Wednesday Journal 101420

W E D N E S D A Y

October 14, 2020 Vol. 41, No. 11 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

D97 unveils detailed Return to School Plan

OPRF’s draft plan for in-person learning to be presented in November

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

Last week, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 administrators unveiled their Return to School Plan -- a 40-page document that is the district’s most detailed breakdown yet of how they’ll handle a switch from full-time remote learning to a hybrid model allowing students to go back to in-person learning on a limited basis.

And while Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 is still about a month away from unveiling its hybrid plan, D200 Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams launched a weekly Monday Memo last week, designed to keep families apprised of the district’s second-semester planning progress.

Earlier this month, elementary school administrators announced that they plan on moving to a hybrid learning model

by Nov. 30, which is the start of the second trimester. The decision came as many parents in the district expressed dissatisfaction with what they felt was the district’s unresponsiveness and lack of a clear plan for moving away from full remote, although some other parents have praised the administration’s pandemic response.

Last Friday, D97 released its Return to School Plan, which offers a glimpse into what a limited return to classrooms might look like.

According to the plan, all families in the district will be able to choose between continuing full-time remote learning and transitioning to the hybrid learning model, which involves students attending schools onsite twice a week between Monday and Thursday.

Students will be assigned to two groups to reduce density on campuses.

Group A will be onsite on Monday and Tuesday, while Group B See RETURN TO SCHOOL on page 19

SHANEL ROMAIN/Contributor

Art for foods sake Zoe Nichols raised over $900 for Beyond Hunger by selling her art. See her story on page 11.

Capital projects in COVID era Oak Park village board begins 2021 project discussions

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

As COVID-19 continues to wreak economic havoc, the Oak Park village board faces the unenviable task of deciding what capital improvements the village immediately needs and what projects can wait. Capital improvement discussions began Oct. 12, as village staff walked

trustees and the mayor through the recommended capital improvement plan, a whopping 227-page document, for fiscal years 2021-2025.

While the board is a long way from voting on the plan, the Oct. 12 meeting offered Oak Park residents a preview of discussions to come and what projects are currently on the table.

This long-running saga continues: should Oak Park push to substantially widen bridges over the Eisenhower if the state ever does undertake its long-delayed plans to substantially rebuild the entire highway.

See CAPITAL on page 13

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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Don’t let the COVID crisis become an eviction crisis Can’t pay your rent due to COVID? Oak Park Regional Housing Center is here to help!

By Athena Williams Executive Director

While you may not think about the Oak Park Regional Housing Center as a great resource for help on rental assistance, eviction mediation, we’ve pivoted fast to meet what is a critical need whether you live in Oak Park, on the West Side or in Proviso.

Finding housing, keeping people in their housing is what we do and we’re ready to help you.

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OVID-19 has challenged us to reexamine all the different parts of our lives.

We’ve spent the year quarantining at home, we’re wearing masks and keeping our kids focused on learning is now an extra job, assuming we’ve kept our real jobs.

Maybe, though, the biggest and most immediate worry is not being able to make the rent. And it’s confusing sorting out the different eviction moratoriums the state and the federal government have rolled out.

Athena Williams, Executive Director

OAK PARK REGIONAL HOUSING CENTER

While you may not think about the Oak Park Regional Housing Center as a great resource for help on rental assistance, eviction mediation, we’ve pivoted fast to meet what is a critical need whether you live in Oak Park, on the West Side or in Proviso.

Finding housing, keeping people in their housing is what we do and we’re ready to help you.

As the Housing Center’s executive director, I am intimately familiar with the struggles people are facing in making ends meet right now and I know people don’t

Sharon Eckhoff is the voice you hear when you call the Oak Park office of the Housing Center.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Something that people don’t realize is how critical keeping folks in their homes is, especially right now.

When people are evicted the most common recourse is to lean on others for housing support. That might work in a pandemic-free world but with COVID-19 this creates optimum conditions for spread. Removing people from their homes now would force people to pile into small spaces or couch surf around the community, exposing more people than necessary to COVID-19. The more people evicted means more COVID cases, which leads to more people getting ill, more people not being able to work, and if the rate of infections increases too much, we may be looking into shutting down again. Whether living alone, with roommates, or with your family, it’s a matter of public health safety to keep people contained in their current living arrangements.

OPRHC’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program is designed to help both tenants and property owners. Our efforts help facilitate conversations to temporarily The Housing Center has offices in both Oak Park and Austin. Anita Bailey, housing counselor , works in the lower monthly rental costs for Austin office on Lake Street near Austin Blvd. tenants facing financial hardship.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer As unemployment and job loss are plaguing our community, it’s necessarily know where to turn for help. OPRHC is a understandable that people need help navigating their resource, as our newest rental assistance program was finances right now, but that extends to our community’s initiated to help both tenants and landlords explore a landlords, too. They have mortgages that need paying. middle ground for rent payments during this COVID-19 We’re finding that both parties are usually open to creating pandemic. Renters have options, and they need to know a solution that works for everyone. that.

The full staff of the Austin office of the Housing Center includes Deboorah Williams, program coordinator; Anita Bailey, housing counselor;, Karen Barragan, secretary and Wilane Boone, senior housing counselor.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

The Center for Disease Control’s eviction moratorium, effective Sept. 4 to Dec. 31, 2020, will prevent landlords from evicting non-paying tenants for up to six to eight months, when under normal circumstances landlords can evict in just 60 to 120 days. This time extension puts Mom-and-Pop landlords — building owners who use rent payments to cover the cost of their own housing — in incredibly difficult situations. OPRHC’s intention is to make sure landlords are still receiving at least some rent money during the six to eight months tenants are at risk of eviction.

We have always helped our community with rental housing assistance, whether it be credit debt management sessions or lease amendments, but our current focus on rent status mediation is a pivot to help answer the problems COVID-19 has created. So if you and yours are fighting to make it, reach out and we’ll do everything we can to find a solution. Our phone is 708-848-7150.

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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Equity is more than

A

Darnell said one of the reaustin native Darnell Johnson is a rare specimen — a sons there are so few Blacks Black man with his own working in the clean energy firm in the area of environsector is due to a chronic lack mental sustainability. of what he calls the three A’s: As a principal with Urban Efawareness, accessibility and ficiency Group, Johnson provides affordability. free environmental sustainability In addition to not seeing consulting services to local govmany people like them workernments, particularly in undering in the field, many Blacks served communities of color. may also be locked out of Johnson’s colleagues, Byron clean energy employment due Payne and Stacy Johnson (who to the barriers to training opare also both Austin natives), own portunities and the steep cost Urban Efficiency LLC, a companof certifications.

Commentary ion firm that provides services like “If the training is so far home weatherization and energy away from them and it’s not conservation consulting. localized, they won’t necessarily have the Last week, I met the three men at a means to getting to where the training is municipal building in nearby Broadview, available,” Darnell said. where they were installing a Retrotec Stacy and Byron Payne said this is one Blower door at the building’s entrance. of the reasons why they’re often willing “This depressurizes the home,” Stacy to setup pop-up training sites to localize said during a test demonstration of the access. door. “Typically, we use it to test for air Darnell said the other barrier, affordleakages — every crack and open spot that ability, is due to the fact that a certification, leads to the outside. This pulls air through which is critical to career advancement, those cracks so we can go around the home can cost between $1,800 and $2,500. and find where the leaks are at and seal “You can know about this and have access those leaks up, so that the home can be to the opportunities, but if you can’t afford more energy efficient.” to pay for certifications, then it doesn’t matBut instead of tracking leaks, the Retter,” Darnell said. rotec Blower door will be used to increase He said that certifications for entry level ventilation and lower people’s risk of conjobs like air leakage controller and intracting COVID-19 while inside of Broadstaller is between $1,800 and $2,000. It costs view’s polling facilities on Nov. 3. between $2,200 and $2,500 to get certified The installation was part of Urban Effias a building analyst, a step above leakage ciency LLC’s and Urban Efficiency Group’s controller and installer.

Healthy Voting Initiative, which is designed “To get to where Stacy and Bryon are, to help keep voters and election workers in and those certifications aren’t all that they have, you’d have to spend in excess predominately African American commuof between $12,000 and $15,000 to get the nities safe while at the polls. certifications that each of them has,” Dar“Most of the time, when people see nell said. “And once you move from your guys doing this kind of work, it’s not us,” mid-level to advanced certifications, there Darnell said. “And so Stacy and Byron have been very dedicated about letting people are a certain amount of hours you have know that this is a career path.” to demonstrate in the field before you can

MICHAEL ROMAIN

Photo by Michael Romaim

BLAZING THEIR OWN PATH: Byron Payne, Stacey Johnson and Darnell Johnson are among the rare Blacks who own businesses in the green energy sector. even sit to take those certifications.”

In order to address those barriers to entry for minorities, Urban Efficiency LLC created an EcoWorks program designed to “recruit, train and employ a diverse workforce in the energy efficiency industry,” according to the firm’s website.

But the burden of pulling more Blacks into alternative energy and sustainable fields should not rest on the shoulders of Black people, who constitute barely a fraction of the workers and entrepreneurs within a burgeoning sector where wages are relatively high and the barrier to entry is relatively low.

For instance, the 2018 average hourly wage of insulation workers was around $26 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And you don’t need a college degree to become one. But Blacks, while 12 percent of the U.S. population, represent just 6 percent of the country’s insulation workers — the people who will help install, repair and apply the mechanical infrastruc-

ture that will help us more efficiently cope with a warming planet — according to a recent Brookings Institution report.

How can we push more young, Black people into these careers of the future — careers that can’t be easily outsourced, that will be critical to a world that’s adjusting to the pressures of climate change and that offer livable salaries, and pathways to entrepreneurship?

That task should fall to local, state and federal governments working in tandem to systemize the cultivation of more Darnell Johnsons, Byron Paynes and Stacey Johnsons.

“You can’t talk about a Green Economy and wanting to get more people into it,” Darnell said, “until you start talking about equity and establishing an equity lens.”

The conversation can start with local, state and federal lawmakers listening more to people like Darnell. Email him at: revdljohnson@yahoo.com.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

River Forest discourages, but allows, trick-or-treat Village issues guidelines

By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter

Village trustees voted to allow trick-or treating between the house of 3 and 6 p.m. on Halloween, Oct. 31.

Due to the COVID-19 exposure risk, however, a message from the village to residents said, “We discourage residents from door-to-door trick-or-treating but ask that you consider alternative ways of celebrating at home with your family instead.”

If families choose to participate in trick-or-treating, Illinois Department of Public Health and CDC guidelines should be followed. Some tips from the village include:

■ People wishing to distribute candy should leave individually wrapped candy or treats on a table at least six feet from their front door. Candy should be spread out, so pieces aren’t touching each other. Anyone placing candy on these tables or replenishing the supply should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds prior to doing so.

■ People trick-or-treating and people distributing treats should maintain proper social distance (at least six feet) from others and wear a proper face covering.

■ Halloween costume masks are not a substitute for a face covering. Anyone wearing a costume mask should wear a face covering under the mask. If breathing is difficult with doubled-up masks, the costume mask should be discarded.

■ If a resident sees a group of children not following the rules, talking to the accompanying parent(s) is recommend-

ed rather than calling the village’s non-emergency or emergency number.

■ Groups of trick-or-treaters from different households are discouraged; groups should be household members only.

A six-foot distance from other trick-or-treaters or groups should be maintained at all times.

■ People out trick-or-treating are encouraged to carry and regularly use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

■ Candy collected shouldn’t be eaten until handwashing has been completed.

The village has signs homeowners can hang up somewhere visible to let trick-or-treaters know if their house has candy and is welcoming trick-or-treaters or not. The signs are available at village hall or downloadable at vrf.us/news/ item/380.

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

Pleasant Home Tours now include Third Floor Take an hour-long, docent-led tour that covers the first, second and third floors of the historic home. Now, see the ballroom, billiard room, maid’s quarters and Farson family artifacts, such as Mamie’s china, the original drafting set of John Farson and more. $10; $8, seniors/students 18+ with I.D.; $7, ages 6 through 18; free, 5 and under and Illinois teachers. Schedule an appointment: 708-383-2654. Or, take a self-guided tour of the main floor for free on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All tours are limited to eight.

More: pleasanthome.org/tours. 217 Home Ave., Oak Park.

Cemetery Walk: Faith in Tough Times Sunday, Oct. 18, arrive noon to 1 p.m., Forest Home Cemetery Main Gate Oak Park River Forest Museum’s annual Tale of the Tombstones highlights stories of people who faced daunting challenges, such as a pioneer of the African American community in Oak Park more than a century ago; a local suffragist; family members who succumbed to the 1918 flu pandemic and more. Safety protocols of masks and social distancing enforced. Tours of 20 depart at 10-minute intervals. Tours last about two hours. $15. Questions: 708-848-6755, oprfhistorymatters@sbcglobal.net. Register for a time slot: oprfmuseum.org/events/tale-tombstones-cemetery-walk-0. 863 Desplaines, Forest Park.

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BIG WEEK October 14 - 21 Harvest on Harrison

Saturday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 25, during shop hours, Oak Park Arts District Smile on Harrison Street. Artwork from the Smiles Project will be displayed in windows and interiors of businesses. Art from the community is accepted through Oct. 15. Take a masked stroll and document the project on social media with #smilesonharrison and #harvestonharrison. Follow these tags for the special events planned by local businesses. Harrison Street from Austin to Ridgeland. More: oakparkartsdistrict.com/event-directory-2/harvest-on-harrison

“Stamped” Community Book Discussions Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Zoom with the Oak Park Public Library Share thoughts on Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds. The book offers a history of racist and anti-racist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today, adapted from the National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. Join in for a presentation followed by discussions in separate breakout rooms.

Dominican University students will lead these peace circle breakouts, which draw on the Stamped educator’s guide. Held in conjunction with Brooks and Julian Middle Schools’ fall curriculum read.

Session 2: Tuesday, Nov. 17, and Session 3: Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Restorative Justice Conference Cultivating Mindfulness: Addressing Household Stress Sunday, Oct. 18, 1:30 to 3 p.m., Virtually with National Alliance on Mental Illness Join presenter Adenia Linker, MEd, SAYD, CYT, and learn a strategy that can strengthen coping skills and support well-being. Free. More/Register: eventbrite.com/o/national-alliance-on-mental-illness-metro-suburbanaffiliate-3180311428

Jane Addams: Democracy in America Monday, Oct. 19, 1:30 p.m., Webinar with Nineteenth Century Charitable Association Betsey Means from WomanLore brings the Hull House founder to life through Addams’ own writings. Addams, a crusader for social justice, devoted herself to fighting for the rights of workers, women and children. $15, requested for non-members; free, members. Register: nineteenthcentury.org.

Wednesdays and Fridays, through Oct. 30, Zoom with the Oak Park Library This year’s theme is The Medicine Wheel: Balancing Humanity. Each week, explore one of the four quadrants - mental, spiritual, emotional or physical.

More/register: oppl.org/news-events/teens/all-october-participate-in-thevirtual-restorative-justice-conference/

Celebrating Beethoven Friday, Oct. 16, 6 to 7 p.m., Virtually with The Unity Temple Restoration Foundation (UTRF) Treat yourself to a concert performed by members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago as the 2020/2021 season is kicked off for The Unity Chamber Music Series. Beethoven’s Quintet for Winds and Piano, Op. 16 is featured in a high-end filming at the Nineteenth Century Club. Proceeds benefit UTRF’s mission to preserve Unity Temple and provide quality public programming. $20; $10, students. More/register: unitychambermusicseries.org.

Stand Tall Saturday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m., Virtual Event As Sarah’s Inn turns 40, learn about important programming while helping to raise funds. Purchase a Peloton Bike Raffle ticket ($100) or 40th Anniversary yard sign ($25, local delivery available). Silent auction includes weekend getaways, wine tasting, a Fitzgerald’s Private Concert Truck and more. Almost Live items open for bid at the event include an Airstream getaway and a Farmto-Table dinner for 12. Free to register. Dine during the event with a partner (Scratch Kitchen, Jim & Pete’s, Maya Del Sol, Carnivore or One Lake Brewing), mention Sarah’s Inn and 15% will be donated. Register/more: sarahsinn.org/ events/stand-tall-event-40th-anniversary.

Talk Saves Lives – Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Conversation Tuesday, Oct. 20, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Hear what is known about this leading cause of death, the most up to date research on prevention, common risk factors for suicide, how to spot warning signs in others and how to keep ourselves, loved ones and those in our community safe. Brought by Positive Youth Development and the Townships of Oak Park and River Forest. Register: astephans@oakparktownship.org, 708-383-8005.

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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ART BEAT

Art as a community hub during a pandemic

RAC gallery director leads panel about importance of fulfilling cultural mission

By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor

Community-based arts centers throughout Illinois have not stopped bringing art and art-based activities in one way or another to their neighborhoods since the pandemic hit in March. These offerings have evolved to include some in-person events, classes and gallery exhibitions with safety protocols in place. They also fill a need for creative expression during difficult times.

This was the topic of a One State Arts Conference panel held Sept. 29, “Support and Amplify – the Role of Community-based Arts Centers in the Age of Pandemic and Social Change,” conceived and moderated

by Liz Chilsen, FlexSpace Gallery Director at Riverside Arts Center (RAC). The annual conference was free this year, held via Zoom and attracted 960 attendees, more than past in-person conferences.

“I wanted to have a conversation with leaders from community arts centers about what we’re all doing to keep serving our communities during this very challenging time,” Chilsen said. “The arts center is the creative hub of the community, and local arts centers are increasingly important. We are part of the local fabric and civic life.”

The panel included Betsy Dollar from the Springfield Art Association, Doug Johnson of the McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington; Ciera McKissick of AMFM and Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; and Jon Veal of alt_, Chicago.

Members of the panel discussed how they are currently serving their communities and opportunities and challenges their organizations are facing during these times.

“The confluence of challenges we are facing right now is difficult, but times like these also are an opportunity to think in new ways and create new solutions,” Chilsen said.

Alt_ has responded creatively to the way things are since its inception and is “dedicated to revitalizing communities through art and culture,” according to its website.

During the panel discussion, Veal talked about asking people of the community, such as the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, where alt_ is based, what they want.

An example is Project Stamp. Alt_ cofounder Jordan Campbell worked with the community to take photos of people in the neighborhood. Pictures were then put up on abandoned buildings. Instead of seeing the

blight, they see hope, Veal said.

With the pandemic, different needs arose.

Alt_ created an exterior market space at an abandoned building in Austin. Using reclaimed wood, solar lights and other supplies, the location was transformed to shelve resources – groceries, toiletries, plants - for the Austin community, which was especially important early in the pandemic when some supplies were scarce. Other organizations have partnered to help stock the shelves -Grocery Run Chicago and Compound Yellow, itself a community-based arts center, located in Oak Park.

At Hyde Park Art Center, programming is people driven, according to McKissisk. Offerings are intergenerational and include classes, public programs and exhibits.

They have learned that providing virtual classes on a pay-what-you-want basis makes their programming more accessible to community members. It is open to the public now, following protocols, and exhibiting Artist Run Chicago 2.0, featuring works from 50 area art centers, including three from Oak Park and one from Austin.

“One clear message is that art is a human necessity and that locally based arts centers are one of the most direct and powerful ways that people in a community can access opportunities to be creative, do creative things and engage with creative ideas,” Chilsen said. “These are essential activities.”

Chilsen went on to say having access to art and art-based activities can do more.

“Creativity is inherently optimistic, and creative expression can help with things like depression, fear, confusion, anxiety, PTSD.” Riverside Arts Center, 32 E. Quincy Street, Riverside, has continued to serve its neighbors too.

“These times call on us to be nimble and resourceful,” Chilsen said.

RAC offers virtual workshops and at-home kits for ceramics and painting, delivering to surrounding areas including Oak Park.

The Freeak and FlexSpace Galleries at RAC are open Thursdays through Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m., by appointment. Masks and social distancing are required. The art of Jerry Bleem runs through Oct. 17. “Humor Us,” opens Oct. 25, bringing together “artists who make work that’s funny as well as smart,” said Chilsen.

“For me, coming up with ways we can keep providing inspiration at the arts center is key,” she said. “Being involved in creative activities both gives us a break from the anxiety and also puts us in touch with the part of ourselves that solves problems and finds light.”

RAC Gallery reservations: info@riversideartscenter.com. More: riversideartscenter.com, 708-442-6400.

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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River Forest set to OK equity partnership with Dominican Trustees expected to approve resolution on Oct. 26

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

Following a brief discussion of the proposed partnership between River Forest and Dominican University at the Oct. 12 virtual village board meeting, village officials appear poised to take the next step on Oct. 26.

Officials from the village and the River Forest school are eyeing a mutually beneficial partnership that will assist the village in becoming a community where there is a commitment to a culture of equity and inclusion while helping the university expand its Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) efforts.

Village officials last month announced plans to form two advisory groups, one internal and the other external, to address the equity and inclusion issue. The internal advisory group was the focus of a village board committee of the whole meeting Sept. 21 and the external group, centered on the proposed partnership with Dominican, was discussed at the Sept. 29 village board meeting.

Village President Cathy Adduci said she expected adoption of a resolution supporting the proposed partnership with Dominican to be considered at the Oct. 26 village board meeting.

Other steps outlined by Sheila Radford-Hill, chief diversity official for Dominican, in her presentation include the

designation of one or two village trustees to serve as liaisons to the partnership and the Dominican Board of Trustees passing a similar resolution.

River Forest officials said they view the proposed partnership goals to be similar to those of the Twin Villages Covenant they entered into with Maywood earlier this year.

Radford-Hill, who also led discussion at the Sept. 29 village board meeting, described the proposed partnership as a “voluntary alliance of government, educational institutions and community-based groups in River Forest, Oak Park and Maywood that would collaborate to support equity and antiracist initiatives for open and welcoming communities.”

Adduci and Trustees Erika Bachner, Katie Brennan, Patty Henek and Respicio Vazquez expressed their support of the proposed partnership. Brennan also expressed her gratitude to Dominican officials.

Henek called the partnership “exciting work, important work and ongoing work” and Bachner said she was “looking forward to the beginning of this relationship.”

Vazquez said he “liked the fact that it’s more expansive and inclusive.”

In response to a question from Trustee Bob O’Connell, Radford-Hill said they now have a liaison with Concordia University, adding, “We have every intention to spread that message” to that school, which also is in River Forest.

In response to a question from Trustee Tom Cargie, Radford-Hill indicated a timetable for specific recommendations has yet to be set.

“That might require changes to policies, practices and

procedures,” she added.

Adduci expressed her pleasure with the support from village officials.

“I’m glad the board is embracing this,” she said. “I’m very excited.

“There’s so much to do. I’m looking forward to a longterm relationship.”

Radford-Hill described the goal of proposed partnership to “mobilize and support antiracist and inclusive projects, initiatives, events, programs and activities to increase the scope, scale and impact of community and campus-wide efforts to promote equity and racial justice.”

Another goal is to “raise the next generation of student leaders and build communities that promote justice through cooperation,” she said.

TRHT is a nationwide effort to prepare the next generation of strategic leaders and thinkers to break down racial hierarchies and dismantle the belief in the hierarchy of human value.

The Twin Villages Covenant, approved by both villages’ boards earlier this summer, is designed “to guide the overarching spirit of our distinct towns to think as one and to interact in more collaborative ways.”

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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Tree Trails helps RF learn about their block

Website identifies parkway trees

By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter

Almost everyone appreciates leaves changing color in the fall. Autumn might mean colder weather is coming, but the transition between summer and winter is arguably one of the most beautiful seasons.

This year, River Forest residents are encouraged to learn more about the trees in their neighborhood by participating in the Sustainability Commission’s River Forest Tree Trails event. Participants can enter to win free curbside composting for three months; but everyone benefits by taking the opportunity to get out and learn something new about trees and the benefits they offer other than their beauty.

“River Forest Tree Trails grew out of our desire to provide a fun, socially distant way of getting to know and appreciate River Forest’s diverse species and ages of trees,” said Beth Cheng, a member of the Sustainability Commission.

“Diverse” is the key word, since the village maintains 8,000 trees and over 90 species on parkways around town.

Tree Trails runs until the end of October, and residents can participate by doing the following: - Downloading the activity sheet at vrf.us/trees.

- Submitting a photo or scan of the completed activity sheet to sustainability@vrf.us by October 31 for a chance to win three months of free curbside composting.

- Look up the names of any trees on the parkways (the area between the curb and the sidewalk) on the village’s parkway tree map at vrf.us/treemap.

The activity sheet asks people to identify different trees by shape and size: skinniest, thickest, shortest, tallest. They’re also asked which they think is the prettiest. Then, using the

tree map listed or identifying characteristics, residents are asked what kind of tree it is.

This is a fun way for families to get involved in nature, but the Sustainability Commission has serious goals. Its strategic plan focuses developing strategies to enable everyone in the village “to protect the environment by reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions we are producing and that are the source of climate change.” And trees are an important part of that.

“Trees offset greenhouse gas emissions by storing carbon,” said Cheng. “Trees also provide many other benefits (also known as ecosystem services) such as reducing flood risk by absorbing rainwater, reducing energy costs by providing shade, and providing wildlife habitats.”

More information about the strategic plan can be found on the village website at vrf.us/guides/guide/7.

Resident David Mefford participated in Tree Trails with his family, including his two children Henry (8) and Harper (5). The Meffords moved to River Forest in August, and David said it’s been hard to get engaged in the community with COVID-19 affecting social activities.

“This was a cool way to get involved,” Mefford said. He said he set out with a tape measure and his two kids, and for about 45 minutes they walked their block and looked at the trees.

“We learned a lot,” Mefford said, adding that he enjoyed the tree map that identifies the types of trees throughout the village.

Eight-year-old Henry Mefford said, “I enjoyed learning more about the neighborhood. It was good exercise and also a lot of fun.”

On the activity sheets submitted to the commission, residents commented about the benefits of the activity, including learning about trees, feeling connected to the community, and getting outside as a family. Several were surprised

Photo provided

Henry Mefford (8) sits on his father David’s shoulders while sister Harper (5) holds the measuring tape. to see such a wide variety of trees. And many hadn’t known about the tree map website that identifies trees in the area.

“We were blown away by the diversity of trees just on our block,” one resident said.

Lake Street apartment proposal gets win Design praised by Historic Preservation Commission

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission praised a proposal to build an apartment complex at 835 Lake St., within 250 feet of Unity Temple and in the Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District.

During the advisory review held Oct. 8, commissioners expressed their approval of the building’s “horizontal emphasis” and “contemporary” look. The project was designed by SPACE Architects with the input of Wight & Company, the village of Oak Park’s design consultant.

“Trying to mimic a historical style, we feel would often result in failed attempts,” said project architect Jay Keller. “We feel that contemporary design is the way to go in the situation.”

The developer behind the proposal is Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group (MAREG), the same development group that

won village board approval Aug. 4 to build a controversial 5-story, 42-unit apartment building at 435 to 451 Madison St. The proposed Lake Street complex would sit on the site of an empty U.S. Bank drivethru, just two parcels east of Unity Temple, across from Scoville Park and the main branch of the Oak Park Public Library.

The six-story, 84-unit apartment building has a sixth-floor setback from the front, which gives the appearance of a shorter structure.

“From the pedestrian scale, it will read more as a five-story building,” said Keller.

Most of the units are two-bedrooms with a few one- and three-bedroom units. The ground floor will primarily serve as tenant parking with loading in the back, according to Keller.

SPACE Architects did diagram and sightline studies coming down Lake Street to ensure that the building does not obscure the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple in any way. “[We’re] trying to pay great respect to that wonderful UNESCO World Heritage site and wonderful architect obviously,” said Keller.

The architects also did extensive sun

shadow studies, the results of which were presented to Unity Temple, to guarantee that the building casts no shadow into any of the church’s windows.

Former village trustee Greg Marsey and resident Wendy Greenhouse submitted the two public comments regarding the project, questioning the architect’s decision to use a lighter-colored material on the façade of the apartment complex, which they believe will look jarring compared to the red brick buildings flanking it on either side.

To the east of the project on Lake Street is a three-story 1920s vintage courtyard building. To its west is the six-story Oak Hotel, a complex of studio apartments which is currently undergoing major renovations.

The commissioners widely agreed with Marsey and Greenhouse’s concerns, with Commissioner David Sokol finding them “very compelling.”

“I think it would serve the whole area much better to have the modest change of the color palette to reflect the two buildings that flank the proposed building rather than try to pick up any minor detail, color or otherwise from Unity Temple,” said Sokol.

Sokol said the proposed building does not

do any “violence” to the historic district and noted that the architects had addressed the effects of shadows and scale.

“I do not think we have any concern about that,” Sokol said.

Although not in the purview of the Historic Preservation Commission, Houze raised questions about the development’s target market to which MAREG President Tom Meador responded that the average age of tenants in their buildings are young professional couples in their mid-30s with generally high incomes and few children.

“The overall tenant quality is going to be professional and fairly highly paid people,” said Meador.

As such, prospective tenants can expect accordingly high rents.

“Our rents are going to be pretty high,” said Meador. “We may set a new bar for rents in the Oak Park area.”

The Historic Preservation Commission will write a review of the proposal for the Plan Commission, which will evaluate the MAREG proposal next. A date for the Plan Commission meeting has not been announced. The project will eventually come before Oak Park’s village board.

8

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

INSIDE REPORT A Gift of Cookies Just in time for the holiday season Oak Park resident and passionate baker, Mary DiSomma, is celebrating the release of her cookbook, “A Gift of Cookies: Recipes to Share with Family and Friends.”

A devoted philanthropist, DiSomma is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of “A Gift of Cookies” to The Oak Park and River Forest Infant Welfare Society and Hephzibah Children’s Association.

DiSomma has partnered with Karen Morava, owner of Careful Peach Boutique, to host a launch party on Friday, Oct. 23 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the shop,1024 North Blvd. in Oak Park. All are invited to attend; masks are required and DiSomma will be onsite signing books.

“A Gift of Cookies” contains 130 recipes and corresponding color photographs including everything from simple drop cookies to more elaborate decorative offerings. A

Woman takes Bar exam, has baby The newest member of Oak Park Village Trustee Susan Buchanan’s family made quite the entrance Oct. 5. Brianna Hill, the wife of Buchanan’s nephew Cameron Andrew, was taking part one of the Illinois Bar Exam when her water broke.

Instead of abandoning her exam, Hill finished part one of the test before heading to West Suburban Medical Center, where she delivered baby Cassius at 11 p.m. that night. The next morning, Hill completed part two of the exam from her hospital bed, putting a new spin on the phrase “working mom.”

Stacey Sheridan

16th Street’s `His Shadow’ nominated for six Jeff Awards

deluxe version of the book is available in a specialty gift box making it an ideal gift for the bakers in your life.

Melissa Elsmo, Oak Park Eats Editor

Nominations for the 52nd annual equity Jeff Awards were announced last month.

Receiving six nominations was 16th Street Theater’s production of His Shadow which ran in the fall of 2019.

His Shadow was nominated for Production – Midsize Play; New Work, playwright Loy A. Webb; Director – Midsize Play, Wardell Julius Clark; Performer in a Principal Role – Play, Charles Andrew Gardner (Teeney); Performer in a Supporting Role – Play, Marcus D. Moore (Kodak/Man); and Midsize Lighting Design, David Goodman-

Classic Cinemas screens dark into December Classic Cinemas, the Downers Grovebased chain that operates 15 movie theater complexes including the Lake Theater in Oak Park, announced that its screens will remain dark into December due to a continuing dearth of new film releases.

Chris Johnson, CEO of Classic Cinemas, told Wednesday Journal that the company planned to reopen theater doors on Nov. 13 with the anticipated release of the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” starring Daniel Craig, the day before Thanksgiving.

Late last week, however, the film’s producer and studio announced they were postponing the film’s premiere until April 2, 2021. A few days later, Classic Cinemas announced on Facebook that its theaters would remain closed.

However, the theater chain held out hope that the end of the year could still be salvaged.

“We need enough new movies to play week to week in order to sustain our business,” the company’s Oct. 6 Facebook post stated.

“We hope to see you in December if ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ holds to their Christmas

release date!”

Johnson said that the continued closure of movie theaters in New York was responsible for Hollywood delaying new releases.

“It sounds so simple, but with 48 states open and New York closed, it’s what’s messed everything up,” Johnson said. “Until New York opens, I don’t see a lot of studios keeping their release dates.”

All of Classic Cinemas’ movie theaters have been closed since July 9 due to the lack of new films. The chain had reopened most of its theaters on June 26 after a three-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to ongoing road and sidewalk construction in downtown Oak Park, The Lake Theater did not reopen at that time. It’s been closed since March 16.

The chain reopened by showing some old favorites and recent hits, but without new films to show, it did not make financial sense to keep the doors open for long.

“As nostalgic as our Classic Cinemas name is, our lifeblood is new movies,” Johnson said at the time.

Bob Uphues

Edberg. The Berwyn theater has never received so many nominations for one show.

“His Shadow was a complete, visceral experience,” said 16th Street Theater Artistic Director Ann Filmer. This “play about ambition and activism on the football field asks, ‘What does it take to stand up against police brutalizing Black bodies, and what are the repercussions for those who speak out?’”

The equity Jeff Awards will be presented online on Nov. 9.

Michelle Dybal, Arts Editor

Cops wearing pink throughout October In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Oak Park police officers are wearing pink patches on their uniforms throughout the month of October to show their support for breast cancer survivors and those currently battling the disease.

The patches, shown prominently, are meant to raise awareness to the importance of early detection. A portion of the cost to purchase the patches goes to national breast cancer research organization Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Stacey Sheridan

Oak Parker joins Leadership Greater Chicago board Oak Park Eats Editor Melissa Elsmo’s husband, Leif Elsmo, has been selected as the newest member of Leadership Greater Chicago’s (LGC) Board of Directors. LGC is a leadership organization that connects and mobilizes the area’s most promising leaders. Elsmo has been an LGC fellow since 2011.

Currently serving as executive director of community and external affairs at UChicago Medicine, Elsmo manages community programs, including the Urban Health Initiative which benefits Chicago’s South Side.

He’s also a really great party host.

Stacey Sheridan

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Village hall goes to school on equity

Work From Home!

By STACEY SHERIDAN

“I don’t know where individual members of village government are on their personal antiracism journey,” said Buchanan. “There Oak Park Village Board’s decision to may be many individuals who found it helpchoose the National League of Cities as its ful to address their own personal outlook on racial equity training provider — against racism.”

As such, Buchanan did not feel the village the wishes of the Community Relations Commission (CRC) — caused controversy misused taxpayer funds by entering into the last July, spurring six out of seven CRC com- training agreement with National League of Cities, which had a not-to-exceed amount missioners to resign in protest.

Now, as the village nears completion of its of $41,538.

Buchanan noted that the organization oftraining under the National League of Cities, with the very last of the training sched- fers further training, which she would like uled to take place just before Halloween, to see policymakers and leadership undergo opinions of the training vary, with some in addition to the REAL program.

Something she appreciated about the probelieving it missed the mark and others callgram was its heavy focus on discriminatory ing it “really helpful.”

Using the Race, Equity and Leadership housing policies that the U.S. government (REAL) program, the village-wide equity imposed throughout history.

“I think a lot of people would benefit from training began in September and was conducted by National League of Cities repre- understanding better some of these historic sentatives in private, virtual sessions. Vil- reasons for why there’s such inequity now,” lage staff, leadership, commission chairs said Buchanan. “One of the huge reasons is and elected officials were split into groups, housing policy.”

Trustee Jim Taglia found the training encompleting training in intervals.

“I thought it was a very good introductory joyable and useful in teaching how to apply training for people who didn’t have any fa- a “racial equity lens” in decision-making, as miliarity with why we need equity,” Trustee well as in identifying implicit and explicit Simone Boutet told Wednesday Journal, racial biases and how to create policies to adding, “It’s not the same as the training we overcome them.

The training also provided a good historineed to really bring equity forward.” cal perspective on the topic of racial equity While she found the National League of Cities training leader “gracious” and capa- and inequity, according to Taglia, who said he had never had any prior equity training. ble, Boutet said she already knew much of “People who may know more about it say, what was presented during the training.

“I’ve done so much racial equity train- ‘Well, it was too basic,’” he said. “I don’t ing,” she said, “that I did know everything think it was too basic; I think it was very helpful.” already.”

Trustee Deno Andrews told Wednesday Boutet completed the training in September, as did the other the village board trust- Journal he found the training well worth ees, Village Manager Cara Pavlicek and HR the financial cost, citing the number of peoDirector Kira Tchang. Roughly 120 people ple who got to participate.

Andrews called the training “very engaghave completed the training thus far. The final group of village personnel will finish ing,” as well as a good general course on the history of institutionalized racism in the on Oct. 28.

Boutet maintained her belief that racial United States and its lasting impact.

“It didn’t change my perception, but it galequity training only be provided to decisionmakers, “rather than worrying about the vanized it,” he said.

Believing the REAL program a “good guys on the street fixing the water main,” as she stated during the board’s July 20 meet- building block,” Andrews expressed a willingness to explore further training with ing to choose an equity training provider.

“I think it’s much more impactful to spend National League of Cities, and not just for leadership and policymakers. the money on the top,” she said.

“It’s crucially important for everybody in The knowledge and training, she believes, would then trickle down to the lower ech- the organization to have a general understanding about the intent of policy,” said elons.

Trustee Susan Buchanan felt the training Andrews. “If we don’t share a common vorevolved more around personal conscious- cabulary, and we don’t share a common viness-raising instead of providing people sion about racism in our community, then with the knowledge needed to address sys- the people who are carrying out the will temic racism in society and its management of the board have incomplete information about exactly what it is we’re trying to acstructures.

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Sarah’s Inn mural reflects ‘hope and faith’

Reveal kicks off Domestic Violence Awareness Month and 40th anniversary

By MARIA MAXHAM Editor

A new mural on an outside wall of Sarah’s Inn Forest Park headquarters is both a celebration of 40 years helping sufferers of domestic violence and a beacon of hope for those in need of assistance.

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Executive Director Carol Gall, Sarah’s Inn staff and volunteers, and community members gathered at 1547 Circle Ave. for the official reveal of the mural and the kick-off of the organization’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

“Our story is one of hope and faith, and we tried to mimic that in our mural,” Gall said.

October is Domestic Violence Action Month, an obviously significant time for Sarah’s Inn, whose mission is “to improve the lives of those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations.”

At the event, Gall said that Domestic Violence Action Month isn’t just about awareness; it’s about taking action.

“We have a safe space here, but we can’t do this alone,” Gall said, urging people to take time to reflect on how they can take action and ask themselves, “How can I help end domestic violence?”

Artist Antonio Ruppert, the woman behind the mural’s design and creation, is an active supporter of Sarah’s Inn. She’s also a client.

“I felt like I had no hope,” said Ruppert about the time before she first came to Sarah’s Inn as a client. “I even felt like I had no voice.” But the organization, she said, changed her

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

SAFETY FIRST: Antonia Ruppert designed the new mural on Sarah’s Inn. life. “Sarah’s Inn is a house of hope.”

To conceptualize and design the mural, focus groups of clients, board members and staff met in July to discuss how to best represent the organization. After pulling together concepts and ideas, Ruppert created the design, which took about a month to complete.

Part of Sarah’s Inn’s 40th anniversary celebration is their Stand Tall event, and Gall said they want as many people to attend the virtual event as possible. It’s a fundraiser with the goal of raising money to support Sarah’s Inn’s vital programs.

But it’s also a chance for clients to share their stories and for people to learn more about the mission of the organization.

The goal: casting votes early, easily and safely Oak Park Village Hall is ready for voters

Friday. Weekend voting hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including on Sundays.

Also beginning Oct. 19 and ending Nov. 2, village hall will

By STACEY SHERIDAN have a secure ballot box for people to deposit their mail-in Staff Reporter ballots.

“We’ll have a secure ballot box that will be in the courtThe upcoming presidential election is one of the most yard of village hall during those early voting hours,” said anticipated elections in years but COVID-19 and the White Village Clerk Vicki Scaman.

House’s verbal attacks on mail-in voting have caused no The secure ballot box, which looks similar to a regular shortage of anxiety and confusion. In light of this, the vil- blue mailbox, will be locked and in view of election judges lage of Oak Park is doing the utmost to ensure early voters at all times during early voting hours. have a safe and stress-free experience.

“It’s going to have security the entire time,” said Scaman.

Early voting at Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison St., Each night after voting hours have ended, representatives begins Oct. 19 and extends through Nov. 2, the day before from the county will empty the box and time stamp the ballots.

Election Day. Village hall is not an Election Day polling site.

“Most people who applied for a mail-in ballot had to give People can cast early ballots, however, at village hall be- an email to apply, so everybody will then receive an email tween the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through that their ballot was received as it is processed, which is amazing,” said Scaman.

Voter registration is also available during early voting hours at village hall for those who missed the mail-in and online registraCome Election Day on Nov. 3, all three branches of the Oak Park Public tion deadlines, Oct. 6 and 18, respectively. To Library will be open only as polling sites from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The parkregister, bring a photo ID and proof of ading garage at the main library will be open from 5:45 a.m. to 7:14 p.m. dress.

Library customer services will not be available in the three build“Like a water bill or a bank bill, something ings or remotely on Nov. 3. People will have access to the digital library. official that has your current address,” said Bob Uphues Scaman. “Then you’ll be able to register and vote at the same time.”

On Election Day, libraries open only for voting

That grace period does not end on Nov. 3. Illinois residents can both register and vote on Election Day. Election workers will be able to register voters in the hallway to limit the number of people allowed in the voting room — a new safety precaution due to COVID-19.

To keep election judges and voters safe from the virus, the village of Oak Park is implementing social-distancing requirements. Polling staff will instruct people to maintain a distance of 6 feet from other people.

Social distancing signage and posters will be posted in public view. All voting machines will be safely distanced apart. Election judges will sit behind a plexiglass barrier, shielding them and the voters from each other.

People are also encouraged to wear a mask and to avoid greeting others using physical touching, such as shaking hands or giving hugs.

“We’re working very hard here at Oak Park to make sure that early voting will be as safe as possible,” said Scaman.

Voters will enter through a special entrance on the eastside of village hall, the same entrance used for early voting in March during the primary election. There will be a special waiting area for the elderly and those with disabilities.

However, the majority of people will wait in socially distanced lines outside, so take care to check the weather and dress accordingly before heading to vote. Bring something to nibble on in case lines are long.

“Dress for the weather,” said Scaman. “Bring a snack, wear gym shoes and bring a coat.”

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

11

Anti-starving artist Little girl sells art to benefit Beyond Hunger

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

A Lincoln Elementary School kindergartener raised just over $900 for Beyond Hunger after hosting an outdoor gallery show, where she sold her original artwork.

The young artist, 5-year-old Zoe Nied, showcased roughly 40 pieces on tables and hung up on clotheslines in her front yard, Sept.

19, where art collectors purchased all but a handful of her work.

“We had some very, very generous neighbors and family and friends, who contributed a lot,” said Nied’s mother, Kathrine Nichols.

The art show comprised roughly 40 pieces created by Nied during the state-mandated stay-at-home order and through summer.

She used a variety of materials, including watercolor paints and markers, to create a variety of scenes.

“I tried to draw a person or a castle or something,” said Nied.

Other times, her work veered into the abstract and modern, demonstrating the breadth of her artistic eye.

“I made like lines everywhere and then

colored them in,” said the artist.

Donating the proceeds of her artwork was entirely Nied’s idea.

Living in Oak Park, Nichols said her daughter regularly notices the people asking for help near highway exits and wanted to do something to raise money for them, but the art show wasn’t Nied’s first idea.

“Her original idea was to do a lemonade stand to raise money for people who needed a little extra help with, you know, everything going on,” said Nichols.

A lemonade stand during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed a little tricky to pull off, so they scrapped that plan.

“Then she read a book where a character had an art show, so we combined the ideas,” said Nichols.

At her mother’s suggestion, Nied opted to donate the money to a charitable organization that would have the infrastructure to best share it among those in need. She chose Beyond Hunger, which she became acquainted with during her days in preschool at First United.

“They’re not affiliated or anything,” said Nichols. “But the food pantry is housed in the First United building.”

Having Beyond Hunger nearby made a deep impression on the budding young artist, who got to go on a tour of the food pantry as a preschooler and learned about the work

SHANEL ROMAIN/Contributor

ARTFUL DONATOR: Zoe Nied shows off artwork that contributed to raising funds for Beyond Hunger it does.

The art show featured a special visiting artist who contributed work to the cause as well — 2-year-old brother C.J, who got lower billing than his big sister.

“She made us put everything in a separate area for him,” said Nichols. “We had to have like ‘the little brother area.’”

Everyone who came to the show wore masks and admired the art at an ample dis-

tance apart from each other. Nied sold all but a handful of the 40-odd pieces she displayed in her show — a roaring success for any artist.

The experience turned out so well, Nied is already working on more art and planning on hosting future front yard art shows next summer.

“Hopefully the sickness will be done by next summer,” she said, “so I can hug people.”

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Byline Bank to close south Oak Park branch

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Staff Reporter

Byline Bank has announced its south Oak Park branch, 810 S. Oak Park Ave., will permanently close Dec. 31. In a brief letter to its customers, Byline offered no explanation behind the closure other than the decision was made after “detailed evaluation.”

In a statement to Wednesday Journal, Susie Goldschmidt, Byline Bank’s Oak Park River Forest market president, maintained Byline Bank will continue to have a presence in the western suburbs despite closing the branch.

“Every community we serve is important to us and we’re staying in the Oak Park and River Forest market,” said Goldschmidt. “In the past two years, we’ve contributed more than $151,000 to the Oak Park and River Forest communities and we’re committed to continuing to partner with our customers and neighbors.”

According to the letter sent to customers, Byline’s other Oak Park location, 1001 Lake St., as well as its River Forest branch, 7751 Lake St., will remain open. Both were former Community Bank locations.

“We also know face-to-face interaction will continue to be important to our longterm relationships and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers, locally, at both our downtown Oak Park and River Forest branches,” said Goldschmidt.

Byline Bank gained the South Oak Park Avenue branch with its acquisition of Community Bank of Oak Park and River Forest in April 2019. The purchase was valued at $40 million.

Community Bank tried unsuccessfully for many years to expand into south Oak Park from its main bank in downtown Oak Park before snagging the 810 S. Oak Park Ave. property. Bob Ellison, Community Bank operations vice president, called the location the “a true branch of the future” upon announcing its opening in 2017. Before it was a part of Community Bank, the property was a branch of Charter One, but closed in 2014.

Back in 2005, Community Bank purchased property across the street at 809 S. Oak Park Ave. in an attempt to open a branch there but the application was denied by the village of Oak Park based on the need to use a village alley to access a drive-thru.

Community Bank also attempted to open a branch on the northeast side of Roosevelt Road and Home Avenue, purchasing that property in 2008 for $880,000 and receiving village approval in 2009.

The bank snapped up other properties on the block, including the former Girl Scouts headquarters 6930 Roosevelt Rd. in 2009 for $1.7 million. The Girl Scouts lot came with $160,672 in unpaid property taxes that accrued during 2006 and 2007, during which time the property was vacant.

The plans to open a branch there languished and no construction ever started.

The Community Bank-owned lots between 6936 and 6950 W. Roosevelt Rd. became Alcuin Montessori School’s second location.

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CAPITAL

Police station debate from page 1 Village staff recommended moving forward with its feasibility study, called Cap the Ike, to examine the bridge decking opportunities and bridge aesthetic treatments over I-290, with an emphasis on Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue bridge decks. Federal grant money will cover the entire study, which will cost just over $1.3 million.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), which is still reviewing the scope of the planned project, has not yet given the village of Oak Park permission to begin work.

“We would hope we would get approval to start moving forward with this study in probably the first quarter of 2021,” said Village Engineer Bill McKenna.

As Lake Street reconstruction nears completion, the village has its eyes set on the next large-scale street rebuilding and enhancement project: Oak Park Avenue from Roosevelt Road to North Avenue.

The project also consists of sewer replacements and water main improvements. The work will occur in two parts starting in 2021 with contract bidding beginning as early as January. McKenna estimates Oak Park will receive $2.56 million in federal funding for Oak Park Avenue streetscaping and resurfacing.

Hemingway District businesses need not fear however, as village staff has recommended skipping that section of Oak Park Avenue, between Randolph Street and Ontario Street. Streetscaping in the Hemingway District is planned for 2022.

One of the most controversial and to some, most needed, capital improvement projects – upgrading police department facilities, has essentially been put on hold, with the exclusion of the existing but obsolete firing range. Work to renovate the firing range, which is in the basement of village hall, has already started.

“I believe this space that our workers work in is unfit,” said Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb. “I would absolutely support a design phase.”

Oak Park’s outdated police station is also located in the basement of village hall and poses a number of health risks, from the mental to the physical. Cramped, with no windows and cinderblock walls, the current station is hardly a welcoming work environment. Nor is it safe; the police station has asbestos.

“We got to start the ball rolling now to ensure that we are fulfilling our obligation of providing a safe environment for our workers and first responders,” said Abu-Taleb.

Whether the village should invest in police station upgrades is no new topic in Oak Park, Given recent calls to reimagine policing at a national and local level, the topic has become more relevant than ever.

“I think we’re on the right track,” said Trustee Dan Moroney, who supported budgeting for police station design concepts in 2021 that will incorporate space the village currently has, while providing long-term solutions for problems.

“The current facilities are utterly inadequate,” said Moroney. “We want an equitable solution for all our village employees and our police officers, without a shadow of a doubt, do a tremendous job for our community.”

Due to the board’s commitment to eradicate systemic racism in governmental bodies, particularly the police department, gathering design concepts for new station felt premature to Trustee Susan Buchanan.

“I don’t want to fully support a new building until, or at the same time as, we address the systemic problems with policing in general that are putting the lives at risk of a segment of our population,” said Buchanan.

Buchanan wanted the new police station to go hand-in-hand with the village’s racial equity journey and whatever changes it will bring about. Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla, who has pushed to defund the police force, was in agreement.

Boutet wanted to remove the police station from the racial equity discussion, saying, “I think the facility is not political.”

Abu-Taleb agreed with Boutet, saying he did not want the village to get hit with a worker’s compensation lawsuit should they

fail to fix the station.

Boutet said she did not have a “full understanding” as to why the current station’s conditions were unhealthy, unsafe and beyond repair.

“I’m not, like, afraid of our police station now,” said Boutet.

Trustees Deno Andrews and Jim Taglia suggested people should get a tour of the police department to broaden their understanding of its problems.

“The basement smell alone irritated me and I’m an asthmatic,” said Andrews.

The village board will discuss the station needs of the police force in greater detail in a meeting expected to occur in November.

Staff has not yet picked a date.

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Puree’s owner transfers pizza legacy

New ownership to keep the original pizza recipe and add wings to the menu

Gaetano opens artisan food market on Madison

By MELISSA ELSMO Oak Park Eats Editor

“Time flies,” said Kris Kahled Reda. “It feels like yesterday that I arrived in Oak Park.”

In 1983, Reda, longtime owner of Puree’s Pizza and Pasta, 1023 Lake St., traveled from Syria to Oak Park to visit his best friend.

Despite the fact Reda had a round trip ticket and every intention of returning to his home country, he opted to stay and has been a vibrant part of the Oak Park restaurant scene for 35 years.

“It’s Anan’s fault I’m in the pizza business,” said Reda of Mayor Anan Abu Taleb.

“I am grateful for all he taught me over the years.”

Abu Taleb gave Reda his first American job when he hired him as a driver at Giordano’s in 1987. Over the years Reda ascended the ranks to assistant manager and in 1994 he stepped out on his own and opened Puree’s pizza. After 26 years in business Reda is ready for retirement. He officially sold Purees to new owners on Oct. 1.

While Reda knows the time is right to move on, he is wistful about the years he spent on Lake Street. He reminisced about raising his son in the restaurant -- gesturing to a corner of the dining room Reda said, “his crib used to be right over there.” His son, now 24, joins his seven-year-old daughter and wife as primary motivations for retiring.

“I am very happy I have been successful,” said Reda. “God gave me more than I asked for. I wish the new owners to be just as successful as I have been. Now, I look forward to

Photo by Melissa Elsmo

OLD AND NEW: Kris Kahled Reda (center) is transitioning ownership of Puree’s Pizza to Gregory Steele (left) and Tony Rudd (right). taking care of my family.”

Reda has transferred his pizza legacy to new owners Gregory Steele, Tony Rudd and Dominic Washington. The trio tried the pizza and decided to keep the recipe “as is.”

Reda joins the new owners for a few hours each day to help them get their footing in the pizza business.

“We love this location,” said Rudd. “Kris has taken us under his wing and become a mentor to us.”

Steele, who has both front of the house and back of the house restaurant experience, is happy Reda is passing along his pizza making secrets. He grew up going to the movies at the Lake Theater and his sister, an OPRF graduate, enjoyed Puree’s Pizza as a student.

The new owners are dropping the pasta, sandwiches, and soups in favor of a more streamlined menu consisting of pizza and chicken with Chicago “mild sauce.” Made

Chef Gaetano’s Artisan Foods, 7636 Madison St., is officially open for business. The shop is currently open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Six patrons are allowed in the store at a time as Chef Gaetano Di Benedetto gets his crew up and running. Expect extraordinary smells as you patiently peruse artisan breads, fresh pastas, premium meats, and house made sauces. An array of gourmet shelf stable ingredients and wines complement the house-made items.

Notable finds included housesmoked ricotta, fresh spinach and ricotta triangoli, and wild boar ragu.

Gaetano’s Artisan Foods also offers enticing house-made pizzas; they are hybrid between a Roman Pinsa and a Sicilian pizza and benefit from a 50hour fermentation and a dual cooking method.

Melissa Elsmo, Oak Park Eats editor

popular on the South Side of Chicago, “mild sauce” is traditionally made from a blend of ketchup, hot sauce and occasionally barbecue sauce. The sauce is prized for being sweet rather than spicy, and Steele is developing a seasoned coating for the wings designed to complement “mild sauce.”

Puree’s Pizza and Pasta has been officially renamed Puree’s Pizza and Chicken.

“We want Kris to come back to visit knowing there will always be a sense of him here,” said Steele.

D200 supt. gets pay increase, detailed goals on equity issues Supt. Joylynn-Pruitt Adams gets standard 2.5% pay increase as board sets new goals for her to accomplish in area of equity

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

During a regular meeting on Sept. 24, the District 200 school board unanimously approved a 2.5 percent pay increase for Supt. Jolynn Pruitt-Adams, which brings her salary up to $248,256. But the board has slightly modified its plan for holding their top employee accountable.

As part of its performance evaluation, the board has charged Pruitt-Adams with identifying by Dec. 31 no more

than five measurable ways to meet the board’s two main outcomes: an annual 2 percent improvement rate “towards the attainment and maintenance of ‘exemplary’ status” on the state’s annual report card and an annual 2 percent “reduction rate in statistically meaningful correlations between race, ethnicity, and student achievement.”

The board has also tasked the superintendent with identifying or developing by Feb. 28, 2021 “two financial evaluation tools for implementation by June 30, 2021.”

The board is calling for the administration to determine a “resource framework” based on the state’s funding model, which is designed to align funding with student needs, by March 15, 2021. The board stated that strategic outcomes should be measured “within a balanced budget.”

In addition to assigning those goals to the superintendent, the board has held itself responsible for holding “two book reads of texts on culturally relevant pedagogy especially with regard to racial identity” and setting a board retreat

on racial equity by April 21, 2021.

“We have long stated during the budget season that the district’s use of tax-payer dollars should reflect its priorities,” D200 board President Sara Dixon Spivy stated in a memo drafted Sept. 24. “This year’s proposed goals provide greater insight and transparency into whether we are making good on that statement.”

Pruitt-Adams was hired as superintendent in 2016, after serving several months on an interim basis. In 2019, the board unanimously approved a three-year contract for the superintendent, which runs through June 30, 2022.

Each year, however, the board has the discretion of adjusting the superintendent’s annual salary after an annual board review and evaluating her performance. That evaluation is based on performance goals and objectives that the board establishes.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

ART BEAT

Art from Oak Park to Austin to Hyde Park

Bringing art to neighborhoods goal of Artist Run Chicago 2.0

The idea behind the Biennial exhibition is to get contemporary art out of institutional spaces, move it away from the view of classspecific audiences and into neighborhoods for all people to experience, and to promote dialogue in this environment.

Artist Run Chicago 2.0 takes a “diaspora

By MICHELLE DYBAL Arts Editor of work that has been exhibited and brings it to a public audience, making it available There are paintings and postcards. Books in Hyde Park,” Chadha said. It’s all about flagged for inquiry and contemporary art making contemporary art accessible to peocovering six gallery spaces and more. ple, whether in this exhibit or in Terrain’s Artist Run Chicago, 2.0, which has taken projects, which both feature multiple artists over the Hyde Park Art in public spaces.

Center (HPAC), “examWhen seeing the postines the core motivacards inside HPAC’s tions, trajectories and vestibule, viewers will philosophies that have recognize artists who made the past decade have exhibited with more generative for Terrain have other new models of artistwork at Artist Run Chirun initiatives to exist cago 2.0, such as Claire throughout the city Ashley, Cathy Hsaio, and suburbs,” accordEdra Soto and Alberto ing to HPAC. Aguilar.

This follows the origIn fact, Aguilar’s inal exhibition in 2009, work is exhibited by Artist Run Chicago. In another Oak Park nonversion 2.0, 50 art-spacprofit arts center, Comes and organizations pound Yellow. Practice are exhibiting. That of Oak Park is also part includes three from of Artist Run Chicago Oak Park and one from 2.0.

Austin.

Chuquimarca has The exhibit runs used their space in the through Nov. 1. When exhibit to highlight approaching HPAC, the books from HPAC’s first art to come into D’Angelo Art Library. view through the glass Publications are bookCourtesy Compound Yellow doors is mounted by marked that reference Terrain Exhibitions. Alberto Aguilar’s “Monumental Acts,” Native, Caribbean Founded by Sabina Ott exhibited by Compound Yellow, Oak and Latin American of Oak Park in 2011, Park, at Artist Run Chicago, 2.0. art and history “as a Terrain is known for reminder about probits Biennial where art lematic gazes and auis displayed on porches, front yard and roofs thorship.” Chuquimarca is a library projthroughout Oak Park, Chicago and other lo- ect space located in Austin “focused on the cales.

Native, Mexican, Caribbean, and Central Monica Chadha, board member of Ter- and South American contemporary art and rain, said they chose to exhibit in the ves- culture discourse in Chicago,” according to tibule at the entrance of HPAC because the their website. art they exbibit often is on full display in Arts Run Chicago 2.0 is open Tuesdays front of buildings and “our art isn’t pre- through Fridays, by reservation and includes times for high-risk individuals. Limcious. It’s meant to be accessible.”

The Terrain work is a photo compilation ited walk-ins may be accommodated. Free. of their Biennial exhibitions from 2017 and 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago. Tickets/ more: 2019 – postcards of the art created by more hydeparkart.org/exhibition-archive/artistsrun-chicago-2-0 than 80 artists in front of homes, primarily.

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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Boutet announces slate for Oak Park village board elections Three village trustee candidates join village presidential hopeful

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

Three Oak Park village trustee candidates have aligned with Trustee Simone Boutet in the April 2021 election by joining a slate with the village presidential hopeful. Called Unite Oak Park, the coalition was “formed to work together to eliminate board dysfunction and to respect diverse viewpoints around the community’s most needs,” according to an Oct. 18 press release.

The slate includes Energy and Environment commissioners Ravi Parakkat and Stephen Morales, who is also chair of the Community Development Citizen Advisory Committee. Attorney Lucia Robinson is also on the slate.

“With many businesses in Oak Park

struggling and many Oak Parkers recognizing divisiveness during board meetings, the coalition hopes to lay out its key pillars that will make an impact on the Oak Park community,” the press release reads.

Those pillars include fostering economic recovery in our village, building trust in government, and creating equity for all villagers.

Unite Oak Park is hosting a launch event at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Scoville Park, where the group will discuss their platform issues, as well as their views on Oak Park’s challenges and opportunities.

In accordance with local and state guidelines to prevent spread of COVID-19, no more than 50 people can attend the event.

However, it will be streamed on Facebook Live.

File photos

UNITED: Clockwise, Simone Boutet, Stephen Morales, Ravi Parakkat, Lucia Robinson

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D97 and D200 adopt first budgets since start of pandemic

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Finance officials in both districts project less tax revenue, extra spending on PPE

later in the fiscal year. Employee benefits were projected to increase by roughly 6 percent, and total salaries were projected to rise by 3.4 percent, versus FY 2020.

Grossi said the increase reflects changes in staff size, staff composition and contractual salary increases.

During a regular meeting on Sept. 24, the D200 school board unanimously adBy MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter opted the FY 2021 budget that included $92.7 million in total revenues, a signifiLast month, the school boards in District cant increase over the $78.2 million total 97 and 200 each adopted their first budgets for FY 2020. Total budgeted expenditures since the pandemic upended daily life in for the adopted budget were $84.5 million, March. Both districts’ budgets reflect de- roughly in line with FY 2020’s $84 million clines in property tax collections due to total expenditures, for a surplus before the pandemic recession and costs, which construction expenditures of $8.2 million. were unexpected before the The district budgeted an pandemic hit, related to puradditional $18.1 million chasing personal protective for capital projects and life equipment and other expensafety maintenance that will ditures designed to mitigate come out of the fund balance. the spread of COVID-19.

When she presented the The D97 school board unanpreliminary budget back imously voted to adopt the in June, Alyssa Alfano, the FY 2021 budget at a regular district’s finance director, meeting on Sept. 22. Total attributed most of that inrevenues in that budget were crease to the difference in $106.4 million, roughly in line tax revenue in FY 2021 and with FY 2020’s $106.1 million the previous three fiscal revenue total. The district’s years. That difference, she total expenditures for FY explained, reflects mainly an 2021, excluding capital exissue of timing. penses, were $104.9 million, “The major difference ALYSSA ALFANO for a surplus of around $1.5 you’re going to see in our District 200 finance director million. The adopted budget revenue stream from the FY included another $23.7 mil2020 budget to now is our real lion in capital project expenestate tax revenue,” she said. ditures.

“Really, all this is, is the timDuring the Sept. 22 meeting of our real estate taxes. It ing, Rob Grossi, D97’s financial consul- makes our revenues look higher than they tant, said that the district’s real estate tax really are … Our tax levy year runs on a revenues increased by 4.4 percent due pri- calendar year and we operate on a fiscal marily to the revenue the district received year, so we’re always going to have timing from the expired TIF districts. differences.”

That increase, however, will be offset Aside from the timing-related increase by a “modest decline” in property tax rev- in tax revenues, D200 officials said that enues related to the pandemic, he said. the district should actually expect lower In addition, the district decided to waive property tax collections this year. student fees for the 2020-21 school year, Cyndi Sidor, D200’s chief school busiresulting in the loss of another $400,000 ness official, said that an estimated $2 milin local revenues. The district is expected lion increase in the cost of PPE, routine to receive $320,000 in federal CARES Act cleaning and additional full-time staffers funding. related to COVID-19 mitigation was not inGrossi said the district’s total expendi- cluded in the FY 2021 budget. tures, excluding capital expenditures, are “We’re not building this into the budget, budgeted to increase by $5.3 million, or 5.3 because we just want this to show that percent, over FY 2020. Around 2.4 percent this was hopefully just a 1-year expendiof that increase is due to COVID-19 relat- ture we’ll have to worry about,” she said, ed expenses. adding that grants and COVID-19-related Grossi said the district’s budget con- savings should offset the expense. tains $500,000 of PPE expenses, $170,000 of which is contingent on whatever happens CONTACT: thevillagefreepress@gmail.com

“The major difference you’re going to see in our revenue stream from the FY 2020 budget to now is our real estate tax revenue.”

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C R I M E

Unity Temple bomb threat not ‘bona fide’

Several police cars were dispatched to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., after a man called in a bomb threat to the Oak Park police department.

At approximately 10:50 p.m., Oct. 9, Oak Park police received a call to its non-emergency number from an unknown subject who advised he had planted a bomb in the church and that he wanted the United States military to surrender, according to Detective Sergeant Angelo Episcopo.

Upon inspection of church premises, police found no explosive devices and the church unoccupied. The Unity Temple building manager also found no explosives. Leading the police to determine the threat had not been “bona fide.”

When asked if any apprehensions had been made, Episcopo stated, “The case is still under investigation.”

Vehicular hijacking ■ Two Chicago juvenile males, one with his hand under his shirt, approached the victim under the pretense of asking for directions, and demanded the victim’s property; when the victim went to a nearby store to call the police, the juveniles took

the victim’s car at 5:32 p.m., Oct. 5 in the 800 block of South Oak Park Avenue. Responding police officers found the two offenders based on a clothing description given by the victim on the CTA Blue Line platform. Following positive identification by the victim, the two boys were arrested.

The vehicle was found in the parking lot where the incident happened.

Burglary ■ Someone broke the lock to a storage shed and removed a power washer, hedge trimmer and weed whacker between 2:30 a.m. and 2:50 a.m., Oct. 7 in the 100 block of Madison Street. The estimated loss is $300.

■ Someone pried open the window of a van, reached inside to punch out the rear lock and then removed seven drills and one Bosch jig saw from the vehicle between 3 p.m., Oct. 5 and 7:48 a.m., Oct. 6 in the 200 block of South Humphrey Avenue. Estimated loss is $2,150.

■ A black Chrome laptop computer was taken out of an unlocked vehicle parked in the 900 block of North Harvey Avenue between 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Oct. 5. Estimated loss is $355.

■ Someone broke into a vehicle and removed a bottle of cologne, an Uber window decal and medication between 6:30 p.m., Oct. 9 and 2:30 p.m., Oct. 10 in the 800 block of North Boulevard. The estimated loss is $40.

■ Someone took insurance paperwork, a box of medical supplies and blankets out of an unlocked automobile parked in the 100 block of South Boulevard between noon, Oct. 6 and 10:20 a.m., Oct 7. An estimated loss of $40.

Attempted burglary ■ A man attempted to break into a residence by climbing on top of an air conditioner to enter through the home’s second story but was witnessed by the resident at 1:37 a.m., Oct. 7 in the 1100 block of Wenonah Avenue. The offender, who did not gain entry into the home, was last seen running to the front of the house.

Motor vehicle theft ■ A blue 2016 Toyota Camry was removed from the 100 block of Forest Avenue between 10 p.m., Oct. 9 and 1 p.m., Oct. 10. Estimated loss is $24,000.

Theft

■ An unattended black and red Haro mountain bike was removed from the first block of Lake Street at 2 p.m., Oct. 9. The estimated loss is $300.

Criminal damage to property ■ A man threw a brick at the glass window of BP gas station, 7140 Roosevelt Rd., scratching the window, after the store clerk refused to accept a return on an item at 12:01 a.m., Oct. 9. The man was last seen running southeast. Estimated damage is $500.

■ These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports Oct. 5 – Oct. 12 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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District 90 students returning to the classroom Blended learning mixes inperson and remote education

By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter

Students in River Forest’s District 90 will be returning to school part-time this month, in a blended learning approach combining in-person teaching, remote-learning, and asynchronous online education. The plan was approved by the board of education earlier this week. An option to attend fully remotely is available to all students. Parents must opt-in to remote-only education by Oct. 13.

The return to school will begin in a phased-in approach by grade level, begin-

RETURN TO SCHOOL Blended options from page 1 will be onsite Wednesday and Thursday. The two groups will alternate onsite learning on Fridays, with one attending one week and the other attending the next. When students are not onsite, they’ll receive remote instruction.

Elementary students, attending classes in person will be in the buildings from 8 to 11:30 a.m., finishing their instruction remotely from 1 to 3 p.m.

Middle school students will be onsite from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., finishing their days remotely from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

District administrators explained in the plan that they can’t guarantee families that students will keep their current teachers, class assignments and home schools once

ning on Oct. 21 for Kindergarten and PreK. The last group to begin back in the school is Group B of the 8th grade, which won’t start in-person until Nov. 6. The full schedule can be found on the district’s website at district90.org.

The phased-in approach allows teachers more time to work on the transition between remote-learning and in-person, and it will allow the district to see how procedures and safety protocols are working and adjust if needed.

“Blended” learning means the students won’t be in the school building full time, and schedules have been adjusted to combine in-person learning with additional remote education and supplemental asynchronous lessons and projects.

Morning kindergarten students will attend in person every day from 8:30 to 10:30

a.m., and afternoon from 12 to 2 p.m. Both groups will have remote specials afterward for viewing at home.

Students in grades 1-4 will attend school in person every day from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., during which time students will receive general education instruction. After 12:30 p.m. dismissal, “specials” and asynchronous learning activities will be offered.

Students in grades 5 to 8 will attend school in-person twice a week in a split-density classroom. Students will be divided into A and B groups, about half the students in each group. While one group is in the classroom learning, the at-home group will be learning synchronously. No middle school students will be in-person on Wednesdays, but remote classes will be held.

The district has implemented and will continue to reevaluate and emphasize pro-

hybrid learning begins -- regardless of whether the students continue with remote learning or switch to the hybrid model.

“District 97 will do its best to ensure that students have the same teacher(s) from their home school from the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, but as various circumstances and scenarios arise (including, but not limited to an analysis of the number of students who are opted into each model), it must be noted that it is possible that students will not have the same teacher or, in some cases, be assigned to the same school,” administrators stated in a condensed version of the plan available on the district’s website.

Community members can read the plan online at op97.org.

Joylynn Pruitt-Adams launched her weekly Monday Memo to provide community members and Oak Park and River Forest High School students, staff, teachers and families with updates on the district’s planning for the 2020-21 school year.

Pruitt-Adams said that district’s steering committee has been meeting weekly “to create a hybrid plan that we hope to be able to implement sometime during second semester, so that students who wish to do so would be able to opt in to some level of onsite learning.”

The superintendent said that administrators will present a draft of the plan to the D200 school board at their meeting on Nov. 19, with a final plan scheduled for board approval on Dec. 3.

Pruitt-Adams said the steering committee is looking into implementing saliva testing for students once they return onsite. At a meeting in September, the committee heard a presentation from a scientist working

OPRF plans for 2nd semester hybrid Earlier this month, D200 Superintendent

Do you want to keep your public officials accountable?

tocols to protect the health and safety of students, teachers and staff, including the requirement to wear masks at all times, mandatory temperature checks upon entering the schools, and improved air filters in the buildings.

Families who are more comfortable sticking with remote-only learning can do so by opting in using the form on the district’s website by Oct. 13, but once committed to remote-learning, families cannot switch to the blended plan until the end of the first semester on Jan. 21 unless the state moves into Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois plan.

Additionally, the district won’t be able to honor requests made by families to switch into remote learning after the start of the blended learning for the child’s grade level without a doctor’s note.

with a school district in LaGrange on implementing saliva testing, she said.

“The surveillance testing does not diagnose cases of COVID-19, but it is an effective way to identify who may be infectious even if they have no symptoms,” Pruitt-Adams stated.

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VIEWPOINTS

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Call Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor at 613-3310 ktrainor@wjinc.com

Power to the people Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others.

‘W

Robert F. Kennedy

e the People” was supposed to be a definitive statement that made it clear who were the guardians of our democracy. Our elected officials should represent us, the people — not the monied class or special interest groups with their army of highly paid lobbyists.

Public service is both a right and responsibility. A diligent public servant keeps his/her ear to the ground to stay in tune with both what the people are saying and what their government can do to address their concerns. Ideally, our political parties may differ on strategies but should always agree on protecting our fragile democracy.

Unfortunately, we have come to a place where “We the People” are little more than cardboard cutouts, who, every two or four years, are given the opportunity to choose someone to distort or ignore our demands and wishes.

The two dominant political parties have encased themselves in impenetrable bubbles. Their aim is to keep power at any costs — the people be damned. So if the politicians are not working for us, the people, who are they working for?

The short answer is themselves and their puppet masters — the so-called elites of our society. These elites are the rich and powerful whose only aim is to get richer and more powerful.

According to Bloomberg Wealth, “the 50 richest Americans are worth as much as the poorest 165 million.” The monied class needs the political elites to rig the government via laws and executive actions that keep massive infusions of cash coming into their coffers.

To the monied elites, government is a big shiny ATM machine.

Take for example Trump’s much ballyhooed tax-cut legislation that saw 83 percent of the money doled out to the richest individuals and corporations. And what do We the People get? Table scraps?

So much for “trickle-down” economics. Our government has not been overthrown; it has been taken over by the political and monied elites. Empathic politicians are viewed as weak and or disloyal partisans.

Are we seeing the emergence of fascism wrapped in the American flag? Symbolic patriotism is the opiate that keeps the masses in line. 2020 has ushered in serious challenges to our fragile democracy. Still, the current administration is hell-bent on using any means necessary to gain and keep power; to punish and, if they had their way, to jail their political opponents and to promote a cult of personality that looks to replace the POTUS with a King or Fuhrer.

However, We the People may be slow but we’re not stupid.

This year’s election cycle is of critical importance. This is our chance to send a message to the political elites. Put simply, if Joe Biden wins, the Democratic Party should be put on notice that their victory will be more of a rejection of Trumpism than a vote of confidence. For the Republican Party, now is the time to re-evaluate its course, going forward. As a country, we need the insights of true conservatives — not the insults and bullying that currently characterizes the party under Trump.

Finally, We the People need to wise up and stop being manipulated by empty calorie platitudes, slogans, and divisive race-baiting tactics. We should never forget what Abraham Lincoln said during his Gettysburg address: “government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

KWAME SALTER

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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Tax-appeal period extended p. 25

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Maywood and Chicago: the missing links in our racial narrative

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Part II he Oak Park story around open housing with both its disappointing and reassuring moments is painfully documented in our history museum’s exhibit “Open House: The legacy of fair housing.” The display takes key developments from the history, Promised Land Suburb, by Stan West, Peggy Tuck Sinko, Frank Lipo, and Evette Hughes.

Both presentations tell the interesting and unsettling history of the very small black community in Oak Park from the late 19th century until 1980.

But largely absent in both of these narratives is any detailed picture of what was happening around housing and education in the two bordering African-American communities of Maywood and Chicago. The next two installments of “Race and Education in Oak Park” will look at these two communities where thousands of Blacks lived before Oak Park began to integrate. Both places offer instruction that can expand our understanding of why integration in housing was no guarantee of racially just and equitable schools.

JOHN DUFFY

One View

Panic-pedaling and Blockbusting Central to ideology of white dominance in Oak Park and Chicago 50 years ago was an intense fear of re-segregation as African Americans moved into neighborhoods and whites fled. In this exchange, major losses in home values occurred in a racialized market where rapid turnover fueled profits for realtors and investors.

Attempting to write a different script, Oak Park civic and religious leaders focused on long-established racist and exploitive panic-peddling, blockbusting, and other racially motivated real estate practices.

These discriminatory methods were at the core of Chicago’s real estate business as the historic Chicago Black Belt expanded in the years following World War II when a new wave of Black migration left the South seeking opportunity, community, and more freedom.

Black migration from the American South in the ’50s and ’60s far exceeded World War I-era migration.

Extreme overcrowding and a range of discriminatory white-controlled business practices, long in place, drained financial resources from Black Chicago and systematically limited African-American access to new neighborhoods.

These racist housing practices preceded and followed African Americans even in the early years

of Oak Park’s open housing efforts. They included restrictive covenants where property owners signed documents pledging not to sell to Blacks, Latinx and Jews. Another practice, redlining, still widespread in Chicago, was solidly in place. By actually placing red lines around communities of color, financial institutions, in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Housing Authority, enforced draconian limitations on making mortgages available to Black and Latinx applicant in areas that white-owned banks and federal housing officials deemed unstable and risky.

Redlining forced black buyers into “contract buying,” where housing prices were doubled and tripled over their actual value as real estate speculators drained capital from Black and Brown neighborhoods. Frequently, before a family could complete multi-year contracts, owners of the property would foreclose, wiping out all equity families had realized.

From 1934 to 1968, 98 percent of all Federal Housing Authority-insured loans went to white buyers.

As the federal government underwrote $120 billion in mortgages, African-American and Latinx buyers were categorically excluded from home ownership support. In the face of these exploitive practices in North Lawndale, as early as the 1930s, leaders of the Jewish community called for a fair and integrated community that welcomed all people — a liberal vision that would not be realized until many years later in Oak Park.

See DUFFY on page 24

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Power partnerships

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iver Forest is learning one of the most powerful lessons of transformative leadership. Don’t go it alone. Look for allies.

Offer help. Accept help.

In its sincere and ambitious effort to foster racial equity in the village, there is already a partnership with neighboring Maywood.

The Twin Villages Covenant launched this spring out of the fallow soil of the long-fraught relationship between these neighboring towns. Who knew there was a partnership to be made, to be nurtured?

Now as the River Forest Village Board continues to explore its historic shortfalls and vast potential to nurture a more equitable village, it is looking this time to home-based Dominican University as a partner.

Dominican has a long, rich history addressing social justice. But those efforts have been in overdrive in recent years as it tackles both its own issues on equity and seeks to connect other institutions finding their ways.

Various members of its leadership, including Sheila Radford-Hill, the school’s chief diversity officer, spoke about “the need to change the narrative about race” while working to become “an equity-enhancing, antiracist institution.”

Village President Cathy Adduci said at the last meeting, “We talked … about becoming a better government. We’re talking today about becoming a better community.”

These are moments of aspiration and practical steps. We saw enthusiasm for this discussion grow last week beyond the core of female trustees who have led to date. And it inspires us seeing River Forest embark on a journey we did not see this village embracing.

“This is a long-haul forever project,” Amy Omi, Dominican’s minister for liturgy and arts, told trustees.

Never too soon to get started.

Iconic North Avenue

Two institutions that defined North Avenue in Oak Park and Galewood across the decades of the last century and which have also defined the slow fade of the street in the current century are happily biting the dust.

Sears, astonishingly once America’s pre-eminent main street retailer, dominated the bustling intersection of Harlem and North. The store has long been shuttered. But a redevelopment plan for the acreage saved the bones of the main building for a new mixed-use project. Now new owners will stick with the apartment and retail mix but are leveling the site.

East on North Avenue, the headquarters of the once iconic St. Paul Federal Savings and Loan has been an oversized branch bank for the successors to St. Paul. Now, too, that building is giving way to new development.

If ever a commercial strip needed to be rethought from the ground up, it is North Avenue. Progress has been slow but has gained momentum even into the teeth of this pandemic and its economic pain.

It will be a different North Avenue. Long overdue.

Better Lake Street

There are still finishing touches to be made on Lake Street through downtown Oak Park. And the block between Euclid and Oak Park Avenue will be a construction zone for a short while longer.

But for all the pain and the consternation the to-the-dirt remaking of Lake Street has caused, it was always an essential infrastructure project replacing water, sewer and utilities underground while tearing out the worn down streetscape elements that had become tacky over 40 years.

As it wraps up a few thoughts: It looks good. The streetscape is a modern design with old-time elements that meshes well with a new and modern downtown Oak Park.

It is a stable base from which to rebuild a downtown retail and restaurant world battered by the pandemic and shifting shopping patterns.

For all the upscale touches, this project got repeated cost shavings from village trustees who never get credit for pinching a penny. There was a lot of scrimping here, but it is still a worthy project.

We’ve said it before but downtown is done. Oak Park’s limited resources of money and bandwidth can now be turned to other districts in great need of attention, from Madison to Roosevelt to North Avenue.

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What it means to love your country

n a recent New York Times essay, novelist Marilynne Robinson, author of the excellent Gilead, begins with an evocative question: “What does it mean to love a country?”

It is the pre-eminent question with three weeks left till this most consequential of elections.

What does it mean to love our country?

Robinson describes her feeling for this country as “a deep if sometimes difficult affinity I would call love.”

A deep if sometimes difficult affinity.

Do you love your country if you criticize it? Do you love it if you never criticize it?

John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” which is a great soundbite but somewhat one-sided. We should ask what our country can do for us — especially when it isn’t doing enough, except for those with great wealth. But the second half of the statement is still on target. Not enough of us ask what we can do for our country.

I would change it to, “Always ask what your country can do for you, and never stop asking what you can do for your country.”

That, it seems to me, is the baseline for loving it.

Robinson takes this further.

Deeper than her “difficult affinity” is “a feeling like a love of family.”

America is a glorious idea, she says, expressed in glorious language in our founding documents, which profess that “human beings are sacred, therefore equal. We are asked to see one another in the light of a singular inalienable worth that would make a family of us if we let it.”

If we let it, but we do not let it. Our glorious founding words, Robinson adds, “always leave us wanting” because our sense of “family” is too limited. We have an inner circle to whom we willingly, even generously, extend our blessings — to relatives, friends and a wider community. We also have an outer circle where, for too many Americans, generosity becomes conditional, and those who fall outside “familial” boundaries are neglected or rejected, sometimes unknowingly, or in the case of Trump and his supporters, willfully.

Equality, our founding principle, Robinson says, “is a progressive force, constantly and necessarily exposing our failures and showing us new paths forward.”

What does it mean at this moment to love our country? Finding that path forward is one way, especially when we have a leader who is determined to take us

backward. As one observer on NPR put it last weekend, sometimes progress is not moving forward but stopping our slide backward. Loving our country, then, means voting for the candidate who is most likely to stop our backsliding and may even begin to move us ahead again.

For some who dislike Trump, though, that is a difficult step. In this election, it means voting against the party they have always voted for and finding the courage to vote for the party with which they often disagree. It means doing something personally difficult — rising above party loyalty when necessary in order to come to the aid of your country and countrymen. If not now, when?

We have learned the hard way that our system of checks and balances, the separation of powers, which we were taught would always safeguard democracy is all-too-easily subverted, as has been demonstrated these past four years.

Do the freedoms you claim to revere include the freedom to stand idly by when your country is bleeding, when its people are suffering?

You can profess devotion to the flag or recite the pledge of allegiance loudly or puff up with pride when you hear the national anthem, but you can’t say you love your country when that country is sick and the person in charge is making it sicker and you can’t bring yourself to vote for “the other side” just once in order to reverse its downward spiral.

What difficult thing have you done to love your country, much less save it? Have you defended it FILE PHOTO with the same ferocity as those who are actively harming it?

If you can’t do something uncomfortable, something that goes against your grain in order to save your country, like voting for Joe Biden this Nov. 3, well, democracy grants you that privilege.

Democracy, in fact, makes few demands of us.

We can be crappy citizens if we want. Democracy coddles those who don’t deserve it. Millions of us don’t even bother to vote. And millions more are mindless slaves to their respective ideologies. But democracy does place one demand on us. It leaves its very existence entirely in our hands. It asks if we’ve got what it takes to keep this precious gift alive, and if we don’t, it dies without a whimper.

Robinson, on the other hand, puts it differently.

“Democracy,” she concludes, “is the great instrument of human advancement.

“We have no right to fail it.”

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Hallowhat?

ittersweet feelings surround Halloween for me. The joyful amusement of engaging with young trick-or-treaters loaded with candy and amazement in their eyes is countered by kids and adults disguised in costumes looking for trouble.

Two years ago, my costume was the trouble.

I wore blackface with a Rastafarian banana costume.

A lot of people were deeply hurt.

“What is blackface?” I asked.

Today, after two years of education through Race Conscious Dialogues, Racial Crossfit, numerous podcasts, literature, and a hyper-vigilant awareness of what it means to be antiracist, I am grateful for my blackface costume experience.

It is appropriate during this election season and COVID-19 pandemic to reflect on how the blackface costume fits into the larger picture of the dysfunctional system and structure of our country.

Why do so many people become defensive when faced with the truth that a system is unjust and needs to be changed? Honestly, I don’t think everyone gets defensive — only those who may lose their power or positions if change occurs.

It makes sense from a human-nature perspective, but it prevents the system from growing and healing in a way that supports all Americans.

In order to facilitate true equality, many Americans will have to give up some of what they have acquired as

a result of the dysfunctional system. That’s the punch in the gut that turns many away from being true antiracists.

While reading Stamped from the Beginning [by Ibram X. Kendi], I had to simplify some of the concepts of racism and racist ideas and beliefs by using metaphors from a personal perspective.

Immediately, my thoughts jumped to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I think our country is in a severe state of PTSD. Trauma has occurred so deeply it bleeds from generation to generation.

Our generation didn’t own slaves or oppose civil rights or do anything to directly and intentionally cause dysfunction. Most white people don’t realize we also didn’t do anything to deserve the benefits we enjoy today from the years of oppression, abuse and trauma delivered by our ancestors.

When I use “dysfunction” or “dysfunctional,” substitute “racism” or “racist.”

Here’s another useful metaphor: believing that our country is fair and just is like believing in Santa Claus: we want to believe so badly we do — because the truth is painful to admit.

The blackface costume was my Santa Claus moment.

There was no way to avoid the pain of scratching the surface of truth. Now I won’t stop digging for more truth or fighting for repair of our dysfunctional system.

Missy D’Alise of River Forest, recently took ShaRhonda Knott Dawson’s Racial Crossfit, antiracist course, with the goal of integrating antiracism into her life.

MISSY D’ALISE One View

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

W E D N E S D A Y

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 Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Arts Editor Michelle Dybal Sports/Staff reporter James Kay Columnists Marc Blessoff, Jack Crow, Doug Deuchler, Linda Francis, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designers Mark Moroney, Javier Govea, Debbie Becker Business Manager Joyce Minich Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

Growing Community Media BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

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DONVID-20 is deadly

e have two pandemics at once: Donald Trump and the other is COVID-19. It’s fitting that they have now merged — let’s call it DONVID-20, and Trump is now exhaling the virus along with the hate speech, which seems to refresh and recharge him. He talks. And talks. And talks.

It’s almost impossible to fight COVID when the person in charge is a megalomaniac, so mentally and psychologically impaired that he literally doesn’t know, and refuses to admit, how much he doesn’t know. He cannot survive for even a few days without making public appearances, sucking up public adulation and spitting out public attacks. Along with the virus.

Think about DONVID’s homecoming pageant from Walter Reed (see reinfection, reinvasion, recorruption, redebasement, resubversion). His destination was the Truman balcony, and he did a pretty good job of walking up the stairs to get to it. The balcony was the perfect setting for his drug-fueled lust for dictatorship and its trappings. (No other recent U.S. president has spoken from the balcony, although Obama opened it to host a reception for Angela Merkel.

Dictators love military parades with plenty of military equipment, and love viewing them from a balcony. If DONVID stays on steroids, prepare for a bellicose pre-election parade with lots of heavy equipment. I’m hoping the leaders of West Point and Annapolis refuse to send their charges to prop up the

DONVID. There are probably some military colleges in the South that will take part. (Sometimes I wish that Lincoln had gone in, rescued all the slaves, and kissed the South goodbye.)

DONVID’s lies (20,000 to date, according to the Washington Post) and insults pollute any event every time he speaks publicly, no matter the subject. He sprinkles his public appearances with what Shakespeare called “asides” and invariably refocuses the attention of any of his faithful fools who hang on his every word.

It is astonishingly “bush league” that he only acknowledged the kidnap/murder plot against Michigan’s female Governor Whitmer in a tweet, and a snarky one at that.

But not unexpected. Her offense? She didn’t thank him.

Outstanding work by state and federal agencies saved that woman’s life, but she didn’t thank him!

Apparently DONVID’s family is important to him, but only insofar as they will continue his legacy, continue the smoke-and-mirrors family business, and hang onto the money (if there is any). And continue to stay famous. The Kennedys, they’re not. The Rockefellers, they’re not. The Bushes, they’re not. I’m thinking Kardashians, but maybe with fewer implants.

Speaking of other first families, Isn’t it telling that DONVID is the first president in decades who doesn’t have a dog? Well, he does have Lindsey Graham. So far.

This is the last column I will write about Donald Trump, even if he is re-elected. Thinking about him is not good for my health.

MARY KAY O’GRADY

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.

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

A Climate Action Planning Team for Oak Park As many in our community know, the climate emergency demands comprehensive and effective action by all of us. Each year in the last three, Oak Park has borne climate impacts that damaged homes and yards, incurred unexpected costs, and affected our daily lives. This includes intense rains that flooded basements, deadly polar vortexes that caused skyrocketing heating costs, and long summer droughts that leave our yards and gardens parched.

The shifting climate has also had negative effects on health, putting many at higher risk for asthma and allergy attacks as well as anxiety and depression — all of these conditions have disproportionately affected underresourced families and people of

color just as COVID-19 has. These human-caused impacts call us to reduce our collective carbon footprint and join with many other municipalities in our region and throughout the country that have envisioned a future without greenhouse gas emissions.

With this sense of urgency, we have come together to form a resident-led Oak Park Climate Action Planning Team. Oak Park has a long tradition of implementing policies to build a sustainable community — and now we are excited for the opportunity to envision a comprehensive approach to climate change.

We applaud the efforts of the village to conduct a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the results of which will be present-

ed this month. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which tells us how much carbon pollution is emitted and from which sources, is the key for Oak Park to be a strong contributor to slowing climate change. It is the first step many communities have taken as they develop climate action plans.

Combined with the resources that all Oak Park residents have contributed to the Sustainability Fund, the inventory will pave the way to implement “shovel-ready” projects that reduce emissions village-wide immediately. And it will serve as a springboard for meaningful engagement of all Oak Parkers to have a say in an Oak Park Climate Action Plan.

Such a plan — one that is broadly consulted and has equity and

Build back better, Oak Park

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he economic arguments against preserving the Dreschler, Brown, & Williams Funeral Home are powerful, but the ease with which the Oak Park Village Board just overturned the Historic Preservation Commission’s (HPC) unanimous recommendation is disturbing. If the site were developed with a structure in scale with the original house and comparable to it in setbacks and greenery, we could overlook the board’s dismissal of the HPC’s concern for the integrity of this vintage neighborhood.

But given the village’s evident addiction to high-density development, the site seems destined for more of the same.

Promises of a building “less than 12 stories high” at 203 S. Marion are hardly reassuring. The view north from the 100 block of South Maple demonstrates the jarring effect of a 10-story building planted on a vintage neighborhood at the intersection of Marion and Pleasant. Add the effect of shadows cast by a much taller building on the southwest corner. Concern over what will take the place of the funeral home building reflects an erosion of public trust in the process and the course of development locally.

This developer’s assertion that they don’t yet have a definite plan for the site is risible.

If it can be believed, the board’s decision only affirms many Oak Parkers’ conviction that the village is subservient to the wishes of developers or that the two cooperate in an opaque development process designed to evade public scrutiny and avoid community opposition until too late.

As troubling as this process and the prospect of what might come to 203 S. Marion are some trustees’ stunning dismissal of

“these big Victorian homes [as] monuments to white wealth” and the “properties of white people who stole from indigenous people.”

The implication that Oak Park’s architectural legacy is antipathetic to its aspirations toward social, racial, and economic justice is appalling coming from those elected to serve the best interests of our community. From this perspective, virtually all existing structures within our borders are shameful vestiges of privilege — not excepting the new high-rent high-rises that have made Lake Street a corridor of gentrification. Historic preservation is inconvenient, but if all of Oak Park is “open for business” for developers, will anyone want to come? Tourists and residents aren’t drawn here for bluestone sidewalks and brick-paved intersections.

In guiding real estate development, the village board is entrusted with safeguarding not only outstanding individual buildings but the “contributing structures” that comprise a living, contextualized architectural history. This board needs to show greater respect for it. Allowing that this former longtime funeral home’s building is economically irredeemable, they must ensure that what gets built in its place will be worthy of its site and of Oak Park’s reputation for architectural excellence.

At the very least, we deserve a structure that complements and contributes to this central neighborhood.

With apologies to Joe Biden, please demonstrate that you can be trusted to “build back better” within our borders.

Wendy Greenhouse is a resident of Oak Park.

WENDY

GREENHOUSE One View

justice at its core — cannot come soon enough. It will show the kind of community we are, and what future we seek for all residents.

If we act on the Greenhouse Gas Inventory speedily and with good faith, we believe we can limit the detrimental effects of climate change, cultivating a future in which our community is resilient to the impacts that we know will occur.

We don’t have all the answers, but we are committed to work toward solutions that take into account the urgency of the crisis and the disproportionate effects of its impacts. Please join us — if you are interested in participating in a community-based climate action planning process, contact Laura Derks at lcderks@gmail.com.

DUFFY

Oak Park wasn’t alone from page 21

White violence Just as was present in Oak Park in the years before open housing, white violence was used to terrorize new black residents to keep them from integrating areas of Chicago. From the late ’40s through the ’60s on the Southwest and South sides, as well as in Cicero, large white mobs attacked, firebombed and threatened Blacks who moved into or near existing white areas. Dr. Percy Julian, world famous African-American scientist and the Chicago Sun-Times Scientist of the Year in 1950, had his family home firebombed and later dynamited after moving from Maywood to Oak Park.

Maywood In Maywood, as African-American residents grew in number with the industrial manufacturing boom in the early 20th century, village trustees designated a large section of the town for Black home purchasing. When the small Black Oak Park community numbering 169 residents sought a similar ordinance with the resurgence of racism in the years following World War I, Oak Park officials refused. By the 1960s, 20 percent of Maywood residents were African Americans. They had churches, participated in civic life as elected officials, and belonged to men’s and women’s social clubs. Black children were almost half of the 575 students at-

Richard Alton Tom Bassett-Dilly Simone Boutet Nick Bridge Susan Buchanan Mark Burger Douglas Chien Gary Cuneen Tari Delesi Laura Derks Adrian Ayres Fisher Kanohi Gurgas Cynthia Klein-Banai Elizabeth Kocs Honnie Aguilar Leinartas Alex McLeese Ralph Muelheisen Ravi Parakkat Amy Rosenthal Laura Stamp Pam Tate Cassandra West Oak Park

tending Washington Elementary School.

Daily life in Maywood was not free of discrimination. Like much of Black America during the 1960s, many young people and adults in Maywood rose up and rebelled against long-ingrained racist practices found in its daily community and school life. When the first African-American students were entering Oak Park schools, black students at Proviso High School from 1967-74 were in the forefront of the first wave of rebellions against ongoing patterns of white dominance in America.

Fred Hampton, first chairman of the revolutionary Black Panther Party in Illinois, led the NAACP Youth Group in Maywood and organized youth activism to achieve goals like building a swimming pool for black residents who were barred from existing pools. In December of 1969, Hampton and party secretary Mark Clark were assassinated in the early morning in a raid coordinated with the FBI and carried out by Cook County State’s Attorney Edward Hanrahan, a River Forest resident.

In the wake of the black rebellion in Maywood and Chicago and in alliance with the mainstream Civil Rights Movement, Oak Park would craft, despite strong white opposition, a set of housing practices as an alternative to how race and housing had operated in Chicago and Maywood.

The next episode in this series will examine how “managed integration” folded into integrated schooling in ways similar to and different from how black education developed in Maywood and Chicago.

John Duffy is a co-founder of the Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education.

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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About those questions on the Nov. 3 Oak Park ballot

uestion #1 would prevent a buildup of excessive cash reserves for everyday operating (non-capital) expenses such as in District 200 (OPRF High School). About 15 years ago, the D200 school board utilized a tax loophole and began amassing a cash reserve that topped out at $125 million. At one point, they had 808 Days Cash on Hand (DCOH).

The Government Finance Officers Association recommends a minimum fund balance of 60 Days Cash on Hand of either revenues or expenditures. The Illinois State Board of Education gives school districts with 90 days fund-balance-toexpenditures its highest Financial Profile score. Some DCOH is necessary to weather the seasonality of property tax collections (only twice a year). Most extraordinary expenses are covered by insurance. The schools have other sources of revenue in addition to property taxes: state and

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federal aid, student fees, lunchroom revenue, etc. The 180 Days Cash on Hand is more than adequate for everyday liquidity.

Instead, the high school will now use it for a massive capital project known as “Imagine OPRF.” This will result in an unwarranted, huge transfer of wealth from the recent past and the present (whose people may not be around to see the benefits) to future people (who will have paid nothing for what they enjoy).

The Park District of Oak Park has also had a significant buildup of operating cash, which it now intends to use to build a Community Center. This would include yet another swimming pool, making four pools between the parks and the high school. This is another example of an intergenerational transfer of wealth with no justification.

Question #2 calls for referendum approval of capital expenditures greater than $5 million. It would impact spending such as the proposed community center and the Imagine project at OPRF. Neither is currently slated to go before voters for funding of these major capital projects. Funding for such projects should be voted on and approved by the taxpayers that would benefit from them. D200’s massive cash reserve continues to skew this basic funding dynamic. Board members are elected to decide policy; a board seat is not a blank check.

Remember, these referendums are not binding — the village needs on the order of much more than $5 million at a time for street, water pipe and sewer rebuilding. A new police station taking more property off the tax rolls is another matter.

These expenditures, unlike operating

KEVIN

PEPPARD One View

costs, should be bonded (with debt issued).

But what about the interest that comes with bonds? That is simply rent on the money.

By not paying taxes now (and returning overtaxed money), citizens can invest or save that money for mortgage prepayment, college savings accounts for their children, retirement accounts, or whatever they choose. They can come out ahead and pass the payment of debt service on to those who will benefit.

Here are some major capital projects starting up or proposed: 1. Imagine OPRF, including an oversized swimming pool 2. A park district community center 3. A new police station The two referendum questions appear at the bottom of the ballot, after the Judges Section.

Kevin Peppard, an Oak Park resident, was the sponsor of the two advisory questions appearing on Oak Park ballots this November.

Assessment errors lead to extra tax-appeal period

s a result of errors in the assessment process related to the coronavirus pandemic, taxpayers in Oak Park, River Forest and Riverside Townships will have an extra opportunity to file property tax appeals this year.

In an ordinary year, local taxpayers have two main opportunities to file appeals — first with the Cook County Assessor’s Office, and then with the Cook County Board of Review. This year is different, however, because the county assessor’s office made more than 5,000 mistakes in processing appeals for the three townships. These errors, which impact 17 percent of Oak Park properties, 23 percent of River Forest properties, and 12 percent of Riverside properties, did not come to light until after the Board of Review’s filing deadline.

To address this problem, the Cook County Assessor’s Office first corrected the mistaken assessments, after which the Board of Review re-opened an appeal period for all property owners in the three townships.

The new appeal deadline is Nov. 1.

Background In February, the county assessor’s office sent reassessment notices to the three townships. The mailing of these notices kicked off an appeal period in which property owners could appeal the new proposed assessments.

When pandemic-related shutdowns began in March, unemployment started rising.

The county assessor’s office assumed this would lead to significant declines in property values, as happened in the 2008 housing crisis, and decided to reduce the value of

If an individual property’s assessment fell by 8-12 percent in an ordinary year, the resulting tax reduction would be similar to the assessment reduction. The tax reduction would be offset by a slightly higher property tax rate on all properties in the community, which would ensure that local governments receive all the revenue they are entitled to.

Across-the-board Covid reductions, however, will have a much greater impact on tax rates than an individual assessment reducOak Park Township Assessor tion. Indeed, the Covid reduction will cause tax rates to rise by about as much as assessed values fall (although rates will also be impacted by Why were there 5,000 errors? other factors). The result will be little or no The assessor’s office did not apply the savings for most taxpayers due to the Covid Covid factor uniformly. Most properties got reductions. the full Covid reduction, but those that filed To get tax savings this year, assessed successful appeals typically received only values generally have to fall by more than partial Covid reductions. The corrections the 8-12 percent Covid reductions. But when will apply full Covid reductions to the propthe county assessor mistakenly gave smaller erties that received partial reductions.

Covid reductions to taxpayers who filed successful appeals, it appeared that property If my Covid reduction factor is 8-12 owners who proved they deserved tax relief percent, does that mean my taxes will would not get it. To counteract this, the 5,000 fall by 8-12 percent? corrections were made.

No! Property taxes are driven by the tax levies of school districts, municipalities, What if I already filed an appeal with and other taxing districts, and neither the the Board of Review?

Cook County Assessor nor the Board of ReAppeals previously filed with the Board view has the power to reduce those levies. of Review will be processed, so it will not The authority of these agencies is instead be necessary to refile your appeal. But it limited to determining the correct value of will be possible to submit supplemental properties, which ultimately determines evidence if you receive a corrected assesstheir share of government tax levies. ment from the county assessor. all residential properties and most business properties in Cook County.

For homes and condominiums, the plan was to issue a Covid factor that would reduce their assessed values by 8-12 percent, with the precise reduction depending on the estimated increase in unemployment in a particular neighborhood.

Since property owners in the three townships received reassessment notices before the pandemic, their appeals would first be processed using normal criteria, after which the Covid factor would be applied.

ALI ELSAFFAR

The real estate market seems to be doing well despite the pandemic. Why were assessments reduced?

Ordinarily, assessors observe the real estate market and attempt to align assessments to the market. The Cook County Assessor’s Office, however, did not follow this practice when determining Covid reduction factors.

Instead, the county assessor’s office assumed that virtually all property values would fall during the pandemic. Market data, however, indicates that the office’s assumptions about home values were wrong. Thus far in the pandemic, these values have mostly been stable in the three townships and elsewhere.

What impact will all this have on the property tax system?

There is a good chance that second installment tax bills next year will be late.

Second installment bills cannot be issued until the Board of Review resolves every appeal in Cook County, and the significant delays in processing appeals in the three townships and elsewhere will make it difficult for the board to finish its work on time.

In addition, the fact that the market did not decline in the manner anticipated by the Covid reductions undermines tax fairness. A fair tax system requires that properties with higher market values pay a greater share of the tax burden, and properties with lower values pay smaller shares. But the large number of belowmarket valuations brought about by Covid reductions has clouded the standard for determining fair assessments.

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Voices from Taylorville, Illinois

J

ournalists are supposed to be balanced, to view a story from all perspectives, but it’s hard to find Trump voters who are willing to take the risk of “coming out of the closet” in a village like Oak Park where four years ago 85 percent of the voters cast their ballots for Hillary.

So this reporter spent three days at the end of September in Taylorville, smack dab in the center of Illinois, where Trump yard signs outnumber those for Biden 4-1, Blacks comprise just 1 percent of the population. I visited because longtime Oak Park resident Al Corzine grew up there on a 300 acre farm and the town’s chief of police lived in Oak Park and worked in Maywood 10 years ago.

“Living on the farm in the mid-20th century was like living in an extended family,” Corzine related. “Everyone in the neighborhood helped one another. The farmers often gathered to bail hay, thresh wheat, or plant corn and soybeans. The wives arrived at the host’s house with food dishes and to help prepare the noon meal. Whole families came, so there were kids to play with. It was in this vast prairie, where it seemed I could see forever, that I grew to manhood.”

Lots of things have changed in that town of 11,000 souls, a reality that provides part of the back story of how they look at life.

The prairie is still vast. Corn and soybean fields stretch out to the horizon, but now, according to Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry, a person has to farm at least 1,000 acres in order to make a living. The biggest operations, he said, have up to 30,000 acres. Gone is the small family farm. These days you need to invest millions of dollars to farm.

Farm land around Taylorville sells for $11,000 an acre, and a high-end tractor at the Case dealership costs $500,000.

Politics there have changed as well. A teacher named Gary said that before he moved to town 24 years ago, Christian County, in which Taylorville is the county seat, voted Democratic, because the blue collar workers in the coal mines and the big Firestone plant all belonged to unions.

When the mines closed and the manufacturing plants left the area, so did the good jobs, and locals decided that the Republican Party understood their needs better than the Democrats.

But it’s more complex than that. Mayor Barry said that Rodney Davis, who represents Taylorville in Congress, is a Republican but the person representing his town in the state senate, Andy Manar, is a

Democrat, so he nurtures relationships with both. Gary, the teacher, said he has never voted a straight ticket in his life.

It seems the residents of that small town vote for the candidate more than for the ideology a party promotes. Mayor Barry said the issues important to him are jobs and roads. Challenges like climate change are not on his constituents’ priority list, not because they don’t believe it’s real but because they don’t feel its effect in their everyday life.

Kim, who works in the mental health field, put it this way: “To be honest, I don’t think the president influences much that goes on in Taylorville.”

Abortion was not mentioned even once as an issue in the three days I was there. Guns, however, were. Mayor Barry explained, “I myself don’t own any guns, and as far as I know hardly anyone around here owns an assault rifle. What is big in Christian County is hunting, and many people here really believe that the Democrats want to take away their shotguns and deer hunting rifles.”

Corzine, who says he understands the disillusionment his former neighbors feel with the Democratic Party, laments the disappearance of the way of life that was so good to him.

“Saturday afternoon and evening,” he remembers, “were for shopping and visiting. Families came to town to buy groceries, wander the stores looking for bargains, do their banking at First Trust, catch a movie, and eat at one of the many restaurants on the square. The sidewalks were teaming with people searching for friends and neighbors to exchange gossip and catch up on the latest news about one another.”

“Blighted” is not too strong a word to describe the present condition of the downtown businesses around the square which was a bustling hub for the county when Corzine was growing up. Now most of the economic action has moved out to the northwest edge of town with corporate franchises like Walmart and Wendy’s replacing retailers on the square.

Zillow reports the median home value is just $90,000, and Owen Laswell, the editor of the local daily newspaper, said that 55 percent of the children in the Taylorville

schools qualify for free or reduced cost lunches.

Laswell argues that although part of economic stagnation is due to forces beyond the control of folks in the community, the county’s resistance to new businesses like wind farms and a large dairy operation is also responsible for the lack of progress.

Laswell, however, used the word “progressive” to describe Taylorville on social issues. For example, following the murder of George Floyd, roughly a thousand people demonstrated for Black Lives Matter in front of the courthouse on the square.

When seven members of the Methodist Church gathered to talk about their community after the Sunday worship service, Kim, the woman who works in the mental health field, shared her story. “When my [same sex] partner and I arrived in Taylorville 27 years ago, we would come to church and sit by ourselves, but the associate pastor broke the ice by introducing himself and from day one we have been accepted. Two years later, we adopted our first child from Guatemala, and he turned out to be autistic. A member of the church hooked us up with services and our son just graduated with honors from high school.

“I have been offered promotions in my field and we could have moved, but we said absolutely not because of our church, our schools, and this community. We have been accepted in every way possible.”

As it turns out, Dwayne Wheeler, the police chief in Taylorville, previously lived in Oak Park while working with the gangs and drugs unit in the Maywood Police Department. When asked why he chose to move from the Chicago Metro Area to a small town in the middle of corn and soybean fields, he replied first as a professional, saying that police work is largely the same in a small town as it was in Maywood, except for there being no gun violence in Taylorville, and that people in this small town respect the police and call when they see something suspicious.

Regarding the issue of defunding the police, he said he’d love to have a full-time social worker if he could find the $70,000 a year to pay for one, because Taylorville, like Maywood, has issues like domestic health

TOM HOLMES

and mental illness to deal with.

And he gave similar personal reasons for moving here that Kim shared. Relationships in a small community and the schools and sports. By “sports,” Chief Wheeler meant high school sports. What residents seem to value is not paying a hundred bucks to watch the best athletes in the world, but along with their friends and neighbors they watch their children and grandchildren.

Over and over, people mentioned that relationships, not high paying jobs or climbing the corporate ladder, are what keeps them in Taylorville. Many do commute to work in Springfield or Decatur, so in that sense they have the best of both worlds.

School and church are the two focal points around which life in this small central Illinois town revolve. Friday night the “whole town” attends the high school football game and Sunday morning they go to church.

Steven Ward, the 41-year-old director of the Taylorville Library added two more reasons why he and so many of his fellow residents love the town. “I’m a huge nature person,” he explained. “I don’t want to live in a concrete jungle. I’m not a hunter and don’t own a gun, but I can drive five miles from where I live, sit somewhere in the woods and not see anyone for hours.”

And in Taylorville he can be a big fish, as they say, in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond. “I was a professor and librarian at MacMurray College,” he said, “but I felt like my impact was stifled.

What drew me here is that I can have a bigger impact on this community.”

Ward summarized much of what I experienced during my visit when he said the town had a lot of diversity. He acknowledged that the town was almost all white, but that doesn’t mean it’s a monoculture like a corn field where every plant is identical to the one next to it.

Randy Miller offered a metaphor for Taylorville’s diversity. Out of one small studio on the main drag he runs five radio stations: WTIM, news, talk and agriculture; WMKR, mainstream country music; WSVC ’60s oldies; WRAN, classic oldies; and FM 101.1, new country music.

Ward added, “I see and hear people every day and it’s a mixture of different thoughts and perspectives. Sometimes it can be perceived [as a monolithic culture] from the outside, but from the inside it’s not like that at all.”

Support your local hardware store, too In the pages of Wednesday Journal I’ve seen many pleas to support our local restaurants. I certainly agree with that sentiment. But I’d like to ask that we support all of our local businesses, and specifically our local hardware store, Dressel’s on Chicago Avenue.

The men and women who work there always seem to know which product is just the

thing to solve any and all of our household problems. And their service goes far beyond that.

Recently, I had two problems they solved for me. First, I have a Keurig Coffeemaker and I have a rotating holder for the cups that go in the coffeemaker. Several months ago, suddenly, it wouldn’t stand upright, it wobbled and the cups would fall out. None of the

replacement holders available would fit on my cabinet shelf. Second, just last week, the charging cable for my iPad broke off in the connecting slot on my iPad. I took both problems to the guys at Dressel’s.

The first problem was mostly a matter of inconvenience, the second a matter of a sizeable amount of money. The Dressel’s guys figured out a way to make my coffee

cup holder work again, and they removed the broken off piece in the iPad in a matter of minutes. And what did they charge me in either case — nothing!

So beat a path to Chicago Avenue near Harlem with your household problems; you won’t be sorry.

Gail Popowits River Forest

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Barbara Kohnhorst, 71

Director of youth formation at St. Christopher’s Barbara Katherine Whiteford Kohnhorst, 71, of Forest Park, died on Oct. 8, 2020 after a three-year battle with a rare form of uterine cancer. Born on May 4, 1949, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Russell and Audrey Whiteford, she graduated from Central Bucks High School in 1967. She had a natural ability to connect with and inspire toddlers, teens, seniors, and her wide circle of friends. A smart, funny, generous and kind person, she was always ready to share her time and attention. She was living in Jacksonville, Florida when she met Michael Kohnhorst. They were married on May 10, 1975.

In 1978, the family moved to Oak Park, where she focused on their children, Michele and Matthew, and their home life, while also working as a teacher’s assistant at Julian Junior High (now Middle School).

O B I T U A R I E S She had a simple rule for her family — dinner at 6, no excuses — the one time of the day the family could be sure to be together.

In the early 1990s, they became members at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Oak Park, the beginning of an almost 30year connection that transformed not just her life, but the lives of many area families.

The rector of St. Christopher’s, Rev. Paris Coffey, offered her a job as director of Children’s Christian Formation, which she accepted with relish. Her role expanded to include St. Christopher’s teenagers and over the years she planned, and sometimes accompanied, the teens on several summer pilgrimage trips to foreign countries.

Her ministry was transformative, but her family remained her center. Daughter Michele underwent cancer treatments during these years. “She loved fiercely,” Michele said.

Her lifelong pursuit of a healthy lifestyle led her to yoga and a 15-year career as a yoga instructor at various locations, including classes at St. Christopher’s and Gottlieb Fitness Center in Melrose Park.

Her family and friends have years of memories and her spirit will live on.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, her brother John and a son, Jason. Survivors include her husband, Michael; her daughter, Michele (Tom) and son Matthew (Sarah); her grandchildren Caitlin, Benjamin, Katherine, Audrey and John; and her brother, Russell (Catarina).

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which limits large gatherings, the family is planning a small private service. A larger celebration of Barbara’s life will be scheduled when it is safe for family and friends to gather and remember how deeply she touched our lives.

Marcel Durot, 91 Executive with Gillette, sailing enthusiast

Marcel C. Durot died on Oct. 7, 2020 in Oak Park. Born in Boston on Sept. 8, 1929, he grew up in Waban, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College, class of 1952, and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration from which he received a BA and an MBA. After two years active duty in the Navy in the Pacific aboard the USS Hooper Island, he joined the Gillette Safety Razor Company in Boston in the accounting department. He went to Boston College Law School at night for three years and received his law degree in 1960. In June of that year, Gillette transferred him to Montreal to become controller treasurer of Gillette of Canada.

In 1965, he moved to Annecy, France, to become president-director general of Gillette France. He returned to the U.S. and, as corporate vice president was successfully the president of a number of Gillette divisions/

subsidiaries including the Paper Mate Company, the Toiletries Division and the Toni Company. At Paper Mate, he was instrumental in the success of the Flair Pen. He left Gillette in 1977 and, after a three-year stint with Mattel, joined G.D. Searle & Co. in Chicago as vice president and general manager of Searle’s nascent Consumer Products Division. During his tenure, Searle Consumer Products enjoyed the extremely successful launch of Equal tabletop sweetener. In 1985, he started a consulting business which led to assignments in Latin America, Europe, and Russia.

A member of the Young Presidents Organization, in 1967-69, he was president of the National Paraplegia Foundation. In 1980, he assisted a Dartmouth classmate, a quadriplegic, in persuading the U.N. to declare 1981 as the Year of Disabled Persons with its international logo of the wheelchair symbol. He served on the boards of the Hurricane Island (Maine) Outward Bound School, the Minnesota Outward Bound School, as well as the board of the National Outward Bound organization. A sailing enthusiast, he enjoyed cruising in Narragansett Bay, Nantucket Sound, and the Caribbean, and up the New England coast into Maine.

Marcel Durot leaves his widow, Charlotte Ann Durot; five children from a previous marriage, G. Georges Durot II (Ann), Jennifer C. Durot, Michael M. Durot (Anne), and See OBITUARIES on page 28

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28

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020 Continued from page 27

Robert C. Durot (Kamy), and Andrew Durot; 13 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two step-daughters, Paige Soulé (Ed Varga) and Christa Désir (Julio); and five step-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Beacon Place Scholarship Fund, 603 S. McAlister Ave., Waukegan, IL 60085, www.beaconplace.org are appreciated.

Jean Ellzey, 93

Taught music, loved singing, coaxed plants and people Jean Mary Glarner Ellzey, 93, of Oak Park, died on Oct. 5, 2020 at Norwood Crossing in Chicago, surrounded by family. Born on Aug. 2, 1927, in St. Paul, Minnesota, one of three children, her parents, Doris Harrison Glarner and Milo Jacob Glarner, moved to Raymondville, Texas, where her father established a law practice and where Jean grew up. In 1944, she attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and transferred to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, graduating in 1948, after which she taught music to young children. While at SMU, she met her husband, Charles (Chuck) Homer Ellzey whom she married in 1949.

They had three children, Doris Jean (Dorie), Christine (Christi), and David Charles, and while her husband completed his PhD, serving in the United Methodist Church and teaching at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, she supported her him and raised their three children in Wilmette. After they moved to Naperville in 1971, at the age of 45, she attended graduate school at George Williams Community College, earning a degree in Counseling Psychology.

Following her divorce in 1977, she

O B I T U A R I E S worked as a teacher and a counselor for 15 years at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills and DuPage Community College in Glen Ellyn, where she touched many lives through her course “Women in Transition” and as a counselor to many. She joined the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church and sang in the choir.

She retired in 1990 and in 2000 moved to Oak Park to be closer to her daughter, Dorie, son-in-law Marc Blesoff, and their three children. She joined Unity Temple and sang in the choir. In 2013, she moved to Brookdale Assisted Living Community, and in 2015 moved to Norwood Crossing senior living community in Chicago. The family appreciates all those who provided programs, meals, friendship, exercise, music and nursing care to her in both locations.

In addition to raising her three children (and influencing her five grandchildren) to be creative, open-minded and concerned about the welfare of others, she loved the natural world. A devoted gardener, she soothingly coaxed her plants and personally thanked the birds for singing. She adored trees and loved Morton Arboretum.

She delighted in the colors of nature and often basked in the sun to “soak in Vitamin D” and become renewed. She had music in her bones, singing to all of her kids, singing in church choirs, singing in musical programs, including the last year of her life, and was always game to gather around a piano. She was a social justice advocate who continued to add causes to her list. She passed on her favorite sayings and life lessons and sure-fire ways to squeeze the juices out of being alive.

Preceded in death by her late sister, Carolyn Swanberg, Jean is survived by her sister, Kathryn Hemeyer; her children, Dorie Blesoff (Marc), Christine Ione, and David Ellzey; her grandchildren, Jamine, Evan and Mara Blesoff, Courtney Rile (Mike Barletta) and Devon Rile (Kristen Buchan); her great-granddaughters, Athina and Wrynn; her nieces and nephews, Lance Swanberg (Jamie), Cindy Schwing (Larry), Marshall Swanberg (Kathleen), Gary Hemeyer (Christina), Suzanne Hemeyer, Bryan Hemeyer (Chelle) and many loving niecesand nephews-in-law.

The family will hold a virtual “Circle of

Voting by Mail?

Love” on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 11:30 a.m. If you are interested in details, email Info@davidellzey.com. There will also be a tribute in her memory set up at Morton Arboretum on a specially-selected tree.

Donations are encouraged to any of these three favorite organizations: Heifer International (heifer.org), Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org), or Union of Concerned Scientists (ucsusa.org).

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

Louise Cafasso

Educator, counselor, volunteer and patron of the arts Louise Cafasso, an Oak Park resident for over 70 years, died on Oct. 6, 2020. Born in Chicago, she earned her teaching degree from Chicago Teachers College and her master’s degree in Administration and Guidance from DePaul University. She also completed post-graduate work in the field of Education at Northwestern and Northeastern universities.

She was an assistant principal, counselor and teacher for the Chicago Public Schools for 33 years and was a national certified counselor.

While teaching she was a member and board member of the Gregorians, an organization of Italian teachers and was elected into and held board positions in Delta Kappa Gamma. After retirement, she volunteered at St. Giles school as a reading tutor and CCD teacher as well as serving as lector at daily Mass for over 15 years. A member of the Retired Teachers Association and the Oak Park-River Forest Historical Society, she was a docent for the Hemingway Museum for five years and a member of the Nineteenth Century Club, where she served as vice president and program coordinator.

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM For over 60 years, she had a great love of and was a patron of the Chicago arts, a constant supporter and attendee of the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera, Symphony of Oak Park-River Forest, Goodman Theater and Chicago Sinfonietta. She was also a board member of the American Opera Society.

Louise was the wife of Dr. Fred Cafasso for 49 years; the mother of Elene Cafasso and Lynda Cafasso; the mother-in-law of Keith Mahnken and Stephen Conroy; the grandmother of Maria Elena Mahnken and David Fred Conroy and the late Joshua Conroy; the sister of Gus (Jean) Cortiletti and the late Mona (Maurice) Powers and the late Charles Cortiletti.

A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated at St. Giles Church on Oct. 12, followed by interment at Queen of Heaven Mausoleum.

Joseph Giustino, 85 Korean War vet, worked for AT&T

Joseph J. Giustino, 85, of River Forest, died on Oct. 8, 2020.

Born on Feb. 28, 1935, he was a veteran of the U.S. Army in Korea. He retired from AT&T in 1994 after almost 40 years.

Joe was the husband of the late Cathleen M. (nee Carlson); the father of Cathleen M. (Garth Stauffer), Joseph J. “JoeyJames,” Jeffrey J. (Veronica), Amy R., and Jennifer A. (Richard) Moore; the grandfather of Christopher Parsons, Jeanny (Joe) Miller, J.C. and Jessie Corbridge, and Lilian, Emilia and Dylan Moore; the brother of Victor Giustino and Antoinette (Fred) Stanley and the late John (the late Dorothy), Evelyn (the late Bill) Kreutzer, and Michael (the late Grace) Giustino; and the uncle of many.

Visitation was held on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home. Friends and family will meet at St. Luke Church, 7600 Lake St., River Forest on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 10:45 a.m. for Mass beginning at 11 a.m., followed by interment at St. Joseph Cemetery.

Important: Mark and return your ballot as soon as possible. Your ballot must be postmarked no later than Election Day and received at the Cook County Clerk’s office within 14 days after Election Day.

Once your application is verified, a paper ballot will be sent in early October to the mailing address designated on your application All vote-by-mail ballots come with postage-paid ballot return envelopes Return your ballot:

New! Deliver it to a secured drop box at any Cook County early voting location Via standard U.S. mail (must be postmarked by Election Day, November 3 at the latest) Important: Mark and return your ballot as soon as possible to ensure that your ballot arrives at the Cook County Clerk’s office within 14 days after Election Day.

Key dates October 6 Last to register by paper application October 7- November 2 Grace period registration and voting (in person) October 18 Last day to register online October 19 -November 2 Early voting period October 29 Last day to request a mail ballot November 3 Election Day and last day mail ballots can be postmarked

Learn more at: Cookcountyclerk.com/agency/register-vote

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

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

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

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HELP WANTED

ONLINE ORIENTATION FOR PERSONAL ASSISTANTS Become a Personal Assistant and support people with disabilities.

Progress Center is offering free, online personal assistant orientations throughout the month of October.

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TEACHER AND TEACHER AIDE MINI ME BUNCH seeks teacher and teacher aide to enhance and expand daycare serving children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Teacher must have at least Associates’ degree in Early Childhood Education. Minimum 1 year experience preferred in each position. Must love children and be outgoing, patient, exible.

Contact 773-521-9499.

River Forest Public Schools District 90 is seeking an Infection Control Officer, Registered Nurse (6 Month Position) Qualifications: a) Certified Registered Nurse license required b) Appropriate Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree is preferred c) Three years of successful infection control experience is preferred w/experience in a large institution, such as a hospital, school, or detention center.

Job Duties: Provide direct support to the Superintendent in the area of COVID-19 prevention, surveillance, tracking/tracing, and outbreak containment. The Infection Control Officer will be instrumental in facilitating the District’s successful transition to in-person classroom instruction at the elementary and middle schools. Emphasis will be on establishing and implementing an infection control policy across the school district, overseeing the tracking and tracing of all student/staff COVID-19 cases, liaison with the area pediatricians and local testing centers, and management of district database for a district dashboard. Apply online at district90.org River Forest Public Schools District 90 is seeking a Permanent Traveling Substitute Teacher for Willard and Lincoln elementary schools Qualifications: a) Valid Illinois Professional Educator License with Elementary Grade School Endorsement b) Successful teaching experience preferred Job Duties: The traveling elementary substitute teacher will be assigned to classes at the elementary schools on a daily basis, as needed.

Apply online at district90.org River Forest Public Schools District 90 is seeking a Long-Term Substitute PE Teacher (November 30, 2020 – March 19, 2021) Qualifications: a) Valid Illinois Professional Educator License with Grade-Appropriate Physical Education Endorsement b) Successful teaching experience in physical education preferred c) A Master’s Degree is preferred Job Duties: Physical Education Teacher will instruct a class in physical education in elementary grades and work cooperatively with other classroom teachers and support area staff. The teacher will be responsible for supervising and managing the class, effectively teaching the curriculum to meet individual needs of children. Apply online at district90.org

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SUBURBAN RENTALS

OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT RIVER FOREST–7777 Lake St. *1116 sq. ft. suite *569 sq. ft. with patio OAK PARK–1053 Lake St. *Entire 3rd Floor, 1275 sq. ft.

OAK PARK– 6142-44 Roosevelt Rd. *3 and 5 room office suites Strand& & Browne Strand Browne 708-488-0011 708-488-0011

GARAGE/YARD SALES Oak Park

GARAGE SALE 216 S CUYLER SAT 10/17 10AM - 2PM

House, garden, Xmas, Tools, LPs, VHS, foot brake bike, and much more!

ITEMS FOR SALE COLLECTION ITEM LLADRO STUDIOS About 30 years old. Madonna and Child by Martinez. No. 11. Inscribed in sculpture. Brown porcelain, aprox.

2 ft tall. $651.00 708-488-8755 LARGE FILE CABINET 36�W X 72� H. Grey metal. Three drawers. $15.00 708-488-8755

SUBURBAN RENTALS

M&M property management, inc.

708-386-7355 • www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park Contact us for a complete list of available rentals throughout Oak Park and Forest Park.

Apartment listings updated daily at:

Job Duties: The instructional assistant in Special Education will work with both general education and special education staff members to support learning for identified child(ren) with special needs. Responsibilities include instructing students in small groups and one-on-one settings. This will also encompass helping students to develop positive interpersonal relationships with peers and adults: utilizing and modeling school behavior management programs: and assist in communications between students, teachers and parents as requested. Apply online at district90.org

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WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, ags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead, plastic – other misc. toys.

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

NOVENAS PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL) Oh, most beautiful ower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me, herein you are my mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to suc cor in my necessity (make request).

There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, show me herein you are my mother. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (3 times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days and publish; your request will be granted. CAC

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

cat calls

Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986

Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home )PVTF TJUUJOH t 1MBOU DBSF Bonded References

524-1030

CEMENT

ELECTRICAL Ceiling Fans Installed

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We install plugs for battery-operated vehicles We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs We install Surge Protectors • Home Re-wiring • New Plugs & Switches Added • New circuit breaker boxes • Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp • Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential • Commercial • Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. • Bonded • Ins. • Low Rates • Free Est.

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

FIREWOOD

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www. suregreen landscape.com

Credit Cards Accepted Attention: Home-Improvement Pros!

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Place an ad in Wednesday Classifieds! Call 708/613-3342

CEMENT

MAGANA

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708.442.7720 Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am – 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue.

Or call us toll free at 1-833-440-0665 for an appointment. ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ? ď ?

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ELECTRICAL

Let an American Veteran do your work

COMMERCIAL ˜ INDUSTRIAL ˜ RESIDENTIAL

River Forest Public Schools District 90 has vacancies for Teacher Aides at Lincoln Elementary and Roosevelt Middle schools.

Qualifications: a) Valid Illinois Professional Educator License with Endorsements; or Educator License with Stipulations with a Paraprofessional Endorsement. b) Successful instructional assistant experience is preferred in regular education or special education.

WANTED TO BUY

FLOORS KLIS FLOORING INC.

New hardwood ooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-ďŹ nishing, staining. Low prices, insured.

Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com

GARAGE DOORS Our 73rd Year

Garage Doors &

Smart Door Openers

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(708) 652-9415 www.forestdoor.com

HANDYMAN Mike’s Home Repair Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Don’t Do

708-296-2060

CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair

FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small

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773-637-0692 OakPark.com | RiverForest.com

30

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

CLASSIFIED HAULING BASEMENT CLEANING

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

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

FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.

708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000

HVAC HHHHHHHHHHHH H H H HUGHS HVAC H H H Furnace tuneup – H repairs on all models H H *clean burner *check H H H belts on blower H H H *check pumps on hot- H H water units & zone valves. H H 708-556-7895 H H Licensed • Bonded • Insured H H Serving the near-west suburbs. H H H HHHHHHHHHHHH

LANDSCAPING NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN UP

Evergreen trimming & more.

Hand weed removal.

Clean-ups.

Call 24 hrs.

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Secret Gardener

The

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Old-fashioned, common-sense gardening, with no herbicides or power tools.

708-899-8967

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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

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

708.749.0011

PLASTERING McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.

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708/386-2951 • ANYTIME Work Guaranteed

Licensed, Bonded, Insured, & EPA Certified Expert craftsmanship for over 50 years

ROOFING

MIDWEST ROOFING All types of roofing repairs Commercial - Residential Call for free estimate

773-637-0692

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES SCOTT J. LEVY (32596) Attorney for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street, Suite 504 Chicago, Illinois 60615 STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) ss COUNTY OF COOK ) Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

In re the Marriage of ELVIA MENDOZA, Petitioner, and JOSÉ ELIAS ZAVALA ÁLVAREZ, Respondent, Case Number 2020D-006515.

The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, on or before October 31, 2020, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING Date: Thursday - October 29th, 2020

DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk.

Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004554 on September 23, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of NGREEN PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS with the business located at: 3013 S. WOLF RD #247, WESTCHESTER, IL 60154. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: NATALIE GREEN 2007 S. 8TH AVE. MAYWOOD, IL 60153.

Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting Subject Property Address(es): 203 South Marion Street, Oak Park, IL Proposed Development: Focus Acquisition Company LLC is proposing to construct a multi-family apartment building on the site located at 203 S. Marion Street. Join us virtually to see how the plans for the development are progressing and to get a preview of what will be submitted to the Village of Oak Park for consideration. Stop by at 7:00 PM to view the presentation by the development team.

Please reach out to the meeting moderator below with your name and address by October 28th to request a link to the zoom meeting.

There will be a Q&A session at the end of the presentation. If you would like to ask the development team a question, please inform the meeting moderator via e-mail by 5:00 PM on October 29th. We look forward to hearing from you.

Purpose of Meeting: Pre-Planned Development Submittal Discussion Contacts: Jim Prescott, Meeting Moderator jprescott@prescottgroupllc.com, (708)613-5855 Sally Prescott, Community Outreach sprescott@prescottgroupllc.com, (708)613-5855 Courtney Brower, Focus courtneyb@workwithfocus.com, (224)255-6175 Published in Wednesday Journal 10/14/2020

Illinois Classified Advertising Network WANTED TO BUY

FREON WANTED: We pay CA$H for cylinders and cans.

R12 R500 R11 R113 R114. Convenient. Certified Professionals.

Call 312-598-1758 or visit RefrigerantFinders.com

Published in Wednesday Journal 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/2020

Published in Forest Park Review 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/2020

LAW OFFICES OF MALIKA T. ASSAR, P.C., Attorney for Petitioner, 420 West Huron Street, 1st Floor, Chicago, IL 60654.

STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF COOK, ssCircuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division In re the Marriage of Farzana Khan, Petitioner, and Mohammed Hussain, Respondent, No. 2020 D 006030.

The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief: and that said suit is now pending.

Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your Appearance to said Petition and Response electronically to said Petition with the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on or before November 3, 2020, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

Dorothy A. Brown, Clerk.

Published in Wednesday Journal September 30, October 7 and October 14, 2020.

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know Available to you 24/7/365 • www.OakPark.com | RiverForest.com

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004770 on October 7, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of RACHEL SWANSON COACHING with the business located at: 1614 CUYLER AVE, BERWYN, IL 60402. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: RACHEL DOUGLAS SWANSON 1614 CUYLER AVE, BERWYN, IL 60402, USA

PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE

Published in Wednesday Journal 10/14, 10/21, 10/28/2020

LEGAL NOTICE Dr. Linda Oster DDS. and Marion Street Dental, LTD. will be closing November 1, 2020. After November 1, inquiries handled by custodian at: MSD2020@mail.com Published in Wednesday Journal 9/23, 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004605 on September 24, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of DESIGN WORKS & GRAPHICS with the business located at: 1108 FERDINAND AVE, FOREST PARK, IL 60130. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: ROBERT KNUTH 1108 FERDINAND AVE, FOREST PARK, IL 60130

STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY. Request of HEIDI RUTH RUEHLE-MAY Case Number 20204004288 There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: HEIDI RUTH RUEHLE-MAY to the new name of: HEIDI RUTH RUEHLE The court date will be held: On 12/01/2020 at 9:30 a.m. at 1500 Maybrook Avenue, Maywood, Cook County Illinois in Courtroom # 112.

Published in Wednesday Journal 10/7, 10/14, 10/21/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY. Request of BERNEITA B. HINES-WILLIAMS Case Number 20204004264.

There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: BERNEITA B. HINES-WILLIAMS to the new name of: BERNEITA BRADDY HINES The court date will be held: On November 24, 2020 at 9:30 am at 1400 Maybrook Drive, Maywood, IL 60153 in Courtroom # 112 /s BERNEITA B. HINES-WILLIAMS Published in Wednesday Journal 9/30, 10/7, 1014/2020

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HEARING DATE: October 29, 2020 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits CALENDAR NUMBER: 12-20-Z APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on a special use permit application filed by the Applicants, Kizzie and Carlo Harris, to operate a day care center pursuant to Section 8.3 (Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance at the property located at 266 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Numbers 1608-119-025-0000 (“Premises”) in the NC Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District.

A copy of the application and applicable documents are on file and are available for inspection at Village Hall, Development Customer Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The Board will conduct the public hearing remotely with live audio available and optional video. The meeting will be streamed live and archived online for on-demand viewing at www.oak-park.us/ commissiontv as well as cablecast on VOP-TV, which is available to Comcast subscribers on channel 6 and ATT U-Verse subscribers on channel 99. The remote public hearing is authorized pursuant to Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings Act. The Village President has determined that an in-person public hearing is not practical or prudent

due to the COVID-19 outbreak during Governor JB Pritzker’s current disaster proclamation. It is also not feasible to have a person present at the public hearing due to public safety concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. Interested persons may provide written evidence, testimony and public comment on the application by email to Zoning @oak-park.us or by drop off in the Oak Park Payment Drop Box across from the entrance to Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, to be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 29, 2020. An individual’s name and their testimony or comment will be read aloud into the record at the public hearing if received no later than 30 minutes prior to the start of the public hearing. Interested persons may also participate in the hearing to cross examine the applicant and its witnesses, present evidence, testimony or public comment by emailing Zoning @oak-park.us before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing to sign up. Individuals who sign up to participate in this manner will receive an email from Village staff with information about how to join the meeting online through Zoom web-conference means or by phone.

The public hearing may be adjourned by the Board to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof.

Published in Wednesday Journal October 14, 2020

Published in Forest Park Review 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/2020

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: 20004498 on September 23, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of LAMAR’S T-SHIRTS with the business located at: 310 S. 7TH AVE., MAYWOOD, IL 60513. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: LAMAR DUGGER, 310 S. 7TH AVE., MAYWOOD, IL 60153 Published in Forest Park Review 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/12020

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004465 on September 22, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of SUGA BAKERS with the business located at 153 23RD AVE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: KEELIE BANKS, V 153 23RD AVE, BELLWOOD, IL 60104 Published in Forest Park Review 9/30, 10/7, 10/14/2020

Starting a New Business?

Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice Here.

Call for details: 708/613-3342

PUBLIC NOTICE The Village of Oak Park is proposing a second substantial amendment to the Program Year 2019 Action Plan to enable the Village to receive and administer $279,647 in Round 3 Community Development Block Grant-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 and facilitate assistance to eligible persons economically impacted by COVID-19. The main use for these CDBG-CV funds is to continue a business assistance loan program to create and retain jobs for persons that are low- and moderate-income ($250,000).

The potentially-forgivable loans are for up to $10,000 per Oak Park business that can comply.

A portion of these CDBG-CV funds will be used by the Village to administer the project ($29,647).

The proposed Action Plan substantial amendment is also listed on the Oak Park website under Housing-Grants and is available for public review and comment during business hours MondayFriday, effective October 15-19, 2020. Any comments can be submitted in writing by 5 p.m., October 19, 2020 to Mark Dwyer, Grants Supervisor, at grants@ oak-park.us. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and non-English speaking persons, as needed.

Published in Wednesday Journal October 14, 2020

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HEARING DATE: October 29, 2020 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits CALENDAR NUMBER: 06-20-Z APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on an application for a variance filed by the Applicant, Hinsdale Bank & Trust, to operate a financial institution on the ground floor within 50 feet of a street line at the property located at 141-151 N. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Numbers 16-07-129-016-0000 in the DT-2 Hemingway Sub-District pursuant to Section 8.3 (Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance.

A copy of the application and applicable documents are on file and are available for inspection at Village Hall, Development Customer Services Department, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The Board will conduct the public hearing remotely with live audio available and optional video. The meeting will be streamed live and archived online for on-demand viewing at www.oak-park.us/commissiontv as well as cablecast on VOP-TV, which is available to Comcast subscribers on channel 6 and ATT U-Verse subscribers on channel 99. The remote public hearing is authorized pursuant to Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings Act. The Village President has determined that an in-person public hearing is not practical or prudent due to the

COVID-19 outbreak during Governor JB Pritzker’s current disaster proclamation. It is also not feasible to have a person present at the public hearing due to public safety concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. Interested persons may provide written evidence, testimony and public comment on the application by email to Zoning @oak-park.us or by drop off in the Oak Park Payment Drop Box across from the entrance to Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, to be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 29, 2020. An individual’s name and their testimony or comment will be read aloud into the record at the public hearing if received no later than 30 minutes prior to the start of the public hearing. Interested persons may also participate in the hearing to cross examine the applicant and its witnesses, present evidence, testimony or public comment by emailing Zoning @oak-park.us before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing to sign up. Individuals who sign up to participate in this manner will receive an email from Village staff with information about how to join the meeting online through Zoom web-conference means or by phone.

The public hearing may be adjourned by the Board to another date without further notice by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof.

Published in Wednesday Journal October 14, 2020

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CLASSIFIED

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

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice: Your right to know Available to you 24/7/365 www.OakPark.com | RiverForest.com

PUBLIC NOTICES

local employees, happy employees!

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE TO BIDDERS VILLAGE OF NORTH RIVERSIDE 2020 MFT SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS Sealed proposals for the improvement described below will be received at the office of the Village Clerk, Village of North Riverside, 2401 S. Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, IL 60546, until 10:00 a.m. on October 26, 2020.

Sealed proposals will be opened and read publicly at the office of the Village Clerk of the Village of North Riverside, 2401 S. Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, IL 60546, at 10:00 a.m. on October 26, 2020.

Availability” (Form BC 57), in duplicate, showing all uncompleted contracts awarded to them and all low bids pending award for Federal, State, County, Municipal and private work.

One original shall be filed with the Awarding Authority and one original with the IDOT District Office.

3. The Awarding Authority reserves the right to waive technicalities and to reject any or all proposals as provided in BLRS Special Provision for Bidding Requirements and Conditions for Contract Proposals.

4. The following BLR Forms shall be returned by the bidder to the Awarding Authority: a. BLR 12200: Local Public Agency Formal Contract Proposal b. BLR 12200a Schedule of Prices c. BLR 12230: Proposal Bid Bond d. BLR 12325: Apprenticeship or Training Program Certification e. BLR 12326: Affidavit of Illinois Business Office 5. The Contractor will be required to pay Prevailing Wages in accordance with all applicable laws.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK: Name: 2020 MFT Sidewalk Improvements Length: 1,340 Feet (0.254 miles) Location: Various locations throughout the Village of North Riverside Proposed Improvement: P.C. concrete sidewalk removal and replacement, P.C. concrete driveway removal and replacement, combination concrete curb and gutter removal and replacement, and all appurtenant construction.

1. Plans and proposal forms are available for download only from QuestCDN via the Novotny Engineering website, http:// novotnyengineering.com, “Bidding” tab, for a non-refundable charge of $30.00. Please contact Novotny Engineering (630887-8640) to obtain the QuestCDN password.

2.

Prequalification If checked, the 2 low bidders must file within 24 hours after the letting an “Affidavit of

By Order of: PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES VILLAGE OF NORTH RIVERSIDE By: Kathy Ranieri, Village Clerk (s) ________________

Published in Landmark October 14, 2020

Selling your condo byowner?

Advertise here!

Hire Local. Place an ad on the Journal’s Local Online Job Board.

Go to OakPark.com/classified | RiverForest.com/classified today!

Call Mary Ellen for details :

Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information.

(708) 613-3342 • Classifieds@OakPark.com | Classifieds@RiverForest.com

31

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Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

2020

Answer Book ONLINE & IN PRINT

OPRF Chamber of Commerce Community Guide & Membership Directory

Everything Oak Park & River Forest Read and referenced by thousands of local residents throughout the year, the Answer Book is filled with a host of useful listings and phone numbers, including the full Chamber of Commerce membership directory.

It also comes with loads of unusual, un-Googleable local factoids, photos and info-graphics.

Buying an ad in Answer Book will give year-round exposure to your business, heighten your name awareness and build your local brand.

PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 11

AD DEADLINE: Thursday, October 22

TOTAL CIRCULATION 9,000

Reserve your space today!

Call 708.524.8300

Property transfers p. B6

October 14, 2020

Homes

Powered by the Oak Park Area Association of Realtors

LITTLE HELP? Hemingway Foundation board chairman John Berry says the birthplace museum’s revenue this summer due to the pandemic was unsustainable.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

House museums hit hard times

Hemingway, Wright attractions saw revenue shortfalls of 80% this summer

By LACEY SIKORA

W

Contributing Reporter

ith the COVID-19 pandemic hitting Illinois just as spring began, local house museums found themselves in desperate times. Typically, spring and summer are the busiest seasons for both tourists and fundraising for the Hemingway Birthplace, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and Pleasant Home.

This year, stay-at-home orders shuttered the house museums, and social distancing guidelines, on top of tourists wary of travel, curtailed the number of visitors who were

able to visit this summer.

Decreased revenue from ticket sales has led the local organizations to get creative with their fundraising efforts.

On Sept. 28, the Hemingway Foundation announced a fundraising campaign called – to make no mistake about its purpose -- “Help Us Keep the Doors Open” for the Hemingway Birthplace Museum, 339 N. Oak Park Ave. Keith Strom, the foundation’s executive director, said in a press release that the campaign is directly tied to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during which state-mandated closures for most of the spring and summer had a severe economic impact on revenues.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, meanwhile, was forced to cancel its largest annual fundraiser, the Wright Plus Housewalk, this spring. In May, the trust laid off 25 percent of its workforce.

Faced with steeply declining revenues from tours at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, 951 Chicago Ave.,

and purchases at the gift shop, the trust sent out its annual appeal out in August, roughly two and a half months early.

They also doubled their planned fundraising goal to $200,000.

Tom Gull, director of development for the FLW Trust, says that generous donations from board members and others helped them in the spring, but the trust is still looking to raise roughly $160,000 by the end of the year.

While both the Hemingway Foundation and the FLW Trust applied for and received some aid in the wake of pandemic, it was not enough to make up for the lost revenue.

John Berry, chairman of the board of the Hemingway Foundation, said that revenue dropped close to 80 percent.

“From April to August in 2019, we had revenue of $92,662,” he said. “In 2020 for that same period, it was $16,786. You can’t sustain that.”

The story was the same at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home See MUSEUMS on page B4

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B1

608 Lathrop Ave, River Forest Beautiful home in the heart of town. Large, light filled rooms, master with ensuite, plus a family room and deck. All within walking distance to shops, trains, and schools.

4 BR 3 BA .................................. $669,000 John Haagenson | 773-230-6995 john.haagenson@cbexchange.com

Priced to sell!

243 S. Maple Ave., Unit C, Oak Park Great value in this bright, spacious, brick townhome w/2 ensuite BD/BA. 2 rooftop decks, 1 car garage. Quarterly HOA. Great location! 2 BD 2.5 BA ................ $365,000 Sara Faust | 708-772-7910 sara.faust@cbexchange.com

Just Sold!

407 Wisconsin Ave, Unit D, Oak Park Stunning townhouse with updates throughout including a 2 car garage. Walk to town location! 2BR 2.2 BA..... $399,000 Sandi Graves | 708-752-6540 sgraves@cbexchange.com

New Price!

504 Park Ave, River Forest Spacious townhouse with over 3,000 sf located on quiet residential street.

3BD + Office, 2.2 BA ................. $499,000 Shea Kiessling | 708-710-5952 shea@cbexchange.com

Just Sold!

1210 N. Marion Street, Oak Park Updated split-level on a wide lot with 2 garages, a large family room and 2 dens.

The space and light and flow will surprise you in this house. 4 BR 2.5 BA .. $525,000 Stephanie Eiger | 708-557-0779 Stephanie.eiger@cbexchange.com

1017 S. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park Spacious Arts and Crafts bungalow with beautiful crown molding original woodwork and hardwood floors. First floor bedroom & a full bath on each level. So many possibilities! 4+1 BD 3 BA ........ $350,000 Lisa Andreoli and Meredith Conn 708-557-9546 | 708-743-6973 Teamgo2girls@gmail.com

Coming Soon!

225 S. Clinton Ave, Oak Park Center of town location.

4 Bedroom, 3 Bath .................... $739,000 Joe Langley | Cell 708-243-0330 jlangley.realtor@gmail.com

Just Sold!

435 William Street, #602, River Forest In unit w/d, balcony, plus 2 garage spaces.

Centrally located!

2 BD 2BA ................................... $325,000 Patty Melgar Hooks | 708-261-2796 patty.melgarhooks@cbexchange.com

Interested in a real estate career?

Steady and Proven Professional Interest rates are amazingly low, and the market is hot. Now is the time to make your real estate wish a reality. Call for a free analysis and advice on the current market.

Kirstin Gloor | 708-351-8977 Kirstin.Gloor@cbexchange.com

Under Contract! 7251 Randolph Street, Unit C3, Forest Park Walking distance to both Oak Park and Forest Park downtowns! Charming condo with an open dining/living room and a large primary bedroom. Great rooftop deck!

Parking included. 2 BR 1.1 BA .. $156,900 Andrea “Bonnie” Routen | 708-544-8440 Andrea.bonnie@cbexchange.com

New Price!

1215 Linden Avenue, Oak Park Great opportunity to own this gorgeous Mediterranean-influenced home in awardwinning Mann School district. Spacious rooms including 3 bedrooms (one has a sitting area, one with a tandem) and 1 full/2 half baths. 3 BR 1.2 BA ............ $459,000 Sue Canepa 312-203-0848 suecanepahomes@gmail.com

Contact Lewis Jones

Designated Managing Broker 708-851-2223

lewis.jones@cbexchange.com

COLDWELLBANKERHOMES.COM Oak Park 114 N. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park | 708.524.1100 The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker Realty. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Realty fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Realty LLC.

B2 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

Generations of Excellence since 1958

708.771.8040 • 7375 W. North Ave., River Forest DonnaAvenue Barnhisel 7375 West North Dan Bogojevich MANAGING Anne Brennan River Forest, Illinois 60305 BROKER/OWNERS Karen Byrne Calkins 708.771.8040 Kevin Tom Carraher Andy Gagliardo

Tom Poulos

1403 FRANKLIN • RIVER FOREST

Pat Cesario Joe Cibula

Don Citrano Alisa Coghill Kay Costello Maria Cullerton Julie Downey Kurt Fielder Yvonne Fiszer-Steele Ramona Fox

Laura Gancer Lisa Grimes Dan Halperin Sharon Halperin Greg Jaroszewski Vee Jaroszewski Noa Klima Jack Lattner

Iris McCormick Vince McFadden Elizabeth Moroney Colleen Navigato John Pappas Rosa Pitassi Sue Ponzio-Pappas Jenny Ruland

Laurel Saltzman Laurie Shapiro Tom Sullivan Debbie Watts George Wohlford Nancy Wohlford Randy Ernst • 773-290-0307

1527 MONROE • RIVER FOREST

1226 BELLEFORTE • OAK PARK

808 S SCOVILLE • OAK PARK

N EW LI S T I N G!

N EW LI S T I N G!

STUNNING FRENCH NORMANDY house that has been remodeled and refinished from top to bottom. New wiring, plumbing, hvac, all floors, generator, roof work, and more. Just drop in your furniture and enjoy, from the fantastic front entrance all the way to the basement. .............................................................. $1,349,000

CHARMING BRICK HOME located on a quiet Cul-De-Sac. This 4 BR, 2-½ bath home offers a spacious LR with fireplace, a family room with Walls of Glass, and a 1st-floor office. Lower Level has a Rec Room with another fireplace, workshop area, laundry room with tons of storage space. ................................................ $549,500

SUPER CHARMING light-filled home on extra-large lot.

Delightful front porch, spacious foyer, formal LR & DR all with beautiful hardwood floors. Efficient galley kitchen opens to family room. Gazebo area out back surrounded by natural landscaping.

Vintage barn off alley with a loft. ......................................$475,000

CITY LIVING CONVENIENCE in a charming village atmosphere.

This large Cape Cod is not a drive-by. Ten large rooms with four bedrooms, four full baths, and a huge 1st-floor family room with a wet bar. Three-season room, and a kitchen with 42” oak cabinets. ..............................................................................$550,000

1147 JACKSON • RIVER FOREST OPEN SUNDAY 13

LOVELY BRICK HOME offers wonderful space with beautiful views of the spectacular lot! Original details with two story foyer and hardwood floors throughout. This elegant home is beautifully constructed and large enough to accommodate family and friends for years to come............................................................................................. $1,299,000 BEAUTIFUL, CLASSIC HOME offers everything for today’s modern living. Custom-built home has the highest quality finishes. No detail was missed. Brick and stone exterior, wrap-around porch, eleven-foot ceilings and oversized windows. LL has 2,000 feet of living area............ ........................................................................................................$1,295,000 ELEGANT CRAFTSMANSHIP can be found throughout this 5 BR French Normandy home. Sophistication is evident from the moment you walk in the door. Impressive foyer, formal LR with fireplace and built-in benches, family room, separate formal DR, updated kitchen, home office. ...................................................................................$999,000 STATELY HOME located on a picturesque River Forest block! This 5 bedroom, 3 full/2 half bath home includes four floors of living with two finished family rooms, a large study and three fireplaces. Large sundrenched rooms with elegant cove molding and windows. In-ground outdoor pool. ..................................................................................$819,000 SPLITLEVEL HOME offers newly refreshed contemporary style and wonderful space. Home offers three bedrooms, three brand new bathrooms, beautiful front entryway, vaulted ceiling family room, sunroom, game room, deck, spectacular backyard, attached two-car garage .............................................................................................. $599,000 BRING YOUR IDEAS! Brick bungalow offers a lot of potential.

Centrally located, this house sits on a 75 X 157 lot. Open floor plan, outside side deck, 3 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, finished family room in the basement with plenty of storage. Renovate or build new. Many options available..............................................................................$539,000 CENTER ENTRANCE COLONIAL offers wonderful space! Deep lot, large deck, and original details throughout the home. Features include large living room, sunny sitting room, hardwood floors, updated kitchen, family room, full finished basement, and a two-car garage. ...........................................................................................................$440,000

OAK PARK HOMES

831 HOME • OAK PARK OPEN SUNDAY 13

GRAND SPRAWLING HOME with an abundance of interior and exterior living areas. 5 BRs, upstairs laundry, 3 full & 1 half BAs, 3 fireplaces, full basement with recreation room. Grand two story family room incorporated into an open plan kitchen. Hardwood floors throughout main level. ............................................ $787,000

RIVER FOREST HOMES

FRENCH COUNTRY ESTATE built for flexible living. Fully renovated and expanded to preserve the feel and charm of a 1946 home, with all the conveniences of modern amenities and finishes. Sits on a private, double lot. Large pool, 5 BRs w/BAs, 2nd Fl laundry, private office, finished basement. ...........................................................$1,749,950 MODERN DREAM HOME centrally located on a corner lot with fenced in yard has plenty of entertainment space! Designer touches throughout the 6 bedroom, 6 full and 1 half bath home with beautiful LR, DR and large kitchen with open floor plan to the family room. So much more to see! ...................................................................... $1,699,000 STATELY SOUTHERN COLONIAL blends old world craftsmanship with elegant modern updates ideally located. Grand foyer, elegant LR with fireplace, recently remodeled gourmet kitchen, mudroom, family room, large basement with den/office. Meticulously maintained and ready to move in. ........................................................................ $1,599,000 EXQUISITE, UPDATED HOME with luxurious finishes throughout, walk to EVERYTHING location! Four full floors of renovated space including massive, open, chef’s kitchen that opens to family room, French doors, amazing basement living space and home gym. Move in and enjoy! .................................................................................... $1,299,900

COLONIAL REVIVAL STYLE with Tudor Revival influences built in 1909. This stunning six-bedroom home displays sophistication and tasteful elegant décor. It offers wonderful space for family and entertaining with beautiful views of the spectacular oversized corner lot. ..... ........................................................................................................ $1,395,000 THREE STORY GRAND VICTORIAN on 100 x 218 lot in the heart of the Frank Lloyd Wright district. This estate features 6 Bedrooms, 2 Full baths, 3 fireplaces, many historic details including double front entry doors sourced from the Historic Pullman Estates section of Chicago. ..........................................................................................$650,000 BEAUTIFUL SIDE ENTRANCE COLONIAL with 4 BRs, 2 full & 1 half baths features a spacious center family room, cooks’ kitchen with mud room, gas fireplace, built-in shelving & art glass windows.

Beautiful woodwork & hardwood floors throughout. Finished LL. Front & back heated walkway. ............................................................... $639,000 ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRITY of this 4 BR, 3BA farmhouse has been preserved whenever updates were completed. Double door entry, antique light fixture, hardwood flooring, art glass windows, natural trim work and high ceilings are found throughout this home. $625,000 RARELY AVAILABLE, “Cavalcade of Pride” award-winning home on 50 x 170 ft lot. Includes high ceilings, oak staircase, marble fireplace, separate formal dining area, spacious den/family room with stained glass and built-in bookcases, eat-in kitchen, and a large full basement with storage. ................................................................................... $599,000 TURNKEY LIVING awaits you in the 3 BR, 2 bath ranch all made up and ready to go! All new stainless steel appliances and granite counters highlight the twenty-foot long eat-in kitchen. The expansive finished lower level practically doubles the size of the living space. Two car garage ...............................................................................................$299,900 DUTCH COLONIAL with rehab already started, already gutted.

Originally 2 bedrooms, but now open to new floor plan and added bedrooms and baths. Could be a flip or a great home to live in.$185,000

MELROSE PARK HOMES

WELL CARED FOR BEVERLY in great location! Features beautiful hardwood flooring in most rooms, remodeled master bath, updated kitchen, and finished basement with second kitchen for those large family parties! Freshly painted. Fenced yard. Absolute move-in condition!....................................................................................................$329,900

P R IC E R E DUC E D! GREAT MOVEIN READY HOME with 3 bedrooms and 1st Fl office. Features include a screened-in front porch with new hardwood floors, enclosed back porch that doubles as a mud room, all BRs with hardwood floors, finished basement with large living area, fenced yard, 2-1/2 car garage. ..................................$425,000

CONDOS/TOWNHOMES/2 FLATS RIVER FOREST 2BR, 2BA. Completely updated. .................$264,000 OAK PARK Two Flat ...................................................................$699,000 NEW LISTING OAK PARK 3BR, 3-1/2 BA. .........................$569,900 OAK PARK Two Flat ...................................................................$550,000 OAK PARK 3BR, 2 full/2 half BA. Move-in ready...................$425,000 NEW LISTING OAK PARK 2BR, 2BA...................................$379,000 OAK PARK 3BR, 2 full/1 half BA. Vintage beauty................. .$285,000 OAK PARK 3BR, 2 full/1 half BA. Downtown OP. ...................$257,000 NEW LISTING OAK PARK 2BR, 2BA. ..................................$249,900 OAK PARK 1BR, 1BA. Parking space included. .......................$124,500 OAK PARK 1BR, 1BA. Vintage building....................................$110,000 OAK PARK 1BR, 1BA. No stairs!...................................................$97,500 FOREST PARK 1BR, 1BA. Rare find. ..........................................$89,900 CHICAGO 2BR, 2BA. Chic, move-in ready! .............................$534,950 CHICAGO 2BR, 2BA. Vibrant Wicker Park!.............................$429,000 CHICAGO 2BR, 2BA. Secure gated lot. ....................................$209,900

Shop for homes online at GagliardoRealty.com October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B3

MUSEUMS

Steep revenue decline from page B1 and Studio, according to Gull.

“This summer compared to last summer, we’re operating at about 20 percent of what we normally do,” he said.

While tourist traffic is picking up at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Gull reports that they have reduced tour sizes from 18 guests to eight. Roughly one-third of their volunteers have not felt ready to return to lead inperson tours.

Berry said that tourists from outside the Chicago area are the biggest visitors to the Hemingway Birthplace, and says the international interest in both Hemingway and Wright brings a lot of tourist dollars to the two house museums.

“About 30 percent of our normal annual visitors are from outside of the USA,” Berry said. “I think those numbers are similar or higher at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio.”

The problem is not limited to Oak Park. House museums across the country rely on foot traffic for ticket sales, and the stay-at-home orders followed by sharply diminished travel wreaked havoc on the normally busy summer tourist season.

Berry points out that the for-profit Hemingway museum in Key West, Florida laid off 50 percent of its staff in August.

“They do a huge amount of business with cruise ships,” Berry said. “Their revenues fell about 80 percent, like ours.”

Both the Hemingway Birthplace and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio are members of the At Home in Chicago consortium of house museums, and Berry says that all 20 member homes saw steep declines in revenues this summer, and all of the home museums are preparing for a rough winter. Berry noted that house museums in northern climates typically see a large drop in attendance during the winter.

Oak Park’s Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave., is also a member of the consortium. Pleasant Home Foundation Presi-

Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave., Oak Park

B4 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, 951 Chicago Ave., Oak Park dent Raeann Spencer says that like all other homes, Pleasant Home was forced to close for a few months, but is now offering free, self-guided tours on Thursdays and expanded paid docent-led and behind-the-scenes tours by reservation.

Spencer said the foundation, which operates the museum, lost revenue due to lack of tours. However, Jan Arnold, executive director of the Park District of Oak Park, which owns the property, notes the pandemic hasn’t threatened the livelihood of Pleasant Home. The upkeep and maintenance of the home are funded through the park district, not through ticket sales.

Berry says the Hemingway Foundation is hoping that the

April 2021 PBS airing of a Ken Burns and Lynn Novick biopic on Hemingway will provide a big bump in interest in the birthplace.

“We’ll certainly try to leverage that into a renewed interest into Hemingway in 2021,” Berry said. “With this [fundraising] campaign, we’re trying to make sure we make it 2021.”

Within the first week of the campaign, the Hemingway Foundation raised roughly 20 percent of its initial $75,000

Want to donate?

Gifts to the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust can be made at flwright.org/annualappeal while the Hemingway Foundation has established a GoFundMe fundraiser at is charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/keep-thehemingway-birthplace-doors-open/ernesthemingwayfound

goal. Berry says Hemingway Foundation members continue to think outside the box in terms of fundraising to keep the lights on.

The Michigan Hemingway Society reached out and offered to help, and Berry says the foundation is reaching out to others as well, including Hemingway scholars, friends and other Hemingway sites.

“We are trying to mine these contacts,” Berry said. “We still have a lot of fishing lines out in the ocean, but we’d be very happy if someone made a large donation.”

As they look ahead into fall and beyond, Berry says he can’t help but look to the past.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We don’t have a choice but to try to work a way around this pandemic. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen. We do have a story on our website about the 1918 flu pandemic and how that Hemingway basically sheltered in place in the center of France with Hadley.”

He notes that the flu pandemic killed a lot more people, but says that for our generation, this pandemic is a new phenomenon.

“It’s all new to us,” Berry said. “We’re hoping that by April, our visitor numbers will begin to come back up. The virus will determine how and when we can reopen.”

300 Linden Ave, Oak Park

1140 Schneider Ave, Oak Park

$1,290,000 | 5BR | 4BA | 1HBA

$360,000 | 2BR | 2BA | 1HBA

Magnificent grand Colonial features 4 levels of living, luxurious

Beautiful central Oak Park townhome with both bedrooms having

finishes & modern updates on a huge park-like lot!

their own en suite bath!

300 N Taylor Ave, Oak Park

913 Wenonah Ave, Oak Park

$420,000 | 4BR | 1BA | 1HBA

$516,000 | 1 - 3BR unit | 1 - 2BR unit

Impressive Prairie inspired classic Oak Park home with so much

Fantastic solid brick two-flat in south Oak Park the perfect

original architectural detail!

investment on a great lot!

Steve Scheuring Realtor and Local Expert, Oak Park & River Forest steve.scheuring@compass.com 708.369.8043

101 N Euclid Ave, #30, Oak Park $540,000 | 3BR | 3BA | 1HBA Bright and beautiful TRUE 3-bedroom townhouse in the heart of downtown Oak Park!

Steve Scheuring is a Real Estate broker affiliated with Compass. Compass is a licensed Real Estate broker with a principal office in Chicago, IL and abides by all applicable Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only, is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, and changes without notice. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of Real Estate brokerage. 1643 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647.

October 14, 2020 â&#x2013; Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B5

P R O P E R T Y

River Forest home sells for $1,540,000

The following property transfers were reported by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds for July 2020. Where addresses appear incomplete, for instance where a unit number appears missing, that information was not provided by the recorder of deeds.

T R A N S F E R S FOREST PARK ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

7541 Brown Ave

$280,000.00

Rogers Daniel S

Shirlee Jermaine

1023 Marengo Ave

$465,000.00

1023 Marengo Llc

Schassen Michael Ryan

831 Belvidere Ave

$365,000.00

Kernkamp Daniel J

Fontana Melissa L

917 Harlem Ave

$107,000.00

Silveri Patricia

Chicago Title Land Trust Co Trust

7401 Roosevelt Rd

$250,000.00

Jmcc Rlty Grp Llc

Terra Building Inc

1337 Elgin Ave

$250,000.00

Safranski Eric T

Wiegmann Aaron Lee

7314 Randolph St

$170,000.00

Dioguardi Joan J

Tejada Raul

7416 Warren St

$345,000.00

Metzger Scott Tr

Lejcar Phillip D

905 Lathrop Ave

$407,000.00

Laurentiu Claudiu L

Zaliagiris Joseph

315 Burkhardt Ct

$305,000.00

Modimby Llc

Tiburtini Marissa A

251 Marengo Ave

$205,000.00

Schaaf Mary Jane Tr

Rummel Carol

1312 Circle Ave

$155,000.00

Griffin Leon Ind Extr

Figueroa Victor B

315 Des Plaines Ave

$105,000.00

Concannon Paul V

Barrett Dennis W

923 Ferdinand Ave

$252,000.00

Feczko Nicholas G

Castillo Daniel

820 Elgin Ave

Unknown

Intercounty Judicial Sales Corp

Deutsche Bk Natl Trust Co Tr

OAK PARK ADDRESS

1023 Park Ave., River Forest

ADDRESS

PRICE

RIVER FOREST SELLER

BUYER

1423 Lathrop Ave

$618,000.00

West William L Tr

Kluskens David L

1535 Park Ave

$240,000.00

Ayyagari Swati

Johnsen Steven R

121 Thatcher Ave

$745,000.00

Menacho Julie A

Kranz Kevin

314 Franklin Ave

$585,000.00

Mcdermott Michael

Metzger Scott Tr

1410 N Harlem Ave

$190,000.00

Carr Vincent John

Zayed Noor

407 Ashland Ave

$250,000.00

Chicago Title Land Trust

Christensen Mark E

7501 North Ave

$8,050,000.00

7501 W N Ave Llc

Rf Grocery Llc

414 Clinton Pl

$150,000.00

Coolidge Roberta A Tr

Jorge Joseph

45 Park Ave

$180,000.00

Ferro Mario J

Harris Phoenix N

742 Bonnie Brae Pl

$1,000,000.00

1023 Park Ave

$1,540,000.00 Moore Noel G

Lefevour John T

B6 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate â&#x2013; October 14, 2020

Ruhaak Martin Chreonis Andrea M

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

708 Wesley Ave

$335,000.00

Costello Nora

Mcdermott Michael

634 Clarence Ave

$350,000.00

Moroney Colleen

Broy Keecia

1226 N Marion St 1126 S Highland Ave 623 N Elmwood Ave 728 S Scoville Ave 302 N Oak Park Ave 839 N Lombard Ave 1019 Division St 819 Clarence Ave 722 Erie St 726 N Grove Ave 723 Hayes Ave 223 S Maple Ave 1180 S Elmwood Ave 607 Wesley Ave 228 N Oak Park Ave 936 Wesley Ave 542 N Marion St 808 S Lyman Ave 1201 N Kenilworth Ave 641 Clarence Ave 1047 N Harlem Ave 1025 Randolph St 121 Le Moyne Pky 704 S Humphrey Ave 1132 Fair Oaks Ave 412 N Scoville Ave 1130 Ontario St 222 N Grove Ave 808 Wisconsin Ave 708 S East Ave 900 N Harvey Ave 105 S Euclid Ave 600 N Lombard Ave 901 Mapleton Ave 1204 Linden Ave 941 Linden Ave

$440,000.00

Rojas David A

Mcdonald Ryan

$435,000.00

Tseng Ben J Tr

Hill Patrick A

$886,000.00

Ritten Christopher P

Hollinder Thomas E

$659,000.00

Thomas Peter A

Hull Daniel P Tr

$242,000.00

Smith Bradon J

$304,500.00

Gold Susan J

Maliff William C Lynch Dylan John Facklis Derek L Thomas Matthew Smith Michelle Chapman Johne P Santos Jude Anthony Macis Candice A Wiley Sean M Cummings Jonathan C Proskey Lindsay Therese Gluck Paul Gros Sebastien A Ych Lisa C Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Homan Patrick Mirabile Phillip Meyer Sandra Vadakara Tom P Gough Kateland M Haigh Michael J Hall Christopher M Thomas Krysti Ohara Mary Kathleen Tr Cernak Michael G Chang Eva Unell Amy Rebecca Danahey Amy O Connor Nicole Gardner Joshua James Lenz Mary Catherine Tr Ball Caroline

$351,000.00

Mandrew Phllip

$394,000.00

Riley Michael E

$180,000.00

Butts Grace E

$370,000.00

Reistroffer Douglas Extr

$405,000.00

Cohen Kevin B

$220,000.00

Heberlein Joel M

$241,500.00

Olugenga Kathlee N

$275,000.00

Martin John William

$153,000.00

Vance William S

$436,000.00

Linne T Marc

$520,000.00 $865,000.00

Schlichting Donna L Hernandez Odin Staszak Edward L

$425,000.00

Boyer Christopher R

$125,000.00

Lako Enea

$170,000.00

Lisuzzo Peter G Tr

$375,000.00

Jtpv Corp

$625,000.00

$375,000.00

Ih2 Prop Il Lp

$595,000.00

Blair Kenneth Morris

$995,000.00

Milburn James

$168,000.00 $465,000.00

Triveri James Jr Teclaw Nancy K Tr Kallish Adam

$580,000.00

Ashton Harry Earl Iv

$605,000.00

$484,000.00

Jbc111 Pholdings Llc Whitaker Ronald David Davis Stanley L Jr Tr Collins Kimberly Jacobs Randal B

$515,000.00

Landis Robert Bruce

$210,000.00

$350,000.00

$390,000.00 $412,500.00

P R O P E R T Y

T R A N S F E R S

OAK PARK ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

1025 Randolph St 830 Forest Ave 329 S Oak Park Ave 926 N Ridgeland Ave 837 N Marion St 720 Forest Ave 532 Carpenter Ave 318 S Cuyler Ave 839 S Taylor Ave 622 Wisconsin Ave 619 S East Ave 621 S Humphrey Ave 931 N Marion St 720 N Austin Blvd 949 Fair Oaks Ave 831 Hayes Ave 104 N Oak Park Ave 232 N Scoville Ave 843 S Highland Ave 1017 N Harlem Ave 950 Washington Blvd 216 N Oak Park Ave 1101 N Harvey Ave 521 South Blvd 929 S Oak Park Ave

$129,000.00

Lund Erik James Extr

$150,000.00

Totzke Lynn R Tr

$239,000.00

Siddiqi Lamia Farha Tatum James Mark O Neal Jared P Tenuta James-Paul Caesar Swanson James Dean Joshua Thomas Gustin Katherine C Kopelow Daniel Avi Beyer Jonathan A Herrington Gary Brandt Morton Samuel H Sellers Joseph Thompson John Wesley Iii Martin Erick Roque Dario Lopez-Hisjos Nicolas Mcmahon Jason Leibowitz Alex K De Santiago Martha Mason Patrick A Winters Daniel C Wesen Lauren A Walker Samuel H Us Bk Maddela Edward A

$62,000.00

Bongiorno Martha Chicago Title Land Trust CoTr May Ryan P Walton Robert Uribe Marcella King Stanley P Tr Reaves Walter B Giovingo Linda L Tr Kitson John S Ryan Thomas P Frank Rebecca S Tr Spearman James Sobti Vikram Kallen Jason S Tr Schalin Daniel

$782,000.00

Buchbinder Paul W

$260,000.00

Woywod Kathryn A

$387,000.00

Vil Nichayette

$277,500.00

$550,000.00 $740,000.00

$279,000.00 $380,000.00 $422,500.00 $435,000.00

$441,000.00 $444,000.00

$680,000.00 $75,000.00 $900,000.00 $452,000.00

$100,000.00

Quilici Alexandra

$160,000.00

Flinn Karina

$460,000.00

Hull Daniel P Tr

Unknown

Judicial Sales Corp

Unknown

Federal Home Loan Mtg Corp

JUST LISTED

Leaves Fall, Interest Rates Fall It’s time to Fall in Love with a New Home!

Oak Park | NEW LISTING

This 5 BR, 2.1 BA Tudor has only had 2 owners.

Refinished hardwood floors, Master Suite, the huge walk-up attic offers another 804 sq. ft. Beautifully maintained & much character throughout ...................... $850,000

Oak Park

UNDER CONTRACT IN 5 DAYS

Victorian home with 4 BRs, 2.1 BAs, with open floor plan and a 31’ x 12’ Family Room right off the kitchen! The exact floor plan you’ve been waiting for! Master suite, hardwood floors and more! .............................. $625,000

Oak Park | NEW PRICE

Gorgeous 4+ BR, 2.1 BA, center entrance Colonial with charm galore: hardwood floors, natural woodwork, Palladian windows, stained glass, woodburning fireplace & large 2nd floor office. ....................................... $648,000

River Forest

Luxurious 2BR, 2 BA condo, with a Den, gas fireplace, hardwood floors, and new carpeting, eat-in kitchen, and 2 garage parking spaces. 2165 sq. ft., and full size laundry room in the unit!.............................. $525,000

Elmwood Park | NEW LISTING 4 BR, 1.1 BA Cape Cod in River Forest Manor! Spotless home with hardwood floors, natural fireplace, fresh decor, eat-in kitchen, and lower level Family Room with 4th Bedroom. Lovely yard, too. ................... $377,500

River Forest | NEW PRICE 7310 HOLLY, RIVER FOREST $899,000 :: 6 BED :: 5.5+ BATH Close to train.

JUST LISTED

Custom-built 4 BR, 3.1 BA. Island Kitchen opens right up to the 21’ x 20’ Family Rm with fireplace, bar sink & refrigerator. Incredible master bath with heated floors, steam shower & jacuzzi! ............................ $775,000

Oak Park | SOLD IN 1 DAY

2-Flat in the heart of town! Both units have 1 BR and an office, hardwood floors, dining rooms and separate furnaces.

Parking for 3 cars, storage and shared laundry in the basement.......................................... $390,000

Call me at 708.218.8102 for a Market Evaluation of your home. I’m here for you, for every move you make!

1119 OAK PARK, OAK PARK $723,500 :: 4 BED :: 2.5 BATH Designer kitchen. Awesome yard.

KATHY & TONY IWERSEN 708.772.8040 708.772.8041 tonyiwersen@atproperties.com

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B7

GLEN ELLYN

5 BR, 2.2 BA ..................................$729,000

OAK PARK

OAK PARK

Michael O’Neill & Bridget O’Neill 708-267-8995 or 312-337-0200

1 BR, 1 BA .....................................$145,000

2 BR, 1 BA .....................................$199,000

OAK PARK

OAK PARK

4 BR, 2.1 BA ..................................$723,500

3 BR, 1.1 BA ..................................$449,000 Catherine Simon Vobornik • 312-501-4048

Catherine Simon Vobornik • 312-501-4048

3 BR, 3.1 BA ..................................$489,000 Liz O’Connell • 708-772-0337

Catherine Simon Vobornik • 312-501-4048

OAK PARK

2 BR, 2 BA .....................................$259,000 Catherine Simon Vobornik • 312-501-4048

OAK PARK

3 BR, 1.1 BA ..................................$439,000 Catherine Simon Vobornik • 312-501-4048

OAK PARK

Kathy & Tony Iwersen 708-772-8040 or 708-772-8041

House Hunting?

Find a Realtor.

Find a home.

OAK PARK The iconic Bishops Hall on an estate-sized lot in the heart of the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District.

4 BR, 4.2 BA ............................................................................................................... $1,550,000 Greer Haseman • 708-606-8896

Get a list of Open Houses.

RIVER FOREST Light and bright 3 story farmhouse. This house offers multiple home office options including a beautiful library.

6 BR, 4.1 BA .................................................................................................................. $849,000 Greer Haseman • 708-606-8896

Every week, every day in

RIVER FOREST

3 BR, 2.1 BA ..................................$494,000 Greer Haseman • 708-606-8896

RIVER FOREST

6 BR, 5.1 BA ..................................$899,000 Kathy & Tony Iwersen 708-772-8040 or 708-772-8041

Want to see your listings in Distinctive Properties?

Contact Marc Stopeck at 708.613.3330 or marc@oakpark.com B8 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

You depend top-selling Why test yourcan LUCK when you canon depend on top-selling Broker, Sarah O’Shea Munoz? Munoz!

Broker, Sarah O’Shea UNDER Experienced,UNDER Well-Qualified Professional CONTRACT CONTRACT Responsive, Resourceful & Thorough Efficient, Empathetic & Compassionate

FOR SALE

Our Community Needs Community Journalism It’s not just about crime reports and board meetings. We also need inspiring, funny, heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking stories about our friends, neighbors and children. Perhaps now, more than ever.

Let's build community!

Read and Support Wednesday Journal.

Work with someone who treasures you!!!

125 N. Euclid #304 Oak SOLD! Park 1 BR/ 1 BA + Bonus Space…$178,900

SOLD!

SOLD!

915 Monroe River Forest 3 BR/ 1.1 BA…$599,000

SOLD! 936 Forest - River Forest 3BR/ 2BA - $529,000

SOLD!

838 N. Elmwood - Oak Park 3 BR/ 2.1 BA - $594,900

633 Ashland River Forest 5 BR/ 3 BA & 1st Floor Family Room….$787,700

SOLD!

1227 Jackson - River Forest 4BR/ 3.1 BA - $899,000

415 Franklin #4B River Forest 2 BR/ 2 BA…$244,900

Partner with us.

Donate at GrowingCommunityMedia.org

915 William SOLD! River Forest 4 BR/ 3.2 BA & 1st Floor Family Room…$1,025,000

SOLD!

7651 Monroe - Forest Park 5BR/ 2BA 2-flat - $374,977

SOLD!

1234 N. East Avenue Oak Park 2 B/ 2 BA - $374,700

SOLD!

415 Franklin #3E River Forest 4BR/ 2 BA…$310,000

SOLD!

River Forest

415 Franklin #3D & 415 Franklin #2F 3BR/ 2BA $267,000 2BR/ 2BA $269,000

Under Contract in 415 Franklin #4C 14 days!

River Forest 2 BR/ 2 BA….$239,000

314 Wisconsin #1S Oak Park 2 BR/ 1 BA…$289,900

With low interest rates, 643 Garfield #3 - Oak Park it’s a great to Buy & Sell!

2BR/time 1 BA - $134,900 Contact Sarah to plan for your home purchase or sale!

Sarah O’Shea Munoz

ASP (RE), CNE, e-PRO, GRI REALTOR®

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago SOMunoz@BhhsChicago.com OSheaMunozHomes.com Growing Community Media NFP is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization

708.359.1570

© BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates,LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B9

542 THATCHER AVENUE, RIVER FOREST

542THATCHER.INFO

1016 ERIE STREET, OAK PARK

1016ERIE.INFO

Exquisitely gorgeous home with stunning curb appeal, close proximity to the

Elite, award-winning two-story Victorian situated close to downtown Oak Park

Metra. This stately historic home has 4 levels of living. $1,098,000

and all the shops, restaurants and parks it has to offer.

CLAUDINE CANTU

DORENE FLIGER

•

708.848.0200

•

claudine@atproperties.com

•

708.822.2947

•

$890,000

dorenefliger@atproperties.com

1011 SOUTH BOULEVARD

555 ASHLAND AVENUE, RIVER FOREST

555ASHLANDAV.INFO

644 N OAK PARK AVENUE, OAK PARK

644NOAKPARKAVENUE.INFO

This bright 3-story farmhouse checks all the boxes! The gracious foyer, complete

A true opportunity awaits you from this beautiful, bright and sunny brick

with a fireplace, sets a welcoming tone for the entire house. $849,000

Colonial on a corner lot in a central location. $750,000

HASEMAN/CURRAN

LISA PASQUESI

•

708.606.8896

•

greer.gps@atproperties.com

•

708.848.0200

•

lisapasquesi@atproperties.com

Stop looking, start finding® atproperties.com

B10 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

Distinction

(di stingk’ shen) noun.

The act of distinguishing excellence; making a difference

Tom Carraher redefines the essence of real estate service.

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

Sunday, October 18th

ADDRESS

OFFICE

LISTING PRICE

TIME

831 Home Ave, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gagliardo Realty Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$425,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 319 S. Maple Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$574,900. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 732 N. Kenilworth Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$650,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:30-4:30 1215 N. Grove Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$650,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:30-4:30 1147 Jackson Ave, River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . Gagliardo Realty Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$787,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

It is extremely rare to find real estate professionals who set themselves apart with distinction in everything they do... ...unless you select the professional who has distinguished himself by making a total commitment to excellence—Tom Carraher.

Call Tom Carraher at 708-822-0540 to achieve all of your real estate goals.

CONDOS

ADDRESS

OFFICE

LISTING PRICE

TIME

1209 N. Harlem Ave. UNIT 10, Oak Park. . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $119,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 166 N. Humphrey Ave. UNIT 1N, Oak Park. . Beyond Properties Realty Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $219,900. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 210 S. Lombard Ave. UNIT B, Oak Park . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$224,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 1133 Chicago Ave. UNIT 3E, Oak Park . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$625,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2

Tom Carraher

This Directory brought to you by

Realistic Expectation–Proven Results

mrgloans.com

Providing financing for homes in Oak Park and surrounding communities since 1989.

Conventional, FHA, and Jumbo mortgages Free Pre-approvals

7544 W. North Avenue Elmwood Park, IL 708.452.5151

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7375W. West NorthAve. Avenue 7375 North River Forest, Illinois River Forest 60305 708.771.8040 708.771.8040

http://tomcarraher.realtor.com

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B11

WE’RE BY YOUR SIDE 940 Bonnie Brae Pl River Forest | $1,139,000 Ed Bellock

822 Jackson Ave River Forest | $999,000 Sheila Price

732 S Taylor Ave Oak Park | $679,000 Swati Saxena

154 N Euclid Ave Oak Park | $665,000 Maya Puentes

1215 N Grove Ave Oak Park | $650,000 Keller Group Chicago

1224 Columbian Ave Oak Park | $579,900 Steve Green

710 Lyman Ave Oak Park | $545,000 Patricia McGowan

320 S Maple Ave, Unit D Oak Park | $489,000 Liz O’Connell

835 N Cuyler Ave Oak Park | $474,900 Ann Keeney

1207 Rossell Ave Oak Park | $439,000 Catherine Simon-Vobornik

328 N Cuyler Ave Oak Park | $399,000 Carla Taylor

1014 Hayes Ave Oak Park | $379,000 Bobbi Eastman

522 Grove Ln Forest Park | $339,900 Swati Saxena

339 Home Ave, Unit 2F Oak Park | $315,000 Heidi Rogers

1858 Norfolk Ave Westchester | $289,900 Bill Geldes

3505 Grove Ave Berwyn | $263,999 Sandra Dita Lopez

164 N Humphrey Ave, #3S Oak Park | $249,000 Catherine Simon-Vobornik

1109 Erie St Oak Park | $249,000 Ken Van Santen

715 Washington Blvd, #2D Oak Park | $225,000 Bethanny Alexander

210 S Lombard Ave, Unit B Oak Park | $224,000 Peggy Letchos

Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest | 1037 Chicago Ave. Oak Park, IL 60302 | 708.697.5900 | oakpark.bairdwarner.com Source: BrokerMetrics® LLC, 1/1/2019 - 12/ 31/2019Detached and Attached only. Chicagoland PMSA

B12 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

2

Wednesday Journal, October 14, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O N S O R E D

Savor a side of sparkle at Crepas Culichi

C O N T E N T

Berwyn gem, Crepas Culichi celebrates the sweet side of life As soon as a customer takes a seat at Crepas Culichi in the delightfully decorated diminutive space, a glass of pink lemonade and chocolate dipped marshmallows magically appear on the table. What follows is a dining experience worthy of such a sweet start -- it’s time to engage your inner princess.

“We are very girly Food Writer and love anything glam,” said co-owner Estefany Garcia of the business built on word of mouth and located at 2713 Ridgeland Ave. The decidedly feminine space is decked out in hues of pink, gold and Tiffany and Co. blue.

Crystal chandeliers, floral arrangements and vintage dishes round out the aesthetic. The attention to detail in the space was intentional — Crepas Culichi was designed with Instagram in mind and even features a prominent photo wall for guests looking to capture the moment.

Sisters and co-owners, Yency and Estefany Garcia, who are also in business with their mother, took inspiration from coffee shops and crepe stands located in their hometown in Mexico when they opened Crepas Culichi in April 2019.

Quick bit of history -- French fare took root in Mexico’s culinary history when the French invaded the country in the mid 1800’s. Mexico eventually rid itself of its hostile French visitors but held onto French cooking techniques. As a result, crepes are a vibrant and authentic part of Mexican cuisine to this day. Building on history, the Garcia sisters take things a step further and bring their signature sparkle to each plate of crepes.

Hand-milled flours form the base for an array of crepes served at Crepas Culichi. Special flavorings are added to the flour that result in colorful batters. Rosy-hued sweet strawberry crepes, filled with indulgent chocolate mousse

Close knit sisters, Yancy (left) and Estefany Garcia bring their love of girly things to life at Crepas Culichi

Melissa Elsmo

Cake shakes are on the menu at Crepas Culichi

Melissa Elsmo

MELISSA ELSMO

No sweet tooth? Savory poblano crepes are festive and filling.

Colorful crepes, like the sweet Strawberry shown here, are standard fare at Crepas Culichi.

Melissa Elsmo

Melissa Elsmo

and jam, are garnished with fresh raspberries, strawberry, granola, Nutella and strawberry ice cream.

Elaborately decorated shakes are also standouts at Crepas Culichi. A glitter-garnished churro shake or whipped-cream topped cake shake are sure to make any day feel like a special occasion.

If you are looking for something savory, turn your attention to the satisfying poblano crepe.

Filled with chicken, peppers, corn and cheese, the plate is both filling and festive. Even the chilaquiles at Crepas Culichi come with pink bread

and heart shaped ham.

The restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, takes coffee service seriously at any hour of the day.

“We have always been coffee lovers and want every cup we serve to be worth savoring,” said Yancy Garcia. “We also wanted a space where girls could come for brunch with their friends.”

The Garcia sisters are currently in the process of expanding into the space next door and hope to open a second location in a year. They credit the success of their woman-powered business to their close relationship and ability to work

through conflict. Their shared principles, morals and dedication to hard work makes them fearless in the face of a challenge.

“In the United States everyone is in a rush. In Mexico people take time to enjoy a coffee and talk with friends,” said Yancy. “Crepas Culichi is a place to slow down and value the small things in life.”

From décor to food, Crepas Culichi has a distinct point of view and brings confident and smile-inducing fare to Ridgeland Avenue. Just don’t forget your tiara!

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B13

14

Wednesday Journal, September 16, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Cafe Cubano serves nostalgia in every dish

Honoring a culinary legacy is on the menu at the North Ave. eatery

7426 W North Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707 Mon-Thu: 11am - 9pm • Fri-Sat: 11am - 10pm • Sun: 12 - 9pm

Call 708-456-6100 to make a reservation.

MELISSA ELSMO Food Writer

For 20 years owners of Café Cubano, Mayra and Javier Fernandez Jr., have been honoring Javier Fernandez Sr. by bringing authentic Cuban fare to North Ave. in Elmwood Park. The restaurant, at 7426 W. North Ave., uses nostalgia and comfort as key ingredients in every dish pushed out of their kitchen.

Mayra and Javier Jr. learned everything about largebatch cooking from Fernandez Sr. who served as a cook in the Cuban army.

He was a master of high-volume cooking and used his

Café Cubano co-owners, Mayra and Javier Hernandez Jr.

Melissa Elsmo

vast experience to set up the family run restaurant for success. Fernandez cooked in the Café Cubano kitchens until 2009 and the restaurant relies on his recipes to this day.

“He was here cooking until the day he died,” said Mayra of her beloved father-inlaw. “He loved food, especially Oxtail Stew.

That’s why we were serve it today. And God forbid we run out; customers love it!”

Dishes like Rabo Encendido, oxtails braised with tomato and sweet peppers, are made in 35-pound batches when the weather begins to turn colder. Lechon, a seasoned roast pork served with Cuban style rice and beans called arrzo congri, is another autum-

We ARE LIVE ONLINE! Your Table is READY For sponsorships or advertising

call lourdes at 708-613-3330 lourdes@oakpark.com Served fresh by

The Tapa Combo at Café Cubano features two papa rellenas, two empanadas, three ham and cheese croquetas, tostones rellenos and yuca frita.

Melissa Elsmo

B14 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020

Wednesday Journal, September 16, 2020

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Cuban lechon with arrzo congri and boiled yuca with garlic.

donnygs.com

Melissa Elsmo

Book your Holiday Parties at Donny G’s!

Corporate Events Private Parties Holiday Parties Birthday Parties Christenings Showers Rehearsal Dinners Funeral Luncheons Offsite Catering

The Ropa Vieja Jibarito is the only fusion item on Café Cubano’s menu

Melissa Elsmo

nal favorite at Café Cubano.

If Mexican food is spicy, Cuban food is milder, but no less complex. That less intense flavor is what attracts people to Cuban food according to Mayra.

“People love our food because it is very authentic,” said Mayra. “There is no fusion here. We serve straight up Cuban food. Well, except the jibarito.”

The jibarito, created by a friend of the Fernandez family, is a Chicago creation with Puerto Rican roots. Pressed and fried plantains stand in for bread in this unusual sandwich traditionally filled with meat and garnished with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and American Cheese. To give the jibarito a decidedly Cuban flair, the restaurant offers a ropa vieja jibarito. Ropa vieja, a braised beef and vegetable dish, is among the national dishes of Cuba.

“For Cubans our food reminds them of home or the food their grandma used to feed them,” said Mayra. “For non-Cubans our food is often new and unexpected, but also comforting.”

The Fernandez family is trying to stay safe

15

A sampling of appetizers including tostones rellenos—picadillo filled plantains.

Melissa Elsmo

and survive the pandemic. After remodeling the interior to add a counter area and new flooring, the restaurant opened for indoor dining two weeks ago. A robust catering business and family dinner specials support Café Cubano through these unusual times.

“The Village of Elmwood Park has been phenomenal. They are always offering help and support,” said Mayra. “The support of the community helps us stay busy. There is nothing like everyday sales to keep you afloat.”

7308 W. North Ave. Elmwood Park, IL 60707

Call 708-456-3644 to book your event!

October 14, 2020 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B15

presents

A Wednesday Journal & A Tribe Called Aging Production

wabi sabi F I L M F E S T I V A L

Our Covid-19 free gift to the community - watch it free on ZOOM in your own home

Appreciating the beauty of impermanence, a quarterly Film Series encouraging everyone to embrace and respect our aging population and the transformation of our society.

Here

Awhile

Friday, October 16 • 10am In this sweet and beautiful film, Anna returns home to Portland to reconnect with her estranged brother after 15 years apart and what feels like a lifetime of guilt. Under the guise of reconnecting, Anna needs her brother’s support to make an important life decision that puts a new strain on their recently repaired relationship. Terminally ill Anna has returned in order to use the Oregon death with dignity law. By spending time with her grown brother, his girlfriend, her own life partner and a quirky neighbor, Anna and the group form a bond that strengthens their relationships more than she could have ever expected. In each of their own ways, they learn to celebrate life, love and maximize the time that they have together.

JOINING US FOR POST-FILM Q+A/DISCUSSION IS DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER TIM TRUE AND CO-WRITER CSABA MERA.

Signature Sponsors

Non Profit Patron Sponsors

Oak Park Township/River Forest Township

Learn more and register at: wabi-sabi-here-awhile.eventbrite.com B16 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ October 14, 2020