling east on Central from the police station while responding to calls.

He said Central Avenue is a main path for police vehicles responding to calls east of the police station and expressed concern

about a potential increase in accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles.

Trustee Patty Henek agreed, noting that the change would lead to more people crossing Central Avenue to reach the apartment and condominium buildings on the north side of the street.

In addition to areas around Concordia, Dominican and village hall, study recommendations were made in the area surrounding River Forest Town Center, the area surrounding the Metra Station and the Metra station lots.

Recommendations for the Metra station lots include eliminating the monthly permit wait list, selling permits to all residents who desire them and advertising that monthly permit holders are able to park in the daily fee spaces, if necessary, without penalty of paying twice.

The village board approved the overall package of recommendations by a 5-1 vote.

“I can’t support a proposal that inequitably charges residents and parking spots but doesn’t charge non-residents,” Cargie said in casting the negative vote.

Jeff Loster, village engineer, said that all associated ordinance modifications will be presented to the village board at a later date.

Village adopts affordable housing plan

Adduci casts tie-breaking vote after heated debate ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci cast a rare tie-breaking vote at the June 8 virtual village board meeting, allowing adoption an affordable housing plan for the village by a 4-3 vote.

Trustees Tom Cargie, Bob O’Connell and Respicio Vazquez also supported adoption.

Trustees Erika Bachner, Katie Brennan and Patty Henek cast the negative votes. The discussion of the plan was at times contentious with several heated exchanges between Cargie and Henek.

River Forest needs to add 39 affordable housing units to make the 10 percent staterequirement. River Forest is currently at 9 percent, according to Illinois Housing Development Authority statistics that show 340 of the total 3,788 total housing units in the village meet the criteria for being affordable.

According to the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act of Illinois, any municipality with less than 10 percent affordable housing is required to adopt a plan to remedy its lack of moderately-priced housing.

O’Connell’s motion to adopt the plan directs village staff to “prepare an action plan to immediately begin exploring implementation of the plan’s recommendation.”

Those recommendations closely follow what were termed “possible additional considerations” in the plan that was approved unanimously by the village Plan Commission after four meetings from the time the village board assigned the commission the task in September.

Those recommendations include making four changes to the village’s zoning ordinance. Those changes would allow for taller and more dense development in designated commercial/mixed-use areas, consistent with the recommendations of the village’s comprehensive plan, to better accommodate possible inclusion of affordable housing as part of new development, and would accommodate accessory dwelling units (ADU) as a conditional use in the R1 and R2 zoning districts.

An ADU, which is also called an in-law apartment or “granny flat,” is a second small dwelling on the same grounds or attached to a regular single-family house, such as an apartment over the garage, a coach house on the back of the property or a basement apartment. If part of a single-family house, the ADU would require separate access.

Consultant John Houseal of Houseal Lavi-

gne Associates, who helped the Village Plan Commission in creating the plan, supported the change allowing ADUs in the village.

“It we do ADU right, we’ll get from 9 percent to 10 percent quickly,” he said.

Other changes to the zoning ordinance would specifically accommodate integrated affordable housing and amend the planned development standards to identify consistency with the goals and policies of the affordable housing plan as a standard of review.

Integrated supportive affordable housing allows people who are developmentally or physically disabled to live independently.

Other recommendations include identifying strategies and means with which to preserve and enhance existing affordable housing in the village, such as possible funding of programs aimed at assisting with upkeep, maintenance and improvements to identified properties and to establish possible tax increment financing (TIF) allocation guidelines to assist in the provision of affordable housing developments and initiatives in River Forest, including development of new affordable housing and improvements and enhancements of existing housing.

Public comment during the Committee of the Whole meeting was overwhelmingly against adoption of the plan on June 8. Of the 15 residents who spoke, only two

supported adopting the plan. Most spoke against the plan although some advocated postponing the decision until further study could take place.

Houseal defended the use of language that is also found in the village of Wilmette’s affordable housing plan, which some residents questioned during the public comment portion of the Committee of the Whole meeting.

He dismissed the insinuation of plagiarism and said the requirement by the state of Illinois to use specific language in an affordable housing plan leads different municipalities’ plans to appear similar.

Houseal said he contacted 46 Illinois municipalities regarding affordable housing plans and received responses from 14. Of the 14, he chose Wilmette’s plan due to the similarities between the villages, including per capita income.

“Everybody uses the same template,” he said. “We contacted everybody we could.”

Adduci referred to the adoption of the plan as “the start of the journey” and advocated “fleshing out” specific recommendations by assigning them to other commissions and boards.

“Why not widen the world?” she asked. “I think we can move the needle significantly.”

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

11

Oak Park mayor pledges reform of use-of-force policies

Walker Peddakotla urges review beyond use-of-force

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb has taken a pledge created by the Obama Foundation to evaluate and reform use-of-force policies within the Oak Park Police Department, as announced in a June 8 village news release.

The pledge comes in light of the numerous protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, a black man killed at the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.

That officer has now been charged with second degree murder. The outrage sparked

by Floyd’s death has prompted a national reckoning on systemic racism within law enforcement and the use of force by police officers.

The Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance organization has called on mayors to take action by reviewing use-offorce procedures; engaging the community “by including a diverse range of input, experiences and stories in the review;” reporting findings to the community and seeking feedback; and reforming the use-of-force policies.

In taking the pledge, Abu-Taleb has committed to carrying out these four steps in Oak Park. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek has been asked to develop a process to carry out the steps within the community, according to the release. A recommended process is expected in the next week.

“A public review of our use-of-force policies is needed. The policies guide the authority we give our officers and it is time for a full discussion to understand what the policies are today and what changes are necessary,” Mayor Abu-Taleb said in the village’s release.

Village Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla has consistently advocated for police reform and equity training within the Oak Park Police Department in her tenure on the village board and organized with the Freedom to Thrive Oak Park group to further its mission of re-imagining community safety.

Asked for her take on Abu-Taleb’s pledge, Walker Peddakotla, in a statement to Wednesday Journal, said, “I’m glad the village board is finally understanding and accepting what I’ve been saying since I was elected to office: That we have a problem with policing nationwide, and in our community. Freedom to Thrive Oak Park has already done the work to identify the deficiencies in Oak Park’s Use of Force policy. I hope we will use the hard and unpaid labor of Freedom to Thrive Oak Park volunteers to guide us in our review of not only the Use of Force policy, but all of the policies that govern policing in our community.”

Abu-Taleb, in his statement, both praised the Oak Park police department and called

for a deeper examination of the department.

“Oak Park has always had a police department that values human dignity and human life. But I also know that by examining how we train our officers and giving them the tools and training to respond properly, I believe much can be done to improve the outcome of any future volatile situations.”

The village’s release announcing that Abu-Taleb had taken the pledge included a statement from Oak Park Police Chief LaDon Reynolds, who is black.

“Since I joined the Oak Park Police Department in 1994 as a patrol officer, the importance of treating all people with dignity and respect has been part of the leadership culture here,” Reynolds said. “But we need to make sure our rules and procedures provide sufficient guidance for officers in situations that reflect today’s circumstances.”

Reynolds also said that he is “confident we can make our Police Department a leader in progressive law enforcement” and that he looks forward to the challenge and the opportunity.

The current use of force policy, last revised in 2007, prohibits police officers from using chokeholds unless “deadly force” is justified and are required to exhaust all means when possible before using deadly force.

Officers are also required to issue a verbal warning before tasing, pepper spraying or shooting at anyone. They are prohibited from shooting at moving vehicles. The village requires that officers report every instance in which they threaten to or use force.

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

WELL DONE: Children’s School student Cat Nickles’ cookbook raised over $5K for Beyond Hunger.

Cooking up a book

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Oak Park eighth-grader Cat Nickles has raised over $5,000 in donations for Beyond Hunger through her self-published cookbook, titled, “Quarantine Cookbook.”

A student at The Children’s School in Oak Park, Nickles created her cookbook for her eighth-grade capstone project after her initial plans for a pop-up restaurant in her school’s gym were foiled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The profits from the pop-up restaurant would have gone to Beyond Hunger.

Nickles knew right away she wanted her project to benefit Beyond Hunger. For as young as she is, Nickles has a long history of giving to causes that benefit those in need.

“Most of my birthdays since I can remember have always been to a charity, so I’ve always raised money,” she said. “I would prefer to help someone who doesn’t have the resources.”

The cookbook contains “simple recipes for socially distant days,” as described by the book’s tagline, made with easily accessible ingredients; Nickles’s personal favorite is the recipe for chocolate peanut butter shakes.

“Quarantine Cookbook” is available by donation online for those interested in dishing up and dishing out for Beyond Hunger.

Those who donate can choose to have their copy in PDF format or a traditional hardcopy.

Nickles’ hard work has quite literally paid off. As of June 8, “Quarantine Cookbook” has amassed $5,643 in donations sent directly to Beyond Hunger; that money translates into over 12,000 meals for Beyond Hunger clients.

“We’re really grateful that Cat used Beyond Hunger as part of her project,” said Sarah Corbin, Beyond Hunger communications director.

Beyond Hunger has seen an increase of

roughly 35 percent in pantry usage since the COVID-19 crisis hit the Chicago-area, according to Corbin. The funds generated by the “Quarantine Cookbook” have helped feed thousands of people experiencing food insecurity.

“We feel embraced by our community and it is very apparent because of Cat’s project,” said Corbin. “It’s really wonderful to see people come together to support Cat, to support Beyond Hunger and to take care of their hungry neighbors.”

Nickles said she’s proud of herself and proud of the community for helping her raise that amount.

Inspired by the comic book style of Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan’s “Let’s Make Ramen!” cookbook, “Quarantine Cookbook” has delightful hand drawn pictures done

by Nickles herself to illustrate the preparation of each recipe. Amano and Becan were among those who donated to Beyond Hunger through Nickles’s cookbook campaign.

Nickles’ fundraising cookbook has caught the attention of many notable Oak Park residents. Oak Park Eats editor Melissa Elsmo and Amanda Daly of the Daly Bagel both contributed to the campaign.

The support has come as a very welcome surprise to Nickles, who decided not to suggest a donation amount per cookbook copy.

“I wasn’t expecting to get as much money as I have now,” she said.

A lot of the support has come as a result of free advertising in the form of people sharing her campaign on social media.

“In the first few days, it blew up and it was great,” she said. “It was passed on through Facebook pages. It was really cool.”

Newsletters sent by the Children’s School, 200 S. Oak Park Ave., also promoted the “Quarantine Cookbook” campaign. Many of the school’s faculty members have donated to her campaign.

Beyond Hunger also issued a media release to promote the campaign.

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

PROTESTS

State can lead: Ford from page 1 not teaching history, anymore.”

That history informed the angry lament of 60-year-old Terry Carter, who was a child during the 1968 riots. Carter, of Austin, stood on the corner of Madison and Parkside shouting “An eye for an eye!” as demonstrators walked by peacefully.

“This is nothing new,” Carter said. “This has been going on. It’s just being caught on camera. What those people understand is violence. They put on everybody’s head that we’re violent and we’re animals. They’re the ones who perpetrated all of this. And I mean the European race. The white man. They perpetrated all of this. They’ve had their foot on our necks for years. I’ve lived through two riots and ain’t nothing changed.”

For some white protesters, George Floyd’s death was an opportunity to finally confront and take ownership of that painful history.

“One of my realizations is that white people have to stand up and lead on this,” said Tom Cofsky, an Oak Park resident who also sits on District 200 OPRF school board.

“This is our problem. We have to own it.”

Dana Langhans, 24, of Oak Park, held a sign that read “White inaction is violence”

BUDGET

Trustees debate payroll from page 1 Boutet said.

Village staff who could not perform their jobs due to COVID-19 were still paid during the shutdown period.

“If people are off, we could either burn up their vacation, burn up their sick leave,” she said. “If you look at what the park district did, they are not paying their people because their people are not actually going to be lifeguards this summer; they’re not going to actually be teaching camps this summer.”

That is not true as the Park District of Oak Park will have summer camps at 13 of its locations, necessitating staff supervisors.

While it is difficult not to pay staff, Boutet said, it was “the only responsible thing to do because we pay people to provide us services and if they’re unable to provide us services … you know, it’s not pretty.”

Moroney said Boutet was making a false equivalence in comparing lifeguards to village staff.

Boutet responded that if the village had laid off staff during the COVID-19-induced shutdown, staff would have gotten paid by the federal government and not by taxes taken from Oak Park residents.

Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla disagreed saying, “It is nobody’s fault that COVID happened and people had to stay at home and

as she walked back to her hometown from Central Avenue.

“In general, for a very long time, white people have not done enough and often it seems like it has to take another tragedy for white people to show we care,” Langhans said.

“Posting on Facebook is one thing, but we have to do a lot more than that,” she said.

“We got to figure out what more we can do. Talk to our family. Educate our family.

Learn the history we never learned. Change the minds of our racist parents. Get out in the streets. Follow the leadership of black organizers. And protest.”

Ford captured the general tenor of the crowd during a speech he gave while the march was paused in front of the 15th District Police Headquarters.

“My heart is heavy and I’m so grateful,” he said. “I said in Oak Park that I appreciate white people for being out here with black people. Today is a demonstration that not all black people are bad, not all white people are bad, not all brown people are bad. Today is a demonstration that we are in it together and that’s what we need.”

Speaking after the protest concluded back at Oak Park’s village hall, Ford said the blending of residents from Austin, Oak Park and River Forest “is an example no other part of the state can match. We can’t do this without white people. There are white people who aren’t racist but they’ve been silent. They didn’t know they need to speak

work. I think, if employers can continue to pay their people, they absolutely should because we are facing a financial and economic crisis of unimaginable proportions.

Firing people right now, in my opinion, if we can avoid it, we absolutely should try to avoid it. We don’t want to put anybody out of their homes and on the streets.”

She said there were worker-friendly options available for the 2021 budget that would still save the village money and suggested the board look into offering early retirement programs for staff.

“Those are worker-friendly and we’re not penalizing people and saying, ‘You’re going to lose your job because of a pandemic,’” Walker-Peddakotla said. “I understand we’re in a tough position, but I’m also grateful that we’re not cutting a whole bunch of people’s divisions right now because I don’t think that’s what we should be doing as a village.”

The mayor agreed with her, saying, “We owe it to the good people working for the village to do everything we can to provide jobs, but we should also have high expectations for them to do a good job for our taxpayers.”

Recommended cuts Many of village staff ’s recommended reductions came in the form of money that would have gone toward training conferences and services that were subsequently canceled or postponed due to COVID-19.

To ease the financial burden of the pandemic, the village has also ended contracts with third-party service providers, includ-

13

TODD A. BANNOR/Contributor

YOUNG VOICES: State Rep. LaShawn Ford offers the bullhorn to a young protester during the march. up.”

Ford said that Springfield legislators must change state laws to create consequences for police brutality. “Police need consequences.

There are almost none for bad cops,” he said.

Ford said that by the next legislative session in the fall that a package of new laws

focusing on racial bias training for police statewide, on making police discipline records more transparent can be crafted.

“We have veto-proof majorities in the house and the senate and a progressive governor. If we can’t do this now in Illinois we’ll never do it,” said Ford.

ing the social enterprise program Cleanslate, which helps people get out of cyclical poverty, has provided Oak Park with professional litter abatement, graffiti removal, landscaping, and other services since January. The Public Works Department ended its year-long contract with Cleanslate in April.

Other recommended reductions included $72,000 from the police department’s budget.

A portion of that came from the cancelation of a police forum for command staff. The police department also saved about $43,000 on crossing guard services for District 97 due to the switch to remote learning.

School resource officers were transferred to the afternoon police watch, where the department could use extra support as it is the busiest police shift.

The village also recommended deferring the implementation of Greenways, a project to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, to coincide with other construction projects. Greenways is listed as Bikeways on the proposed budget reduction document; the village had budgeted $165,000 for it.

Walker-Peddakotla was pleased to see that the village recommended no cuts to the Public Health Department for the remainder of 2020 but wanted to see the department’s expenses for this year, as well as projected expenses for 2021.

“There’s a memo that’s part of this item but it doesn’t go into a lot of detail. It’s more general,” said Oak Park Chief Financial Officer Steve Drazner.

The information in its entirety was not included in the agenda documents, due to

certain unknowns related to financial grant applications and reimbursements.

“There’s a number of moving parts with grant reimbursement. We brought in some contractual folks that have been funded with grants,” said Pavlicek.

The village has yet to receive some of the documentation from grants applied for by the health department.

According to the village manager, the biggest public health expense during COVID-19 crisis has been contact tracing and Public Health Director Mike Charley has applied for a roughly $800,000 grant to cover those expenses.

“We may see increases in COVID cases in the fall,” said Walker-Peddakotla. “It would be a good sort of analysis to figure out what the projected expenses might be if we had to increase them again.”

Trustee Dan Moroney raised concerns over COVID-19’s effect on the village’s fund balance. Drazner forecast a $10 million reduction in village revenue.

“We’re going to be drawing down our fund balance on major assumptions in this by about $9 million,” Moroney said.

With the recommended expense reductions, he added, the fund balance would be about $5 million by the end of 2020.

“That’s assuming my revenue forecasts are accurate and since I don’t have real data since this pandemic started that’s really an unknown at this point,” said Drazner.

Moroney wanted to know how much the village would need to levy to return to that fund balance.

14

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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From pie-making to feeding folks in tough time

Spilt Milk makes kids’ lunches, builds grocery boxes

By MELISSA ELSMO Oak Park Eats Editor

In addition to being local pie-bakers and cookie-makers, Meg and Molly Svec, the sister duo behind Spilt Milk Pastry, 103 S. Oak Park Ave., have introduced “Feeding Our Neighbors” — a program designed to support and serve vulnerable community members affected by COVID-19 job losses and business losses due to recent looting.

The Svec sisters and the team at Spilt Milk are always looking for ways to donate or leverage their products and connections to make a difference in the community. Recent community unrest, however, compelled the bakery owners to give back in a bigger way.

“We realized we had the opportunity to be more deliberate in our outreach,” said Meg Svec. “When school lunch programs were shut down, I felt like there was something we could do to help. We can feed people.”

After speaking to the principal at Havlicek Elementary in Berwyn, Svec learned school lunch programs had been disrupted because of threats of violence in the area.

Spilt Milk committed to making bag lunches for distribution throughout the community to students who may not have otherwise had access to a wholesome meal.

The sisters ordered supplies to craft hundreds of lunches including PB&J, chips, fresh fruit, and two Spilt Milk cookies. The lunches were delivered to the food pantry housed at Ebenezer Christian Reform Church. Kay

T

Courtesy E. ELSMO

DOING THEIR PART: Meg (right) and Molly Svec along with a team of volunteers assemble grocery boxes for community members in need.

Rops, director of youth and community care at the church, distributed the lunches in the community. Spilt Milk has committed to partnering with community organizations to keep this effort going indefinitely.

Additionally, Spilt Milk began offering grocery boxes for families facing food insecurity because of COVID-19. Orders opened at noon last Tuesday and Svec intended to limit orders to 100 boxes. She stepped away from her computer for an hour and when

she returned Svec found more than 300 orders had been placed.

“I was shocked by the response,” said Svec. “I feel like there are a lot of resources out there, but right now need must be greater than ever.”

After consulting with Beyond Hunger, Svec learned there can be a stigma attached with using a food pantry for many people and opportunities like Spilt Milk’s grocery boxes are a valuable asset during times like

these -- especially for individuals hoping to avoid the use of a formal food pantry.

The crew from Spilt Milk and a team of volunteers assembled 140 grocery packages for distribution last Saturday. Boxes included a hodgepodge of items like meat, eggs, milk, fresh produce, and pantry staples such as beans, rice, pasta and bread as well as sundries like toilet paper, toothpaste and shampoo.

“The supply chain is a little wonky right now,” said Svec. “It really has become a community effort to fill these boxes.”

Slagel Family Farm donated 200 pounds of meat and eggs for use in the boxes. Serenus Pastures made an additional meat donation, Paper Bag Seeds donated greens and Carnivore provided soups for the boxes. Big names like GFS and Alliance discounted and donated some items, while Whole Foods and Costco provided additional produce.

Oak Park Brewing, 155 S. Oak Park Ave., donated their storage coolers to store perishable items and offered their dining room as a socially distant assembly area.

More than 40 volunteers worked to pack and distribute the boxes on Friday and Saturday. Svec said several delivery drivers would transport boxes to specified locations, while the bulk of boxes would be distributed in the parking lot at Saint Edmund’s Church. Individuals on the waiting list to receive a box will be accommodated in the coming weeks. Like the bagged lunches, Spilt Milk’s grocery box effort will continue indefinitely as well.

Spilt Milk is also sponsoring families who need help paying bills, purchasing clothing or shopping for groceries.

The need for activism in the sports world

his time it just felt different.

When the horrifying video of George Floyd’s last moments circulated throughout the world, protesters acted with a sense of urgency and rigor that we haven’t seen since Eric Garner’s murder. Already we have seen the power of applying pressure to those in control and, as a result, the people’s voices have been amplified and heard (so far).

As we celebrate this progress, the fight must continue on.

If the point of the movement against systemic racism is to get rid of the “bad apples” that exist in our society, that starts with excavating the ground and tearing out the roots in which that poisoned fruit was created.

The sports institutions you support, from Little League to the pros, need to be included in the conversation around racial and gender equity since they contribute to this ongoing problem.

Out of the 22 athletic directors in the

they currently hold. However, high school conferences we there needs to be an emphasis cover, only one of them is on diversity when head coaching female. In terms of race, 18 and administration roles become of those in that position are vacant. white (there is one AD whose Think about how many hours race I could not confirm). your children spend participating According to its database, in high school athletics. Depend86 percent of NCAA coaches ing on the sport, they probably at the Division-I level in 2019 practice two to three hours a day were male while 79 percent after school with his/her head were white. In leagues that are coach. This is a time in which over 70 percent black, three their character and views are of the NFL’s 32 head coaches being shaped and molded by the and seven of the NBA’s head authority figures they look up to. coaches are black. In a league Sports If most of those coaches and dominated by white players, Editor administrators are white or six of the MLB’s managers are male or both (go through your non-white while 24 are white. school’s athletic staff and you will find this This cannot be categorized as a mere consistency), they aren’t going to be able to pattern. This is what systemic racism looks relate to the experiences of those who don’t like in the sports world. benefit from the same privilege as they do At the high school level, the solution on a daily basis. to this doesn’t necessarily mean ripping To be clear, I am not demonizing the current head coaches out the positions

JAMES KAY

coaches that occupy these positions. There are many who tirelessly work to make sure they can check themselves at the door and are open to discussing these issues that have long hindered the growth of diversity in their programs.

But there has to be some form of accountability for those who make the decisions on new coaching and administration hires in the realm of high school sports. Statements around diversity and inclusion are empty when neither fully exist in athletic programs run by one specific demographic of people.

If you are looking to build off of the progress that we are inching towards as a country, take this energy and stay vigilant the next time there is an opening of a position that you feel should be filled by a minority hire. Because like we have seen in the last 14 days, cacophonous calls for change can only start to annoy the powers that be when the first cry is matched by others that follow it.

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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15

C R I M E

Oak Park police responded to two separate shootings in one week. The first occurred Tuesday, June 2, when a 25-year-old Chicago man suffered wounds to his arm and leg near the BP gas station at 100 Chicago Ave; whether the man was shot on the Oak Park side or the Austin side of Austin Boulevard is unclear.

Oak Park police arrived in the area about 11:50 p.m. that night after receiving reports of shots fired. Neighbors reported seeing two suspicious vehicles. Police stopped one vehicle that matched a general description provided by the neighbors.

“Investigators determined that the [vehicle’s] occupants had taken a man to West Suburban Hospital after he apparently had been shot on Chicago Avenue,” said Oak Park spokesperson David Powers.

The injured man told police he was walking alone on Chicago Avenue when he heard gunshots and discovered he had been hit. A bystander drove him to the hospital.

Police responded to a second shooting at 6:23 p.m., Saturday, June 6. While driving southbound in the 900 block of South Austin Boulevard, a man and his passenger were shot by someone in a vehicle traveling in the same direction.

According to Commander Shatonya John-

Two shootings in Oak Park

son of the Oak Park Police Department, the driver and his passenger were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and discharged from care.

Armed robbery ■ A man pulled a handgun and demanded money from the cash register at Denny’s, 711 N. Harlem Ave., at 9:48 p.m., June 1. Police describe the man as black, 6-feet-1, in his mid-30s and having a thin mustache; he was wearing a black baseball cap with either a black sweatshirt and gray pants or a gray sweatshirt and black pants. Estimated loss is between $125 and $150.

■ Three men approached two victims, then one showed a silver handgun and demanded the victims’ property at 11:02 p.m., June 4 in the 900 block of Home Avenue. An iPhone, driver’s license and debit card were turned over, then the men patted down the other victim and fled northbound on foot.

Police describe the first man as black, 5-feet-10, and wearing a red baseball cap, white surgical mask, black shirt and blue jeans. The second man is described as black, 5-feet-7, with short braided hair and wearing a white surgical mask, white cut-off shirt and black cargo shorts. The third man was also black, of unknown height and wore all

black clothing. The three are all described as being 18 to 20 years old.

■ Another armed robbery occurred at 11:07 p.m., June 4 in the 900 block of Garfield Street when three men approached the victim, one displayed a silver handgun, and demanded the victim’s property. They were last seen traveling northbound on the Home Avenue pedestrian bridge.

Criminal damage to property ■ A young man shattered the front window of Metro PCS, 6319 W. North Ave., by throwing a brick through it at 6:30 p.m., May 31. Police describe the man as black, in his 20s, thin and about 5-feet-11 with long dreadlocks. He was last seen wearing a black Tshirt and black facemask. The estimated damage is unknown.

■ Someone broke into Medmen, 1132 Lake St., by hitting the building’s rear alley door with a blunt object then, once inside the building, the offender shattered the glass entrance door at 5:32 p.m., May 31. Police reported no loss. The estimated damage is unknown.

■ Someone in a silver sedan threw a rock through the outside window of Walgreens’ pharmacy window, 811 Madison St., shattering it at 4:16 p.m., May 31. The vehicle was

last seen driving southbound on Oak Park Avenue. The estimated damage is unknown.

■ Someone broke a 12-inch-by-12-inch glass pane window on the front door of a building in the 300 block of North Maple Avenue between 7:47 and 8:47 p.m., June 1.

Estimated damage is $160.

■ Fifteen to 20 young men and women broke the front windows to Dream Town shoe store, 4 Madison St., between 2:36 and 2:47 p.m., May 31. Police describe the group as being black, in their late teens to early 20s and carrying sticks, poles, bats and a metal piece of bedframe. No entry was made to the business. Estimated damage is unknown.

These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports June 1-5 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.

Compiled by Stacey Sheridan

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S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Jim & Pete’s passion for patio dining Italian eatery in Elmwood Park embraces outdoor dining to welcome customers back

J

MELISSA ELSMO

We ARE LIVE ONLINE!

Food Writer

im and Pete’s, the Elmwood Park Italian mainstay, 7806 W. North Ave., has a passion for pasta, pizza and patio dinng.

As shelter-in-place restrictions eased across the state, Jim and Pete’s enthusiastically embraced outdoor dining to welcome back their loyal restaurant guests.

Eighty years of experience, longtime staff members and a robust carry out business carried the well-appointed restaurant through their dining room closure, but manager Patty Davis is thrilled to welcome diners

CALAMARI: Guests can enjoy Jim and Pete’s wild caught calamari with tangy cocktail on their sunny patio. back to Jim and Pete’s.

“To be honest, we have to stop ourselves from hugging people when they come in because we haven’t waited on or seen these people for so long,” said Davis. “We’ve missed everyone. Our customers are like family to us and we know they are grateful to be out.”

The kitchen, helmed by a professional chef, has remained consistent and thorough throughout this unusual time. Jim and Pete’s continued to offer their full menu, including dinner specials and wines, so everyone could have the Jim and Pete’s experi-

photos provided by Jim and Pete’s

Your Table is READY For sponsorships or advertising call lourdes at 708-381-1123 lourdes@oakpark.com Served fresh by

JIM AND PETE’S EXTERIOR: Staff at Jim and Pete’s has made “plans and back-up plans” to ensure patio dining is safe according to manager Patty Davis.

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O N S O R E D

17

C O N T E N T

SALAD IN THE SUN: the chicken Caesar salad at Jim and Pete is made from romaine lettuce and topped with grilled chicken breast, parmesan cheese, croutons and creamy Caesar dressing.

PARTY ROOM: The party room at Jim and Pete’s, shown here, has since been transformed to accommodate socially distant outdoor dining. ence at home.

“Some of our regular guests came in every Friday for carry-out meals,” said Davis.

“Our customer loyalty never wavered and now we are ready to welcome our guests back in.”

Jim and Pete’s is constantly evolving and customers look forward to seeing updates to the well-appointed space. The restaurant was extensively remodeled just two years ago, but that did not stop staff and management from giving the restaurant a fresh coat of paint while they were closed.

“Our owner, Michael [Bucchianeri] never settles,” said Davis. “He is always striving to bring more to the Jim and Pete’s dining experience.”

Their state-of-the-art party room, suitable for hosting an array of special occasion events, serves as a flexible indoor/outdoor space under normal circumstances but has become especially valuable since outdoor dining space is at a premium in Chicagoland.

The unique room was designed with customer comfort in mind -- the four-paneled

ceiling and walls open to allow for fresh air flow throughout the area. With the walls removed and ceiling fully open the event space meets all guidelines for outdoor dining in Phase three of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan.

Jim and Pete’s also offers sidewalk dining in front of the restaurant. On the street side and on the patio, staff have opted to arrange tables approximately eight feet apart to allow for generous social distancing and optimal comfort.

Additionally, the establishment is fortunate to have a large parking lot they have put to creative use. Jim and Pete’s erected a tent over the lot in a show of gratitude for their devoted customers. Filled with socially distant high boy tables, they have been bringing live musicians to the tent to give diners a sense of fun and normalcy as Illinois begins easing back into public dining.

“This is a whole new world, but we have adjusted and adapted at Jim and Pete’s,” said Davis. “We are committed to giving our guests a safe dining experience they can feel confident about.”

Thanks to Melissa’s passion and experiencing our coffee first-hand by “cupping”, we thank Oak Park Eats for the positive exposure!

- Jacques, Counter Coffee, Forest Park

Enjoy a cup at CounterCoffee.com Jacques Shalo, Counter Coffee

Keep up with Melissa Elsmo and what she’s cooking up at:

OakParkEats.com

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Taking it out back Backyard sanctuaries during summer of COVID-19

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

W

riting this from my back porch, I’d like to pat myself on the back for my gift of hindsight.

Last year, when we added the screened-in porch to our home, we lost much of the summer outdoors as our yard was given over to mud and construc-

19

tion workers.

We are all quite thankful that project took over the yard in 2019 rather than 2020. Now that the porch is completed, it provides an extra office space for work-from-home activities and Zoom summer camp classes and lets us dine al fresco every night, no reservation required.

At all times of day, the extra space at the rear of the house provides a much-needed escape to enjoy the outdoors while still following social distancing dictates.

Judging from what I see over the fence into my neighbors’ yards, we’re not the only ones taking our socially distanced summer to the backyard. To our south, the toddler

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

COOL IDEA: Emma Cardwell, 10, (left) and her brother Scott, 7, take a dip in their new backyard pool, ordered from Amazon to provide some outdoor enjoyment during a summer where public pools are closed. neighbors enjoy daily time in an inflatable bouncy house. The three girls next door are planning the arrival of their new play house.

Across Oak Park and River Forest, parents are coping with the cancellation of summer camps and the closure of the local pools by making their own fun in their backyards.

Liz Cardwell of Oak Park says that when she ordered an inflatable pool on Amazon for her backyard, it was days before the park district announced that Oak Park pools would be closed for the summer.

“Literally, I was setting up the pool the day they emailed the pools were closing,” Cardwell said.

She notes that Amazon is selling out of many models now, with parents across the country facing a long hot summer with no outdoor outlets. As her two kids splashed in the pool on a recent 90-plus degree day, she says it was a great decision.

The pool took no time to set up, and her

kids will hopefully be entertained for weeks on end. As neighbors have taken note of the giant blue tub in her back yard, she says she thinks it’s becoming a trend: at least two other families also placed their orders for pools in recent weeks.

Nancy Kohout, mom of four in Oak Park, says she was ready to pull the trigger on backyard entertainment early into the pandemic.

“I was ready to jump off a cliff and would probably be off the cliff already if it wasn’t for this trampoline and hot tub,” she says of their newly purchased summer gear.

Kohout, who says she contracted the novel coronavirus in March, notes that the severe body aches made her yearn for a hot tub. She ended up buying a portable one online soon thereafter.

“When I figured out everything was going See BACKYARDS on page 20

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

BACKYARDS

Finding bliss at home from page 19 to be closed, I bought it, probably at the end of March,” Kohout said. “I thought about getting a pool, but selfishly, I thought I’d get a hot tub, and we could use it as both.”

Her younger children are small enough to swim in the hot tub, and she says her older girls would enjoy soaking in it. Not content with a hot tub for all of their summer activities, she also purchased a trampoline for her kids, something she says she and her husband, Frank, never would have considered in the past.

“He always thought a trampoline was a liability, but now the neighbors can’t come over and use it,” she said.

Kohout said she purchased her trampoline early during the pandemic, and ordered a second when she realized shipping on her first order might take too long. When both arrived and she

‘Like’us on Facebook to view additional content @WednesdayJournal

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM was the proud owner of two trampolines, she sold one to a neighbor who was happy to have it.

Trying to buy a trampoline now might take several months, Kohout says of the popular backyard item.

Anthony Russo, of Russo’s Pools, Spas and Outdoor Living in Northlake, says Kohout was onto something. He’s been trying to order his kids a trampoline for months, and says orders are backed up. Things aren’t that much different at his business.

“Any kind of home recreation is absolutely crazy right now,” Russo said. “It’s night and day different from last year. It’s tremendous.”

Not only has demand been great, but he says the supply side is more difficult due to the pandemic. Manufacturers who might have been slowed down are not prepared for the demand, and orders that used to take one week to ten days are now taking five to six weeks.

Russo, who installs pools, spas and other outdoor items such as gazebos and pergolas, says that it can also take longer to get permits from the villages.

“Proceeding with permits is a whole different experience. It takes a lot longer,” Russo said.

“Some village halls are closed, some are operating over email and some have drop boxes.”

He states that for some installations, his business is already backed up into the month of August, but he understands why people continue to place orders.

“The demand is high because people are stuck at home with nothing to do,” Russo said.

Ruthie Kohout tries out the new backyard hot tub.

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

VIEWPOINTS

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Knocked off course? Keep running p. 26

The deification of data

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’m not sure anyone wants to hear from a 71-year-old white Oak Park resident — even if he has lived here since 1976.

I’ll just say that I am very sorry for the family of George Floyd, and hope that his senseless death will result in reform of the criminal justice system in this country.

However, COVID is still worth talking about. We are awash in data. Numbers, numbers everywhere, but it’s hard to make much sense. Nietzsche infamously declared that God was dead, not in celebration, but in fear. His concern was over what would replace that which for millennia had provided structure and coherence to the world.

Today we know the answer. Science and the data it generates. I fear it may be a poor substitute. Unfortunately, data can be cherry-picked, distorted, messaged and falsified.

One need only look at our mass and social media. For example, Fox and CNN present curated versions of what happens each day, each hour.

The purveyors of news use data that supports a narrative that their respective consumers are predisposed, even need, to believe.

Vetted experts tell us what the data means. The consumer of the news product then talks only to other consumers who have watched the same programming. Everybody is confirmed in their biased perspectives. Discordant data is ignored or referenced only in passing so as to preserve the veneer of impartiality.

The citizenry can watch Fox News or CNN or MSNBC for breakfast, lunch and dinner and fall asleep to the noise of worldview reinforcement. We are brainwashing ourselves.

Since I have come to this revelation, I get my data from the excellent Illinois Department of Public Health, Oak Park Public Health, Cook County Public Health and Du Page Public Health, which is where the news media gets it.

By eliminating the distorting lens of the media, I get the straight data.

Here are just a few things I have learned that I didn’t get from the media (data is from June 6-7 unless otherwise noted). I present this data without commentary: 5,864 Illinoisans have died. There are a 102 counties in our state; in 39 of them no one died, and in 13 of them, one person died. In Cook County, 3,913 have died. In the six counties of Metro Chicago, 5,238 have died.

Of the 5,864 deaths in Illinois, four were under 20 years old, 20 were in their 20s, 89 were in their 30s, 199 were in their 40s, 482 were in their 50s, 1,029 were in their 60s, 1,422 were in their 70s, and 2,619 were 80 or older.

As of June 4, of a total of 5,795 deaths, 3,053 were in nursing homes. In DuPage County, of the 394 deaths, 321 of them were in nursing homes.

As of June 4, eight different nursing homes had at least 30 deaths in each. If these facilities were counties, they would have had the 12th thru 20th most deaths in the state.

Illinois hospitals have a total of 3,888 ICU beds. COVID patients were using 720 beds. There are 5,871 ventilators.

COVID patients were using 438 of them.

As of June 6, 21 Oak Park residents had died of COVID, 15 were living in nursing homes, and 10 were from a single nursing home.

JOHN

HUBBUCH

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

RESPECT: Oak Park police take a knee on June 3 during a moment of silence outside of village hall in Oak Park.

It is time for this country to change

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egarding the comments that I made in our board meeting on Monday night, June 1, I want to first say this, and to be clear about it: One of my comments was taken out of context and does not accurately reflect what I said, how I feel, or who I am. What has been made of this comment by removing it from the entire context is divisive and destructive. Certain people have tried to make me out as racist, which could not be farther from the truth. Still, I am sorry for the pain that this misrepresentation has caused many of you — I did not and do not intend to minimize the pain and suffering that African Americans have endured through history and are going through right now nor to suggest that police mistreatment, especially of black men, is not an urgent problem in our country that needs to be solved and solved quickly. The full transcript of Monday’s meeting clearly shows the intent of my comments, as do earlier comments in the same meeting.

That said, to clarify what I stated on Monday, which, taken in full context, I stand behind: What happened in Minneapolis last week is tragic, appalling, and symptomatic of wider, systemic racism within police departments across this country. Issues of racist behavior, racial bias, and racially motivated misuse and excessive use of force must change, and must change immediately. We all have work to do, not only to permanently correct these problems within

police departments, but also to permanently correct these issues within our society.

I will not cast a blanket label of racism on our Oak Park police officers due to the actions of police officers in other communities, including Minneapolis. I have experienced law abiding, ethical law enforcement personnel in our own village’s police department and witnessed throughout this country those who serve and protect the communities they represent without an ounce of racial bias in their bones. I will judge our department and the actions of each officer on the basis of facts. Yet the countless number of other police misconduct and racial bias incidents throughout the history of this country is shameful and must stop, and Oak Park must work to ensure we prevent it here.

I know so many officers here in Oak Park who, like me, are disgusted at what happened to George Floyd. I am confident they will join the effort to make change happen.

Racism, in all forms, is evil and has no place here in Oak Park. Every facet of life, from education, to employment, to the legal system and everything in between has left minorities, and particularly black Americans, at a disadvantage, which has effects that last generations. We all have a responsibility to address inequities wherever they are found and right them. We need healing in this country. We need awareness and understanding, empathy and love. It is time for this country to change.

Anan Abu-Taleb is mayor of the village of Oak Park.

MAYOR ANAN ABUTALEB One View

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

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V I E W S

An anti-racist Oak Park

t was inescapable and exhilarating this week to report on Black Lives Matter protest marches in Oak Park and in Austin and to see the mix of races and ages, to note those moved by rage and those finally overcoming liberal denial to take to the street to demand so much more of this America we love.

At a good-sized march last Thursday, which started at Oak Park Village Hall, moved across Austin Boulevard, past the city’s 15th District police station and on to Central Avenue before returning to Oak Park, Rep. LaShawn Ford, an organizer, exhorted the crowd to maintain the momentum. “We can’t do this without white people,” he said.

Certainly true. But we’re going to need some better white people than those who have historically preened their liberal feathers in Oak Park if we are going to actually take on the systemic racism that permeates all of our institutions and allows a white cop to murder George Floyd on a public street in Minnesota, that allows thug cops to bully citizens with wrongly perceived impunity, that allows a prominent white River Forest resident to believe he can allegedly fully lose control of himself, insult a black woman, and put hands on her in the parking lot of the Jewel.

That there are serious charges now brought against these white men is some sign of change. Some small sign.

We need to start by proclaiming that systemic racism is profoundly real and has worked to benefit whites in this America for centuries. We need to start by acknowledging the degrees of racism that live in all of us. We need to live lives and build a village that is anti-racist. Actively, intentionally, consciously anti-racist.

Anti-racist is a pretty new term to most of us. It demands more of us as individuals and as entities than pretending we’re “not racists,” suggesting somehow we are blind to color.

Ibram X. Kendi, one of the leading voices in the anti-racist movement, writes, “To be anti-racist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness.”

Is Oak Park, which 50 years ago proclaimed itself a national leader on race and integration, really ready to make history again, to make new history? There are indications that we are. The equity work at OPRF is serious and bold.

The letter sent last week to students there from LeVar Ammons, who fills the newly created position as director of equity and student success, was passionate and powerful.

District 97’s equity work is substantial.

Village hall? The memory muscle of 50 years back has atrophied. Oak Park’s village government does not lead on equity — it reacts. The pledge taken Monday by Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb to join the Obama Foundation’s formula to open discussion and change use-of-force police policies could be an excellent start. It will all depend who leads that effort, what voices are recruited to the table, how fast this moves.

The suggestion from the village manager that review of policing policies come one-after-another is unlikely to reflect the urgency needed in this moment.

Conscious urgency. Extraordinary inclusion. Determined transparency. Welcomed discomfort. Expectation of change.

This is the path for Oak Park in the weeks and months to come. Let’s engage our future.

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The race to justice

e was “Uncle Frank,” a wise, toward maintaining stable diversity. congenial man with a warm smile Calming single-family homeowners was who always seemed glad to see me. another matter. For that, the village creThe word “avuncular” was created ated an insurance policy to cover nervous for people like Frank Muriello. He homeowners against losing their investwas a good uncle. ment if housing values crashed. They But it didn’t fit, somehow, for a journalcalled it Equity Assurance. The question ist to refer to a source as “Uncle Frank,” was, would it work? so I learned to call him Frank and he No one ever filed a claim. Just knowing it didn’t seem to mind. existed was security enough for most Oak Frank was the first adult I beat in a foot Parkers. race. One summer day in Crandon, WisOne Sunday morning a few years back, consin, at Keeler’s Resort on the softball I was listening to an On Being interview field as we were waiting our hour after with john a. powell (he spells it lowercase), lunch before swimming in Lake Metonga, director of the Haas Institute for a Fair I happened upon Frank and one of his and Inclusive Society; professor of Law, sons toeing a starting line. So I joined African-American and Ethnic Studies at them — and won, which surprised me. A modest rite the University of California, Berkeley; and the author of passage to be sure, but it felt significant at the of Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self time. Frank didn’t seem to mind that either. and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.

Crandon was as close to paradise as I have known As they discussed race and segregation, Krista Tip— three families, 20 cousins, three sets of parents at pett brought up Oak Park. the center of that miniverse, our tiny commune of “You told one story about Oak Park, near Chicago,” cottages. The adults would gather each night in one of she said. “Would you tell that story? I feel like these the cottages and laugh late into the evening as the lake little stories are really crucial. lapped ceaselessly against the shore and we drifted “They’re little,” powell said, “and they’re big. Chisecurely into sleep. cago’s one of the most segregated areas in the country.

As I grew older, I was vaguely aware that Uncle Cook County has the largest black population of any Frank had become a figure of some note in Oak Park, county in the United States, and a lot of studying of but by then I was living out of state. When I finally segregation takes place in Chicago. So here you have boomeranged back in 1990 and started working for Oak Park, this precious little community. And there Wednesday Journal, I learned more about were liberal whites there. Blacks started his influence. moving in. And they were saying, ‘Look, But I didn’t know he dreamed up the nowe actually don’t mind blacks moving in, tion of Equity Assurance during his tenure but we’re concerned that we’re going to as village trustee (1981-85) until he died last lose the value of our home. That’s the only week at the age of 92. wealth we have. And if we don’t sell now, White flight was rampant from the 1950s we’re going to lose.’ through the 1970s — across the nation and “[Village government] basically said: If certainly in the Chicago metropolitan area. that’s the real concern, what if we were to Resegregation, as it’s known now — panic ensure that you would not lose the value of peddling or redlining as it was known then your home? We’ll literally create an insur— swept the West Side, heading directly ance policy that will compensate you if the FRANK MURIELLO for Oak Park. Would the village muster value of your home goes down. They put enough courage to resist white flight? That that in place, and they haven’t had to pay meant ignoring unscrupulous real estate agents who one policy. Whites didn’t run. That’s a stable commutold white homeowners they’d better sell before their nity; it’s been that way for 50 years. You could say, those housing values cratered, a self-fulfilling prophecy that white people were just being racist. They were just proved true across the West Side right up to Austin using the insurance policy as an excuse. Maybe, maybe Boulevard, our eastern border. not. Are you willing to embrace them and engage them Oak Parkers, by and large, did resist the initial where they are? Because people do have anxieties, and waves of white flight, thanks to intentional efforts and they’re multiple.” the stiffened spines of homeowners who refused to Turns out Oak Parkers were better than their word. cave in to fear — people like the aforementioned three Frank didn’t do it all alone, of course. Village governsets of parents who seemed so carefree each July in ment took his idea and ran with it. Oak Park became the North Woods during the 1960s. a model of stable diversity, no small accomplishment, But resisting the initial wave wasn’t enough. Fear however far we still have to go in overcoming racism. lapped ceaselessly against our shore. By 1981, when And the finish line is still a long way off.

Frank was elected trustee, the situation was far Frank Muriello grew up the son of an Italian immifrom secure. If we were going to diversify, we needed grant, so he knew about discrimination because it was integration everywhere, right up to Austin Boulevard. very real for Italians back then.

Some 45 blighted multifamily buildings were in danger “My father taught me to always find the good things of resegregating. In 1979, the Oak Park Residence about people,” Frank recalled in a 2012 Journal interCorporation, an innovative public-private partnership, view. “The real strength of Oak Park is the melding of every nationality into being Oak Parkers.” started buying those buildings and rehabbing them.

I may have beat him in one race, but in the race to Frank took over as executive director in 1986. Over justice and a more inclusive village, I was looking at the next dozen years, ResCorp, as it came to be known, his back. rehabbed 25 buildings and sold them off or managed Thanks for the baton, Uncle Frank. them. They partnered with the Oak Park Regional We’ll take it from here.

Housing Center, which marketed them with an eye

KEN

TRAINOR

V I E W P O I N T S D O O P E R ’ S

W E D N E S D A Y

M E M O R I E S

My Miss Wright changed my life

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iss Wright was my seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher, and the ideal of what a teacher should be. She was not only very knowledgeable, but she had the ability to make learning enjoyable. There was much laughter in her classroom.

Miss Wright achieved discipline because she was so well liked that no one wanted to offend her. She never lost her temper, never raised her voice, yet the class heard every word she said, and the patience she showed convinced the class of her interest in us.

One day Miss Wright was explaining to the class one of the more subtle points of grammar, and I didn’t have the foggiest notion of what she was saying. Panic and frustration set in, but Miss Wright saw my plight and without missing a beat, she explained the lesson again. I got it this time.

She gave me my first positive taste of English, a subject in which — because of her teaching — I was able to do above-average work.

She had a great sense of humor, and though many of her off-the-cuff one-liners were lost on some of my classmates, I caught most of them because my grandfather was a one-line jokester, and I heard his comments every day.

Miss Wright had a lot of faith in me because even when I had problems with diagramming sentences, I finally understood the process with her extra help.

She was a very unassuming person who had a profound knowledge of all genres of literature and encouraged the class to read outside of the classroom. She had

us report on our reading and emphasized that fine writing is to be found beyond plays and novels.

She had us read the Gettysburg Address as well as Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, requiring us to memorize the Gettysburg Address and recite it in front of the class.

When my classmates and I were nearing graduation, it was Miss Wright’s job to ask us what foreign language we would like to take in in high school, and if she didn’t think our respective choices were right for us, she would give us her recommendation.

I was in a quandary because when I asked my family members about a language choice, they were split between French and German.

Only my grandfather suggested that I take Latin.

When I met with Miss Wright, she told me to take Latin because then I would read great epic poems, adventures, and Roman history and be subject to a strong grammar regimen, I followed her advice for four years.

When I went back to Holmes to visit her during first semester finals at the high school, she asked me how I liked Latin. I told her I now had a Roman name [Justus], as did my classmates, and that I had played a role in a Roman play. She was pleased.

The dedication that Miss Wright displayed was not limited to making certain we acquired knowledge to cope with the world of academia; she was also concerned about our conduct toward other people in the classroom, our homes, the community and in society as a whole.

Miss Wright changed my life, and I will never forget her.

JOHN

STANGER

A statement of solidarity

The following message from LeVar Ammons, executive director of Equity and Student Success, was recently sent to all students: Dear OPRF students, We are in the thick of a fight for racial justice. As a school, we are hearing from so many students deeply affected by the murder of George Floyd, a Black/African-American man, at the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement. The murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, who so recently and brutally lost their lives while just going about daily activities, have also had a deep impact.

You are asking for help and support as the country has been shaken to its core. You feel a moral imperative to lean deeply into anti-racism as the only true way to eradicate racial injustice in all of our American social and professional systems.

I hear you. I see you.

The leadership that you have already displayed in this time of great outrage, confusion, and grief make me more proud of you than you will ever know. As you pursue the work of racial justice, here some things you can do: 1. Stay safe and healthy in your passionate advocacy and pursuit of racial justice.

2. Take action: Learn and share information about what systemic

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Staff Reporters Michael Romain, Stacey Sheridan, Maria Maxham Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Sports/Staff reporter James Kay Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, John Hubbuch, May Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West, Linda Francis Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designers Mark Moroney, Javier Govea Business Manager Joyce Minich Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Front Desk Carolyn Henning, Maria Murzyn Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

racism is. Click here to see a short video explaining systemic racism.

Gain insight on what it means to be anti-racist.

Develop a deeper understanding of racial dynamics using these resources: ■ “How to talk to kids about racism: An age-by-age guide” ■ “Talking with Children About Racism, Police Brutality and Protests” ■ “A White Family’s Guide to Talking About Racism” ■ “A POC Family’s Guide to Talking About Racism” Consider donating to organizations supporting our work to eradicate racial injustice. A list created by 2018 OPRF graduate Kara Jackson can be found by clicking here.

3. Reach out to me. Whether you have questions, want to talk through race-related issues, need resources and tactics, etc., do not hesitate to reach out to me at lammons@ oprfhs.org.

It is young people like you who historically have brought about the transformative work of changing the culture of America. I am here to support you in this fight.

In solidarity,

LeVar Ammons

Executive director of Equity and Student Success

C O R R E C T I O N

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

The description of Michelle Mbekeani in last week’s One View [Is death our prerequisite for dignity?

Viewpoints, June 3] was incorrect. Michelle is a current Oak Park resident. We regret the error.

About Viewpoints Our mission is to lead educated conversation about the people, government, schools, businesses and culture of Oak Park and River Forest. As we share the consensus of Wednesday Journal’s editorial board on local matters, we hope our voice will help focus your thinking and, when need be, fire you to action.

In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital. We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing.

Please understand our verification process and circumstances that would lead us not to print a letter or essay. We will call to check that what we received with your signature is something you sent. If we can’t make that verification, we will not print what was sent. When, in addition to opinion, a letter or essay includes information presented as fact, we will check the reference. If we cannot confirm a detail, we may not print the letter or essay.

If you have questions, email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

■ 250-word limit

■ 500-word limit

■ Must include first and last names,

■ One-sentence footnote about yourself,

municipality in which you live, phone number (for verification only)

your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left

Email Ken Trainor at ktrainor@wjinc.com or mail to Wednesday Journal, Viewpoints, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 708 613 3300

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

Knocked off course?

Keep running

and learning to overcome challenges n summers growing up in Oak Park, I’d run at night when it was in sport are shown to create positive cooler. My dad would ride next outcomes after children experience to me on his bike. On the home trauma. stretch, he’d be beside me, encourJETS offers youth regardless of aging me to finish strong. financial resources a place to create Now as an adult living in the same a strong foundation for themselves neighborhood I grew up in, I finish through running that will help them fast on the same street. Every time, I think of Dad through adverse events now — and for the rest of on the bike beside me. their lives.

Four years after I started running competitively Now more than ever, in the absence of orgaas a youth, and at one of my most successful times nized sports, kids need an outlet. At a time of as a youth runner, I lost my dad. I was at a track high anxiety, isolation and uncertainty, it can meet in California when he was in an accident decrease stress and increase happiness, and help back home. For a long time, I carried guilt that it kids focus and problem solve. was while I was doing something I loved — someStarting in July, thing Dad loved for JETS will offer free me — that I wasn’t online programming able to be with him for all youth in our when he died. If my community. While mom and I hadn’t adhering to public been in California at health guidelines, the meet, would he we’ll also offer an still be with us? in-person running My dad’s death program for small knocked me off groups of youth. Our course. It felt like the goal is to connect as future was stolen many children as from me in an inpossible with an opstant. Why me? Why portunity to run. now?

When I started runIn the middle of ning competitively, my grief and guilt, my first two pairs there was running. In of track spikes were running, and in life, donated to me. I had there is pain. There to fundraise to afford is inevitable discomtraveling to national fort. Running taught meets. My commume to push through. nity always supported To keep putting one me. I’m turning to foot in front of the my community again other, even when I’m now. On June 12, I’ll not my best, even turn 40 and will be when it hurts. It running a birthday helped give me back a mile to help give all foundation. kids in our commuToday, for many of nity access to a sport PUSHING THROUGH: Colleen Bolin when she ran for us and our children, that will teach them Loyola University. our lives have been about who they are knocked off course. and what they are In a short period of capable of. A sport time, kids have abruptly lost so many things they that will help them learn, together and on our own, know and love. They may be wondering: Why me? that we can get through hard things. We just need Why now? to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Running can help them move forward, manage Thank you for considering sponsoring a JETS their grief, find joy and practice moving through runner this summer. For as little as $5, you can this discomfort. It can bring value, consistency, help spark a lifelong love of running for a child amazing relationships and rewarding experiences in our community. To donate and get access to the that will help them through and shape how they video of my birthday mile, visit www.oakparkjets. move forward. org.

That’s why I started JETS. Colleen Bolin is the founder of JETS and a longIn Illinois, 40 percent of children experience time Oak Park resident. She ran for OPRF High School, Loyola University Chicago and competed at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), ranging from the death of a guardian to witnessing on the professional USA Track & Field circuit from 2007 to 2012. She has held coaching roles in a violence, divorce or living in financial difficulty. variety of sports, from youth basketball to college ACEs have lifelong ripple effects on children’s cross country and track. health. Engaging in supportive relationships

COLLEEN BOLIN One View

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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The wreckage

he wreckage of all destructive storms reveals the weaknesses and flaws of the impacted structures. The coronavirus pandemic, like a devastating storm, made debris of America’s health care and economy. Its tragic death toll disclosed disproportionate vulnerability to infections among African Americans and Hispanics. Trump, living in his own reality, exacerbated matters.

In less than one month, the virus overwhelmed America’s medical capacities to combat its challenges.

At first our president called it a hoax. He bemoaned the “mess” he “inherited” from the previous administration, but he did not offer any constructive solutions. In fact, he became part of the problem.

In an attempt to evade his obligation to form and lead a response to the crisis, he announced that the storm would just blow over.

As the crisis persisted, the President touted unproven medications and therapies. He contradicted and demeaned world-renowned doctors and epidemiologists who served as advisors. Eventually, he declared the virus invasion a “war” and with a self-aggrandizing gesture, standing on a mountain summit of victims’ body bags, proclaimed himself a “wartime president.”

On a Sunday morning Meet the Press, Chuck Todd posed a question: “Is the disproportionate death toll from the virus pandemic among minorities of color an MRI of America’s socioeconomic structure?”

The answer is a resounding “Yes!” The scan reveals the results of long-term, insidious, systematic underfunding, under-serving, squalor-producing economic oppression of the underprivileged.

As the crisis intensified, doctors, nurses, and support personnel stepped up to the front lines.

They encountered shortages of personal protective equipment

but continued their quest. They risked their lives in infection-laden facilities. Scarcity of medical supplies and equipment hindered their work. They also suffered mental, emotional, combat-like stress inflicted by the overabundance of death in their workplace. Some became wounded healers.

On April 27, 2020, Dr. Lorna M. Breen, formerly New York ER medical director, committed suicide. She had recovered from the COVID-19 virus infection, returned to work, and fell victim to an affliction that is killing multitudes of our combat veterans. The condition is “survivor’s guilt.” It is a factor of the PTSD syndrome.

It’s an infection that cannot be prevented with surgical gowns or masks.

The shutdown of the country furloughed more than 12 million workers overnight. The number quickly rose to over 30 million.

Thirty million households lost livelihood, and the economy lost at least 30 million consumers.

President Trump’s expectation of a speedy economic recovery demonstrates how out of touch he is with reality. Estimates indicate that more than 30 percent of small businesses are likely to declare bankruptcy in the year 2020 after the “reopening” of the country.

America’s economic recovery is certain to be excruciatingly painful and slow. Pie-in-the-sky expectations of an instantaneous restart is delusional, disingenuous, or both. The $1,200 per person economic relief checks from the Treasury are inadequate, even as short-term relief.

Trump cannot be blamed for the onslaught of the virus, its death toll, and its economic side effect.

But the President’s inability and unwillingness to take a timely amount of prevention clearly demonstrates his unacceptable ineptness in problem-solving.

FRED NATKEVI One View

The new normal

Recent events caused me to stop and ask a few questions. Perhaps you had similar questions.

1. Is there any way to justify the looting and the killings? Some may.

Many will not.

2. Should you change your protest strategy once your message has been

compromised by those with a hidden agenda? Some did. Many did not.

3. Will we go another 50 years and watch humanity find reasons to remain divided?

Welcome to the new normal.

Ken Woods Oak Park

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Statement on the death of George Floyd We at the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, are deeply heartbroken and angered over the senseless death of Mr. George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer, which has sparked nationwide outrage. We also grieve for the recent deaths of other unarmed black men and women — Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner and so many others — in police custody. And it is clear to us that systemic racism and discrimination are key to understanding the nature of the problem, and the solution.

These events and the continued cries for justice and reform from millions through protests, prayer and other means this past week shine a spotlight on the historical and institutional racial and economic inequities that are perpetuated by policies, practices and cultural norms. We must add our voice to the growing

chorus of people who are calling for change.

As your community foundation, we are committed to doing our part to listen to and work with community partners to help foster structural change. We pledge to do this so that the color of our skin or identity does not determine life outcomes and every person is equally valued.

We can achieve this vision if we all, together, work in solidarity to address the entrenched institutional practices that have led us to this moment.

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and Staff stand in unity with you.

Tony Martinez Jr.

President and CEO

Donna T. Myers

Chair of the Board of Directors OP-RF Community Foundation

COVID’s impact on the protests

This has been a truly memorable year, with both COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd happening within a few months. I think there is a very interesting relationship between the virus and the recent protests, and their intersection may be an important factor in the results.

I think the protests were more intense because of the virus for two reasons. First, people are on edge because they’ve been cooped up for so long and may be feeling resentment against the authority figures who have forced them to stay inside and possibly lose their livelihoods.

Second, the fact that so many people are not working gives them time and focus to devote to protest that otherwise they would be using to focus on their work. They can stay at a protest all day because they don’t have to go to work. Also, volunteers have the time to help with the cleanup.

Another relationship on the positive side is that many of the street closings and expressway closings that became necessary during the protests did not create the traffic headache they normally would create if there were full employment.

One negative is that all these gatherings of large groups in close proximity will probably lead to more cases of the virus and force people to stay in more. Also on the negative side, so many businesses have

been hurt economically by the pandemic and were looking forward to re-opening right about now. Many of them, however, have received damage or outright looting and may never reopen. Had it been normal times, they might have been able to weather the downtime that it takes to rebuild, but because of the pandemic it’s that much harder.

Especially problematic is the loss of pharmacies and grocery stores at a time where people are more likely to be sick and may be afraid to take public transportation because of the pandemic even if they were well enough to do so.

Another negative is that Trump has used the double distraction to do things such as work on building the border wall while getting minimal attention.

Finally, many people are feeling extra depression and despair because the combination of these two major events and all their negative associations, such as death, violence, and a greater awareness of discrimination in our society, have come together to make the world seem rather bleak.

Let’s hope that the opening up of the city, the peaceful turn the protests have taken and the steps toward police reform are a positive turning point for all.

Emailed every Friday morning!

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

27

Sawa’s Old Warsaw Come Celebrate early from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

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Joyce Porter Oak Park

To register for the virtual open house visit: parksfoundationop.org

Oak Park residents are invited to attend a virtual community open house to learn about the CRC project, view preliminary plans and provide your input.

28

V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

Too loose with safety measures I’ve been going to West Suburban Hospital (WSH) for at least 38 years and have never had a serious complaint.

Until May 18, 2020.

I was required to be tested there for COVID-19 on May 18, told to go straight home and quarantine until returning on May 20 for my surgery.

When I arrived on May 18, I was surprised to see the security guard standing across from the sign-in desk not wearing a face mask. While walking to the room for my COVID-19 test, a nurse walked past me in the hall wearing nurses clothes but not wearing a mask.

On May 20 while waiting in my room to go to pre-op, a transporter came to my room in scrubs; however, he was not wearing a mask. When we got to pre-op, he got Clorox wipes, cleaned a hospital bed and table and left the room. I asked the pre-op nurse if the bed and table were really clean considering the transporter had been breathing on the bed and table as he cleaned them. She stated no, and recleaned them while wearing her mask and scrubs. Then another employee in scrubs, not wearing a mask, came in to the pre-op room. I asked him to put on a mask. He didn’t. He left the room and went a few feet down the hall and came

in through another door. I again asked him to put on a mask. He got something from a vending machine and went back to the desk outside of the pre-op room. I was in a bed where I could see through the windows. Both employees stood at the desk talking, not wearing masks. A few minutes later three people walked in the pre-op room. One was wearing a face shield, one a face mask, and the third, a doctor was holding his face mask in his hand.

I told the pre-op nurse, who was wearing a mask, I would like to talk to the person in charge of the floor. I reported all of the above to the person in charge of the floor after my surgery. She stated she would take care of it.

It is extremely difficult to comprehend how this could be happening in one of our local hospitals in light of our governor’s daily press conferences, warnings, and current law asking everyone to cover our faces when around others, especially in a hospital, where one is near our most vulnerable.

On Friday, May 22, I decided this situation was serious enough to be reported to the IDPH. I was told by them to contact CCPH. I was bounced back and forth between them until I was referred to the Oak Park Public Health Depart-

ment. I was able to reach someone on the main phone number who then sent an email to another employee who contacted me. He listened to my story and referred me to the Infectious Disease Department at WSH. Finally? Not. I called WSH and was transferred to two different people at Weiss Hospital. I was then transferred to Risk Management at WSH. After leaving my third message on her voice mail, I had her paged. Instead of calling me herself the day before or the next day, she relayed a message through the hospital operator that someone from administration would be contacting me.

My first phone call to WSH was Tuesday, May 26 at 12:55 p.m. It is now Friday, May 29, 11:30 a.m. and I have not gotten a return phone call from an administrator at WSH. My suggestion: if you are at WSH and you are there, observe any employee not wearing a mask, demand to talk to an administrator immediately.

Maybe after reading this letter, an administrator at WSH will consider my complaint regarding the seriousness of staff members not wearing masks a reason to return my phone call.

Marianne Trifone

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Now we know how it feels

Conversation overheard in a local Jewel this week between two white women: “This is so scary.”

“Yeah, it’s really scary.”

“It’s like World War 3.”

“When are things going to go back to normal? Maybe in 2021 we’ll be back to normal.”

“Yeah, I hope so because this is scary.”

While COVID-19 has certainly made the world feel abnormal, given the reference to World War III, I felt it was safe to assume they were referring to the tumultuous events that have ensued since the death of George Floyd on May 25.

What’s really scary is that so many of us white people are frightened, inconvenienced, and appalled by the violence — while not caring enough to be fully aware of and outraged by what happened to George Floyd and so many others before him.

Like many, the grocery store woman wants to go back

We have options for online AND in person lessons.

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to normal, but what a lot of us don’t realize is our white privilege allows us a normal free of the worries black people face every single day. Are we afraid? Are we uncomfortable? Are we inconvenienced?

That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s not bad if it causes us to look at and understand the burdens and challenges of our black brothers and sisters.

It’s not bad if it propels us to speak out and demand action.

It’s not bad if we become even a little bit less fragile and selfcentered in our whiteness.

What are we supposed to do as white people? A good start would be to lay down our defense mechanisms and really listen — with our ears and our hearts.

Because underneath all the violence and chaos there are legitimate voices crying to be heard.

Kathy Woods Oak Park

In person Summer Camp!

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June 15th- August 28th. Choose your weeks.

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OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Roger Sugg, 83 Corporate insurance

Roger Lee Sugg, 83, of River Forest, died on May 31, 2020, at Norwood Crossing in Chicago. Born in Pocahontas, Illinois, on March 17, 1937, he always enjoyed celebrating his birthday on St. Patrick’s Day. He married his wife Charlotte (Kallal) Sugg in 1961, after being introduced by mutual friends at a card party. Immediately smitten, he remained fervently so until his passing.

They meditated together each morning during their retirement, a daily reminder of God’s presence in their lives and in their ROGER SUGG marriage.

Known as an excellent gift-giver, if you had good news to share, he was the first call you wanted to make.

A proud graduate of the University of Illinois, he wore his orange and blue often. He worked in corporate insurance for over 40 years and had many great adventures, traveling the world with his clients, and often bringing his wife along. He loved beautiful cars, the city of Chicago, and ice cream sandwiches, but most of all he loved his family, especially the group he called “the original six,” his wife and four children.

Roger was the son of Helen (Zbinden) and Marion Sugg, and the brother of Joan (Sugg) Swofford, Donna (Sugg) Swofford, and Jon Sugg, all of whom preceded him in death. He was the father of James, Mark, Mary (Sugg) Carlin, and Ann, and the grandfather of Stephanie, Collin, Sophia, Erin and Aidan.

His ashes will be committed to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, according to his wishes. If you would like, the family asks that you honor Roger with a gift to his grandson’s charity, Aidan’s Diaper Fund, at tinyurl.com/aidansdiaperfund.

James McCreary, 73 Practiced internal medicine

James T. McCreary, M.D., 73, of Oak Park, died on June 3, 2020. Born on Nov. 26, 1946, he was a U.S. Army veteran (Vietnam). Dr. McCreary was a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign JAMES MCCREARY and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He practiced internal medicine in Chicago for over 40 years. A memorial will be held at a later date.

James McCreary was the husband of Linda Lee; the father of Christine (Keith)

O B I T U A R I E S Odeen, Karen (Paul) Hawk, Daniel (Kelly) and Matthew (Jessica Yee) McCreary; grandpa to Alexis Odeen, Wesley, Miles and Elliott Hawk, Everett, Madelyn, Warren and Harlan McCreary, and Leo and Finley McCreary; brother of Eugene (Rosemary) and Timothy (Genevieve) McCreary, Mary Wiles (Matthew Barnard) and the late John (the late Linda) McCreary; and uncle and cousin of many.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) or a charity of your choice.

Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.

Vivian Kleinkopf, 86

Dress designer, artist and gardener Vivian B. Kleinkopf, 86, a 51-year resident of Oak Park, died peacefully in her sleep at home on June 5, 2020. Born on March 9, 1934 in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Claud and Louise Saunders, she grew up in small-town Belleville, loved arts and crafts, ice skating on ponds, and studied fashion design, graduating from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, the second oldest all-women’s college in the U.S., from which she reVIVIAN KLEINKOPF ceived the highest award for alumnae.

An award-winning dress designer, painter, co-founder of the Park West Antiques Fair, avid gardener, and nutrition business owner, she was a member of Calvary Memorial Church, Oak Park, and matriarch, full of grace, heart, and energy, for her family.

Vivian was predeceased by her parents and her husband John, with whom she raised three sons. She is survived by her three sons, Mark, James (Julie), and Jeff (Karlen); her grandchildren, Matt, Jack, and Will, Colin (Rebecca), Jamie, and Katie, and Keira; and her brothers Richard and Harry (Penny) Saunders. She appreciated her dear friend Marilyn Garapolo and others who visited frequently with love to share hot tea, warm sunshine, and long conversation.

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to Grace Lutheran School (7300 Division St., River Forest 60305, www.graceriverforest.org ), where her three sons attended, and her youngest granddaughter currently attends.

State of Illinois Phase Three Re-Opening compliant indoor “visitation” will be held at Drechsler, Brown, & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park, on Friday June 12, 10 a.m.-12 noon. A brief outdoor “Celebration of Life Service” will follow at Concordia Cemetery, 7900 Madison St., Forest Park at 12:30 p.m.

Guilbert Golz, 91 A unique sense of humor

Guilbert C. Golz, 91, died at Oak Park Arms on May 19, 2020. Born in Racine, Wisconsin on July 25, 1929, to the late Paul and Martha (nee Splieth) Golz, he lived and worked in the Oak Park area for most of his life. Best known for his unique sense of humor; his laughter will be missed.

Guilbert is survived by his seven children, LaRue (Bruce), Kirk, Keith (Kathy), Candy, Scott (Celeste), Roxanne (Martin), Wade (Jamie); his first wife, Lois (Diercks) Golz; 19 grandchildren, 32 greatgrandchildren (one on the way and one in heaven); his brother, Rev. Roland (Vi); and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his second wife, Palma Golz; two brothers, Lester and Alfred; and two sisters, Eleanor and Evelyn.

Special thanks you to the staff and hospice care team at the Oak Park Arms.

Arrangements were handled by Brust Funeral Home, Lombard.

Rev. John Flavin, 83 Former asst. pastor of St. Catherine Parish

Rev. John E. Flavin, 83, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former assistant pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Oak Park, died on May 30, 2020. Born on July 17, 1936, in Chicago, REV. JOHN FLAVIN he attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein. He completed his theological studies at North American College and Gregorian University in Rome.

Ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 18, 1960 in Rome with three fellow Illinois seminarians, he celebrated his first solemn Mass in Rome shortly after and celebrated his first Mass in the U.S. at Little Flower Parish in Chicago.

After ordination, he was assistant pastor at the Our Lady of Grace Parish in Chicago and St. Catherine of Siena Parish. He then served as pastor at St. Sebastian Parish in Chicago and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview.

He also served as a faculty member at Quigley Preparatory Seminary North in Chicago, staff member at both Liturgy Training Publications and Maryhaven Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, and director of the Archdiocesan Office of Goal

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

29

Setting. Additionally, he served as president of the Presbyteral Senate and dean of Deaneries 3, 4, and 5 in Vicariate II as well as the cardinal’s representative on the Pastoral Guidelines for Marriage Preparation. He retired from the priesthood in 2007, then served as pastor emeritus at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish.

He resided at St. Benedict Nursing and Rehabilitation Center since 2009.

Cognizant of social-distancing guidelines, a private funeral Mass, celebrated

by Bishop Mark Bartosic, was held on Wednesday, June 3 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview.

Frank Russo, 78 Russo’s Auto Service owner

Frank Russo, 78, formerly of Oak Park, died on May 31, 2020. Born in Oak Park, he raised his family in Glen Ellyn, and retired to Phoenix, Arizona. A veteran of the U.S. Army and National Guard, he owned and operated Russo’s Auto service in Oak Park for over 40 years.

Frank was the husband of Dorothy for 57 years; the father of Frank (Margaret) Russo, Deborah (Richard) Albaugh, Tina (Damian) Bierman, and Joseph (Kristin) Russo; the grandfather of Isabella, Daniella, Jake, Ethan, Carson, Stevie, Gianna, Everly, Milena, Lilah, and Joey; the uncle of many nieces and nephews; and the brother of Anne (the late James) Hoey, Lee (Richard) Graton, Tony (the late Sharon) Russo, Rose (the late Robert) Nowak, Sam Russo, and Christine (John) Kurowski.

Funeral services and a funeral Mass will be held at a later date.

Kaye Gibson, 90

Nurse, administrator, adjudicator Kaye M. Gibson, 90, formerly of Oak Park, died peacefully on May 11, 2020. Born on April 6, 1930, she was the youngest of the three children of Elsie (McCurdy) and Bill Mulhall. She is survived by her five children, two of her three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Kaye graduated from Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing on April 26, 1951 and began a long career as an emergency room nurse, nursing home administrator and insurance adjudicator. She and her husband, James R. Gibson II, retired to Syracuse, Indiana in 1985 where she became active in the Syracuse Garden Club, Business and Professional Woman’s Club and All Saints Church.

An avid reader and antiquer, she also volunteered at the Syracuse Library and was a devoted secondhand shopper.

A party in her honor will be held at the home of Rick and Melissa Gibson, 9354 E. Nattie Crow Road, Syracuse, Indiana on Saturday, June 20 from 2 to 4 p.m.

30

Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM New local ads this week

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI

WEDNESDAY

CLASSIFIED Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

Place your ad online anytime at: www.OakPark.com/ClassiďŹ ed/

YOUR WEEKLY AD

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

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

Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion.

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

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM HELP WANTED

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District 90 is seeking qualified and experienced student support educators for the following positions: • Special Education Support Teacher (Willard Elementary School) • Special Education Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Coordinator (All D90 Schools) • English Language Learners Teacher – Part-time (Roosevelt Middle School) • Speech and Language Pathologist (Roosevelt Middle School) • Social Worker - Part-time (Willard Elementary School) For detailed qualifications requirements and job duties, please visit our website at https://www.district90.org/about/ employment for our complete list of employment opportunities.

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Please do not send hard copies of supporting documentation, i.e. cover letters, resumes, licensure, etc. to River Forest Schools District 90; instead, upload these materials onto the online job application system for proper processing.

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PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION JUNE 25th, 2020 at 7:00 PM

LEGAL NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION JUNE 25th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Regular Meeting

NOTICE is hereby given that the Village of Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing on Thursday, June 25th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the Edward Barcal Hall located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois for the purpose of considering a request for a variance regarding 3335 Oak Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513 (PIN 15-34-217-015-0000).

Legal Description: Lot 24 in Block 18 in Brookfield Manor in the Northeast ¼ of Section 34, Township 39 North, Range 12, East of Third Principal Meridian, in Cook County, Illinois.

The public is invited to attend the public hearing and present oral and/ or written comments.

Written comments may be provided prior to the public hearing to: Village of Brookfield, Planning and Zoning Commission c/o Elyse Vukelich, Village Planner, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513, evukelich@brookfieldil.gov or 708485-1445. The application may be viewed by contacting the Village Planner. Please reference PZC Case 20-07.

Individuals with disabilities requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in any meeting should contact the Village of Brookfield (708) 485-7344 prior to the meeting. Wheelchair access is available through the front (South) entrance of Village Hall.

By the Order of Chuck Grund, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman.

NOTICE is hereby given that the Village of Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing on Thursday, June 25th, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. in the Edward Barcal Hall located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois for the purpose of considering a text amendment to Chapter 62 of the Village Code of Ordinances to add curb cuts from a public street to new residential structures as a special use.

The public is invited to attend the public hearing and present oral and/ or written comments.

Written comments may be provided prior to the public hearing to: Village of Brookfield, Planning and Zoning Commission c/o Elyse Vukelich, Village Planner, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513, evukelich@brookfieldil.gov or 708485-1445. The application may be viewed by contacting the Village Planner. Please reference PZC Case 20-08.

Individuals with disabilities requiring a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in any meeting should contact the Village of Brookfield (708) 485-7344 prior to the meeting. Wheelchair access is available through the front (South) entrance of Village Hall.

By the Order of Chuck Grund, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman.

Published in RB Landmark 06/10/2020

Published in RB Landmark 06/10/2020

OakPark.com | RiverForest.com

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR TOWD POINT MASTER FUNDING TRUST 2018-PM16 Plaintiff, vs.

GRADY RIVERS AKA GRADY A. RIVERS, JR.; GLENDA L. RIVERS AKA GLENDA RIVERS; Defendants, 18 CH 11332 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 15-11-317-010-0000.

Commonly known as 406 South 7th Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153.

The mortgaged real estate is improved with a multi-family residence. The successful purchaser is entitled to possession of the property only. The purchaser may only obtain possession of units within the multi-unit property occupied by individuals named in the order of

possession.

Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection.

For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 18-034750 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3150870 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION SELENE FINANCE LP Plaintiff, -v.LARSENIA HORTON, NEIL SMITH, ASSURANCE RESTORATION & CONSTRUCTION, INC., PRAIRIE HOUSES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 18 CH 12736 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14 OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on December 16, 2019, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on July 9, 2020, 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 14 DIVISION STREET, # 14, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-05-127-0480000 The real estate is improved with a brown brick, three story townhouse with an attached one car garage.

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.

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.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088.

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.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 267501 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 18 CH 12736 TJSC#: 39-8007 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 12736 I3150458

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.

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.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088.

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.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 268445 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 19 CH 00561 TJSC#: 40-595 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 # 19 CH 00561 I3151069

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR FFMLT TRUST 2005-FF11, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005FF11 Plaintiff, -v.BRIAN HOLLOWAY Defendants 19 CH 00561 125 SOUTH LOMBARD 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 January 23, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on July 24, 2020, 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 125 SOUTH LOMBARD AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-08-302-0150000 The real estate is improved with a yellow vinyl siding, one story single family home with a detached two car garage.

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

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal-opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.

Wednesday Journal • Landmark • Forest Park Review

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Call 312-598-1758 or visit RefrigerantFinders.com

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Wednesday Journal, June 10, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM SPONSORED CONTENT

Welcome To Our House: Oak Park Regional Housing Center Who We Are And What We Do | “In Memory of George Floyd”

O

ak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) is a 501(c)3 and HUD approved nonprofit organization founded in 1972 with a mission to achieve meaningful and lasting integration and diversity in Oak Park and the surrounding region. As a fair Athena Williams, Executive Director housing organization, OPRHC OAK PARK REGIONAL has promoted the expansion HOUSING CENTER of fair housing choices and opportunities for all persons protected by the Fair Housing Act and other fair housing laws. We have a staff of 12 who do this work through financial, rental, and home buying counseling programs.

As the Executive Director of Oak Park Regional Housing Center, I would like everyone to know that while we are deeply saddened by the unjustified killing of George Floyd and countless others, we see that these events highlight the disparities of power and influence which permit systemic and ongoing injustice which flourishes in America. Blacks in America have experienced ongoing years of relentless oppression. You see it everywhere, from the media to our communities.

When I assumed the position as the first Black woman Executive Director of the Oak Park Homeownership Center in September 2019, I embraced this role as a selfimposed sense of energetic resolve, to accomplish many things, beginning with building on the legacy of the late Roberta Raymond, founder of the Center, to promote fair and open housing. As time moves on, I realize I must now, more than ever, continue in her foot steps to fight discrimination, promote community reinvestment, and through advocacy and example, introduce and launch open housing modeling- everywhere. Much of this takes

public policy that resulted in the fair and open housing in the Village of Oak Park, without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation. In addition, I realize we must also build on the what I started three years earlier as the Program Director for Austin Rising, an affiliate initiative of the Center that operates out of our affiliate on Lake Street in Chicago’s Austin community.

One neighbor (Village of Oak Park) is only as strong as the other neighbor (Chicago’s Austin community or Proviso’s Maywood community).

Austin Rising was launched to attract investment to the Austin community to do several things. We wanted to make sure there was assistance for landlord’s to improve their multi-unit buildings, to help homeowners correct code violations, and participate in property management programs that would strengthen the ability of many of these property owners.

Rob Breymaier, the former OPRHC Executive Director and I worked vehemently to create an initiative that would not only offer safe, decent

1041 South Boulevard, Oak Park, IL 60302 • 708-848-7150 5934 W. Lake St., Chicago, IL 60644 • 773-887-5187 Hours vary by location and season, please call ahead before you plan your visit!

The Oak Park Regional Housing Center is a 501c3 nonprofit, HUD approved agency. OPRHC is the home of: the Live in Oak Park Program, providing rental matching to affirmatively further fair housing; and the West Cook Homeownership Program, providing homebuyer education, all areas of housing counseling, and a financial education initiative to help people enhance their financial skills and create positive banking relationships The opinions and views presented in this section are not the opinions or views of any of our sponsors or funders.

and affordable housing options in the Austin, but also enable individuals of “color” to look, purchase and live in any community, including the Village of Oak Park.

What is right for the Village of Oak Park, should be right for all communities. Investment, families, economic opportunity, and social change. What does this mean? It means that the fight against discrimination is a “shared fight”. You see, one neighbor (Village of Oak Park) is only as strong as the other neighbor (Chicago’s Austin community or Proviso’s Maywood community). We are connected. Contact me, let’s get connected!

708-848-7150, awilliams@oprhc.org.

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W E D N E S D A Y

June 10, 2020 Vol. 40, No. 46 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

D A R A G

N O I U AT

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OR MEM

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Your complete Wednesday Journal INSIDE

TION

PRESENTED BY 6 4 0 0 W E S T N O R T H AV E N U E 2 5 + A R E A L O C AT I O N S

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773-664-0620

W W W. O L D S E C O N D . C O M

Member FDIC

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CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES! Caps and gowns? White dresses and dark suits?

Fieldhouse or stadium? What you have accomplished is way more than one day. Keep on accomplishing, despite the challenges!!!

Old Second is here to help you, however we can.

6400 West North Avenue 773-664-0620 | 25+ area locations www.oldsecond.com “O2” and “Old Second” each refer to Old Second National Bank.

Member FDIC

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Produced in partnership with Oak Park and River Forest High School. Special thanks to Karin Sullivan and Jackie McGoey.

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 HOW TO REACH US 141 S. Oak Park Ave. Oak Pak, IL 60302 Phone 708 524 8300 Fax 708 467 9066 Online www.OakPark.com. www.RiverForest.com @OakPark Wednesday Journal is published digitally and in print

by Growing Community Media NFP. © 2020 Growing Community Media NFP.

C

To the Oak Park and River Forest High School Class of 2020,

ongratulations! I am so proud of the work you have done to reach this milestone of high school graduation.

You and I started at OPRF at the same time. What I have learned about your class during our four years together is that you exemplify perseverance and grit. You are survivors. This will serve you well, because never has a graduating class been called to step into the future with more purpose, focus, determination, commitment, and heart.

This is a time for you not only to rebuild society after a pandemic and demonstrations against racial injustice, but to create a more just world as the nation

recovers. You are being called upon as graduates to contemplate how you will use your own passions to benefit those around you.

The way we think about our experiences in life has a way of shaping our reality.

Instead of viewing this spring’s quarantine and school closure as something terrible that happened to your graduating class, I urge you all to see this time as helping you prepare for the world ahead of you. You are the change agents not only of your future, but the future of our country as well.

Each of you is being called to step toward something, even though we do not know what. Every one of you is being called to define who you are, how you carve out your success, and what our world is to become.

You are the ones who will lead us.

I wish I could tell you I know the path forward. I do not. There is so much uncertainty now in this world, more than ever before. Nevertheless, you, the class of 2020, have the opportunity to show us not only how to put the pieces back together again, but how to create a new and more evolved normal.

It’s my hope that years from now, when

Hello OPRF graduates.

Y

ou are the class that got through COVID-19. And while the virus did a lot of damage to the traditions and the joys of being a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School, it did not do you in.

Good for each one of you.

Like your parents who lived through 9/11; like your grandparents who came of age during Vietnam, every graduating class faces something momentous. And in 2020 it’s COVID-19. It’s a badge of loss and of accomplishment.

Wear it proudly.

At Old Second National Bank, we’re just shy of 150 years of service. And from our bank on North Avenue and Ridgeland we’re working hard to be Oak Park and River Forest’s new community bank. Among those of us in the picture we’ve been working in these villages for well over 60 years.

Right now, in this time of uncertainty and of opportunity, we’re here to support you in whatever is next.

Make it happen. We’ll help.

Old Second National Bank

June 10, 2020

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we look back on this time of uncertainty, this time of chaos, this time of fear and unrest, that you will remember not the moments you lost, but the way you young people stood together to make a better future, one in which you have defined yourselves through hope, resilience, and community.

This challenge will serve you well as you embark on your post-high school journey.

I cannot wait to see where you will go and the heights you will achieve.

With all my best wishes, Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams Superintendent

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June 10, 2020

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Wednesday Journal

You made it.

We know a thing or two about milestones.

After all, we’ve been helping people celebrate and adapt to them for 63 years.

Since our founding in Oak Park in 1957, we’ve provided generations of Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Parkers with best-in-class in coverage, trusted guidance, and personalized service that adjusts throughout every stage of life. From home and auto, to business and commercial, we provide superior insurance products that deliver better value, better outcomes, and greater peace of mind.

Whether shopping multiple companies, advising you on coverages, or guiding you through claims, we’re with you every step of the way.

From graduation and beyond.

Congratulations Class of 2020 from the Forest Insurance family

708 383 9000

forestinsured.com

Chubb | Hanover | Hartford | Liberty Mutual | MetLife Auto & Home | Nationwide Private Client | Progressive | Safeco | Travelers

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Wednesday Journal and Old 2nd Bank are proud to present the Class of 2020!

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Cecily Abbott

Spencer Abbott

Ismail Abdullah

Jailyn Aceron

Alfonso Acevedo

Archer Ackerman

Mira Adelstein

Lily Ader

kejsi ago

Elizabeth Akinwale

Annabel Allan

Emilee Allen

Nicholas Altier

karim Al zahabi

Andrius Ambraziejus

Nicholas Amunategui

Liv Amundson

Alia Anderson

Taylor Anderson

Trinity Anderson

Katherine Andolina

Andrew Anger

Andrei Armstrong

Mariana Arnold

Marina Atkin

Kiara Atkins

Ebony Austin

Ibraheem Azam

Eleanor babwin

Olivia Badrinath

Zain Baig

Elliot Bajo

Nailah baker

Paige baker

Emma Balma

Justin Banks

James barclay

Sean barney

Francis Bassettdilley

Ezra Batia

Maximus Alexander Beach

Francesca Beaulieu

Elliana beck

Sadie Beck

Elise Beile

Rosalyn Beile

Carey Belcher, Jr.

William Belke

Adam bell

Margaret Bell

Seamus Bell

Sean Bell

Brooke bellmar

Daniel Benedict

Clara bernard

Elizabeth bernstein

Gianna Bibbey

Cullen Biggus

George Blackwell

Jayden Blair

Mattie Blake

Jonathan Blatchford

Ethan Bodzioney

Jean-Paul Bogan

Aparecido Bohlander

Dietrich Bohlmann

Nicholas Bolivar

Stephen Bonaccorsi

Danaysha Bonoan

Daniel Borling

Luca Bosco

Quinn Bowling

Nina Bozovic

Jamael BrabsonPerteet

Julian Bradford

Monica Bradford

Thomas Brandstrader

Denotes that no yearbook photo was available.

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Wednesday Journal

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go and do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

– Howard Thurman

Beyond Properties wishes the Class of 2020 abundant success in all matters of the heart and mind. May your brilliant dreams and steadfast determination shed light in this community and beyond.

We believe in each one of you!

Erica Cuneen

Managing Broker

Cynthia Howe Gajewski

Karen Baldwin

Kristen Hollinden

Heather Snyder

Broker Associate

Martha Murphy Broker Associate

Team Leader

Phil Joseph

Broker Associate

Broker Associate

Marketing Director

Denise Sacks

Broker Associate/ Office Manager

Michele Strimaitis

Broker Associate/ Client Care Coordinator

Lisa Allen

Client Care Coordinator

Denise Espinosa Broker Associate

Isaac Jordan Marketing and Technology

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

708.386.1366 • 109 N. Marion St., Oak Park • beyondpropertiesrealty.com

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Olivia Brill

Tebais Britton

Veronica brooks

Aaron Brown

Alan brown

Ella Brown

Evan brown

Michelle Brown

Tyler Brown

Jonathan Brukhartz

Nazareth Bryant

Leif Bryning

Tala Bsiso

Matthew Buchta

Javion Buckley

Leo Buczkowski

Alexis Buerger

Zachary Buerger

Jennie Bull

Alison Burns

Unna Burns

Grace Buterbaugh

Marina Butitova

John Butler

Guillermo Cabacungan IV

Clara Cadwell

Sarah Cahill

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June 10, 2020

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Wednesday Journal

Ten things high school taught me Even though my time in high school was cut short this year, I was still able to have great experiences and learned some pretty valuable lessons.

Here are a few worth mentioning:

fee! OPRF offers both of those courses and so much more, so experiment and you will save money while also discovering new interests. During my junior and senior year, I decided to take Newscene and other media classes without knowing anything about them. Now I’m a political communication and journalism major.

4. Actions speak louder than words One of the biggest realizations I had in high school is that OPRF ‘20 whatever someone might do or say actually has very little to do 1. Put yourself first with you. In fact, it almost always is a direct This one is kind of self-explanatory but is reflection of who they are as a person. This much easier said than done. No class grade, is a long-winded way of saying that you extracurricular, or person at school should shouldn’t tolerate disrespect from anyone! If a ever take priority over your well-being. It’s person gossips about you, they are probably OK to fail on a test or even a semester grade. just desperate for attention from their peers That just means you can improve, and because they have nothing better to colleges/future employers like to offer! It’s all about perspective. see that strive in you. Never The same goes for social hesitate about removing media. If people post yourself from a toxic passive-aggressive person’s agenda. stuff about you There will always on Snapchat or be repercussions Instagram, that when you do doesn’t necessarily this, but it will mean you are never equal the at fault. In fact, peace you will feel the person who afterward if you posted that mean decide to prioritize stuff is probably your mental health very insecure and instead. If you are is desperate for presented with a tough supporters. Don’t fall for decision and don’t know them trying to get a rise what to do? Think about how out of you. your decision will make you feel 5. Independence pays off the next day, then the following month, High school is a great way to learn how to and then 10 years from now. be an adult before you are faced with the real 2. Don’t tolerate fake friends world, so take this time to learn how to be a This is the friend who manipulates you grown-up in every sense of the word. Whether into feeling guilty when you try to approach it is choosing to be the bigger person in the them about something and then refuses argument or simply doing your own laundry, to take responsibility for their actions. They those skills pay off. Also, watch the news. break promises, take advantage of you, and Not just your usual sources, but get your talk about you behind your back. Most of all, information from a different news outlet every they don’t like seeing you succeed or branch once in a while (make sure that it’s credible out with new people. Don’t let yourself be too!). Opening your mind to new ideas gives manipulated. Remember, if they don’t listen to you a lot of power in a polarized society. your needs, then they aren’t worth your time.

From there, you can form your own opinion Some people just aren’t meant to be friends and people will respect you for it. Moreover, I forever. Even if you have done everything you learned to be intrinsically motivated. You’ll find could to reconcile with them and it doesn’t out more about what you like to do by picking work out, who knows, maybe you both up random hobbies on your own than just just need to do some growing before you accomplishing tasks for a grade. Your future reconnect in the future. employers and college admissions will be appreciative of it as well.

3. Take classes out of your comfort zone 6. Math is the worst subject There is something to be said for taking advantage of what the school has to offer.

Try to prove me wrong. You can’t.

Photography and wheel-throwing classes 7. No one is ever really paying attention in college usually cost hundreds of dollars to you and that’s not even including the materials I wish I could have known this sooner, but

MARGARET KORINEK

Wednesday Journal

you really shouldn’t care what others think of you because they aren’t that observant to begin with. Even if your peers don’t approve of you, the time you spend with them is very temporary, so focus on your life and stop worrying about whether or not people will approve of it. If I’ve learned one thing over the past few years, it’s that I’d rather be remembered as funny or weird than not being remembered at all. Standing out pays off.

8. Find ways to make people laugh Some of the best memories from high school include writing the morning announcements and stall street journal my senior year. It was always great to see people laughing throughout the school even though my work was really nerdy and slapstick. I was able to become good friends with the people in my classes just by joking around and showing them memes that were related to the classwork. Being goofy in high school feels rewarding because you learn to not take yourself so seriously all the time. It also shows that you can be vulnerable with people.

9. Stop acting like you don’t care Vulnerability is cool! Don’t be ashamed of putting your all into something and then choose to play it off like it’s no big deal even if it backfires. You have to learn how to be proud of yourself for trying, even if you don’t accomplish your goals right away. Besides, if you don’t find success in high school, you have the rest of your life to fulfill your dreams.

O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

10. No feeling or situation is ever permanent Even if you found yourself repeatedly unhappy in high school, remember that it doesn’t last forever. Whether you are dealing with family dysfunction, friends leaving you for college, or whatever it may be, just know that everything happens for a reason. I’ve had a really hard time over the past few months learning to accept that my time in high school was cut short. However, I’m grateful that it happened because I am a much stronger person. It has helped me see all of the other amazing parts of my life and now I’m ready for what’s ahead of me.

That said, it’s important to find stuff to look forward to. The day-to-day of high school can feel suffocating, so I recommend having a countdown for upcoming school events or vacations to keep you motivated. Overall, life doesn’t stop for anyone. Take this time in quarantine to remain close with your peers because, trust me, your time with them will not last forever. Whether your high school career was the peak of your existence or the worst experience ever, know the importance of taking it day by day.

Margaret Korinek is an OPRF graduate, class of 2020.

June 10, 2020

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Wednesday Journal

HAPPY GRADUATION to Oak Park River Forest High School Class of 2020!

Congratulations to our local seniors on your well-deserved graduation! As part of this community, it brings us great pride to celebrate this important milestone with you.

We wish you the best of luck on your future adventures.

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Wednesday Journal

June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Simran Chambers

Joseph Chapman

Ralph Charnota

Magnolia Chesney

Dallas Childs

Natalie Chizzo

Adelyn Clark

Evann Clark

Tyrone Clarke

Alexander Cleofe

Aaron Close

tatym Coe

Jonah Cohen

Christine Conanan

Jaden Cone

Jaden Cooper

Andie Corsino

Joshua Cotter

Jake Cramer

John Cullinane

Sage Paul Culver

Bridget Curran

Jackson Cushing

Allen Dailey

Rapharoah Dallas

Sebastian Chlebek

Aidan Chranko

Diego Christmon

Claire Cipparrone

Luke Clancy

Elliot Colegrove

Jaylan Colemantutt

Declan Collins

Evangelina Combs

Garrett Credi

Cathal Cribbin

Justin Cross

Cecilia Crumlish

Ana Cuevas

Erin Daly

Darrin Dancy

Dashaun Daniels

Jalen Daniels

Micah Daniels

Congrats to all the 2020 OPRFHS Graduates including OPSA violinists, Marissa Kuriakos and Natalie Chizzo, who started with us when they were only 3yo and 4yo!

Natalie’s Dad, Andy Chizzo, designed our logo for us many years ago!

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Wednesday Journal

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Steve Scheuring is a real estate agent affiliated with Compass Real Estate. Compass Real Estate is a licensed real estate broker and abides by federal, state and local equal housing opportunity laws.

Steve Scheuring is a real estate agent affiliated with Compass Real Estate. Compass Real Estate is a licensed real estate broker and abides by federal, state and local equal housing opportunity laws.

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O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

Wednesday Journal

June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Skyler Davenportmoore

Jaylen Davis

Joseph Davis

Trevon Davis

Jack Dealba

Lauren Debeers

William Decaro

Margaret Dee

Jaden Degand

Diego Deguzman

Evan Dejong

Khalil Delaney

Josephine Delano

Jenna Dennis

Nicholas DePooter

Jackson Derks

Josephine Desir

Henry Detmer

Emma Dibbern

James Diskin

Connor Ditelberg

Austin Divello

Geneva Domantay

Malik Donaly

Ada Donnelley Power

Hope Donoghue

Virginia Donoghue

Christine Donovan

Lily Doody

Grant Dortch

Evelyn Drews

Zeevielle Drizin

Cade Dublin

Ella Dunavan

Lola Dunbar

Emmett Eberle

Emily Edmunds

Kelly Eisenmann

Montgomery Ellwanger

Yussuf El Metennani

Grace Elmiger

Fabian Elsken Sicaro

Luke Elwart

Seth Engle

Who Wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Thought?

Congratulations! We love you.

Mom, Dad & Audrey

Your kindness, creativity and humor make the world better!

Looking forward to the future!

Daddy, Mom, Mary Dana & Gwen

Congratulations Lily the best is yet to come

EvanWe are so proud of you and your accomplishments!!

Mattie Blake, Jennie Bull, Sarah Pilditch, Kai Yokoo, Rachel Young

Congrats to our 2020 Scholarship Recipients!

Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

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Wednesday Journal

Wednesday Journal

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7 3 4 8 W E S T M A D I S O N S T R E E T, F O R E S T PA R K , I L 6 0 13 0 NMLS# 41755

F O R E S T PA R K B A N K . C O M | 7 0 8 . 2 2 2 . 2 8 0 0

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Wednesday Journal

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June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Samuel Francque

Joseph Frantzen

Eleanor Freeland

Aaron Freeman

Mason Friedman

Hannah Fritsch

Isabela Gadsby

Gilbert Galindo

Anna Gamal

Alexandra Garcia

Kyren Gardner

Michael Gardner

Amaya Garth

Deondre Gaston

Damon Gehrig

Thomas george

Trevell George

Eliana Gerace

Javary Germany

William Gery

Carson Geye

Parisa Gharavi

Abigail Giardina

Georgia Gibbons

Lexie Giles

Duncan Gillis

Gerardo Gonzalez

Joshua Gonzalez

Maxwell Gonzalez

Samantha Gotti

Braydon Graves

Jamal Gray

OLiver Green

Triun Green

David Greenstone

Ellamae Greif

Logan Greifelt

Ajani Griffin

David Griffith

Sophia Groenendaal

Sydney Groulx

Christina Guerrero

Nicholas Gupta

Isabel Gutierrez

Phé, So proud of you,

Congratulations, Grace!

Mom, Dad, Charles & Lindsey

Good Luck at Loyola New Orleans!

Way to go Ella!

Love, Yiayia

Congrats Perahje.

You did it!

Love Mama, Hasani and Zakiyah

Go Wolfpack!!

Congratulations, Hannah!

Follow your dreams!

Love, The Wolfe Family

Way to go, Emily May! I’m P.O.Y. Love, Mom

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Wednesday Journal

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Wednesday Journal

June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Marriana Gutierrez

Ella Haas

Zaahir Hall

Max Hallepodell

Emarjai Hampton

Jane Hanneman

Meenah Harbaugh

Elizabeth Hardwicke

Jasmine Harrison

Trinidy Harrison

Ethan Hasson

Oliver Haussmann

Sophia Hayden

Alexander Hayes

Devin Hayes

Samuel Heilenbach

Ian Frederick Heinig

Cleo Hendrickson

Dylan Hendrixson

Breanna Henry

Jalyn Henry

Lillian Hermann

Troy Hernandez

Jeremiah Hert

Aaliyah Hester

Ilanie Hibel

Riley Higgins

Miles Hirshman

Anne Hitterman

Joseph Hoff

Adeline Holding

Egan Homeric

Kalem Hoppszallern

Kalem Hoppszallern

Lindsey Houha

Teanla House

Jane Houseal

De jah Howard

Goren Hoyle

Tyler Hoyt

Jai Hsiehbailey

Maia Huang

Macey Huckstep

Evan Humbert

Congratulations Hannah.

We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments.

So proud of you from start to finish Ell! Love Mom & Tom

Diego, You amaze us!

Felicidades!

Love Mom, Dad, and Mia

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re awesome Alex!

Love, Mom, Dad, and Sophie

Congratulations & Love From Team HTB!

Congratulations Hannah.

We are so proud of you.

Love Grandma and Jim

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June 10, 2020

Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Sydney Hunnewell

Erik Huston

Nicholas hymson

Etiemana Ikpidungise

Kira Imowitz

Charles Inksetter

Emily Iseli

Jakob James

Khanadu James

Mackenzie Jamieson

Maximillian Janssensingh

Callum Jacques

Kyle Jarnecke

Ashley Jimenez

Brandy Johnson

Brett Johnson

Jeremiah Johnson II

Jerrell Johnson

Jewell Johnson IV

Michael Johnson

Leah Jones

Ricky Jones

Wolf Jordanbaker

Vaughn JordanWhiting

Iris Junker

Nicole Jurgus

Sebastian Kalemba

Daniel Karkut

Albion Kashtanjeva

Jude Kasiak

William Kasiak

Takuma Kawamura

Benjamin Kelly

Sarah Kelly

John Kelsey

Anderson Kennedy

Charles Kennedy

Emily Kerstetter

Nadav Kertcher

Audrey Kessler

Charles Kestler

James Kitzinger

Jason Klein

Olivia Kline

Congratulations Sophie!

We’re so proud of you!

Dad, Christine and Alex

Congratulations

Phoebe!

So proud of you.

On to

Congratulations,

Phoebe Girl.

Proud of you and believing “It’s fine!” - Elly Freeland God’s Best We love you! for your Mom, Dad, Ray future!

So proud of you Love you, Grandmommy

bigger things.

Congrats, Lizzy L. Well done!

Wednesday Journal

O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

June 10, 2020

Congratulations 0 2 0 2 f o s s a l C s ratulationof 2020 CongClass ! ! ! t I d i D u o Y You Did It!

Generations of Excellence since 1958

708.771.8040 â&#x20AC;¢ 7375 W. North Ave., River Forest 7375 West North Avenue

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Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Aidan Koch

Jenna Kochendorfer

Peter Koenig

Sophia Kolovitz

William Kopecky

Margaret Korinek

John Kowalczyk

Ellen Kozie

OLivia Kratz

Delaunay Krauter

Charles Kreidler

Benjamin Kremer

Nicole Kremidas

William Krystal

Kirsten Kuehl

Tobin Kunkel

Marissa Kuriakos

Matthew Labuda

Max Laible

Chloe Lamberty

Rayne Lampley

Jack Lane

Elizabeth Larscheid

Lucas Larson

Raven Latham

Bram Lebovitz

Grace Ledogar

Johnathan Leggin

Anthony Lenehan

Nolan Lenhart

Matthew Leonard

Talia Levy

Audrey Lewis

Denotes that no yearbook photo was available.

Jamya Lewis

Monet Lewis

benjamin Libbe

Anne Lieb

Ratipond Limplatya

Daniel Lingen

Hugh Lipic

Lily Lisnic

Congratulations Clare!

Love, Mama, Daddy and Mary

-Bright Intellect-Independent Spirit-Carpe’ DiemLove. Mom Dad

Keep raising the bar, Josh.

We love you!

Ella Haas! #soproud!

We’ll MIZZOU you!

Mom, Dad, Tyler & Niko

Way to Go Nicholas!

Love, Mom, Dad & Alex

Ellen we’re proud of you!

Congratulations from Dad and Trina

O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

Wednesday Journal

June 10, 2020

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Casey Locke

Olive Loentz

Naomi Logan

Olivier Lombardo

Zoe Look

Alexia LopezMartin

Helena Loranz

Dylan Loutfi

Rebecca Mackey

Cheyanne Macklin

Nagid Macklin

Pierre Macklin

Isabella Malagoli

Savon Manning

Micah Manternach

Journey Manuel

Claire Marko

Olivia Marmer

Jeremy Mart

James Martin III

Valerie Martire

Isabel Marx

Ella Massmann

Soraya Massoumi

Kayla Matthews

Amy Matticks

Leonidas Mavrelis

Paige McCartney

Nyree Mccollum

Tessa McConville

James McCoy

Joycelynn McCoy

Rollins McCoy

Jacob McEachen

Lia McGavin

John McIntosh

Nora McIntyre

Harper McKinney

Justin McKissic

Maeve McMahon

Maiamakeda McMorris

Titus McPherson

Ruby Mead

Clare McLaughlin

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Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Mark Meagher

Maurilia Medina

Rebecca Mae Meimban

Luke Meister

Grace Melickian

Desiree Mendoza

Hailey Meneses

Isabelle Meyer

Maximillian Meyer

Ryan Michaud

Daemyen Middlebrooks

Mercedes Miles

Paolo Miller

Taylor Miller

Madelyn Mires

Brianna Mitchell

Joshua Mitchell

Rachel Molho

Jack Moller

Dora Montgomery

Katelyn Montgomery

Palerma Monson

Christopher Moore II

Eliot Moore

Jada Moore

Terrence Moore

Gabriel Morales

Benjamin More

Abraham Moreno

George Morisaki

Sage Morrison

Sarah Morrison

Ian Moss

Kareem Muhammad

Kyiare Murray

Trayveon Murry

Malakai Naber

Rosanna Naeslund

Drew Neiburger

Amelia Nelson

Jacob Nelson

Griffin Nesbit

Jackalyna Neuman

Olivia Newmark

Go, Drew!

We love you.

Mom & Dad

Proud of you!

Love Mom, Dad, Hope and Hailey

We are so Proud of you Hannah!

Love the Dennoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Congratulations Riley!

We love you. Mom, Dad and Abbey

Congratulations, Leah!

Go make a difference in the world!

Congratulations Valerie!

We are so proud of you!

Wednesday Journal

O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

June 10, 2020

Congratulations and best wishes to the Class of 2020 from the Oak Park and River Forest High School Board of Education

“This is the urgency: Live! and have your blooming in the noise of the whirlwind.”

From “The Second Sermon on the Warpland” by Gwendolyn Brooks

Sara Dixon Spivy, Board President Craig Iseli, Board Vice President Tom Cofsky, Board Secretary Jackie Moore, Board Member Gina Harris, Board Member Matt Baron, Board Member Ralph Martire, Board Member

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Way To Go Toby!

We Love you!

Ella – Next adventure: UVM!

Love, Mom, Dad, & June

We are so proud of you Katelyn!

CSU look out!

Love, Mom, Dad and Miranda!

Well done George!

You rock!

Sto lat!

Tobes We couldn’t be more proud of you!

Love, Two Nerds

You did It! We Love you Mom, Dad, Michaela!

Wednesday Journal

Your fierce determination will change the world!

Keeping being the best you!

Congratulations!

Mom, Dad, and Aria

O P R F G R A D U AT I O N E X T R AVA G A N Z A 2 0 2 0

Wednesday Journal

June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Matthew Nice

Caroline Nichols

Kentrell Nichols

Cyrus Nijensohn

Tudor Nitzoy

Ethan Nitzsche

Charles Nolan

Caleb Noland

Jasper Nord

Chloe Norman

Simon Nosek

Hannah Nowak

Seihla Nunezdeleon

Kunyakorn Nuntarach

Chimdike Nwafo

Alexandra Oberberger

Elizabeth Obermaier

Charles O’Brien

Madelyn O’Carroll

Sean O’Connell

Kaya O’Connor

Sydney Odesanya

Karsten Oettel

Joshua Ogunsanya

Kennedy O’Keefe

Carl Olson

Eva Oney

Owen Osga

Cade Osman

Jack O’Sullivan

Philip Ottati

Jonah Oufkir

Caleb Pacheco

Felicia Page

Maya Palikuca

Rufus Parenti

Dina Parikh

Dexter Parrish

Yenori Patania

Maia Patterson

Simone Paul

William Pawelko

Julian Payton

Caroline Peavy

Creating memories for OPRF students since 1984!

Garland Flowers 137 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 708-848-2777 or 1-877-244-3181 www.garlandflowers.net Worldwide Delivery - Major Credit Cards Accepted

TURN THE PAGE, YOUR STORY AWAITS! CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2020

Deborah J. Wess, E-PRO

708.212.1122 • deborahsellsoakpark4u@gmail.com

114 N. Oak Park Ave. Oak Park, IL 60301 ©2020 Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

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June 10, 2020

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Wednesday Journal

You make us Proud!

Congratulations OPRF Class of 2020!

From Seniors in High School to Seniors in life, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here for you.

Locally Owned & Operated!

1003 Madison St.,Oak Park 708.386.6304 Hours: Mon.-Fri., 9am-7pm, Sat. 9am-2pm Delivery available

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June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Maximilian Pecenka

Samuel Pecenka

Michael Peel

Adrian Penning

Esia PeppersJackson

Gianna Perez

Nicole Perla

Kyle Peterson

Nina Petrosino

Sophia Peysakhovich

Robert Pflederer

Sarah Phelan

Vivian Picciotti

Benjamin Pickering

Bridget Pierce

Samuel Pikowski

Sarah Pilditch

Maximilian Plancon

Yasmin Plazas

Maya Plotkin

Janine Pohlman

Ryan Pont

Jessica Porter

Jason Powell

Christopher Prado

Lukas Preuhs

Anjali Pride

Abigail Pridmore

China Prince

Paul Raducha

William Raidt

Lauren Raihle

Sarah Raja

Daniel Ramos

Jonathan Ramp

Alfred Ratuita

Priya Rawal

Christopher Ray

Katherine Reed

Eric Reeves

Laila Reeves

Allen Reichardt

William Reilly

Olivia Remington

Go make a difference kid! We love you, Owen!

Fam Bam

Steeper climb, better view, brighter future!

We applaud all your accomplishments, but mostly just

you!

Aunt Cynthie, Sarah, Annie and Susie

Congratulations Max! Love Mom, Dad, Frankie and Estrella

Congratulations Kirsten!

Love Mom, Dad, Connor and Nash

We are so proud of you Kate!

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Congratulations to the Class of 2020 Oak Park-River Forest Trinity Fenwick And all of our other local high schools!

Proud Heritage

400 Park Avenue River Forest, IL 60305 708.366.8500

w w w. v r f. u s

Wednesday Journal

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June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Annie Ren

Natalia Reniszewski

Alysa Renteria

John Rettberg

Meredith Revsine

Mia Reynes

Christopher Rice

Grace Richards

Malakai Riley

Natalie Rindler

Ezekiel Rivera

Ella Roadruck

Daniel Roberts

Courtney Robinson

Keith Robinson III

Nikita Robinson

Prishonia Robinson

Benjamin Roche

Charles Roche

Malakye Rodriguez

Raquel Rodriguez

Olivia Roeger

Paul Romano

Emma Romine

Alexander Ronningarnesen

Jonathan Rosen

Emma Roskopf

Divine Ross

Romero Ross

Lucca Rossi

Yasmin Ruff

Olivia Ruggiero

Nicholas Antoni Ruiz-Coburn

Jacob Rundell

Kylie Ryniewicz

Stella Saame

Jamal Sachleben

Mia Sanchez

Gregory Sandahl

Amari Sanders

Dominique Sandoval delanoe

Michael Sankowski

Emilia Sansolini

Grace Santos

Congratulations, dear daughter!

May you rise to great heights.

Go Ruby!

Congratulations Nikki!

We’re so proud of you!

Pilgrim Congregational Church Celebrates the Graduating Class of 2020

Love, Dad, Mom, Eli & Luka Mae

“Knucks” Will!

So proud, Farren/Hermanns Family

So proud of who you are!

All our love, Mom & Dad

You did it!

Congratulations, Natalia!!

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Congratulations!

Wednesday Journal

Class of 2020

We are your community partner in behavioral healthcare.

Specialized, comprehensive services for children, adolescents and adults.

Call 708-209-4181 for a no-cost assessment, 24/7.

riveredgehospital.com

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June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Jane Sauer

Charlotte Savoy

Charles Savramis

Kaia Scatton

Jenna Schainis

Nelida Schalichayllon

Aleah Schallack

Lincoln Scheer

Elise Scheuring

Alexis Schulman

Rebecca Schulz

Grace Schumacher

Miguel Schuster

Melanie Seay

Sara Segal

Justin Segawa

Estoban SegoviCanales

Julian Seinitz

Jessica Senger

Fatima Serratos

Natalie Serratos

Laura Sevilla

Matthew Shabino

Koreon Shanks

Madeleine Share

Sophie Shaw

Athena ShelleyDiggs

Nia Shepard

Taylr Shipp

Kai Short

Jordan SibleyDiggs

Avery Siegel

Ethan Siegel

Justin Siegel

Johann-antony Silvettischmitt

Tija Simitz

Aja Simmons

Kaylin Simmons

Asta Simonovic

George Sipiora

Eric Skala

Clayton Smith

Jordan Smith

Kayla Smith

You amaze us!

CONGRATS! Congratulations buddy, so proud of you!

Mom, Dad, Abi & Jolie

Meredith, We all love you and are so proud of you!

Congratulations Danny as you head off to NYU â&#x20AC;&#x201C; We are so proud of you!

So proud of you, Syd!

Love, Mom, Dad, Cole & Sadie

Hey, Stella!

Nice job.

Love Mom, Dad, Aleks, and Gus

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Wednesday Journal

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June 10, 2020

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Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Ryan Smith

Sasha Smith

Timothy Smith

Ahamad Smoot

Karis Song

Anna Sordilla

Isabel Steiner

Briyana Stewart

Marcos Stocco

Ryan Strickland

Angela Suarez Prieto

Lucy Suchomel

Honora Sudnik

Jarell Sullivan

Terrence Sullivan, Jr.

Carly Swanson

Monica Swanson

Anthony Tabatchouk

Mateja Tadic

Felix Talandis

Owen Talandis

Lannah Tamborello

Kai Tang

Kennedy Tarrance

Destiny Taylor

Palesha Taylor

Rachel Taylor

Antoine Teague II

Eli Tennison

Jean-Paul Thigpen

Shiana Thomas

Jakeam Thompson

Nile Thompson

Anyiah Thornton

Myles Thornton

Juliet Thurman

Charles Tijerinaalbury

Queenie Ting

Michael Tomaso

Zachary Traczyk

Catherine Traylor

Jonathan Trisko

Lily Trogus

Charlotte True

“Buzz Café supports our 2020 OPRF Graduates!”

Theresa Jurgus Parent Class of 2020!

Local Experienced Commercial Broker 773-851-5479 theresajurgus.bairdwarner.com

905 S. Lombard Ave, Oak Park 708-660-0894

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Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

Elijah Tsakalakis

Gavin Tunney

Nicolas Ubogy

Ethan Ulrich

Malik Underwood

Olivia Uz

Jane Vachon

John Valaika

Marie Valentin

Ryan Valentine

Jasmine Valtierra

Oliver Van der meer

Katharine Vanker

Rees Van natter

Abigail Van santen

Hunter Van Zant

Carlos Vazquez

William Vejcik

Lucas Vergara

Jordan Vernon

William Vest

Alex Villalvazoserratos

Axel Villanueva

Andrew Vinci

Leo Vitali

Claire Von Ebers

Collin Waco

Jane Wahlfeldt

Christopher Walker

David Alexander Walker

Daysha Walker

Justice Walton

Chaz Walzer

Cailin Wang

Padraic Wangelin

Adrian Ward

Deshaun Ware

Trinity Washington

Justyce Watson

Matthew Watson

Ella

Ashley Wefel

Alexa Wegener

Nicole Wegneger

Thank You Moms of Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding suburbs!

We have missed you!

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Eco-Friendly Auto Repair In Your Neighborhood

Wednesday Journal

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Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest High School Graduates 2020

John Weible

Alexandra Weisman

Griffin Weisman

Daniel Weiss

Caullin West

Aaliyah White

Mary White

Dylan Whitney

Brejae Williams

Colette Williams

Kayla Williams

Monteriana Williams

Kate Willsey

Edjuan Wilson

Troy Wilson

Lauren Winchell

Aidan Wittenberg

Anne Wollmuth

Benjamin Wolowitz

Larson Wood

Zahria Woodard

Kevin Word, Jr.

Passion Worsham

Dushun Worthum

Lucy Wright

Michael Wysockey

Yunhao Xu

Anahit Yakubovich

Caleb Yarrow

Yasmeen Yehudah

Kai Yokoo

Julia Youman

Owen Young

Rachel Young

Alex Yuan

Jacob Yussman

Matias Zaro

Jessica Zarosl

Sonia Zartman

Alexis Zeiser

Agnieszka Zochowska

Zackary Zubkus

Ruth Zuraw

Nicholas Zurawski

OPRF Alliance Soccer Congratulates the OPRF Class of 2020

Go To: OPRFAllianceSoccer.com for information on our upcoming season and tryouts

OPRF Alliance is a competitive, travelling soccer club focused on building soccer skills, leadership skills, and confidence.

OPRF Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, a registered non-profit with the state of Illinois, and a member in US Club Soccer, IYSA, YSSL, and IWSL.

Wednesday Journal

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Hello OPRF grads and parents, Congratulations. You did it. It was an odd path to closing out high school. And let’s not repeat it any time soon. But all of us will remember the Class of 2020. From enduring the pandemic to leading us in marches protesting systemic racism in our villages and our society, you are a class with grit, poise and hope.

Not to get overly commercial here but as this special edition of Wednesday Journal arrived in the mailboxes of each and every OPRF graduate, we wanted to remind parents and grads alike that we print this newspaper every week.

You can subscribe! Just $38 a year will get the paper in mailbox every Wednesday. Visit us at OakPark.com/subscribe, because there’s still something about print.

Now every edition we send won’t have your kid’s picture in it but it will be filled with local news and local people.

The local news, local people, local opinions are produced by our hard-working independent newsroom, all available on our websites, under our non- profit Growing Community Media, funded donors like you.

With over a million pageviews in the past month, you may have been one of our readers. Support our newsroom by contributing what you can at OakPark.com/donate.

And all the best to each of you as we all move safely back into the world.

Believe with all your Heart, Achieve with all your Might!

Proud of You Mal <3

We are very proud of you!

Muchas felicidades! We love you! Mom & Dad

So proud of our hooman!

Love Pi and Kitty

Proud of you!

Love Mom, Dad, Hope and Hailey

Jonathan, we are so proud of you!

Marie – Graduation Congratulations and Great Success at The New School!

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June 10, 2020

Wednesday Journal

Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Stay strong.

Lead the way.

You got this!

State Representative Camille Y. Lilly, 78th District 6937 W. North Avenue, Oak Park 773-473-7300

State Representative

Camille Y.

Senate President

Don

Senate President Don Harmon, 39th District 6941-B. W. North Avenue, Oak Park 708-848-2002 www.donharmon.org

Lilly Harmon

Wednesday Journal

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C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S T O ALL

2020 O A K P A R K a n d R I V E R F O R E S T H IGH SCHO O L GRADUATES! Your demonstrated resiliency and strength is evidence that you are a class of natural leaders!

There is no doubt you will go far.

State Representative LaShawn K. Ford 8th District Repford@lashawnford.com

Vicki Scaman, Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Clerkscaman@oak-park.us

Congratulations to all 2020 graduates!

June 10, 2020

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Wednesday Journal

“ I can no other answer make, but, thanks, And thanks, and ever thanks.”

-William Shakespeare With deep gratitude, the businesses of the Oak Park Arts District honor the ongoing love and support of friends and customers, new and old, who have seen, and continue to see us, through difficult times.

The Actors Garden ARIS at home Bead In Hand Berg Ross, LLC Bloom Building Brand & Company The Buzz Cafe Calypso Moon Studio CDO Group Centre Physical Therapy Chad Keast Hair CrossFit Spero Dancing Krow Studio District Kitchen & Tap Dye Hard Yarns Eastgate Cafe Elevate Hair & Beauty Boutique Expressions Graphics FlexHouse Properties Gallery PINK & Elkins Studio Gregory Kocko Farmers Insurance Agency Gullo & Associates The Happy Apple Pie Shop Harrison Street Ventures, LLC House of Heat Inner Arts Studio INTUIT Dance!

Jake’s Place Books Kadampa Meditation Center Chicago L’Institut français d’Oak Park

McLauchlan Properties MORA Asian Fusion Music Together You and Yours Musikgarten of Oak Park Neighborhood Dimensions Oak Park Economic Development Corp.

Oak Park Fitness Trainer Oak Park String Academy OakParkApartments.com Open Door Repertory Company PetVets Animal Hospital Davis Digital Services Rare Bird Preserves RC Training & Fitness Sandra Ross Salon Scheck & Siress Prosthetics Inc. Small Pond Management SMS Studio Southeast Oak Park Neighborhood Corp Square One Design Studio 144 Boutique Studio 928 Time for Art Tapster Robotics, Inc. TBDA UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago Val’s halla Records Visteen Plumbing Whatever Comes to Mind Studio 107 - 109 Harrison Apartments 341 Harrison Building

www.oakparkartsdistrict.com

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June 10, 2020

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All the best to OPRF’s trailblazing virtual class of 2020!

“Don’t Squint, Tint”

Residential & Commercial Specialists - Reduce Heat, Glare and Fading – Increase Privacy - Energy Efficient Films – Lifetime Warranty – Free Estimates – Locally Owned

312.848.1565

www.excelwindowtinting.net

Bram, keep lifting those heavy-#ss weights!

Love, your fam

Tija, Keep on climbing to new heights! Benefit from challenges along the way.

Congrats Malakye!

Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

3*7&34*%&/BROOKFIELD

Great Job, Dylan!

Love Dad, Mom, & Rhia

So proud of you, Jonathan!

Love, Mom, Dad & David

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June 10, 2020

Wednesday Journal

OAK PARK AND RIVER FOREST HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING SCHOLARS 2020

Katherine Andolina

Justin Banks

Isabelle Carrillo

Luke Clancy

Garrett Credi

Hope Donoghue

(Scholarship Cup), Georgetown University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Chicago

(Scholarship Cup), Northwestern University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

(Scholarship Cup), St. Lawrence University

Samantha Gotti

David Greenstone

Devin Hayes

(Scholarship Cup), Tulane University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Chicago

Zeevielle Drizin

Abigail Giardina

Aaron Freeman

(Scholarship Cup), Indiana University Bloomington

(Scholarship Cup), Brown University

(Scholarship Cup), University of California - Los Angeles

Sarah Kelly

Jenna Kochendorfer

(Scholarship Cup), Vassar College

(Scholarship Cup), University of Washington - Seattle

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Urbana/ Champaign

Dora Montgomery

Joshua Ogunsanya

Simone Paul

(Scholarship Cup), Bryn Mawr College

(Scholarship Cup), Columbia University

Lauren Raihle

Priya Rawal

Maia Huang

(Scholarship Cup), University of California - Santa Barbara

Julia Youman

(Scholarship Cup), Cornell University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

Sarah Pilditch

Robert Pflederer

Paolo Miller (Scholarship Cup), University of Chicago

William Raidt

(Scholarship Cup), Purdue University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Emma Roskopf

Elise Scheuring

Owen Talandis

Anne Wollmuth

(Scholarship Cup), Carleton College

(Scholarship Cup), James Madison University

(Scholarship Cup), University of Iowa

(Scholarship Cup), Duke University

Alex Yuan

Kai Yokoo

(Scholarship Cup), Washington University - St. Louis

(Scholarship Cup), Oberlin College

(Scholarship Cup), Brown University

(Scholarship Cup, National Merit Scholarship), University of Chicago

Elizabeth Larscheid

Marissa Kuriakos

(Scholarship Cup), University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

Ruth Zuraw

(Scholarship Cup) University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

NATIONAL MERIT FINALISTS

NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS

Garrett Credi William Farren David Greenstone Priya Rawal Daniel Roberts

Marina Atkin Garrett Credi William Farren David Greenstone Priya Rawal Daniel Roberts

NOTE: The Scholarship Cup is awarded to those students who have the highest grade point average at the end of their seventh semester using the high schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weighted grade point index. To be eligible, students must have attended OPRFHS at least five of the previous seven semesters.

(Scholarship Cup), Harvard College

(Scholarship Cup) , Amherst College

NATIONAL MERIT COMMENDED Nicholas Altier Justin Banks Brooke Bellmar Monica Bradford Ella Brown Isabelle Carrillo Meera Chambers Aidan Chranko Josephine Desir Evelyn Drews

Aaron Freeman Oliver Green David Griffith Nicholas Gupta Maia Huang Emily Kerstetter Marissa Kuriakos Hugh Lipic Lia McGavin Isabelle Meyer

Maximilian Meyer Joshua Ogunsanya Owen Osga Simone Paul Robert Pflederer Maya Plotkin Julian Rindler Emma Roskopf Jamal Sachleben Michael Sankowski

Justin Segawa Matthew Shabino, Madeleine Share Kai Tang Charlotte True William Vejcik Dylan Whitney Anne Wollmuth Alex Yuan Ruth Zuraw

NATIONAL HISPANIC RECOGNITION PROGRAM SCHOLARS Armando Carlo Isabelle Carrillo Callum Jaques Marcos Stocco Elijah Tsakalakis

2019-2020 ILLINOIS STATE SCHOLARS Based on a formula using ACT or SAT score and unweighted grade point average. Overall, approximately 10 percent of graduating seniors in Illinois qualify as State Scholars, compared to 25 percent at OPRF. Alfonso Acevedo Mira Adelstein Kejsi Ago Karim Al Zahabi Nicholas Altier Katherine Andolina Marina Atkin Eleanor Babwin Paige Baker Justin Banks Sean Barney Francis Bassett-Dilley Maximus Beach Elliana Beck Sadie Beck Margaret Bell Brooke Bellmar Elizabeth Bernstein Ethan Bodzioney Monica Bradford Veronica Brooks

Aaron Brown Ella Brown Leif Bryning Zachary Buerger Jennie Bull Isabelle Carrillo, Janine Casey Elena Catrambone Claudia Celio Meera Chambers Magnolia Chesney Aidan Chranko Luke Clancy Alexander Cleofe Aaron Close Declan Collins Joshua Cotter Jake Cramer Garrett Credi Cathal Cribbin Erin Daly

Lauren Debeers Margaret Dee Josephine Desir James Diskin Connor Ditelberg Geneva Domantay Ada Donnelley Power Hope Donoghue Virginia Donoghue Evelyn Drews Zeevielle Drizin Emily Edmunds Montgomery Ellwanger Claire Enschede Rowan Eshenroder William Farren Carson Flemming Seth Flynn Liah Francart Aaron Freeman William Gery

Abigail Giardina Maxwell Gonzalez Samantha Gotti Oliver Green David Greenstone Sophia Groenendaal Sydney Groulx Nicholas Gupta Isabel Gutierrez Ella Haas Max Halle-Podell Jane Hanneman Ethan Hasson Devin Hayes Samuel Heilenbach Ian Frederick Heinig Dylan Hendrixson Breanna Henry Tyler Hoyt Maia Huang Evan Humbert

Sydney Hunnewell Nicholas Hymson Kira Imowitz Charles Inksetter Callum Jaques Kyle Jarnecke Jude Kasiak William Kasiak Takuma Kawamura Sarah Kelly Emily Kerstetter Audrey Kessler Charles Kestler Olivia Kline Jenna Kochendorfer Peter Koenig Olivia Kratz Tobin Kunkel Marissa Kuriakos Matthew Labuda Elizabeth Larscheid

Bram Lebovitz Grace Ledogar Daniel Lingen Hugh Lipic Naomi Logan Helena Loranz Isabella Malagoli Claire Marko Jeremy Mart Ella Massmann Leonidas Mavrelis Joycelynn McCoy Lia McGavin Nora McIntyre Isabelle Meyer Ryan Michaud Paolo Miller Dora Montgomery Eliot Moore Benjamin More Caroline Nichols

Ethan Nitzsche Jasper Nord Chloe Norman Simon Nosek Hannah Nowak Kunyakorn Nuntarach Joshua Ogunsanya Owen Osga Simone Paul Caroline Peavy Michael Peel Nina Petrosino Robert Pflederer Benjamin Pickering Sarah Pilditch Maya Plotkin Janine Pohlman Paul Raducha William Raidt Lauren Raihle Priya Rawal

Meredith Revsine Natalie Rindler Daniel Roberts Benjamin Roche Charles Roche Emma Roskopf Yasmin Ruff Stella Saame Michael Sankowski Jenna Schainis Elise Scheuring Melanie Seay Sara Segal Justin Segawa Jessica Senger Natalie Serratos Matthew Shabino Madeleine Share Sophie Shaw Jordan Sibley-Diggs

Johann-Antony Silvetti-Schmitt Asta Simonovic Clayton Smith Kayla Smith Marcos Stocco Lucy Suchomel Terrence Sullivan Carly Swanson Felix Talandis Owen Talandis Kai Tang Eli Tennison Zachary Traczyk Jonathan Trisko Charlotte True Nicolas Ubogy Jane Vachon Katharine Vanker William Vejcik William Vest

Collin Waco Jane Wahlfeldt Ashley Wefel Alexandra Weisman Daniel Weiss Dylan Whitney Kate Willsey Aidan Wittenberg Anne Wollmuth Kai Yokoo Julia Youman Rachel Young Alex Yuan Sonia Zartman Zackary Zubkus Ruth Zuraw

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CUM LAUDE SOCIETY Membership in the Cum Laude Society, OPRFHS’s honor society, represents a high scholastic honor. Juniors who rank in the top 5% of their class scholastically and seniors who rank in the top 15% of their class scholastically and who possess consistently high academic achievement are eligible for Cum Laude induction. Graduating members are: Mira Adelstein Elizabeth Bernstein Cathal Cribbin Claire Enschede* Maia Huang* Elizabeth Larscheid* Paolo Miller* Paul Raducha Jessica Senger Jonathan Trisko Rachel Young Lily Ader

Monica Bradford

Cecelia Crumlish

Seth Flynn

Sydney Hunnewell

Bram Lebovitz

Dora Montgomery*

William Raidt*

Natalie Serratos

Charlotte True

Alex Yuan*

Kejsi Ago

Veronica Brooks

Erin Daly

Liah Francart*

Nicholas Hymson

Grace Ledogar

Benjamin More

Lauren Raihle*

Matthew Shabino

William Vejcik

Ruth Zuraw*

Karim Al Zahabi

Aaron Brown*

Lauren DeBeers

Aaron Freeman*

Kira Imowitz

Daniel Lingen

Sarah Morrison

Priya Rawal*

Sophie Shaw*

Collin Waco

Nicholas Altier

Leif Bryning

Josephine Desir

Abigail Giardina*

Jude Kasiak

Hugh Lipic

Caroline Nichols

Meredith Revsine

Johann-Antony

Jane Wahlfeldt*

Katherine Andolina*

Isabelle Carrillo*

Geneva Domantay

Samantha Gotti*

Sarah Kelly*

Naomi Logan

Joshua Ogunsanya*

Emma Roskopf*

Eleanor Babwin*

Janine Casey

Hope Donoghue*

David Greenstone*

Emily Kerstetter*

Alexia Lopez-Martin

Simone Paul*

Yasmin Ruff*

Asta Simonovic

Ashley Wefel

Paige Baker

Magnolia Chesney

Virginia Donoghue*

Jane Hanneman

Audrey Kessler

Helena Loranz*

Caroline Peavy

Stella Saame

Kayla Smith

Dylan Whitney

Justin Banks*

Luke Clancy*

Evelyn Drews*

Devin Hayes*

Olivia Kline

Isabella Malagoli

Nina Petrosino

Jenna Schainis

Marcos Stocco

Kate Willsey

Sadie Beck

Declan Collins

Zeevielle Drizin*

Ian Frederick Heinig

Jenna Kochendorfer*

Micah Manternach

Robert Pflederer*

Elise Scheuring*

Lucy Suchomel

Aidan Wittenberg

Elliana Beck

Andie Corsino

Emily Edmunds

Cleo Hendrickson

Peter Koenig

Lia McGavin

Sarah Pilditch*

Melanie Seay

Felix Talandis

Anne Wollmuth*

Margaret Bell

Jake Cramer*

Montgomery

Dylan Hendrixson

Marissa Kuriakos*

Isabelle Meyer

Maya Plotkin

Sara Segal

Owen Talandis*

Kai Yokoo*

Brooke Bellmar

Garrett Credi*

Ellwanger*

Tyler Hoyt*

Matthew Labuda

Ryan Michaud

Janine Pohlman

Justin Segawa

Juliet Thurman

Julia Youman*

Silvetti-Schmitt

Ella Weatherington

2020 SCHOLARSHIP & AWARD RECIPIENTS

Many graduating seniors in the Class of 2020 have received merit-based scholarships from their colleges and universities and from corporate programs, foundations, and other organizations. These scholarships—combined with $230,000 given locally through the generosity of the OPRFHS Scholarship Foundation, the Community Foundation of Oak Park and River Forest, and individual community, civic, and alumni groups—have provided $11.9 million to the 2020 graduating class. Below is a list of scholarships reported to OPRFHS to date and verified.

A.P.P.L.E. - S.E.E.D. Scholarship Perahje Cannon Arizona State University Academic Achievement Award Timothy Smith Augustana College - Dean’s Scholarship Augustana College - Early Filers Award Augustana College - Music Scholarship Gianna Perez Aurora University - Athletic Scholarship (Soccer) Karsten Oettel Ezekiel Rivera Ball State University - Impact Grant Amy Matticks Butler University - Athletic Scholarship (Football) Gerardo Gonzalez Carnegie Mellon University - Athletic Scholarship (Swimming and Diving) Tyler Hoyt Case Western Reserve University University Scholarship Alexander Cleofe Clemson University - Merit Scholarship Jane Wahlfeldt Coe College - Athletic Scholarship (Baseball) Austin Divello College Of Wooster - Dean’s Scholarship Laura Sevilla Colorado State University - Presidential Scholarship Mia Reynes Colorado State University - Provost’s Scholarship Dietrich Bohlmann Columbia College - Columbia Scholar Award Columbia College - Dean’s Scholarship George Blackwell, Jada Moore, Amelia Nelson, Kai Short Columbia College - Faculty Recognition Award (Fashion Department) Jada Moore Amelia Nelson Columbia College - Faculty Recognition Award (Theatre Department) Kai Short Columbia University - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Joshua Ogunsanya Comcast Leaders & Achievers Scholarship Alfonso Acevedo Cornell College - Founders Scholarship Michael Peel Cornell College - Music Award Cornell College - Presidential Scholarship William Pawelko Cornell University - Posse Foundation Merit Scholarship Aaron Brown Denison University - Alumni Award Scholarship Evan Brown Denison University - Posse Foundation Merit Scholarship Monica Bradford DePaul University - Arthur J. Schmitt Scholarship Michael Johnson DePaul University - Athletic Scholarship (Cheerleading) Danaysha Bonoan DePaul University - Dean’s Scholarship Michael Johnson, Rachel Taylor DePaul University - Future Forward Award Juliet Thurman DePaul University - Presidential Scholarship Charles Roche, Juliet Thurman DePaul University - St. Vincent De Paul Scholarship Benjamin Libbe Dominican University - Achievement Scholarship Christopher Rice Dominican University - Founder’s Scholarship Dominican University - Legacy Scholarship Dushun Worthum Dominican University - Presidential Scholarship Rebecca Meimban Dominican University - Recognition Award Anne Hitterman Drake University Department Of Art and Design Scholarship Drake University - Presidential Scholarship Ryan Pont Elmhurst College - Trustee Scholarship Kalem Hoppszallern Elon University - Presidential Scholarship Collin Waco Fordham University - Tuition Award Eliot Moore

Garden Club of Oak Park/River Forest Scholarship Elise Beile, Geneva Domantay Golden Apple Scholarship Meenah Harbaugh Gottlieb Memorial Hospital - Auxiliary/Medical Staff Scholarship Veronica Brooks Grand Valley State University - Award for Excellence Grand Valley State University - Faculty Scholar Award Anna Sordilla Grinnell College - Founder’s Scholarship Lucy Suchomel Harvard College - Athletic Scholarship (Swimming and Diving) William Raidt Illinois Institute of Technology - Henry T. Heald Scholarship Nicholas Zurawski Illinois State University - Athletic Scholarship (eSports) Drew Neiburger Illinois State University - Redbird Academic Scholarship Macey Huckstep Illinois State University - University Scholarship Mattie Blake Illinois Student Assistance Commission - Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Meenah Harbaugh Illinois Wesleyan University - Alumni Scholarship Hailey Meneses Indiana University (Jacobs School of Music) - Academic Excellence Award Indiana University (Jacobs School of Music) - Jacobs Supplemental Award James Diskin Indiana University - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Nicholas Bolivar Indiana University - Dean’s Scholarship James Diskin, Zeevielle Drizin, Miles Hirshman, Kyle Jarnecke, Dylan Loutfi Indiana University - Enrollment Management Scholarship Zeevielle Drizin, Kyle Jarnecke Indiana University - HHSP Hudson & Holland Program Scholarship Miles Hirshman Iowa Central Community College - Athletic Scholarship (Cheerleading) Nicholas Fogg James Eitrheim Award for Excellence in Dramatic Arts Eleanor Babwin, Lauren Debeers, Meenah Harbaugh, Benjamin More James Madison University - Madison Recognition Award Elise Scheuring Johns Hopkins University - Athletic Scholarship (Baseball) Dylan Whitney Johnson & Wales University - Presidential Academic Scholarship Ethan Ulrich Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Scholarship - Oral Competition Elise Scheuring Kalamazoo College - Lux Esto Scholarship Kalamazoo College - Mandelle Award Rachel Molho Kenyon College - Athletic Scholarship (Baseball) Luke Meister KIwanis Club of River Forest/Oak Park - Scholarship Award Meenah Harbaugh Knox College - Knox Art Scholarship Aleah Schallack Knox College - Knox Founders Grant Christine Donovan Knox College - Knox Founders Scholarship Brooke Bellmar, Christine Donovan, Rashel Hoppszallern, Aleah Schallack Knox College - Knox Residential Grant Knox College - Knox Writers Scholarship Christine Donovan Knox College - Trustees Distinguished Scholarship Brooke Bellmar, Rashel Hoppszallern, Aleah Schallack Knox College - Trustees Scholarship Christine Donovan Lawrence University - Athletic Scholarship (Cross Country/Track and Field) Janine Casey Josephine Desir Lawrence University - Lawrentian Award Janine Casey, Josephine Desir Lawrence University - Light! More Light! Scholarship Janine Casey, Josephine Desir

Lawrence University - Main Hall Green Award Janine Casey Lewis and Clark Community College - Athletic Scholarship (Basketball) Kyren Gardner Lewis University - St. John Baptist DeLaSalle Scholarship Justyce Watson Loyola University Chicago - Presidential Scholarship Jessica Zarosl Loyola University Chicago - Trustee Scholarship Olivia Roeger Marquette University - Athletic Scholarship (Soccer) Marquette University - Ignatius Distinction Scholarship Jai Hsieh-Bailey, Ella Massmann Marquette University - Pere Marquette Scholarship Jai Hsieh-Bailey, Ella Massmann Miami University Ohio - Redhawk Excellence Scholarship Katherine Reed Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design - Dean Recognition Scholarship Anjali Pride Minneapolis College of Art and Design - Presidential Scholarship Caleb Noland Morehouse College - Athletic Scholarship (Baseball) Alan Brown Naropa University - Academic Honors Scholarship Lauren Flint National Hispanic Recognition Award Armando Carlo Isabelle Carrillo, Callum Jaques, Marcos Stocco, Elijah Tsakalakis National Merit Scholarship Finalist Garrett Credi, William Farren, David Greenstone Priya Rawal, Daniel Roberts National Merit University of Chicago Scholarship Priya Rawal Northeastern University - Dean’s Scholarship Oliver Green Northern Illinois University - Athletic Scholarship (Football) Nazareth Bryant Northwestern University - Athletic Scholarship (Volleyball) Natalie Chizzo Oak Park Area Arts Council - Fine Arts Scholarship Cecelia Crumlish, Olive Loentz, Christopher Moore Kai Short , David Walker Oak Park Area Arts Council - Russell C. Lissuzzo Scholarship Francis Bassett-Dilley Oberlin College - John Frederick Oberlin Scholarship Iris Junker, Ryan Michaud, Janine Pohlman Oberlin College - Posse Foundation Merit Scholarship Marissa Kuriakos Ohio State University - Maximus Scholarship Peter Koenig Ohio State University - National Buckeye Scholarship Isabel Gutierrez, Kira Imowitz, Peter Koenig Ohio State University - Provost Scholarship Kira Imowitz Ohio State University - Trustees Scholarship Isabel Gutierrez Olivet Nazarene University - Athletic Scholarship Olivet Nazarene University - Leadership Scholarship Olivet Nazarene University - Music Scholarship Robert Schweig onePULSE Foundation - Legacy Scholarship Jai Hsieh-Bailey OPRF COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS Allan O. Baldwin Memorial Scholarship Ella Haas Bernard “Duke” Gawne Memorial Scholarship Luke Clancy Bolin Cooper Scholarship Brett Johnson Braley Family/Wood Memorial Scholarship Mattie Blake Carlos Baldoceda Memorial Scholarship Ryan Michaud Elizabeth Snow Memorial Scholarship Ruth Zuraw Kathy McMahon Adams Scholarship Michelle Brown Muehrcke Scholarly Athlete Scholarship Natalie Chizzo Nineteenth Century Club Scholarship Mattie Blake, Jennie Bull, Sarah Pilditch Kai Yokoo, Rachel Young

Rotary Club Community Service Award Josephine Delano, Meenah Harbaugh Rotary Club-Farr Memorial Grant Ilan Calzada Shepard Family Memorial Scholarship Micah Daniels William & Joyce Wartmann Scholarship Caleb Noland, Sophie Shaw OPRFHS SCHOLARASHIP FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS Ann Monaco Memorial Scholarship Agnieszka Zochowska Anne P. Bekermeier Scholarship Breanna Henry Applause Performing Arts Scholarship Joseph Frantzen Brenda Schnede Grusecki Legacy Scholarship Bridget Pierce Carl Krafft Arts Scholarship - Music Agnieszka Zochowska Carl Krafft Arts Scholarship - Speech Arts/Drama Declan Collins Carl Krafft Arts Scholarship - Visual Art Cecelia Crumlish, Sydney Hunnewell, Sophie Shaw Carol Shield Memorial Scholarship Seth Flynn Catherine Deam Memorial Scholarship Sarah Phelan Charles Mead Scholarship Destiny Taylor Chris Colin Piecha Memorial Scholarship Sophie Shaw Directors Scholarship William Kasiak William Vejcik Don Deia “Heart Of The Plate” Scholarship Jackalyna Neuman, Julia Youman Donohue History Scholarship Virginia Donoghue Douglas Memorial Scholarship Jennie Bull Dr. Gerald L. Clay Scholarship Joshua Ogunsanya Eric Brightfield Digital Media Scholarship Lincoln Scheer Ernest Hemingway Writer’s Scholarship Bridget Pierce Gary F. Olson Scholarship Nyree McCollum Gerald Greer History Scholarship Carson Flemming, Lily Lisnic Hotchkiss Memorial Scholarship Jane Houseal, Caroline Peavy Ishma Stewart Memorial Scholarship Micah Daniels Jack Tavolacci Memorial Scholarship Melanie Seay Josh Davis Memorial Scholarship Chloe Norman Michael Campbell Memorial Scholarship Kunyakorn Nuntarach, Emma Roskopf Miller Cooke Wood Theatre Scholarship Christopher Moore Offermann Excellence In English Scholarship Katherine Reed OPRF Retirees - Dooper Scholarship Ismail Abdullah OPRF Retirees - Ferguson Memorial Scholarship Maia Huang Patrick J. Luby Memorial Scholarship Malik Donaly, Michael Johnson Peter Quinn Swimming And Diving Scholarship Cleo Hendrickson, Tyler Hoyt R.J. Mike Nielsen Scholarship Ryan Pont Richard Daniel Orchestra Scholarship Jane Hanneman Robert Gauger Memorial Scholarship Lincoln Scheer Seabury Foundation Scholarship Karim Al Zahabi, Meera Chambers, Alexia Lopez-Martin, Joshua Ogunsanya Smith/Gorman-Smith Model UN Scholarship Eleanor Babwin Spoken World Club Scholarship Helena Loranz Teri Race Educational Technology Scholarship Ethan Bodzioney TNH - Stephen A. Henry Scholarship Evelyn Drews Trofimuk Memorial Scholarship Leah Jones Willa Schaffer Memorial Scholarship Khalil Delaney Zussman-Amato Memorial Scholarship Sarah Pilditch OPRFHS SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION AWARDS Class Of 1940 History Writing David Greenstone

Dr. A. Schmidt Outstanding Award In English Josephine Desir Louise Hay Math Award Priya Rawal, Stella Saame Virginia Moe Environmental Studies Jessica Senger OPUS Scholarship For Fine and Performing Arts Education Jane Hanneman Pennsylvania State University - Provost’s Award Audrey Lewis PING! - Donna D’oro Anderson Fund for Life Long Music Scholarship Perahje Cannon Purdue University - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Jacob Rundell Purdue University - Presidential Scholarship Ian Heinig QuestBridge Scholar Rachel Young Rochester Institute of Technology - Presidential Scholarship Nicholas Altier Rock Valley College - Athletic Scholarship (Basketball) Tatym Coe Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology - Athletic Scholarship (Softball) Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology - Carl C. Robinson Scholarship Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology - Catapult Scholarship Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology - Cooney Gilbert Endowment Scholarship Rose-Hulman Institute Of Technology - Merit Scholarship Jackalyna Neuman St. Louis University - Billiken Award Riley Higgins St. Louis University - Vice Presidents’ Scholarship Isabella Malagoli St. Xavier University - Athletic Scholarship (Football) Malik Donaly St. Xavier University - Athletic Scholarship (Volleyball) St. Xavier University - SXU Scholarship Jason Klein Syracuse University (School Of Information Studies) - iSchool Leadership Scholarship Isabela Gadsby Triton College - Athletic Scholarship (Basketball) Alia Anderson Triton College - Triton Scholars Program Jaden Cooper, Shaneea Esco, James Kitzinger, Abigail Van Santen Triton College - Trustee Honors Scholarship Lucas Larson, Journey Manuel, Daysha Walker Tulane University - Founders Award Samantha Gotti United States Air Force Academy - Congressional Appointment John Valaika United States Coast Guard Academy - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Joseph Chapman University of Arizona - Arizona Distinction Award Nicolas Ubogy University of Chicago - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Daniel Lingen University of Chicago - Viola K. Bower Memorial Scholarship Jessica Senger University of Cincinnati - Cincinnatus Century Scholarship Jane Hanneman University of Cincinnati - Cincinnatus University Scholarship University of Cincinnati - National Outreach Award Sadie Beck Jane Hanneman University of Colorado Boulder - Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship Kirsten Kuehl University of Illinois at Chicago - Athletic Scholarship (Dance) Abigail Pridmore University of Illinois at Chicago - Athletic Scholarship (Volleyball) Zahria Woodard University of Illinois at Chicago - College Of Engineering Marina Atkin Society of Women Engineers Knowles Scholarship University of Illinois at Chicago - Honors College Justin Banks President’s Award Honors Scholar Program University of Illinois at Chicago - Provost’s Fellows Award Claire Enschede

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Campus Honors Program Garrett Credi E. Graham Evans Jr. Scholarship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Matthews Scholarship Nicholas Hymson University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Aim High Grant Helena Loranz University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Campus Honors Program - Chancellor’s Scholar Elliana Beck University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College Of Business Nicholas Hymson University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College Of Engineering -James Scholar Honors Program Elliana Beck Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Scholarship, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign - College Of Engineering - Elliana Beck Engineering Freshmen Scholarship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College Of Fine And Applied Arts Christopher Moore Talented Student Tuition Award, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College Of Media Scholarship Julia Youman University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Division Of General Studies Katharine Vanker James Scholars Honors Program University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Gies College Of Business Nicholas Hymson Honors Program Scholarship University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Illinois Math Excellence Scholarship Garrett Credi University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - President’s Award Program Scholarship Maximus Beach, Seihla Nunez-Deleon University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - School Of Art And Design Kennedy O’Keefe Talented Student Scholarship, University of Iowa - Academic Success Scholarship Tudor Nitzoy University of Iowa - Colvin/Cox Scholarship Tudor Nitzoy University of Iowa - National Scholars Award Tudor Nitzoy University of Kansas - KU Achievement Scholarship Grace Buterbaugh University of Michigan - Posse Foundation Merit Scholarship Justin Segawa University of Missouri Columbia - Mark Twain Scholarship Ella Haas University of Missouri Columbia - Odle Memorial Scholarship Ella Haas University of Missouri Columbia Honors College - Cherng Scholars Program Ella Haas University of Northern Colorado - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) Daemyen Middlebrooks University of Oregon - Prestige Scholarship Kayla Smith University of Oregon - Summit Scholarship Kayla Smith University of Southern California - University Scholarship Isabelle Meyer University of Vermont - Presidential Scholarship Ella Weatherington University of Wisconsin La Crosse - Athletic Scholarship (Wrestling) University of Wisconsin La Crosse - Foundation Freshman Multicultural Award Malakye Rodriguez Virginia Commonwealth University - Academic Scholarship Phoebe Foster Washington University St. Louis - Athletic Scholarship (Track and Field) Yasmin Ruff West Suburban Medical Center - Beverly Memorial Award Meera Chambers Woodstock Academy - Athletic Scholarship (Basketball) Justin Cross

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Wednesday Journal

OPRF Final Thoughts • Here are some final thoughts from students of the OPRF Class of 2020 This will pass. It may pass slowly, but it will pass.

Kate Reed Thanks to everyone for getting me through the best 4/18ths of my life. Allons-y!

I’ll look back on the memories I’ve made over the last four years and laugh.

Jonathan Brukhartz

Collin Waco

Let’s use our experiences, good, bad and painful, to create a more just world.

Simone Paul

Kai Short “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.” Rear Admiral David Farragut

Thank you friends, family and teachers for all you’ve done throughout the last four years.

You get an idea and then, Wham! in your mouth are some words. (from 2013) Eleanor Freeland

Eliot Moore

My favorite part of high school was always music. Whenever I think of my favorite memories in high school there’s music involved. … High school may have been cut short but the friendships and memories I’ve been lucky enough to make will last a lifetime.

Katelyn Montgomery

Humm babe!

We love you!

D, D & E

Kai, starlight, starbright, first star...

“YOU’RE OFF TO GREAT PLACES! TODAY IS YOUR DAY! YOUR MOUNTAIN IS Waiting, So...get on your way”

We couldn’t be prouder!

Antony, things that make you happiest - do those!

Your Family

Love Mom, Dad & David

love, Papa, Mama, Max & Tyler

We are so proud of you Hailey - Love you xoxo

So proud of you Sarah!

Love, Mom, Dad, Faith & Luke

Wednesday Journal

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June 10, 2020

Congratulations to the OPRF class of 2020!

eBe trong. strong.

s: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give in Parents: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give in ssure to to provide pressure to provide ol to teens. alcohol to teens.

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your community coalition supporting78% healthy of 8-12th graders report that their family 78% of 8-12th graders report that their family clear rules about & drug use.use. substance has free lives has clear rulesalcohol about alcohol & drug You can start now.

You can start now.

(68% 12th graders, & 80%10th (68% 12th graders, & graders) 80%10th graders) For more info: www.OakParkTownship.org/PYD For more info: www.OakParkTownship.org/PYD

This campaign is supported by the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships for Success

This campaign is supported by the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistancefor No.Success 93.243 funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration throughand a grant administered by the Illinois Department Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.243 funded by the Substance Abuse Services. Supporting youth in OakDepartment Park and River Forest Townships.

Mental Health Services Administration throughofaHuman grant administered by the Illinois Oak Park & River Forest Townships of Human Services.

Supporting youth in Oak Park and River Forest Townships.

@PositiveYouthDevelopment

@PositiveYouthDevelopment In partnership with Oak Park-River Forest High School *2018 Illinois Youth Survey (Oak Park and River Forest data)

In partnership with Oak Park-River Forest High School *2018 Illinois Youth Survey (Oak Park and River Forest data)

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Wednesday Journal

Oak Park & River Forest Scholarship Foundation 2020 Award/Scholarship Recipients In 2020, 63 students were awarded college scholarships totaling $140,000 Ismail Abdullah OPRF Retirees - DOOPER Scholarship Karim Al Zahabi Seabury Foundation Scholarship Eleanor Babwin Smith/Gorman-Smith Model UN Scholarship Elise Beile Garden Club of OP/RF Scholarship Ethan Bodzioney Terri Race Educational Technology Scholarship Jennie Bull Douglas Scholarship Meera Chambers Dr. Bert Beverly Memorial Award (West Suburban) Seabury Foundation Scholarship Declan Collins Carl Krafft Memorial Speech/Dance/TV Scholarship Cecelia Crumlish Carl Krafft Memorial Art Scholarship Micah Daniels Ishma Stewart Memorial Scholarship Khalil Delaney Willa Schaffer Memorial Scholarship Josephine Desir Schmidt Memorial Scholarship Geneva Domantay Garden Club of OP/RF Scholarship

Malik Donaly Luby Memorial Scholarship Virginia Donoghue Donohue History Scholarship Evelyn Drews TNH - Stephen A. Henry Scholarship Carson Flemming Gerald L. Greer History Scholarship Seth Flynn Carol Shields Memorial Scholarship Joseph Frantzen Applause Performing Arts Scholarship David Greenstone Class of 1940 Writing Award Jane Hanneman Opus Alumni Association Scholarship Richard Daniel Orchestra Scholarship Cleo Hendrickson Quinn Swimming/Diving Scholarship Breanna Henry Ann P. Bekermeier Scholarship Jane Houseal Hotchkiss Memorial Scholarship Tyler Hoyt Quinn Swimming/Diving Scholarship Maia Huang Ferguson Memorial Scholarship Sydney Hunnewell Carl Krafft Memorial Art Scholarship Michael Johnson Luby Memorial Scholarship Leah Jones Tony Trofimuk Scholarship

William Kasiak OPRFSF Directors Scholarship Lily Lisnic Gerald L. Greer History Scholarship Alexia Lopez-Martin Seabury Foundation Scholarship Helena Loranz Spoken Word Club Scholarship Zane Maggio Gerhardt AP Physics Award Nyree McCollum Gary F. Olson Scholarship Christopher Moore II Miller, Cooke, Wood Theatre Scholarship Jackalyna Neuman Don Deia “Heart of the Plate” Scholarship Chloe Norman Josh Davis Memorial Scholarship Kunyakorn Nuntarach Michael Campbell Memorial Scholarship Joshua Ogunsanya Gerald L. Clay Scholarship Seabury Foundation Scholarship Caroline Peavy Hotchkiss Memorial Scholarship Sarah Phelan Catherine Deam Memorial Scholarship Bridget Pierce Brenda Schnede Grusecki Legacy Scholarship Ernest Hemingway Writer’s Scholarship Sarah Pilditch Zussman-Amato Memorial Scholarship

Ryan Pont R.J. Mike Nielsen Scholarship Priya Rawal Louise Hay Math Scholarship Katherine Reed Offermann Excellence in English Scholarship Emma Roskopf Michael Campbell Memorial Scholarship Stella Saame Louise Hay Math Scholarship Lincoln Scheer Eric Brightfield Digital Media Scholarship Robert Gauger Memorial Scholarship Melanie Seay Jack Tavolacci Memorial Scholarship Jessica Senger Virginia Moe Environmental Studies Award Sophie Shaw Carl Krafft Memorial Art Scholarship Chris Colin Piecha Memorial Scholarship Destiny Taylor Chuck Mead Scholarship William Vejcik OPRF Scholarship Foundation Directors Scholarship Julia Youman Don Deia “Heart of the Plate” Scholarship Agnieszka Zochowska Ann R. Monaco Music Scholarship Carl Krafft Memorial Music Scholarship

The Oak Park & River Forest High School ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, through its Bobbie Raymond Summer Enrichment Grants, awards grants on behalf of current students to help them participate in academic enrichment programs during the summer.

This summer $57,000 was awarded on behalf of the following students: Gwen Abbott, OPRF Japanese exchange Sivan Aharon, OPRF Japanese exchange Annaliese Baker, CIEE - Seville, Spain - Digital Filmmaking Genna Bolino, Johnson & Wales University Career Exploration Daniel Branand, OPRF Japanese exchange Emery Brandhorst, Advanced Space Academy William Brandhorst, Advanced Space Academy Kristina Bray, OPRF Marching Band Camp Vernia Bronaugh, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Kaleigh Clarke, NSLC - Law & Advocacy Japera Dallas, CIEE - Spain/Morocco Rylee Danley, Loyola University Chicago Summer Scholars Emma Dean, Notre Dame Summer Scholars: Accounting Michael Drobot, Global Glimpse & OPRF Marching Band Camp Carl “Connor” Faust, CIEE - Paris, French Language & Culture Adam Fleischer, Global Glimpse

Lauren Friker, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Leah Gerut, CIEE - Alicante Spain Study Abroad Rebecca Green, OPRF Japanese exchange Micah Greenberg, OPRF Japanese exchange Anya Ivey, OPRF Japanese exchange Davion James, OPRF Japanese exchange Matylda Jamroz, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Emma Keneipp, Loyola Marymount University Film Production Todd Kiefer, Northern Illinois University Jazz Camp Isabella Kiessling, CIEE - Spanish Language and Culture Eva Loranz, CIEE - Social Awareness Paige Mack, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Ingrid Mceachen, CIEE - Berlin, Language & Culture Charlotte Meyer, OPRF Yellowstone Ecology Amelia Morrison, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Saadiq Muhammad, Purdue University Engineering Camp Tiara Ogunsanya, Concordia Language Villages, Spanish Intensive

Milo Purrenhage, OPRF Japanese exchange Sofia Ramirez, Leadership Development Program Jade Ramsey, CIEE - Senegal, Youth & Community Mia Rossbach, Middlebury Summer Academy Leo Rossi, OPRF Yellowstone Ecology Emma Sage, The Road Less Traveled - Norway Audrey Smith, OPRF Japanese exchange Maia Sullivan, CIEE - Aquatic Ecosystems Ella Taira, OPRF Japanese exchange Chase Thompson, NSLC - Leadership Studies Isabella Tsakalakis, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Anna Van Santen, Global Glimpse Ezekiel Wells, CIEE - Berlin, Global Entrepreneurship Zakiyah White, Kuumba Kids Dance Exploration & OPRF Marching Band Camp Alissa Williams, OPRF Tanzania Ecology Alexander Yu, NYLF Advanced Medicine

Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most programs for this summer have been canceled. We hope to defer many of these awards to 2021.

For more information please visit: www.scholarships4oprfhs.org