W E D N E S D A Y
October 9, 2019 Vol. 39, No. 10 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
Friars’ homecoming win Page 37
Oak Park shifts trickor-treating hours Citing potential racial biases, the board votes to change hours to 4-8 p.m. By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter
For decades, Oak Park allowed trick-or-treating during the hours of 3-7 p.m. on Halloween. This year, however, kids can continue their candy collecting in Oak Park past that, as the board moved to push back trick-or-treating hours to 4-8 p.m. at its Oct. 7 meeting. Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla made a large push to set the hours back. “This is a really good example of two things,” she said. “One: why racial equity training is really important because if we had used a checklist to evaluate this ordinance, we would have realized that this is overreach.” The board also voted affirmatively to change the ordinance into a resolution. Walker-Peddakotla went on to say that the standard 3-7 p.m. trick-or-treating timeframe negatively affects children with working parents or single parents. Those parents, she said, may not be back in time from work. A main concern in keeping the tradition of a 3-7 p.m. timeframe, some felt, was the potential for police to unfairly target children of color out trick-ortreating after 7 p.m. for violating the ordinance. The police department could not be reached to find out if any ordinance violations had been given in past years See TRICK-OR-TREAT on page 9
Courtesy Kindness Creators
SHOW AND TELL: Livia Hill shows Shirley Mungi a doll she thinks looks like her at Kindness Creators Intergenerational Program on opening day, Aug. 29. Kindness Creators is a preschool located inside Oak Park Arms.
New daycare’s core curriculum is empathy Kindness Creators Intergenerational Daycare inside Oak Park Arms celebrates all ages By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter
Ron Porter, 77, walked into the Kindness Creators Intergenerational Daycare, located inside of Oak Park Arms independent and assisted living retirement facility, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park, bearing gifts — two jumbo packs of
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups he’d bought during a trip to Walgreens on Oct. 2. “It’s my 4-year-old granddaughter’s birthday, so I felt obliged to get treats for the kids,” said Porter, whose grandkids live in Lockport — about a 40-minute drive from his Oak Park Arms residence. “I love children.” The new daycare, which the Oak Park
Board of Trustees approved to operate inside of Oak Park Arms last November, opened on Aug. 29. Porter, an Oak Park Arms resident who volunteers at the daycare, said he rarely gets to see his five grandchildren, but the fidgety preschoolers allow him to feel someSee EMPATHY on page 14
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