BRAVO 6.5

the elgin area’s free culture magazine

v6.5

The Art Healthy Environment pp. 2-4

The Journey to Two Corners p. 28-30

with the

APRIL 2020

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6.5

Shared Values: The Healing Arts

The Art Healthy Environment

by William S. Bike

We are making plans for the ‘20-‘21 season and look forward to gathering with you in the Fall for our next concert.

For the latest updates on the Heartland Voices, follow us on Facebook @HeartlandVoices and on our website, heartlandvoices.org.

Sending well wishes to you and yours!

At Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Elvis has not left the building—it just is not easy to find him.

One of the pieces in Sherman’s extensive art collection is a quilt hung in the cafeteria measuring approximately 20 feet high by 20 feet wide. “From afar, it looks like a landscape,” said Jose Macias, manager of development for the Advocate Charitable Foundation at the hospital. “However, there are up to 70 Elvises hidden within the quilt.”

Sherman’s art collection features hundreds of pieces, including photographs, paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and quilts.

Cover Artist:

Michael Zimmer

Michael Zimmer is an Elgin native with a passion for our city’s architectural heritage. He is an Architectural Designer for a retail pharmacy company by day, but in his free time you’ll find him reinventing the Historic Elgin House Tour’s digital presence or working on reuse ideas for the Crocker Theater. Michael also creates laser cut artwork made here in Elgin from which the cover art is derived. You can find these items for sale at the Elgin History Museum.

Founded in 1888, Sherman offers standard hospital services and is a Level II Trauma Center, and features emergency services, a diabetes center, orthopedic care, and a birthing center with a neonatal intensive care nursery. Until 2004, it was the only local hospital to perform cardiac surgery, and Sherman is

a regional heart center that performs more cardiac procedures than any other hospital in Kane, McHenry, DuPage, Lake, and Will counties.

Its current campus opened on Dec. 15, 2009.

“Most of the art pieces have been there since then,” Macias explained. “When we first opened up this site, one of the ways for people to become involved with the hospital was to make a donation of art. So some of the pieces have been donated, and some of those are by local artists. Some people made philanthropic donations so we could purchase photography or art.

So our art comes from different sources.”

Not every hospital has such an extensive collection, but Sherman’s management feels art is important. “It adds to the patient-centered care experience by providing art as a way to assist in the healing process,” Macias said.

May 2020

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Life goes on!

We are open and baking ... smaller cakes and desserts for intimate gatherings.

Call us for sweet ideas for your special day!

In this view, Sherman’s management is in agreement with science, government, foundations, and academe on the benefits of art in healthcare.

One of the researchers in a 2018 Penn State College of Medicine study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, Daniel George, associate professor of medical humanities at Penn State, said, “Our results demonstrate a successful therapeutic application of the arts in a clinical setting.”

The National Endowment for the Arts has stated that “arts are flourishing in hospitals, outpatient programs, hospices, nursing, and retirement facilities, as well as other healthcare institutions.”

The Foundation for Photo/ Art in Hospitals notes that it “supports the researchers and practitioners who recognize the strong link between soothing hospital environments and patients’ improvement in health, both mental and physical.”

“Artworks in hospitals can provide spaces to connect with the feeling side of the experience of being there,” said S. Elise Archias, associate professor of art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“When the current hospital first opened, we wanted to have a prairie theme, so we have a lot of photography,” Macias said.

“We tried to acquire pieces that were landscapes or other outdoor

photos, maybe an aerial view of a farm, lake, or river, to give people an outdoor view—and a calming view.”

Sherman continues to accept donations of art pieces and funding to acquire art.

Susan Nordstrom Lopez, president of one of Sherman’s sister institutions, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, recently donated a tapestry to Sherman.

An Elgin-area artist who has worked in Southeast Asia, Hallie Morrison, donated a mural, “and it was delivered special from Thailand,” Macias said.

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“The mural is about diversity, and our hospital of course wants to promote being a diverse institution in terms of ethnicity and welcoming the LGBTQ community,” he continued.

“We’re open to everybody, we’re all-encompassing, so the mural tries to depict that by showing people of different ethnicities and genders.”

In addition, the mural “incorporates our community’s culture; our five values of compassion, stewardship, equality, partnership, and excellence; the word ‘welcome’ in various languages; and has been in Thailand where youth have been helping the artist work on the project,” Macias said.

“This two-year long project included partnership with Side Street Studio Arts to assist in

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promoting and recruiting for local artist Hallie Morrison’s submission. Hallie’s concept of collage and including multi-cultural aspects from hospital staff and Thailand youth have made it all the richer,” he added.

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Side Street Studio Arts provides exhibition and performance space for artists at 15 Ziegler Ct. in Elgin.

Once accepted, the art generally is on display continuously.

“We recently moved a tapestry that was displayed in a conference room because we no longer are using the room for meetings, but other than that, typically the artwork is displayed permanently,” Macias said.

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Placement of art “is pretty random,” Macias noted, with the

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Those wanting to donate art or funds for the art program begin by contacting Macias. “I see if the piece is acceptable,” he said.

If it is, approval and acceptance of the art “goes through our leadership team,” Macias explained. “There is no formal application or presentation; we just want to make sure before we accept art that we will be able to display it properly. Last year somebody wanted to donate a steel sculpture of a woman and child. It was good and we wanted to accept it, but in the end we didn’t because we just could not figure out where we would properly display it. If we do accept a piece, we do so with the intention of displaying it somewhere.”

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exception of art in the hospital’s birthing center.

“We have pictures of animals all around the hospital on different floors, but at our family birthing center, it’s all animals with their young—a monkey or chimpanzee with her young, or a tiger with her cub,” he explained.

The “hidden Elvis” quilt remains a highlight of the hospital’s collection.

“I got a new boss about a yearand-a-half ago and I told her the quilt had hidden Elvises in it, and we tried to look but we couldn’t find them and finally gave up,” Macias said. “About a month ago I got a new co-worker and told her the same thing, and we looked together and found some. She pointed out how fun it was, because once you see them, you can’t ‘un-see’ them. But you wouldn’t know they were there unless you actually went up close and were specifically looking for them.”

Macias said the hospital would welcome gifts of funds for the art program, “so we can acquire some different pieces,” he said.

Macias can be reached at Jose.

Macias@advocatehealth.com.

Advocate Sherman Hospital is located at 1425 N. Randall Rd. in Elgin. Call (847) 742-9800 or log on to www.advocatehealth. com/sherman/. –WSB billbike@anbcommunications.com

May 2020

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Arabica Cafe is open for pickup or delivery thru Grub Hub with our full menu Tuesday thru Friday 7:30 am to 3:00 pm Saturday & Sunday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Thank you to all our awesome customers for their love and support.

We are still here because of you!

Billings Summary for May

For Virtual Audiences Elgin Public Museum

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Arabica Cafe

59 Douglas Avenue • Downtown Elgin • (224) 227-7192

www.ArabicaCafeElgin.com

6.5

Elgin Public Museum of Natural History & Anthropology remains closed to the public until the Covid-19 crisis abates.

But their Facebook page, @Elgin Public Museum, remains open 24-7!

Follow them Monday - Friday for the duration of the school year for new daily “Facebook Field Trips,” featuring educational mini-lessons on various aspects of natural history and ... you guessed it, anthropology!

Fun and informative for kids and adults alike.

es that are live-streamed from each musician’s home and that benefit the artists directly.

Here’s how it works: 1. At the time of each concert go to fb.com/ChamberMusicOnTheFox 2. Scroll down to find the LIVE video. Click the play button.

3. Please DONATE whatever amount you can. Chamber Music on the Fox will be passing on 100% of donations to the performers, and your donation will be tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

And if you would like informaUpcoming Performances: tion on booking a future program with Elgin Public Museum Shepherd of the no Prairie Lutheranand Church • Kelly Langenberg, Horn. (requiring pre-payment, May 4th, 7pm 10805 Main Street, Huntley, IL 60142 fully cancel-able with no penalty • Jerry Loughney, Violin.

847-669-9448 / www.sotp.org if the shelter-in-place continues), May 9th, 7pm email: artistseries@sotpmail.com contact Education Coordinator • Jennet Ingle, Oboe.

Facebook: @SOTPArtistSeries Sharry Blazier at: blazier_epm@ May 14th, 7pm cityofelgin.org. Also contact • Sara Chazin, Violin.

Sharry by email if you would May 18th, 7pm The Artist Series has been created to bring events, performances forums like to download aand pdf copy of • Peter Thomas, Electric Cello.

Current and safety guidelines to our local health community.

The best partprevent is that we bringthethem to you for FREE! new Spring newsletter.

May 22nd, 7pm us from gathering together at this time.

• Mike Brozick, Trumpet.

Elgin Public Museum is locatMay 30th, 7pm ed at 225 Grand Blvd., inside • Kate Carter & Rodolfo VieiLords Park.

(847) 741-6655; mesThank You to all of you who were able to enjoy ra, Violins. sages daily checked remotely. our Artist Series earlier in the season.

June 6th, 7pm

Join us at our next events:

Saturday, March 7th Chamber Music We look forward to bringing you more events, Mini-Concerts 7:00pm performances and forums very soon!

Keep in touch with us on Facebook

@SOTPArtistSeries

shepherdoftheprairie.com

With social distancing and shelter-in-place orders in place, music lovers are left with no live performances to attend and musicians have been cut off, not only from their ability to share their passion and their music, but also a substantial amount of their income.

That’s why Chamber Music on the Fox has introduced online mini-concerts: a series of very short (5-15 minute) performanc-

The Wartburg College Castle Singers and Chamber Orchestra have been

Come As You Are “Come As You Are” is a virtual exhibit for artists in all media, running continuously online in the CAYA gallery on the web at sidestreetstudioarts.org/caya Homebound painters, illustrators, sculptors, makers, musicians and creatives of all sorts have been submitting their work via the internet, where it can be seen and heard. Many of these works are for sale.

To submit your own work,

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May 2020

see the Mpulse section in this edition of BRAVO, beginning on page for detailed information.

Shelter In Place Theatre Reserve your seat on the couch for the next two Fridays as SIP Theatre presents a free reading of Long Day’s Journey into Night

by Eugene O’Neill. The reading features Jake Busse, RJ Cecott, Annie Slivinski, John Westby and Tara Morrison. The broadcast will be live streamed at fb.com/SIPTheatre, with Part 1 on May 1, and Part 2 on May 8.

The play takes place on a single day in August 1912, from around 8:30 a.m. to midnight.

The setting is the seaside Connecticut home of the Tyrones’ Monte Cristo Cottage. The four main characters are the semi-autobiographical representations of O’Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents.

This play portrays a family in a ferociously negative light as the parents and two sons express accusations, blame, and resentments paired with pathetic and self-defeating attempts at affection, encouragement,

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tenderness, and yearnings for things to be otherwise.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night, often numbered on the short list of the finest American plays of the 20th Century, was written in 1940. No doubt due to the revelations about his family, O’Neill requested that the play remain hidden for 25 years after his death.

Tunes For a Minute Tunes For a Minute (TFAM), a project by local bass guitarist Colin Ryan, is presenting “Support Local Business, Support Local Artists: A High Quality Live Streaming Concert Series.”

They wrapped up last month with a livestream concert by Chris Otepka on April 28th. He was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk series, has toured the world and played in a number of successful bands.

All events are presented on TFAM’s Facebook page: fb.com/ tunesforaminute Check the page for upcoming music events planned in support of local businesses.

FIRST FRIDAYS

Thumbnails of selected works from the CAYA gallery. Artists from L to R, top to bottom: Marci Rubin, Krystal Alanis, Ivette de Santiago, Nadia Ahmed, Estefania Guzman, Denise Laurin-Donatelle, Bill Van Dusen, Dan Burke, Christa Chockley. See these and more at sidestreetstudioarts.org/caya

OPEN CALL FOR ENTRIES

Accepting Entries Through August 21 All Seats $10

IMPROV 8:00PM

Finalists Will Be Screened

Saturday, Sept.19, 7pm

FALL 2020

S EPT 4 O CT 2 N OV 6 D EC 4

Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin

Tickets On Sale Now at the Hemmens Box Office

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Visit FilmFreeway.com for Contest Rules & Guidelines, Entry Forms, and Festival Info.

$15 ADULTS / $12 STUDENTS & SENIORS 847-931-5900 • HEMMENS ORG

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FilmFreeway.com/Festival/ElginShortFilmFestival Hemmens.org • Facebook.com/ElginShortFilm

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Friday, July 3 from 6-8pm • No late submissions will be accepted

Celebrating 80 Years

To submit your work to UNIDXS, complete the form at sidestreetstudioarts.org/unixds

RE:POP 2020

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Mpulse is our monthly review of artist development opportunities in the Elgin area, for anyone with a creative pursuit, whether it’s a passion or a pastime.

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Come As You Are Submit your newly created experimental works, visual art, poetry, audio, music, filmmaking, performance, and more. This is an open-ended submission, and is open to all ages. All works will be on display in our virtual world during this strange time and for the rest of the year.

We are watching the development of the COVID-19 Epidemic with uncertainty and serious concern…

We ask that you submit no more than once per medium per week. SSSA reserves the right to deny any works deemed inappropriate. Artwork will be updated online every Monday.

A lot of my clients are rightfully very concerned and focusing on the health and future of their family, loved ones, and themselves during this unprecedented crisis and not thinking about buying or selling a home.

Complete the form online at: sidestreetstudioarts.org/caya

I continue to stay dialed in to what’s happening in the Real Estate Market both here in Elgin and nationally. So if there is any way I can keep you abreast of the shifts in the market or address any of your concerns in any other way, I would love to do that for you. Like you, my team and I are following the best protocols for health and safety.

These times of uncertainty can be understandably scary and stressful, to say the least, and I pray that we all come through it well and perhaps become even better fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, spouses, and neighbors.

God Bless you, God Bless America, and God Bless the World.

Ken Bruderle AD VANCE

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6.5

Our annual printmaking exhibit held each August focuses on those artists dedicated to the art of printmaking and the printed arts. All fine art printmaking mediums including but not limited to, lithography, etching, monotype, relief, screen printing, and photo-etching.

• Submission fee: $5 per piece, maximum of 3 pieces submitted.

• Deadline for submission: Friday, July 31, 2020 @ midnight • Artwork Drop Off is Sun August 2, 11am-3pm • No late submissions will be accepted This exhibit is open to the public August 7 - 30th. Opening Reception is First Friday, August 7 from 6-8pm.

This exhibit will be juried. Reproduced prints or “RE:POPs”, of submitted pieces may be sold.

Submissions will be limited to 3 works or less, including triptychs. If you have a larger set please contact Tanner at Side Street Studio Arts.

To submit your work for RE:POP 2020, fill out the form at sidestreetstudioarts.org/repop

UNIDXS

Battle of the Bands 2020

UNIDXS is an annual group exhibition expressing hybrid cultures and Latinidad relations; a vast collection of personal experiences and the intersection of differing, and occasionally contradictory identities, ultimately forming transnational artworks, featuring representation of movement across languages, borders, and nations.

Side Street Studio Arts’ annual Battle of the Bands competition allows artists a freedom of expression and is designed to build support for the local music scene. Bands from all over the area share space, creativity, and audiences during this summer-long, un-juried competition.

Hone your craft, build a following, and win a prize package worth over $2000. You perform, the public responds in a votebased format that determines the winner of each head-to-head battle.

• Submission fee: $5 per piece, maximum of 3 pieces submitted.

• Deadline for submissions: Monday, June 8, 2020 @ midnight • Artwork Drop Off is Sun, June 28, 11am-3pm • This exhibit is open to the public July 3 - August 2 • Opening Reception First

NOTE: Out of concern for the safety and health of our community, and our genuine love for it, we at Side Street Studio Arts have decided to transform our onsite annual Battle Of The

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Bands series into a fully virtual one. Our maneuvering to a digital platform for 2020 is bittersweet. Our goal is to protect the nature of this contest, as well as create an innovative experience for both bands and audiences.

the urge to see old and new faces, bang our heads to our new favorite song, and hope our new favorite band wins, we will gather … virtually. We still have our community. We still have each other.

This announcement marks a historic moment for all of us. We will miss the pits, the sharks, the heat and the sweat, but mostly we will miss you. We hope this opportunity will be of some solace for all of us. With

We will be accepting *2 SONGS EACH from regional bands (must be within a 50mile radius) until Wednesday, May 20th at 5pm. We will be accepting no more than 48 bands for this system.

Is there an elephant in your room?

Elephants In The Room is awardwinning author Charlene Wexler’s latest collection of short fiction and essays examining life, love, and the tragedy and comedy of the human condition.

Wexler’s stories will tickle your funnybone and tug at your heartstrings.

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Bands and Performance Dates will be announced online on Friday, May 22nd at 9am.

The first Virtual Battle begins Friday, May 29th at 5pm. Each week’s battle songs will be made available for listening and voting through our website.

The audience will have until 9pm that night to listen and vote for their favorite song. The winning band/song of the week will move on directly to the Final Round, Saturday, August 8th.

The amount of bands battling each week will max out at seven for logistical purposes. So, at full capacity we would have 7 new bands/songs to listen to for 8 weeks. The Final Virtual Battle will include a new song by the past winners.

Applications are now open. To enter the battle, check the page at sidestreetstudioarts.org/battleofthebands

Elgin Short Film Festival The 12th Annual Elgin Short Film Festival (ESFF) promises to be an entertaining evening of some of the very best in short films by some of the very best up-and-coming filmmakers.You are invited to the award ceremony and screening of finalists taking place at the Hemmens Cultural Center on Saturday, September 19.

The ESFF announced an open Call for Entries from filmakers.

ESFF will feature a Live Action category and an Animation category.

To purchase Elephants In The Room, go to www.amazon.com

The top two selected films in each category, as voted on by the selection committee, will make the finals. The next three selected films in each category will compete to make the finals during the Elgin Fringe Festival, September 10-11.

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in honor of Elgin’s concluding placement along the Milwaukee District West train line from Chicago, the festival will feature a diverse lineup of local and national artists.

Finalists will be screened Saturday, September 19 at 7pm.

Awards and monetary prizes up to $1000 will be presented to the top three films.

Film Submission Deadline is August 21, 2020. Discount for films postmarked by July 31.

Complete your Film submission online through August 21 at filmfreeway.com/festival/ElginShortFilmFestival

Last Stop Music Festival The first-ever Last Stop Music Festival will be held at Festival Park in Downtown Elgin August 8th and 9th, 2020. So named

Last Stop aims to be an immersive, inclusive, and vibrant annual event celebrating our city’s love of music. Last Stop will be host to the final battle of Side Street Studio Art’s annual Battle Of The Bands, include curated visual art vendor “stations,” local food and beverage stations, lounge areas, large scale art installations, and creative stations for artmaking and other experiences.

To be considered for a spot in the Last Stop Music Festival, apply online at sidestreetstudioarts.org/laststop

Arts Writers Wanted BRAVO magazine welcomes contributions from skilled volunteer amateur writers on a variety of topics that pertain to culture in the Elgin area, including feature articles, interviews, satire and short fiction.

Each month we publish a list of suggested topics on our “Assignment Board” found on the inside back cover. You are welcome to pitch topics of your own by writing to us at bravo@ marqueemedia.net.

In exchange, contributors earn a free quarter page of display ad space for personal use. Request a copy of our “Writers’ Guidelines” via email at the address above.

Mask Making!

We would like to support the

local doctors and nurses who are risking their lives at the frontline battle against the Coronavirus by providing homemade masks.

They are in immediate and desperate need of them!

Please join me on Facebook Group Page “Masks Making!

A Fox Valley Action Group!” to learn more about how you could get involved and save lives. We especially need 1/4 inch elastic.

Feel Free to Contact me directly by phone at 224-595-1526 or by sending an email to SolangeSior@gmail.com.

Free Art Kits Side Street Studio Arts is partnering with the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission to get art kits to our area’s young artists for in-home use during this difficult time.

Simply fill out the form, and a kit will be delivered to your door in days. Please only one request per family per month. Delivery address must be within 10 miles of Side Street Studio Arts, located in downtown Elgin.

Please note, while some supplies are new and some are gently used or donated, all have been disinfected. We will also be including a disinfecting wipe for you to wipe down supplies again upon arrival. But, guess what?

You get to keep the kit — it’s all yours now!

The Most Amazing Show on the Radio!

To donate to SSSA in support of this project, or purchase supplies from our Amazon Wish List in support of this project, visit our website where the request form is posted: sidestreetstudioarts.org/communitymoves If you have any questions or wish to donate used supplies, please email us at sidestreetstudioarts@gmail.com.

We will keep this up as long as our supplies last!

Thank you to our sponsors: • Elgin Cultural Arts Commission • Elgin Knit Works • Elgin Public House • Gifford Park Association We welcome your announcements of workshops, auditions, master classes, open studios, open rehearsals, critique groups, and any other artist development opportunies.

Preference will be given to events that are free or low cost, and open to the public. We’re sorry we can’t print complete schedules for fee-based classes in this space. Send your details to bravo@marqueemedia.net.

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May 2020

MAIL CALL! Who doesn’t love mail?!?!

Here’s a great way to stay involved and support Side Street, and for us keep in touch with or meet the art lover in your life. Notes, swag, original art in the mail! What could be better? Great for all ages!

sidestreetstudioarts.org

Option #1: A note from Tanner and Erin For a $5 donation, we will send the artist in your life a one-of-a-kind card created by SSSA Founders/Executive Directors Tanner Melvin and Erin Rehberg. We will personalize this card using the helpful information you provide!

Option #2: Make Stuff Package For a $25 donation, we will send the artist in your life a one-of-a-kind card created by SSSA Founders/Executive Directors Tanner Melvin and Erin Rehberg. Then, a few days later we will send out instructions and supplies for their own personalized project!

Option #3: Art Pal For a $50 donation, we will send the artist in your life a one-of-a-kind card created by SSSA Founders/Executive Directors Tanner Melvin and Erin Rehberg. After a few days, we will send a package that includes the instructions and supplies for their own personalized project! After a few more days, we will send the recipient another letter and a bit of SSSA swag!

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Spring Workshop for Kids Pinhole Photography with Doug Hanson Via video tutorial, students will design and build their own camera! Using simple and inexpensive materials and simple technology, artists will explore the joy and simplicity of pinhole and lens-less photography and create unique imagery. Your pinhole photography kit will include: photo paper, electrical tape, sandpaper, brass sheet, safety pin, black spray paint, and a metal tin. You will need a drill. Pinhole photography kits will be delivered within one week of your purchase. Ages 12+ or younger with parental supervision.

$25 per kit

Option #4: Aunt B For a $75 donation, we will send one package that includes a one-ofa-kind card created by Tanner and Erin and a selection of hand picked original art and SSSA swag to the artist in your life! This option also includes a $25 donation in support of all of SSSA’s programs.

This and more stay-at-home

art activities can be found online: sidestreetstudioarts.org/mailcall

sidestreetstudioarts.org

sidestreetstudioarts.org/workshop-series

JOIN SIDE STREET STUDIO ARTS: BECOME A MEMBER Children’s programs, outreach projects, exhibitions, classes, and performances — it takes the support of our community to offer the programs you’ve come to love and expect at Side Street Studio Arts. There’s never been a better time to join or renew your membership!

ALL Members Will Receive:

• Discounts on classes and events • Annual Members’ Exhibition, plus plenty of other opportunities for artists • Advance notice of upcoming programs • Invitations to special events • Discounted rental rates • Exemption from most artist submission fees

Artist/Individual Level: $50

• Discounted tickets to SSSA Co-Produced shows • Priority registration for SSSA classes and workshops • 10% Off SSSA Classes and Merchandise • Early announcements and discounts for upcoming events Member-only events • Exemption from most artist submission fees

Household Level: $100

• Benefits as applicable to Artist/Individual Level members, PLUS...

• Three (3) added family members • Early announcements and discounts for upcoming events • Member-only events

Creative/Business Partner: $250

• Benefits as applicable to Artist/Individual Level members, PLUS...

• Advertising logo on SSSA website • Advertising on all SSSA social media outlets

Patron: $1000

• Benefits as applicable to Artist/Individual Level members, PLUS...

• Advertising logo* on SSSA website • Name and logo listed on all SSSA social media outlets • Name and logo on any and all SSSA event-marketing materials • Members will be featured advertisers and/ or presenters for a performance or exhibition of their choosing *Anonymous/personal donors excluded as desired.

Sustaining/Business Partner: $500

• Benefits as applicable to Artist/Individual Level members, PLUS...

• Advertising logo on SSSA website • Advertising on all SSSA social media outlets • Members will be featured advertisers and/ or presenters for a performance or exhibition of their choosing

Apply online: www.sidestreetstudioarts.org/membership

BRAVO

12

Deanna Belos is living proof that the “it” factor is real. She has “it.”

Recognized by Chicago Reader as Chicago’s Best New Band for 2019, and with thousands of fans in the region and beyond, she should have a long resume that lists impressive musical training, important collaborations with notable artists, and a long track record of above-average studio releases, social media stunts and a grinding gig schedule.

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“I try to keep my songs around two minutes long and just get right to the point,” she confided.

“I just assume that the average listener is like me, in that I don’t have the attention span for much more than that. Most of this stuff is calculated and I’m conscious of it, and a lot of it comes from critiquing music, too.”

On The Marquee

DEANNA BELOS

The combination of her gritty punk rock vocals and relatable lyrics appeals to fans instantly.

Comments left on Sincere Engineer’s YouTube videos read like true confessions: “I dig this so hard.” “Her voice it’s beautiful” “A masterpiece of self-loathing and angst that also happens to be catchy and funny.”

But she doesn’t have one, and never needed one. She has “it.”

Photo by Randy Korwin Photography.

Growing up in Orland Park, she took some piano lessons, and later some guitar lessons, but she mainly listened to a lot of music. She developed a taste for punk rock and latched on to the music of a Chicago band that none of the other kids knew.

“I was probably 13 or 14,” she told Hard Noise in an interview last December, “I was obsessed with Alkaline Trio at the time, and then The Lawrence Arms became my favorite band. I would see them and I knew that nobody I went to school with was at their show.”

Her deepest preparation for success was being a highly attentive fan, and as we’ve written in this column before, every great artist is an astute critic and observer — and often great admirer — of other great artists.

“I definitely have spent much of my life listening to music,” she said, and added, “I spent many, many hours playing guitar and trying to write songs when I should have been studying.”

She came to see the Brokedowns at an all-ages show at the Dutch Inn West in 2014, and met Jeremy Hansen, drummer for The Usuals. Her penchant for punk rock scholarship found a subject “it” loved: the Elgin music scene.

“Between Jeremy introducing me to all of his friends and me playing shows there, I got super Elgin, super fast! I could ace the Elgin exam, if there was one.”

Starting out in offbeat venues in Chicago, Belos was a solo act billed as Sincere Engineer, a reference to some of Brendan Kelly’s (The Lawrence Arms) studio banter she had once overheard.

After years as a die-hard fan, she knew Toby Jeg, owner of Red

Scare Industries records, and he gave her a shot on stage warming up an audience for Kelly.

She performed a few of her original songs on a lineup with Beach Bunny and numerous underage Elgin bands at the infamous Intz-a-Palooza show at Penny Road Pub in September 2016, but by that time, her expressive voice and quirky, subversively poetic lyrics had already been noticed.

“It” caught the attention of successful musician and producer Matt Jordan. Jordan became a champion of Belos as Sincere Engineer and later produced her first album with a backup band of veteran Chicago rockers.

Released in 2017, Rhombithian includes her first eleven original songs that deal with love interests, career doubts, educational regrets, and the corn dogs and beer and cable TV that fill all the spaces in between.

The title is an obscure reference to her life commuting along four skewed paths, between Elgin, Orland Park, her job and

her music pursuits.

“The most important parts of songs, to me, are the melodies and lyrics, so that’s what I spend the most time on,” she explained.

“I will usually doodle around on the guitar and come up with a short melody and words to fit it, and build the rest of the song around it. Once I see a clear path of a song coming together, I can finish it that day. But I always have bits and pieces of lyrics on the ready, so I might be pulling from material I wrote six months or a year before.”

Her direct and honest lyrics belie the determined work ethic, discipline and attention to detail that go into her craft.

“I’ve always been one to write down words and phrases I hear that I like and think I can do something with later,” she said.

“So before I even seriously started writing that record, I already had some lines and choruses ready to be used.”

As a studious listener herself, she considers audience tastes in her creative process as well.

Listening to her sing solo, you can hear echoes of another “it” girl — Joni Mitchell — and though younger or less scholarly listeners won’t make that connection, they can feel what Belos is expressing.

“I’ve more recently been trying to sing more softly,” she told us.

“I used to be very self-conscious of singing like that, because it’s harder to hide mistakes. But I like the challenge, and I think using both can end up making songs more fun to listen to.”

Great artists evolve rather than shape-shift, and “it” is a glorious thing to anticipate and to witness. Belos has another album written and arranged, and just needs a studio to emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown to get the tracks laid.

And when live shows become possible again, she’s happy with the touring band that follows her around the country.

“We get along really well, which is important when you’re locked in a van with people for two or three weeks straight.”

But lest you think that fronting a punk rock band is just a slacker’s way of avoiding an adult conversation, know that in 2020, it’s an art form that demands as much from a person as any full-time job.

“I still work full time as an animal care technician at Northwestern University! I actually try super hard at most things and I work myself exhausted most days. Music gets stressful sometimes and begins to feel more like work when that happens, but I still enjoy it ...” — JP

BRAVO

May 2020

13

We are open and looking for masonry projects.

JOIN US FOR VIRTUAL WORSHIP SUNDAY at 10AM

EMAIL PASTOR CAROL FOR ZOOM LINK

At Berkley Crowe, we’ve been practicing social distancing for years and will continue. We hope and pray you’ve been doing well during this crisis. We’ve learned a lesson in what’s really important — take time to appreciate what we have! Coronavirus or not, the flowers will still come up in the Spring. I know I’ll appreciate them just a little more this year.

Stay safe, healthy and happy ... this will pass, I have faith!

Berkley Crowe

MASONRY RESTORATIONS

BETHLEHEM LUTHERAN CHURCH 340 Grand Boulevard • (847) 741-8434 pastor@blcelgin.org

Buildings Chimneys Porches Gateposts Monuments Foundations HISTORICALLY SENSITIVE MORTARS & METHODS

BerkleyCroweRestorations@gmail.com

BRAVO

14

6.5

FEED.whereisbravo EAST SIDE Baker Hill Restaurant 1279 Dundee Ave. Beef Villa 1055 Dundee Avenue Blue Kangaroo Coin Laundry 464 Summit Street Elgin History Museum 360 Park Street Elgin Public Museum 225 Grand Ave Gail Borden Public Library 270 N. Grove Avenue Jewel-Osco 1040 Summit Street Olde Towne Inn 412 Bluff City Boulevard Superior Homes Team Realty 1173 Dundee Ave. Tri-City Animal Hospital 790 Summit St.

DOWNTOWN Al’s Cafe & Creamery 43 DuPage Court Arabica Cafe* 59 Douglas Ave Associated Bank 16 N. Spring Street Blue Box Cafe 176 E. Chicago Street Centre of Elgin 100 Symphony Way Danny’s on Douglas* 231 Douglas Avenue Dog’s Paw Brewing Co. 74 S. Grove Avenue Downtown Neighborhood Assn* 31 S. Grove Avenue #100 Dream Hall at 51 51 S. Grove Avenue Elgin Antiques & Uniques 207 E. Chicago Street Elgin ArtSpace Lofts 51 S. Spring Street Elgin Art Showcase 164 Division Street Elgin Books & Coffee 66 S. Grove Ave. Elgin City Hall 150 Dexter Court Elgin Public House 219 E. Chicago Street Elgin Symphony Orchestra 20 Dupage Court Explore Elgin Area 60 S. Grove Avenue Funky Rooster Tattoo & Gallery 73 S. Grove Avenue

Hemmens Cultural Center 45 Symphony Way

Holiday Inn Express 495 Airport Road

Cleveland Veterinary Clinic 400 N. McLean Boulevard

Imago Creative Studios 216 Prairie Street

Jewel-Osco 1660 Larkin Avenue

S. Elgin Branch, Gail Borden Library 127 S. McLean Boulevard

Kellenberger Auto Service 217 Symphony Way

Judson University 1151 N. State Street

Jewel-Osco 375 Randall Road

Law Offices of Shirley Sadjadi 169 E. Chicago St.

Metra Rail Big Timber Station 2025 Big Timber Road

Stanley’s Ale House 335 N. McLean Boulevard

Mama Lee’s Gourmet Popcorn 20 S. Spring St.

Paul’s Family Restaurant 1300 Lawrence Avenue

Starbucks 338 S. Randall Road

Martini Room 161 E. Chicago St.

Presence St. Joseph Hospital 77 N. Airlite Street

EAST/WEST DUNDEE

Pastigel Bakery 154 E. Chicago St.

Sirin Dentistry 1 Crescent St.

Courtyard by Marriott 2175 Marriott Drive, West Dundee

Radio Shopping Show Redemption Center 16 Douglas Avenue

State Street Market Shops 701 N. State St.

The Dundee Depot 319 N. River St., East Dundee

Walnut Speakeasy 214 Walnut Avenue

East Dundee Village Hall 120 Barrington Ave., East Dundee

Willow Lake Estates* 161 West River Road

Emmett’s Brewing Company 128 W. Main St., West Dundee

RANDALL CORRIDOR

The Manor Restaurant 425 E. Main St., East Dundee

Razor Heads Barber Shop 18 S. Spring Street Red Poppy Bistro 109 E. Highland Avenue Rediscover Records 9 S. Spring Street Senior Services Associates 205 Fulton Street Side Street Studio Arts Gallery 15 Ziegler Court Soulful Sparrow 10 Douglas Avenue

WEST SIDE Alexander’s Cafe 1725 N. State Street Bender Dental Care 217 N. McLean Blvd.

Big Skillet Restaurant 90 Tyler Creek Plaza Big Apple Bagels* 561 N. McLean Boulevard Clean Vistas Laundromat Tyler Creek Plaza D Hangout Bar and Grill 550 S. McLean Boulevard Elgin Community College 1700 Spartan Drive Elgin Shopping Mall 308 S. McLean Boulevard Grumpy Goat Tavern 875 Sports Way Habitat for Humanity ReStore 800 N. State Street Hampton Inn 405 Airport Road Hawthorne Hill Nature Center 28 Brookside Dr. Herb’s Bakery 1020 Larkin Ave. Highland Ave Church of the Brethren 783 W. Highland Ave.

1600 Professional Building 1600 N. Randall Road 1710 Professional Building 1710 N. Randall Road Advocate Sherman Hospital 1425 N. Randall Road Candlewood Suites 1780 Capital Street Comfort Suites 2480 Bushwood Drive Jimmy’s Charhouse 2290 Point Boulevard Johnny’s Supper Club 1250 Bowes Creek Road McDonald’s 255 S. Randall Road Panera Bread 2484 North Randall Road Physician’s Immediate Care 2490 Bushwood Drive Rakow Branch, Gail Borden Library 2751 W. Bowes Road Rookie’s All-American Pub & Grill 2486 Bushwood Drive Starbucks 2480 North Randall Road Village Pizza and Pub 2496 N. Randall Road Woodman’s Market (C’Ville)* 2100 Randall Road

SOUTH ELGIN Booker’s Bar & Grill 420 N. McLean Boulevard

Midwest Retro 207 Barrington Ave., East Dundee Pampered Pet Services 1050 Dundee Ave. The Uncommon Palate 316 N. River St., East Dundee *Preferred Pickup Location Supplies are limited at these locations and may run out early in the month. If you don’t see B RAVO Magazine on display, please let management know that you saw their location listed here, and came in for a free copy!

Would you like a supply of B RAVO Magazine at your high-traffic retail of public location? Let us know!

Special perks available for sites that allow placement of our B RAVO magazine rack!

Contact us at: bravo@marqueemedia.net

BRAVO

May 2020

10% off your purchase PLUS a reusable shopping bag (while supply lasts) for one Elgin Doller!

ONE ELGIN DOLLER accepted for every $10 you spend.

800 North State Street•Elgin

Open Tuesday - Saturday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

restoreelgin.org•(847) 742-9905

ELGIN KNIT WORKS 8 Douglas Avenue • Downtown Elgin elginknitworks.com • (847) 627-6700

An Elgin Old Tyme Holiday Radio Show 3 Nov. 15-17, 22-24, 2019

Suite Surrender Jan. 24-26, 31, 2020 Feb. 1-2, 7-9, 2020

360 Park Street • (847) 742-4248 Open Wednesday - Saturday, 11am - 4pm Adults $3, Students $1, Members free

Contact us for a free quote

441 Dundee Avenue, Suite B (847) 841-8400 • www.rmailroom.com Serving All of your Printing & Mailing needs

One Elgin Doller accepted toward the purchase of any service.

Limit one per customer, per day.

217 Symphony Way • (847) 741-5457

kellenbergerauto.com

2018

AUTO SERVICE

series B

Since 1939

discount coupon

Become an Elgin Historical Society Member! www.elginhistory.org

community

Elgin History Museum

T224-5131220

Souvenir pens and mini-LED flashlights are one Elgin Doller each in our Gift Shop.

ELGIN DOLLER

Up to five Elgin Dollers accepted toward the purchase of 500 business cards (printed one side), or other job priced $29 or more. Some restrictions apply.

1020 Larkin Ave. (847) 741-0249 herbsbakery.com

monetæ

59 Douglas Avenue • (224) 227-7192 Open Weekdays 7am - 4pm Weekends 8am - 3pm

Herb’s Bakery

ars

Arabica Cafe

Do not use the Elgin Doller for tips, taxes, payroll, charitable contributions or purchases at non-participating businesses. Please remember: it’s not money, it just looks like money. Have fun!

NOT LEGAL TENDER

Coffee • Espresso • Smoothies Pastries • Sandwiches • Salads

There are no official rules for the Elgin Doller — each business decides on the terms of its use. Ask your favorite merchant if they accept the Elgin Doller.

ONE

We proudly accept the Elgin Doller!

Each month, we’ll print one Elgin Doller in BRAVO Magazine. It’s not money — it’s a coupon you can redeem toward a purchase at any one of the participating merchants whose ad appears in this section.

Cut carefully on the dotted line with a sharp scissors or hobby knife.

Remainder of 2019-2020 season postponed. www.elgin-theatre.org • (847) 741-0532

Here’s Your Allowance

Because it’s a community coupon, there is no expiration date and the coupons can be circulated and reused. Not spending your allowance this month? Clip out the Doller and save it!

One Elgin Doller is accepted on your purchase of $5 or more.

Elgin Dollers accepted at our concession area during any show in our 2019-2020 season.

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BRAVO

16

Do You Accept The Elgin Doller?

6.5

Bottled water and canned soft drinks are just one Elgin Doller each at our 2019-2020 performances.

If your business handles lots of small cash sales, you might benefit from the Elgin Doller promotion. There is no cost to participate.

One Elgin Doller accepted toward a purchase of $10 or more per guest at ...

Just tell us the terms of your offer, and we’ll supply you with a free window cling, a magnet for your point of purchase area, and a free ad in this section of BRAVO Magazine.

Train your staff on how to accept Elgin Dollers. Make sure there’s an easy way to process a transaction involving a discount.

www.independentplayers.org

The Dollers you collect aren’t worthless; they are still valid for use at any other participating merchant!

For more information, read our FAQs at marqueemedia.net/elgindollerfaqs

Now in our 21st Season

Northern Northern Illinois Illinois Hospital Hospital and and Asylum Asylum for for the the Insane Insane

Cut carefully on the dotted line with a sharp scissors or hobby knife.

XI I III VII IV IX

Payable to the Bearer on Demand

1

One Elgin Doller can be used toward the purchase of a general admission ticket during our 2019-2020 season.

1

martiniroomelgin.com

Selling your home?

Get a free expert market analysis for one Elgin Doller!

Our goal is to create interest in BRAVO, recognize Elgin’s unique culture, and stimulate local commerce in a fun, free, easy way.

#elginDoller

161 E. CHICAGO STREET

www.heartlandvoices.org

KEN

BRUDERLE

847-697-SELL

847-697-7355

www.697sell.com

Elgin Doller is good for $1 OFF a minimum $5 purchase.

Limit 1 per customer per day.

a unique boutique with a vintage soul

10 Douglas Ave. • Elgin, IL 60120 2 2 4 . 2 2 3 . 7 7 1 8 s ou lf u ls p ar row. com

One Elgin Doller accepted toward your purchase of $15 or more in preowned vinyl.

Limit one per customer per day.

New Releases Re-Releases Rare Vinyl Turntables Vintage Music

9 S. Spring St. Open Daily Mon 12-6 Tue-Sat 11-7 Sunday 11-4

www.rediscoverrecords.com

One Elgin Doller is good toward a minimum ten dollar purchase.

Limit one per customer per day.

74 S. Grove Ave. • ELGIN

BRAVO

May 2020

17

Quarantine Quarrels War it seems results from times of mandatory quarantine Or are we just finding out what’s just and right morally?

Pouring my own poison while the voices conquer more of me Life that ended morbidly mourned without a funeral Few will know the feeling because this is something new to all Cheers to something ugly that will lead to something beautiful

Andrew Moore Elgin

Grocery store aisles are taped off in 6 foot sections No two pieces can occupy the same space Hoping to land on a square with bright colored boxes Empty shelves, lose a turn Each visit is a roll of the dice I push my cart 1 space, 2 spaces Everyone watching and counting the distance between us At the register, the cashier is behind newly installed plexiglass Grim face in an orange square, but I’m just visiting I pay to move on, and the cashier asks if I’m collecting game tickets, “Are you playing Monopoly?”

I tell them that I think I just did

Ron Smalec

There has come a time In our world ... for change We have thought about it Longed for it Imagined it Yet when it descended in a way ...

Unexpected We stood still, frozen and full of fear Yet there are Angels all around You see them and you feel them They have wings and fill the room with light so bright that we have to cover our eyes You must thank them because they never stop The nurses working days and nights endlessly caring for our loved ones The doctors that treat and work and lay their heads down upon their arms in exhaustion The staff that is with our fathers, mothers, grandparents, children and friends ... when we cannot Some healing ... some being that last voice that they hear as they leave us with a final breath Healing is here Open your eyes and see the glory Do not give up or give in Be that person who is the difference that we need now in our world And remember You are not alone ...

It will be okay ... I promise

Margie Saxon Cabot Mack Hanover Park

BRAVO

18

6.5

Collage One Day

I am a pearl Peel me: I’m pearl dust

One of these days you will see, I will get organized me.

I am an onion Peel me: I’m crying

The garden hose neatly rolled Not tangled in a snaky twine.

I am a tire Peel me: I am steel-belted

My desk all neat and straight Nothing impossible to find.

I am a bell Peal me: I am a song

The dining room table will be for dining Not piles of paper for digging-- data mining.

Mary Suzanne “Blaze” Pyrek Elgin

My bed will be made right and tight Not the aftermath of a pillow fight.

Each thing will have its place, And I will glide from grace to grace.

One of these days you will see the very model of efficiency that I will be.

Susan Riddle-Mojica Elgin

Who Do I Look Like to You? Marie scolded her husband: “Will you fix that faucet? It’s been leaking all summer.”

“What? Who do I look like to you? Joe the Plumber?”

“And before you play that golf game of yours I need you to fix these cabinet doors, And tighten those table legs, too.”

“Do I look like Norm the Carpenter to you?”

But after his game, he had a change of heart.

And asked Marie just where he should start.

“No, there’s nothing left to do — Everything’s been fixed by our neighbor Lou.”

Immersion Another evening of night Drunk on something cheap Boxes of disharmony And clipped wings Shallow Panting Praying for immersion

Mary Suzanne “Blaze” Pyrek Elgin

“Oh no, Marie! That guy never does anything for free!”

“He didn’t charge anything for his repairs.

He said I could either bake him a cake — Or ... we could just go upstairs.”

“Ha! Right! So, what kind of cake did you bake for Lou?” “What? Do I look like Betty Crocker to you?”

Gary Renard Elgin

BRAVO

May 2020

My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown (To the tune of the Rolling Stone’s song “19th Nervous Breakdown”)

I’m stuck at home ‘cause there’s a little nasty bug out there, It’s silent and invisible, and yet it’s everywhere, They say it might be weeks ‘til we can leave our homes again, But I’m not sure that I can keep my sanity til then, I better stop, and look around, Here it comes, here it comes, Here it comes, here it comes, My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown, I dread the days when I will need to venture out somewhere, Someone might sneeze and then look out! there’s droplets in the air, They’re on my clothes, they’re on my hands, oh god don’t touch your face, I wipe them here, I wipe them there, but now they’re every place, I better stop, and look around, Here it comes, here it comes, Here it comes, here it comes, My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown, Oh, who’s to blame? It’s all so insane, My mom went cruising on a ship, she can’t get home ‘cause they’re all sick, Oh please....

I never heard of Zoom before, now it’s the only way, That I can see my family who live just blocks away, I haven’t grown my hair this long since 1985, No one’s around to cut it now, I hope they’re still alive, I better stop, and look around, Here it comes, here it comes, Here it comes, here it comes, My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown,

19

Oh, mercy me, when will we be free?

This house has gotten way too small, I’m close to climbing up the walls, Oh please....

I can’t get toilet paper now, so what do I do then?

I wash my hands so often now I might as well use them, My kids are learning on-line here, the first three weeks were cool, But now they’re steering clear of me and wish they were at school, I better stop, and look around, I know I should stop writing now, I’m blearyeyed and faint, I have the choice to take a nap, or go upstairs and paint, Each day just rolls into the next, It’s Groundhog Day again, It’s not intense, it’s just not knowing when this thing will end, I better stop, and look around, Here it comes, here it comes, My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown, My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown.

Jeff Grosser Elgin

I miss the sound of the tram bell There’s no one to ring it for Reminds me of SARS that killed the crows And stopped their song A silence of loss Yet ...

A crow flies by, lands on the roof below and caws.

Marcia Bradsher Gutierrez Elgin

20

Fri.May.1 Elgin Community College Noncredit, Online Courses Elgin Community College’s Continuing Education Department has partnered with online education provider ed2go to offer over 600 low cost, noncredit online courses that are either “instructor-led” or “self-paced”. Courses start around the 15th of each month. Students register and pay directly through the ECC-ed2go website. Please browse the online course catalog, choose your course and section, pay and you are ready to begin these noncredit courses on the section’s start date.

Registration is available 24/7. Online 847.622.3036 www.ed2go.com/elgincc. Various Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning.

11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden. info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@ gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free

BRAVO espanol como primer idioma. Dirigido por Tina Viglucci y Nohora Chacon. For this reunion Online we will be using the application Zoom. If you would like participate send us your email or phone number to give you the zoom ID number to join us. If you have any questions contact us via e-mail: biblioteca@ gailborden.info 12p-1p, GBPL Virtual Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@ gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free

6.5 Chamber Music Mini-Concert: Kelly Langenberg, Horn With social distancing and shelter-in-place orders in place, music lovers are left with no live performances to attend and musicians have been cut off, not only from their ability to share their passion and their music, but also a substantial amount of their income. That’s why Chamber Music on the Fox has introduced online mini-concerts: a series of very short (5-15 minute) performances that are live-streamed from each musician’s home and that benefit the artists directly. 7p, Live stream fb.com/ ChamberMusicOnThewFox chambermusiconthefox. com. Donation

Tue.May.5 Storytime Youth - English Online programming

Stop the Spread of Germs Help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases like COVID-19.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Shelter In Place Theatre: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Part 1 Reserve your seat on the couch for the next two Fridays as SIP Theatre presents a free reading of Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill. The reading features Jake Busse, RJ Cecott, Annie Slivinski, John Westby and Tara Morrison. This play portrays a family in a ferociously negative light as the parents and two sons express accusations, blame, and resentments paired with pathetic and self-defeating attempts at affection, encouragement, tenderness, and yearnings for things to be otherwise. Long Day’s Journey Into Night, often numbered on the short list of the finest American plays of the 20th Century, was written in 1940. No doubt due to the revelations about his family, O’Neill requested that the play remain hidden for 25 years after his death. . 7p, Live stream fb.com/SIPTheatre. Free

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Sat.May.2 Family Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 1p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free

Mon.May.4 Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning.

11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden. info. Free Spanish Cafe / Conversation Group Online Intermediate-level participants will practice structured and spontaneous conversations in Spanish. If you would like to participate contact us at biblioteca@ gailborden.info. https://gailborden.libnet.info/images/pdfs/gailborden/Maneje_la_ansiedad_y_el_estres.pdf Participantes de nivel intermedio practicaran respondiendo o empezando conversaciones en espanol con fluidez y hablando con gente que habla

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

When in public, wear a cloth face covering over your nose and mouth.

Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care.

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

cdc.gov/coronavirus 316351-A April 7, 2020 9:58 AM

BRAVO

May 2020

21

to participate send us your email or phone number to give you the zoom ID number to join us. If you have any questions, contact us via e-mail: biblioteca@gailborden.info Led by teacher Betty Martinez. 5p-6p, GBPL Virtual B R A N D

Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free

Dream Brand is a highly skilled team of professional internet marketers, designers, and web developers. This synergistic working environment creates the perfect fit to help take your brand and business where you want it to be.

CONTACT DREAM BRAND TODAY! Let us help take your dreams into reality. We offer competitive pricing for our cutting-edge web and marketing services.

Thu.May.7 subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free

Wed.May.6 Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Futuros Bilingues Online / Go Bilingual Group Online Estudiantes de todos los niveles practicaran con otras personas que hablan espanol o ingles como primer idioma a traves de Zoom. Para participar contactanos a biblioteca@gailborden.info El grupo se reúne los miercoles a traves de Zoom. Para participar contactanos a biblioteca@gailborden.info o envianos un número telefonico y nosotros te proporcionamos el Zoom ID para que participes. Asi mismo si necesitas asistencia para participar o acceder a Zoom contactanos. Dirigido por Betty Martinez.Learners of all levels practice a new language with native English and Spanish speakers. If you would like to participate contact us at biblioteca@gailborden. info Group meets Wednesdays. For Online reunion we will be using the Zoom application. If you would like

Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Sonidos del Ingles / Sounds of English Reconoce los sonidos del ingles, practica pronunciarlos, y aprende a diferenciarlos al escucharlos. Esta clase por Zoom te servira para mejorar tu pronunciacion y entendimiento del ingles hablado. El grupo se re√∫ne a traves de Zoom. Para participar contactanos a biblioteca@gailborden. info o envianos un n√∫mero telefonico y nosotros te proporcionamos el Zoom ID para que participes. Asi

Please verify that your event of interest will be held as listed here. During COVID-19, everything is subject to change.

Learn more at

www.YourDreamBrand.com/guide 866.341.2403 | info@DreamHUBinc.com

FREE NEWSPRINT AVAILABLE Uncirculated BRAVO Magazines, in bundles of about 50

12 x 21” (unfolded) sheets are great for: • dropcloths for painting and art projects • bird cage liners and puppy training • lightweight packing material for shipping • starting fires in your fireplace or fire pit • keeping warm when sleeping outside

Contact: bravo@marqueemedia.net

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BRAVO

6.5

Fri.May.8 Dinosaur Dance Party Join Cindysarus & Katiesaurus for a dino disco dance party! We will read stories, sing songs, & dance the morning away!

Participants will be able to dance & sing from their homes. Best for ages 3-10. This event will be held live using an online meeting platform, Zoom.

Once you have registered in this

mismo si necesitas asistencia para participar o acceder a Zoom App contactanos. Con la maestra Claudia Heinrich. Recomendado para nivel intermedio. Recognize the sounds of English, practice how to pronounce them, and learn to differentiate them by listening to them. We will emphasize the sounds of vowels. This free class will help you improve your pronunciation and understanding of spoken English. To participate send us your email or phone number to give you the zoom ID number to join us. If you have any questions, contact us via e-mail: biblioteca@gailborden. info Led by Claudia Heinrich. Recommended for intermediate level. The class will be virtually via Zoom. 7p8p, GBPL Virtual

Please verify that your event of interest will be held as listed here. During COVID-19, everything is subject to change.

FEED.colorcode Bands & Music Theater & Dance Exhibits & Film Causes & Community Kids & Families Lectures & Learning Wellness & Nature Mpulse Other

Everyone’s an Artist. Art is Powerful.

So make your art now.

Stay informed . . . Learn how you can . . .

SaveDCCook.com

Suggestions ~ Visit 850 N. Grove in Elgin’s Northeast Neighborhood ASAP. That gorgeous NeoClassical building is scheduled for demolition.

We invite artists to Document Elgin’s most famous Oak, or any aspect you want to feature.

Draw century-old archtectural details. Paint a broad landscape. Capture a photo image or a video. Write a poem or story, or Assemble a collage. Discover up close what we may soon lose.

All ages welcome. Children especially! All art accepted. A Community Exhibit is planned! Why not be part of it? SaveDCCook.com will supply details, and all Actions scheduled as they develop.

Things change quickly ... stay tuned for updates!

Contributing your art will bring a special heartfelt awareness to this threat to an irreplaceable element of our heritage. ART is a powerful and effective means to state what we VALUE. And if, in spite of our efforts, Cook is taken down, at least ART will remain to honor and respect the memory of what’s been lost.

BRAVO

May 2020 calendar, please check your email on the morning of the program for a link. Please feel free to wear your dino-themed clothes! 11a-11.30a, GBPL Virtual Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning.

11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden. info. Free

23

Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free Shelter In Place Theatre: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Part 2 See 5/1. 7p, Live stream fb.com/ SIPTheatre. Free

Sat.May.9

Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@ gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free

Family Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 1p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free

Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p,

Juntos aprendemos En este curso aprenderas a utilizar la aplicacion Zoom y aprovechar al maximo todos sus recursos. Las clases son gratis y abiertas

11.13.19

MARQUEE MEDIA

BRAVO A Year-Long Advertising Plan For ...

UNDER $100

UNDER $200

UNDER $350

At least 3 Eighth Page Ads during a 12-month period

At least 6 Eighth Page Ads or 3 Quarter Page Ads during a 12-month period

At least 6 Quarter Page Ads or 3 Half Page Ads during a 12-month period

For casual advertisers who want some regular exposure for a general message, we now offer plans for a year’s worth of advertising for one low fixed price.

You supply us with a generic ad (or we’ll help you create one), and we’ll print it a minimum number of times in BRAVO, according to space availbility from month to month.

Package Deal Rules • Your ad will appear in print at least the number of times provided for by your deal, during a 12-month period.

• BRAVO will choose which months or editions in which your ad appears.

• Your ad must remain the same for the entire period.

• You’ll receive one invoice at the beginning of your term, payable within 30 days.

Grupo de Mujeres y Jovenes con Proposito Online Disfruta de un tiempo especialmente para ti. Vamos a conocernos mejor con el juego Today’s Inspired Latina, hacer una actividad de relajamiento e informarnos. Disfruta de un tiempo especialmente para ti y comparte con otras personas! Vamos a conocernos mejor con el juego Today’s Inspired Latina, hacer una actividad de relajamiento e informarnos sobre un tema que nos interesa. Agenda: https://gailborden.libnet.info/images/editor/gailborden/Grupo_de_Mujeres_y_Jovenes_Agenda__2_.jpg Para que participes en esta reunion Online envianos un correo a biblioteca@gailborden.info y nosotros te enviamos tu ID Zoom. Enjoy a special time for you! You will have the opportunity to meet others, discover more about yourself with the game Today’s Inspired Latina, enjoy a relaxing art activity and learn more about important topics. If you would like to participate in this activity, send us an email at biblioteca@gailborden.info to receive your Zoom ID. 6p-7.30p, GBPL Virtual Chamber Music Mini-Concert: Jerry Loughney, Violin See 5/4. 7p, Live stream fb.com/ChamberMusicOnThewFox chambermusiconthefox.com.

Donation

2020 Package Deals

We often hear, “The only hard part about BRAVO advertising is remembering to do it.”

al publico. Maestro: Fernando Medina. Para participar contactanos a biblioteca@gailborden.info o envianos un n√∫mero telefonico y te proporcionamos el Zoom ID para que participes. Asi mismo si necesitas asistencia para participar o acceder a Zoom App contactanos. 1p-2p, GBPL Virtual

• No additional discounts are applicable on the package deal price.

• Our standard design and layout service is included at no extra charge, to help you create your generic ad.

• Additional ads are welcome throughout the term, and will be billed separately at then-current standard rates.

At Least 3 Ads At Least 6 Ads Eighth Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189.00 . Vertical:.2 .125”W.x.5 .25”H. Horizontal:.4 .5”W.x.2 .5”H. Islet:.2 .9”W.x.3 .75”H

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Mon.May.11 Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning.

11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden. info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@ gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

Free

Tue.May.12 Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning.

11a, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden. info. Free Storytime and/or Activity - Bilingual or Spanish Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 2p, Online gbplweb@ gailborden.info gailborden.info. Free Adult Program Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail Borden Public Library Facebook page each morning. 7p, Online gbplweb@gailborden.info gailborden.info.

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Wed.May.13 Storytime Youth - English Online programming subject to change. For daily schedule, visit the Gail

BRAVO

24

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“Rummage Tax” to take effect May 1 In response to business disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the new person-to-person sales tax scheduled for a 2021 start date has been activated for May 1, 2020, according to a spokesperson for the Northern Illinois Development District.

The new District, passed into law by State legislators in 2019, was created to subsidize brickand-mortar retail businesses in the nine-county Chicago-Rockford corridor with tax revenues collected on unregulated person-to-person sales.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Dawn Montalvo, chair of the Elgin Downtown Merchants Coalition during a Skype interview. “We are headed into rummage sale season, and a lot of our non-essential storefront merchants have really been hit hard by the lockdown.

They need a bailout.”

The 6.25% tax applies to all person-to-person sales transactions, including rummage sales, church bazaars, flea markets, swap meets, craft shows, farm stands, vehicle transfers, drug deals, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and all other person-to-person sales.

Sellers must register with the District and pay a fee before offering their goods, and the taxes collected from their sales are to be sent in quarterly.

Yet not all area residents are pleased with the new policy.

“If I want to sell a used snowblower for $35, first I have to register and pay the $18 fee,” grumbled east sider John Marston. “Then I have to charge the person $37.19 including tax, and send $2.19 to the State two months later. It’s insane.”

In the 2018 study done in support of the plan, economists from downstate Morton University estimated that $11 million changed hands annually in northern Illinois rummage and other person-to-person sales. At the proposed tax rate of 7.25%, it would amount to nearly $800,000 in potential revenue.

Skeptical Republicans in Springfield argued for the lower rate, and insisted that the funds be designated for small business development.

With offices in Marengo and a staff of five, the District will operate on an annual budget of $703,000, based on expected revenues from registration fees and the sales tax. Payroll and expenses are projected at $584,000, leaving just over $100,000 available for small business relief throughout the region.

“It’s about time they leveled the playing field in this State,” said Montalvo. “Rummage sales have had an unfair advantage for decades, and contributed nothing to the cost of government.”

FEED.person-to-persontax

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After May 1

Back issues of Martha Stewart Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10¢ . . . . . . . . . . . . 11¢ Two cup capacity food storage container . . . . . . . . . . 25¢ . . . . . . . . . . . 27¢ Outgrown green Care Bears® Onesie . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50¢ . . . . . . . . . . . 53¢ Electric can opener that still works . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50 . . . . . . . . . . $1.59 Ladies’ size 7 Bowling Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 . . . . . . . . . . $5.31 Student clarinet that needs cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 . . . . . . . . . $21.25 Heavy-duty grinder for automotive work . . . . . . . . . $30 . . . . . . . . .$31.88 Wurlitzer Funmaker™ organ with books . . . . . . . . . . . $90 . . . . . . . . $95.63

BRAVO

May 2020

Elgin Print Media isn’t dead, it’s

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With CPM’s under $3 and incentives for using our response marketing tools, your ad dollars will make more impressions in BRAVO Magazine than in any other media.

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Text “BRAVOMAG” to 224-704-1188 to try our response marketing solution

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Understanding the importance of working together to keep our community strong ....

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10 FREE :30-second commercials to share news, hours and opportunities during these difficult times.

Phone Leah Unser at (847) 741-7700 x104 for more information.

Working together, we are unstoppable. wrmn1410.com #workingtogether

BRAVO

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6.5

From This River Town

If I Were a Mentor to a Poet*

by Mary Ellen Goodwill Create time and space.

Have paper and pen always handy.

Journal daily, if possible.

Listen more; talk less.

Observe; try to not judge.

Respect the sunset.

Locate the moon.

sharedharvest.coop

Read The New York Times art section daily.

Practice feng shui.

Walk.

Watch a mess of foreign films.

Let writers lead you to writers.

Sunny Day Savings

Document books purchased and received; note date, place of purchase, weather, company, mood, etc.

Mark specific passages.

Dog ear.

Study the faces of the writers.

ng i c u d o Intr Sunny Day Savings

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For more information, phone the WRMN office line (847) 741-7700.

Entire certificate must be used in one visit. Not valid on internet orders or big ticket savings entries, with prizes valued over $1000. No change back. Charge & Holds must be redeemed in 6 days order will be charged in its entirety.

Photo by Martin Nobs.

Read definitive biographies and autobiographies.

Skim book reviews unless they are so well written that you enjoy them and learn from them.

Remember, Emily Dickinson’s most universal poems were based in her garden and home.

Practice a meditation technique which works for you and which you can employ virtually any where and any time.

Breathe deeply.

Love deeply. *In response to a class assignment from Jim Moore, former Minnesota Poet Laureate.

BRAVO

May 2020

27

The Inner Craft

Part One in a Series on Ritual for Artists

Repeating Yourself

by Michael J. Murschel, SD If ever there were a time when we needed hope, this is it. How do we, as artists and art aficionados, find that hope?

This is the first of three articles on finding that much-needed hope today.

Hope, I believe, can be nurtured through, of all things, repetition.

Not “repetition” in an assembly line fashion. But rather the repetition which comes through regular activities. Of which there are generally two forms: habit and ritual.

What’s the difference?

A habit is generally understood as doing something in a repeated way, with the only main objective of doing the action itself. You always put on your shoes in the same order. Your morning and evening routines are always the same. You do these things unconsciously, on automatic pilot.

And in this, there is structure to your world, and continuity, and predictability. A sense of security in knowing certain things happen in certain ways at

certain times.

A ritual is also doing something in a repeated way, but its focus is on something outside of the actions themselves. Ritual seeks to influence particular outcomes. You pray with your words ordered in a specific way. You light candles at certain times of the day, night, year. You sing, chant, invoke, supplicate, dance, recite, always in the same order.

This is personal devotion, meditation, contemplation, private or public worship, liturgy.

And in this, you provide a means through which powers and influences beyond yourself may be manifested in your life, family, community, world. The repetition of the elements of ritual are not boring, or stultifying, or mindless. That repetition, when done correctly, allows you to get through the words and actions themselves and go deeper into the fabric of the universe.

meditation, or specific prayers in religious services, the outcome is often that parting of the veil on a cosmic level, and the glimpsing of something far larger than yourself which is at work within your experience.

And while ritual also provides you with structure and continuity, predictability is a swing factor. Regardless of the zealousness of the ritual and your attitudes within it, there is no certainty that the outcome will always be the same, as in habitual activities.

But … it does provide some security for you because you have done everything possible to propitiate, supplicate, invoke, call forth, summon, and invite your hoped-for outcomes as a result of those ritual activities.

Much like repeating a mantra in

The result: Hope.

And hope is vital to these days.

art will make no difference, then why do it? But if you have that spiritually healthy attitude that art does change people and the world, then you live in the hope that everything you do as an artist in whatever discipline will, ultimately, influence and change things for the better.

Next time, we will look at how you create ritual.

Till then, stay smart, stay safe, and keep creating.

Michael J. Murschel, SD, is a Spiritual Director whose private practice focuses on the nurturing the conversation of people and groups with the workings of The Spirit, God, that Universal Power, in their lives in order to guide them to becoming all which they are created to be. His offices are located in downtown Elgin, Illinois, and he may be contacted at 224-577-8338, or by email to: michael@michaeljmurschel.com

Hope is vital to maintaining your creative engagement with yourself and your world. If your

“The true use of art is, first, to cultivate the artist’s own spiritual nature.”

George Inness: “A Painter on Painting” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, February 1878

NURTURING

MICHAEL J MURSCHEL SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

ART

224-577-8338

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INDIVIDUAL & GROUP SESSIONS | SPIRITUAL DIRECTION | GUIDED MEDITATION | WORKSHOPS | RETREATS | PROGRAMS

BRAVO

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6.5

Expression: Whose Side Are You On?

The Journey to Two Corners

by Mark Averill County lines are political boundaries, not natural ones. In the Prairie State, those boundaries generally don’t coincide with natural features, since the rivers, forests, bluffs and ravines don’t subdivide the land into manageable sizes. Politicians must do that.

Once a county is established, attention to its boundaries is relegated to lawyers, who serve the interests of property owners seeking to further subdivide the land.

parties in that era, and he found mentorship and example in Illinois’ earliest representatives in Washington: his uncle Nathaniel Pope, and Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards. They were all Republicans, abolitionists and activists for Statehood.

Cook became Illinois’ first Attorney General and second Congressman. Cook County was named in honor of him when it was separated from Putnam County in 1831 by the General Assembly.

It’s fitting therefore that Cook and Kane counties were named after lawyers and politicans.

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Kane Cook Daniel Pope Cook (17941827) was born in Kentucky and moved to Kaskaskia, one of the few pieces of Illinois land west of the Mississippi River, in 1815. His career followed a path similar to other well born frontiersmen: law studies, government appointments, newspaper publishing, and elected office.

Personal political connections were more important than

Yale alumnus Elias Kent Kane (1794-1835) came to Kaskaskia in 1814. He aligned himself with pro-slavery Democrats in the early politics of Illinois, and tried unsuccessfully to introduce slaveholding provisions into the State Constitution.

After losing an election to Congress to Daniel Cook in 1820, he was appointed the first Secretary of State and later served two terms in the U.S. Senate.

Kane County was named posthumously in his honor in

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May 2020

29

1836, when it was created from a section of LaSalle County.

State Street

Cook and Kane would have met many times in the early 1800’s, but it was nowhere near Elgin. It would have been in Kaskaskia or Edwardsville or Vandalia, places where the influential pioneer statesmen of the time gathered, and later would assemble as a legislative body.

Market Shops

In compliance with the COVID-19 mandates from Governor Pritzker and for the safety and health of customers and employees, we are following the guidelines for non-essential businesses and remain closed. Watch for our Grand Reopening coming soon!

Two Corners on Google Maps.

STAY SAFE • STAY APART The management at

Enter Glen A. Koehler and James “Pate” Phillip.

Two Corners DuPage Some of the earliest Europeans in the region were French. Some time before 1800 a trader named DuPage settled along a river somewhere between present-day Naperville and Plainfield, in Will County.

Upstream from his camp, other pioneers referred to the waterway as the DuPage River because it led to the trading post where the old Frenchman lived.

Long after he died without leaving much for a record, the name of the river was never questioned. When the Illinois General Assembly carved a section out of Cook County in 1839, they named it after the river whose east and west branches wind through the area. Though named for a river, DuPage county’s boundaries are also arbitrary and political.

DuPage would never have met Cook and Kane, and may not have lived long enough to become a legal Illinois resident, or United States citizen. But the three men’s namesakes are neighbors and there is a meeting place on the prairie near Elgin, where their legacies have touched for nearly two hundred years.

It was not possible to find GPS coordinates for the boundaries of any of the three counties published online. It seems to imply a lack of interest in precisely defining these geopolitical abstractions.

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801 N. State Street • Elgin, Illinois StateStreetMarketShopsElgin.com

When all else fails, there is Google Maps. If you zoom in enough, you can approximate the position where the corners of Cook and DuPage counties meet along a common border with Kane. If a 20th century explorer with an iPhone can get to within fifty yards of the place, surely there must be a visible marker of some sort: a fence, a sign, a stake.

Along Route 25 south of Elgin, just south of Bartlett Road, you

Beginning May 1st Soulful Sparrow will be open for sidewalk window shopping and curbside pickup Wednesdays thru Saturdays, 12-5pm. See something you like? Call the shop at 224-223-7718 and we’ll bring it out to you. Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates!

30

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6.5

legacies now meet here in this field, along with Cook’s and Kane’s, marked by this herringbone stitched symbol of great American rivalries: pitchers and batters; Republicans and Democrats; natives and foreigners.

will find Glen A. Koehler Fields, the home of the Bartlett Little League, at 2255 Southwind Boulevard.

On a Saturday in April, the place should be full of activity: kids and coaches, moms and dads, cars, coolers, and lots and lots of baseballs. Saturdays in a pandemic are different.

Two men are performing maintenance on a dugout at the south end of the complex; a single woman is crossfit training near the concession stand; a couple walk a dog past a sign prohibiting dogs in the park.

Looking northeast into Cook County.

But like the old baseball, this season is probably a lost one; there are no bases on the empty infields. For now, only the ghosts of previous games can play along the invisible baselines and around the four unmarked corners. a nearby Cook County subdivision form a corner a few hundreds away to the northeast.

A treeline runs east and west, marking the edge of James “Pate” Phillip State Park, formerly known as Tri-County State Park.

Alternately scanning your iPhone map and looking at the ground, you criss-cross a 100 square foot section of tall, dead, muddy grass until you find it: Two Corners, marked by a lost baseball.

There’s another ghost here, of the man who did nothing to earn the honor of lending his name to a county: DuPage. So little is known of him, he may have been no more than a legend. His territory was marked only by natural boundaries: the seasons, the elements, fur, fish and fowl. He had no address.

The Native Americans he must have known preferred to name places for their natural characteristics, and not men. Channahon means “meeting of the waters.” Mokena means “mud turtle.” Minooka means “good land.” DuPage would have liked the Two Corners address of “Southwind Boulevard.”

As DuPage, Cook, and then Kane finished their lives’ journeys in the New World, Baseball was just beginning its own evolution in becoming America’s national sport, beset with conflicts, scandals, racism, and the politics of honorary names.

The GPS coordinates lead you down a blacktop-paved path between two empty ball fields, past a lonely bullpen where a home plate sits helter-skelter on a damp, faded batter’s box. It points like a compass toward Two Corners.

Looking northwest into Kane County.

This Spring at Two Corners, Baseball is being beaten by a force of Nature, and the Tri-County ghosts are the only ones meeting at this meeting place, though most of them never played the game. —MA

Glen A. Koehler was a Bartlett real estate agent, President of the Village for eight years, and later the owner of the Country Keg Bar & Grill in Wisconsin Dells. He passed away in 1998.

At the eastern edge of the sports complex, in the shadow of the overhead lights, beyond the home run fence and the empty scoreboard, the mowed lawn gives way to a few acres of wild prairie grass. There is no sign post out here.

But it must be the place. The homes of

James “Pate” Phillip of Wood Dale was a powerful, outspoken Republican in state politics for over twenty years, who retired in 2003. He was influential in establishing the first State Park in DuPage County, which now bears his name.

Their careers were full of competition, sometimes friendly, sometimes not. If Koehler and Phillip never met in real life, their

Looking southwest into Kane County.

BRAVO

May 2020

31

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