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W E D N E S D A Y

December 15, 2021 Vol. 42, No. 20 ONE DOLLAR

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JOURNAL

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of Oak Park and River Forest

@oakpark

D200 board discusses activities ban and protest rally

Nothing says it like flamingos Page 12

GO TO THE TAPE

Board members criticize treatment of Oak Park’s health director

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

Scarlette Weber, 11, in her scarlet hat, wraps gift boxes for the Primo Center for Women and Children on Dec. 12 at CrossFunction in Oak Park. For more, see page 17.

The District 200 High School Board held a special meeting last week to discuss school officials’ swift decision to resume all activities just days after announcing they would be cancelled through winter break and enduring a tumultuous weekend with pushback from parents and students. They also discussed the treatment of Oak Park’s public health director during that pushback.

Oak Park and River Forest High School Superintendent Greg Johnson opened the Dec. 7 meeting by See D200 on page 16

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Park District requesting $2 million in Oak Park ARPA funds To replace revenue lost as a result of COVID-19

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The Park District of Oak Park has requested $2 million of the $38.9 million in

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funds allocated to the village of Oak Park.

The village board has not yet discussed the request.

Only state, local, territorial and tribal governments were eligible to directly receive ARPA funds from the U.S. Treasury.

However, governments are allowed to distribute their share of ARPA funds to replace

lost public sector revenue. That includes the Park District of Oak Park, which generated $6 million fewer dollars in 2020 than in 2019 due to closure of facilities and reduced programming necessitated by COVID-19, according to Jan Arnold, park district executive director.

“Many other park districts in the state are working with their villages to access the

ARPA funds,” she said. “Special districts were not separately included in the legislation that resulted in the APRA funding thus we must work with the municipality on funds to cover impacts [and] loses.”

Arnold told Wednesday Journal the park district made several operational changes See ARPA FUNDS on page 16

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Gov. Pritzker, after Edwardsville why does Amazon get a pass?

A

day after visiting Edwardsville, Ill., where an Amazon warehouse collapsed Friday from a tornado that killed six people, Gov J.B. Pritzker ascended the podium of the Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin.

During his brief Sunday address, the governor acknowledged what he said are “some dark and difficult times,” before connecting the tragedy of deadly weather in Edwardsville to the concurrent pandemics of COVID-19 and gun violence disproportionately touching the West Side, and to the Republican Party’s slow, roiling authoritarian coup.

“They want to take away that sacred right from you, because they know you’re not going to vote for them,” the governor told the predominantly Black churchgoers, among them longtime Congressman Danny K. Davis and Chicago Ald. Chris Taliaferro, an active member of the Greater St. John congregation.

“I’ve never seen it like this in America,” Pritzker said. “It is awful what they are trying to do. They say their goal is voter integrity, but you know that’s not what they mean.

They want to keep Black people away from the polls. They want to take away your right to vote, because they know that you can make positive change.”

I was also in the congregation on Sunday, seated near the back of the sanctuary and hoping to hear the governor offer a more robust condemnation of the conditions that made the Amazon warehouse collapse much more tragic than it had to be.

The truth is that a tornado is only partially to blame for the loss of those six people.

Pritzker, an enlightened billionaire and scion of the Hyatt hotel empire, omitted from his otherwise pitch-perfect oration as the state’s consoler-in-chief the name of another dark cloud hovering ominously over the country — that of workplace authoritarianism.

“It cares about profits,” one Amazon employee told People magazine after the Edwardsville tragedy. “It’s a business. They’re not a church. They’re not a government.

They’re a business in business to make money, which they are very good at. But they exert so much authority over people who work here, to our detriment.”

I was waiting for Pritzker to address his fellow billionaire, Jeff Bezos, who was too busy sending people to the edge of space to attend to the earthly matter in Edwardsville (Bezos eventually tweeted out his condolences on Saturday, after posting a photo to Instagram of his six-person Blue Origins human spaceflight team, Business Insider reported).

The governor did not mention Amazon’s policy of prohibiting its employees from having their phones on warehouse floors, a measure that employees who spoke to Bloomberg worried would affect them during emergencies like the tornado in Edwardsville.

Amazon officials told Reuters that there was no such policy in preventing employees or contractors from having cellphones. The dissonance reminds me of Amazon stridently

denying and, after being disproven on Twitter, begrudgingly admitting that rushed and surveilled contract delivery drivers regularly relieve themselves in bottles.

In an effort to consolidate control over its workers while offloading responsibility for their wellbeing, Amazon relies on third-party contractor companies and contract employees — a reality that “complicated the rescue effort in Edwardsville,” the New York Times reported.

“On Saturday, Mike Fillback, the police chief in Edwardsville, said the authorities had ‘challenges’ in knowing ‘how many people we actually had at that facility at the time because it’s not a set staff.’ Only seven people at Amazon’s site were full-time employees, said a Madison County commissioner who declined to give his name. He said most were delivery drivers in their 20s who work as contractors.”

During his remarks at Greater St. John on Sunday, Pritzker talked about some of the glints of light in the darkness. One example he gave was that of “a 7-year-old girl, Olivia Drew, who is making masks and giving them out to homeless people.” Later in his remarks, Pritzker quoted scripture, the book of Deuteronomy, in which “God commands us — Justice, Justice shall you pursue.”

And then the Democratic governor offered the morally degenerate Republican Party and its attacks on voting rights as a prime example of obstruction. But I was hoping the governor, during his speech about an Amazon warehouse collapse, would also mention a much more immediate example of obstruction of justice — Amazon.

He could have mentioned one of the victims, Larry Virden, 46, of Collinsville, Ill., whose daughter, aptly named Justice, described her father as a “fun loving, outdoors person” who would help anybody in need.

Virden’s last text, minutes before the tornado leveled his workplace, was “Amazon won’t let us leave.”

“They told us that they couldn’t leave. My dad wanted to leave at 8:20. That tornado didn’t touch down till almost 20 minutes later.

He could’ve been home,” Justice told KMOV 4 News. “My biggest question for Amazon in general is why didn’t they make sure the building was safer than what it was. There should be no reason a concrete building should be lifting off the ground. There’s no reason that 11-inch-thick concrete should be falling onto people.”

Those are all valid questions that the governor should have amplified. On Sunday, Pritzker connected the tornado with the pandemics of COVID-19 and gun violence, describing them all as tragedies darkening the American landscape. The governor called out the GOP’s efforts at “voter integrity” for what they really are. He could just as easily have washed the mascara off Bezos’s performative empathy (“We’re heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there,” the billionaire boss tweeted).

Pritzker could have blasted Amazon’s

MICHAEL ROMAIN

PROVIDED

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a worship service at Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin on Dec. 12. notorious pattern of surveilling its workers, placing efficiency and profits over personal privacy. Why, for instance, would Larry Virden feel such pressure to continue working as a storm gathered? The bad pay notwithstanding, imagine the pressure he must have felt, pressure that was likely compounded by the company’s highly sophisticated method of monitoring its employees.

Earlier this year, Business Insider reported, Amazon drivers learned that “their vans would start to feature a four-part camera with biometric feedback indicators … the system monitors if drivers look away from the road, speed, or even yawn, and then can send a live feed of the recording to managers.”

In 2019, Business Insider reported that Amazon “was instituting a system tracking warehouse workers’ ‘time off task,’ or the amount of time they are not directly working. The system … can result in a warehouse worker’s termination without directly involving a human supervisor or manager.”

I’ve interviewed current Amazon employees afraid to speak on record, if at all, about their workplace mistreatment, for fear of retaliation (one worker was an Amazon driver who admitted that he would sometimes relieve himself in plastic bottles in order to make his delivery quota). The fear is palpable. The control is real.

Let’s talk about election tampering.

Pritzker could have connected the GOP’s authoritarian election tampering with Amazon’s similarly authoritarian actions during the union vote at its Bessemer, Ala. site earlier this year.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store union (RWDSU), which organized the drive culminating in the February election, contested the results (1,798 workers voted for unionization while 738 voted against it). In November, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of RWDSU officials who contested the vote, arguing that “Amazon interfered with the election by — among other things — installing its own mailbox to collect ballots,” the Verge reported.

“Amazon security guards had access to the mailbox, giving some workers the impression that Amazon controlled the results,” the publication added.

How can we effectively talk about the very conspicuous rise of fascism and authoritarianism in our politics, and the attendant weakness of American democracy, without pointing out just how pervasive those threats are in workplaces across the country — starting with Amazon?

“Under the employment-at-will baseline, workers, in effect, cede all of their rights to their employers, except those specifically guaranteed to them by law, for the duration of the employment relationship,” Elizabeth S. Anderson writes in her 2017 book, How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk about It).

Employers’ authority over workers, “outside of collective bargaining and a few other contexts … is sweeping, arbitrary, and unaccountable — not subject to notice, process or appeal,” and workplace governance, she adds, “is a form of private government,” which state and federal governments underwrite.

Perhaps Pritzker was silent about Amazon’s authoritarianism, because talk of “private government” pushes up against the boundaries of his enlightenment, which is progressive to the point of raising the minimum wage and spending more on education and focusing on police reform.

Does that enlightenment stop, however, at the point of allowing workers more control about how they work, how they’re compensated (and, dare I say, how the profits generated by their work are distributed)?

I’d like to know the reasons for Pritzker’s glaring omissions during his Sunday sermon, because the silence is deafening and, at this point in American history, dangerous. To paraphrase a tweet I saw last year: Authoritarianism in the workplace is making it easier to accept authoritarianism in civic life.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

BIG WEEK December 15-22

Merry Measures: A Celebration of Festive Feasting Monday, Dec. 20, 1:15 p.m., Nineteenth Century Club Oak Park Festival Theatre Artistic Associates present a combination of edibles and entertainment, the “menu” crafted by Belinda Bremner. Described as a mix of “poems, stories, remembrances and song,” included will be ruminations from such distinguished company as Ogden Nash, Anne Lamott and Maya Angelou. From grace through to the last crumb of fruitcake, it will be a feast for all. The program is free for members. A $15 donation is requested for nonmembers. A 3-course lunch is served at noon before the program. Cost is $20 for members and $25 for non-members. 178 Forest Ave., Oak Park.

Return of the Unity Temple Choir Saturday, Dec. 18 & Sunday, Dec. 19, both concerts at 4 p.m., Unity Temple.

Unity Temple presents the Unity Temple Choir in concert. The program includes the music of J.S. Bach, spirituals and holiday classics, plus a special presentation of Dreamweaver by composer Ola Gjeilo, featuring soprano Rosalind Lee with cellist Alex Poltavchenko. Tickets can be found at www. unitytemple.org. Proof of vaccination and masks required. 875 Lake, Oak Park.

Winter Wreaths Sunday, Dec. 19 from 1 to 3 p.m., Park District of Oak Park

This class focuses on the making of wreaths, everybody’s favorite door adornment. They will be customized with everything from berries to ribbons. $20-$25, Dole Center Studio Room 3 (3rd Floor), 255 Augusta Blvd., Oak Park.

Free Readers Ensemble Presents: ‘Chapatti,’ by Christian O’Reilly Sunday, Dec. 19, from 3 to 5 p.m., Nineteenth Century Club The Free Readers Ensemble is a troupe of actors who bring their considerable skills to a reading format. They will be bringing to life a tale of two pet owners who find romance in Dublin. Nineteenth Century Charitable Association, 178 Forest Ave., Oak Park.

Cellissimo Friday, Dec. 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Unity Temple Special holiday concert by a senior-performing cello ensemble, with ages ranging from 10 to 17. The cellists are students of Sally Gross and Alex Revoal, and spawned from the combined programs of the Western Springs School of Talent Education and the Naperville Suzuki School. Tickets range from $10 to $20, based on seating assignment, with UTRF members receiving $5 off (use coupon code: MEMBERS). Students use coupon code STUDENT; parents of performers, use coupon code PARENT. 875 Lake St., Oak Park.

Glowing Silhouette

Tarot Card Meetup

Saturday, Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Park District of Oak Park A jar can be modified into a glowing holiday silhouette, and this arts & crafts class will show you how, via paint markers and a tea light. Ages 10 and up. $15-$20, Dole Center Studio Room 3 (3rd Floor), 255 Augusta Blvd., Oak Park.

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 6-7 p.m., virtually through Oak Park Public Library Once a month, this group will gather to discuss cards, explore spreads, and learn from one another.

People of all experience levels are welcome, from the experienced to the newcomers. This is a group for sharing thoughts and ideas, not a professional tarot reading or a class taught by experts. If you don’t have a physical deck, a digital deck works too.

Recommended for ages 12 and up. Register now at oppl.org/calendar.

TechGirlz Workshop Wednesday, Dec. 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m., virtually through Oak Park Public Library In this workshop, students in grades 5-8 will learn how to build a voice app. This experiment will include learning how to properly use variables, conditional logic, and the flow configuration of program blocks within the VoiceFlow software. These apps are compatible with Alexa or Google devices. Register now at oppl.org/ calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Winter Collage Friday, Dec. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m., Park District of Oak Park This arts & crafts class creates art reflecting the winter season, utilizing recycled magazines. Supplies included and all skill levels welcome. Ages 7 and up. $12 - $15, Dole Center Studio Room 3 (3rd Floor), 255 Augusta Blvd., Oak Park.

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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Oak Park finalizes village manager candidate pool Finalists will meet community, staff and board

ation. Many candidates, Tchang “The market is really interestbelieves, may not have told their ing right now, in terms of mucurrent employers they were nicipal government leadership pursuing this position. roles. We’ve seen a lot of retire“A lot of people don’t want ments, so we were not really

By STACEY SHERIDAN their current employer to know sure,” she said.

Staff Reporter that they’re looking at other opIt is unclear if Interim Vilportunities until they feel realage Manager Lisa Shelley subThe village of Oak Park is nearing the sonably comfortable that it’s end of its months-long search for a perma- mitted an application. Shelley worth letting them know,” she nent replacement for Cara Pavlicek, who did not respond to Wednesday said.

Journal’s inquiry, but previousdeparted as Oak Park’s village manager last LISA SHELLEY The village of Oak Park is bely told the publicaAugust. A personnel commiting assisted in its village mantion in October that tee, a subset of the village board, she had not decided whether to ager recruitment efforts by GovHR USA, will determine which five or six apply. The village of Oak Park is a human resources consulting firm based applicants will move forward in not releasing the names of those out of Northbrook. The board’s personnel the selection process. The decicommittee will vote to approve GovHR’s who applied at this time. sion will be made during execu“Ultimately, I know that infor- proposed candidate interview process Dec. tive session, directly following mation will become public, but 13, prior to the committee adjourning into the committee’s public Dec. 13 we do want to ensure confiden- executive session. meeting, according to Oak Park GovHR is proposing a two-part process tiality of candidates up until Human Resources Director Kira they have a more reasonable ex- which begins with an initial round of virTchang. pectation of getting an offer or tual interviews of five or six pre-determined A total of 38 applications have KIRA TCHANG knowing they’re proceeding in candidates conducted by the board commitbeen received by the village. Two tee. It has not been determined if those initial the process,” Tchang said. of those applications came from Noting that she understood the impor- interviews will take place publicly or during international candidates located in Turkey and Australia. Tchang shared that the vil- tance of government transparency and the a future executive session.

“That is a component that has to be decided lage of Oak Park was “really pleased” with public’s interest in this process, Tchang the number of applications received, de- told Wednesday Journal the village of Oak by the personnel committee,” said Tchang.

The pool of candidates will be narrowed spite not knowing how many to anticipate Park is upholding applicants’ confidentiality at this time out of professional consider- to three or four finalists, at which point at the onset.

their identities and qualifications will likely become public knowledge. Tchang expects finalists will be chosen in early or mid-January.

The finalists will be invited to participate in the second half of the proposed interview process, which involves a two-day visit to Oak Park with established COVID-19 safety protocols. During the visit, finalists will attend a meet-and-greet with the community and tour village facilities, new developments and other points of interest.

Each finalist will also meet with village department heads and members of community panels. The village board will also publicly interview each finalist.

GovHR has already conducted “comprehensive screenings” of qualified applicants, according to Tchang. The screening process involved background and reference checks, as well as Zoom interviews with GovHR personnel. The firm will also provide recommendations regarding candidates to the personnel committee.

Tchang said the village has been “very happy” with GovHR. She called the firm “a great partner.”

“They have a wealth of knowledge in the municipal recruitment space,” she said.

“Their network has really been a big benefit to the village.”

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River Forest takes steps to address traffic issues Radar sign for Thatcher, parking lane barriers at Chicago and William

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

River Forest officials are taking steps to discourage speeding and erratic driving at two locations in the village in response to complaints from residents.

At the Dec. 13 village board meeting, trustees agreed with recommendations from the Traffic and Safety Commission

to install a pole-mounted radar feedback sign on the west side of Thatcher Avenue near the intersection with Vine Street and install temporary knock-down bollards at the limits of the parking lanes in the eastbound/westbound directions of Chicago Avenue at the intersection with William Street.

Samantha Tepper, Thatcher Avenue resident, complained to the Traffic and Safety

Commission about speeding on Thatcher between Madison Street and Washington Boulevard, requesting that the village install speed bumps or a three-way stop sign at Vine.

However, a six-day study of vehicle counts and speed by the police department did not support installation of a stop sign, according to Jeff Loster, director of public works and development services.

UNITY TEMPLE PRESENTS

The Return of the Unity Temple Choir in concert on Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19 both at 4pm The program weaves together the music of J.S. Bach, spirituals and holiday classics, plus a special presentation of the medieval folktale Dreamweaver by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. Soprano, Rosalind Lee is featured along with cellist, Alex Poltavchenko.

Tickets can be found at www.unitytemple.org We request proof of vaccination at the door.

Instead, the pole-mounted radar feedback sign, which will face southbound traffic, was recommended with the aim to “help change driver behavior.”

Installation of the knock-down bollards at Chicago Avenue and William Street is in response to concerns about erratic driving at that intersection expressed to the Traffic and Safety Commission by William Avenue resident Lydia Manning.

Loster explained that “anecdotal evidence” suggests that impatient drivers will use the eastbound and westbound parking lanes to circumvent traffic backups at the intersection, especially during rush hour.

That, he said, leads to “dangerous situations” with multiple vehicles entering the intersection at the same time.

He explained that the placement of the knock-down bollards is designed to prevent drivers from using the parking lanes as driving lanes. The bollards will not be in place during the winter months to avoid potential problems with snow removal.

While a bollard is a short post used to guide traffic or create a protective perimeter, the elasticated joint on a knock-down bollard allows it to spring back to its upright position if knocked down by a vehicle.

Trustee Erika Bachner expressed concerns that the knock-down bollards might impede bicycle riders but Loster indicated he did not think that would be an issue.

Loster said curb bump-outs also were discussed but commissioners favored the knock-down bollards as a “more efficient manner” to solve the issue.

These issues are separate from those that led the village board to hire Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Alboona Inc. to conduct a study of traffic in the northeast quadrant of the village.

That contract, approved at the Nov. 8 village board meeting, will study traffic in the area bounded by North Avenue, Harlem Avenue, Greenfield Street and Lathrop Avenue.

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OPRF alums featured in new Spoken Word anthology Club opened up life for young poets

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

Whenever Jesus Govea reads his poem, “The butcher taught me how to high school,” he cringes. Like most writers who have endured a daunting revision process, Govea revisited the piece over the span of three years, going line by line with his editor, who was also his former high school teacher, until it was ready for publication. But apart from that, Govea said he is no longer the same person who wrote that poem, that teenage boy fixated on his body and appearance.

“Throughout high school, I wasn’t really popular,” said the 20-year-old Govea who wrote the poem while a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School. “I had moved from the west suburbs into that high school, so everyone I knew was kind of gone. … I was kind of a bigger guy at the time, and nd I was very insecure about ut my appearance and how I looked.”

Govea remembered even n when he began losing the weight, “I still didn’t have that confidence within me.”

It’s easy for him to pick apart the poem; raw honesty sits well with teenage angst. But feelings and critiques aside, the poem carries a differentt kind of weight now. It holds history. That poem was the first piece he wrote, performed and memorized, introducing him to OPRF’s Spoken Word Club and scoring a spot on the high school’s slam team.

Now that piece has found new life in a book,

CONFIDENCE: Jesus Govea is now a creative writing student at Columbia College.

CON Resp Respect the Mic: Celebrating 220 Years of Poetry from a Chica Chicagoland High School. Out Feb. 1 through Penguin RanH dom House, Govea is one of 10 OPRF alumni featured over 100 in the anthology, showcasing the impact and influence of the local high school’s spoken word program.

“The piece is pivotal to me becoming who I am now,” said Govea, now a creative-writing student at Columbia College in Chicago.

FILE

Christian Robinson teaches Spoken Word at OPRF High School.

PROVIDED

had it not been for spoken word “Without this piece, I wouldn’t just even giving me that love for have made it to the slam team, writing. It gave my love for writand I wouldn’t have found that ing a home.”

I could improve my writing and Daniels and Jesus Govea’s get somewhere with it. Now that younger sister, Abby Govea, I think about it, I owe this piece said the Spoken Word Club gave a lot because it was really a lifethem a voice. It was the place changing thing for me at that where Daniels began exploring time.” and bracing her identity as a Other alumni like Christian young Black woman and where MICAH DANIELS Robinson and Micah Daniels, Abby Govea became comfortwhose poems are also in the able talking about her anxiety. upcoming book, shared Govea’s The club, Daniels noted, brings sentiments. The two said they together the “weirdos” — peodiscovered the Spoken Word ple from all walks of life who Club, as well as longtime incan feel free to be vulnerable structor Peter Kahn, at a time and express their world views when they were discovering without judgment. themselves. Like Govea, they “You’re just faced to see these felt out of place at OPRF, in their different people and take in how classes or even among friends, they’re feeling,” said Daniels, but found some solace in the ABBY GOVEA 20, and a neuroscience major at club. the University of Illinois Chi“Spoken word became everycago. “If you really open yourself up to that thing in my life from the moment I left high environment, you can become such a greater school,” said Robinson, 28, who teaches spo- person.” ken word alongside Kahn. It was through That’s the thing: There’s a creative outthe club, he added, that he learned about the let for everyone, said Abby Govea, another power and possibilities of writing. featured poet in the anthology. And for the “You could write poems for a living. You 18-year-old, that too is writing. could write raps for a living,” he said. “You Borrowing a line for her poem “Why could be a teacher who teaches how [to write]. write?,” she explained: “And inscribed the ceThere are so many avenues that opened up, mented sentence / It’s no joke that poetry is and I don’t think I would have known that the new best medicine.”

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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Going beyond the patio at Babygold Barbecue Babygold’s dining room opens, paired with but distinct from FitzGerald’s

By MELISSA ELSMO Oak Park Eats Editor

Since opening last May, Babygold Barbecue, 6615 W. Roosevelt Road., has been delighting music lovers at FitzGerald’s Nightclub with #berwynstyle smoked meats and creole influenced sides. And now, Babygold’s dedicated dining room, with a capacity of approximately 45, is poised to celebrate its grand opening with a prosecco toast this Friday.

“We are hoping to sustain the same level of business we did during patio season,” said Will Duncan, owner of Fitzgerald’s and Babygold Barbecue.

“We have 60 e m p l o ye e s , and we want them to be busy year-round.

This is just another reason for people to come and hang out.”

Duncan “self-designed” the dining room to preserve the spirit of the music venue while carving out a unique identity for the restaurant. The well-appointed room boasts vintage-style chandeliers, white wainscoting, plenty of greenery and a backlit bar.

Large scale black and white photographs of performances held at the venue galvanize the space. Gallery images include Howard Greenblatt’s photo of Cha Wa as well as David Kindler’s image of Lil’ Ed. Plaques honoring both the musicians and photographers give the space a micro-museum flair; photographs will rotate on a regular basis.

“Our goal was to retain some of the patio vibe we are known for,” said Duncan. “But the room has a lighter more delicate feel to serve as a nice contrast to the heavy flavors of smoked meats.”

Generously sized custom banquettes, evocative of picnic tables, beckon guests to slide in for a hearty meal and lively conversation. The fresh, modern aesthetic matches the casual approach they take to barbecue offerings including refined nightly specials and an impressive array of whiskey and bourbon — expect to find Willet, Weller and Noah’s Mill behind the bar.

“I pretty much sat down and wrote the whiskey and bourbon list from memory,” said Duncan.

“My years managing Longman and Eagle gave me a nice understanding of what to look for.”

Babygold also offers a selection of American wines at varied price points including a couple of splurge worthy selections.

Duncan worked with sommelier, Gene Olsen to put together a list reflective of FitzGerald’s American music roots. Expect a dry MELISSA ELSMO/Food Editor Riesling from Michigan with tropical fruit notes ELEVATED FARE: Smoked duck confi t with ‘dirty’ couscous and a Red Zinfandel with as plated at Babygold Barbecue on Dec. 7. licorice and black pepper notes to pair beautifully with barbecue flavors.

“There will always be things on the menu restaurant.”

Popular pork belly, smoked turkey and in the dining room that you can’t get on the patio or in the club,” said Duncan. “Our food brisket are always on the menu at the sertakes on a whole different feeling in this vice-focused, family-friendly restaurant, room and we made a couple of choices to but plated specials like smoked duck conhelp differentiate between the club and the fit over dirty couscous, smoked prime rib

PROVIDED MELISSA ELSMO/Food Editor

Will Duncan behind the bar at Babygold Barbecue.

Duncan designed the interior of Babygold Barbecue with the intention of creating a warm and inviting room.

MELISSA ELSMO/Food Editor

BRISKET PLATTER: With potatoes and Brussels sprouts and pickles. and salmon entrees bring a refined energy to the regular offerings. Chef John Manion continues to have a hand in operations at Babygold, but Chef Steve Domanik helms the kitchen on a daily basis. Chef Domanik, who also worked at Longman and Eagle, has passion for barbecue and a background in fine dining. He has been at Babygold since the day it opened working under Chef Manion. Domanik is now bringing his own touch to the American-style barbecue offered at FitzGerald’s.

Eager eaters should anticipate jazz and honkey tonk themed brunches to debut on Saturdays and Sundays after the new year.

Duncan and Domanik are excited to put a Babygold Barbecue twist on breakfast fare.

“Will is a phenomenal owner who has brought new life to this music venue,” said Domanik. “He has real vision for this place and I know I have room to grow as a chef inside FitzGerald’s.”

Thanks to natural curiosity, foot traffic and a “fishbowl” effect, the restaurant has been enjoying a soft opening in the days leading up to the official launch. Drew Brennan, who is a deep lover of barbecue, and his children Conner, 6, and Rosey, 4, traveled from Glen Ellyn to snag a table in the dining room. They were all smiles after enjoying their meal --the happy trio sang the praises of the cheddar-jalapeno hot link, macaroni and cheese and Spilt Milk pie.

“I really liked the chicken,” said Conner Brennan confidently.

“I liked the chocolate pie,” chimed in his sister, Rosey.

“I am a big barbecue lover, said Dew Brennan. “They definitely know what they are doing here.”

Reservations are available via Babygold’s website. Customers dining in this Friday will receive a complementary glass of Prosecco to celebrate the grand opening.

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

Special Advertising Section

Christmas 2021

Come home for Christmas!

Make yourself at home and celebrate the joy of the holiday season with us.

December 19 at 10 am Worship will include a contemporary Christian band offering sounds of the season with a gospel flair!

December 24 at 6 pm

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE

Candlelight worship service will include music from our historic, beautifully maintained Skinner Pipe Organ, as well as a harp.

First United Methodist Church 324 N Oak Park Ave. Oak Park

Rev. Adonna Davis Reid, Pastor

FirstUMCOakPark.org

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:5

Join us for worship Christmas Eve, December 24 Children’s service, 4:15 and 6 pm this Christmas Lessons and carols led by the In person and live-streamed children of Grace Live-streamed at 4:15 pm on the Grace River Forest YouTube channel Holy Communion, 8 pm

Candlelight Holy Communion, 10:45 pm Music begins at 10:30 pm Live-streamed at 10:30 pm

Christmas Day, December 25 Holy Communion, 10 am Live-streamed at 10 am 7300 Division St.▪︎ River Forest ▪︎ 708-366-6900 ▪︎ GraceRiverForest.org David R. Lyle, Senior Pastor ▪︎ Troy Medlin, Associate Pastor

holiday services at

Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation Christmas Eve Services Friday, December 24, 2021 3pm Christmas Pageant & Worship for All Ages 7pm Candlelight Service Services will be lived streamed with limited in-person seating. To learn more go to: www.unitytemple.org

Come Celebrate the Seasons of Advent and Christmas with the Catholic Parishes of Oak Park and Chicago St. Catherine of Siena–St. Lucy Parish Fਮ਴਱ਲ਼ਧ S਴ਭਣਠਸ ਮਥ Aਣਵਤਭਲ਼

St. Edmund Church

Ascension Oak Park

Masses on Saturday, December 18, at 5:00 pm and Sunday, December 19, at 9:00 am

Fਮ਴਱ਲ਼ਧ S਴ਭਣਠਸ ਮਥ Aਣਵਤਭਲ਼

Masses on Saturday, December 18 at 5:30 pm and Sunday, December 19 at 11:00 am

Aਣਵਤਭਲ਼ P਱ਠਸਤ਱ Uਭਣਤ਱ ਲ਼ਧਤ W਱ਤਠਲ਼ਧ

Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Eਵਤ: Friday, December 24

Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Eਵਤ: Friday, December 24

Masses on Saturday, December 18 at 5:00 pm and Sunday, December 19 at 8:00 and 10:00 am

Mass at 3:00 pm

Tਧਤ Nਠਲ਼ਨਵਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ, Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Dਠਸ: Saturday, December 25 Mass at 9:00 am Please note that there is no 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, December 25.

Mass at 4:30 pm (Carols begin at 4:10 pm) This Mass will be livestreamed. (https://www.youtube.com/stedmund) Mass at 10:30 pm (Carols begin at 10:10 pm.)

Tਧਤ Nਠਲ਼ਨਵਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ, Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Dਠਸ: Saturday, December 25

Tਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Fਠਬਨਫਸ ਮਥ Jਤਲ਴ਲ, Mਠ਱ਸ ਠਭਣ Jਮਲਤਯਧ: Sunday, December 26

Mass at 11:00 am Please note that there is no 5:30 pm Mass on Saturday, December 25

Sਮਫਤਬਭਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ Mਠ਱ਸ, ਲ਼ਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Mਮਲ਼ਧਤ਱ ਮਥ Gਮਣ (Nਤਸ਼ Yਤਠ਱’ਲ Dਠਸ): Saturday, January 1

Tਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Fਠਬਨਫਸ ਮਥ Jਤਲ਴ਲ, Mਠ਱ਸ ਠਭਣ Jਮਲਤਯਧ: Sunday, December 26

Mass at 9:00 am

Not a holy day of obligation this year.

No Mass is scheduled.

Please note that there is no 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, January 1.

All are welcome to the 5:30 pm Mass at St. Edmund Church.

Tਧਤ Eਯਨਯਧਠਭਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ: Sunday, January 2 Mass at 9:00 am

Tਧਤ Bਠਯਲ਼ਨਲਬ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ

Masses on Saturday, January 8, at 5:00 pm and Sunday, January 9, at 9:00 am

Mass at 11:00 am

Sਮਫਤਬਭਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ Mਠ਱ਸ, ਲ਼ਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Mਮਲ਼ਧਤ਱ ਮਥ Gਮਣ (Nਤਸ਼ Yਤਠ਱’ਲ Dਠਸ): Saturday, January 1 Not a holy day of obligation this year.

No Mass is scheduled.

Tਧਤ Eਯਨਯਧਠਭਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ

Masses on Saturday, January 1, at 5:30 pm and Sunday January 2, at 11:00 am

Tਧਤ Bਠਯਲ਼ਨਲਬ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ

Masses on Saturday, January 8, at 5:30 pm and Sunday, January 9, at 11:00 am

Wednesday, December 15, at 7:00 pm

Fਮ਴਱ਲ਼ਧ S਴ਭਣਠਸ ਮਥ Aਣਵਤਭਲ਼

Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Eਵਤ: Friday, December 24 Masses at 3:30, 5:30 and 11:00 pm

Tਧਤ Nਠਲ਼ਨਵਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ, Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Dਠਸ: Saturday, December 25 Masses at 8:00 and 10:30 am Please note that there is no 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, December 25

Tਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Fਠਬਨਫਸ ਮਥ Jਤਲ਴ਲ, Mਠ਱ਸ ਠਭਣ Jਮਲਤਯਧ: Sunday, December 26 Mass at 10:30 am

Sਮਫਤਬਭਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ Mਠ਱ਸ, ਲ਼ਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Mਮਲ਼ਧਤ਱ ਮਥ Gਮਣ (Nਤਸ਼ Yਤਠ਱’ਲ Dਠਸ): Saturday, January 1 Mass at 9:00 am Please note there is no 5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, January 1

P਱ਠਸਤ਱ ਨਭ ਲ਼ਧਤ Sਯਨ਱ਨਲ਼ ਮਥ Tਠਨਹ੉ Saturday, January 1, at 7:30 pm

Tਧਤ Eਯਨਯਧਠਭਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ: Sunday, January 2 Masses at 8:00 and 10:30 am

Tਧਤ Bਠਯਲ਼ਨਲਬ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ

Masses on Saturday, January 8, at 5:00 pm and Sunday, January 9, at 8:00 and 10:00 am

St. Giles Parish Fਮ਴਱ਲ਼ਧ S਴ਭਣਠਸ ਮਥ Aਣਵਤਭਲ਼

Masses on Saturday, December 18, at 4:30 pm and Sunday, December 19, at 8:00 and 10:30 am

O਴ਲ਼ਣਮਮ਱ Wਮ਱ਣ, M਴ਲਨਢ ਠਭਣ P਱ਠਸਤ਱ Sਤ਱ਵਨਢਤ Church Courtyard, weather permitting Tuesday, December 21, at 7:30 pm

Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Eਵਤ: Friday, December 24

Mass at 3:00 pm in Church Mass at 3:15 pm in St. Giles School Gym Mass at 5:00 pm* in Church (livestreamed) Distribution of Communion from 6:15 to 6:30 pm on Columbian Avenue in front of outdoor Nativity Scene Family Mass in St. Giles School Gym at 7:30 pm (Carols begin at 7:00 pm) Mass at 10:30 pm* in Church (livestreamed) (Carols begin at 10:00 pm)

Tਧਤ Nਠਲ਼ਨਵਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ, Cਧ਱ਨਲਲ਼ਬਠਲ Dਠਸ: Saturday, December 25 Masses at 9:00 and 11:00 am

Tਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Fਠਬਨਫਸ ਮਥ Jਤਲ਴ਲ, Mਠ਱ਸ ਠਭਣ Jਮਲਤਯਧ: Sunday, December 26 Mass at 9:00 am* (livestreamed)

Sਮਫਤਬਭਨਲ਼ਸ ਮਥ Mਠ਱ਸ, ਲ਼ਧਤ Hਮਫਸ Mਮਲ਼ਧਤ਱ ਮਥ Gਮਣ (Nਤਸ਼ Yਤਠ਱’ਲ Dਠਸ): Saturday, January 1 Masses on Friday, December 31, at 4:30 pm* (livestreamed) and Saturday, January 1, at 9:00 am

Tਧਤ Eਯਨਯਧਠਭਸ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ: Sunday, January 2

Masses at 8:00 am and 10:30 am* (livestreamed)

Tਧਤ Bਠਯਲ਼ਨਲਬ ਮਥ ਲ਼ਧਤ Lਮ਱ਣ

Masses on Saturday, January 8, at 4:30 pm and Sunday, January 9, at 8:00 and 10:30 am *Masses to be livestreamed.

Please see our website, stgilesparish.org, to find links to livestream events.

CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

11

WORSHIP WITH PILGRIM CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,UCC 460 LAKE ST. www.pilgrimoakpark.org Pageant December 19, 10:30 Longest Night, December 20 8:00, online only Christmas Eve, 5:00

PEACE

Christmas Eve 4:00 pm Family Mass - St. Luke Church preceded at 3:30 pm by a program of carols from around the world by our Children’s Choir

6:00 pm - St. Luke Church preceded by sounds of the season at 5:45 pm featuring traditional carols with brass

Christmas Eve Services Family Candlelight - 5:00pm Lessons & Carols - 10:00pm

Christmas Day Service - 9:30am New Year’s Eve Service - 7:00pm

Pastor Leonard R. Payton • Wheelchair Access to Sanctuary

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church 305 Circle Avenue, Forest Park (708) 366-3226 • www.stjohnforestpark.org

10:30 pm - St. Bernardine Church preceded by program of beloved carols at 10:00 pm presented by our Adult Choir accompanied by organ and brass

Christmas Day 8:00 am - St. Bernardine Church Traditional Christmas liturgy accompanied by organ and brass

9:30 am - St. Luke Church with modern sounds of the season accompanied by our Contemporary Choir with guitar, flute and brass

11:00 am - St. Luke Church with seasonal music by our Adult Choir accompanied by organ and brass

First United Church of Oak Park wishes you

Tidings of Comfort & Joy Wednesday, December 15

Blue Christmas

7:30 p.m. This quiet service held in the Chapel with prayer, song, meditation, and poetry allows for healing and grace this Christmas season.

Friday, December 24

Christmas Eve 5 p.m. Family-friendly worship with children's Christmas pageant 8 p.m. Traditional service of lessons and carols

St. Luke Church 7600 W. Lake Street River Forest

St. Bernardine Church 7246 Harrison Street Forest Park

848 Lake Street, Oak Park firstunitedoakpark.com facebook.com/f / irstunitedoakpark /f

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

Congratulations to Dr. Marian Sassetti on your 2 prestigious awards!

The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians has awarded Dr. Sassetti the Physician of the YEAR! Also, Trinity High School has awarded Dr. Sassetti the 2021 Leadership Award.

We are so proud of you and your accomplished and inspiring career. Your compassion and service to your patients and the community is exceptional!

Lake Street F A M I LY

P H Y S I C I A N S

1010 W. Lake Street, Suite 301, Oak Park, IL 60301 708-524-8600 • 708-524-8147 fax www.LakeStreetFamilyPhysicians.com

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Flamingos come home to roost

‘Gauche glory’ the holiday theme on Clinton

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

me, who want to find a creative outlet.”

Gonzales, an attorney, used her flamingos to illustrate the famous courtroom scene in “Miracle on 34th Street,” when Mr. Gailey calls in postal workers carrying huge sacks of letters addressed to Santa Claus to prove Kris Kringle is the true Father Christmas. She even sewed judicial robes for the flamingo posing as the judge.

The block has become a popular haunt for those who appreciate Christmas decorations.

For casual walkers, the flamingos come as a pleasant surprise. The window from Gonzales’ home office overlooks the sidewalk, giving her a perfect view of passersby.

“I’ll see people walking their dog or just walking whatever. And I watch them as they slowly realize that they’re surrounded by fla-

Homes in Oak Park’s 200 block of Clinton Avenue have gone tropical. In lieu of the traditional wintry holiday displays, neighbors have opted for a splash of pink, choosing to decorate their front lawns with flamingo ornaments.

“It’s so tacky, but it’s a whole lot of joy at the same time,” said Kimberly Garnett, whose yard is now home to a flamingo Santa Claus with a set of flamingo reindeer, complete with a flamingo Rudolph.

The spindly wading bird became the block’s Christmas mascot after a handful of neighbors gathered for socially distant cocktails last winter. COVID-19 cases were particularly high and the neighbors, in need of some laughter, came up with the “crazy idea” to adorn the block’s homes with inflatable flamingo decorations, according to Garnett.

“The tackier, the better,” she added.

The first acquisition was a “horrible” inflatable display of flamingos sitting atop a ChristALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer mas bauble purchased through IN THE PINK: Flamingos flock to the 200 block of Clinton Amazon, Garnett recalled. More in Oak Park for the annual holiday extravaganza. of the artificial birds began to take roost, with the neighborhood buying up the flamingo supply of every Home Depot within a 20-mile mingos,” she said. “It’s like a random discovradius. By the end of last winter, the block was ery of fun.”

Kids in particular seem to get a kick out of flamingo central.

This year, the neighborhood has gotten even the flamingos. A pair of young twins frequent more creative with its displays, choosing to the block regularly, as they did last December put the flamingos into action. The participat- as well. Garnett believes they are about three ing households have fashioned the flamingos years old.

“They walk by and they look, and they into dioramas depicting classic scenes from touch,” she said. “They walk by all the time.” beloved Christmas movies.

The block has lots of kids, ranging in age, In an homage to “A Christmas Story,” the block has a family of flamingos circled around according to Gonzales. Her own children are a leg lamp, while another display shows a fla- away at college, but she still sends them pictures of the flamingos. mingo with its tongue frozen to a metal pole.

“They appropriately think we’re silly, but The illustrious R.V. from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is parked outside being silly sometimes is perfectly acceptable another home on the block. A flamingo sits and appropriate,” Gonzales said.

The block will be participating in a “light up nearby, dressed as the Griswold family’s crazy cousin Eddie with a bathrobe and bomber hat. the sidewalk” event Dec. 18. Gonzales invites A cigar hangs out of its beak and an empty everyone to swing by the 200 block of Clinton Avenue to see the flamingos in all their Busch Light is pinned to its wing.

There’s also the scene from “How the Grin- gauche glory.

Garnett hopes the flamingos will bring ch Stole Christmas,” with flamingo Whoville the same joy to others that they have given townspeople singing around a Christmas tree.

“There’s a lot of creative people on our block those who live on the block.

“We’re still in a pandemic,” said Garnett. by profession,” Dawn Gonzales told Wednesday Journal. “And then you have people like “We still need a bit of happiness here.”

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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Takeout 25 embraces spirit of the season Get your hands on gift card bundles to support local restaurants

Innovation award for Takeout 25

By MELISSA ELSMO Oak Park Eats Editor

Takeout 25 is embracing the spirit of the season by applying its unique approach to supporting restaurants to holiday gift giving. Takeout 25 has created a program to bolster business at local eateries through the winter and a second to show appreciation for hardworking restaurant workers.

“It has been an especially rough year for restaurant workers, but it has also been hard on owners, too,” said Ravi Parakkat, Takeout 25 founder and an Oak Park village trustee. “These programs help show appreciation for staff members, promote connectivity between restaurants, and encourage the community to support the industry as a whole.”

Takeout 25 is offering “secret Santa” style gift card bundles in various amounts for community members to purchase. Sold in $25, $50, $100, and $250 bundles, the cards will offer a surprise assortment of $25 cards from more 40 participating restaurants in Oak Park, Forest Park, Austin, Berwyn and Elmwood Park. Thanks to the random nature of the bundles, participants may receive cards from restaurants they already know and love or may end up discovering a new place to dine.

“For each $25 card a restaurant contributes to the pre-sold bundles they will receive $25 in return,” said Parakkat. “People can choose to donate separately to support future Takeout 25 events.”

Visit www.givesignup.org/TicketEvent/ TakeoutHolidayGiftCardBundles to make a purchase. Sales close on Friday, Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. Once purchased, gift cards will be available for pick up on Dec. 19 at Poke Burrito.

To date, more than $7,500 in cards have been purchased. Parakkat is clear this first-time effort comes without expectations and considers any outcome to be great for the restaurant community and a learning opportu-

PROVIDED BY TAKEOUT 25

INNOVATOR: Ravi Parakkat, founder of Takeout 25, shows his cards. nity for Takeout 25.

Takeout 25 is also using its platform to bring holiday cheer to hardworking restaurant workers. The same local restaurants are coming together to show their appreciation for their staff by pooling gift cards to distribute among local restaurant workers.

Connie Ostler Brown, owner of The Brown Cow, Jimmy Chen, owner of Poke Burrito, and Kristen Alfonsi, co-owner of One Lake Brewing helped to shape the idea and planned its execution.

Community minded businesses like Delivery First ($750), Byline Bank ($500), Guaranteed Rate ($250) are sponsoring the program.

The Carleton Hotel has donated a one-night stay to be raffled off to one lucky restaurant worker. Elements Massage and Mend Wellness (Oak Park) have donated massage sessions and Ahimsa Yoga Studio, Magical Minds Studio and Dark Matter Coffee have also made contributions to the effort.

“Everyone involved is really excited,” said Parakkat. “After coming up with the idea, it took just four days to launch the program.

It took everyone by surprise, but people are

very excited. This is a positive effort that enables the economy in a new innovative way.”

Participating restaurants include: Anfora Wine Merchants Amerikas Autre Monde Cafe & Spirits Babygold Barbecue Big Guys Sausage Stand Billy Bricks - Oak Park Blackout Baking Co. Brewpoint Craft - Oak Park Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor Buzz Café Cafe Cubano Carnivore Oak Park The Daly Bagel East Gate Café Exit Strategy Brewing Company Gringo & Blondie Taqueria Happy Apple Pie Shop, LLC Kalamata Kitchen Kettlestrings Tavern Khyber Pass Restaurant Kribi Coffee Air Roasters

Takeout 25 was named the “Most Innovative Pandemic Start up” at the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism held at Navy Pier on Dec. 6. Governor J.B. Pritzker opened the Illinois Excellence in Tourism Awards Dinner with a speech centered on the perseverance of organizations and businesses across the state.

Ravi Parakkat, Takeout 25 founder and an Oak Park village trustee accepted the award on behalf of the “entire Takeout 25 family” including local restaurants, sponsors and supporters. He considers the honor “a win for local independently owned businesses and for our community and communities like ours.”

“I had real moment when I saw our logo on the big screen,” said Parakkat. “It was unreal to see Takeout 25 reflected in this way. I never expected to look at the image in that way.”

Lathrop House Café Lavergne’s Tavern Lunges and Lattes Massa Cafe Italiano Media Noche Café MORA Oak Park One Lake Brewing Poke Burrito Schweet Scratch on Lake Scratch Kitchen Small Batch Barbecue Spilt Milk Surf ’s Up Sugar Fix Bakery Taco Mucho Tacos ‘76 Trattoria 225 Oak Park Twisted Cookie Two Sisters Catering Victory Italian Oak Park Whirlwind Coffee Company Wise Cup Yum Thai

D97 narrows superintendent search to 6

Candidates interviewed privately by board last week

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

The Oak Park District 97 Board of Education interviewed six candidates seeking to become the district’s next superintendent, according to an email announcement to district

staff and families early this month. Interviews were held Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, and the board is expected to meet in the coming weeks to debrief and discuss the next steps in the superintendent selection process, said Amanda Siegfried, the district’s communications director.

Representatives from the district’s search firm, Hazard, Young and Attea (HYA), initially conducted screening interviews with 13 of the total 19 applicants, Siegfried said.

HYA presented a slate of candidates to the

board during an executive session on Nov. 30.

From there, the board selected its favored 6 candidates to undergo interviews last week.

A superintendent is to be named in early 2022, Siegfried said.

HYA has continued to use information gathered from surveys, community forums and interviews with stakeholders to help guide the superintendent search process.

Back in October, the firm released a host of results, revealing the qualities D97 staff,

faculty and families were looking for in a new permanent superintendent. They want an individual who can engage with the community; is committed to the district’s mission of equity and prepares young children for high school and beyond; and develops ways to recruit and retain teachers.

For a complete look at the firm’s “Leadership Profile Report Summary” or updates on the superintendent search process, visit www.op97.org/boe/superintendent-search.

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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River Forest to issue $5.4 million in bonds for projects Village upgrading water meters; picking up pace on alley reconstruction

Although the village typically reconstructs one alley per year, under the accelerated alley improvement program, four alleys were reconstructed this year with plans to reconstruct 14 other alleys before the middle of 2023.

Plans call for three alleys to be reconstructed in late winter/early spring 2022, eight in summer/fall 2022 and the final three in late winter/early spring 2023. The remaining alleys are all south of Chicago Avenue and east of Park Avenue.

According to information on the village website, the typical cross section involves reconstruction with concrete pavement, sloped inward toward an approximately three-foot wide strip of permeable pavers.

The pavers allow storm water runoff to be conveyed to a stone reservoir underneath the pavement to help reduce flooding. There is also a perforated pipe within the stone reservoir which helps convey storm water away from the alley during periods of excessive rainfall.

Alleys were reconstructed this year between Hawthorne Avenue and Linden Street from Park Avenue to Franklin Avenue; between Hawthorne and Linden from Franklin to Ashland Avenue; between Linden and Washington Boulevard from Franklin to Ashland; and between Linden and Washington from Park to Franklin.

Alleys to be reconstructed in late winter/ early spring 2022 are between Monroe Avenue and William Street from Chicago Avenue to Oak Avenue; between Lake Street and Holly Court from William to Bonnie Brae Place; and between Holly and Quick Avenue from Clinton Place to Bonnie Brae.

Jonathan Pape, assistant to the village administrator, said in a memo that research found that no federal or state laws or regulations were particularly tailored to address the discharging of weapons or explosives as part of film and photo productions, leading to the local ordinance.

Authorities say actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on the set of the upcoming movie, “Rust,” killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring the director of the film, Joel Souza. Production of the movie, a western, was halted while authorities investigate the incident.

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

With two major infrastructure projects underway, members of the River Forest Village Board turned their attention this month to funding for the efforts.

Trustees voted unanimously at a special meeting Dec. 6 to approve a resolution declaring the village’s intent to reimburse itself for certain eligible expenses related to the water meter replacement project and accelerated alley improvement programs.

Rosey McAdams, director of finance, explained in a memo that this would be the first step in the process of issuing $5.4 million in bonds to pay for the projects.

The water meter project will entail upgrading residential and commercial meters throughout the village with state-of-art equipment that will allow the village to obtain readings without requiring public works staff members to perform a “drive-by” read, which is the current practice.

Village officials said the project will deliver better customer service by providing accurate bills based on actual consumption that can be seen in real time by providing meter reads on an hourly basis instead of once per billing cycle, the current practice. It can also help identify any irregularities in water usage such as leaks being experienced by residents.

FILE

River Forest Village Hall In addition, the project will streamline the water meter reading process by eliminating the need for public works staffers to drive through the village, which will be more environmentally friendly and save staff time.

While customers will not be charged for the new meters themselves, water rates might increase. Jeff Loster, director of public works and development services, said the village is currently in the process of conducting a planned water and sewer rate study to take

into account costs for the project and other factors to determine whether changes to the current water rate are warranted.

Alley paving accelerated

New River Forest law seeks to avoid ‘Rust’ shooting repeat Discharging weapons, explosives now banned for film, photo productions

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

Hoping to avoid an incident similar to the reportedly accidental fatal shooting on the set of a movie being filmed in New Mexico in October, River Forest officials this month voted to prohibit the discharge of weapons or explosives on film and photo sets in the village.

Lisa Scheiner, acting village administrator, told trustees at a special meeting on Dec. 6 that the village is frequently host to television film companies, specifically those filming episodes of “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago PD.” Village President Cathy Adduci also noted that numerous television commercials are filmed in River Forest.

“Chicago Fire” and “Chicago PD” are filmed at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side of Chicago with additional scenes shot throughout Chicago and the suburbs.

The village board voted unanimously on Dec. 6 to adopt an ordinance amending the River Forest village code prohibiting the discharge of weapons and explosives on film and photo productions in the village.

The section of the village code that regulates film and photo production states that all productions are required to obtain a village permit. According to the ordinance, the prohibition includes, but is not limited to, discharges of “blanks” and simulated ammunition.

Prior to issuance of a film or photo production permit by the village, the applicant is required to verify in writing to the police department that the film or photo production shall comply with this requirement and that this prohibition has been communicated to all people working on the film or photo production.

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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15

Getting involved, giving out bikes Fenwick junior says bicycles are empowering

By F. AMANDA TUGADE Staff Reporter

A good leader is someone who moves with grace, unafraid to adapt quickly, and understands that every action must be rooted with intention and compassion. These are the lessons Fenwick High School junior Grant Schleiter learned after he took on a community service project and helped one local charity organization collect over 180 bicycles for students at a Chicago public school.

“It’s been really cool and a great experience to finally be in charge,” said Grant, an Elmhurst native, over the phone.

Grant joined Pedal Power, a north suburban organization, in 2017 with his older sister Lauren. The Schleiter siblings learned about the charity through their father’s friend, and over the years embraced the mission, working with other teens, spreading the word about bike donations around their communities and connecting with residents and area businesses.

Grant, 17, said many of Pedal Power’s leaders, including his sister, are now college-bound, leaving him to carry on the organization’s momentum.

Bicycles are collected only once a year — the second weekend of November — but it takes months to prepare for that one-day drive, ensuring everything runs smoothly, he said.

This year’s collection drive was challenging, he added. Not only was it Pedal Power’s first since the COVID-19 pandemic began but one of the bike shops he and his team relied on as a donation drop-off location closed down. Pedal Power organizers teamed up with a total of eight bike shops across the Chicago area’s north and west suburbs. Grant said he was responsible for donations in Elmhurst and Palatine, while the organization’s Wilmette branch took care of the other locations, rounding up dozens of bikes.

Promoting the event was a top priority. He and his peers took the time to figure out the best way to reach donors and raise awareness for Pedal Power’s cause. For two months, they toured their neighborhoods, hanging flyers at nearby coffee shops, connecting with families through other schools, talking to bike shop owners and contacting media outlets.

As a team, Grant said he and other Pedal Power organiz-

PROVIDED

BICYCLE RECYCLER: Last month, Fenwick High School junior Grant Schleiter helped collect over 180 bicycles for students at one Chicago public school through Pedal Power, a local charity organization ers met almost weekly to touch base and iron out the details with disabilities. There, they are given to students who for collection day. They planned to deliver the bikes to Cesar learn about bike mechanics, sometimes reassembling them E. Chavez Multicultural Academic Center, a public school piece by piece. located in Chicago’s Back of the Yards/New City neigh“The kids are so passionate about fixing their bikes. It’s borhood. In an effort to promote really cool to see them all work toeducation, bicycles are awarded to gether,” he said. “I didn’t have any students who make the honor roll, prior knowledge of fixing bikes, but according to Pedal Power’s website. being able to see these kids be able For more information on Pedal Power, In addition to the drive, Grant to fix them up, it’s pretty cool, and visit www.gopedalpower.com or find the said, he and his peers ran safety tests maybe I could learn a thing or two organization on social media through Inon the used bikes. They checked the from them.” stagram and Facebook. tires, replaced chains and did some Grant offered a message for those minor repairs — which was a learninterested in getting involved in ing curve for Grant himself. their community.

He explained that Pedal Power accepts new and gently“Get out there and help people,” he said. used bicycles, but the organization receives its fair share “Being able to get up and get some initiative to help othof inoperable bikes. But just because they aren’t rideable, ers, even as small as giving a kid a bike,” Grant said, “it’s doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable anymore, he said. Pedal something putting smiles on faces right now. It’s something Power donates bicycles to the Northside Learning Center that this world needs: Get up and make a positive influence High School, another public school in Chicago for students on this world.”

Pedal Power info

Oak Park crash leaves one dead

Four others suffer minor injuries in Dec. 4 collision at Harlem and Jackson

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

One person has died following a two-vehicle collision that occurred near the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in Oak Park at about 2 a.m. on Dec. 4.

According to a preliminary investigation into the crash by the Oak Park Police Department, a man driving south on Harlem Avenue veered into the northbound lanes of traffic, striking a vehicle carrying four people.

The unidentified driver of the southbound vehicle

was found unresponsive inside the vehicle and was transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he was pronounced dead by hospital personnel, according to Paul Kane, commander of investigations of the Oak Park Police Department. The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled that the man died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.

A team from the regional West Suburban Major Crash Unit assisted Oak Park police in its investigation, which is ongoing.

The four occupants of the other vehicle sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries in the collision, according to police.

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Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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D200

after-school activities popped up after positive cases continued to escalate within the first few days of December.

“Removing activities was not at all my first option,” Chapple-McGruder told the Journal in a separate interview. “... We have to address where overcrowding is happening, where lack of social distancing is happening, and the areas that are most likely leading to spread. We have to figure out how to address at least something — one of these three areas — and [cancelling extracurricular activities] was the one the school felt like they could address immediately.”

As board members questioned Johnson and Chapple-McGruder about next steps and safety guidelines, some voiced concerns about how Chapple-McGruder, who is a Black woman, was treated during a recent protest rally. On Dec. 4, the day after the district announced the temporary

suspension of activities, D200 parents and students gathered outside the high school and protested the school officials’ decision.

“Our public health director has been threatened and harassed,” said board member Kebreab Henry, adding that the individuals who attended the rally Saturday were an “embarrassing crowd” and he and other elected officials needed to denounce those actions.

Video footage of the rally captured by Wednesday Journal staff showed attendees shouting over Chapple-McGruder, who appeared at the rally with Johnson to publicly address why activities were cancelled.

Oak Park resident and parent Amy Butler told the Journal, “You could just hear people booing, screaming [and] yelling” at Chapple-McGruder during the rally.

Butler, who stood near the middle of the crowd, said she heard one person calling Chapple-McGruder an “idiot” while others shouted expletives as Chapple-McGruder responded to questions.

“I actually was kind of wanting to hear their responses, to know what the concern was, why they shut down the extracurriculars; we need to hold our public officials accountable,” she said. “I think we deserve those answers, but we couldn’t even get those answers. I couldn’t hear anything that they were saying.”

Johnson said to the board that some of the mitigations Chapple-McGruder recommended were already in place to a degree but “exceedingly challenging to pull off.”

In particular, he said bringing students’ participation rate for saliva testing was going to be tough. In a previous interview with Wednesday Journal, district spokesperson Karin Sullivan noted that 60% of students (about 2,000) have voluntarily signed up for testing.

Under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s orders, testing is only mandatory for unvaccinated employees.

In the last week, students have been getting tested for COVID during physical education classes, Johnson said. On Dec. 6, 1,650 students were tested for COVID-19, and 20 positive cases were identified.

Roughly 1,300 students were tested Dec. 9, and three additional cases were identified.

Sullivan said using class time is only a temporary solution, and district officials will need to find another way to implement and encourage testing for students. She added that while the district has converted the field house and west gym for additional cafeteria space, the south cafeteria has undergone major renovations and will be available to students when they return to classes in January after winter break.

On the issue of masking, the health department has supplied district students and employees with KN95 face masks.

During public comment, OPRF parent Jennifer Flodin told board members she and her husband organized the protest rally “from our hearts” because they were “devastated for the kids.” Flodin said she had “no idea what color” or who ChappleMcGruder is and that half of the speakers at the rally were people of color.

“It was not a white-privilege, a white-everywhere rant against the school board or the department of health,” she said.

As Chapple-McGruder reflected on the rally, she remained candid about her experience serving as a public health director in Oak Park over the last seven months.

“I am shocked at the level of hostility,” she said.

She and her family previously lived in Oak Park prior to joining the Oak Park Department of Public Health in April, and what she experienced then as a community member and now as a Black public health director are vastly different.

“I lived in Oak Park from 2005 to 2009,” she said. “I bought my first home in Oak Park. I got married in Oak Park. I adopted my first child while living in Oak Park. Oak Park has kind of been [that] place that every time my husband and I moved to a new city, a new area, we compared it to Oak Park.

“So when I had the opportunity to move back to Oak Park, I was extremely excited. … What I can say is that my experiences my first four years here that first time when I was just a resident, just a student, just a normal person, it’s much different than my experience here [now] being a Black woman in a position of authority.”

populations,” Arnold said.

The park district’s CIP has already had a recent influx of cash. The district’s elected commissioners voted unanimously Oct. 14 to pass an ordinance authorizing the park district to issue general obligation debt certificates in an amount not to exceed $6 million.

Arnold confirmed that the $6 million in debt certificates went into the park district’s CIP and reconfirmed that the requested $2 million in ARPA funds would also go into the CIP. Both confirmations were made via email. As she was out on vacation, Arnold was unable to be interviewed by Wednesday Journal.

The park district is the only special Oak Park taxing body to make such a request

of the village, which Interim Village Manager Lisa Shelley confirmed. Neither the Oak Park Public Library nor the Oak Park Township lost any revenue as a result COVID-19, making both ineligible to receive a share of the village’s ARPA allowance. The village’s two school districts did not lose revenue. Representatives from those four taxing entities independently confirmed this to Wednesday Journal.

The township and park district are similar in that they both charge some participation fees for programming. The park district made a goal to have non-tax revenue, including programming fees, account for 50 percent of its overall revenue by 2020.

Wednesday Journal awaits a response from the park district on the status of that goal.

Only a small percentage of the township’s revenue comes from programming fees, according to Township Manager Gavin Morgan. Many township programs, for instance its transportation service, only have a suggested donation fee.

The Oak Park village board had its last meeting of this year on Dec. 6, where it approved its budget for fiscal year 2022. ARPA fund allocation was not discussed. Village President Vicki Scaman told Wednesday Journal she expects the village board will discuss the park district’s $2 million request sometime in mid-January. The village is required to have its entire $38.9 million share of ARPA funds committed for spending by Dec. 31, 2024 and spent in full

by Dec. 31, 2026.

Board examines a controversy from page 1 providing the board with a brief overview of what led to the district’s initial decision to press pause on after-school programs.

Adhering to the details he outlined in schoolwide emails sent to families, Johnson spoke about the recent rise of COVID-19 cases among students as the cause of the cancellation.

From Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, the district reported 17 new COVID cases, identifying 50-70 close contacts per case. The batch of infections reported Dec. 1 were epidemiologically linked and considered an outbreak, Johnson said. Multiple cases impacting at least 10% of teachers, students or staff “within a core group” are considered a school outbreak, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. A core group includes “individuals who were together during an exposure,” as defined by state health officials.

Three cases within a specific core group can also be classified as a school outbreak.

“Since the beginning of the school year, the overall COVID cases at OPRF have been relatively and consistently low, single digits week in and week out,” he said.

Oak Park Public Health Director Theresa Chapple-McGruder told Wednesday Journal that the school’s COVID response team was not prepared to handle a “huge surge.”

“It took them nearly a week to be able to even do contract tracing for all the children who were exposed in school,” said ChappleMcGruder, who attended the Dec. 7 meeting.

“And during that week, we had more spread.

We had more people who were exposed who should have been home.”

In the Dec. 7 meeting, Johnson told the board he spoke to Chapple-McGruder, who offered a list of safety mitigations for the district to follow. Among the directives, she advised Johnson and other officials to increase students’ participation in COVID-19 saliva testing to 80%, find more options to create a socially-distanced lunch, and up the ante on masking. The option to cancel

ARPA FUNDS

Hoping to replace lost revenue from page 1 to address the reduced revenue but was still unable to transfer $2 million into its capital improvement plan (CIP). Should the village board approve the ask, the park district intends to transfer the requested $2 million in ARPA funds into its CIP. The funds were requested to support the park district’s efforts “to continue to support program access and upkeep on all of our facilities that address the needs of our community’s youth, teen, adult and senior

“I am shocked at the level of hostility THERESA CHAPPLEMCGRUDER Oak Park public health director

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Santa’s helpers Desmond Murphy (top), 14, of Oak Park, packs up gifts on Sunday, Dec. 12, during a gift packaging event for the Primo Center for Women and Children inside the CrossFunction space in Oak Park. Claire Garnett (Center), 14, of Oak Park, wraps gift boxes. Volunteers (below) place gifts under the tree.

PHOTOS BY ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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C R I M E

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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Sun Flower Spa Massage robbed

Sun Flower Spa Massage, 1145 Garfield St., was robbed by two men, one of whom was allegedly armed with a handgun, at 12:42 p.m., Dec. 6. After the two men entered the business, the first offender allegedly hit one spa employee in the face then pointed a handgun at a second employee. The armed man took a Rolex watch off the second employee’s wrist and cash from the same victim’s purse – an estimated total loss of $35,300, according to the police incident report. The two offenders fled the scene, traveling westbound on Garfield Street in a black vehicle. No customers were involved in the incident.

Public indecency A man was observed by an Oak Park resident masturbating and exposing himself in the stairwell of an apartment complex while the resident was walking through the hallway to her unit at 4 p.m., Dec. 6 in the 300 block of Wisconsin Avenue. The responding officer was unable to locate the suspect during the search of the stairwell. Police reports describe the male as being 14 to 16 years in age.

Battery ■ An unknown male suspect allegedly grabbed the victim by the shoulders and

pushed the victim against the wall, after following the victim into the vestibule of a residential building in the first block of Lake Street at 1:55 a.m., Dec. 7. When the victim yelled, the offender fled in an unknown direction.

■ A man carrying a black shopping basket allegedly punched the victim in the face with a closed fist at 7:31 a.m., Dec. 11 in the 1100 block of South Boulevard, then fled on foot towards Harlem Avenue.

of the secured parking lot then shattered the glass front door of Avis Budget Rental, 414 Madison St., and ransacked the interior of the business between 1:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., Dec. 8. No reported loss.

■ Someone broke the glass window to gain entry into Bike Fix, 310 Lake St., then removed a black and teal Bianchi Sprint bicycle and a black Cannondale CAAD 10 bicycle from the business at 4:17 a.m., Dec. 9.

The estimated loss is $7,500.

Burglary

Recovered stolen auto

■ Video surveillance cameras captured an unknown male prying open a residential garage door and removing a bifold closet door and boxes of floor tile from inside the garage at 1:45 a.m., Dec. 8 in the 1100 block of North Taylor Avenue. The estimated loss is $400.

■ Video surveillance cameras caught two males pulling open the doors of Dream Town shoe store, 4 W. Madison St., and then entering the business with another male subject.

The offenders lifted up the security gate and removed numerous items of clothing and shoes beginning at 1:16 a.m., Dec. 8. The three same subjects returned at 1:25 a.m., Dec. 8 and removed more shoes and clothes, as well as the cash register, then departed the scene in a newer Infiniti. The estimated loss is $10,000.

■ Unknown suspects broke the gate lock

The black 2014 Jeep Cherokee reported stolen Dec. 1 from the 100 block of Garfield Street was recovered by University of Chicago police Dec. 9 in the 5100 block of Blackstone Avenue in Chicago.

Theft ■ A video surveillance camera captured an offender in a black puffy coat removing Amazon packages containing electronic equipment at 5:16 p.m., Dec. 6 in the 1100 block of Hayes Avenue.

■ A 12-foot Nutcracker and 6-foot “Baby Yoda” inflatable Christmas decorations were taken from the front lawn of a home in the 700 block of South Lombard Avenue between 11 p.m., Dec. 6 and 6:50 a.m., Dec. 7. The estimated

loss is $275.

■ A package delivered by the U.S. Postal Service containing exercise leggings was removed from the lobby of a building in the 1000 block of Chicago Avenue between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., Nov. 26. The estimated loss is $60.

■ The catalytic converter of a Mitsubishi Outlander was removed while the vehicle was parked in the 1100 block of Washington Boulevard between 9 p.m., Dec. 7 and 7 a.m., Dec. 8.

■ The catalytic converter belonging to a silver 2008 Honda C-RV was cut while the vehicle was parked in the 900 block of Wesley Avenue between 6:15 p.m., Dec. 8 and 7:30 a.m., Dec. 9.

■ An Amazon package containing a pack of Command adhesive hanging strips was taken from a front porch in the 700 block of Lyman Avenue between 8 p.m., Dec. 8 and 7:30 a.m., Dec. 9. The estimated loss is $10.

These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports through Dec. 6 to Dec. 13 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

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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ne of my holiday traditions is to watch Christmas movies while I wrap presents. Not just random Christmas movies but three specific movies watched in a specific order; A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

This year as I began to buy Christmas gifts and anticipate my movie watching tradition, a thought stuck me. Our pandemic life and the movie It’s a Wonderful Life share four story themes; family, sacrifice, professional fulfillment, and the power of the people.

It’s a Wonderful Life is about an angel being sent from Heaven to help a despondent businessman (George Bailey) by showing him what life would have been like if he had never been born. In other words, the wonderful life that George Bailey desired had been there the whole time hidden in plain sight. (Harking to the quote by Wayne Dyer… If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.)

No doubt there has been a great deal of sadness and hardship because of the pandemic. But I am believer that the universe (like George’s angel) via the pandemic is trying to guide us to our wonderful life. Sometimes we just need a little help to see things more clearly.

Theme #1 Family. In It’s a Wonderful Life, the angel demonstrates to George the value of his family and how much his life impacted the lives

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Theme #2 Sacrifice. The character George Bailey did many things in his life for the greater good. George made sacrifices after his father died, after his brother graduated college, and after the stock market crashed.

Luckily, these sacrifices had silver linings. In the end these sacrifices led George to his future wife, his future house, and his future family. Similarly, during the height of the pandemic, we made sacrifices for the greater good to keep us all safe and healthy.

We stopped traveling, dispensed with large events, and refrained from eating in restaurants. Many of us (like George Bailey) have found these acts had silver linings. We discovered the value of community and nature, the convenience of tele meetings, the intimacy of micro weddings, and the fun and health benefits of cooking our own meals.

Theme #3 Professional Fulfillment.

In the movie, George Bailey was offered a cushy job with handsome compensation and fringe benefits from the movie’s antagonist, Mr. Potter. George rejected the job offer, coming to the realization that it did not align with his values. Instead,

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George opted to continue to work at the Bailey Building and Loan where he felt his job held purpose. In our world, the pandemic has led to more of us quitting our jobs than any other time in history. Many surveyed stated that (like George Bailey) they want work that is meaningful.

Theme #4 The Power of the People.

In the movie, The Bailey Building and Loan company built and financed homes so working-class people could afford to own their own homes. George Bailey revered the working class stating that it is working people who “did all the working and paying and living and dying in this community.” Similarly, the pandemic has revealed the value of essential workers to our existence. We have come to truly appreciate health care workers, teachers, first responders, daycare workers, retail workers, and many others. As a result of the pandemic, we are now seeing an emerging labor movement giving more power to working people.

The movie It’s a Wonderful Life and our pandemic experience are evidence that if we look at life differently, we may find life is different.

I think this same view can be applied to estate planning. If we think about estate planning as a plan we put in place throughout our life (not just in our old age), it will make planning easier. Perhaps, one day, we will all complete our estate plans long before we draft a to-do list.

20

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21

SPORTS OPRF boys swimmers in rebuild mode as season begins 9 seniors graduated from team that finished 4th in 2020

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

In 2020, the last time the IHSA conducted a state meet in boys swimming and diving, Oak Park and River Forest High School placed fourth.

But with nine seniors from last year’s team having graduated, the Huskies are in a bit of a rebuilding phase.

“I don’t remember a year where there were that many guys that were lost to graduation,” OPRF coach Clyde Lundgren said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces in the pool. But the program is set up in a way where we keep the streams of leadership, performance, and strong character coming through. I hope the new guys can rise to the occasion and do the job.”

Seniors Ben Louis, Thomas Rotatori and Philip Walby return from last year and bring experience and leadership to OPRF’s young roster. The Huskies also hope to receive contributions from juniors Evan Hauptmann and Emmett Harmon and sophomores Adan Pedraza and Lars Rauch.

“Ben is pretty versatile, and he’s the nucleus of the core that we’ll build relays around,” Lundgren said. “Adan is pretty solid in the breaststroke, and we’re always good for sprint and freestyle events.”

Among the top meets OPRF will compete in this season are the Mustang Invite at Downers Grove South on Dec.18, the Riverside-Brookfield Invitational on Jan. 15 and the Lyons Township Invitational on Jan. 29.

“We’ve had a good showing at Downers South the last few years,” Lundgren said. “That’s a nice barometer to see where we’re at heading into winter break.”

The Huskies have won the West Suburban Silver Conference championship the last seasons, but Lundgren expects Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township to make strong pushes for this year’s title.

“Hinsdale Central seems to be on a wash, rinse, and repeat cycle. They reload every year and are always in the hunt,” he said. “There’s also LT, who’s a perennial Top 10 team. With our young team, we may not be the favorite going into the season, but we’d like to be in the conversation.”

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

OPRF swimming coach Kyle Lundgren says senior Ben Louis (above) is “the nucleus of the core that we’ll build relays around,” adding the Huskies will rely on a lot of new faces while rebuilding during 2021-22.

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

OPRF junior Emmett Harmon

Flynn, Sarvis lead Friars in 2021-22

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

OPRF senior Thomas Rotatori

In 2020, Fenwick High School finished 13th at the IHSA state meet. The Friars return just one swimmer from that team -senior Michael Flynn.

“Michael is a returning all-state swimmer,” Fenwick coach Steven Thompson said. “Last year, he broke the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference record in the 200 freestyle, and he’s very versatile.”

Fenwick returns seven other swimmers from last year’s team, including senior Cameron Sarvis, who would’ve qualified for state in the 100 breaststroke had the state meet not been canceled due to COVID-19 along with senior Dylan Fu, juniors Chris Badja and Sam Kulisek and sophomores Tomas Adomaltis, Owen McDonald and Code Podgorski.

“Our 500 freestyle group should be deep and give us some options at our championships,” said Thompson.

Freshmen Thomas Helt and Declan Vahey are newcomers the Friars hope will help to fill the void left by the graduation of one of the program’s all-time swimmers, Connor McCarthy.

“We lost Connor from last year, and that leaves a big hole in our butterfly and sprint events,” Thompson said. “We will need some guys to step up.”

Fenwick’s rigorous schedule includes competing at the Homewood-Flossmoor Pentathlon on Dec. 28 and the Sandburg Invitational on Jan. 14-15.

The Friars usually face stiff competition in the MCAC, and this season is no different as Thompson figures Loyola Academy, Marmion Academy and St. Ignatius will vie with his team for the league title.

But he’s also optimistic about Fenwick meeting its’ annual goals.

“Everything we do points to sectionals and state,” he said.

“The boys came in very prepared and have had a good start to their training. We expect to compete at the conference for championships at every level. We also want to challenge for a sectional championship and to qualify as many swimmers as possible for, and produce, at the state meet.”

22

S P O R T S

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

@ @OakPark

Legendary OPRF softball coach retires Mel Kolbusz’s 780 wins are 4th all-time in state

By MELVIN TATE

cess as a program,” he said. “I enjoyed working with the students and watching them develop not only as softball players, but as Oak Park and River Forest High School individuals. I always hoped they would besoftball coach Mel Kolbusz recently told the come outstanding young women, and for the Wednesday Journal that he has retired after most part they have. They made my job a lot a 35-year career in the program, including easier.” the past 29 seasons as head coach.

Among Kolbusz’s favorite players to coach “I still love to coach. I’ve were Fiona Girardot, Charbeen doing it for a while, and donnay Harris, Maeve Nelson it’s time for somebody else to and Dani Tyler -- who played take over,” he said of his deon the 1996 U.S. Olympic team cision. “Also, I want to spend that won the gold medal in Atsome time with my wife, and lanta. with a new athletic director Kolbusz shared a funny [Nicole Ebsen] coming in, story about Tyler, who he demaybe I should go out with scribed as a natural athlete John [Stelzer, former OPRF who worked hard to improve AD] and Courtney [Sakellaris, all aspects of her game. former assistant AD] and ride “In the Olympics, Dani was off into the sunset together. so excited about hitting a MEL KOLBUSZ This way, [Ebsen] could name home run, she missed touchLongtime OPRF softball coach ing home plate,” he said. “The her own coach.” opposing team appealed, and Kolbusz, who started his 49the umpire called her out. Latyear coaching career at Clemer, I had several people come ente in 1973, compiled a 780up and say, ‘Weren’t you her 233-2 record and three IHSA coach at OPRF?’ And I replied, state championships (2005, 2016, 2017) during his Huskies’ tenure. The ‘Yeah, I guess so.’”

Kolbusz said he’ll miss the competition, 780 wins are good for fourth all-time in state history. Under his leadership, OPRF reached as well as his assistants, which included J.P. Coughlin and Kristin Wirtz. the state finals 12 times. “” always loved to compete,” he said. “The “We had a few setbacks, but a lot of sucContributing Reporter

“I still love to coach.

I’ve been doing it for a while, and it’s time for somebody else to take over.”

FILE

Mel Kolbusz bigger the game, the better it was for me.”

The search for Kolbusz’s replacement is ongoing. Kolbusz believes the OPRF job is a desirable one and that there should be plenty of interest.

“I’m waiting on pins and needles to find

out who Nicole will hire,” he said.

But he does plan on attending a few Huskies games this spring as a fan, maintaining somewhat of a presence in the program.

“It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later,” Kolbusz said.

Numbers small, but quality there for OPRF gymnasts Huskies top LTHS, finish fourth at Hinsdale Central Invite

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Senior Chloe Kratz is a fourth-year Oak Park and River Forest High School gymnast who is part of two sectional-qualifying teams and probably a third if not for the 2020-21 state series eliminated by COVID-19 restrictions.

“I’m excited to finish my high school career with a strong bang,” Kratz said. “I like the team part of it. I just like being with my friends and getting to practice and compete with them.”

This lineup potentially could be the strongest.

The Huskies scored 134.40 in their Dec. 1 opening win against Lyons Township High School and 135.00 on Dec. 11 for fourth place at the Hinsdale Central Invitational.

In their five-meet, COVID-affected season, the Huskies reached 136.40 at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet finale. They scored the 140s once (140.15) when Kratz was a freshman.

CHLOE KRATZ “The nerves kind of got to some of us [at Hinsdale Central] because it was our first invite, but overall we did really well,” Kratz

said. “We have a lot of strong and consistent girls so I think it makes for a really good team.”

Junior Maya Lim and sophomore Eleanor Wolski also were varsity regulars last season. Junior Caroline Radachua rejoins varsity after playing badminton as a sophomore. Senior Lena Tang and sophomore Gabby Morales also have varsity experience.

Three new sophomores with extensive club experience are Violet Ruff, Claire Rezny and Jane Walker. “[Last season] was so short but I think this year we have more big skills if we can clean them up,” OPRF coach Kris Wright said.

“We have more depth on each of the events.

I have girls I can pick from and then [junior varsity gymnasts] that I can move up if I have to.”

Last season, OPRF shared second place in the WSC Silver with Hinsdale Central. Glenbard West is heavily favored for a seventh straight title this season.

Kratz and Tang and are among five seniors and four four-year team members, yet

the Huskies have only 16 gymnasts.

“It’s the smallest team I can remember in the 29 years I’ve been here,” Wright said.

“Last year we had 18 because of COVID. I lost a lot of those kids. I think they’re trying to see how the season goes and maybe they’ll come back next year. At least we had a couple of quality girls [join] so I’m thankful for that, and they’re only sophomores.”

At Hinsdale Central, Kratz finished third on the uneven parallel bars (8.7) and still hopes to add her higher-value double backflip dismount.

“I trained it over the summer and I did it once in practice. I don’t think it’s ready to compete yet but maybe soon,” Kratz said.

Lim was fifth on floor exercise (8.9).

Walker was seventh on floor (8.75), Ruff (9.05) and Lim (9.0) were seventh and eighth on vault and Lim was seventh in allaround (34.35).

In beating Lyons Township High School, the Huskies achieved two 9s from event champions Ruff (9.15 on vault) and Kratz (9.0 on floor).

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

The village needs to act now in SW Oak Park

M

y wife and I are 47-year residents of Oak Park, 45 of them (since 1976) in our home in the 900 block of Wenonah Avenue. We hoped and planned to spend the rest of our days here. Now we are not so sure.

The reason is the dramatic recent increase in violent and dangerous crime in our neighborhood, the once sleepy southwest corner of the village, which was perfectly safe for many decades after we moved in. But in the last few years, there has been an alarming spike in criminal activity in this neighborhood, culminating in the astounding running gun battle over several blocks one night several weeks ago. Or rather, I should not say “culminating in,” since there have already been two more car hijackings in the interval since then. We have had some half a dozen in the last year or so, all within a half-mile.

The neighbors who have gotten together to try to address these problems have assembled a list of crimes reported here with frequency: from speeding through stop signs at crossings with heavy child pedestrian school traffic, to petty and grand thefts, to open drug use, to drug deals and carjackings, and now, a running gun battle.

These are all disturbing, and some are common to all urban areas, but the last three items are extremely alarming, drug deals included, because it is a reasonable hypothesis that the running gunfight arose from some such transaction gone bad.

While law enforcement has recognized these problems, and has initiated some enforcement measures, these are inadequate to stamp out the worst of them. For example, one measure, which appears to be the chief one, has been to increase nightly street patrols in the area by police. As a measure to put an effective stop to this crime spree, this effort would seem based on a faulty premise: the absurd implied assumption that all those bent on this kind of mayhem will get notice of the police presence, and won’t come. Or if they do, they’ll get caught. This appears to be little more than hand-wringing, keeping a little harder lookout, and hoping for the best.

Somebody is going to get killed if this pattern is not stopped. Then the village will do something about it, no doubt. Something serious and effective. Far more than it has done to date and is doing now.

We need something done before somebody gets killed.

Something seriously to the purpose. And we need it now.

The worst of these crimes are crimes of opportunity, and they are occurring here because the perpetrators recognize the opportunity. Besides being extraordinarily dark at night because of poor lighting, the area along Maple Park along Lexington Street at Harlem Avenue presents a proximity to something such criminals would naturally be drawn to: easy access to a quick getaway and escape via the I-290 entrance ramps. What more could a carjacker desire? Or a drug dealer,

FRANK

STACHYRA One View

See STACHYRA on page 31

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VIEWPOINTS

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What the Residence Corporation stands for p. 25

A thousand bike-commuting Huskies … and counting

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his fall I’ve been struck by the sight of bikes lining the broad sidewalks surrounding OPRF High School. It’s not just that the kids are back after more than a year of remote and partial remote attendance; it’s that biking is now big — really big. The bright jumble of bicycles can be seen locked to all the official bike racks, and to available posts and signs in all the surrounding streets, and sometimes they’re locked more than a block away on Elmwood Avenue and Superior Street.

The Greta Thunberg generation is actively moving to get to school, and therefore arriving with enhanced powers of concentration that sustain through much of the school day.

Not so elsewhere. Trinity High School in River Forest has a dress code that doesn’t exactly encourage bike riding, and bikes are nowhere to be seen on the campus grounds though many students are actively walking. On a recent visit to the Fenwick High School campus, I noticed that the public sidewalks surrounding the school lack racks and bikes. Inside the parking lot, the bike racks were more than half empty, and the same for the racks near the entrance. In total, I counted 12 locked bikes, including one secured to the stairwell inside the parking garage. Granted, Fenwick draws its student body from many communities, in ad-

dition to Oak Park, but what I was seeing was about one bike for every 100 students, close to the national average but a tiny fraction compared to the Huskie crowd.

As a former Safe Routes to School coordinator for several schools in Washington DC, I know that bike commuting to school is not a given, that the ridership tends not to warrant more than a half dozen well-placed bike racks near the schools’ main entrances. Parents are often all too willing to do the drop-off at curb sites, euphemistically labeled “car-pooling,” and they may have justified misgivings about their kids sharing the road in heavily trafficked streets. Nationally, 1.1 percent of students, age 5-18, bike to school, according to the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, and 9.6 percent of students usually walk. If that was here, just imagine some thousand cars vying for a good drop-off spot near the corner of Lake and Scoville at 7:45 a.m. on weekdays.

The sheer number of students biking to OPRF helps support the safety of this transportation mode, but it is a smart move to revisit the Oak Park bicycle plan with these teens in mind, starting with the streets near the school. I understand that is underway.

Student biking begs the question: Are an increasing number of staff taking on this more sustainable transportation as well? I recently peeked into the gloom of the high school parking garage, and, not surprisingly, only cars are parked there. If a few parking spaces near the entrance were converted to bike parking and offered free to staff (these bikes could display a sticker) the contrast between the carbon-free student commuters and the teachers wouldn’t be so stark. Granted some of the bikes parked on the sidewalks may belong to staff, but who’s to know?

Illinois’ Department of Transportation is offering grants for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure through the state’s Safe Routes to School Program. In the 2021 funding cycle, no fewer than 35 infrastructure items were eligible, including some techy ones like a bike-sensitive traffic signal actua-

SUSAN SUBAK

One View

PROVIDED

TRANSPORTED: Bikes locked up at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

See SUBAK on page 31

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Hostility to Black leaders

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nce again, Oak Park and River Forest have a Black woman in a position of public policy authority who feels intense hostility from members of the community.

Right now that person is Dr. Theresa Chapple-McGruder, the public health director for Oak Park’s village government.

Chapple-McGruder, the department director since last spring, took substantial verbal abuse at a protest rally outside Oak Park and River Forest High School after the school briefly nixed extracurricular activities due to a COVID outbreak. Social media has also been vicious toward ChappleMcGruder as she works to keep the public safe during this pandemic.

It must be noted that Mike Charlie, the longtime public health director, who guided Oak Park through the brutal early months of COVID and directly and indirectly shuttered schools, parks, restaurants and many businesses, encountered no such venom over his hard choices. Charlie resigned his post and took a lateral move to become Skokie’s public health chief to be closer to his home.

Last spring, the superintendents of OPRF and the District 97 elementary schools, both Black women, left their jobs. One retired, the other took a new post in New Jersey. Such departures are always multi-faceted. But each of those leaders expressed to the Journal during exit interviews that hostility directed at them over their tenures was, in their estimation, related to their race and gender.

We need to do much better than this.

Two groundbreakings The gold shovels digging into carefully cultivated mounds of freshly positioned topsoil. Shovels held by developers and public officials seeking the public’s attention on a coming project that they have long debated and now want to tout.

We’ve skipped most of these photo opportunities over the decades. But we will make exceptions and actually cover one planned and one still imagined groundbreaking this coming week, and the other, hopefully, soon.

In both cases we have signature projects that have been so long delayed, the public has either forgotten or concluded the efforts have been sidetracked. One is in Oak Park, the other in River Forest.

There will be a groundbreaking this week for the new Pete’s Fresh Market at Oak Park Avenue and Madison Street. We know this because the village has issued a press release announcing it. Village President Vicki Scaman and Stephanie Dremonas, CEO of Pete’s, will be wielding the shovels.

This is good news. It is a public commitment to a project that we enthusiastically support. How could we not support a plan to build something good that will generate property taxes, sales taxes and new jobs on a site that the development-bumbling village government began assembling in 2001.

Yes, 20 years ago. Surprising it has not returned to prairie.

We would note, however, for the overeager, that the same press release states actual construction of the new Pete’s will not begin until Spring.

But remember, Pete’s, once the golden shovel touches topsoil you have to build the building.

Over in River Forest there is also a decades-long pursuit of constructing a high-end, mixed-use condo project at Lake and Lathrop. We won’t regale you with the many setbacks we have assiduously reported on, the developers who have proclaimed success and then departed, the village board members who have talked tough while granting endless extensions, the multiple national real estate and economic calamities that have intruded, the ecological contamination underground.

The news at this moment is hoodwinkingly positive. And yet, a promised groundbreaking a couple weeks ago did not happen. A purportedly final, final step of removing a smidge of “unsuitable soil” before actually breaking ground for a new foundation is caught up for just a final second in waste-hauling requirements.

So we wait, with breath so bated we’re turning blue.

It is literally now or never. And if it is now, we will cover that ceremonial moment and show you the gold shovel moment.

I

Finding my niche as a sous chef

’ve been helping a friend lately do some cooking. The holidays are forged in the crucible of the kitchen. I never became a proficient cook, mostly because I don’t enjoy being the chef, but I seem to be a natural-born sous chef. I love to help, not lead, in putting it all together. I’m just compulsive enough to enjoy cutting up vegetables in tiny pieces and attending to myriad details so the chef can focus on the bigger picture. I’d rather follow directions, and orders, issued by the kitchen general — at least the one I happen to work with.

Cooking, I’ve learned, is not about making a glorious mess, then at some point after the dinner having to face the intimidating remains. The sous (pronounced soo) helps by cleaning up and putting things away in the fridge as we go, so the disorder on the counters and in the sinks doesn’t sink the final product. This is especially important in Oak Park’s limited-space kitchens, which demand adroit choreography as we maneuver to avoid costly collisions.

A sous chef is the extra pair of hands and eyes, the assistant who allows a talented cook to do her best, which pays off in the eating. “Enabling” in the best sense of the word — stirring the pot, measuring ingredients, reading recipes aloud so the chef can concentrate on the doing. I do what I’m told, asking for clarification when necessary.

But it’s more than taking direction. It’s an education, working with real food, not just heating up pre-prepared dinners as I did for too many years.

I’m learning knife skills, how to cut and which implement to use, the names of obscure seasonings, how to combine ingredients, how a meal takes shape. I’ve learned that the art of cooking is collaboration.

And I’ve learned that company is the fun of cooking. We ask Alexa to play music to cook by.

Recently we took a musical tour of 1971 and then got reacquainted with the songs of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. Artificial intelligence is not musically savvy, though, so Alexa doesn’t always play what we want, but that’s part of the fun, too.

I enjoy playing second fiddle and not being in charge. The chef, on the other hand, likes being in charge, so we’re quite compatible. All I have to remove from the recipe is ego. It’s a very satisfactory arrangement. I marvel watching a confident cook dancing around the kitchen, sometimes literally, unafraid of working with an array of foods and seasonings that I always found dizzying and daunting. I actually know how to mince garlic cloves now.

It made me wonder whether sous-ing also applies to the rest of my life. Here at Wednesday Journal over the last 31 years, I was frequently in charge, but I never felt comfortable in that role. Managing people, for instance, is not my strong suit.

But however effective or ineffective I might have

been, I didn’t enjoy the pressure. Since retiring five years ago, I have continued working at the newspaper two days a week, absorbed in the fine minutiae of copyediting during deadline. I’ve never enjoyed working here more.

I am the extra pair of hands and eyes, which makes a difference in the finished product. I’m still in charge of the Viewpoints section and obituaries, but I view my role as facilitating the process of getting other people’s opinions in the paper and allowing families enough leeway to convey the essence of their dearly departed. Sometimes I have to tone down their enthusiasm or even draw the line, but I do it because people can get hurt if I don’t. The news stories I edit benefit from the context I can provide. I’ve been around longer than most of the reporters here.

I’m also a grandparent — or as I like to think of it, a sous parent. As a younger man, I was an anxious parent, particularly when responsibilities fell on my shoulders, as they often did. Sous parenting, on the other hand, is great fun. I respect and reinforce the limits their mom sets, and if my twosome complain, I tell them to take it up with her. I’m just following orders. I do indulge them — but the pressure is off. Mom knows I’m there to help. And there’s a personal payoff, just as there is in being a sous editor and a sous chef: The satisfaction of feeling useful and of value.

Some people seem to enjoy being in charge — sometimes driven to be in control. But many of the best things in my life have occurred when I wasn’t in control, with a couple of exceptions. For some reason, even though I’m terrified of public speaking, I keep volunteering to do it. I don’t quite understand this. Also, when I’m on long hikes with a group in a natural setting, I usually end up at the front of the line, reading the terrain, cautioning people behind me about tripping hazards. Maybe I was Daniel Boone in a previous life.

And, as you may have noticed, each week in this space I speak with a certain, possibly annoying, authority. I don’t know where that comes from either. Maybe it’s a higher authority speaking through me, and I’m just a sous columnist after all.

There’s an art to knowing when to be in charge and when not to be, a time to empower others and a time to empower ourselves. But there’s much to be said for being a helper.

The late, great Mr. Rogers said that whenever he felt anxious and helpless about world events spinning chaotically out of control, his mother would tell him, “Look for the helpers.” He found them everywhere because they are everywhere — the antibodies that counteract the ruthless grandiosity of those in power who muck things up.

Too many chefs, we’ve always been told, spoil the broth.

But a chef and a sous chef ?

Ah! Soup’s on.

KEN

TRAINOR

V I E W P O I N T S

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What the Residence Corporation stands for

am honored to serve as the board chair of the Oak Park Residence Corporation (OPRC). Together with my board colleagues, we are deeply dedicated to continuing to advance OPRC’s mission of affordability, diversity, and quality multifamily housing throughout our community.

I want to take this moment, however, to write briefly about our mission, our history, and why we’re so committed to these efforts.

As we have been advancing the proposal to replace our mid-century, 12-unit building located at 7 Van Buren, with a beautifully-designed, modern, sustainable, accessible, and economicallyintegrated replacement building, I think some of our fellow residents may not be as aware of why we do what we do.

The Residence Corporation was created in 1966 to help make sure that people from all backgrounds could have access to high-quality housing throughout the village. OPRC’s early years were a time of significant concern about apartment buildings allowed by their owners to deteriorate, thereby placing residents at risk of living in substandard housing. Not surprisingly, many of those residents most likely to be placed at risk had lower incomes and were disproportionately people of color.

The Residence Corporation has dedicated itself over these past 54 years to ensure that such buildings could be acquired, rehabilitated, and rented at reasonable costs to all kinds of people. We partner with the Oak Park Regional Housing Center to help attract diverse populations to all of our buildings (more than 30 in all). In addition, we own a 76-unit senior building (The Oaks), a 21-unit building (the Farrelly-Muriello Apartments) specially designed for those with serious physical impairments, and we administer the 600-household Housing Choice Voucher Program for the Oak Park Housing Authority, as well as providing the largest

WAYNE PIERCE One View

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

RENDERING PROVIDED BY OAK PARK RESIDENCE CORPORATION

MISSION-DRIVEN: Proposed new development at Van Buren Street at Austin Boulevard. number of apartments directly to Housing Choice Voucher recipient households.

As a nonprofit, we also reinvest a tremendous amount of money back into all Residence Corporation buildings to ensure that they benefit their surrounding neighborhoods throughout the community. And though we are a nonprofit, we also pay over a million dollars each year in property taxes, thereby helping to help support the needs of our schools, our parks, and our community.

We are a long-term dedicated stakeholder in this community, and we are deeply committed to the wellbeing of Oak Park and all Oak Parkers.

We also believe that people of all backgrounds should have an opportunity to be our neighbors, in all parts of our community. That people of all backgrounds should have an opportunity to send their children to school with all of our kids. That people of all backgrounds should have an opportunity to connect with us in all of our neighborhoods, our parks, and our business districts. And that people of all backgrounds should have an opportunity to live together in diverse, economically-integrated buildings. It is these beliefs that led us to propose the building at 7 Van Buren that will be considered and voted on by the Plan Commission this Thursday, Dec. 16. And it is these beliefs that have long been the shared commitment of our entire community.

Since its founding, the Residence Corporation has been all about advancing these vitally important Oak Park values. We hope that the members of the Oak Park Plan Commission will continue to stand for these shared values as well.

Wayne Pierce is the chair of the Oak Park Residence Corporation board.

In praise of village initiatives on climate change

I am delighted to write in praise of some initiatives taken by the village to address climate change.

First, as reported in Wednesday Journal on Dec. 1, there is the “Better Homes, Better Planet” campaign, which offers guidance, expertise, and money to help residents cut energy use — and bills — through home weatherization, solar panels, and other energy savings and upgrades.

A full list of what’s included can be found at www. sustainoakpark.com.

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

In addition, Oak Park has launched an initiative to prepare a Climate Action Plan. You can learn and participate in creating the plan at https://graef.mysocialpinpoint.com/oak-park-climate-plan.

In this time of climate crisis, it is heartening to see our village taking these steps forward. I urge readers to check out these websites and get involved.

Doug Burke

Senior Climate Action Oak Park

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Equity Editor/Ombudsman Michael Romain Digital Publishing and Technology Manager Briana Higgins Staff Reporters Stacey Sheridan, F. Amanda Tugade Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora Food Editor Melissa Elsmo Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Business Manager Joyce Minich Marketing Representatives Marc Stopeck, Lourdes Nicholls Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Development & Sales Coordinator Stacy Coleman Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

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

In a healthy conversation about community concerns, your voice is also vital.

We welcome your views, on any topic of community interest, as essays and as letters to the editor. Noted here are our stipulations for filing.

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

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY

■ 250-word limit

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■ Must include first and last names,

■ One-sentence footnote about yourself,

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

■ Signature details as at left

your connection to the topic

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

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Festival Theatre needs your help bulk of their production Like many of you, I have equipment, including lightbeen a fan of Oak Park ing instruments, speakers, Festival Theatre (OPFT) sound and light boards, and for many decades. This computers. treasure in the heart of I know that many of you Oak Park has been our own have already reached out “mini-Ravinia” each sumto help local nonprofits at mer with amazing producthis time of giving, but I tions of Shakespeare and have always felt that the other classics that have arts make our lives worth touched our hearts and living and sometimes are made us think anew about less visible at this time of these stories. giving. Can you make a doAs you may have heard, nation of $100 or whatever on Nov. 23 there was an exPROVIDED tra-alarm fire in the buildyou can afford to help Fesing located at 1034 Lake Damage in the Oak Park Festival tival Theatre replace their St. Thankfully, no one was Theatre office. lost equipment and stay on injured. However, when track for our 2022 season?

I learned OPFT’s offices It would mean so much to were located directly above the restaurant, I them and to me. felt devastated. After surviving the epidemic Gifts can be made online via OakParkFestiand mounting the first post-COVID Equity val.com/donate or by mailing a check to: production (The Tempest) in the Chicago area Oak Park Festival Theatre this past summer, this fire is a major setback P.O. Box 4114 for plans in the coming year.

Oak Park, IL 60303 Located in the building were their adminMy personal goal is to raise $1,000 to help istrative offices, dressing rooms and storage them get back on track. It would mean so containing nearly 50 years of props, costumes, much to me and to all of us who value local financial records and company artifacts. Addi- theater to have your support toward this goal. tionally, having closed The Madness of Edgar Teresa Powell Allan Poe just days before, they also lost the Oak Park

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Size and affordability are the problems I oppose the 7 Van Buren development proposed by the Oak Park Residence Corporation (ResCorp) for numerous valid reasons; my primary concerns are how the developer is characterizing the building as affordable housing and the overall size of the development.

The current building at 7 Van Buren has 12 units, consisting of 1-2 bedroom apartments. Three were considered affordable housing and the other nine were below typical apartment prices in Oak Park, with rents between $1,000 and $1,200 per month, including utilities. While not technically classified as affordable housing, they were priced in an accessible manner for people who might not be able to easily find apartments. Renters were individuals as well as families with children.

The new development proposes nine affordable housing units. Nine affordable units in a 45-unit building, and the current building has 12 units with affordable rent. I believe supporters are being misled about this being an improvement. It is not. The nine units could be rented at upwards of $1400 to $1540 and still be considered affordable housing. Is that really

what constitutes affordable compared to the previous utilities-included rents? The assumption is the affordable units will be studio and one bedroom apartments, so options for affordable housing for families have decreased as well with this new development.

The second argument I have is the overwhelming size. The current zoning height is 45 feet, and ResCorp is requesting a height variance to 72 feet.

This is equivalent to changing a 65 mph speed limit to 104 mph! There is also a solar panel array with significant mass that, according to a planning committee member, requires it to be added to the overall height. ResCorp is requesting the village cede a portion of Van Buren Street to allow the building to be built on the current sidewalk and parkway, so its footprint would significantly exceed the current lot of land. Lastly, upper floors will hang over public space and there will be only an 18-inch alley setback. ResCorp is trying to cram a size 11 foot into a size 6 shoe.

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Build it behind your house Imagine that one day a man shows up at your door and tells you he intends to erect a building the size of a very large Ferris wheel directly behind your house. With that building/Ferris wheel comes a carnival of people moving into your neighborhood with no place to park, and as the wheel goes round, they can see everything happening in your backyard.

With this, you lose your privacy, your neighborhood pride, and your sense that your community cares about you.

My partner Jane and I moved into our home at 800 S. Humphrey approximately 28 years ago. We spent a lot of money making this home our sanctuary. We would return to our sanctuary after working as university professors. Now retired, we dedicated our lives to speaking out for marginalized individuals, publishing 16 books addressing issues of race, diversity, and inclusion. We were drawn to Oak Park because of its dedication to diversity and because we felt safe here as a lesbian couple. In this house, we hosted many parties with friends and family, and created a garden we are proud of. This rendering of us and our neighbors as NIMBYs or racists is just a form of gaslighting. I suppose if you cannot adhere to logic, then you must resort to name-calling.

To put it mildly, we are heartbroken about the proposed building at 7 Van Buren. Besides being an eyesore, it will be the first step

in destroying the neighborhood we so dearly love. Most letters in support of this project are not from residents of this neighborhood.

These writers are invested in being armchair residents, much like the armchair/verandah ethnographers of the early 20th century who wrote about cultures from the safety of their surroundings/verandahs, telling others how they should live.

These ethnographers rendered their ideas of culture, without an understanding of the privilege they inhabited. Like these scholars, those in support of this project have shown no empathy, sensitivity, or understanding.

I’d appreciate a reasonable proposal, but this proposal, based on a series of factors, including extreme height and inadequate parking, seems like a desire to colonize, and take over for the sake of profit and personal gain.

If you really want this building, let Oak Park Residence Corporation build it behind your house. I invite anyone who has written a letter in favor of this project to trade homes with us so you can truly see what this feels like. And as the Ferris wheel goes round and round, ask if you would like to live in our house and be unable to get out of your garage as well as lose your privacy and all you have worked for over 28 years.

Theresa Carilli, PhD, professor emerita Purdue University Northwest

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

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We’re at two-thirds of our NewsMatch goal - We need you to jump in now As the end of 2021 comes into view, and with it the close of our annual NewsMatch funding challenge, we’re at 66 percent of our $125,000 goal.

That’s both great and a little scary. We’re still looking to raise $40,000.

So we’re turning to our readers for help. We need you as an active partner in reinventing community journalism in our seven neighborhoods by building our nonprofit newsroom.

Six weeks ago we turned to a group of Growing Community Media’s most dedicated supporters and asked them to create a matching fund to spark other donations. Those good people – their names are just below – gathered up $18,000 as a match.

We thank them for leading the way.

Well, with the help of so many, we have quickly matched the MatchMakers $18,000.

Today, we are launching a brand new $10,000 match made possible by the Monroe and Fran Sullivan Charitable Fund. That means the next $10,000 we raise from readers will be doubled courtesy of the Sullivan’s, our longtime friends and supporters.

Whether you are able to give us $10 or $500, our gratitude will be the same. If you value the work our small and mighty newsroom does each day then please join in.

Dan Haley Editor and Publisher Growing Community Media p.s. Share this message with people you know who would want to know more.

Simone Boutet Bernard Buchholz Loretta Christiansen LaVerne Collins Judith Crown & Richard Rothschild Pam Deady Timothy Divis Heidi Ewell Elizabeth Freeland Tom Gallagher Mary Haley

Lynn Hoffstadter Case & Pat Hoogendoorn Brynne Hovde Edward Jepson Bernice Juettner Donna Kanapes Andrea Kayne & Andy Mead Rich Kordesh Daniel L’Hereux Ralph Lee Alex & Elizabeth Lippit

Ronald Moline Paul Muriello Dennis Murphy Donna Myers Charles Myerson Don Nekrosius Mary Ellen Nelligan Lynne Palmore Debbie & Charles Pastors Teresa Powell Joan Radovich

Marian Sassetti Mary Pat & Bill Sieck Bob Spatz Bob Trezevant Robert Tucker Donald & Mary Vogel MJ Walsh Barbara Watkins Nancy Woulfe Cathy & Scott Yen Debbie Zari

www.oakpark.com/donate or make your check payable to Growing Community Media at 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302

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30

V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

Make a difference in a child’s life

Would you like to make a difference in a child’s life? Do you wonder if you have what it takes to be a volunteer tutor? You do! You don’t need special training, just a willingness to help a child learn.

Please consider joining our tutoring team. After a challenging year of virtual learning, our students need the oneto-one learning that tutoring provides more than ever.

Research shows that tutoring and mentoring help to improve grades, overall school achievement, and high school graduation rates. Tutoring also helps to lower school truancy, disciplinary referrals, teen drug and alcohol use, and teen pregnancy rates.

We offer tutoring on Mondays at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, on Tuesdays at Circle Urban Ministries in Chicago, and on Thursdays at First United Church of Oak Park. All tutoring sessions are 6:30-8 p.m., through mid-May. Volunteers can choose any of the three nights.

Masks must be worn by all participants, and all COVID-19 safety protocols are enforced.

Cluster Tutoring has been providing free tutoring for students for over 30 years. Be-

PROVIDED

sides assisting with homework, our team of volunteers helps to bolster students’ literacy skills through our structured reading program. Most tutors are adults, but high school students make wonderful tutors, too. The atmosphere is supportive, friendly, and relaxed. Tutors receive extra support through reading specialists and volunteer math coaches.

For more information, call Kara at 773378-5530, email clustertutoring@clustertutoring.org or visit the Cluster website at https://clustertutoring.org.

Leslie Hodes

Tutor and board president Cluster Tutoring

OPEN on Christmas Eve!

RibFest Every Day! Mickey’s is the place!

Mickey’s Rib Special 1/2 Slab Dinner Full Slab Dinner B.B.Q. RIBS & CHICKEN BURGERS & HOT DOGS

$13.49

$19.79

includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread

525 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park (708) 848-3333 11am - 9pm Daily

3 Vienna Hot Dogs w/ Fries $ .49

9

Italian Beef Sandwich w/ Fries $ .99

8

Wednesday

Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $11.99

Every day Special!

Gyros with fries $8.99

1/4 Lb Double Cheeseburger

Big Mickey! $ .49

3

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

River Forest Village Hall shows zero responsibility The old bat, back again with part 2 of the Jewel grocery store saga (see “Jewel manager is anti-mask,” Viewpoints, Dec. 8).

I called the Village of River Forest about the Jewel’s sloppy mask compliance. My experiences with the village, since we moved here from Oak Park a year ago, have all been positive. The staff is friendly, efficient, and very helpful, but back to my story. I told the lady who took my call at village hall about my problem with Jewel: spotty mask-wearing compliance, major unhelpful interchange with snarky antimasker manager, etc. I asked to be directed to someone who could help me.

(To put my militant stance on COVID in perspective: My husband has asthma and other risk factors. He won’t survive even a mild case of COVID without dire consequences, possibly death. So when I told the anti-masker Jewel manager that I was going to call the village of River Forest on him, I wasn’t kidding around.)

Imagine my surprise when the nice lady regretfully told me no one, no one at the

village could help me. She suggested that I call Jewel’s corporate offices. In fact, I did try, but there is no way to get through their phone system to a human being. Not even a way to leave a message. I thought about calling Albertson’s, their parent company, but with my luck they’d be headquartered in one of those states. So Mr. Anti-masker gets the last laugh after all. My bad.

As for the village of River Forest, I do not fault the nice lady who took my call. She just didn’t have any way to help me. That’s because, apparently, the village takes zero responsibility for COVID mandate enforcement. Rumor has it that some governments actually enforce mask mandates. In some cases, they even impose fines and/or close businesses for non-compliance. But in River Forest, it is no one’s responsibility to enforce mandates put in place by the state of Illinois.

I wonder what else isn’t their responsibility?

Louise Mezzatesta River Forest

Assessment appeals till Jan. 4

Oak Park property owners concerned about their property taxes have a chance to do something about next year’s tax bills, but they will have to act during the holiday season. Oak Park taxpayers will be able to file 2021 assessment appeals with the Cook County Board of Review until Jan. 4, 2022.

During the appeal period, the Township Assessor’s Office will be available to assist local residents in preparing evidence to substantiate their appeals. Residents seeking help should call the Township Assessor’s office during business hours at 708-383-8005 to set up appointments. Most appointments will be conducted over the phone, but there will be a limited number of in-person appointments available for those who request them.

Oak Park properties were last reassessed in 2020, and under Cook County’s three-year reassessment cycle, the next reassessment for Oak Park properties will take place in 2023. Even in non-reassessment years such as 2021, however, taxpayers can file appeals, as property values can change from year to year. However, the money-saving effects of

successful 2021 appeals will not appear on tax bills until second installment tax bills are issued in the fall of 2022.

The opening of the Board of Review’s appeal period marks the second opportunity Oak Park residents will have to appeal their 2021 assessments. Oak Park’s first appeal period was with the Cook County Assessor’s office, and ended in June.

In a typical year, the Board of Review opens for Oak Park appeals in the summer.

But the board cannot begin accepting appeals from Oak Park until the Cook County Assessor certifies results from the first round of Oak Park appeals and this year, the assessor’s certification did not happen until just before Thanksgiving. The late certification arose because the county assessor is replacing its aging mainframe computer with a new system. The changeover in computer systems led to unexpected delays and, as a result, Oak Park’s Board of Review appeal period is starting several months later than normal.

Ali ElSaffar

Oak Park Township assessor

A third alternative to gas leaf blowers Thank you to Ken Trainer for his informative piece regarding leaf blowers [Give us a break: ban leaf blowers, Viewpoints, Nov. 3]. I have another suggestion to add to the batteryoperated and electric leaf blower options. Skip the gym for a day and use a rake!

Susan Cahill

Oak Park

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Shot across the bow I heard from a friend of a friend, who is a stranger to me That the dreaded COVID virus is spreading from sea to sea By people who don’t feel comfort in getting their shot for free Because to them there is no price to climb their freedom tree.

But now my grandson’s got it, in a land that’s far away He got his two vaccines; did his duty on that day Now I believe in freedom, it’s important to have our say But since we’re all connected, your infection makes us pay.

If you’re a person without your shot

To the friends and supporters of Delia’s Thank you to the many who contributed a total of $30,000 toward Delia’s via Joyce Websper of GoFundMe. It is most, most appreciated during this time.

Veronica Ciobotaru, owner of Delia’s, invited her 12 employees down to her 7-acre farm in Indiana, had lunch and shared this money with each one.

Obviously with this sudden change in their lives, this was well received. Currently only two of the 12 have been able to land a

SUBAK

That’s great, that’s fine and I love you a lot

from page 23

But maybe along with your freedom to not The payment for you is to stay in your cot.

Don’t go around infecting the crowd ’Cause I heard it’s non-vaxxers with voices aloud Who are breathing the virus on family and friends So, please stay inside till this nightmare ends.

Val Gee Oak Park

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

tion device that can sense an arriving bike and help it get on its way forthwith. Makes sense to me because this environmentally respectful mode could use more respect. The main through ways near the High School — Lake Street and Ridgeland Avenue, lack thoughtful bike route planning. The demarcated

job. So if anyone can help, please send a note to Paul@sachemco. com and I will send it to Veronica.

She is presently spending a lot of time working with her insurance company before she can set up future plans.

Thank you, Joyce, and the many OakPark/River Forest folks for all you have done for Veronica and her employees.

Paul Beckwith

Paul@sachemco.com

bike route along Ridgeland has a painted cycle symbol placed squarely inside the vehicular lane, and its allusion to safety is worse than nothing. Yes, let’s prioritize OPRF High School with an enhanced bike plan and supporting infrastructure.

The students are becoming a silent majority of bike-riding, zero-carbon commuters. They deserve resounding applause for this — and more bike racks.

Susan Subak is an Oak Park resident.

31

STACHYRA from page 23 seeking a dark and quiet spot with the same features favorable for a quick exit?

That very feature cries out for a simple and obvious solution: a cul-de-sac at the corner of Maple and Lexington (with a one-way sign for traffic coming out of Mohr’s yard, onto Harlem), and perhaps another cul-de-sac near the corner of Maple and Garfield. That would immediately remove the chief factor facilitating these crimes, by taking away the opportunity.

Yet those who broached this subject with the village administrators were told it is not possible because there is a village ordinance against new cul-de-sacs.

Well change it! We have cul-de-sacs on all four sides of Oak Park, along Roosevelt, Harlem, North, and Austin, and more than a few in the middle — all for the mundane purpose of traffic control. How about one or two to stop violent crimes of opportunity and to save our lives? In fact, why hasn’t the village already put up temporary barriers to this crime superhighway?

What the people of this area want, I think it is safe to say, is basic services, and, most of all, basic safety. Do something effective, now.

Frank Stachyra is a resident of Oak Park.

Hines Insurance 312 Madison Oak Park (708) 628-5100 hinesinsures.com

Congratulations to Hines Insurance & Financial Services on their opening!

Among the Celebrants: Jeffrey Hines, Darryl Simmons, Andrea Rivera, & Lizett Diaz, Hines Insurance & Financial Services; Dr. Mary Ann Bender, Weil Foot & Ankle Clinic; Michael Glab, Nutriquity; Michael Lavery, Excel Window Tinting; Chris Griffith & Melissa Cleveland, Oak Park Bank; Eric Mazelis, OPEDC; Kelsang Chogo, Kadampa Meditation; Kim Johnson, Keller Williams; Andrea Charest & Tamekia Swint, Styles4Kidz; Sam Yousif, Fuller Health Group; Corey Thomas & Darien Marion Burton, D.M.Burton; Diane Cranford & Mark Walden, OPRF Chamber of Commerce; Brian Reilly, Housing Forward; Carla Taylor, Baird & Warner; Christian Harris, MaidPro; Lee Owens, NameOnAnything. Photos by Todd Bannor of Bannor & Bannor

32

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Will we save our democracy or let it die?

O

ur president, vice president, Supreme Court justices, and all members of Congress must pledge an oath of office before assuming their duties. In doing so, these leaders swear to support our democracy and uphold the Constitution. I wonder, now that ex-president Trump and his followers have chosen to reject our democracy, if they have any pangs of guilt about this. Do any of these folks really prefer an autocractic/dictatorial government with Trump, or others like him, at the helm over free democracy?

Let’s realistically examine what life would be like under a dictator. We can use Trump’s behavior as president as a guide to this type of leadership.

While in office, Trump had some restrictions placed on his actions by our laws and the Constitution. If he or another like-minded leader ruled in a dictatorship, there would be no such restrictions.

Since we are living in the midst of a terrible pandemic, it’s important to remind ourselves of the way in which exPresident Trump handled this challenge.

Early in 2020, when we first learned of COVID-19, he tried to make light of the warnings he was given, with little regard for medical or scientific recommendations. Trump did not promote physical distancing or mask-wearing. Indeed, he deemed those who wore masks to be weak and fearful. He even suggested using substitute “treatments,” such as ingesting cleaning fluids rather using science-based remedies. These solutions had only harmful effects, while the virus mounted its fury causing more suffering and loss of life. We will never know how many lives might have been saved had there been an early emphasis on physical distancing, mask-wearing, and using

approved medications. We also may never know why Trump was so insistent against following scientific and medical suggestions.

Ex-president Trump’s negative attitudes extended to people whom he did not favor — immigrants, people of color, Muslims, Native Americans, Jews, and Latinos. His racist actions were somewhat curtailed by laws, but as a dictator, he and others like him, could restrict the lives of these folks and discriminate against them without restraint. As it was, we witnessed Trump’s draconian “zero-tolerance” policy which was used to separate children from their immigrant parents. What a cruel method to discourage immigration!

Trump wanted to isolate our nation in an attempt to make it the “stronghold” of the world, similar to how he viewed Russia and North Korea. If he or others like him were authoritarian chieftains, there would be complete control over television, press, all media, schools, libraries, as well as censorship regarding what is taught and read … or not read. All opposition would be squelched and punished severely. This mindset was on full display at Trump rallies and via his adoring support of despots.

Trump’s decisions to disassociate our nation from our allies was an example of his “stronghold” isolationist view. Ending the United States’ participation in the Iran Nuclear Agreement left our nation less secure. We need our allies, but his disdain for alliances left us without their benefit. Our allies also offered us coop-

HARRIET HAUSMAN One View

“To the Trumpers: Is a dictatorship really what you desire for the future of our country?”

3117 S Oak Park Ave, Berwyn, IL 60402 (708) 788- 7775

appointed an unprecedented number of Republican federal judges and three Supreme Court justices in hopes of making sure that even under present laws, his nefarious activities and unconstitutional behavior would be judged in his favor.

We are already experiencing the effect of political influence on the Supreme Court in some of their recent decisions. His plan was to divert justice to weaken our democracy. He even took to violence for his purposes on January 6th.

At the present time here in the U.S., there is a great deal of discourse concerning policing and our justice systems. Discussions of this nature would not exist in a dictatorship. We are sometimes guilty of not honoring our own democracy or practicing equality under the law, which is constitutionally mandated. We are criticized that we have two sets of laws, one for whites and the wealthy and the other for non-whites and the poor.

Although we cannot deny this criticism, under our legal system we can and must change this practice. This would not happen in a dictatorship. White supremacists, bullies, and those who seek scapegoats in the miscarriage of justice, thrive in a dictatorship. Under our Constitution, we must approach all we do with truth.

In a dictatorship, truth is a threat to its survival. Trump’s many lies have been tallied and documented. His lies enable him to do much to destroy our democracy.

To the Trumpers: Is a dictatorship really what you desire for the future of our country? I hope not! Let’s wake up our true Republicans and our asleep-at-theswitch Democrats to these frightening threats to our democracy. Let us all fight to save our freedoms. Let us bombard our legislators with emails, phone calls, our presence at town hall meetings, and written letters, making them aware of our urgent concerns.

Let us all pledge an oath to save our democracy. Isn’t it worth our effort?

Robert P. Gamboney

Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory Kevin Kopicki

erative help in addressing environmental problems and the effects of global warming. Trump had no concern for environmental crises. He even tried to institute a revival of the coal industry — one of our country’s former great polluters. Also, the oil companies desired to use our open lands and take over Native American reservations. Trump would have allowed this were it not for our present-day restrictions and staunch protests. Our beautiful natural lands could have been further plundered under his authoritarian regime.

An autocratic government would discount the value of public use and public needs. The general public would not be considered in the decision-making process in a dictatorship. Health services, financial assistance for the poor, feeding the hungry, housing for the homeless, and public education would no longer be offered. I can’t imagine what lies and propaganda Trump would assert if he or others like him, had full control of the press, the media, and public information distribution.

Free and fair elections are a basic tenet of democracy which would be eliminated in a dictatorship. If any voting were to take place, opposition votes would not be accepted. Free speech, a free press, freedom of peaceable assembly, and freedom of religion would no longer exist. Further employed would be Trump’s policy toward policing, which is that brutality is a good means by which to control crime, political unrest, and violence … lawful or otherwise. In effect, he promotes using violence to control violence. What a perversion of justice!

Justice and our courts would be under the control of a dictator. As it is, Trump

Funeral Director Eric Kopicki

I am there for you in your time of need.

All services handled with dignity and personalized care.

Cell: 708.420.5108 • Res: 708.848.5667 An affordable option

Se habla Español

I am affiliated with Peterson-Bassi Chapels at 6938 W. North Ave, as well as other chapels throughout Chicagoland.

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

Growing Community Media

33

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED • NETWORK SPECIALIST Class specifications are intended to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed by employees in the class.

Specifications are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job.

DEFINITION To perform various network/system administration, computer support, and operational activities for the Village including computer system setup, configuration, and testing.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED Reports directly to the Information Technology Services Director.

EXAMPLE OF DUTIES: Essential and other important duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following: Essential duties and responsibilities 1. Ensure that best in class customer service is provided to both internal and external customers and also embrace, support, and promote the Village’s core values, beliefs and culture.

2. Configure, test, and deploy network systems, such as, firewalls, routers, switches, wireless equipment, network servers and storage arrays.

3. Configure, test, and deploy system servers, such as, file, print, Internet, e-mail, database, and application servers.

4. Configure, test, and monitor server and end-user systems for security, such as, user accounts, login scripts, file access privileges, and group policy management.

5. Configure, test, and deploy end-user systems, such as, workstations, laptops, mobile devices, printers, and software.

6. Test, configure, deploy, and support security systems, such as, facility access system, video & audio system.

7. Monitor and auditing of networks, systems, and user activities to ensure security and efficiency of systems. Create scripts and reports of detail activities for regular review.

8. Perform and participate in disaster recovery activities, such as, backup procedures, data recovery, and system recovery planning.

9. Assist end-users with computer problems or queries. Troubleshoot systems as needed and meet with users to analyze specific system needs.

10. Ensure the uniformity, reliability and security of system resources including network, hardware,

software and other forms of systems and data.

11. Prepare, create and update user/technical procedure documentations and provide computer training.

12. Assemble, test, and install network, telecommunication and data equipment and cabling.

13. Participate in research and recommendation of technology solutions.

Other important responsibilities and duties 1. Train users in the area of existing, new or modified computer systems and procedures.

2. Participate in the preparation of various activity reports.

3. Travel and support remote facilities and partner agencies.

4. Operate, administer and manage the Village and Public Safety computer systems, including E-911 center, in-vehicle computer systems.

5. Prepare clear and logical reports and program documentation of procedures, processes, and configurations.

6. Complete projects on a timely and efficient manner.

7. Communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

8. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

9. Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.

QUALIFICATIONS Knowledge of: Principals and procedures of computer systems, such as, data communication, hierarchical structure, backups, testing and critical analysis.

Hardware and software configuration of. computers, servers and mobile devices, including computing environment of Windows Server and Desktop OS and applications, Unix/Linux OS, VMware, iOS/Android.

Network protocols, security, configuration and administration, including firewalls, routers, switches and wireless technology.

Cabling and wiring, including CAT5/6, fiber network, telephone, serial communication, termination, and punch-down.

Telecommunications theory and technology, including VoiP, serial communication, wireless protocols, PBX, analog, fax, voicemail and auto-attendant.

Principles and methods of computer programming, coding and testing, including power shell, command scripting, macros, and

VB scripts.

Modern office procedures, methods and computer equipment.

Technical writing, office productivity tools and database packages.

Ability to: Maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities, which may include the following: - Walking, standing or sitting for extended periods of time - Operating assigned equipment - Lift 50 pounds of equipment, supplies, and materials without assistance - Working in and around computer equipped vehicles Maintain effective audio-visual discrimination and perception needed for: - Making observations - Communicating with others - Reading and writing - Operating assigned equipment and vehicles Maintain mental capacity allowing for effective interaction and communication with others.

Maintain reasonable and predictable attendance.

Work overtime as operations require.

Experience and Training Guidelines Experience: Three years of network/system administration in the public or private sector, maintaining a minimum of 75 Client Workstation computers. AND Training: Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in computer science or a related field. Certifications in Microsoft Server Administration, Networking, Applications and Cisco Networking.

Possession of a valid Illinois Driver License is required at the time of appointment.

Vaccination against COVID-19 strongly preferred.

WORKING CONDITIONS Work in a computer environment; sustained posture in a seated position for prolonged periods of time; continuous exposure to computer screens; work in and around computerized vehicles outdoor and garage facility; lifting heavy equipment, communication cabling and wiring into walls and ceilings.

Director of Religious Activities and Education (Arlington Heights, IL) Plan, dvlp, & direct Islamic education prgms; publicize prgms through bulletins, flyers, mailings, & brochures; consult w/ Kyrgyz American community leaders on aregular basis; analyze revenue & prgm cost data; maintain regular & convenient office hrs for community members seeking counseling & guidance; sched special events, such as camps, conferences, meetings, seminars, or retreats; visit community members’ homes to provide info or resources regarding Islamic education prgms. Bach deg in Islamic Theology, Islamic Studies, or Education + 24 mos of F/T exp in the job or in teaching reqd. Must be fluent in Kyrgyz lang. M-F, 40 hrs/ wk. Send resume (only by mail) to Bekmurat Amirakul, Kyrgyz Community Center, 1114 N Arlington Heights Rd, Arlington Heights, IL 60004.

POLICE RECORDS CLERK The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Police Records Clerk in the Police Department. This position will perform a wide variety of specialized clerical duties in support of the Police Department including processing and maintaining documents, correspondence and coding reports; and to provide information and assistance to the public.

Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

SANITARIAN The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Sanitarian in the Health Department. This position will perform a variety of duties including education and enforcement activities for the promotion and protection of the public health environment.

Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak- park.us/jobs.

Seasonal Farmers’ Market Manager The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Seasonal Farmers’ Market Manager in the Health Department.

This position manages the Oak Park Farmer’s Market including the vendors that sell directly to the public within established guidelines. This is a part-time seasonal position with work from January-mid November and work required on Saturday’s from May through October. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. Open until filled.

A&A ELECTRIC PART-TIME ELECTRICIAN’S HELPER Call for more info.

708-738-3848

Fun, Clean, Picture Frame Assembly JOB Tired or bored of clicking away on a keyboard working at home? Manufacturing Keep your hands and mind busy with a fun, safe, clean assembly job. You’d have your own large assembly zone, at least 15-20 feet away from others, so we’re really safe here. Top rated firm Alpina Manufacturing LLC founded in 1992, Oak Park resident owner. Beautiful campus in Galewood, near Mars candy, 3 blocks north of Oak Park. We build and sell display framing systems to customers nationwide including Wal-Mart, Verizon, Circle K gas stations, Hospitals. Full time, Part time, Flex hours for working parents or students. We train, no travel, work in Galewood. Open to any backgrounds. Excellent pay, friendly caring management. Stop in anytime between 7am and 4pm M-F ask for Izzy to apply and check us out. Alpina Manufacturing 6460 W Cortland St Chicago IL 60707

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

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

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

To complain of discrimination, call

Starting a New Business?

HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.

Wednesday Journal • Landmark • Forest Park Review

Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice in • Austin Weekly News • Wednesday Journal • Forest Park Review • Riverside/Brookfield Landmark

Call the Experts Before You Place Your Legal Ad!

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Call Stacy for details:

773-626-6332

In print • Online • Available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year OakPark.com | AustinWeeklyNews.com | RBLandmark.com | ForestParkReview.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com

34

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

CLASSIFIED

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG RENTALS & REAL ESTATE

MARKETPLACE CARS WANTED

WANTED TO BUY

CLASSICS WANTED CLASSICS Restored or Restored or Unrestored Unrestored Cars & Vintage Motorcycles Cars & Vintage Motorcycles Domestic / Import Import Cars: Cars:

Mercedes, Corvette, Mercedes,Porsche, Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari’s, MuscleCars, Cars, Ferrari’s,Jaguars, Jaguars, Muscle Mustang && Mopars Mopars Mustang Top $$ Etc. $$$$Top $$allallmakes, makes, Etc.

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

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

CEMETARY PLOTS FOUR PLOTS AT FOREST HOME CEMETERY IN FOREST PARK Located in Garden of the Chapel section. Lot 120-B, section 61, spaces 1,2,3,4. Bronze flush type markers only, per the contract. $600.00 or best offer.

DMCK2740@ATT.NET

Collector James Collector James 630-201-8122 630-201-8122

CLASSICS WANTED

Restored or Unrestored Cars & Vintage Motorcycles HOME SERVICES Domestic / Import Cars: HAULING ELECTRICAL Mercedes, Porsche,ELECTRICAL Corvette,

Ferrari’s, Jaguars, Muscle Cars, A&A ELECTRIC Ceiling Mopars Fans Let anMustang American & Veteran do your work

$$ Top $$ all makes, Etc.

Installed

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.

Collector James

630-201-8122

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

FLOORS

HANDYMAN

KLIS FLOORING INC.

CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE

New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured.

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Drywall Repair • Painting Fans Installed • Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning • Window Repair

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FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small

HANDYMAN Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs • Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates

BASEMENT CLEANING

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LANDSCAPING BRUCE LAWN SERVICE Fall Yard Clean-Up Slit Seeding Bush Trimming Fall Leaf Clean-Up Senior Discount Snow Removal

brucelawns.com

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PAINTING & DECORATING CLASSIC PAINTING Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/ Plaster Repair Low Cost 708.749.0011

SUBURBAN RENTALS STUDIOS, 1, 2 & 3 BR Best Selection & Service

OAK PARK & FOREST PARK

708-386-7355

MMpropMgmt.com CICERO 3724 S 53RD CT

A beautiful 2 flat in South Cicero off 35th st. Features include 3 bedrooms, central air, garage parking.

Modern appliances include dishwasher. Utilities separate. $1,700 per month plus security. Lease with option to buy possible.

708-383-8223 or 773-676-6805

OFFICE /RETAIL FOR RENT RIVER FOREST–7777 Lake St. * 1116 sq. ft. * 1400 sq. ft. Dental Office RIVER FOREST–7756 Madison St. * 960 sq. ft.

OAK PARK–6142-44 Roosevelt Rd. * 3 & 5 room office suites FOREST PARK–7736 Madison St. *2500 sq. ft. unit Strand & & Browne Strand Browne 708-488-0011 708-488-0011

ROOMS FOR RENT

Large Sunny Room with fridge, microwave.

Near Green line, bus, Oak Park, 24 hour desk, parking lot. $125.00. New Mgmt.

312-212-1212

PUBLIC NOTICES

McNulty Plastering & Stucco Co.

Small & big work. Free estimates.

Complete Plaster, Stucco & Re-Coating Services

708/386-2951 • ANYTIME Work Guaranteed

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

WOODWORK Terry's

Woodwork Restoration On-site refinishing of wood

and fiberglass since 1977.

Includes doors, woodwork, windows, staircases and new woodwork etc. All work done by hand. NO sanders. Your unfinished project my specialty!

References available.

Contact Terry Seamans at 630-379-7148 or terryseamans@yahoo.com

AUSTIN RENAISSANCE APARTMENTS

A HUD subsidized affordable Apartment property announces the opening of its waiting list for both One and Two Bedroom Apartments! Resident rent is approximately 30% of gross household income, some restrictions apply. Our property is located on Washington Blvd in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.

Apartments offered with an occupancy of one to four persons. Properties feature modern kitchens, include appliances, and offer onsite maintenance. Austin Renaissance will accept requests for application packages by U.S. Mail postmarked no later than , September 15, 2021. Send or email a written request for an application package that includes your name, mailing address. Daytime telephone number, Email address, and the number of persons in your household to: Town Center Realty Group LLC, PO Box 64, Huntley IL 60142-0064 or Email requests to mrpaul.tcrg@gmail.com Application packages available by mail or email delivery only. No walk-ins accepted.

Town Center Realty Group LLC

NOVENAS PRAYER TO ST. JUDE May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved & preserved throughout the world now & forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us. St. Jude worker of miracles, pray for us. St. Jude helper of the hopeless, pray for us. Say this prayer 9 times a day for 9 days. By the 8th day your prayer will be answered. It has never been known to fail .Publication must be promised. Thank you Jesus. Thank You St . Jude. R.R.

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HEARING DATE: January 5, 2022

PLASTERING

CITY RENTALS

TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits CALENDAR NUMBER: 01-22-Z APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on a special use permit application filed by the Applicant, Massage Fix, LLC, to operate a massage service establishment pursuant to Section 8.3 (“Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance at the property located at 101 N. Marion Street, Suite 302, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Number 16-07-125-020-0000, in the DT Downtown 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 hearing 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 main entrance to Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, to be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 5, 2022. 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 sign up to participate in-person 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. Individuals who sign up to participate in-person will receive an email from Village staff with information about how to join the hearing 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, December 15, 2021

773-637-0692 Ask for John

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids at the Public Works Service Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 7th, 2022 for the following: BID 22-105 VILLAGE OF OAK PARK EMERGENCY STREET LIGHTING AND TRAFFIC CONTROL REPAIR RATES REQUEST FOR BIDS Bid forms may be obtained from the Public Works Customer Service Center by calling 708358-5700 or by stopping by the office located at 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Information is also available from the Streets & Street lighting Superintendent, Scott Brinkman, sbrinkman@oak-park. us or on the Village’s website http://www.oak-park.us/yourgovernment/finance-department.

The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue proposal documents and specifications only to those vendors deemed qualified. No proposal documents will be issued after 4:00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of proposal opening. For more information call the Public Works Service Center at 708.358.5700.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Published in Wednesday Journal December 15, 2021

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY. Request of BABY GRAULAU 2021CONC001674.

Reach the people making the decisions.

There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: BABY GRAULAU to the new name of: RICARDO LONGORIA

Place an ad in GCM Classified!

Call 773/626-6332

The court date will be held: On February 2, 2022 at 10:30am at via Zoom: Meeting ID: 923 0250 9713 Password: 709022 Cook County in Courtroom # Cal. 6/ 1707 Published in Wednesday Journal December 8, 15, 22, 2021

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

CLASSIFIED PUBLIC NOTICES

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division.

In re the marriage of Chela de Jesus Piedra Gonzalez, Petitioner and Nelson Alejandro Armijos Gonzaga, Respondent, Case No. 2021D010060.

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 December 29, 2021, 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 December 1, 8, 15 2021

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids at the Public Works Service Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 7th, 2022 for the following: BID 22-106 VILLAGE OF OAK PARK STREET LIGHTING AND TRAFFIC CONTROL MATERIALS PRICING REQUEST FOR BIDS Bid forms may be obtained from the Public Works Customer Service Center by calling 708358-5700 or by stopping by the office located at 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Information is also available from the Streets & Street lighting Superintendent, Scott Brinkman, sbrinkman@oak-park. us or on the Village’s website http://www.oak-park.us/yourgovernment/finance-department.

The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue proposal documents and specifications only to those vendors deemed qualified. No proposal documents will be issued after 4:00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of proposal opening. For more information call the Public Works Service Center at 708.358.5700.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Published in Wednesday Journal December 15, 2021

35

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS HEARING DATE: January 5, 2022 TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the Agenda permits CALENDAR NUMBER: 04-22-Z APPLICATION: The Zoning Board of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct a public hearing on a special use permit application filed by the Applicant, Khamkoon, LLC, to operate a massage service establishment pursuant to Section 8.3 (“Table 8-1: Use Matrix) of the Oak Park Zoning Ordinance at the property located at 1105 Holley Court, Oak Park, Illinois, Property Index Number 16-07-119-0250000, in the DT Downtown 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 hearing 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 main entrance to Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, to be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 5, 2022. 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 sign up to participate in-person 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. Individuals who sign up to participate in-person will receive an email from Village staff with information about how to join the hearing 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, December 15, 2021

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING VILLAGE OF OAK PARK ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings HEARING DATE: January 5, 2022 Act. The Village President has TIME: 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter determined that an in-person public as the Agenda permits hearing is not practical or prudent due to the COVID-19 outbreak CALENDAR NUMBER: 02-22-Z during Governor JB Pritzker’s APPLICATION: The Zoning Board current disaster proclamation. It is of Appeals (“Board”) will conduct also not feasible to have a person a public hearing on a variance present at the public hearing due to application filed by the Applicant, public safety concerns related to the Stephanie Yunez, who seeks a COVID-19 outbreak. variance from Section 9.3 (L) (1) All interested persons will be given (a) of the Zoning Ordinance of the an opportunity to be heard at the Village of Oak Park, which requires public hearing. Interested persons that fences located within 35 feet of may provide written evidence, a front lot line or closer to the front testimony and public comment on lot line than the existing building, the application by email to Zoning@ whichever is less, must be open oak-park.us or by drop off in the fences and cannot exceed five feet in Oak Park Payment Drop Box across height, to maintain the existing fence from the entrance to Village Hall, that is six (6) foot tall and does not 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, meet the open fence requirement at Illinois, to be received no later than the property commonly known as 5:00 p.m. on January 5, 2022. An 1007 N. Harlem Avenue, # A, Illinois, individual’s name and their testimony Property Index Number 16-06-307or comment will be read aloud into 041-0000 (“Subject Property”) in the the record at the public hearing if R-6 Multiple-family Zoning District. received no later than 30 minutes A copy of the application and prior to the start of the public hearing. applicable documents are on file Interested persons may also sign up and are available for inspection at to participate in-person in the hearing Village Hall, Development Customer to cross examine the applicant and Services Department, 123 Madison its witnesses, present evidence, Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, testimony or public comment by Monday through Friday between 8:30 emailing Zoning @oak-park.us a.m. and 5:00 p.m. before 5:00 PM on the day prior to the public hearing. Individuals who The Board will conduct the public sign up to participate in-person will hearing remotely with live audio receive an email from Village staff available and optional video. The with information about how to join hearing will be streamed live and the hearing online through Zoom archived online for on-demand web-conference means or by phone. viewing at www.oak-park.us/ commissiontv as well as cablecast The public hearing may be adjourned on VOP-TV, which is available to by the Board to another date Comcast subscribers on channel without further notice by public 6 and ATT U-Verse subscribers announcement at the hearing setting on channel 99. The remote public forth the time and place thereof. hearing is authorized pursuant to Published in Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive bids (labor rates only) from qualified electrical contractors to perform planned and emergency electrical work at Village owned buildings during the calendar year 2022. Bids will be accepted at the Public Works Service Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, until 10:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, December 29th, 2021.

Village of Oak Park 2022 Electrician Services Bid Number: 21-110BM Issuance Date: 12/15/2021 Bid forms may be obtained from the Public Works Customer Service Center by calling 708358-5710 or by e-mailing vics@ oak-park.us between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. M-F. The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue proposal documents and specifications only to those vendors deemed qualified.

No proposal documents will be issued after 4:00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of proposal opening.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Published in Wednesday Journal December 15, 2021

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive bids (labor rates only) from qualified plumbing contractors to perform planned and emergency plumbing work at Village owned buildings during the calendar year 2022. Bids will be accepted at the Public Works Service Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, until 10:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, December 29th, 2021.

Village of Oak Park 2022 Emergency Plumbing Services Bid Number: 21-108BM Issuance Date: 12/15/2021 Bid forms may be obtained from the Public Works Customer Service Center by calling 708358-5710 or by e-mailing vics@ oak-park.us between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. M-F. The Village of Oak Park reserves the right to issue proposal documents and specifications only to those vendors deemed qualified.

No proposal documents will be issued after 4:00 p.m. on the working day preceding the date of proposal opening.

THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK Published in Wednesday Journal December 15, 2021

PUBLIC NOTICES NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed separate bids will be received by the Board of Education, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 (the “Board”) for the following project: OAK PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 97 SD97 - SUMMER 2022 LIFE SAFETY WORK IRVING, HATCH, WHITTIER OAK PARK, IL 60302 BID GROUP 1 – Early Mechanical Equipment Release Bids will be received until 2:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2021 at the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Administrative offices, 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302, and will be publicly opened and read at 2:30 p.m.

CST on that date. Bids shall be submitted in an opaque sealed envelope clearly marked: Oak Park Elementary School District 97 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302 Attention: Bulley & Andrews Project: SD97 - SUMMER 2022 LIFE SAFETY WORK Scope of work for Bid Group 1 generally includes, furnish mechanical equipment.

All bids must be submitted in accordance with the bidding instructions contained in the Bidding Documents for the project. Bid security in the form of a bid bond in an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the base bid amount shall be submitted with the bid. Should a bid bond be submitted, the bond shall be payable to the Board of Education, Oak Park Elementary School District 97, 260 Madison Street, Oak Park, IL 60302. All documents and information required by the bidding instructions contained in the Bidding Documents for the project shall be submitted with the bid. Incomplete, late or non-conforming bids may not be accepted.

No bids shall be withdrawn, cancelled or modified after the time for opening of bids without the Board’s consent for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled time of bid opening.

The Bidding Documents for the project (which include the bidding instructions for the project and other related documents) will be available Wednesday December 15th, 2021 and are available for viewing/download online without cost or purchase on the Bulley & Andrews, LLC One Drive, located at the following link. No username or password is required. https://tinyurl.com/fuy5eare The Board reserves the right to reject any or all bids or parts thereof, or waive any irregularities or informalities, and to make an award that in the Board’s sole opinion is in the best interest of the District.

The site will be available for visits by appointment to be coordinated with Bulley & Andrews, LLC. Interested parties may inspect the existing conditions. Schedule an appointment with Alex Mantel of Bulley & Andrews in advance if you wish to visit the sites.

All bidders must comply with applicable Illinois Law requiring the payment of prevailing wages by all Contractors working on public works. If during the time period of work, the prevailing wage rates change, the contractor shall be responsible for additional costs without any change to the contract amount.

All bidders must comply with the Illinois Statutory requirements regarding labor, including Equal Employment Opportunity Laws.

For additional information on the project, contact Alex Mantel of Bulley & Andrews, LLC at amantel@bulley.com or 219-6788383.

Dated: 12/13/21 Alex Mantel Bulley & Andrews, LLC Published in Wednesday Journal December 15, 2021

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC D/B/A MR. COOPER Plaintiff, vs.

ELENA F. MARROQUIN A/K/A ELENA FIGUEROA INDIVIDUALLY AND AS GUARDIAN FOR CHRISTIAN MARROQUIN AND NICHOLAS MARROQUIN, JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., MARIELENA SANTANA INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ESTATE OF RICCARDO A. MARROQUIN A/K/A RICCARDO MARROQUIN, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants, 17 CH 954 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-07-420-011.

Commonly known as 425 S. EAST AVE., OAK PARK, IL 60302.

The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection.

For information call Mr. Ira T. Nevel at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Law Offices of Ira T. Nevel, 175 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606. (312) 357-1125. 17-00157 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3181888

paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale.

The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.

Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale.

The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required

by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, The sales clerk, LOGS Legal Group LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301, Bannockburn, IL, 60015 (847) 291-1717 For information call between the hours of 1pm - 3pm..

Please refer to file number 19092500.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

LOGS Legal Group LLP 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301 Bannockburn IL, 60015 847-291-1717 E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com Attorney File No. 19-092500 Attorney Code. 42168 Case Number: 19 CH 14891 TJSC#: 41-2041 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 19 CH 14891 I3182691

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR MERRILL LYNCH MORTGAGE INVESTORS, INC., MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, MANA SERIES 2007-OAR4 Plaintiff, -v.ELLEN C. SCHNACK, RANDALL C. SCHNACK Defendants 19 CH 14891 626 NORTH TAYLOR AVENUE OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 4, 2021, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 5, 2022, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 030R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 626 NORTH TAYLOR AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-05-319-0080000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

The judgment amount was $417,344.71.

Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount

36

Wednesday Journal, December 15, 2021

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Property transfers p. B11

Homes December 15, 2021

To paint or not to paint?

ALEX ROGALS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A house on Linden Avenue in Oak Park had contrasting bands of brick and stucco on the first and second floors (below), but now has a uniform dark palette following a new paint job (above).

Local brick homes not immune to paint trends

By LACEY SIKORA

A

Contributing Reporter

ccording to home décor websites such as Houzz and Better Homes and Gardens, hot colors for home exteriors include black, charcoal gray and white. A click of the remote control to any popular home design programming will show you that painting an older brick home white or black is an instant upgrade to a more modern look.

While the trend may seem more suitable to contemporary homes rather than our historic housing stock, a slow drive around Oak Park and River Forest reveals that painting brick is catching on here, even on houses in

historic districts.

Architect and former chair of Oak Park’s Historic Preservation Commission Christopher Payne says of painting brick, “There are so many issues here. Preservation, aesthetics, technical issues.”

He says that the village Historic Preservation Commission has not adopted exterior paint color standards.

“Secretary of the Interior Standards call for not painting brick and for using historically appropriate colors, but we didn’t adopt that part of the standards, so Oak Park does not regulate painting or paint color,” Payne said. “The sad part of this is that so much See PAINT on page B4

COURTESY © VHT STUDIOS

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B1

CELEBRATe THE season with gratitude!

Defining the art of selling real estate.

Open House Sun 1-3pm

Open House Sun 1-3pm

UNDER CONTRACT

Defining the art of selling real estate.

Oak Park

Oak Park Ave., Oak Park 306 Keystone Ave., River 1487 Clybourn, Chicago 111 Home Forest Ave., River Forest 222 Gale Ave., River Forest 230 S. Euclid Ave., Oak 1224 Park N.339 Forest Ave, Oak Park

3 BR 2.1 BA .............................................................$649,000

6 Elizabeth Ct., Oak Park

222 Gale Ave., River Forest

SOLD!

Oak Park

3 BR 2.2 BA ............................................................$599,000

230 S. Euclid Ave., Oak Park

3 BR 3.1 BA ............................................................. $539,000

339 Forest Ave., River Forest

SOLD!

306 Keystone Ave., River Forest

SOLD!

435 William, 709, River Forest Ave., Oak 622 N550 Lombard Ave., Forest Oak Park 427 N Grove Ave., Oak550 ParkForest 435 William, 709,Park River Forest Forest Ave., OakOak ParkPark 622 N 719 Lombard Ave.,Ave., Oak Park 719 Forest Ave., Oak Park

1005 N Kenilworth Ave., Oak Park 1005 South Blvd., 402, Oak Park 1019 N Elmwood Ave., Oak Park 1103 Keystone Ave., River Forest

5 N Kenilworth Ave., Oak23 ParkGale, 1005River South Blvd., 402, Oak Park 1019 N Elmwood Oak Park 1103 Keystone 936 Ave., Chicago Ave., Oak Park Ave., River Forest Forest

647 Linden Ave., Oak Park

BUYING OR SELLING? 1011 South Boulevard | Oak Park, IL 60302 1011 South Boulevard | Oak Park, IL 60302 PUT THE POWER OF THE GPS office TEAM 708.366.0400 office 708.366.0400 GPS@atproperties TO WORK FOR YOU. GPS@atproperties 1011 South Boulevard | Oak Park, IL 60302 1011 South Boulevard | Oak Park, IL 60302 office 708.366.0400 GPS@atproperties

office 708.366.0400 GPS@atproperties

Chris Curran, Broker Greer Haseman, Broker Greer Haseman 708-366-0400 cell 708-606-8896 cell | 708-366-0200 office1011 South Boulevard | Oak Park, IL 60302 | Office 708.366.0400 | greer@atproperties.com ChrisCurran@atproperties.com greer@atproperties.com

Greer Haseman

atproperties.com

B2 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate December 15, 2021 1011 South Boulevard | ■Oak Park, IL 60302 | Office 708.366.0400 | greer@atproperties.com

CELEBRATe THE season with gratitude!

SOLD!

605 Iowa St. Oak Park

SOLD!

1346 Jackson Ave., River Forest

SOLD!

SOLD!

245 N. Kenilworth Ave, Oak Park

1101 N. Kenilworth Ave., Oak Park

SOLD!

SOLD!

929 Columbian Ave., Oak Park

729 S. Lombard, Oak Park

SOLD!

202 S. Harvey Ave, Oak Park

SOLD!

925 Columbian, Oak Park

SOLD!

Picture YOUR House Here! atproperties.com December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B3

HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR

PAINT

Big trend from page B1 of Arts & Crafts and Prairie School architecture is defined by color. Not following the guidelines results in homes that don’t preserve this significant design feature. In the worst case, it could be damaging to the brick as it could potentially trap moisture in the structure.”

From his work with clients, Payne says he has seen a push to paint brick or stucco, and he is generally against painting brick, especially on historic homes.

“Personally, I don’t like it from an aesthetic perspective because brick is a through-material,” Payne said. “It has an intrinsic color. Like stone or copper, it shouldn’t be painted.”

Preservationists, Payne says, often propose easily reversible modifications to older homes.

“The installation of a solar panel or handrail or even a small addition can be done without affecting the original structure,” he said. “These items can then be easily removed in the future. Painting brick or stone is not an easily reversible intervention, because it takes great effort to remove paint from a porous surface. So, you are stuck with it and its maintenance for many, many years.”

Practical considerations Ron Feeley, who owns Ronbo’s Fine Painting, says painted brick has become a big trend for a younger wave of home buyers.

“It’s an Instagram thing. It’s a Pinterest thing,” he said. “The younger generation doesn’t like brick.”

He says that although he’s painted six brick homes in the past few years, it’s not something he recommends.

“Once you paint it, you have to do it again in a few years,” Feeley said. “Regular brick is forever.”

139 S GROVE, OAK PARK :: $1,179,000 :: 6 BED :: 4.5 BATH Majestic Victorian in central Oak Park Historic District.

KATHY & TONY IWERSEN 708.772.8040 708.772.8041 tonyiwersen@atproperties.com

Need a helping of

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

Call Jill at (708) 524-8300 or visit OakPark.com/subscribe COURTESY REDFIN.COM

A home on Jackson Avenue in River Forest got a comprehensive façade update (top) after a recent purchase, complete with a new coat of paint, a new entrance portico and dormer gable.

B4 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

He adds that for more modern homes with what he calls an ugly brick finish, a paint job can make the house look better and more cohesive, but it’s important for clients to know that painting brick creates a maintenance issue in that the paint will need to be redone on a regular basis.

Feeley says there are a few options to change the color of original brick. A popular application right now is to use milk paint. It’s a lighter-colored paint, and once it starts to dry, the painter power washes it, giving the finish and aged, weathered look.

“It adds a little bit of color but you can kind of see the brick beneath it,” Feeley RON FEELEY said. “It won’t peel Painting contractor a lot because it is already washed down.”

Another option is to use a highsolids acrylic latex paint. Feeley says the paint has to have a flat finish so the brick can breathe, and it’s important to use a high-quality acrylic primer so that the paint will adhere. A third option is to use a latex concrete stain.

With all applications, Feeley says, preparation is key. Brick has to be chemically cleaned and pressure washed first.

“The younger generation doesn’t like brick.”

COURTESY © VHT STUDIOS

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

This South Kenilworth Avenue two-flat, once displaying its brown brick exterior (left) now sports a uniform coat of white paint to bricks and trim alike.

“Contamination could create a failure problem down the road,” he said.

When it comes to costs, Feeley says painting brick does not cost that much more than painting wood siding. He notes that brick requires less preparation than the scraping and sanding that wood requires, but because brick is porous, it requires

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more paint.

What does cost more is changing your mind. Feeley says the cost to remove paint from a house is quite a bit more than putting it on. Citing an example of what he calls a standard 2,000-square-foot brick home in northeast Oak Park like the one his mother owned, Feeley says it would

cost roughly $13,000 to paint the brick.

To take the paint off the same house, he estimates would cost $30,000 to $50,000 due to the amount of labor involved. Removing the paint requires chemicals such as methyl chloride.

“I wouldn’t take that job because it’d be a toxic job,” he said.

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December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B5

OAK PARK Beautiful 2-level duplexed condo in the heart of downtown Oak Park!

Loads of sunlight and modern updates.

3 BR, 2.1 BA .................................................................................................................. $298,000 Steve Scheuring • 708-369-8043

House Hunting?

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3 BR, 2.1 BA .................................................................................................................. $378,000 Steve Scheuring • 708-369-8043

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Pristine oak floors, gorgeous custom corner banding and modern conveniences grace this space.

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Steve Scheuring • 708-369-8043

Steve Scheuring • 708-369-8043

Want to see your listings in Distinctive Properties?

Contact Marc Stopeck at 708.613.3330 or marc@oakpark.com B6 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

Excellence

(ek’se lens) noun.

The quality of being exceptional; superior

Now in our Second Century of Service

Tom Carraher redefines the essence of real estate service.

Finding someone who has the exceptional commitment required for professional excellence is rare... ...until you select the real estate professional with a total commitment to excellence in real estate service, Tom Carraher.

OAK PARK Wonderful home with the best primary suite, family room on the first floor, and two fireplaces.

To find a local expert, go to oakparkrealtors.org

Call Tom Carraher at 708-822-0540 to achieve all of your real estate goals.

4 BR, 2.2 BA .................................................................................................................. $635,000 Stephanie Eiger • 708-557-0779

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

Sunday, December 19

ADDRESS

REALTY CO.

LISTING PRICE

TIME

1176 S Harvey Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $240,000 . . . . . . . . . . . Open Sun 1-3

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December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B7

It’s easier here.® oakpark.bairdwarner.com

Hometown.

When it’s more than a home, you need a team with more to offer.

310 N Cuyler Ave Oak Park | $649,900 Patricia McGowan

1133 Elgin Ave Forest Park | $599,000 Roman Lewis

428 S Grove Ave Oak Park | $599,000 Hannah Gillespie

631 Marengo Ave Forest Park | $525,000 Cathy Yanda

830 N Euclid Ave Oak Park | $519,000 Jack Lane

738 Woodbine Ave Oak Park | $479,000 Hannah Gillespie

2536 Clinton Ave Berwyn | $415,000 The Dita Group

101 N Euclid Ave #19 Oak Park | $389,000 Ann Keeney

812 Lathrop Ave Forest Park | $365,000 Swati Saxena

909 Marengo Ave Forest Park | $329,900 Roman Lewis

1618 N Austin Ave Chicago | $325,000 Cathy Yanda

1176 S Harvey Ave Oak Park | $240,000 Amy Harris

1128 N Harlem Ave Unit C River Forest | $235,900 Patricia McGowan

1040 Ontario St #2G Oak Park | $175,000 Catherine Simon-Vobornik

844 Harvard St #3 Oak Park | $170,000 Bobbi Eastman

226 N Oak Park Ave #3N Oak Park | $134,500 Edward Bellock

417 Wisconsin Ave #2W Oak Park | $125,000 Elizabeth O’Connell

1539 Monroe Ave #2 River Forest | $119,000 Swati Saxena

3931 Euclid Ave Stickney | $89,000 James Salazar

7231 Randolph St #1B Forest Park | $61,650 William Geldes

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

B8 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

SWATI SAXENA

ON BEING THE NO. 1 AGENT IN OAK PARK, RIVER FOREST, AND FOREST PARK! We’re proud of our very own Swati Saxena for selling more homes in Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park than any other agent in 2021*!

Loved by her clients, respected by her colleagues, with an impeccable work ethic, it’s no surprise to us that she’s ranked #1.

If you’re considering selling, buying or investing, Swati will be there to help you every step of the way.

Call her today!

847.477.3655 swati.saxena@bairdwarner.com

*MRED data from Jan 1, 2021 - Nov 30, 2021

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B9

Team Go2Girls

Lisa Andreoli

708.557.9546

Sara Faust

Stephanie Eiger

Meredith Conn

708.772.7910

708.557.0779

708.743.6973

sara.faust@cbexchange.com

stephanie.eiger@cbexchange.com

teamgo2girls@gmail.com

Happy Holidays!

John Haagenson

Lisa Grimes

773.230.6995

708.205.9518 lisa.grimes@cbexchange.com

john.haagenson@cbexchange.com

Best wishes

Shea Kiessling

for health,

708.710.5952

togetherness

shea@cbexchange.com

and peace in the new year.

Patty Melgar Hooks

Sue Canepa

708.261.2796 patty.melgarhooks@cbexchange.com

312.203.0848 suecanepahomes@gmail.com

Andrea Bonnie Routen

708.752.6540 sgraves@cbexchange.com

708.524.1100

114 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60301

708.334.5833 michelle.miller@cbexchange.com

Sandi Graves

708.544.8440 andrea.bonnie@cbexchange.com

Michelle Miller

Laurie Shapiro

708.203.3614 laurie.shapiro@cbexchange.com

COLDWELLBANKERHOMES.COM Please Like Coldwell Banker Realty - Oak Park Formerly Gloor Realty On Facebook

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.

B10 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

P R O P E R T Y

Oak Park home sells for $1,510,000

T R A N S F E R S

The following property transfers were reported by the Cook County Clerk from August 2021. Where addresses appear incomplete, for instance where a unit number appears missing, that information was not provided by the clerk.

ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

OAK PARK 215 N Elmwood Ave 725 S Maple Ave 439 S Taylor Ave 631 Garfield St 409 S Elmwood Ave

$1,510,000 $100,000 $105,000 $114,000 $135,000

420 Home Ave 727 Erie St 853 Pleasant St 419 S East Ave 1130 Ontario St 915 S Lombard Ave 840 S. Oak Park 228 N Oak Park Ave

$130,000 $150,000 $155,000 $158,500 $160,000 $163,000 $164,000 $165,000

1136 Ontario St 1144 Washington Blvd 1185 S Humphrey Ave 201 S Maple Ave 433 S East Ave 1048 S Euclid Ave 1021 Washington Blvd 938 North Blvd 809 Washington Blvd 1021 Washington Blvd 1166 S Cuyler Ave 222 N Marion St 818 Erie Ct 1040 Erie St 1123 Pleasant St 1184 S Highland Ave 224 S Oak Park Ave 631 Harvard St 429 Wisconsin Ave 429 Wisconsin Ave 200 Home Ave 421 S Kenilworth Ave 1040 Erie St 304 N Oak Park Ave 831 N Lombard Ave 312 S Maple Ave 918 S Taylor Ave 1135 Schneider Ave 332 N Taylor Ave 711 Washington Blvd 1020 Randolph St 821 N Harlem Ave 1011 S Elmwood Ave

$168,500 $170,000 $177,000 $177,500 $180,000 $180,000 $187,000 $187,500 $187,500 $195,000 $210,000 $210,000 $214,000 $225,000 $229,000 $230,000 $230,000 $230,000 $236,500 $242,000 $244,000 $250,000 $250,000 $256,000 $258,000 $265,000 $275,000 $280,000 $285,000 $287,500 $295,000 $314,500 $325,000

Gupta Samir K Anderson Dain Resse Karl A Childs Bette B Tr Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr 8002372863 De Bluiff Daniel E Allen Nicole Y Haddad Jessie Carpenter Joshua Tomlinson Adriane J Fifth Third Bk Na Wismer Mark R Jkm Prop Inv And Mgmt Llc Series Marion Mason Alexander Oyih Hemi Dykes Petroux Hoang Huong Nga Ly Mcdaniel Antoinette Scully Pamela A Tr Xu Lin Wahlheim Ryan Brady Herrera Annabell Bonomo-Hardy Raiza Rafael Grandview Cap Llc Kopala Michael A Gentry David T Jones Marcile Bell Jennifer S Dykes Petroux Mcguire Meghan Goggin Michael M Shaffer-Myers Andrew Charles Boswell Theodore J Noh Ock-Ju Murphy Donna M Peterson Bertha J Tr Bleasdale Julie A Komai Kwaben Orourke Patrick Chapman Ron Wierbza Janice Trilling Lilia R Tr Foster Todd D Fannie Mae Larocca Suzanne G Holdings Tamabi

Goldhaber Sally W Air Investments Llc - Series 727 Maple 106 Mcmahon Jason Sheppard Ellen Mendez Omar Nguyen Tuyet Vi Soto Evaristo Kolar Wendy Kumar Rajeev Didier David S Oak Pk Real Cap Llc Reynolds Whitney Brose Parker Spaeth Steven M Ruiz Dak P Cobb Lataunda Crader Edward Gene Distefano Diana Est Blue Collar Artistry Llc Jantsch Peter A Molina Arie Nichols Anne M Tandon Ankita 1st Midwest Fin Inc Kadhem Zaynab Hamayotsu Kikue Doyle Susan M Brozek Anna Valle-Teutla Conrado Okraku Gustav H Larche Chicago Hasapis Anthony Edmunds Melanie S Potter Mallory Reed Alexandra Ln Jenkins Lewis Logins Arija Sanchez-Cortez Celene Jones Joseph Roler Katharine A Coleman Sylvia S Love Real Estate Solutions Llc Hawking Carol Jean Powell Cody Thomas Mario L Mcdougal Devin Joe

215 N. Elmwood Ave., Oak Park

ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

138 Francisco Ter 1026 S Taylor Ave 705 S Euclid Ave 933 Wisconsin Ave 328 N Cuyler Ave 116 S East Ave 114 Wright Ln 810 S Ridgeland Ave 1128 S Scoville Ave 906 S Austin Blvd 137 S Taylor Ave 817 S Taylor Ave 1115 N Oak Park Ave 1169 S Cuyler Ave 1100 S Harvey Ave 1025 Home Ave 224 S Lombard Ave 308 N Taylor Ave 128 N Lombard Ave 633 N Lombard Ave 510 S Humphrey Ave 948 N Lombard Ave 322 S Austin Blvd 1108 S Maple Ave 940 Gunderson Ave 325 N Grove Ave 1040 N Oak Park Ave 933 S Euclid Ave 1029 N Harlem Ave 810 S Maple Ave 206 N Marion St 330 N Humphrey Ave 904 N East Ave 1111 Thomas St 814 Gunderson Ave 646 N Lombard Ave 6249 North Ave 933 Ontario St 1212 Edmer Ave

$330,000 $335,500 $336,000 $340,000 $353,000 $360,000 $364,000 $384,000 $390,000 $399,000 $417,500 $425,000 $435,000 $440,000 $457,000 $458,000 $459,000 $465,000 $467,000 $468,000 $478,000 $480,000 $490,000 $490,000 $490,000 $496,500 $499,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,500 $505,000 $509,500 $510,000 $525,000 $530,000 $533,000 $535,000 $545,000 $549,000

Mills Sean G Hill Douglas A Eisenmann-Cabral Katherine Guerino Tasha Cogan Donald H Tr Smith Christopher S Roode Carl J Jr Harper Gregory Smith Andrew Lutz Jackson Willie Mae Gautier Olive I Tr Macey Sarah Ann Tr Arcpe 1 Llc Torres Amy L Floyd Patrick Quick Julie M Green Daniel Tr Kozlowski Marek Harper Monica Lenhoff Neal Tr Rios Paola Drohosky Mark D Michaud Christorher Murphy Sean J Martinez Cesar Nutt Robert Davidoff Noam Katz Douglas Thompson Mathew Rivera-Pierola Peter M Joseph Shawn Warczak Kyle Rossi Marvin Ellis Kittima N Schulz Nathan Porter Eugenides Alexander Cs & As Llc Morris Lawrence P Greene Suzanne S

Collins Bethany J Shepard Hannah Mather Southern Prop Llc Zenie Katelyn C Wardlow Damon A Socha Marie Obszanski Jennifer Welch Tyler John Igielski Pierce Leslie Fabicon Louis P Gibson Grant T Wittekind Van Castillo Shanna Joa Yuleidy Brusa Niccole Loesel Jessica Green Andrea Tr Deeb Rebecca Ann Law Lance Valdez Leonel Donaldson Katie Jordan Melissa Rivers Martin Major Pickens Jessica Egan Toussaint Buhrmester Jason S Datta Dipak Roche Kevin F Pacheco Jocely Gary Linette Velasco Edmund P Morparia Tarla Zdravkovic Aleksandar Villagrana Omare Carney Elizabeth C Ploeg Christopher J Eky Inv Grp Llc Williams Emma L Kochendorfer Brett

See PROPERTY TRANSFERS on page B12

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B11

P R O P E R T Y

T R A N S F E R S

Continued from page B11

ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

ADDRESS

PRICE

$550,000 $565,000 $565,000 $570,000 $589,000 $590,000 $595,000 $610,000 $615,000 $627,000 $630,000 $635,000 $645,000 $645,000 $648,000 $650,000 $650,000 $655,000 $660,000 $660,000 $660,500 $663,000 $669,000 $670,000 $675,000 $70,000 $700,000 $706,000 $713,000 $715,000 $725,000 $755,000 $759,000 $765,000 $798,000 $815,000 $843,000 $849,000 $855,000 $875,000 $89,500 $911,000 $955,000

Harrison St Venture Llc Christian Elizabeth N Ellis Eric Hori Justin Pacynski Jason Underwood Denis Jacobs Theodore R Cash Stephen A Harris Phyllis V Patrick Victoria Klaubo Brandt Gary A Mcginnis Wesley R Cappel Jacob H Paradis Zachary Tr Gerbie Jody Lynn Cavanagh S Mark Gately Jonathan R Osorio Thomas J Wojtowicz Richard Tr Christie Jill Weinberg Jeremy Fuller Rhandahl A Gooch Crystal Wachter Brendon D Lewis Terrence M Peak Five Prop Llc Burton Blakely Obannon Tr Diskin James Pearah David Demyanyk Yuliya S Guen-Murray Theresa Carter Steven S Tr Gorham Jon Michael Mahoney Joshua W Goldman Stewart Johnston Pamela M Tr Medo Patricia Joiner Clark Rose Seasonne St Laurent Sandra Tr Farrell Peggy Ann Wilhite Brian C Conmy Christopher M Tr

Mosaic Real Estate Oak Pk Llc Mcmahon Colin Kirschner Alexandra Lotter Justin Illa Widilia S Perez Angel Kafka Carol A Tr Hart Alyssa J Mueller-Cochrane Joan Brima Junisa W Burden Jonathan R Fridberg Daniel Joseph Leahy Kevin Zihni Abdallah M Barky Kevin Rozkuszka David Elliott Donnelly Kaitlin Harbarger David Vuong Michaelia Fosses Robert Yann Nesbit Eric Gnilka John T Gentile Bryan J Tr Qiu Wei Porterfield Alan Phan Thi Truc My Manno David Mongiat Joseph James Tr Myhand Kristen N Crittle Tirman Michael Guitar Shane Culp Brian J Peckat Walter Iii Hagy Lindsay M Newsom Kedra N Jackola Glenn D Jr Brigida Peter Girdhar Anuj Molden Jeff Russo Patrick Pittman Mary Westapher Elisa Molitch-Hou Ethan

RIVER FOREST 806 Clinton Pl 1518 William St 620 Forest Ave 1106 Ashland Ave 1210 William St 947 Clinton Pl 1403 Lathrop Ave 7209 Division St 7318 Lake St 1100 N Harlem Ave 8043 Lake St

$1,050,000 $1,099,000 $1,100,000 $1,100,000 $1,150,000 $1,175,000 $1,350,000 $112,500 $129,000 $148,000 $155,000

Toppen Trevor A Tr Chicago Title Land Trust Co Simon Dave Bollenbacher Brian Cagnina James P Jr Lucci James Neubecker Lee Michael Calloway Yvonne Telichowska Monika Ceja Arturo Horvath Daniel J Tr Jr

BUYER

RIVER FOREST

OAK PARK 213 Harrison St 805 N Lombard Ave 1005 N Marion St 918 Belleforte Ave 527 N Ridgeland Ave 716 Columbian Ave 1196 S Kenilworth Ave 718 N Lombard Ave 1115 N Grove Ave 716 Clinton Ave 309 S Taylor Ave 815 N Taylor Ave 819 Forest Ave 1006 Gunderson Ave 645 N Lombard Ave 945 Wisconsin Ave 316 S Ridgeland Ave 534 Belleforte Ave 830 N Cuyler Ave 1118 N Grove Ave 929 Columbian Ave 1027 N Marion St 639 N Elmwood Ave 745 Woodbine Ave 726 S Kenilworth Ave 1309 N Harlem Ave 435 N Taylor Ave 1009 N Elmwood Ave 1219 Columbian Ave 916 Hayes Ave 800 Belleforte Ave 425 N Scoville Ave 311 N Harvey Ave 701 S Euclid Ave 923 N Marion St 323 S Grove Ave 138 S Grove Ave 133 S Grove Ave 1018 N Kenilworth Ave 1017 N Euclid Ave 415 S Maple Ave 611 N Elmwood Ave 326 Home Ave

SELLER

Reilly Jake P Harangody Tyler St Laurent Sandra Tr Transmontane Holdings Llc Moore Nathaniel Bhaumik Dulal K Powell Anthony Reposh Gregory Buford Stanley G Mcdonald Marco D Pipes Vita

B12 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

7320 Lake St 12 Franklin Ave 1419 Bonnie Brae Pl 424 Park Ave 410 Ashland Ave 218 Lathrop Ave 719 Park Ave 600 Clinton Pl 7206 Oak Ave 311 Gale Ave 1435 Park Ave 526 Ashland Ave 329 Park Ave 7416 Iowa St 1515 Franklin Ave 7206 Oak Ave 823 Franklin Ave 220 Franklin Ave 806 Jackson Ave 1443 Bonnie Brae Pl

$193,000 $220,000 $237,500 $242,500 $275,000 $385,000 $475,000 $590,000 $60,000 $660,000 $660,000 $700,000 $727,000 $730,000 $750,000 $77,500 $800,000 $835,000 $865,000 $975,000

Ayala Doris N Sincox Allan R Korcok Thomas J Lyons Lauretta Tarzynski Marguerite Casey Jennifer E Jacobs Alexander M Tr Roberts Craig Acosta William Walsh Harry C Weldon-Fegan Maureen Tr Barisik Vladimir 329 Pk Llc Simcox Richard Okrzesik Jason Novak Paul J Wells Kirstin E Levy Douglas M Tr Stoker Michael A Hall John G

Gonzalez Marcos Harvey Jeffrey Wang Lu Joanna Barisik Elizabeth Capp Vera Bennett Tyler Nickels Matthew D Schutt Ryan John Acosta Ricardo Stephany Michael J Jr Hlinak Matthew Castro Martin Raymond Moran Daniel F Keto Brian Metkari Shivangi O Blaisdell Samuel G Sweeney Birgit M Tr Alexander Kendall Castillo Joe Kim Kevin B

FOREST PARK 824 Beloit Ave 320 Circle Ave 7210 Jackson Blvd 205 Circle Ave 314 Lathrop Ave 7320 Dixon St 251 Marengo Ave 1104 Troost Ave 1038 Lathrop Ave 1007 Beloit Ave 140 Marengo Ave 1420 Marengo Ave 1118 Des Plaines Ave 438 Elgin Ave 7708 Harvard St 211 Elgin Ave 1109 Ferdinand Ave 47210 W Franklin St 7531 Brown Ave 7541 Brown Ave 1133 Ferdinand Ave 943 Lathrop Ave 844 Elgin Ave 222 Lathrop Ave 149 Elgin Ave 612 Beloit Ave 1009 Lathrop Ave 1122 Circle Ave 1118 Troost Ave 301 Elgin Ave 850 Des Plaines Ave 217 Des Plaines Ave 320 Circle Ave 7637 Jackson Blvd

$105,000 $115,000 $125,000 $130,000 $157,000 $160,000 $163,500 $185,000 $189,000 $200,000 $200,000 $205,000 $240,000 $250,000 $252,000 $265,000 $290,000 $294,500 $332,500 $339,000 $355,000 $358,500 $370,000 $389,500 $417,000 $422,000 $537,500 $541,000 $563,000 $600,000 $69,000 $712,000 $77,000 $95,000

Shepherd Sales Inc Rodriguez Juan C Pinyo-Nowlan Valaiporn Rolando Ross Coleman Frances M Roberson Darrell Anthony Schofield Tyler K Norman James E Parker Veronica Leigh Howes Michael Galbraith Dolores F Tr Furman Carole Washington David Petrey Shawn T Tr Dhawan Cecelia N Fletcher Brian Sherwin Christopher Smith-Allen Gwendolyn F Ames Eileen Monico Michael Cooper Barry Patricelli Diana Lathrop Holdings Llc Series D Weslow Ronald Dean Tr Carney Roy William John Daniels Zachary Austin Remdl Llc Mckerns Evan Grandberry Darius Scimeca Nicholas V State Bk Of Texas Ispas Luminita M Perinat Radinka Pabley Ashton Singh Est

Warrior Const Inc Doherty Agustina Reyes Justin Elpayaa Sarah Plaines Aretha Lorraine Meyer Susan A Jacobsen Steven B Cibrook Ltd Flores Rosa Maria Sobotka Danielle Butler Louis Cibrook Ltd Jones Jennifer Ann Galvan Rebecca L Pandey Shikhar Alanis Karen M Allen Boyce Schmitz John David Williams Arthur A Thompson Trevor Edward Baptiste Greg Eustaquio Jorge Albarto Garcia Imbordino Alyssa Thompson James Reisner John Nicholson Laura Bentz Daniel Villanueva Adrian Barnes Penelope Syed Burhan Mustafa Flipping Chicagoland Inc Marifov Ziiabiddin Chavez Jesus Snyder Matthew Steward

189 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 (708) 386-1400

HomesInTheVillage.com

Featured Listings for This Week

Erika Villegas,

Oak Park $895,000 4BR, 2.1BA Patti x124

Chicago $329,900 3BR, 2BA Erika X180

Cicero $245,000 Multi unit Maria x117

Oak Park $450,000 4BR, 1.2 BA Erika x180

Berwyn $289,900 4BR, 2BA Maria x117

Chicago $220,000 3BR, 2BA Erika x180

Countryside $387,000 3BR, 3BA Maria x117

Forest Park $265,000 4BR, 1BA Patti x124

Chicago $150,000 1BR, 1BA Laurie x186

Chicago $370,000 3BR, 1.1BA Erika x180

Berwyn $254,900 3BR, 1BA Erika x180

Chicago $145,000 2BR, 1BA Erika x180

Happy Holidays!

Managing Broker/Owner

Mike Becker

Laurie Christofano

Marion Digre

Morgan Digre

Leticia Cruz

Jane McClelland

Elissa Palermo

Kyra Pych

Maria Rodriguez

Linda Rooney

Kris Sagan

Patti Sprafka-Wagner

Harry Walsh

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B13

OA K PAR K-R I V ER F OR E ST

Community Foundation We envision a racially just and equitable society as the full inclusion of all people into a society in which everyone can participate, thrive and prosper.

In an equitable society, everyone, regardless of the circumstance of birth or upbringing, is treated justly and fairly by its institutions and systems.

We ask for your support to make this vision a reality.

Visit oprfcf.org to learn more.

B14 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021

The Joyful Giving Catalog

Everything you need for a better world: • More Art

• More Food

• More Compassion

• More Health

• More Education

• More Housing

• More Equity

• More Peace

Browse, read, share with your children. Give Locally – Give Joyfully!

Animal Care League Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need. Rooted in the community since 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities.

With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery.

Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting animalcareleague.org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.

Austin Coming Together Austin Coming Together (ACT)’s mission is to facilitate the collective impact of 50+ members and hundreds of partners to improve the quality of life in Chicago’s Austin community. Since 2010, we’ve been connecting residents to services, attracting investments for the community, and building capacity for policy change. Recently, the pandemic made long-standing challenges even worse. But we mobilized resources to address growing needs, from food, laptop, or PPE distributions and vaccine access, to advocacy for racial equity.

Learn how Austin is leading efforts to move forward together, and how you can support, at AustinComingTogether.org/AustinCares.

Beyond Hunger Over the course of the pandemic, meeting the emergency food needs of our community hasn’t been simple. We now serve people safely with a drive thru food pantry, a scaled-down socially distant food pantry inside First United Church, an off-site pop-up “Despensa” serving vulnerable immigrant families, and a vastly expanded Home Delivery program for older adults and people with disabilities. For over 40 years Beyond Hunger has been creating solutions to end hunger at every stage of life - we know it takes all of us. With your support we can make sure no one goes hungry this winter. Every $1 donated can feed a neighbor for an entire day.

To donate, visit GoBeyondHunger.org or send checks payable to Beyond Hunger, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood

D97 PTO Council

The Collaboration for Early Childhood embraces the vision that all children should arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, and ready to learn.

In 2022, we will turn twenty, and we invite you to help us celebrate this two-decade-long community effort to ensure that every child thrives. This year, we safely administered over 700 hearing and vision screenings to young children, granted 1,099 professional development hours to early childhood educators with a focus on mindfulness and trauma informed practices, and gave 65 baby bundles to new and prenatal moms and parents in our community.

To learn more about our impact, or to make a donation, please visit us at www.collab4kids. org and follow us on social media.

BUILD Since 1969, BUILD has helped Chicago’s most vulnerable youth escape gangs and violence to become positive leaders in their communities. These young people face enormous obstacles and trauma, so we surround them with the counseling, mentoring, training, and opportunities they need to build a future and succeed. We engage youth at every stage, with specialized teams dedicated to street violence interventions, gang detachments, creative after-school programming, academic school and college support, mental health care, community violence crisis response, and enrichment activities ranging from art and music to sports, podcasting, engineering and gardening.

Potential doesn’t discriminate, neither should opportunity.

Join us in BUILDing a better future.

Visit www.buildchicago.org.Celebrating

Seniors Coalition

Concordia University Chicago Founded in 1864, Concordia University Chicago has equipped students to serve and lead with integrity and compassion. Concordia-Chicago is a Christ-centered Lutheran university where truth, freedom, and vocation form students for lives of influence and service for the common good. Historically a college for teachers, we now offer more than 100 areas of study through traditional, blended or online classes.

Students can earn a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree through one of four colleges: the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Health, Science & Technology, and the College of Theology, Arts & Humanities.

This year, all ten D97 PTOs in partnership with PTOC’s Diversity Council, DIVCO, an organization focused on driving equity imperatives within schools, have committed to becoming communities of care. This initiative has driven the creation of “angel funds” for each school community to serve their financially vulnerable students and families with school supplies, field trip money, snacks, graduation yearbooks and gowns, spirit wear, books, tutoring and more. In order to fulfil this need, PTOs depend on tax deductible donations from community members like you. Donate to your neighborhood school and give all Oak Park public school students an opportunity to thrive regardless of income.

• Julian: julianpto.org/Donate-to-the-PTO. php • Brooks: sites.google.com/view/ brooksptooakparkdonations/home • Longfellow: lpto.betterworld.org/donate • Lincoln: paypal.com/paypalme/ ptolincoln?locale.x=en_US • Holmes: mightycause.com/story/3e623g • Irving: washington-irving-pto-2.square. site/#uDWtwZ • Whittier: whittierpto.membershiptoolkit. com/ • Beye Please send a check to the school c/o of Beye PTO • Mann: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_ button_id=EYUYPNXB3ZWVU • Hatch: hatchpto.org/

To learn more, please visit CUChicago.edu or CUChicago.edu/GiveNow to support our students.

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The Joyful Giving Catalog The Day Nursery

Since 1912, The Day Nursery has provided exceptional early childhood education in an environment that welcomes all children, enhances individual strengths, and fosters the academic, social-emotional, and physical development that leads to school readiness. You can help lay the foundation today for successful adults tomorrow.

To learn more about us and to donate, visit www.thedaynursery.org 1139 Randolph St, Oak Park, IL 60302 708.383.8211 - Fax: 708.383.0692 Email: info@thedaynursery.org - www.thedaynursery.org

Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park A United Way Community Partner/NAEYC Accredited

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park is a non-profit 501(c)(3) literary arts and educational foundation dedicated to thoughtful reading and writing. The foundation offers a wide variety of programming, all open to the public, to nurture and encourage creative expression for students and for people of all ages. Through tours and exhibits at Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace museum, the foundation fosters an understanding of his life and work, his Oak Park origins and his impact on world literature. Your gift supports creative outlets for people of all ages through professional teacher development, local author and performing artist programs, inter-generational engagement, a writer-in-residence program, as well as student writing workshops, mentorships, and scholarships.

For more information about us or to donate online go to hemingwaybirthplace.com or mail us at: Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, P.O. Box 2222, Oak Park, IL 603032222.

Frank Lloyd Wright Trust Inspiring tomorrow’s architects today, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust continues the long road to recovery, steadfast in our mission to preserve an Oak Park treasure. Through the stewardship of the Home & Studio, the Trust provides a source of community pride and inspiration.

While enhancing the vitality of Oak Park and the western suburbs of Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy is upheld through the Trust’s educational programming. Enduring the global pandemic, we are thrilled for the opportunity to welcome back in-person education programs and tours.

To learn more or donate, go to flwright.org 951 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302.

The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory The Oak Park Conservatory began as a community effort to house exotic plants residents collected during their travels abroad. Completed in 1929, it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Free to the public with 50,000 visitors annually, the Conservatory offers a rich atmosphere throughout three indoor showrooms featuring more than 3,000 plants. The Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory offers programs focused on enriching the visitor experience at the Conservatory.

Toddlers through adults can participate in year-round educational and recreational programs, volunteer opportunities and special events.

To learn more or to join, visit fopcon.org.

Growing Community Media Growing Community Media connects citizens through community journalism rooted deep in our neighborhoods, based in facts, and reflective of voices not always heard. Through Austin Weekly News, Wednesday Journal, Forest Park Review and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark, Growing Community Media reports local news and tells compelling local stories across a variety of platforms. We believe that high quality community journalism preserves and strengthens the fabric of our democracy.

Independent community journalism holds local governments and institutions to account.

It connects neighbors. It is the credible information source when social media goes haywire, and it allows a community to debate and celebrate.

Support local news and protect our democracy at growingcommunitymedia.org/ donate.

Hephzibah Children’s Association Hephzibah is making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and struggling families.

Oak Park’s oldest social service agency, Hephzibah is the only program in Illinois designated to care for the most severe cases of abuse and neglect of young children ages 3-11. Hephzibah Home provides comprehensive, therapeutic care for traumatized young children. Our Family Based Program supports more than 100 foster care children and stabilizes 150 families in crisis. Our Day Care Program delivers quality, affordable day care and summer camp programming for elementary school children in Oak Park.

Make a difference at hephzibahhome.org.

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Historical Society Forest Park The Historical Society of Forest Park was founded in 1975 to collect, preserve and share the rich heritage of Forest Park.

Through history we explore the past to understand the present and shape the future. The historical society offers several virtual tours on our website including Forest Park Amusement Park, Bloomer Girls, Veteran History, Haymarket Marty’s Monument in Forest Home, Cemetery Symbolism and others.

In addition, there are several programs including a Garden Walk, Prohibition Event, History Hangouts, bicycle tours and weekly lookbacks to bring history to the community throughout the year.

Visit ForestParkHistory.org to learn more about the events, programs or to donate.

Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest We are the community’s story tellers who make history relevant in tangible ways that positively impact today’s residents. We operate Oak Park River Forest Museum in an 1898 Oak Park Landmark at Lake and Lombard next to Stevenson Park. We invested $1 million in private funds to create a welcoming space in a former firehouse.

Exhibits include “Open House: The Legacy of Fair Housing.” We are not supported by tax dollars and a gift of any amount funds our 2022 activities, our research center, and knowledgeable staff.

Learn more and donate at oprfmuseum.org or 708-848-6755.

Housing Forward Housing Forward is passionately focused on one vision – ending homelessness. We believe in bold, comprehensive approaches to prevent homelessness whenever possible, to respond to housing crises, and to stabilize individuals and families through permanent housing. We offer wraparound services including case management, housing, outreach, employment, and emergency assistance. Last year, we served nearly 2,000 adults and families. Our new Interim Housing Program provides clients a path to permanent housing; Interim Housing sites include units dedicated to medical respite. Housing Forward also has programs that specifically address the housing needs of families, youth, and veterans.

To learn more, volunteer, or donate, visit housingforward.org, email development@ housingforward.org, or call 708-338-1724.

IWS Children’s Clinic Help us care for the whole child and create greater health equity!

At the OPRF Infant Welfare Society and IWS Children’s Clinic, we serve publicly insured/uninsured children and their whole health needs: sick visits, critical vaccines including COVID-19, behavioral health services, and dental care, including for children with special needs. We treat more than 3,400 area children each year, including Oak Park, Chicago, Berwyn, Cicero and beyond.

Support the whole health needs of children in our community today! $25 provides a mental health screening, $50 provides two vaccines, $100 provides a preventive dental cleaning.

Visit childrenscliniciws.org/donate or call 708-406-8661.

L’Arche Chicago L’Arche Chicago provides high quality care in community-integrated homes for adults with intellectual disabilities in the OPRF area. Our mission is lived through daily life shared in mutuality: afternoon walks to the park, doctor’s appointments, and dinner parties. Moreover, L’Arche is committed to life together in a way that welcomes difference. As our society seems increasingly fearful of difference, L’Arche offers a counter story: that the differences so often keeping people apart can become the substance of joyful and transformative relationships.

Make a needed local impact through our people and mission at https://lc.app. neoncrm.com/np/clients/lc/donation.jsp

Maywood Fine Arts Equity in the arts is the driving force behind Maywood Fine Arts’ programs and people. Access to affordable, quality instruction in arts and fitness cannot be taken for granted among families MFA serves from nearby, under-resourced communities such as Maywood, Bellwood, and Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. MFA serves about 800 students ages 4 to 18 per week, the majority of whom are young people of color.

Families count on MFA’s safe, nurturing out-of-school time environment where children learn and expand their world view.

To donate, visit maywoodfinearts.org or send checks payable to Maywood Fine Arts, 25 N 5th Ave, Maywood , IL 60153.

Sponsored Content

Investing Through a Social Responsibility Lens

By Tony Martinez, Jr., president and CEO of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

A

s part of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation’s commitment to racial equity, we have begun to deeply evaluate all areas of our work, including our investment portfolio. How we invest makes a difference in people’s lives — not only is there an impact on the community in terms of how dollars are given, but also how those dollars are grown and put to work as part of our shared economy.

Community foundations like ours use long-term investments in stock and bond funds to grow our collective assets. This increases the money we provide each year to our grantees in support of our mission, and secures the lasting legacy of our community’s philanthropic goals.

However, rather than solely focusing on maximizing returns, as stewards of our donors’ philanthropic dollars we have a responsibility to take steps to ensure our investments do not perpetuate the systemic inequalities that we are fighting against.

Starting this summer, our investment

committee began to align the Foundation’s investments with its mission to advance racially just and equitable outcomes for our region.

Our risk-adjusted return targets remain the same, but now 40 percent of our assets are invested in stock and bond funds that practice sustainable investing. Also known as responsible or impact investing, sustainable investing is an investment discipline that takes into account environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) outcomes while delivering competitive results.

“Sustainable funds address racial equity by scrutinizing public companies’ workplace diversity, equity and inclusion policies; board Tony Martinez, Jr., president and CEO of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation with Program Director diversity; the overall treatment Elizabeth Chadri (photo by Carrie Summy) of workers; negative impacts of products and services on Black sustainable fund portfolios. Think of it as percent sustainable investments. communities; and political expenditures,” investing that’s not just focused on profits, By aligning our investments with our says Jon Hale, global head of sustainability but on people, planet and profits.” mission, the Foundation is making every research at Morningstar and a member Forty percent is just the start. As we move philanthropic dollar work twice as hard of the Foundation’s board of directors. forward we will continue to grow that to create a better, more just and equitable “Companies with poor performance on percentage, with an ultimate goal of 100 society. racial equity issues are to be avoided in

Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation • (708) 848-1560 • www.oprfcf.org

The Joyful Giving Catalog Maywood Youth Mentoring Program Organized in 1993 as a 501c3, the Maywood Youth Mentoring Program has served hundreds of middle to high-school youth providing a variety of programs, workshops, field trips, and experiences designed to increase academic potential and instill cultural pride.

Since 2008, the program has hosted free monthly youth breakfasts with topics ranging from anger management and conflict resolution, etiquette, police/community interactions, sexual health, drug and alcohol avoidance, and academic excellence. Youths practice critical thinking skills to encourage positive life choices. Volunteer mentors interact with youths, providing positive role models for college and career choices. Funds are needed to continuously provide free services and incentives for participation.

To volunteer, or to donate, visit us at maywoodyouthmentoring.org, or contact Barbara Cole, founder/CEO at 708-344-3577.

Nehemiah Community Project (NCP) Since 2017, the Nehemiah Community Project (NCP) has provided an array of services in the Maywood Proviso Township community. Community violence, scare resources and unemployment have a particularly negative impact on residents. NCP addresses the mental health/well-being and other service needs of youth and young adult men, providing tools to help them move forward in their lives.

Programs include: •

En-Game: Men’s support group to problem-solve, receive affirmation and deal with life’s challenges.

•

T.A.C.T.(Trauma Awareness Capacity Training): Provides awareness, coping skills and resources for those who have experienced trauma.

Learn more at thenehemiahcommunityproject.org.

New Moms

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

New Moms’ mission is to strengthen families by partnering with young moms as they progress toward housing stability, economic mobility, and family well-being. We believe in the strength, skills, and potential of all families and envision a future where all young moms and their children thrive! Coaches in our housing, job training, and family support programs partner with moms, 24 and under, to decrease stress, build social connections, and set and track personalized goals.

Together with their coach, moms build the foundations of long-term well-being for their families and communities.

Join us in this essential work!

Visit newmoms.org/donate.

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building through space grants to local non-profits, who account for 80% of its usage.

We provide community outreach, scholarships, and public programming in five areas: music, art, literature, science, and social sciences. The Nineteenth Century is the owner of 178 Forest Avenue, commonly referred to as the Nineteenth Century Club. Our charitable and cultural activities are supported by our members, volunteers, donors, and by the events held at the building. Programs are open to all and we welcome all ages to join.

If you would like information about volunteering, joining or donating, please call us at 708-386-2729 email to info@ nineteenthcentury.org. You can also make donation at nineteenthcentury.org.

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

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The Joyful Giving Catalog Oak Park Art League

Oak Park Public Library

Celebrating its centennial in 2021, the Oak Park Art League (OPAL) is one of the longest, continually running non-profit arts organizations in Illinois. OPAL is a vibrant cultural center where the invitation and challenge to use art as a medium for personal and community growth is made available to people of all ages. Since 1921, OPAL has brought arts education, appreciation, exhibitions, and the spirit of artistic inquiry to the surrounding community. OPAL is committed to meaningful outreach to the population that makes up our greater community through partnerships and on-site arts programming & collaborations with other non-profit organizations.

For more information about membership, volunteering, or to make a donation, please contact Executive Director, Jill Kramer Goldstein at 708-386-9853 or director@ oakparkartleague.org. The Oak Park Art League is located at 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302.

Oak Park Festival Theatre Since 1975 Oak Park Festival Theatre, the Midwest’s oldest professional outdoor classical theatre, has brought the magic of the classics right to your backyard. Whether performing under the stars in beautiful Austin Gardens as we do each summer or at any of the many local venues where we partner with local philanthropic agencies (such as Housing Forward, Oak Park Housing Authority or Nineteenth Century Charitable Association), Festival Theatre breathes fresh air into timeless texts for Oak Park and beyond.

With ticket prices kept friendly for every budget and free admission for all under 13, we rely on the generosity of our audiences to continue our dynamic community dialogue.

Donations can be made on-line at oakparkfestival.com/donate or mailed to us: Oak Park Festival Theatre, P.O. Box 4114, Oak Park, IL 60303.

Give to empower every voice in our community.

Invest in Oak Park’s future. The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation manages eight endowment funds for the Oak Park Public Library. Monetary donations are tax deductible. Giving supports work dedicated to literacy, education, diversity, inclusion, equity, health, safety, and affordability. Your generosity connects people and community, educates global citizens, and sustains, shares, and respects Oak Park’s community’s resources.

Choose the fund that means the most to you at oppl.org/give. Or contact Executive Director David J. Seleb at davids@oppl.org and 708-697-6911.

Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) For more than four decades, the Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) has been an advocate for fair housing. Our mission is to achieve vibrant communities and promote intentional and stable residential integration throughout Oak Park. The OPRHC is the only non-profit in Oak Park and the Greater Westside Region that encourages pro-integrative housing options.

Our work is at the heart of why Oak Park is such a wonderful, diverse, and vibrant community, welcoming to everyone.

Support our work with a donation at oprhc. org/donate. To learn more about the OPRHC call 708.848.7150, inforequest@ liveinoakpark.com, 1041 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302.

Joyful Giving

Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

The mission of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation is to unite community members and mobilize resources to advance a racially just society and equitable outcomes for residents of Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding communities. We envision a racially just and equitable society as the full inclusion of all people into a society in which everyone can participate, thrive and prosper.

In an equitable society, everyone, regardless of the circumstance of birth or upbringing, is treated justly and fairly by its institutions and systems.

Visit oprfcf.org to learn more about our services to donors, scholars, and nonprofits.

One Earth Collective One Earth curates vibrant environmental programming that inspires action, facilitates learning, promotes justice, and fosters equity and inclusion to create resilient communities and a healthier planet. We focus our work in 3 areas - One Earth Film Festival, One Earth Youth Voices, and One Earth Local. One Earth Film Fest’s 11th season will take place March 4-13, 2022. We’re excited to welcome Chicagoland audiences back live, in addition to our virtual screenings. Join us for captivating films, engaging discussion, impactful action opportunities and community-building.

Memberships start at $25.

Learn more and donate at oneearthfilmfest.org/give.

Opportunity Knocks Opportunity Knocks was established in 2009 to support young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community. OK offers a person-centered and highly-flexible curriculum, enabling participants to be equal architects in the development of program content. As we solidify our post-pandemic offerings, we look forward to continuing the residential component of the OK mission and other future endeavors. We are 95% privately funded and rely on the generous support of the community. Your gift is integral in moving our mission forward by offering unique opportunities for these young adults.

Visit opportunityknocksnow.org.

PeopleCare,Inc. PeopleCare,Inc., is a local nonprofit that provides free transportation, friendly visitors, telephone reassurance, subsidized taxi voucher program, weekly group grocery shopping, and referrals for seniors in Riverside, North Riverside, Brookfield, Lyons, and LaGrange Park. We are passionately committed to our original vision that “no older person in the last third of life will feel abandoned and will be able to live out their life in the most productive way.” We are the safety net for those with no family close by and who no longer drive.

To donate, learn more, or volunteer visit www.peoplecareinc.org or call 708-442-1223

Share these listings with your children and make family giving a tradition.

You can also visit OakPark.com and go to our Season of Giving page.

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The Joyful Giving Catalog PING! PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation) makes equitable access to instrumental music possible for students in need in grades 4 through 12 in Oak Park and River Forest public schools.

PING! provides band and orchestra instruments as well as music enrichment through workshops; mentoring; and scholarships for music camps, trips, and instruction. Studies show that there are academic and social benefits to participating in a music program.

To give our youngest students the best start, PING! is offering music lessons to our 4th and 5th graders, a program implemented during the pandemic to keep them engaged.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit our website at pingoprf.org. Have an instrument to donate?

Send us an email at info@pingoprf.org.

Pro Bono Network We believe access to justice should not depend upon your ability to afford an attorney.

There are simply not enough legal aid lawyers to help people in dire need of civil legal aid. These include issues of safety from an abuser, adequate housing, critical care documents, and more. Pro Bono Network has enabled 400+ attorneys to give more than 25,000 hours of free legal assistance to over 4,500 clients whose lives were meaningfully changed. Let’s together transform lives by increasing access to legal representation.

To get involved or donate, visit pro-bononetwork.org. Your support will make an impact on the lives of many!

The Quinn Center of St. Eulalia Eleven years after its founding, the Quinn Center stands by its mission to build an inclusive culture of justice, health, and peace in Proviso Township. We inspire, educate, and empower through relationship building while confronting intersecting social problems and filling resource gaps to address social determinants of health. Today, year-round programming is available for over 1,000 community members at low or no cost. From youth enrichment to hunger ministry to senior social activities, we offer something for the whole family and work to create a safe space where neighbors can find connection and belonging.

Race Conscious Dialogues

Sarah’s Inn

RACE CONSCIOUS DIALOGUES The Race Conscious Dialogues are designed The Race Conscious Dialogues are designed for people who are white to deepen their awareness of identity, power and privilege,and then develop tools for anti-racism work. The foundational workshop series consists of 4 sessions, 3 hours each, with light readings to be done in preparation. This volunteer-based nonprofit was intentionally created for our community of Oak Park and surrounding areas.

All discussions, readings and activities are framed around unpacking and understanding Whiteness – our own racial identities, the historical and current harm being caused by Whiteness, and guided discovery of how we show up and work collectively to eradicate racism. We invite your participation!

Donations are appreciated as well raceconsciousdialogues.org/donate.

River Forest Public Library Foundation

RFPL Foundation helps ensure the on-going vitality of the River Forest Public Library. Your gift will help preserve our historic building and continue our high-quality services and programs while preparing for future needs. Grants from the Foundation have enabled RFPL to refresh the Children’s Room and Teen space, maintain and beautify the Memorial Garden, offer community events like The Dooleys Band concert, explore the feasibility of creating additional indoor space for meetings and programs, expand self-checkout service and more.

Your help ensures our Library continues to live at the heart and soul of our community.

St. Angela School

Sarah’s Inn is a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the lives of those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations.

Based in Forest Park, we offer services in three areas of program focus: Intervention for families affected by domestic violence that includes Advocacy and Counseling; Prevention education for youth to prevent future relationship violence; and Training and Education for professional first-responders, prospective volunteers and interns, and community-based groups. Intervention services are confidential, bilingual (English/ Spanish) and offered free of charge to survivors and their children.

Learn more and donate at sarahsinn.org.

SisterHouse Founded in 1982 by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, SisterHouse educates and empowers women to lead sober and fulfilling lives by providing a safe and structured spiritual living community.

Each successful and resilient woman is reaching towards her full potential by growing in self-awareness, self-respect and forgiveness, learning to embrace self and others, while building healthy relationships. She learns not only how to maintain sobriety, internalizing the 12 steps and building a support system, but also how to thrive in life. Each SisterHouse woman secures quality employment and stable housing. She makes plans for her future and acquires the skills, knowledge, and abilities to realize her dreams.

St. Angela School has walked with the families of Chicago’s west side for one hundred years—walked with a deep commitment to enriching the lives, and the futures, of their children. We have a rich and varied history – and a future of great promise. We provide our children with a safe and loving environment and challenging academics; we help them explore paths that lead to meaningful and rewarding careers; and we teach them, above all, to believe in themselves. As we prepare for our next hundred years, we’re proud to reaffirm our commitment to love and serve all those who choose to be part of our community.

Learn more about St. Angela School at saintangela.org or call us at (773) 626-2655.

Sweet Rest Since its 2017 inception, Sweet Rest has provided various forms of sabbaticals for Black Women throughout the country. Moreover, Sweet Rest is working to grow into a social investment that creates sustainability for Black Women entrepreneurs, while contributing to the greater good of providing rest and magnifying the need and capacity of wanderlust for Black Women and other women of color.

To support this initiative and to give the gift of sweet rest, please visit Sweetrest.net.

For more information or to donate go to sisterhousechicago.org.

Please donate at rfplfoundation.org.

Joyful Giving

Make an impact in your own community.

Learn more at quinncenter.org.

You can also visit OakPark.com and go to our Season of Giving page.

December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

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The Joyful Giving Catalog The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest Awarded “Community Relations Orchestra of the Year” in 2021, The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest, under the leadership of award-winning conductor Jay Friedman, continues to bring extraordinary and accessible concerts to our community.

Ticket sales provide less than half the funds needed for the Symphony’s performances.

Your gift keeps the orchestra going strong and allows us to maintain affordable ticket prices, including free admission for all students through college. Please help us continue and strengthen our 90-year tradition of bringing beautiful and inspiring music to Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park and neighboring communities.

Make your end-of-year tax-deductible donation at SymphonyOPRF.org, or: P.O. Box 3564, Oak Park, IL 60303-3564.

Thrive Counseling Center Thrive Counseling Center has provided mental health services for over 120 years. Our mission is to build healthy minds, families, and communities by empowering people to attain mental and emotional well-being. Hope, resilience, and recovery form the heart of our programs and services. Thrive’s services for youth and adults include: • Individual therapy • Group therapy

UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago UCP Seguin believes that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community. So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children. Our goal: life without limits for people with disabilities.

Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin.org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304.

Way Back Inn Since 1974, Way Back Inn has successfully provided long-term residential and outpatient treatment for men and women in Oak Park and surrounding communities who are trying to overcome substance and gambling use disorders. Our mission is to rebuild lives damaged by addiction in a personalized healing environment, where men and women’s lives are transformed and relationships are healed. Our recovery program focuses on the integration of the body, mind, and spirit.

For more information or to make a donation, go to: www.waybackinn.org or call us at 708345-8422.

• Psychiatry and medication management • 24/7 Crisis intervention • Case management • Suicide awareness and prevention training • Thrive Talks We are open Monday-Thursday 9am-8pm, Friday 9am-5pm, and Saturday from 9am2pm. To learn more or donate, please visit thrivecc.org or call 708-383-7500.

Joyful Giving

West Suburban Special Recreation Association West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest and nine other surrounding communities.

Donations to WSSRA, help provide financial assistance to those participating in our yearround programs and summer day camp. To make a donation, please visit wssra.net.

Welcome to Fatherhood Welcome to Fatherhood Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization created by Dr. Raheem Young and Sir Royce Briales. Our goal is to help fathers of all ages cope with the pressures and stresses of fatherhood. We formed Welcome to Fatherhood to provide all dads with a forum to discuss the ups and downs of their parenting journey with other men. Welcome to Fatherhood’s mission is to strengthen the family unit by empowering fathers and educating them on the importance of positive, active, and engaged paternal role models.

For more information on Welcome to Fatherhood, please visit our website at wtfatherhood.org.

Wonder Works For nearly 20 years, children in Oak Park and our surrounding communities have been learning through PLAY in the safe, enriching environment of Wonder Works Children’s Museum. We put great care into creating a child-sized environment, for children birth to 8, designed to spark curiosity, creativity and learning in the areas of science, math, literacy and the arts.

Your donations support free and reduced-price admissions for families in financial need, exhibit improvements, one-of-a-kind programs and so much more! Please join us along our exciting path to learning.

Visit www.wonder-works.org and donatetoday to support the power of PLAY!

Youth Outreach Services Youth Outreach Services supports youth ages 12 to 21 and their families, by providing free programs that offer therapeutic interventions, life skills development, and mentorship to improve their safety and well-being. For more than 60 years, YOS has offered community-based behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, after school mentoring, family therapy, crisis intervention, case management, foster care, transitional living and housing services, in-school prevention curricula, and juvenile justice programs.

Help youth get one step closer to reaching their goals, by donating at www.yos.org/ donate or text @ONESTEPCLOSER to 52014.

To help a youth in need right now, call 773777-7112.

Discover and Give to a new organization this year.

You can also visit OakPark.com and go to our Season of Giving page.

B20 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 15, 2021