Wednesday Journal 110123

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November 1, 2023 Vol. 44, No. 18

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From janitor to middle-school classroom Reardon teaches his eighth-grade students to never give up

By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter

You don’t always get it right the first time around, and that is okay. That is the lesson former janitor turned eighth grade social studies teacher Keith Reardon wants to teach his students at Percy Julian Middle School.

“My first go around for college was a failure and that is okay,” Reardon said. “It is important to tell my students that it is okay to fail but it is never okay to give up.

You can fail but it teaches you a lesson. Life is all about failures. It is the journey, the obstacles, that is what makes everything great.”

Reardon, 35, grew up in Oak Park and attended Brooks Middle School and Oak Park and River Forest High School. He set foot into the halls of Julian Middle School, on Ridgeland Avenue, for the 2023-24 school year as a first-year teacher upon completion of his degree from Dominican University in River Forest.

While Reardon comes from a family of educators,

Avenue upgrade The Hemingway District is about to get a facelift REPORT BY ERIKA HOBBS PAGE 15 DESIGNWORKSHOP/VILLAGE OF OAK PARK

Rendering of the viaduct looking north

See REARDON on page 16

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Make a Difference in the Health of Our Community Join RUSH Oak Park Hospital’s Community Engagement Council and help us improve the health and well-being of our community. We’re looking for passionate, engaged people from Oak Park and surrounding communities who want to provide input and feedback on important local health issues.

Visit rush.edu/rophcec to learn more about responsibilities and eligibility requirements — and to submit an application.

Apply to be a member of the RUSH Oak Park Community Engagement Council today!

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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OPRF ratings drop a level as racial disparities in test scores persist School report card shows drop in freshmen on track in first year of Honors for All

By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter

Exemplary no more, at least for this year.

That’s the verdict of the recently issued Illinois School Report Card as Oak Park and River Forest High School’s summative designation on the state issued school report fell to the commendable category this year from the exemplary designation the school achieved last year. Only the top 10% of public high schools in Illinois, as measured by the state, receive the coveted exemplary rating. Most Illinois schools are ranked commendable. The summative ranking is based on a variety of factors including graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, proficiency in ELA and math, 9th grade on track and the number of students responding to a school climate survey.

OPRF Superintendent Greg Johnson said the biggest reason that OPRF did not merit the exemplary classification this year was because 2023 was the first year that OPRF’s English Language Learner subgroup, that’s students for whom English is not their first language, was large enough to be factored in OPRF’s state rating.

“That’s a population that historically has not been a large one in our school and it’s one that we have to make sure that we’re doing a really good job of serving,” Johnson said. “Honestly that is the biggest difference and if that shift hadn’t occurred, we absolutely would have been in the same status we were a year ago of exemplary and so we need to make sure that we’re really focusing on those kiddos.”

More troubling than the drop to commendable was that the school report card indicates that the gap between Black and white students at OPRF remains large and grew last year. In English Language Arts (ELA) the gap, as measured by the performance of juniors on the state mandated SAT exam, grew to 62 points as nearly 77% of white students at OPRF met or exceeded the state’s proficiency standard compared to just 16% of Black students. That gap

JAVIER GOVEA

increased by nine points from 2022. In math the gap did not grow nearly as much inching up to 52 points in 2023 from 49 points in 2022.

“Definitely, definitely a concern, there’s no other way to look at that,” Johnson said. “But I think that the major program that we’ve have to kind of address those gaps, specifically with our curriculum effort, are going to take time. There’s going to need to be some time before we can see the benefits of that work.”

There was some good news. The gap between white and Hispanic students at OPRF shrank considerably last year. In ELA the gap between Hispanic and white students dropped to 25 points, down from 37 points in 2022. In math the gap between white and Hispanic students dropped by 10 points, from 32 points in 2022 to 22 points in 2023.

“That’s a good sign,” Johnson said.

Some 16.2% of Black students at OPRF were classified as proficient in ELA by the state compared to 76.7% of Asian students, 76.5% of white students, and 50.5% of Hispanic students. The state defines proficiency in ELA as scoring 540 or higher on the evidence-based reading and writing portion of the state mandated SAT exam that all Illinois public school juniors are required to take.

In math only 10.9% of Black OPRF students reached the state proficiency level, a 540 score on the SAT math section, compared 39.4% of Hispanic students, 62.4% of white students, and 76.7% of Asian students at OPRF. The Illinois proficiency standards are the fourth tough-

est in the nation according to Tony Sanders, the state superintendent of education.

OPRF students as a whole significantly outperformed state averages. Overall, 60.7% of OPRF juniors last year met the state standard in ELA while 50.1% did so in math.

Statewide only 34.6% of students met the proficiency standard in ELA while just 26.9% did so in math.

But while white students at OPRF students significantly outperformed other white students statewide, Black students at OPRF only barely outperformed the statewide average for Black students.

Low-income students at OPRF struggled. Only 19.4% of low-income students at OPRF met the state proficiency standard in ELA and just 10.9% did so in math.

OPRF’s freshman on track, or the percentage of freshmen who finished their freshman year with no more than one semester grade of F in a core class, dropped to 88.1% last year from 90.8% in 2022. That drop comes in the first year of the school’s new Honors for All freshman curriculum which got rid of the College Prep level of classes for most freshman core classes and put most students in Honors freshman classes. The percentage of Black OPRF freshmen on track fell more than five percent dropping to 73.1% last year compared to 78.8% in 2022.

“I don’t know that we can say that what we see in this very year is specifically singular to that freshman curriculum,” Johnson said. “It’s something that we’re going to have to take a close look at and study over time.”

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

TechGirlz: Programming Edison Robots

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

BIG WEEK November 1-8

Thursday, Nov. 2, 4-6:30 p.m., Oak Park Public Library, Main Library For girls in grades 5-8 who have a passion for robots.

The star of this show is Edison, a LEGO-compatible robot. Inexpensive and easy to program, they can be coded with Code Blocks, Scratch, or Python. In this workshop, students will have the opportunity to learn to program it. Register at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake Street, Oak Park.

Film Screening & Discussion: ‘The Right to Read’ Monday, Nov. 6, 6:30-9 p.m., Oak Park Public Library, Main Library The Right to Read celebrates the joys of literacy. An NAACP activist, a teacher, and two American families are shown in this one-hour movie, fighting to provide our youngest generation with the ability to read.

Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake Street, Oak Park.

■ Send details to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, 60302 ■ Email calendar@wjinc.com

Sunday, Nov. 5, 8 p.m., FitzGerald’s Veteran bluesrocker in the Stevie Ray Vaughan/Joe Bonamassa vein makes a rare club appearance. $3040, 6615 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn.

Jenny & the Mexicats Saturday, Nov. 4, 8 p.m., Distro Music Hall This muticultural band uses traditional flamenco as a jumping-off point for other styles, including everything from rock to reggae. $35, 6815 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn.

Mindfulness Monday

The Revolutionists

Friday, Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m., Madison Street Theater This is a Black Box theater production of a play by Lauren Gunderson.

Directed by Rachel Pospisil. $25, 1010 Madison Street, Oak Park.

Listing your event Wednesday Journal welcomes notices about events that Oak Park and River Forest groups and businesses are planning. We’ll work to get the word out if you let us know what’s happening by noon Wednesday a week before your news needs to be in the newspaper.

Walter Trout

A Taste of Love With Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies Wednesday, Nov. 8, 7-8 p.m., virtually through Illinois Libraries Present Maya Camille Broussard, star of Netflix’s Bake Squad, and owner of Chicago-based Justice of the Pies, will demonstrate on video how to bake the ultimate Thanksgiving pie. She will discuss her love of pie, as well as others who inspired her love of pie. This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries — including Oak Park Public Library — offering premier events. Register now at bit.ly/ILP_Maya-Camille.

Monday, Nov. 6, 3-6 p.m., Oak Park Public Library, Main Library This monthly outreach program speaks directly to middle and high school students coming to terms with stress and anxiety. The program offers mental health resources, mindfulness activities, and self-management strategies. For grades 9-12.

Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake Street, Oak Park.

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

River Forest to remove North Ave. barricades

By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter

It’s back to the drawing board for members of the River Forest Traffic and Safety Commission regarding efforts to address cut-through traffic in the northeast corner of the village.

Officials voted last week to follow the recommendations of the commission to remove controversial temporary barricades at the intersections of North Avenue at Clinton Place and Bonnie Brae Place.

In addition, officials voted to authorize Thomas Engineering Group of Oak Brook to perform additional traffic counts and speed studies on Jackson Avenue, Monroe Avenue, William Street, Clinton and Bonnie Brae north of LeMoyne Street. The traffic counts and speed studies also were recommended by the commission although officials added Jackson to the list of streets at the village board meeting.

Thomas Engineering was hired in October 2022 to conduct a village-wide traffic study for $98,644. The cost of performing the additional traffic counts and speed studies was estimated at $6,194, but that amount does not include adding Jackson to the list of streets to be studied.

The vote to remove the barricades and authorize the additional traffic study was 5-1 with the negative vote cast by Trustee Erika Bachner, who supported leaving the barricades at North and Bonnie Brae in place.

Before the board discussion, 10 residents commented on the proposed changes, most of whom supported removing the barricades.

Village board members and commission members have been wrestling with residents’ complaints of cut-through traffic from North and Harlem Avenue in the northeast corner for the village for years.

In October 2022, the village board authorized modifications to address those concerns. Implemented in late November and early December 2022, the changes affected LeMoyne, Bonnie Brae, Clinton, William and Greenfield.

In April, the village board voted to undo changes to Greenfield and LeMoyne streets at Harlem, adjusting barricades to allow southbound traffic on Harlem to turn right

onto westbound LeMoyne and right on westbound Greenfield. The changes also restored two-way traffic on LeMoyne and Greenfield west of Harlem. The two streets had been one-way eastbound from the alley west of Harlem to Harlem.

In August, officials voted to convert the intersection of Clinton and LeMoyne to a four-way stop; convert the intersection of Bonnie Brae and Greenfield to a threeway stop; and install stop signs and seasonal speed bumps in the alleys between Harlem and William and from Greenfield to North. They also voted to replace plastic barricades at the intersections of Harlem with LeMoyne and Greenfield with permanent installations.

At the Oct. 23 meeting, Trustee Bob O’Connell praised the commission members for their efforts and thanked residents for expressing their opinions on the matter at numerous commission meetings and village board meetings.

“Let’s take the information and see where we land,” he said.

In response to a question from O’Connell, village Administrator Matt Walsh said the barricades at the two North Avenue intersections would be removed this week. After waiting three weeks for drivers to adjust to the changes, the traffic study will be conducted over a three-day period, he added.

Walsh said he estimated the results of the study would be available in late November.

Regarding the issue of truck traffic raised by village President Cathy Adduci, Walsh explained that trucks are not allowed on certain village streets by ordinance, but streets could be added. Trustee Katie Brennan suggested that the commission study the issue.

In response to a question from Brennan, Walsh said obtaining data from a new traffic study would be preferred over using data from previous studies because the new data would reflect the changes that were made.

Regarding the issue of parking on residential streets by employees and customers of businesses on North Avenue raised

by Trustee Lisa Gillis, Walsh said limiting parking to residents only would be possible.

In response to a question from Trustee Ken Johnson, Walsh said the time of year would affect the study, which is why it needs to be completed before winter.

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

Tasting & Talking: Using delicious food and engaging stories to learn more about estate planning

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Oak Park Library honors Dia de Los Muertos with a public ofrenda Community members have until November 4 to view the community ofrenda

By HECTOR CERVANTES Contributing Reporter

Is estate planning on your to-do list?

Have you put it off for far too long?

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Tuesday, November 7 • 7:30pm Meeting Room/Dole Center 255 Augusta St • Oak Park To RSVP contact Theresa Clancy at: theresa.clancy@theresaclancylaw.com 708-819-1580

The Oak Park Public Library has created an ofrenda for the community to honor their loved ones for Dia De Los Muertos.

Community members are invited to share images of their loved ones who have passed away and are on display in the Idea Box located just inside the entrance of the main library at the Oak Park Public Library. The ofrendas are on display until Nov 4.

An ofrenda is an altar, built to honor lost loved ones. Offerings are put on the ofrenda to help people to remember, learn about, and honor the lives of those who have passed away.

The main purpose of the Idea Box, according to the Oak Park Public Library is designed both for and with the community to empower voices and to provide historically, intentionally, and traditionally marginalized people groups a unique public space to create, to inform, to build, to share, and to be.

Oak Park’s Public Library Latine Language and Culture Librarian Nora Sanchez served as the leader for the community ofrenda.

Sanchez said someone came up to the front desk the other day and asked about the significance of the ofrendas on display and they noted how there are some elements of Mexico.

“I explained how Dia De Los Muertos is a Mexican holiday where we honor our loved ones who passed and at the same time celebrate life. It is a universal experience and I want people to feel welcome to participate in this cultural program,” Sanchez said.

The Oak Park Public Library also held an event where people can decorate and make tissue marigolds.

Marigolds, prized for their vibrant color and powerful aroma, are said to lure the souls of the deceased to the ofrendas made

for them. Families would frequently throw marigold petals from their front doors to the ofrenda waiting inside the home.

“In years past we also had this program and it is just a lovely way for families to partake in Dia De Los Muertos by making a craft for their altars and ofrendas,” Sanchez said.

The Oak Park Public Library also collaborated with the Día de los Muertos in Oak Park and River Forest group, Quetzali Child Care, Unity of Oak Park, and the Oak Park Public Library by bringing the community together for an Aztec dance performed by the Omeyocan Dance Company on Saturday.

“I think the Omeycon Dance Company is a special group of dancers. They also talk about symbols, customs and rituals of the event. It is very educational and the families and children get to dance,” Sanchez said.

The dance was held at the Oak Park Public Library last year and moved to the parking lot of Unity Oak Park Spiritual & Family Center.

“Last year we had many responses and feedback that the room was packed, and we wanted to make sure everyone could participate. The weather cooperated this year and with all of the beautiful leaves and trees changing color we were able to experience and connect to the earth for this performance in particular,” Sanchez said.

The dance also featured a market known as a mercadito, featuring a variety of handcrafted treasures from local vendors selling cempasuchitl (marigolds) and pan de muerto (bread of the dead). Community members were also able to get their faces painted.

“The thought behind the marketplace was to curate it since it was a Dia De Los Muertos celebration. If community members are looking to create their own ofrendas, they can purchase it here. There were sugar skulls as well,” Sanchez said.

The ofrendas up on display at the Oak Park Public Library have received praise in the community.

“I had two people express to me their gratitude for having tis space and opening up in See OFRENDA on page 8

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Lincoln, Willard earn ‘exemplary’ ratings on state report card Roosevelt earned a ‘commendable’ score

By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter

increased slightly, growing to 672 from 659 last year. Lincoln Elementary enrolled 345 students this year, while Willard Elementary enrolled 346 students. Both schools had an average class size of 19 students.

“Our schools thrive thanks to talented educators, committed staff, and inspiring school leaders. They flourish thanks to caring families who champion children’s learning, board leaders who provide strong governance, and the community who ensures our schools have the resources necessary for success,” Condon said. “Most of all, our schools excel due to our amazing students, who bring a love of learning to school each day.”

A more in-depth report

by Wednesday Journal will be coming in the following week.

River Forest School District 90 is celebrating their performance score amidst the release of this year’s Illinois Report Cards, with two schools earning a top score.

The two elementary schools in the district, Lincoln and Willard Elementary, earned “exemplary” designations, meaning the school performed in the top 10% of schools statewide with no underperforming student groups.

Roosevelt Middle School earned a “commendable” rating, a score given to schools in Illinois that English language arts had no underperforming and math student groups, a graduaBoth elementary schools tion rate higher than 67%, surpassed the state’s averand whose performance age proficiency scores. is not in the top 10% of Willard Elementary scored schools statewide.

DR. ED CONDON a 67.8% compared to the “We celebrate these sumSuperintendent of D90 state’s average of 49.8%. mative designations beLincoln Elementary also cause of what they represhowed improvement, sent,” said Dr. Ed Condon, increasing their score by superintendent of D90.

5.2% from the previous “Extraordinary teaching year, scoring a 65.8%. and learning across our In math, Lincoln scored school community.”

71%, an 18.9% increase For the most part, the over 2022.

Willard scored 62.2%, a big imdistrict saw scores surpassing those of the provement over last year. In contrast, the state’s average, which validated the community’s belief that D90 provides a great state’s average proficiency rate for 2023 was education for River Forest families. While 49.7%. Both schools easily surpassed that.

Roosevelt Middle earned a 52.9% prooverall the district has seen a decrease in ficiency score for 2023, a slight decrease enrollment, it is still maintaining healthy numbers and a steady demographic rate. from 2022 at 54.5%. The middle school still However, when compared to state’s per- outperformed the state’s proficiency rate centages, D90 has fewer Black and Hispanic for the past two years, which were 49.8% in students, while reporting a higher district 2023 and 50% in 2022.

The middle school, however, improved number of white students. their math score, receiving a 56.5% in conD90 enrolls 1,363 students across the three schools. Enrollment at Roosevelt See REPORT CARD on page 10

“Most of all, our schools excel due to our amazing students, who bring a love of learning to school each day.”

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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19th Century Club offers learning to the world with live streaming You no longer have to come in person to listen to the nonprofit’s programs

By ERIKA HOBBS Editor

Oak Park’s Nineteenth Century Charitable Association is extending the reach

of its famed programming by offering live streaming of them for the public.

The program, called the Monday Enrichment Series, offers 30 afternoon cultural programs from October to May. They are free and open to the public, although a donation is suggested.

The series stems from the nonprofit’s mission to “strengthen” the community through learning, giving, and sharing its locally landmarked building. It fulfills the

“learning” part of the mission, said Susan Roberts, chairperson of the group’s marketing committee. Programming rotates through the humanities and science. For example, last January, author and historian John Binder led a presentation on organized crime in Chicago during the Prohibition era.

Roberts said they experimented with live streaming last year and realized it worked.

People from as far as Europe tuned in.

“We like to bring people to our programs we realized now are exposing Oak Park to the world,” she said.

For those who can’t attend in person or by live streaming can watch a recording one week after the event. That recording will be listed on the association’s website.

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association is located at 178 N. Forest Ave. in Downtown Oak Park, across from Austin Gardens. Doors open Monday at 1 p.m. and programs begin at 1:15 p.m. sharp. Attendees may buy lunch there before the program and stay after for a reception. Reservations are not necessary unless lunch is purchased.

For more information, visit www.nineteenthcentury.org.

OFRENDA from page 6 the community so they can participate by leaving a butterfly on a message and submitting a photo on Saturday,” Sanchez said.

“I believe they worked in grief counseling and one of the individuals shared how this tradition for the Mexican community that we can celebrate our loved ones even if they are no longer here and having a day where everyone comes together to partake in a beautiful experience was really great,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said she is grateful how the community celebrates Dia De Los Muertos together.

“I am grateful for all of the personal mementos, photos and stories to the ofrendas and to everyone who contributed to building the ofrenda and celebrating with us.

The collective effort makes my heart sing to see so many people come together supporting and being their for one another,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez notes that loss is challenging and when people come together who are honoring their loved ones who passed on, there is a special beauty in that.

Sanchez also said she is grateful for Quetzali’s founder Alma Martinez, who created a Facebook group called Dia de los Muertos in Oak Park and River Forest for the community.

“I think part of the work for the library is it is a cultural hub and we want to celebrate diverse cultural practices so that we collaborate with local community groups and in this way we brought this day to life,” Sanchez said.

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Library hosts program to engage ‘girlz’ in tech Middle-school girls will learn how to program Edison robots

By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter

Middle-school girls interested in STEM: The Oak Park Public Library will be hosting an event with TechGirlz Thursday for girls who want to learn how to build robots.

As part of the workshop, participating girls will learn how to program Edison, a LEGO compatible robot, using EdScratch to navigate obstacles through a maze, said Amy Hofmockel, creative technology librarian at OPPL, adding that robot-centered programs are popular.

TechGirlz is run by CompTIA Spark, a nonprofit and social extension of CompTIA — a nonprofit trade association that offers technology industry certifications — that works to directly fund and provide program support through content and curriculum for students to gain knowledge into the world of technology.

As part of their commitment to igniting

that ‘spark,’ TechGirlz, a nonprofit program of CompTIA Spark, provides learning opportunities for girls ages 11 to 14 to engage with technology.

Gwendoline Britton, vice president of external relations for CompTIA Spark, said the goal is to unlock girls’ potential in technology.

“We want to bring high quality technical education to middle school kids,” Britton said, adding they offer both in-school and out-of-school programs. “TechGirlz really focuses on narrowing the gender gap because as we know, there are not nearly as many middle school girls interested in technology as there are young men.”

TechGirlz is the only out-of-school program offered by CompTIA Spark. It works alongside community partners, such as OPPL, to provide them with the curriculum and materials needed to host either face-toface or virtual workshops, along with providing training to volunteers. By creating

opportunities for girls to be exposed to tech outside of the classroom, Britton said, the hope would be they can see all the possibilities available in the world of technology.

“We want them to see that there are all kinds of different opportunities in the land of tech that are not necessarily sitting behind a computer and coding,” Britton said.

“We want to get them exposed to different careers so they can actually see themselves in that [field].”

The partnership between the library and TechGirlz began a few years ago through a grant used to purchase tech equipment, including Edison robots, a 3D printer, 3D pens, and a video drone, items the library could use for the program.

“When girls are allowed to have a space where they are not competing for attention, then they become much more interested in STEM projects and activities,” Hofmockel said.

For the upcoming event, the 20 Edison

robots will be used.

“The cool thing about these robots is that they come already with some preprogrammed stuff on them that allows the girls who have not been exposed to that kind of thing not be intimidated by it,” Britton said. “It gently eases the girls into exposure and to see what they can do … and it gives them the opportunity to learn how to engage and interact with the robot and use coding.”

Hofmockel calls the program “empowering” for young girls.

“You get the results right away and it makes a big impact on the girls feeling like ‘I am a programmer, I program robots,” Hofmockel said.

Registration for the TechGirlz: Programming Edison Robots event is available online at oppl.org under the events calendar.

It will be held in the Creative Studio located on the third floor of the main library, on Lake Street, on Thursday, Nov. 2.

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Former Obama campaign staffer running for Danny Davis’ seat Kouri Marshall said he’ll bring his political, nonprofit experience to the office

By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter

Kouri Marshall never held a political office before — but he’s still running on his record.

That record including work for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and work for former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin (1st) and Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Marshall also touted his work in the nonprofit sector. He serves as a director of state and local public policy for the Chamber of Progress, a trade organization for technology companies.

Marshall officially announced a run for U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’ 7th District congressional seat in August, and he argued that the fact that he was able to raise $68,258.84 as of Sept. 30, more than most other candidates in the race, speaks to his viability as a candidate.

Marshall said that he plans to bring his political and professional experience to the office and to advocate for what have already been his priorities — to bring resources to poor and otherwise disadvantaged residents in both the city and suburban parts of the district, encourage technological innovation and advocate for issues affecting health, especially women’s health. Much of his past work involved building bridges, he said, and he plans work across the aisle to make sure his priorities come to fruition.

REPORT CARD Top scores from page 7

trast to 2022’s score of 49.6%, a 6.9% increase. This year’s score was also higher than the state’s average.

After working on the Obama campaign, he served as the executive director of Democratic GAIN, a membership association for politically progressive professionals. Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in 2018 inspired him to work for the government. He worked as Boykin’s chief of staff, and served as a deputy director of executive appointments and agency personnel at Pritzker’s office throughout much of the pandemic. In between the two jobs, he co-founded ChiGivesBack, a nonprofit that organizes fundraisers for other charitable programs, including meal delivery for seniors and toy drives.

Marshall said that running for office was a logical extension of everything he’s already been doing.

“I thought — what was the next step for me, and I thought the next step for me is to elevate my community, and chase after the things I believe would make my community better,” he said. “I think, as member of Congress, I would be able to do even more.”

Marshall said that he respected Davis’ decades of service — but his campaign was about the future.

I think it’s time for the congressman to pass the torch,” he said. “There’s a strong appetite for change, and if there had not been, I wouldn’t have put a hat in the ring.”

The 2022 primary election — which, in a heavily Democratic 7th District, tends to be tantamount to general election — saw Davis face his closest challenge in decades from Austin community activist Kina Collins.

That, Marshall said, is another sign that there was an opening for him. While he said that he appreciated that Collins “shattered a glass ceiling” for Black girls, he believed that he could reach the voters she hasn’t been able to.

Chicago city treasurer Melissa ConyearsErvin officially entered the race in mid-October after months of fundraising. She is currently facing allegations that she abused the power of her office — something she denied.

Marshall said that, since none of the allegations have been proven, he would leave it to voters to make up their own minds.

“I can tell you, in terms of what I think about on a regular basis, it’s not my opponents — it’s the people who continue to struggle,” he added.

Marshall said that his major priority would be to support women’s health, whether it’s access to abortion and contraceptives or addressing the inequities in healthcare. He said that since his wife became pregnant, he became especially passionate about addressing disparities in material morality rates.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are more likely to die while pregnant and giving birth than white and Hispanic women.

“It’s alarming, to me, and that’s something where I want to advocate, not just my wife for all women [going through pregnancy and childbirth],” Marshall said. “I grew up with a strong mom, and I will say that once elected, I would be a fierce advocate for women, because my mom, my grandma and my aunts have been strong advocates for me.”

His other major priorities include supporting senior citizens, youth and teachers, and expanding affordable housing by supporting policies that would increase supply and by expanding Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers program. Marshall is also planning to work on a lingering issue disproportionately facing majority-Black communities in Chicago and the suburbs — the lack of access to fresh,

Absenteeism

eration excused absences as well as nonexcused. The district overall received a 13.4% but all schools saw an individual increase in absences.

In 2022, Roosevelt received a score of 10.9% compared with this year’s score of 16.5%.

The score for absenteeism also increased for Lincoln, which earned a 9.5% score, compared to 2022’s 7.3%. Willard’s 10.8% rate is a jump up from the previous year’s 7.5%.

Despite being under the state’s chronic absentee score of 28.3%, Roosevelt Middle saw an increase in their “chronic absentee” score from 2022 to 2023. According to the Illinois Report Card website, the state defines “chronic absentee” as a student who misses 10 percent of school days within an academic year, which is 18 days of an average 180-day calendar school year. This also takes into consid-

KOURI MARSHALL healthy food.

Marshall said that, through it all, he plans to continue doing something that he’s already been doing — “building bridges.” For example, he said, as a Black man, he tends to get nervous when a police car passes him as he drivers — but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to improve community-police relationships by introducing officers to families living in “the impoverished part of our community.”

If elected, Marshall said that he would work with any U.S. representative who shares his priorities.

“I’m going to work across the aisle,” he said. “I want to work with anyone in Congress who’s willing to work with me to help my community.”

According to FEC filings, Collins raised $49,819.41 and Conyears-Ervin raised $383,000 as of Sept. 30, which, Marshall argued, bodes well for his campaign.

“We’re exactly where we want to be, and ever closer in getting the seat,” he said.

“If anything, I would actually add that my fundraising numbers demonstrate and say there’s a number of people [who don’t support other candidates]. I did it all based on strength and grit, and that’s the kind of Congressmember I’m going to be when I’m elected.”

Retention rate for teachers Following the pandemic, the education sector saw higher rates of burnout among teachers, which led to larger spikes in the number of educators leaving the field. Despite that increasing trend, which has continued into 2023, D90 scored a 91% in teacher retention in the district. That figure is calculated by the average for a three-year percentage of teachers who return to work at the same school.

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

11

OPRF seeks part-time culinary arts teacher

Cooking and baking, a pandemic leftover, apparently is popular among teens

By JAMES PORTER Contributing Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School is currently looking for a part-time teacher in culinary arts.

Skills that would be covered include culinary math/measuring, safety and sanitation practices, knife skills, baking and pastry, and related culinary topics. No teacher’s certificate is required.

According to Semaj Coleman, Fine & Applied Arts Division head, “we have so many student requests for these culinary positions that we have more classes than

we have teachers to teach the classes.

Teachers can only teach a certain amount of classes.” Coleman attributes the sudden interest in cooking to the pandemic, and the year-long quarantine that came along with it. “I think when we were all forced to be home, a number of us tried to come up with different things that piqued our interest,” Coleman said.

“A lot of people wanted to take up knitting, a lot of people wanted to be part of book clubs and things of that nature. I really do think that a lot of our students, as well as other people in our community, decided to take up cooking as a means to develop a habit during the pandemic when everybody was locked in their houses. The passion that they have for cooking has stuck with them.”

The culinary arts are part of a larger program that includes other ambitious subjects, including baking and pastry, global foods, and in what Coleman termed

“a crossover between culinary and physical education,” a class devoted to fitness and foods.

Coleman stressed that the new addition would be joining a distinguished staff.

“We’re looking for a high-quality individual to work with the professionals that we already have. They do amazing things, I see it on a daily basis, I think our com-

munity sees it, our school board and our administration staff sees it. We’re looking for someone that could match the energy, match the expertise that we have.”

Applicants are required to have four years (or 8,000 hours) in a culinary field.

For more information contact Semaj Coleman at scoleman@oprfhs.org or 708434-3257.

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CPS principal to be assistant principal at OPRF High School David Narain was formerly OPRF principal’s boss

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Academic performance has been low at Hirsch. According to the latest school report card, the graduation rate at Hirsch was only 34%. Only 9% of Hirsch students met proficiency standards in English Language Arts, 10% did so in science and just 4% in math.

Narain earned a bachelor’s degree in math with a minor in secondary education

Oak Park and River Forest High School once again has an assistant principal for operations.

On Oct. 12 the OPRF school board unanimously approved hiring David Narain, who had been the principal of Hirsch High School in Chicago to the position replacing Carla Williams who resigned at the beginning of the school year.

Narain was chosen from a field of 29 applicants for the position.

“David Narain joins us from Chicago Public Schools with an extensive administrative background,” said OPRF Principal Lynda Parker in an email. “He has great knowledge of the needs associated with high school building operations and experience implementing schoolwide reLINKEDIN storative justice practices.

Both of these skills along with David Narain his student-centered, systems thinking will be of benefit to from the University of Illinois in 2000. In our entire school community.”

Parker once worked with Narain at King 2006, Narain earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration College Prep High School in Chicago, from Northeastern Illinois University. He where he served as principal beginning in earned a doctorate in education, special2013l. She was an assistant principal. izing in urban education and leadership, Narain’s first day on the job at OPRF was Oct. 23. Narain could not be reached from UIC in 2020.

Narain began his career as a math teachfor comment by publication. According er. He taught for seven years rising to the to his LinkedIn profile, Narain had been post of math department chairman before a principal since 2013. He has spent his being appointed to be an interim principal entire career working for the Chicago at King College Prep High School in 2013.

Public Schools. Hirsch is a large neighHe was in his sixth year as the principal at borhood school on the south side of Hirsch before taking the job at OPRF. Chicago in the Chatham neighborhood.

Narain will be paid $103,173.08 for the The enrollment at Hirsch has fallen to rest of the school year, which is prorated just 78 students, according to the latest from an annual salary of $145,000. school report card.

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

13

ART BEAT

When youth takes wing

By DOUG DEUCHLER Theater Critic

Oak Park Festival Theater has mounted a strong, energetic production of Beth Hyland’s Seagulls, an indie-rock musical adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s 1895 Russian play.

The plot now focuses on four college students who are about to compete in a battle of the bands. Love, of course, overlaps.

The production is performed at the 1897 Pleasant Home, the play’s historical contemporary, located at Pleasant & Home.

Seagulls are free and supposedly fearless. So are the young characters in this play, but perhaps not completely. The actors each play instruments and sing. The score makes for pleasant listening.

Rebecca Willingham deftly directs her four actors: Ryan Kirby, Veronique Le, Aurora Penepacker, and Julio Cesar Gutierrez.

The updated play has been shifted from late 19th-century Russia to the contemporary university world. While the play features plenty of humor, the plot also illustrates the pain of love and the restless isolation facing artists.

The characters are very relatable. Ryan Kirby plays a songwriter who fears he may never live up to his pop diva mom and her songwriting boyfriend.

The dialogue is often both sad and funny at the same time. These college students and their conflicts vividly illustrate what it’s like to be young. This is especially effective when the musicians are on the phone with their parents. We get sudden insight into their backgrounds.

The music is fun, providing the plot with a solid contemporary mood and tone. The score makes this a warmly appealing show, which is not what one naturally expects from a production based on a Chekhov play.

Jonathan Berg-Einhorn’s scenic design utilizes the intimate Pleasant Home performance space. The rear wall is nearly covered with album covers and celluloid records.

The musical adaptation of Beth Hyland’s Seagulls has wide appeal. Although some of the dialogue is mature in content, there is never anything offensively vulgar. This is a show that can be enjoyed by high school students on up.

Performances of “Seagulls” run through Nov. 19 at Pleasant Home. Performances are Wednesdays-Fridays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m.

JOSH DARR

JOSH DARR

JOSH DARR

Veronique Le

JOSH DARR

Aurora Penepacker and Ryan Kirby in Oak Park Festival Theater’s production of SEAGULLS by Beth Hyland.

Veronique Le and Julio Cesar Gutierrez

Aurora Penepacker and Ryan Kirby

14

C R I M E

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

Early-hours Uber dropoff leads to robbery An Oak Park resident was the victim of an aggravated robbery on Oct. 17 at approximately 4:30 a.m. The female resident exited an Uber when a male subject exited a dark tinted sedan and approached her with his hand in his pocket and stated, “don’t move.” The man took a Coach wallet, a lunch bag and a water bottle before fleeing in the sedan, which was occupied by two other subjects. The vehicle fled southbound on Austin Blvd. then westbound on Madison. The estimated loss is $150.

and ran away. The men removed a crossbody bag containing a wallet with various credit cards, an Illinois driver’s license, a pair of sunglasses, Amazon headphones, an iPhone 14 Pro Max, one iPhone 13 Pro Max. The estimated loss is reported at approximately $3,000.

■ A Berwyn resident was held up at gunpoint on the 900 block of S. Austin on Oct. 22 at approximately 3:09 a.m. The victim was seated inside his Hyundai when he was approached by a Volkswagen Tiguan that drove up to the driver’s side of his vehicle. An unknown man exited the Tiguan, approaching the victim and displaying a handgun. The man demanded the victim open his door. The victim complied and was struck in the face with the handgun. An Apple iPhone 14 Pro was stolen from the car. The subject fled in the Tiguan. The estimated loss is $999.

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■ A Skokie resident was held up at gunpoint on Oct. 22, at approximately 4 a.m. on the 1000 block of S. Austin by two unknown male subjects. The reported male subjects were driving a black SUV when they pulled up to the victim’s vehicle. One of the men approached the passenger side and the second approached the driver’s door, armed with a dark colored handgun.

The man told the victim “Open the door or I’ll kill you.” The victim exited the vehicle

Burglary

■ A silver men’s Focus Varaido bicycle was stolen from the victim’s garage on the 600 block of N. Elmwood Avenue. The

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subject entered the garage via an unlocked side service door. The incident occurred on Oct. 15 between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The estimated loss is $1,000.

■ An unknown subject entered a garage, located on the 900 block of N. Euclid Avenue, and removed a red Toro lawn mower and three Chevrolet gray car rims. The incident occurred between the hours of 11:30 p.m., Oct. 19, and 11 a.m., Oct. 20. The estimated loss is reported at $600.

■ A blue torque brand unisex bicycle was stolen from a garage on the 900 block of N. Lombard between midnight, Oct. 23, and 7:57 a.m. Oct. 24. The estimated loss is $300.

■ An Oak Park business on the 700 block of Lake Street had $28,785 worth of property stolen. The incident occurred between the hours of 9 p.m., Oct. 23, and 8:15 a.m., Oct. 24. An unknown subject entered the business by unlocking the door and removed a Valo curing light, five Cavo handpieces, an ultra scaler, and three Iris X90 Final BRS cameras.

■ A green Nishiki children’s bicycle and a red Nishiki children’s bicycle were stolen from a detached garage on the 1000 block of S. Harvey Street. The incident occurred between the hours of 6 p.m., Oct. 24, and 6:30 a.m., Oct. 25. The unknown subject(s) also punctured two bicycle tires of a bike that was secured in the garage. The loss is $550.

Motor vehicle theft ■ A catalytic converter was removed with an unknown cutting tool from a black 2018 Hyundai Tucson that was parked in the 200 block of S. Oak Park Avenue. The incident happened between 1 p.m., Oct. 20, and 7:39 a.m., Oct. 24. The estimated loss is $2,000.

■ A catalytic converter was removed with an unknown cutting tool from a red 2005 Honda CRV that was parked on the 200 block of Home Avenue on Oct. 23, between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The estimated loss is $2,000.

■ The catalytic converter of a 2007 Honda CRV was stolen while it was parked in the 400 block of S. Kenilworth. The incident occurred between the hours of 5 p.m., Oct. 21, and 5:45 p.m., Oct. 24. The reported loss is $1,000.

Attempted motor vehicle theft ■ An unknown person broke into a green

Hyundai Kona parked on the 200 block of S. Austin Blvd. The incident occurred between the hours of 11:30 p.m., Oct. 14, and 1:49 p.m., Oct. 16. The vehicle was ransacked, and the steering column was damaged in an attempt to remove the vehicle.

The damage cost was unknown at the time of the police report.

■ An unidentified person shattered the rear window of a gray 2013 Hyundai parked on the 400 block of S. Grove Avenue, damaging the steering column while attempting to remove the vehicle. The incident occurred between the hours of 8:30 p.m., Oct. 19, and 7:54 a.m., Oct. 20. The estimated damage is $1,000.

■ An unknown subject broke the front passenger window of a gray 2020 Hyundai Venue parked on the first block of Harrison Street. The subject damaged the steering column in an attempt to remove the vehicle. The incident occurred on Oct. 20, between the hours of 2 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. The estimated damage is reported at $250.

Burglary to motor vehicle ■ An Apple MacBook Pro laptop was stolen from a black Chevy that was parked in the 1100 block of Ontario Street. The unknown subjects shattered the front passenger side window to gain access. The incident occurred between the hours of 4:30 p.m., Oct. 20, and noon, Oct. 22. The estimated loss is $1,000.

■ A jewelry bag containing several jewelry items was stolen out of a black Dodge Durango that was parked in the 400 block of South Blvd. on Oct. 24 between the hours of 12:20 p.m. and 1:58 p.m. The unknown subject gained entry to the vehicle by shattering the rear passenger window. The estimated loss is $18,015.

These items were obtained from Oak Park Police Department reports dated Oct. 23-29 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 Amaris E. Rodriguez

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

15

Oak Park Avenue revamp features lights, greenspaces and art Final costs for the 2025 project are expected to come under $14.5 million

By ERIKA HOBBS Editor

Oak Park Avenue is set to get a swank upgrade in 2025.

But not too swank.

Village trustees agreed last week that engineers can move forward with design plans if they come in slightly under the most expensive option – the one the steering committee for the project recommended.

That means a final plan will be presented to the trustees for a vote in late November. The cost is estimated to come under the $14.5 million high-end option but above the $11.6 million “medium” option trustees reviewed. So, tasteful yet somewhat economical.

The project will be paid from the village’s capital improvement budget. However, officials also will seek grants for installing

permeable parking lanes and rain gardens to align with its climate plan goals.

The business district was last streetscaped in 1984, and since then lights, pavement and other materials have deteriorated. This plan had been scheduled for 2022 but was deferred during the pandemic and to give local businesses a break from recent construction on Lake Street, officials said.

DESIGNWORKSHOP/VILLAGE OF OAK PARK

Proposed improvements Under the project, Oak Park Avenue from Pleasant Street to Ontario – the Hemingway District – will get sweeping renovations designed to respond to climate change and to be art- and resident- focused.

Section 1, which extends from Pleasant Street to North Boulevard is expected to get new curbed planters, paving and parking, as well as new trees and rain garden planters. New trash cans, benches and bike parking are planned. Green walls, or walls covered with plants, are essential elements that will dot the district.

Designers also see the area at South

DESIGNWORKSHOP/VILLAGE OF OAK PARK

Looking west toward Oak Park Avenue fom Hunter Court.

Looking west on South Boulevard and South Oak Park Avenue.

Boulevard and Oak Park Avenue as a public gathering space anchored by a lighted monument and covered bike parking. A fenced-in dining area is intended to be a draw for residents and tourists.

Near the CTA stop, a monument or sign “branding” the area as a business district will be added. The area will be renovated with new viaduct signage and a green wall around the CTA district.

The under loved South Boulevard area is expected to become a “beloved” pedestrian gathering area. The viaduct will be fixed to make the way better for pedestrians and traffic. Stained glass panels will line the pedestrian route and the roadway could be lowered so trucks don’t hit and destroy new signs and lights.

At North Boulevard, another green wall is expected to be built. Plans call for seating around the obelisk and for electric charging stations north of the viaduct.

In all, lighting is expected to be key. Uplighting and festoon lighting is likely to be installed all along the corridor for both aesthetics and safety reasons.

Under the plans, Hunter Court could be an “artistic experience” for residents and tourists that features year-round art exhibitions and color-enhancing lights.

Scoville Park will act as a transition.

From there, the design will begin to follow a standard residential aesthetic.

The steering committee had recommended the most expensive option, a $14.5

What about the padlocks?

What won’t go? The viaduct’s padlocks of love, patterned after the famed Parisian tradition where lovers scratch their initials in locks, attach them to a chain-link fence and throw away the key – forever sealing their love in place.

The village plans to save them.

But it’s not clear where they’ll go.

McKenna said they could be relocated elsewhere or be installed as an art piece.

Love, it seems, can never go too far afield. million concept with high-end bluestone and permeable pavers. Trustees informally approved moving forward with the plans with little debate. Some, however, questioned the durability of materials used while others said they felt more comfortable in a mid-range spending area.

“I think we should be able to find some savings from that number,” said Bill McKenna, the village’s engineer.

Underground water and sewer line replacements are expected to begin shortly before the project and will run parallel to construction.

Officials estimate all work will begin in the late winter or early spring of 2025 and last through fall.

16

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

REARDON

A non-traditional path from page 1 with both of his grandparents being teachers in the community along with one of his sisters being a special education teacher in Hinsdale, the road to the classroom wasn’t a smooth path.

Reardon attended Illinois State University after graduating from high school to pursue a degree in history but did not graduate, leaving after three years.

“I wasn’t doing badly in school but I had no direction. I wasn’t taking it seriously. It was a big university and it was easy to get lost there,” Reardon said. “I wasn’t ready for college or that kind of career at that point.”

After dropping out of college, Reardon returned home in 2011 and began working for Oak Park Elementary School District 97, where his dad worked in the Custodian Building and Parks department as an electrician for over 30 years before his retirement two years ago.

“District 97 is a great place,” Reardon said, adding he went through the district as a child. “It is a great community. The buildings and grounds department was excellent and they supported my dream of going back to school.”

Reardon attended Triton, taking advantage of the district’s education stipend of $1,000 a year, before transferring to Dominican University.

“I think it is important that the district cares about its employees and wants them to do better in life,” Reardon said.

During his time as a janitor with the district, Reardon worked in multiple buildings and cultivated relationships with teachers and students, KEITH REARDON recalling he was particularly History teacher inspired by a special education student at William Beye Elementary School who would point out areas in the building that needed janitorial attention.

It was through that relationship that Reardon experienced firsthand the difference he could make in the lives of students.

With encouragement from his family and co-workers, Reardon, who at the time was pursuing a career as a Chicago Police officer, decided to go back to school to become a teacher.

The road to earn his degree took eight years, said Reardon.

Juggling a full-time job to support his wife and his two children while taking classes at night was hard, said Reardon, adding that his wife’s support helped him pull through the tough moments.

“She saw something in me and knew I could achieve more,” Reardon said.

Reardon graduated in May 2023 from Dominican with a degree in elementary education with an endorsement

“I have been given this amazing chance and I am not taking it for granted at all.”

TODD A. BANNOR

History teacher Keith Reardon helps students with their assignment at Julian Middle School. in middle school social science. The second time around, Reardon graduated Summa Cum Laude, graduating with a 4.0 GPA, and was awarded the ‘Distinguished Senior in Education’ award.

“Because I am a 35-year-old man, I took it very seriously the second time around,” laughed Reardon. “I’m serious about this now. Let’s get it done.”

While he was working towards his degree, Reardon student taught at Julian Middle School during the day before switching uniforms and working his night shift as a janitor.

“It was amazing that I was able to do it, work and provide for my family,” Reardon said, adding that the five months of night shift was difficult because he didn’t get to spend much time with his family.

Upon graduation, Reardon was hired by D97, adding that he believes his reputation has spoken for itself.

“I have a great relationship with all the teachers, I have worked here for a very long time,” Reardon said. “I have been given this amazing chance and I am not taking it for granted at all.”

“Whether he was serving as a custodian or classroom teacher, Keith’s work ethic, dedication, and positivity have been an example to our students and staff,” said William Lee, interim principal of Julian. “He understands the vi-

tal role that every staff member at Julian plays in creating positive relationships and learning environments. Over the past seven years working together, it’s been a pleasure to see his journey.”

As Reardon settles into his first-year teaching, he said the school year has kicked off to a great start and he has had the full support of other teachers and staff in Julian.

“The community has been great, everybody wants me to succeed,” Reardon said, adding he is enjoying teaching children he had previously taught during student teaching.

For Reardon, sharing his non-traditional path to a career in teaching goes hand in hand with his role as a social studies teacher. It is by reading or listening to someone else’s stories that others are able to connect to each other, said Reardon. His story, the one that isn’t always told, is the one he is the most passionate about sharing, hoping it helps students and others to continue pursuing their dreams and be okay with taking the nontraditional paths that make the journey more special.

“Everyone thinks you graduate high school and then you go through all four years of college and then you start a job and that is not the case for most people,” Reardon said. “Most people have a non-straight path, the path is not straight, and that is important to tell kids.”

NEED TO REACH US?

email: erika@growingcommunitymedia.com

Homes

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

17

Former home of Chris Ware hits the market

By LACEY SIKORA

A

Contributing Reporter

1906 Arts & Crafts style home recently hit the market at 137 S. Humphrey in Oak Park. The house is a great example of Oak Park’s historic housing stock and is also notable for its ties to noted artist Chris Ware, a cartoonist who has been awarded numerous Eisner and Harvey awards, and whose book, Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth, won the Guardian First Book Award in the UK. Ware’s New Yorker covers often featured images of small-town life that looked a lot like Oak Park.

Before Ware and his wife Marnie took on the makeover of the house, it was just another of many homes in the village built at the turn of the 20th century. Like hundreds of houses in Oak Park and neighboring Austin, the house was developed by F.A. Hill.

Hill, according to his great-grandson Steve Hill, had an interesting life. His family emigrated from England to the U.S. in the mid-1800s. After a stint in New York, they moved to Chicago, where F.A.’s father worked as a tanner and a butcher.

F.A. got his first job working in the meatpacking industry for P.D. Armour at the age of 13. By 1886, he was working as a commodities trader.

See CHRIS WARE HOUSE on page 19

REDFIN.COM

137 S. Humphrey in Oak Park

PROVIDED

The 137 N. Humphrey home on the right as it appeared in 1911.

PROVIDED

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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CHRIS WARE HOUSE

thony Reuter was a travelling salesman for a millinery company, Edson Keith. Following the Reuters’ tenure, the house changed hands almost a dozen times. Before the Wares’ purchase, the home had been in the from page 17 same family for almost 40 years.

David Cihla of Cihla Realty, who is list“The family story is that he lost $1 mil- ing the homes for the Wares for $720,000, lion as a trader,” Steve Hill stated. “At some said that when the Wares bought the house point after that, he got involved in real in 2004, “Chris described the house as lookestate. He started in the Austin neighbor- ing like a milk carton.” hood of Chicago where the The Wares took on an exterior area he developed was called makeover that earned them an Hill Town. Some of those housHistoric Preservation Award. es were designed by architect They returned shingles to the Frederick Schock.” exterior, chose period appropriF.A. Hill lived in Austin beate paint colors, and added a fore moving to East Avenue in new roof and copper gutters.

Oak Park with his wife and two On the interior, they honored children, Alfred and Grace. As the many original details that an adult, Al Hill built the rehad survived the years. The cently razed Hill Motor Compaentryway sports an original ny on Madison Street and was a built-in bench and leaded glass F.A. HILL Packard dealer. windows. Pocket doors separate Steve Hill said that although the double living room from the his great-grandfather had a lot of success dining room. In the dining room, built in in real estate, with offices in the city and in cabinets, fronted with leaded glass, flank a Oak Park, he is not well known. built-in bench with storage drawers.

The architect of the house on Humphrey Cihla said of the dining room’s woodis not known, and it is possible it was built work and cabinetry, “For a spec house, on speculation. While many of the original those ain’t bad.” details look fancy to modern-day eyes, they In the kitchen, the original footprint and were catalog-ready purchases from the feel of the house were honored. A butler’s many businesses of the day that sold mill- pantry with built in cabinets hides a modwork and glass details. ern refrigerator and microwave. The main The first owners were Anthony and An- kitchen has green tiled wainscot, a vintage nie Reuter. Annie was a relative of the Hoosier cabinet, an apron front sink and Schmitt family, who had purchased 121 S. a 1940’s Chambers stove. A marble sink, Humphrey a few years prior to 1906. An- original to the house, is tucked away near

Honoring details

PROVIDED

REDFIN.COM

Dining room (top) and the studio space (above) in the attic.

PROVIDED

F.A. Hill, Sr. (Fred) is on the far right with his son F.A. Hill, Jr (Al) next to him, showing prospective buyers a house in Oak Park.

the original service staircase.

Cihla said of the rear staircase, “In most of these homes, these have been taken out.”

The front staircase to the second floor includes turned spindles. Doors on the landing and to some of the second floor’s five bedrooms feature leaded glass panes. Doors leading to the service stairs and the stairs to the finished attic space are decorated with intricately patterned fretwork that Cihla deems “almost Louis Sullivan-inspired.”

The hall bathroom on the second floor has been remarkably preserved and includes original tile, built-in linen storage, a pedestal sink and period medicine cabinet.

The Wares finished the attic space to make a studio and bedroom space. The historic feel continues here with ceiling beams and period-appropriate light switches and light fixtures.

Behind the walls, the mechanicals of the house from the wiring, the boiler, hot water heater and SpacePak air conditioning have been updated. From the surface the house looks more like 1906 than 2023. Cihla noted that it may take a special buyer to appreciate the historic nature of the house but said that for those who appreciate historic homes and architecture, this house is an unbelievable find.

20

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

Democracy Needs News.

News Needs YOU.

Donate to Wednesday Journal.

Dear readers, Local news is essential. You know that. You subscribe to Wednesday Journal. And thank you for that.

Our reporting is what connects these villages, holds officials to account, reveals the complexity of issues we grapple with and in our Viewpoints section offers the platform for spirited, and yet, still civil debate on those issues.

But while the need for independent local news is as strong as ever, the business model that supported our newsroom for 40 years just won’t work anymore. Ads alone won’t pay the freight.

Readers will need to pay more for the news they need and want. Or that news may just go away.

We’ve gradually increased the price of a subscription. Thanks for not complaining.

But four years back we set out to actually reinvent the financial model for local news. We didn’t tinker around the edges. We made something completely new and we named it Growing Community Media. It is the umbrella for Wednesday Journal, Austin Weekly News, Forest Park Review and the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.

We’ve kept our advertising in print and online. Like we said, we still love our subscribers. What we did was to add a third stream of revenue.

Donations: Small donors. Bigger donors. And lately some foundation support.

Through COVID-19 those donations kept us in business. In 2023 they are funding our newsroom’s growth.

November is here and that means Growing Community Media is launching its biggest annual fundraising drive. Our goal is big. $250,000 by Dec. 31. Highest goal we’ve ever set. It’s money we need to raise and we’re going to raise.

If you are contemplating making a donation, you have the right to ask what will we spend your money on. Well, we’ve hired an editor for our four publications. First time in a long time we’ve had a single editor running the newsroom. Erika Hobbs joined GCM in August. Born in Chicago, Erika comes to us with a lot of reporting and editing experience at dailies in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Orlando. She also worked at Patch, a local reporting shop, and she has done some teaching. You are going to like her.

We’re investing more in digital. More news online faster. Our newsletters will get an update and new specialized newsletters such as Big Week are already launching. We’re moving back into events, starting modestly, but growing that part of our storytelling.

Print subscribers often ask about the future of our print newspapers. We’re keeping them. Print is core to our strategy. And still a darned good way to get news and to sell advertising.

I’ll wrap up with the hard sell. Imagine Oak Park and River Forest without the Journal. It’s a gloomy thought. But not impossible. We’ve worked hard and made a lot of headway in building this three-legged stool of revenues. The future though is not certain. Don’t take us for granted.

We need you. These villages need news. And we’ve got a plan to make local news sustainable for years to come. We need you to get us there.

Online there is a donate button. In print there is a QR code. Or mail us a check made out to Growing Community Media, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park 60302. We’re still working upstairs above George’s restaurant, same as we have been for 41 years.

You have our sincere gratitude.

Dan Haley Publisher Growing Community Media

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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

VIEWPOINTS

21

Autumn’s bounty 25

What I’ve learned watching TV

I

must confess I have been a television snob. I criticized and teased fellow seniors who depended on television for both information and entertainment at all hours.

The irony of this is that now I have joined these folks, spending a good deal of each day in front of that box.

Television has become an enjoyable diversion from the discomforts and lack of mobility that many others, and I, endure. I remember as a youngster in the early years of television, my heroes were Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers.

They always captured the “bad guys” — all the while crooning a cowboy tune.

When my kids watched television, their heroes were Superman and Flash Gordon. They too always captured the “bad guys,” but they did so minus any crooning.

In recent times, heroes and shows have been far different. People seem to relish violent programs with a passion. Today’s heroes are the “bad guys!” To name a few, there’s Don Corleone, the Godfather; Tony Soprano and his Mafia-style family; and Bonnie and Clyde, bank robbers. They all escaped from the law or violently opposed it. Widely popular these days are shows that elevate the anti-hero to star status and, seemingly, the bloodier the scenes, the better!

The popularity of the anti-hero is also reflected in our politics. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, 40% of our population supported the re-election of Trump despite his autocratic behavior, incendiary rhetoric, anti-constitutional governing, and the fraudulent use of public funds. Then as now, Trump professes his admiration of murderous dictators such as North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

I find it shocking that recent national polls show that Trump is the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, this in spite of his instigating an unsuccessful, treasonous coup in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump was and is a master at using social media and television to his advantage.

Television programming airs violent shows and gives Trump’s antics a platform. The job of producers and news directors is to broadcast programs that will

HARRIET HAUSMAN

See HARRIET HAUSMAN on page 26

PHOTO CREDIT

WAR AND WESTERNS: Movie posters from ‘Hopalong Cassidy Returns,’ ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and ‘The Dawn Patrol.’

W

Watching westerns and war on the silver screen

hen my friends and I were in the seventh and eighth grades, we generally went to the movies once or twice a week on either Saturday or Sunday.

In the summer, we tried to work in a weekday matinee, but that required getting permission from our mothers, and depended too on how many chores we had to complete before going anywhere.

War movies held a special fascination for us.

Richie Schue’s dad liked war movies as well, and he owned two silent films dealing with World War I — Dawn Patrol and All Quiet on the Western Front. I saw both of these films at Richie’s house when I was 12.

Dawn Patrol made a deep impression on me.

The drama came at the end of the film when the hero had not returned from a dawn mission across German lines, and his comrades scanned the sky for his plane to return as a German pilot flew over the airfield.

The pilot tossed the hero’s helmet and scarf out of

his plane and then buzzed the airfield as the helmet and scarf spiraled toward earth.

Banking slightly, the pilot gave a farewell salute to the men on the ground.

I got the impression that pilots followed a code of chivalry and were truly knights of the sky.

A very different impression was left by All Quiet on the Western Front.

This film was very realistic, not only in its portrayal of the horrors of trench warfare but in the humanizing portrait of German soldiers, whom I had believed were heartless brutes.

When my friend Eddie and I saw the film, we were rather shaken by the ending when the young German soldier reached out from his position to pick a lone flower growing on the edge of his trench and was spotted by a sniper who shot and killed him.

Many of my pals were great fans of westerns. From

JOHN

STANGER

See JOHN STANGER on page 26

22

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

O U R

F

V I E W S

Remaking Oak Park Ave.

or well over a decade, Oak Park village officials have been planning to dig up and rebuild Oak Park Avenue from Lake Street to Pleasant. The water and sewer lines under the street were well over a century old, inadequate for modern needs, and bound to spring a semi-catastrophic leak at any moment.

While that hasn’t happened yet, we are convinced that this is a project rightly at the top of the village’s capital investment plan. A steering committee made up largely of Hemingway District business people has been working with the village engineer for some time to make a plan for what this key commercial area will look like above ground when the project is undertaken in 2025.

That committee reported to the village board last week with its recommendations. The board directed staff to find savings from the premium plan proposed and to move toward the “medium” option presented. That will bring the final costs down from the $14.5 million Cadillac plan to the $11.6 million Kia model.

We’ve long thought improvements made to Downtown Oak Park through its various streetscaping phases were a little much. A lot of bluestone and granite for our more pedestrian tastes.

What’s interesting in the current proposals is the focus on the impact of lighting, the attention to climate details, the addition of public art and the bending of infrastructure to accommodate the permanent interest in the Hemingway District as a dining hub.

But this is a project that must be done. The underground pipes are ripe for replacement. And the current streetscape has been basically untouched since its installation in 1984. That’s 39 years tired.

We commend the steering committee and the board for this creative plan and for the direction to trim costs back somewhat.

‘Never give up’ Once in a while a story just hits us. Perseverance. Optimism. A determined vision. And lots of support.

That’s the story of Keith Reardon. He grew up in Oak Park.

Went to the local schools. Got most of the way through college and then self-diverted because, as he told our Amaris Rodriguez, “I had no direction.” And so he came back to the village and took a job as a custodian in the District 97 public elementary schools.

We are fans of school janitors and school secretaries. They’re the glue that holds a school together.

Reardon, though, gradually realized that his calling was to teach. So while working in the schools he went back to school at Triton and then Dominican and got his degree in education. That took eight years.

After being a student teacher at Percy Julian Middle School he is now a first-year social studies teacher there.

His message to his students is plain. “It is OK to fail but it is never OK to give up. … It’s the journey, the obstacles, that is what makes everything great.”

V I E W P O I N T S

Fed up with gun violence passivity

F

annie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights activist, famously said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired” (about the lack of progress on racial equity in this country). Well, I’m fed up with being fed up about our passivity in the face of endless mass shootings in this country.

And I’m more than fed up with the way the media covers every massacre. In the interests of “objectivity,” they never venture any further out on the branch than re-enacting the same ritual of grief porn following each mass killing, encouraging survivors and relatives of survivors to wallow in how they “feel,” repeating the same questions over and over and getting the same answers: “We never thought it could happen here.”

Just once I’d like to hear one of the interviewees say, “When will these god-damned politicians change the gun laws to protect us?! When will these cowards do something?!”

Why aren’t reporters interviewing those cowards, cornering them and broadcasting their “No comment” and “We shouldn’t politicize this issue at such a sensitive time”? Why don’t they ask, “When are you going to vote for laws that protect your constituents from gun violence?” and “Why do you continue to support the sale of military-style assault rifles in the wake of so many horrific shootings?” We would also like to hear how much these elected representatives receive in donations from the gun lobby.

When will the media start showing graphic images of the murdered, with full permission from the many parents who have since become avid gun violence prevention activists?

Here’s what one of them, Nicole Hockley, said in an email from the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, P.O. Box 3489, Newtown, CT 06470, after the latest mass murder in Lewiston, Maine: “Eleven years ago, I wasn’t thinking about gun violence. I was worrying about whether my boys, Jake and Dylan, had their bookbags packed and got to school on time each morning. I imagine this is much like the family members who lost a loved one in the recent shootings in Maine. They weren’t worrying about mass shootings as their family left home to bowl or catch up with friends.

“But on Dec. 14, 2012, I sent both my sons to Sandy Hook Elementary, and only one came home. That was the day I truly woke up, the day my beautiful 6-year-old boy would never wake up again. Now I spend every minute worrying about how to prevent more shootings and working as hard as I can to expand our gun violence prevention efforts to make sure no other families have to go through this unbearable pain. I’ll never see Dylan again. I know that. But I refuse to accept that gun violence is just the price of living in America.”

Why isn’t the media interviewing Nicole Hockley

and others, so viewers are reminded how many lives have been wrecked by AR-15 mayhem?

Here’s what bestselling author Stephen King, a longtime resident of Maine, wrote in the N.Y. Times after the Lewiston shootings: “There is no solution to the gun problem, and little more to write, because Americans are addicted to firearms. Every mass shooting is a gut-punch; with every one, unimaginative people say, ‘I never thought it could happen here,’ but such things can and will happen anywhere and everywhere in this locked-and-loaded country. The guns are available and the targets are soft. When rapid-fire guns are difficult to get, things improve, but I see no such improvement in the future. Americans love guns, and appear willing to pay the price in blood.”

The media is as responsible for this ongoing blood sport as the bought-off blowhards in Congress. They are passive spectators to our national agony instead of acting in their truest capacity: as investigative journalists. They dismiss their responsibility with a perfunctory reference to the fact that “Congress is unlikely to pass gun legislation” as if this relieves them of any responsibility.

At what point does journalistic “neutrality” become immorality?

And when an indifferent reporter sticks a microphone in your face and asks how you “feel” after one of your loved ones has been obliterated by semiautomatic gunfire, say to them, “When are we going to change the gun laws to protect people instead of making us sitting ducks?! And what are you doing to make that happen?”

If people say that, over and over and over, something might finally change.

Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg took a novel approach following Lewiston. He claimed to have written a post-massacre commentary in advance (on April 21, 2021) because it’s always the same commentary anyway.

“Journalism,” he wrote, “is a kabuki, a stylized form, the telling of the same story again and again. So please forgive me for trying to experiment within the confines of a long-established tradition, the ritual postslaughter hand-wringing. … After 35 years of doing this, I think I’m entitled to play with the conventions.

Surely you can’t demand that I respect the not-yetdead. Congress sure doesn’t.”

Heartless? he concludes. Sure.

“But nothing compared to having the power to do something to curb gun violence and instead doing nothing. That takes a level of callousness I just can’t imagine. And I have a pretty good imagination.”

And the media is complicit by giving these heartless ineffectuals a pass after every mass shooting.

Stop being so lazy, get off the fence, and start asking tough questions!

KEN

TRAINOR

V I E W P O I N T S

R

As ‘The Rest of Me’ turns 50

aised in a very Catholic Berwyn in the 1950s and 1960s, the question of whether I was called to the priesthood had to be dealt with, eventually. And so, on a day in 1973, when I was 19, one of my very first journal entries addressed the matter. I wrote: Right now – I don’t want to be a priest.

I don’t want five years of seminary. I don’t want celibacy restrictions. I’m not a Catholic in the standard sense of the word … I don’t want all that theology. I want to love without restrictions.

Though I did not go into the seminary, I did nevertheless ponder what God called me to do with my life. I kept that inquiry alive in my journal over the years, and still wrestle with it as an unfinished query, as I turn 70.

Were I to give my journal a title, I’d call it, “The Rest of Me.” It’s been the place I’ve gone to express, investigate, and uncover stuff going on inside that I haven’t been ready to bring to my roles in the world. I’ve prayed there when I haven’t felt that prayer would be welcome or appropriate in the office, social gathering or classroom.

In it I’ve laid out fears, dreams or visions that I have not deemed ready to put on the table with friends, family or colleagues.

A few entries have been somewhat prophetic. In one reflection in 1999, at age 46, I saw myself as an old man who was in certain respects not unlike the man I am now — a walker and one who enjoys watching people on the street below his window: There will be a day When I will be an old man And all I will want again Just as I wanted years ago Will be a small apartment With a wooden door A window with shutters that open onto the street A table A bed

A glass of red table wine And nothing more than that.

I will awaken in the morning For a walk amidst the people …

I will walk I will observe I will smile I will walk some more I will eat at a café where my name will be known to a few …

In the journal, poetry has flowed, even though I have never thought of myself as a poet. Thirty years and several thousand entries after my musing about the priesthood, I penned this reflection while gazing through the window one morning on our backyard garden on Elmwood in Oak Park: Blue delphiniums … blue woodland phlox …

Blue flowers wait expectantly behind the misty, opaque window of a backyard greenhouse, peering into the morning like dew-eyed children.

Blue flowers rest on spindly toes reaching into the shallow soil of their humble containers, taking a deeper hold for yet another day, emitting hope.

Over the decades, the journal has served as an inner workshop, a study, a sanctuary and an inner church.

In my inner church, I’ve contemplated my beliefs, hoping for God’s guidance. Long ago, my inner church embraced the feminine in the Divine — the Holy as Mother and Father. It has seen women and men as leaders in the world, equally called to serve. It’s embraced the Spirit moving in the world where love has been most free to flourish, inside and outside the outer Church. But I know that my inner church would not have become what it is without the outer Church.

Born and baptized in 1953, in this year, 2023, I now turn 70. Birthed in 1973, graced by the freedom to let my soul run in her pages, The Rest of Me turns 50.

Rich Kordesh grew up in Berwyn and raised his family in Oak Park where he now does a good deal of grandparenting.

RICH KORDESH One View

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023 W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor Erika Hobbs Digital Manager Stacy Coleman Staff Reporters Francia Garcia Hernandez, Amaris Rodriguez Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Real Estate Editor Lacey Sikora Big Week Editor James Porter Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, Harriet Hausman, Mary Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Marketing Representatives Lourdes Nicholls, Ben Stumpe Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner E-MAIL jill@oakpark.com Special Projects Manager Susan Walker Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs Publisher Dan Haley

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards 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 ■ 350-word limit ■ Must include first and last names, municipality in which you live, phone number (for verification only)

‘ONE VIEW’ ESSAY ■ 500-word limit ■ One-sentence footnote about yourself,

your connection to the topic ■ Signature details as at left

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

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

V I E W P O I N T S

Did WJ mean to offend Jews in our community?

We protest your front-page coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Right off the bat, you highlighted two (!) pro-Palestinian organizations. And you, the editors of the Wednesday Journal, know they are pro-Palestinian because you then state that they “have a long history of opposing Israel’s occupation of Palestine.”

So to challenge their point of view and present a bigger picture, “occupation” is not the accurate word here. Israel pulled completely out of Gaza in 2005, displacing Israeli residents and digging up Jewish graves to move them into Israel. Governing was turned over to the group who eventually elected Hamas.

Instead of the inaccurate “occupation,” which sets everyone’s emotions on edge, “blockading Israel’s Gaza border from a hostile — and terrorist — regime” is the accurate description. We remind you and your readers that Hamas’ goal is to literally destroy the Jews and eradicate the state of Israel.

That is the reason the U.S. must continue to support Israel and its right to exist. We could add that Hamas still has 220 Israeli hostages, an untenable situation for Israel. Also notably omitted is the utter brutality and viciousness with which

Hamas murdered innocent civilians of all ages simply because they were Jewish.

You mention none of this in your article because you chose to cover only one point of view.

What is happening in Gaza is horrible and tragic. What has happened and is happening in Israel is also horrible and tragic. But, Wednesday Journal, take more care of your community. You did not present a balanced view of this complex, painful situation with which we are all struggling. You oversimplified it by presenting one side. One-sided, irresponsible reporting does not promote peace or safety in Israel, Gaza or here.

Phyllis Rubin, Cindy Klein-Banai, Susan Stephens, Terrie Rymer & Frank Vozak, Bradley & Ellen Shorser, Leonard Grossman, Cindy Barnard, Barbara Yong, Ori Gottlieb, Irena Levitan, Vanessa & Adam Klugman, Rabbi Gary S. Gerson, Carol Roberts Gerson MD, Jeff & Sue Blaine, Cantor Emerita Julie Yugend-Green, Joy Aaronson, Rachelle Tsachor, Cindy Rubin MD, Susan Cicelsky, Jonathan & Marcia Alpert, Stephen & Diane Gelman, Linda & Barry Newman, Rachel Glick, Catherine Bachman MD, Murray Kopelow MD, Liz Simon, Diane Redleaf, Cherise Rosen

Your most biased article ever

Wednesday Journal should stay far away from writing about foreign affairs, especially as it pertains to the Middle East. Your Oct. 25 article purporting to talk about how Jewish and Muslim residents of Oak Park and River Forest viewed the Israel-Hamas war is probably the most biased piece of writing I have ever seen in the paper. A close second is the accompanying article on the River Forest statement on the inexcusable and tragic murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the attack on his mother.

The article was mostly from the standpoint of supporters of the Palestinian cause. The only Jewish leader quoted was Rabbi Max Weiss of Oak Park Temple.

His comments were taken from public

comments made during a Jewish community vigil in the first few days of the war.

If you truly were interested in Jewish views, there are many local community members who have strong ties to Israelis.

There are Jewish community members who have suffered terrible personal losses of friends killed by Hamas. There are Jewish community members with family and friends who have lived under the constant rain of rockets from Gaza into civilian targets in Israel, thousands of which have fallen prior to the recent, brutal, Hamas attack on civilians. There are people with ties to those taken hostage by Hamas.

Alan Peres, Ori Gottlieb

Oak Park, River Forest

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Imbalance and inaccuracies

I am saddened and disappointed by the imbalance and inaccuracies in last week’s cover story on the Israel-Hamas conflict (not an “Israel-Gaza” conflict, as stated in the headline and first paragraph). The article begins and ends with information and quotes from two anti-Israel organizations and has six paragraphs on an Oct. 19 Muslim-American Community of Congregations panel. Just five paragraphs (about 20% of the story) and one quote address the Jewish-American response.

The story is rather like a submarine sandwich with one thin slice of meat.

A panelist is quoted calling Israel’s military response a “genocide.” This is unfair and untrue. Israel was attacked by terrorists with appalling brutality. As a percentage of the population, its deaths are like losing 48,000 Americans. Hamas doesn’t confine itself to military bases. It operates in civilian areas and maintains many tunnels, including adjacent to hospitals.

How is Israel to defend itself against an enemy like that? Does it not have a right to self-defense? Of course it also has a duty to minimize civilian casualties and suffering.

Please know that most Jewish-Americans recognize this. We are horrified by civilian deaths and misery in Gaza as well as Israel.

I also want to clarify that Israel hasn’t occupied Gaza since 2005. I fear that the Hamas attack will harden Israeli opinion against any future territorial concessions.

The story got one thing right. Jews and Moslems are indeed grieving about the conflict and the human suffering it has created. We’re also feeling frightened and alone. Antisemitic incidents were already rising rapidly before the current conflict. They have increased an astonishing 388% since Oct. 7, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Anti-Muslim incidents are up significantly as well, including the despicable attack on a little boy and his mother in Plainfield.

Many if not most Jewish- and PalestinianAmericans have family and friends in Israel and Gaza. If your readers know anyone with ties to the area, I hope they will reach out to them as they would to anyone else who is grieving. It will be most appreciated.

Judith Alexander Oak Park

Safe & affirming library programs

In November, please join the Oak Park Public Library for two adult programs focused on trans and nonbinary identities. As a Library for Everyone, we believe that offering programs like these are a necessary component of striving to be an anti-racist and equitable organization.

Trans & Non-Binary 101 & Allyship Workshop Wednesday, Nov. 15, 6-7:15 p.m., Main Library Do you want to better understand trans and gender nonbinary identities? Join us to dive deeper into language, the various identities that fall under trans and gender nonbinary, and being an ally. This is a safe and affirming space to learn.

Facilitator Aster Gilbert (they/them) is the manager of Training and Education for Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s most comprehensive community center dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people of Chicagoland.

Intro to Gender-Affirming Care Tuesday, Nov. 28, 7-8:15 p.m., virtual Curious to learn more about gender-affirming care? Attend this virtual training, suited for both health-care and non-health-care professionals, to better understand gender-affirming care and terminology. We will discuss the role of mental health in gender-affirming care, get an overview of medical gender affirmation, including hormone therapy and surgeries, and learn about the challenges transgender individuals face in accessing this type of vital care.

Presenter Nikk Cochran (he/him) is an accomplished speaker, consultant, and community leader who is dedicated to advancing the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Nikk’s outstanding contributions to the LGBTQ+ community in Chicago were recognized in 2018 when he was selected as one of the Windy City Times “30 Under 30” honorees.

Please learn more and register for these programs at oppl.org/calendar.

Oak Park Public Library staff

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Concerns about WJ coverage of Israel-Hamas conflict

As rabbis of Oak Park and River Forest’s two largest synagogues, we were deeply disappointed to read last week’s article “Jewish, Muslim Oak Parkers on the Israel-Gaza war: ‘a collective mourning’” [News, Oct. 25].

It legitimized and gave a platform to Jewish Voice for Peace, a fringe organization that does not represent the mainstream Jewish community. According to the AntiDefamation League’s website: ■ Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is a radical anti-Israel and anti-Zionist activist group that advocates for the boycott of Israel and eradication of Zionism.

■ JVP does not represent the mainstream Jewish community, which it views as bigoted for its association with Israel.

■ The spread of JVP’s most inflammatory ideas can help give rise to antisemitism.

■ In addition to JVP’s promotion of messaging that descends into the antisemitic vilification of ‘Zionists,’ the group has expressed support for violence and, occasionally, classic antisemitic tropes.

JVP’s statement on Oct. 7 blamed Israel for Hamas’ unprecedented terrorist attack that saw 2,500 terrorists break into Israel, murder over 1,300 Israelis, the majority of whom were civilians, injure over 5,000, and take over 200 hostages, in an act that President Biden called “pure unadulterated evil.”

This came after Israel had permitted more work permits for regular Gazans to enter Israel.

The article gave more space to the JVP event than the solidarity gathering co-hosted by our synagogues that represent most

of the Jews in Oak Park and River Forest.

Furthermore, the article also repeated the viewpoints of those organizations without any explanations or context, or an attempt to offer a balanced stance.

There is a reason that President Biden, the Senate, Congress, and the leaders of almost every Western nation have condemned the attack in no uncertain terms and upheld Israel’s right to defend itself. President Biden, French President Macron, British Prime Minister Sunak, and a host of other world leaders all made wartime visits to Israel.

People of conscience understandably feel sympathy for the innocent who are suffering in Gaza and in Israel. We also call on our neighbors and friends to have the moral credibility not to obscure the difference between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas is an organization whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. There are documented cases of Hamas using human shields — its own citizens — in its barter for world sympathy. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is part of the Israeli-Arab conflict is complex. We wish Wednesday Journal would do more to provide balanced reporting and viewpoints. Jews in the area are already feeling unsafe enough in the hostile environment following the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

With concern,

Rabbi Adir Gick

West Suburban Temple Har Zion

Rabbi Max Weiss

Oak Park Temple

Autumn’s bounty

Over the weekend, we finally had our first-of-season junco in the yard. I’m not looking forward to the snow, but they do add to it as they hop around our deck. Nice to see one again.

And for the gardeners among us, I’m sharing a couple photos: the pre-frost harvest from our garden. About 42 pounds of assorted squash, plus zinnias, rainbow chard (three huge bunches, not pictured), tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and lettuce.

Happy Autumn, all!

Janice Flory Oak Park

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Join the RUSH Oak Park Community Engagement Council

The health and well-being of the communities RUSH Oak Park Hospital serves has been at the very core of the hospital’s mission for more than a century. To continue to preserve and foster collaboration, the hospital is launching the RUSH Oak Park Community Engagement Council (CEC).

Consisting of current residents and/or those who presently work within the RUSH Oak Park service area, the CEC will represent various racial/ethnic, economic and cultural groups responsible for helping RUSH better understand the needs and concerns of the communities it serves.

In addition, members of the CEC will act as representatives of RUSH Oak Park in their neighborhoods, schools, places of work, places of worship, and community organizations to help connect their community members with the services provided by the hospital.

Members of the CEC will have the opportunity to do the following: ■ Provide input and feedback on issues of interest to the broader community.

■ Identify, review and, where appro-

priate, provide input on priority community health issues in the hospital’s service area.

■ Review and provide input to the hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), Community Health Implementation Plan (CHIP), and community benefit initiatives.

■ Advocate on behalf of the hospital in support of the hospital’s community health equity initiatives.

■ Strengthen partnerships between residents, organizations, sectors and agencies to collaborate in service of community health improvement.

We encourage you to apply for membership to the RUSH Oak Park CEC and be a voice for your community.

Please note, government officials and RUSH employees are not eligible to apply for membership.

Find out more about eligibility, responsibilities, requirements and benefits of being on the RUSH Oak Park CEC at Rush.edu/ROPHCEC.

Angela Cooper DNP, RN, CNL

Chief nursing officer & associate vice president Patient Care Services, RUSH Oak Park

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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V I E W P O I N T S

Using St. CatherineSt. Lucy rectory for social services

ver the last two months, volunteers from the Oak Park Catholic parishes have been sharing the results of a feasibility study they conducted into how best to use a former rectory that sits on the border of Oak Park and Austin as a base for a social ministry outreach to Austin residents.

More than 350 people attended nine public forums to hear what the group had learned in its investigation into repurposing the underutilized rectory at the St. Catherine-St. Lucy campus as a hub for needed services. The campus, at Washington and Austin boulevards in Oak Park, includes St. Catherine-St. Lucy School, which educates 200 students from PK3 to eighth grade, 85 percent of whom are from Austin and all of whom are eligible for federal food programs.

“At the forums we heard enthusiastic support of the vision for an outreach to Austin residents, and we added more than a dozen new volunteers who will lend their expertise and skill as the project moves forward,” noted Dan Doody, who co-chairs the feasibility study committee with Jack Crowe.

Members of the committee started by talking with St. Catherine-St. Lucy School families and then spoke to other Austin families and existing nonprofits serving the community to learn what services are currently provided and where the gaps are.

“The focus is on what the members of the Austin community say they need and responding appropriately to those needs,” Doody said.

Although the effort is led by volunteers from the two Oak Park Catholic parishes, St. Giles/St. Catherine-St. Lucy and Ascension/St. Edmund, other faith communities in Oak Park have expressed interest in this outreach and are hosting several upcoming forums for their congregants.

Encouraged by the initial response of the community, the committee will continue to host public forums throughout Oak Park to share its findings through the end of the year, while launching public forums at schools and church congregations in Austin.

There is much work ahead, Doody said. “Incorporating as a nonprofit, appointing a board, determining what services will be offered and who will offer them.

And fundraising, of course,” he noted.

In the interim, the rectory is not sitting idle. The second floor is being used

by Housing Forward as a nightly shelter, and more recently it has been used on Tuesdays and Thursdays by migrants staying at the Austin District police station to shower, use the kitchen to make their own food, and select clothes, blankets and other necessities that have been donated.

To learn more about this initiative, plan on attending one of these upcoming forums: ■ Wednesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. – St. Bernardine Cafeteria, 7246 Harrison, Forest Park ■ Thursday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m. – St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 545 S. East, OP ■ Sunday, Nov. 12, 11:30 a.m. – Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, 744 Fair Oaks, OP ■ Thursday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m. – Pilgrim Congregational Church, 508 Lake, OP Please register for the meeting you wish to attend by signing up online. This enables the committee to prepare each venue for the number of expected attendees.

The group anticipates additional attendees due to last-minute scheduling changes, so please come even if you are unable to register.

Questions? Please contact Dan Doody at dan@doody.com.

FEASIBILITY STUDY COMMITTEE One View

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

JOHN STANGER On the silver screen from page 21 today’s perspective, these films seem mild.

The westerns we viewed were like playing cowboys, we thought. Even in the fist fights, the cowboy would merely get his hat knocked off, fall down, then get up quickly to resume the brief battle.

Violence was limited, with minimal blood and only a hint at base evil.

As at home and school, obscenity was absent, as of course was any reference to sex.

In the cowboy movies we watched in those long-ago days, even when the hero

HARRIET HAUSMAN Rise of the anti-heroes from page 21 attract and appeal to their viewers and sell advertising time. Gutter-rhetoric, outrageous behavior, and rampant gun use have become the requisite paths to popularity among viewers. Even comedy and family shows these days tend toward vulgarity or demeaning certain groups, behaviors, or cultures.

I’m deeply concerned how viewing violence impacts vulnerable people, especially children who are so often glued to the television. Gun-wielding and shooting are portrayed everywhere, even occurring in some children’s shows where they experience shooting as routine behavior.

I fear that all of us are becoming

and the heroine leaned toward each other for a little kiss at the end of the film, the hero’s horse would sometimes nose his way between the couple, preventing any display of affection.

What is surprising is that the writers and directors of these older movies managed to deal sensitively with the same elements of human behavior that concern the writers and directors of today, even though they worked under strict constraints.

I’m still a fan of movies, but in recent years I have broadened the scope of the movies I watch. My favorites are comedies and musicals.

It has been many years since I have watched a war movie, but never let it be said that I would miss seeing a good western.

immune to the violence we ingest. I attribute some of the rapid rise in gun use to this anti-hero worship along with the broad portrayals of violence on television. Most of us are deeply concerned about the lack of legislation on weapons.

Polls show the majority of Americans favor reasonable gun control, although this means confronting the powerful and politically connected NRA. We senior citizens often spend a great deal of time watching television and appreciate its value. However, we also have concerns about how repeatedly viewing violence impacts children and other vulnerable populations. I believe television has the opportunity to make a difference if it emphasizes true heroes and minimizes violence. We must make our concerns known to a greater extent.

Perhaps the television industry will realize our pleas are worthy of their attention and are critically important.

WeConnect

essential news. essential voices.

WeConnect

essential news. essential voices.

O B I T U A R I E S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Sheila Trainor, 70 Affirming educator of children

Sheila Reynolds Trainor, 70, of Oak Park, died on Oct. 21, 2023. Born in Chicago on Nov. 22, 1952 — along with her triplet sisters, Martha and Regina — to Paul and Sheila (Taaffe) Reynolds, she grew up in the big home on Longwood Drive in the Beverly neighborhood with room enough to raise a large IrishCatholic family of 14, with the odd foster child and foreign exchange student tossed in for good measure. A spirited lass, she had a radiant smile. At one point in her youth, she was even a member of the local chapter of Up with People.

She accumulated her Catholic education at St. Barnabas Elementary, Mother McAuley High School, St. Xavier University (where she met her best friend, Margaret Stipley Cherene), and ultimately graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in primary education. A year studying abroad at the Loyola Rome Center was one of the great adventures of her life. Another was the following year when she accompanied her brother Chris to Chile for the wedding of a former foreign exchange student just after Pinochet’s bloody coup.

She married Ken Trainor in 1978 and in

1984, their son Dylan was born. They lived in Rogers Park; Ft. Collins, Colorado (where she earned a master’s degree in education at Colorado State University); Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (where she ran the Central Michigan University daycare program); and finally settled in Oak Park. She taught for more than a decade at Beye and Whittier schools in Oak Park’s District 97, learning all she needed to know teaching kindergarten — and other primary grades. After the onset of multiple sclerosis limited her mobility, she continued to tutor and teach Spanish (fortified in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1975 during an immersive language arts program, plus a side trip to Peru).

As a primary school educator, she was a natural. Children were drawn to her and she made them feel safe and cared about.

She loved horses, coffee, reading, dogs and cats, traveling, nature, watching Antiques Road Show and Jeopardy!, reminiscing about her childhood, spending time with her grandchildren, spending summers with family at Palisades Park in Michigan, visiting the Ontario fishing lodge of her friend Joanne Mortimer as teenagers, and later with the Cherene family at Lake Lawn in Wisconsin, skiing at Keystone Resort in Colorado, playing tennis (at one junior tournament she ran into Arthur Ashe, literally, in a stairwell), writing children’s stories, photography, and creating photo memory books. She was the undisputed champion of Trivial Pursuit at the Brookdale facility where she lived.

Sheila is survived by her son, Dylan (Emily); her daughter-in-law Kristen; her grandchildren, Tyler, Bryce, Charlotte and step-

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

grandson Trevor; her siblings, Paul (Trish), Shaun (Sue), Christopher (Peggy), Tracy (Augie) Aleksy, Regina (Tom) Bober, Molly, Jill (Dan Spitzer), Peggy (Rina), and Siobhan (Attila); her brother-in-law, Peter Thomas; an Abrahamic multitude of 24 nieces and nephews (including Brendan Hunt, who played Coach Beard on “Ted Lasso”) and 20 grandnieces and grandnephews. And she gave Christmas presents each year to all of them.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Damien; and her sister, Martha.

Visitation will be held at Woodlawn Funeral Home, 7750 W. Cermak Road, Forest Park, on Thursday, Nov. 9 from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Friday, Nov. 10 at Ascension Church, 808 S. East Ave., Oak Park from 9:30 a.m. till 10:30 when a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated.

Donations are appreciated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (https://www.nationalmssociety.org) in her name.

Diane Jones, 76 Oak Park resident

It is with broken hearts that we announce the passing of Diane A. Jones, of Oak Park.

She died on Oct. 25, 2023 surrounded by her family. Happily married to Sharon Allen for 30 loving years, Diane was the mother of Sonia Becker; the sister of Mary Venus; and the aunt of Anna Raasch and Eva Walton. She had a fur baby Chloe who adored her and will be missed by all who knew her.

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Jayden Figueroa, 14 OPRF freshman

Jayden Figueroa, 14, died on Oct. 26, 2023.

Born on April 9, 2009, he was a good friend to many people. A freshman at Oak Park and River Forest High School, his infectious laughter was a constant source of entertainment at any event, and it will live on in the hearts and minds of those who knew him.

His devotion to his loved ones was boundless and did his best in all roles.

His deep nature was demonstrated by his never-wavering devotion to his family. His loved ones will always remember him with affection.

Jayden passed suddenly while at home with his family. Please keep the Figueroa family in your thoughts as they navigate their way through this most challenging and painful time.

Although he made some mistakes during his life he did not deserve to die. He was a good friend to many.

Rest in peace, Jay.

Our Town Oak Park...

“… is like finding love letters at the bottom of a sock drawer. They are familiar but new, old yet young.

They cover life’s spectrum: the grand, the small, the joyful, the sad. He has put into words the collective thoughts of our better selves. This is a book you will read many times.”

(McLouis Robinet) “… takes us into the lives of its residents, to the benches and pathways of its parks, and the challenges and inspiration of a town working

overtime to create COMMUNITY – not community as in a geographically defined set of coordinates, but a sense of place that nurtures and sustains its residents.” (Rebekah Levin) “… invites readers to celebrate a simple, low-tech stroll around his hometown, discovering the fascinating villagers who make this community the eccentric, unique, cantankerous, and inspirational place it is for so many of us.” (Frank Lipo)

“Our Town Oak Park – Walk with Me, in Search of True Community”, a new book by Wednesday Journal columnist Ken Trainor, an Oak Park native, is based on short essays, published over three decades in Wednesday Journal.

The book is available at The Book Table, the Oak Park River Forest History Museum, or online via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

SPORTS Friars’ season ends with loss to DePaul Prep

By LAUREN RECCHIA Contributing Reporter

The sectional semifinal was hard fought, but the Fenwick boys soccer team fell just short of advancing to the sectional final.

The Friars (9-9-2) lost to DePaul Prep 1-0 Tuesday at DePaul Prep Stadium. The Rams’ goal came in the first half with 7:05 to play on a shot by senior Brody Edgar. Fenwick held the Rams to just two shots on goal in the matchup, both coming in the first half.

“We just wanted to play to win the game like we have all season,” said senior midfielder James Zimmer. “It’s good to see that we still play with that desire to win every game.”

“Overall, we had a great game,” said senior midfielder Jake Brecknock. “We came out and did everything we could except for one play that [DePaul Prep] capitalized on.

They’re a great team, so you have to expect that if you give them something they’re going to take it. Everyone on our team wanted to be out there and we were fighting and that showed in the play even if it didn’t show in

the result.”

“We had a pretty good game plan,” said Friars head coach Craig Blazer. “We had a lot more opportunities than [DePaul Prep] did, but we just weren’t able to convert. We defended well the whole game against a great team.”

One of the keys for Fenwick to keep the game close was something they’ve been doing all season — taking advantage of their experience playing together and communicating effectively.

“Communication, talking it out, and just chemistry.” Zimmer summed up. “A lot of us have been playing together for a long time, and we’ve really gotten to know each other.

It’s been fun.”

While Tuesday’s loss was a tough one for Fenwick’s seniors, Zimmer and Brecknock looked back fondly at their careers and how this team always fought for each other.

“There are so many great memories with this team,” Zimmer said. “Away games, home games, it’s been really special, and this is a special group.”

“In all four years and this season, we’ve had

CAROL DUNNING

Fenwick striker Ian MacKinnon gets off a shot at DePaul Prep Oct. 24 in an IHSA Class 2A boys soccer sectional semifinal. The Friars fell to the host Rams 1-0 to finish 9-9-2 for the season. plenty of ups and downs,” Brecknock added.

“My biggest takeaway is how we come and fight back from tough losses. This group of guys is a group I’m going to miss; we all want to fight for each other as much as we can.”

Blazer noted the team had a season packed with talented teams, and as the seniors move on, the team will look for new leaders to step up.

“We played a tough schedule, and we had these guys prepared,” he said. “We’ve had several games like this where it was a one-goal game — so many teams are so well coached and have good players. We’ll take away a lot from this season, but right now we have some time to think about it.

We had an outstanding group of seniors and we’re very proud of them.”

No gridiron glory for OPRF, Fenwick First time in 12 years neither is in postseason

MELVIN TATE Tate’s Take

W

hile I covered two IHSA football state playoff games this weekend, a big part of me was wishing at least one of them would involve OPRF or Fenwick.

Instead, for the first time since 2011, neither the Friars nor the Huskies are in postseason play, whether it’s the state tournament or the Prep Bowl playoffs.

Entering the season, I thought both schools had a decent chance of playing in Week 10 despite each having challenging schedules. But

both endured lengthy losing streaks to end the year: OPRF lost its last six games to finish 1-8, and Fenwick, which started 4-1 and looked in good shape, dropped their final four to end 4-5.

So where did things go awry? Let’s start with the Friars, whom I felt were the more likely of the locals to reach postseason.

Yes, Fenwick had a brutal slate this fall, with seven of its nine opponents reaching the state playoffs the previous year, including three state champions (IC Catholic Prep, Mount Carmel, and Nazareth Academy), a state runner-up (Providence Catholic), and two state semifinalists (St. Ignatius, Wheaton St. Francis). I felt the Friars had the ability to be competitive with those schools, and it turned out they were, defeating St.

Ignatius and St. Francis and losing close contests to Mount Carmel, Nazareth, and Providence.

IC was the only school to dominate Fenwick with a 42-9 rout on Oct. 20, which ended the Friars’ postseason hopes. But in my opinion, it was the 44-43 double overtime loss at DePaul Prep (who also missed the state playoffs) the previous week that cost Fenwick. That’s a game I know coach Matt Battaglia, his staff, and his players would love to do over for a different outcome.

Alas, it was a loss.

It also wasn’t meant to be for OPRF. The Huskies figured to have a challenge with just five players with significant varsity experience, but I See TATE on page 29

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

S P O R T S

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Kinsey serves OPRF to a fast start in semifinal win

Gaby Towns (4 kills, 4 blocks), Ella HullHuskies defeat host Hinsdale inger (3 kills, 2 aces), Samantha Shelton (2 kills) and Tewa Woodson (5 points).

Central in sectional The Huskies (31-6), seeded No. 1 in the

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Senior Kinsey Smith always contributes to the Oak Park and River Forest High School girls volleyball team with her setting. But the Davidson recruit also establishes the tone with her serving.

Smith helped the Huskies grab early leads in both sets Monday in defeating Hinsdale Central 25-19, 25-7 in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals.

“Getting the team out of system, serving aggressively, taking players out is a big role. And that helped us win tonight,” said Smith, who had 12 service points and two of the team’s five aces, besides 19 assists.

“Everyone came out with a lot of energy and intensity. Everything just came together. Everyone came and did their part, which is really big.”

Other contributors included Grace Nelson (11 kills), libero Keira Kleidon (10 digs),

sectional, face No. 2 Willowbrook (37-1) for the sectional title Wednesday. OPRF handed Willowbrook its lone loss 25-17, 24-26, 2510 on Sept. 29.

Last year, OPRF lost to state champion Mother McAuley in the sectional semifinals. This would be the Huskies’ first sectional title since 2013 and second since the 1988 Class AA state runners-up.

“Since August we’ve been talking about that sectional loss to Mother McAuley. We really wanted to make a statement coming out here,” OPRF coach Kelly Collins said.

“So proud of the team for coming out and executing the game plan.”

After a sideout, Smith served OPRF to a 5-0 lead in the first set. As the first server of the second set, she gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead behind two aces and a kill and block assist from Towns with Woodson.

The Huskies had extra focus, knowing they needed three sets to beat No. 4 Hinsdale Central (24-12) on Sept. 5.

Fenwick, Trinity seasons come to an end

In an IHSA Class 3A regional final on Oct. 26, a pair of big runs bookended Fenwick High School’s season-ending loss.

Visiting St. Ignatius scored the first eight points and the final six of the match to defeat the Friars (8-21) by scores of 1625, 17-25.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” said Fenwick coach Tee Pimsarn.

“All week, we talked about being fast at the beginning and the end, but that slow start hurt. That second set, gosh, we battled, but only had one sub left [at the end] and had to keep people in.”

Bella Gray had five kills; Marcelina Kozaczka four kills; Lola Tortorello three kills and eight assists; Lizzie Scharpf six assists and an ace; and Hazel Davis six digs for Fenwick.

In the regional semifinal Oct. 24, the

Friars routed UIC Prep 25-4, 25-10. Kozaczka had seven kills, Jordan Rossi five kills, Gray and Tortorello four kills each; Lily Boyle and Kate Williams three kills each; and Ava D’Alessandro two aces.

Davis, Scharpf, and Tortorello are among six seniors who will be lost to graduation. But with 12 returnees, including six underclassmen, Pimsarn feels Fenwick’s future is bright.

“We’re proud of our kids,” he said. “I wish people could see how much they’ve worked and improved. Their expectations will be higher next year.”

Also in 3A, Trinity High School lost the Hancock Regional final Oct. 26 to St. Laurence 20-25, 20-25. The Blazers finished 1519 for the season.

“Definitely our aggressive serving, especially from Kinsey, gave us that nice little lead and cushion, but we made sure to re-

mind them the game wasn’t over,” Collins said. “Credit our serving. They did a great job of taking Central out of their system.”

— Melvin Tate

Fenwick girls x-country advances downstate

Two for Trinity also advance

Fenwick High School placed fifth with 154 points in the Class 2A Trinity Sectional on Oct. 28 at Lewis University in Romeoville. The result allowed the Friars to qualify for the state finals in head coach Latoya Zubowicz-Hill’s debut season.

“I’m beyond thrilled; there are no words,” she said. “To be able to do this in my community and share a part of who I

am, I’m beyond grateful.”

Freshman Juliana Gamboa earned AllSectional honors with a third-place finish, clocking in at 18:19.30. Senior Anna Scholtens also placed inside the top 20, coming in 14th in 19:27.10.

“I am thrilled with how the team performed and couldn’t be happier with the end of my senior season,” Scholtens said.

Fenwick’s other runners were freshmen Lily Kotynek (38th, 20:59.90) and Allison Austin (50th, 21:28.80); sophomore Romy Bergetz (63rd, 21:53.60); and juniors Kyra Miller (70th, 22:08.90) and Emma Brennan (85th, 23:21.60).

The sectional host Blazers finished 12th with 305 points but had two runners qualify to go downstate. Sophomore Molly McGreal earned All-Sectional honors by placing fifth with a time of 18:21.40, and junior Jade Morelli came in 46th in 21:19.70.

“Our focus was to put Jade in the best

possible position to succeed and snatch up a qualifying spot, and that’s what she did,” Trinity coach Johann Gonzalez said.

“She pushed the pace and worked really hard on the course. It was awesome.”

Gonzalez is excited about Morelli advancing along with McGreal, who placed 107th (20:07.17) in last year’s state finals.

“As excited as Molly is about her accomplishments this season, it’s been really cool to see her take on leadership and help Jade out,” he said. “Both going downstate is the icing on the cake.”

Fenwick and Trinity compete in the Class 2A state finals on Nov. 4 in Peoria.

felt they would gradually improve as their young players seasoned.

Ultimately, though, OPRF’s only victory came in Week 3, 33-14 at Proviso West, which went 0-9. Playing in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division, one of the state’s premier leagues, is generally unforgiving to young, developing teams like

this year’s Huskies; with the exception of a 56-28 loss at York in Week 4, every WSC Silver loss ended with a running clock. By season’s end, 17 underclassmen were in the lineup.

Where do OPRF and Fenwick go from here? Call me a homer, but I still believe in both programs. There’s a lot of good

young talent there, and I feel Battaglia along with OPRF coach John Hoerster are the right guys to turn things around. Each has experienced success at their respective schools: Battaglia led the Friars to the 2021 Class 5A championship, the first state title in program history; and Hoerster had the Huskies in the state playoffs for seven

consecutive seasons (2012 through 2018).

I wouldn’t give up on the local high school football programs. Both OPRF and Fenwick have rich football traditions, and have bounced back from down years before. I anticipate the Huskies and Friars rebounding and contending for the state playoffs again in 2024.

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

“I’m really proud that the team has bought into a new coaching staff,” Zubowicz-Hill said. “Everyone’s adjusted well, and it’s starting to yield results.”

Trinity

30 Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023 Deadline is Monday at 5:00 p.m.

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M. MON–FRI

PART-TIME ELECTRICIAN’S HELPER Experience or not.

Call for more information.

708-738-3848

RIVER FOREST PARK DISTRICT PARK SPECIALIST

Job Title: Park Specialist

Starting Salary Range: $19.00 $21.88/HR Working Hours: The Park Specialist is a full time non-exempt position working 40 hours per week, plus overtime. The scheduled work hours for this position are Monday – Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, including ½ hour unpaid lunch. Hours may be shifted occasionally to accommodate specific tasks.

Summary: The Park Specialist is responsible for assisting the Superintendent of Parks with the maintenance operations of the Park District grounds, facilities, and equipment.

The work includes, but not limited to: Landscape maintenance operations for the Park District.

Custodial maintenance of all Park District facilities.

Qualifications: 21 years of age. A valid Illinois State Driver License (Class A). In good physical condition with sufficient strength to lift and hold 50 pounds.

A full Job Description is available at www.rfparks.com/job-opportunities Interested candidates shall submit an application by email to John Beto at jbeto@rfparks.com

ASSISTANT VILLAGE ENGINEER/ TRANSPORTATION ENGINEER The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Assistant Village Engineer/ Transportation Engineer in the Public Works Department. The employee will be responsible for leading the planning, design, and operation of the Village’s transportation system;

designing and managing capital improvement projects; supervising and directing the Transportation Engineering Division; assisting in directing, supervising, and coordinating activities of the Engineering Division; and providing administrative support to the Village Engineer and Director of Public Works. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park. us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application..

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Engineering Technician II in the Public Works Department. The employee performs layout, draft and design drawings from field survey information and field notes for various engineering and planning projects including existing improvements, right-of-way and various utilities and performs a variety of field inspections. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park.us/jobs.

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

POLICE DESK CLERK FOREST PARK, IL

The Forest Park Police Department, seeks a Full-Time Police Desk Clerk.

Eligible candidates will be required to pass an aptitude test and an extensive background check. Qualifications include computer skills, the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, good knowledge of English language, general office skills, including handling non-emergency calls and walk-up customer service, and good verbal and written skills.

HOLIDAY, EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS ARE MANDATORY. Open until filled. Applications are available at Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Ave. or at www.forestpark. net and should be returned Attn: Vanessa Moritz, Village Clerk, Village of Forest Park, 517 Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park, IL 60130. Email: vmoritz@forestpark.net.

R E N TA L S

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

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

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

TOOLS WANTED: Call, Justin C 708-822-8822 H 708-445-0164 NO TEXTS

Published in Wednesday Journal Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, 2023

CLASSICS WANTED CLASSICS WANTED Restored or Unrestored

or Unrestored Cars &Restored Vintage Motorcycles Domestic / Cars & Vintage Motorcycles Import Cars: Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette,Cars: Ferrari’s, Domestic / Import Jaguars, Muscle Cars, Mustang & Mopars Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, $$ Top $$ all makes, Etc.

Ferrari’s, James Jaguars,• 630-201-8122 Muscle Cars, Collector Mustang & Mopars

$$E Top $$ HOM SERV I C all E S makes, Etc.

CLASSICS WANTED Collector James

Restored or Unrestored ELECTRICAL PAINTING Cars630-201-8122 & Vintage Motorcycles CLASSIC PAINTING A&A ELECTRIC Ceiling Domestic / ImportFast Cars: & Neat Fans Let an American Veteran do your work ELECTRICAL

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.

Painting/Taping/Plaster

Mercedes, Porsche, Corvette, Repair Cost •708.749.0011 Ferrari’s, Jaguars,Low Muscle Cars, Mustang & Mopars

WOODWORK $$ Top $$ all makes, Etc.

708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848

Terry's

Collector James Woodwork

Sr. Discounts • 30 Yrs. Exp. Servicing Oak Park • All surrounding suburbs • Chicago area

Restoration 630-201-8122

FLOORS

FIREWOOD

KLIS FLOORING INC.

FIREWOOD

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

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

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

708-296-2060

Request of Catherine Mary Divane Case Number 2023 CONC001589.

The court date will be held: On February 2, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at Zoom Meeting ID: 95894921843 Passcode: 226532.

WANTED MILITARY ITEMS:

I want to buy all your old tools American tools, Wilton Vise, Wood working tools, Machinist tools.

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE

There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: Catherine Mary Divane to the new name of: Casey Catherine Mary Castle

CARS WANTED

WANTED TO BUY

PUBLIC NOTICES must be mailed or delivered by the claimant to the representative within 10 days after it has been filed. E-filing is now mandatory for documents in civil cases with limited exemptions.

STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY.

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

HELP WANTED

PUBLIC NOTICES

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Fast Delivery MIXED HARDWOODS CBH & MIX 100% OAK CHERRY OR HICKORY 100% BIRCH Seasoned 2 years Stacking Available

847-888-9999 Order online:

www. suregreen landscape.com

Credit Cards Accepted

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

PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY. Request of Jason Issac Arroyo Case Number CONC001250 There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: Jason Issac Arroyo to the new name of: Jason Issac Roth The court date will be held: On November 9, 2023 at 10:00 AM at Richard J. Daley Center, 50 W. Washington Street, Rm. 1702, Chicago, IL 60602 via ZOOM at ZOOM ID 986 9592 1385 Passcode 539505.

Zoom Call-In Number 312-626-6799 Published in Wednesday Journal Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICES IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, COUNTY DEPARTMENT, PROBATE DIVISION ESTATE OF RITA QUILLE, DECEASED. NO. 2023 P 007191 Notice is given to creditors of the death of the above named decedent. Letters of office were issued to BRIAN QUILLE, 1957 W RACE, CHICAGO, IL 60622, as Independent Executor. The estate will be administered without court supervision, unless under section 5/28-4 of the Probate Act (Ill. Compiled Stat. 1992, Ch. 755, par. 5/28-4) any interested person terminates independent administration at any time by mailing or delivering a petition to terminate to the clerk. Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the clerk in Room 1202, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 W. Washington St., Chicago, IL, or with the representative, or both, on or before April 9, 2024, or, if mailing or delivery of a notice from the representative is required by section 5/18-3 of the Probate Act, the date stated in that notice. Any claim not filed on or before that date is barred.

Copies of a claim filed with the clerk

To e-file, you must first create an account with an e-filing service provider.

Visit Http://efile.illinoiscourts.gov/service-providers.htm to learn more and to select a service provider. If you need additional help or have trouble e-filing, visit http://www.illnoscourts.gov/FAQ/ gethelp.asp.

Published in Wednesday Journal November 1, 8, 15, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICES SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): SHEKI D. WELCH, an individual and DOES 1 to 25 YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): EB HALEM, LLC d/b/a DRIVE LA, a California Liability Corporation NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements.

You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación.

Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en

Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023 31

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

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www. sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia.

PUBLIC NOTICE STATE OF ILLINOIS VILLAGE OF BROOKFIELD Notice of Public Hearing Village of Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission November 16, 2023, at 7:00 PM

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Monday 20 November 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois, the Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a public hearing to consider a request for a variation to reduce the side yard setback and a variation to reduce the required lot width, lot area and lot coverage to construct a new single family dwelling at the following location:

Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia. org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte. ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso.

CASE NUMBER: (Número del Caso): 23VECV00177 The name ad address of the court is: (El nombre y direccion de la corte es): Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles, Northwest District Van Nuys Courthouse 6230 Sylmar Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91401 The name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney or plaintiff without an attorney is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telfono del abogado el demandante, o demandante que no tiene abogado, es): Keith M. Davidson, Esq. (SBN212216) Tel: (323)658-5444 KMD Law 2629 Townsgate Road, Suite 205 Westlake Village, CA 91361 Date (Fecha): 3/20/2023 Clerk (Secretario): David W. Slayton, Executive Officer/ Clerk of Court

By Deputy (Adjunto): A. Salcdeo Published in Forest Park Review November 1, 8, 15, 22, 2023

NOTICE is hereby given that a public hearing will be held by the Planning and Zoning Commission of the Village of Brookfield on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM in the Edward Barcal Hall located at 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois to consider a request by the Village of Brookfield, as petitioner, to amend the text of the Village of Brookfield Zoning Ordinance Chapter 62 Zoning, Article III – Off-Street Parking and Loading, Section 224 Control of Off-Street Facilities of the Municipal Code.

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

Written comments may be provided prior to 4:00 PM on the day of the meeting to: Village of Brookfield, Planning and Zoning Commission c/o Kate Portillo, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513 and at kportillo@brookfieldil.gov. Oral or written public testimony may be given during the public hearing.

The application may be viewed at the Village of Brookfield Village Hall during normal business hours. Public hearings may be continued from time to time without further notice, except as otherwise required under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation in order to participate in any meeting may contact the Village of Brookfield at (708) 4857344 prior to the meeting. Wheelchair access is available through the front (south) entrance of Village Hall.

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

Published in RB Landmark November 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Monday 20 November 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park, Illinois, the Village of Forest Park Planning and Zoning Commission will conduct a Public Hearing to consider a request for a variation to reduce the minimum lot width, lot area and a variation to reduce the side yard setback(s) and rear yard setback for the following property: LOTS 23 AND 24 IN BLOCK 1 IN ADAM SCHAAF AND W.A.KREIDLER’S ADDITION TO SOUTH OAK PARK BEING A SUBDIVISION OF THE WEST ½ OF THE NORTHEAST ¼ OF THE SOUTHEAST ¼ OF SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH RANGE 12 EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN IN COOK COUNTY ILLINOIS Commonly known as 836 Circle Ave. PIN: 15-13-405-020-0000 and 15-13405-021-0000 The petitioner is Patrick Buckley dba Cill Dara, Marsha East, Chairman Planning and Zoning Commission, Chairperson Published in the Forest Park Review November 1, 2023

LOT 269 E.A. CUMMINGS AND COMPANY’S MADISON STREET ADDITION TO SECTION 13, TOWNSHIP 39 NORTH, RANGE 12, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, SITUATION IN THE VILLAGE OF FOREST PARK, COUNTY OF COOK, IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. Commonly known as: 7713 Wilcox Ave. Forest Park Il. 60130 PIN 15-13-105-018-0000 The petitioner is George Rosca dba RG Green Builder Signed: Marsha East Planning and Zoning Chairperson

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified vendors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CST until 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 for the following: Village of Oak Park UPM COLD MIX PATCH MATERIAL Bid Number: 24-105 Bid documents may be obtained from the Village’s website at http://www.oakpark.us/bid. For questions, please call Public Works at (708) 358-5700 during the above hours.

Published in Wednesday Journal November 1, 2023

Published in the Forest Park Review November 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified mechanical contractors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL 60302 Mon thru Fri, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm until 11:00 am on Wed, Nov. 29, 2023 for the following: Village of Oak Park Public Works Center AHU 2 AC Replacement Proposal Number: 23-136 Issuance Date: 11/1/23 There will be a mandatory pre-bid meeting at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL on Wed., Nov. 8, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Bid documents may be obtained from the Village website at http:// www.oak-park.us/bid.

For questions please call Public Works at (708) 358-5700.

Published in Wednesday Journal November 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY

LEGAL NOTICE

Request of BILLY MICHAEL SMITH Case Number 2023 CONC001645 There will be a court date on my Request to change my name from: BILLLY MICHAEL SMITH to the new name of: CASEY WILLIAM STWEWART III The court date will be held: On January 25, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom.

Zoom Meeting ID: 91404109299 Passcode: 407193 Published in Wednesday Journal November 1, 8, 15, 2023

The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified fire sprinkler system testing companies at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL 60302 Mon thru Fri, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm until 10:00 am on Wed, Nov. 29, 2023 for the following: Village of Oak Park Fire Sprinkler System Testing Services Proposal Number: 23-135 Issuance Date: 11/1/23 There will be a mandatory pre-bid meeting at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, IL on Mon., Nov. 6, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Bid documents may be obtained from the Village website at http:// www.oak-park.us/bid.

For questions please call Public Works at (708) 358-5700.

Published in Wednesday Journal November 1, 2023

Let the sun shine in...

Public Notice:

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

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE HOLDERS OF BENCHMARK 2018-B1 MORTGAGE TRUST COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2018-B1 Plaintiff, -v.1120 RETAIL LLC, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 2020 CH 06119 1114-1126 LAKE STREET OAK PARK, IL 60301 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on September 28, 2023, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on November 20, 2023, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1114-1126 LAKE STREET, OAK PARK, IL 60301 Property Index No. 16-07-119-0290000, 16-07-119-030-0000, AND 1607-119-031-0000 The real estate is improved with a mixed-use commercial / residential property.

The judgment amount was $16,499,313.09.

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, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. 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, contact ALEX PORTER, LATHROP GPM LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 155 N WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3000, CHICAGO, IL, 60606 (312) 920-3333.

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

ALEX PORTER LATHROP GPM LLP 155 N WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3000 CHICAGO IL, 60606 312-920-3333 E-Mail: alex.porter@lathropgpm.com Attorney Code. 46500 Case Number: 2020 CH 06119 TJSC#: 43-3860 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 # 2020 CH 06119 I3231381

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

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

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

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

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

GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA

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Wednesday Journal, November 1, 2023

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Presents

(subject to private party schedule)

7427 Street 7427 Madison Madison Street www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200 www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200

(bridal, wedding, and baby showers, birthdays, birthdays, meetings) meetings)

◆ 2nd floor outdoor patio dining 2nd floor outdoor patio dining ◆ (subject schedule) (subject to to private private party party schedule)

◆ Private parties on our 2nd floor Private parties on our 2nd floor ◆ (bridal, baby showers, (bridal, wedding, wedding, and and baby showers, birthdays, birthdays, meetings) meetings)

48 hours hours notice) notice) ◆ Catering (please (please give give 48 ◆ Catering

Private 2nd floor floor ◆ Private parties parties on on our our 2nd ◆ (bridal, wedding, and baby showers,

(bridal, wedding, and baby showers, birthdays, birthdays, meetings) meetings)

7427 Madison Street 7427 Madison Street www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200 www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200

dining ◆ 2nd floor floor outdoor outdoor patio patio dining ◆ 2nd (subject to private party schedule)

◆ 2nd floor outdoor patio dining 2nd floor outdoor patio dining ◆ (subject schedule) (subject to to private private party party schedule)

48 hours hours notice) notice) ◆ Catering (please (please give give 48 ◆ Catering

7427 Madison Street 7427 Madison Street www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200 www.caffedeluca.com 708-366-9200

is available available ◆ Direct online online ordering ordering is ◆ Direct ◆ Sunday brunch brunch (10am-2pm) (10am-2pm) ◆ Sunday

is available available ◆ Direct online online ordering ordering is ◆ Direct ◆ Sunday brunch brunch (10am-2pm) (10am-2pm) ◆ Sunday

Mama MamaDe DeLuca Luca on Madison Madison Street Street ◆ Celebrating our our 17th 18th year year on ◆ Celebrating

Mama MamaDe DeLuca Luca on Madison Madison Street Street ◆ Celebrating our our 17th 18th year year on ◆ Celebrating

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EATS B2 November 1, 2023

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November 1, 2023 B3

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The joys of dining

ike every meal well served in a local restaurant, our annual EATS special section is a collaboration of creative people, fully focused on a great outcome.

Gathering so many local restaurants into one section reflects the spectacular diversity of cuisines and attitudes that we all enjoy in the eight communities represented in this year’s EATS section.

Oak Park, Forest Park, Elmwood Park, Austin, Berwyn, River Forest, Brookfield and Riverside have, each in their way, become dining hubs drawing not only locals and but also curious diners from across the area.

So many people are living out their dreams of creating a restaurant, building it up, opening it to change and welcoming their customers to enjoy that hospitality.

We have thanks to offer, too.

This year, our lead sponsor for EATS is Takeout 25. This nonprofit sprang into ac-

tion during the pandemic with a goal of sustaining our local restaurants during a spectacularly hard time. They created motivation and an infrastructure for generous and hungry people to still enjoy a great meal even during COVID. Now, Takeout25 is perpetually innovating to support restaurants and doing it across a wider range of nearby neighborhoods.

Ours is a natural partnership in promoting the joy of good and curious eating.

A final thanks to Risé Sanders-Weir, who has stepped up as our lead freelance writer for this section. When she told us she was a devoted local diner, she was speaking the truth.

Hope you enjoy this year’s EATS. And happy dining.

Adorn your table... deliciously.

Broken Tart cakes, pies, and cookies are getting all dressed up for Thanksgiving.

Stop into our shop or visit brokentart.com to place your holiday order today!

BROKEN TART Cakes. Bakes. Coffee.

1108 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park www.brokentart.com

Dan Haley Publisher

Contributing Reporter and Photographer Risé Sanders-Weir Digital Manager Stacey Coleman Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Designer Susan McKelvey Marketing Representatives Lourdes Nicholls, Ben Stumpe Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer HOW TO REACH US 141 S. Oak Park Ave. Oak Pak, IL 60302 Phone 708-524-8300 www.oakpark.com

Editor Erika Hobbs Publisher Dan Haley Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

© 2023 Growing Community Media NFP.

B4 November 1, 2023

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Longtime friends now partners at Victory Italian

V

Pair grew up in Melrose Park so Oak Park felt like home

ictory Italian is the collaboration of Chef Joe Farina and restaurant and real estate developer Tony Gambino. Joe and Tony grew up in Melrose Park together and would meet occasionally over the years to discuss doing a project together.

Farina was the culinary director of Rosebud restaurants for years and Gambino was in the Mexican restaurant business with Taco Fresco and Fuego Loco. Finally in 2016 they were able to do a joint restaurant in South Loop called Victory Tap. Growing up in Melrose Park, a location in the Oak Park, River Forest area was familiar and something both were enthusiastic about. When the pair

found the location at South Blvd. and Marion Street, they both loved it and could see that the overall space would work well for a Victory Italian restaurant.

The entrepreneurs enlarged the bar and changed the floor plan of the former wine and cheese market into a traditional looking Italian restaurant.

The look is not trendy, instead they chose an old school approach to the room with darker wood, copper and white marble to give the room an upscale but warm and comfortable feel.

The food too is traditional Italian. They like to say it is Chicago Style Italian food. Homemade pastas, Chicken Parmesan, Brick Chicken and Farina’s

famous meatballs are featured on the menu. Victory also always has a few strong steak, chop and seafood entrees on the menu as well. Those include the popular Chilean Seabass, Lamb Chops Oreganata and the New York Strip Steak Gambino style.

Gambino, formerly a resident of Oak Park who lived on South Blvd.,

only blocks away from the restaurant, loves the area and the town. Victory is now in its third year and its owners believe they have brought something to Oak Park that will become part of the neighborhood and the community.

Victory is open daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and is open for lunch on Friday and Saturday.

Victory also has a great catering menu with family meals and for the holiday’s items like seafood salad, baked or raw clams, calamari. ... to help anyone attempting the seven fishes.

Victory Italian victoryitalian.com

100 South Marion, Oak Park

Hours: Sunday - Thursday: 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Friday - Saturday: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm

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A year in the life of Broken Tart Sisters connecting bakery with the villages

B

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

roken Tart did it. Surviving the first year is a milestone for small businesses. What was once a coinlaundry at 1108 Chicago Ave. has established itself as a beloved bakery.

The owners, sisters Krissy and Katie Mack, are humbled and overjoyed that their sweet dream was embraced by the community.

Katie Mack remembers the opening.

“When we were trying to plan for this, we just didn’t know. How many scones are we going to sell in a day -- like 12, like 24?” She got her answer, “The demand has been crazy. Thank you to the community for such amazing support since day one.”

Customers have quickly picked favorites. Some have called the kale scone “life changing.” Others are devotees of the overnight oats, ginger crème cookies, sweet or savory biscuits, or the citrus-glazed olive oil cake.

Chef Krissy Mack is attracted to ingredients that are both intriguing and, of course, delicious. She says she doesn’t follow trends, but she does enjoy introducing flavors. “I like buckwheat flour. Not everywhere, but it has the most amazing texture.”

Broken Tart brokentart.com

1108 Chicago Ave, Oak Park Hours:

Tuesday through Saturday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Katie Mack who came to the endeavor with marketing skills adds, “Being in the culinary scene you want to try something that’s interesting. But I think we have something for everybody.”

For lunch, there is a daily focaccia and at the end of the week, “Sandwich Friday.”

Cakes continue to be an important part of the business too. To satisfy demand they usually require a seven-day advance order. Not to be forgotten, the sisters are also proud of their beverage program, which includes coffee from Big Shoulders and Ruby Coffee Roasters.

Supporting other local businesses is something Krissy and Katie are excited to have the opportunity to do. One example is on select Saturdays this year they have partnered with Mood, just across the

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Broken Tart pastries street, to host Le Marche, a Parisian-style street market with a curated selection of food, fashion, antiques, and art vendors.

The sidewalk patio in front of Broken Tart has also become a draw.

“We like to be a community spot,” said Katie Mack.

To keep that going as the weather turns

crisp, the two are already imagining how they can extend the patio season, especially when Christmas trees arrive in the lot across the street.

Both sisters agree. “We want people to bring their kids and get a hot chocolate. It’s very Hallmark. We want to continue to deliver delicious products and experiences.”

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

B6 November 1, 2023

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More seating, a bigger kitchen and growing menu at Poke Burrito

P PHOTOS COURTESY OF POKE BURRITO

Lake Street spot expanding into space next door

oke Burrito has announced its expansion into the retail space just next door to its longtime current location at 1025 Lake St., Oak Park.

The new space will expand both the dining space and the kitchen and allow for several new items to be added to the menu.

“It took us over a year to finish up our new dining space with additional kitchen

space,” said Jimmy Chen, the enthusiastic owner of the restaurant.

“Now you are able to dine in a bigger and newly renovated pleasant environment with many of our new specialty food menu items,” he said. According to the very limited space in our current store, we couldn’t serve many customers at once, which we are very unhappy about.”

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Poke Burrito

pokeburritochicago.com 1025 Lake St., Oak Park Hours:

Monday/Thursday: 11 a.m to 9 p.m.

Friday: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Saturday: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Chen said adding more space for dine-in customers while expanding the kitchen space for his crew has “always been the first thing on my mind.”

Chen announced the Oak Park store will be launching new menu items including Korean Corn Dogs, Japanese Ramen, Mochi Donut, Hong Kong Bubble Waffle, Waffle Ice Cream, Funnel Cake, and additional Japanese appetizers.

Korean corn dogs are an upgraded version of regular hot dogs. It has a corn-like shape, wrapped in amazing batter, filled inside with hot dogs, mozzarella cheese, rice cakes, or fish cakes fried in a batter on a stick. You can also dress with sugar, ketchup, mustard, and/or mayo to make it into your favorite style. They are a sweet and savory treat that can be made in a variety of different ways. Pulling cheesy strings out of corn dogs is an additional fun fact.

Mochi donuts, also known as Poi Mochi, are a fusion pastry crossing traditional American doughnuts and Japanese mochi. The mochi donuts are Poke Burrito’s own special mixture of “hybrid batter” made out of glutinous rice flour and tapioca flour which makes a doughnut more fluffy, and moist, and will give you the most satisfying chew. Mochi donuts are uniquely shaped into eight mochi balls connected into a circular flower shape that is easy to pull apart and designed to share with your loved ones.

The “new” bubble waffle has a different unique shape which is rolled up into a cone and stuffed with deliciously flavorful ice cream and eye-catching colorful toppings.

When you take your first bite, says Chen, you will instantly feel cheated. It’s like a soft pancake disguised as a bubbleshaped waffle.

Since winter is coming, Chen said it’s the perfect time to bring back their Japanese Ramen. “We’ve got a newly developed kitchen to create the most delicious and savory bowl of ramen to warm up your day.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POKE BURRITO

B8 November 1, 2023

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Inari welcomes beginners and connoisseurs

A kaleidoscope of fresh tastes at Inari

I FILE

Real flames are on the menu when customers order the flaming dragon specialty roll at Inari Sushi in Elmwood Park.

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

nari Sushi wants to introduce diners to both the elegant and fun sides of sushi, sashimi, maki, poke.

Many of us love the taste of sushi but are a bit intimidated when faced with the terminology that comes with it. At Inari Sushi on restaurant row in Elmwood Park, you can sit back with a glass of sake (Japanese rice wine), hot tea, or a cocktail and know you are in good hands.

Alcoholic drinks are 50% off during

their happy hour each day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Other drink specials extend into the full day: Monday is half priced wine and sake; Tuesdays bring $6 martinis and $3 inari sushi (fried tofu pockets stuffed with rice) which makes a great sweet/sour appetizer.

The restaurant features the freshest ingredients possible in both their traditional and innovative menu. Here’s a primer: sashimi is simply thin slices of raw fish and other seafoods meant to be eaten after a quick dip in soy sauce. Sushi are the same slices, but now served over vinegarseasoned rice balls. Vegetables and eggs join items on the sushi menu.

Maki is where Inari gets seriously creative. Their rolls come filled with a

!

P O O C

S n a c u o y s New

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Give at GrowingCommunityMedia.org

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November 1, 2023 B9

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RibFest Every Day! Mickey’s is the place!

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

$22.99

includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread

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

Inari Sushi inarisushi.com

7428 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park Hours:

3 Vienna

Monday-Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Hot Dogs w/ Fries

10.99

Friday-Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

$

Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. kaleidoscope of tasty combinations. Summer rolls feature vegetables and sashimi without rice. Samurai, Hamachi-Kama, and White Tuna Crunch rolls are on the specials list as well. All are under $17.

One stand-out is their Flaming Dragon Roll. Filled with tempura shrimp, scallions, and sweet and spicy mayo inside, the roll is topped with salmon, super white tuna, black tobiko and sesame seeds. But wait, there’s more. When the dish arrives at the table, it’s set on fire.

Inari also offers the increasingly popular poke bowls (pronounced po-KAY). This Hawaiian dish respects the island’s deep ties to Japanese culture. Think of the bowls as deconstructed Maki. Cubes of fish are served over rice, accompanied by a variety of vegetables and toppings.

Lunch specials are a great way to explore

$15.49

Full Slab Dinner

Sandwich w/ Fries .99 $

10

Wednesday

Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $14.99

Every day Special!

Gyros with fries $9.99

PHOTOS COURTESY OF INARI SUSHI

1/4 Lb Double Cheeseburger

Big Mickey! $ .99

3

SAWA’SOld OLD Warsaw WARSAW Sawa’s Authentic Polish-American Smorgasbord

and find out what you like. A sushi sashimi combo goes for under $20. There is even a vegan lunch combo!

A recent diner commented that Inari helped his son get into the spirit. Their server gave him connected chopstick trainers to help eat the authentic way. Inari is on a mission to help everyone enjoy sushi.

Restaurant • Lounge • Banquets • The Jazz Room Authentic Smorgasbord DinePolish-American In • Carry Out • Catering • Delivery

www.SawasOldWarsaw.com Restaurant • Lounge • Banquets • Dine In • Carry Out • Catering & Delivery

www.SawasOldWarsaw.com

THANKSGIVING JOINFEA US FOR ST OUR

THANKSGIVING FEAST

Sliced Turkey Carved Round of Beef Carved Ham off the Bone Pierogies Sliced Turkey Broasted Chicken Mashed Potatoes with Brown Gravy Fresh Smoke Polish Sausage Carved Round& of Beef Sauerkraut Best Salad Bar in Town Carved Ham off the Bone Holiday Sweet Potatoes Mushroom & ChickenHours Noodle Soup Broasted Chicken Stuffing Eve - Closed Apple Christmas Crepes + Soft Serve Ice Cream Fresh & Smoke Polish Sausage Christmas Day - Closed Potato Pumpkin PieYears + Dessert Table Shrimp CocktailPancakes New Eve Closed Pierogies New Years Day - Closed Kolaczki + Assorted Cakes Stuffing/Sauerkraut Mushroom Soup Sweet Potatoes Mashed Potatoes with Brown Gravy Veteran’s Day Special Potato Pancakes Full Salad Bar Saturday, November 11 Stuffed Cabbage Dessert Table 50% off all day for all veterans Pumpkin Pie (Must show proof) Kolaczki

$23 Adults

Reservations Required

$32 Adults•$13 Children $10 Children

11am to 8pm Seating reservations every 2 hours Seating reservations every 1/2 hour Cermak ~ Broadview, ILRoad ~ 708.343.9040 Sawa’s9200 Old W. Warsaw ~Rd 9200 W. Cermak ~ Broadview, IL ~ 708.343.9040 Ample Parking Available ~ Large Families Welcome ~ Video Poker Ample Parking Available ~ Large Families Welcome ~ Video Poker Sign-up for the Polonia Gazeta (Email Newsletter) for upcoming events

B10 November 1, 2023

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Culture, taste blend at Anfora Wine Merchants

A

nfora Wine Merchants, 128 S. Marion St., is a combination retail shop enoteca (wine library), named after a two handled terracotta vessel used in Ancient Rome to store or transport wine.

Since opening three years ago, the Pleasant District storefront has become a regional wine destination and captured national attention because of press received from the James Beard award winning drinks publication, Punch.

“Our approach to wine at Anfora is not how a standard sommelier would approach it,” said Adrian Weisell, co-owner of Anfora Wine Merchants “Wine is about more than taste to us. We look at wine drinking through a cultural and historical lens.”

The Marion Street shop honors and celebrates, particularly, but not exclusively, Italian wines; a country with more indigenous grape varieties spanning well beyond the more well-known international varietals.

So many ways to engage with wine at Anfora

ANFORA WINE MERCHANTS

A welcoming retail space engages customers upon entry, floral murals cover walls and terracotta pendant fixtures hang from the ceiling.

Wooden shelves house bottles of wine and a set of double doors give way to a cozy room with a counter suitable for hosting small classes and enjoying a glass with friends.

Anfora’s knowledgeable staff strive to make the shop a festive gathering space where people come to select a bottle to open at home or enjoy a bottle of wine onsite with friends.

Anfora has a dynamic wine by the glass list, but Weisell is quick to point out the entire shop is available to be enjoyed for a modest corkage fee.

The shelves are a retail wine list filled with unique offerings, where you’ll find bottles for the everyday, celebration, or collection.

Anfora is building a deeper sense of community through its wine club, annual store membership, and Sunday tastings.

Between their monthly wine club, and the annual store membership, the shop welcomes hundreds of local wine-lovers each

month to pick up their curated collections, or to an exclusive monthly wine tasting for annual store members. Approximately twice a month Anfora hosts $5 Sunday afternoon casual tastings, which are open to the public to taste through five wines the proprietors love right now.

The best way to learn about Anfora’s events is to sign up for its email list (anforawinemerchants.com), or to stop into the shop and check out the monthly calendar.

Anfora Wine Merchants is a social destination where people embrace the thoughtful approach the entire staff takes to curate a wine tasting experience no matter if it is a private event or casual outing with friends.

Anfora Wine Merchants Anforawinemerchants.com 128 S. Marion St., Oak Park 708-613-5388

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Wise Cup a mix of coffee and artisan specials

W

Don’t miss monthly Indian food pop-ups

month. Customers can pre-order off a menu of Indian street food dishes for carryout as well as limited dine-in tables.

The menu changes from month-to-month, rotating among different regional Indian cuisines. Past menus have included: Pav bhaji, a popular vegan stew of assorted vegetables and Indian spices from Mumbai; Summer specials like samosa chaat with stewed chickpeas topped with a golden samosa, chutney, yogurt, onions and tomatoes; Creative lentil flights with garlic naan satisfy curious diners; and Wise Cup’s roti tacos, which bring a taste of Calcutta to Lake Street.

ise Cup is independently owned and operated by Shivangi and Naveen Khetarpal, Oak Park locals who opened the coffee shop six years ago in Downtown Oak Park. It is located at 1018 Lake St. Wise Cup offers an array of traditional as well as innovative coffee drinks, baked goods and special Indian treats including samosas. Every fresh item at this hip spot in Downtown Oak Park is thoughtfully created by local artisans including the locally roasted coffee, sweet and savory treats, and unique hand thrown mugs.

Newly added to the menu are Seasonal Chutney Jars -- a very flavorful dipping sauce for everyday use. It’s an authentic family recipe!

In 2020, Wise Cup also began hosting pop-up meals featuring regional Indian fare. The pop-ups were a hit and the Khetarpals have since continued the program on the first Saturday of every

Shivangi Khetarpal says, “We want to sprinkle the taste of India in this community and want people to know what Indian moms love to make.”

Wise Cup owner Naveen Khetarpa

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Whether you’re looking for a place to meet friends, get some work done with a wonderful cup of coffee or tea, grab something quick before a movie at the

Lake Theater, or try some of their unique offerings, you really can’t beat this very special and vibrant spot in the heart of Downtown Oak Park.

Wise Cup

wise-cup.business.site 1018 Lake St., Oak Park 708-628-3707

B12 November 1, 2023

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A local culinary legend prepares for her final bow

rom her humble start as a personal chef serving four clients, Angie Montroy has seen her business, Angie’s Pantry, grow into a successful weekly meal service offering healthy, homemade fare with a client list of over 1,700 families.

After 25 years in the business, Angie has announced plans to retire in early 2024.

She is seeking to sell her business which has deep roots in these villages.

Angie got her start in the mid-90s when she offered her personal chef services to four clients and grew to include small catered events. Eventually, she started a food blog at AngiesPantryBlog.com, sharing recipes, food stories, cooking and budgeting tips. Her success paved the way for multiple appearances on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight in 2010, and her meal service business kept growing.

Angie initially worked out of the kitchen in her home in River Forest, then moved on to renting space at the 19th Century Club until 2018 when she opened

and trans fats. There are about her doors to the storefront two dozen recipes she offers kitchen of Angie’s Pantry at that she says are client “faves,” 809 South Blvd. in Oak Park. including one she crafted for the “The storefront combined Beyond Hunger “Healthy Chef with the ability for people to Challenge.” She was crowned order online really helped me the winning professional chef expand,” she said. “I hired a both years she entered the really incredible staff to assist competition -- 2018 and 2021 with certain areas, but I am -- beating out renowned chefs at still the chef in the kitchen Angie Montroy local restaurants. every week. It’s physically demanding work, but we all put a lot of But Angie is more than just a chef. love into it.”

She has a passion for giving back to the The Angie’s Pantry staff includes Nancy Walker, Julie Scheuring, Maureen Pond, Jonathan Reedy, David Snyder and Barbora Zamboni. Angie credits her success to the team effort of her staff.

“They are the most amazing people to work with. I couldn’t do anything without them!” she said. Working together, they currently create up to 300 individual meals every week, full of healthy ingredients and thoughtfully curated gluten- free and vegetarian options, and free of preservatives, artificial ingredients

community.

“I believe in helping however I can, and I know a lot of my clients feel the same way,” she said.

“So I gave them an option to make it easy to make a difference.” On her weekly order form, a line item was added offering patrons the opportunity to make a donation. Through the years, Angie and her loyal patrons have collectively donated over $28,000 to charities close to her heart, including Beyond Hunger, Housing

Forward and UNICEF/Help Ukraine.

As Angie steps into the next chapter of her life, she looks forward to a slower pace, cherishing moments with her family.

With her youngest off to college and her eldest son recently married, she playfully hints at the prospect of future grandkids.

“I do have some other things in the works, like an Angie’s Pantry cookbook,” she said. “I also have a special place in my heart for the homeless community, and I am hoping to direct some energy toward a project to benefit them.”

In February 2024, Angie will present her final menu, marking the end of a remarkable 25-year journey.

She’s in talks with potential buyers for her business, hoping to pass on her legacy to someone who shares her unwavering love for it.

Angie’s Pantry angiespantry.com

809 South Blvd., Oak Park

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Scan the QR code for our full Catering Menu or visit jimandpetes.com

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Wednesday Journal, December 9, 2020

13

B14 November 1, 2023

Taste is the identity of Harvest 365

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Self-serve buffet serves good food and God

R

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

ated as one of the best self-serve family-style restaurants in Illinois by Yelp, Harvest 365 is dedicated to fresh, bountiful, and affordable food.

From their beautifully renovated location at 7610 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park, their kitchen prepares foods from around the world with Asian, Mexican, and Italian options. But a special focus is put on Southern and Soul dishes. Fried chicken and fish, collard greens, cornbread, peach cobbler and other homestyle favorites anchor the hot portion of the food bar.

A cold bar serves salad fixings, fruits, and desserts. Special grilled entrees can be had for an additional charge.

Recent offerings include Atlantic salmon, smoked brisket, ribeye steak, jumbo shrimp and lamb chops.

“Our lamb chops are known to be the best in the on this side of town! We are all about fresh. You won’t find canned and frozen foods here,” says Sister Mary Lyons, director of Planning and Operations for both the restaurant and the Living Word Christian Center.

The restaurant is literally and figuratively backed by Bill Winston Ministries, led by Sister Mary’s brother Bill Watson. His stated vision is to build strong community relationships and to serve the community with integrity, excellence, and value.

PROVIDED

Fried fish

PROVIDED

Lamb chops

Harvest 365 harvest365grill.com

7610 W. Roosevelt Rd., Forest Park Hours:

Tuesday through Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Closed Monday Sister Mary elaborates on the reason for a church to run a restaurant, “Our goal is to serve the community.

And to provide a place where families can come, have a nice place to dine, and maybe host a party. God replenishes us for serving. We sew seed because it will return in a harvest.”

The price for dine-in is $16.99 for adults and $10.99 for children. There is a take-out option as well, where you fill containers and pay $9.99 per pound. Catering is also a vibrant part of the business. Trays can be ordered and picked up when a crowd needs to feast.

There is a focus on healthier eating, but it’s more about

providing options according to Sister Mary. Strengthening community from the inside and out is what this organization is all about.

But it does come down to good food. Taste is Our Identity is the motto emblazoned over the grill.

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November 1, 2023 B15

#fantasticfungi • caffedeluca.com

#mealservice • angiespantry.com

Celebrate fall flavors at Caffé De Lucca with a hearty wild mushroom risotto. Shaved Parmesan takes this rich dish to the next level.

Try our home meal service! No menu planning, prep or contracts - just fresh, healthy and delicious meals you can warm and serve.

Caffé DeLuca

Angie’s Pantry

7427 Madison St, Forest Park

809 South Boulevard, Oak Park

anforawinemerchants.com Aperitivo has never been more fun. The perfect mix of nibbles and the very best bottles. Cin Cin!

Brokentart.com

Anfora Wine Merchants

Cakes. Bakes. Coffee. Made fresh daily in our tiny bakery. Come for the baked goods, stay for the good vibes.

128 S Marion St, Oak Park

Broken Tart 1108 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park

Cafecubanochicago.com Join Cafe Cubano for an authentic Cuban lunch or dinner. Have your pick of hand crafted tropical drinks. Fall featured drink is our homemade Sangria.

Café Cubano 7426 W North Ave, Elmwood Park

B16 November 1, 2023

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November 1, 2023 B17

Betty’s Pizza & Pasta mixes classics and a fresh vibe

A

Pizza and, increasingly, much more

t Betty’s Pizza & Pasta, 1003 South Blvd., Oak Park, now in its second year of operation, the familiar scent of melting cheese and baking dough greets customers upon arrival.

What once was a cozy, vintage style interior, however, has undergone a significant transformation. New lighting, a new ceiling, and more appealing colors all encompass the warm and inviting interior. The walls, once adorned with simple framed pictures, are now decked with an array of vibrant and striking artwork, all created by the talented staff itself.

Customers remain engaged in the ageold debate of whether to fold their extralarge New York style slices or savor them flat. Some still adhere to the tradition of folding to prevent the infamous “flop,”

while others, determined to keep their hands clean, indulge in a no fold policy, embracing the challenge of finishing their slices in multiple bites.

Betty’s Pizza & Pasta has become a staple in the Pleasant District showcasing the creative talents of its own team alongside its scrumptious menu.

While retaining its fun and unpretentious vibe, the restaurant now exudes a contemporary charm, balancing the nostalgia of the past with the energy of the present.

The homage to Oak Park’s founding figure, Betty Kettlestrings, remains intact in the restaurant’s name, but the South Boulevard establishment has fully embraced its own unique culinary identity. Betty’s has perfected its pizza recipe and expanded its menu to offer an even wider array of tantalizing options.

The signature 18-inch pizzas, still cut into eight generous slices, maintain their unique texture, boasting a crispy bottom and a fluffy, soft top. Alongside the classic pies featuring whole milk mozzarella and flavorful toppings, the menu now includes a variety of specialty pizzas, including the Mikey’s Hot Honey Pie and the famed Garlic and Zucchini Pie. In addition, Betty’s Pizza & Pasta now offers a “slice happy hour” offering slices for purchase every day from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Also, check out Betty’s Family Dinner Special.

Beyond the ‘za, Betty’s has expanded its offerings to include an array of delectable appetizers such as eggplant parmesan, garlic parmesan chicken wings and retains the famous meatballs and the irresistible garlic knots. Additionally, the menu features an enticing selection of pasta dishes. The salads, available in small and large sizes, have also garnered attention, with the arugula and quinoa salad, featuring apples, blue cheese and

crispy bacon, emerging as a particular favorite among patrons.

Kettlestrings Restaurant Group is thrilled to invite everyone to experience the revamped Betty’s Pizza and Pasta.

With its updated interior and the added charm of the staff’s own artwork, the restaurant continues to be the go-to destination for a slice of both New York and the creative spirit of its own team.

Betty’s Pizza & Pasta bettyspizzapasta.com

1003 South Blvd., Oak Park 708-434-5526 Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 4pm - 10pm Sunday 4pm - 9pm

B18 November 1, 2023

N Rebozo continues tradition with a twist

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Happily relocated from Oak Park to Forest Park

T

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

here is nothing quite like Chef Paco’s enthusiasm for his food and his customers at N Rebozo.

Nowadays he exclaims, “Oh my God,” from a location at 7403 Madison St. in Forest Park.

During the fall and winter months his Chile Nogada is the seasonal star of the menu. The dish is a Poblano pepper filled with a sweet and savory mix of beef, nuts, dried fruit, blanketed with a creamy walnut sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds.

This mixture of flavors goes beyond the kitchen for Paco, “When you taste sweet, sour, spicy, this is the same for the life. Sometimes the life is sweet; sometimes the life is spicy. When you get the balance, that’s my philosophy for the restaurant and for everything. This balance.”

Fiesta Mole is the dish that made Chef Paco a fixture in the local restaurant scene. The platter features six enchi-

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Chef Paco ladas with a choice of cheese, chicken, chorizo, guacamole, hibiscus, or grilled steak inside. Each one finished with a different mole. Those six are chosen each week from a total of 40 mole recipes, two of which are the chef ’s original creations: Poblano and Pipian.

The mescal margaritas are a blissful match with either

N Rebozo

newrebozos.com

7403 Madison St., Forest Park Hours:

Tuesday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Closed Sunday and Monday

PROVIDED

PROVIDED

Chili Nogada

Fiesta Mole platters

of these two featured entrees. The extensive drink menu focuses on fresh and authentic takes on traditional recipes. An Agave Old Fashioned recalls cocktail culture of the past the with a modern Mexican twist. And Micheladas bridge the beer and cocktail divide.

And when you are done with the main course, don’t sleep on dessert.

Paco encourages you to try the flan, “People say they don’t like flan. Don’t worry. … I make authentic Mexican flan, creamy. If you try my flan, you’ll love it.”

The elegant space where N Rebozo has landed on Madison Street previously was Heritage restaurant. Chef Paco believes it is the perfect environment for his unique take on Mexican food. The open dining room also allows him to be more present with his customers, whom he loves dearly.

“You love what you eat … everybody happy. Paco happy.

This is gives me mas energy.”

Expect nothing less from Chef Paco.

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November 1, 2023 B19

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November 1, 2023 B21

victoryitalian.com

This is a Cucina classic. Chicken Pistachio is pan-fried with pistachio breadcrumb crust, red pepper cream balsamic sauce, creamy polenta, grilled asparagus.

Don’t just carve pumpkins, carve out some time for family this fall with Victory’s family meals!

We’ll bring all the cozy fall favorites to you!

More cheese, please! Get all the warm and cozy fall flavors from our orecchiette rapini & sausage.

Cucina Paradiso

Victory Italian

#mycucina | cucinaoakpark.com

100 S Marion St, Oak Park

814 North Blvd, Oak Park

#morethanpizza | bettyspizzapasta.com Did you know that Betty’s serves up more than NY Style pies and delicious pastas. Stop in soon to try our garlic parmesan wings and other new menu delights.

Betty’s Pizza & Pasta 1103 South Blvd, Oak Park #harvest365grill | harvest365grill.com A trio of fresh lamb chops are grilled to order when you add a premium entrée to your allyou-care-to-eat food bar meal.

Harvest 365 Restaurant and Fresh Grill 7610 W Roosevelt Road Suite 120, Forest Park

#encorebylittlegem | encorelittlegem.com Our eggplant rollatini. Dining and live music Tuesday through Saturday.

Encore! by Little Gem 187 N Marion St, Oak Park

B22 November 1, 2023

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Cucina Paradiso satisfies local Italian lovers Menu is built to thrill and satisfy

C RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Sweet spicy pepperoni pizza

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

ucina Paradiso has thrived at 814 North Blvd. for 28 years. The secret, according to owner Anthony Gambino, is attention to detail. Every delicious detail. The menu is a balance between an homage to cozy red-sauce Italian cooking and a forward view of flavors diners are hungry for now.

“We have some main staples that we started with. I could never substitute them with anything because our customers would be upset with us. Then obviously we create those dishes with our unique touches and quality ingredients,” said Gambino.

One dish that’s always on the menu is Rigatoni Bolognese with homemade meat sauce, tomatoes, cream, onions, fresh mozzarella. One of the most popular is a fresh egg noodle pappardelle with tricolor peppers, a light cream sauce and blackened shrimp. Another fresh pasta offering is a giant rigatoni egg noodle with a brandy

Cucina Paradiso www.cucinaoakpark.com 814 North Blvd. Oak Park

Hours: Everyday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. cream sauce and shiitake, button and cremini mushrooms, spiced with fresh thyme and garlic.

The four seasons drive most changes to the menu. Gambino is proud that they print their menu every day, responding to what is at the height of flavor. Three to four dishes rotate on and off every few weeks.

The bounty of summer zucchini is the taste inside cheesy Cucina puffs.

A similar approach is taken at the bar.

Gambino credits mixologist Karina Nunez with revising old favorites with fresh ingredients. Try for example their Blackberry Old Fashioned with fresh, muddled blackberries and house-made sage syrup.

Gambino gives credit to his staff, “They

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F A M I LY O W N E D A N D O P E R A T E D S I N C E 1 9 9 5 Cucina Paradiso

814 North Blvd., Oak Park

ph: 708.848.3434

cucinaoakpark.com

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RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Fresh rigatoni with mushroom are Cucina.”

It’s worth noting that key personnel have been at the restaurant for more than a decade. This includes managers Jeremy Troyer and Kim Rozhik who hold down the fort since the restaurant is open every day of the week.

Chef Mike Bouse executes the tightrope walk between tradition and trends. The pepperoni pizza is an example of how to invent. The current iteration is both spicy and sweet. Gambino describes the pie, “We’re using top ingredients and then drizzling it with a Calabrian chili honey. So that’s where we bring a twist and up the game.”

Gambino says when he started out, he was, “…young, eager, and either extremely determined or very foolish.” The gamble has paid off, with many wins for locals who love to eat.

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Cucina puffs

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

B24 November 1, 2023

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Est. 1955

Specialy Subs & Italian Delacacies Elmwood Park has a long standing reputation for being home to outstanding As a reputation Village we are Elmwood Park has restaurants. a long standing forproud being to share this reputation and work hard to promote home to outstanding restaurants. As a Village we areit.proud

to share this reputation and work hard to promote it.

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7201 W. Grand Ave 16 Conti Pkwy Dunkin Donuts 16 Conti Pkwy 7230 W North Ave Eggsperience

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7308 W North Ave

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Russell’s Barbecue 7400 North Ave Spizzico & Senor 1621 Thatcher Ave Jefe

7514 W North Ave Bagel Spizzico& 7446 W North Ave Great American Russell’s Barbecue Gringo & Blondie Senor Jefe 7230Wok WNorth NorthAve Ave 1621 7514 W 7446 WThatcher North Happy Sports NookAveAve

7334Vivant W. Diversey Ave 1742 Bon Juice & Gringo & Blondie 1750 Harlem Ave N Harlem Ave Happy Wok 7514 W North Ave 1742 N Harlem Ave Smoothie Bar Burger King Burger Moovementt Inari Sushi 1750 W. Harlem Ave Ave Inari 7334 Diversey Happy Wok 7512 W North Ave 7428 W North Ave 7428 Ave 1742W NNorth Harlem Ave Burger King Moovement Burger Café Cubano Jim & Pete's 7512 W North Ave 1750 Harlem Ave Jim & Pete’s Inari 7426 W North Ave 7806 W North Ave 7806 Café Cubano 7428W WNorth NorthAve Ave Burger Moovement Caputo's Jimmy John's 7426 W W North North Ave Jimmy John’s 7512 Ave Jim & Pete’s Fresh Markets 1702 N Harlem AveAve 1702 Caputo’s 7806NWHarlem North Ave Café Cubano 2400 N Harlem Ave Johnnie's FreshW Markets Johnnie’s 7426 North Ave Jimmy John’s Circle2400 Tavern N Harlem Ave 7500 7500 North WW North AveAve 1702 N Harlem Ave Caputo’s 18 Conti Pkwy Circle Tavern Massa Café Massa Café Fresh Markets Johnnie’s 18 Conti Pkwy 7434 North Culvers WW North AveAve 2400 N Harlem Ave 7434 7500 W North Ave 7542 W Grand Ave Culvers McDonalds McDonalds Circle Tavern Massa Café 7542 7217 W Grand Ave Donny G's W Grand Ave 18 Conti Pkwy 7217 W Grand Ave Ave 7434 W North Donny 7308 W NorthG’s Ave New Star Restaurant Culvers New Star Restaurant McDonalds 7308 W North Ave 7444 W North Ave Dunkin Donuts 7542 W Grand Ave 7444 7217 W Grand W North Ave Ave 7201 W Grand Ave

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Tacos 2 Go The Barre Studio Tacos Go Ave 7530 W2Grand & 7530 Café W. Grand Ave The 12 W. Barre Conti Studio Parkway The Barre Studio & Café Tony D’s & Café 12 W Conti Parkway 7725 W Belmont Ave

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Union Tap Ave 7707 #1A 1740 NWestwood Harlem

Owned and operated by The Bonaccorsi Family

7538 West North Avenue • Elmwood Park, Illinois (708) 453 - 3505

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"The Best French Food Outside of France" "First-rate dining destination" Pat Bruno, Chicago Sun-Times

Hemmingway’s Bistro Serving Lunch and Dinner daily, 11am - 9pm • Champagne Sunday Brunch with Live Jazz, 11am - 3pm • Live jazz and discounted martinis every Wednesday • $2 Oyster Happy Hour, daily 2:30 - 5:30pm

• Full service bar and wine list • Reservations recommended

• 1.5lb Maine Lobster every Monday & Tuesday - $39.95

211 N. OAK PARK AVE., OAK PARK, IL (Steps away from Hemingway’s Birthplace and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home & Studio)

708.524.0806 • WWW.HEMMINGWAYSBISTRO.COM

happy hour HALF OFF

pickanna margaritas, sangria & mexican beers wed - fri until 5:30pm sat + sun from 3:00-4:30pm

144 s oak park ave mayadelsol.com

scan for menu, reservations + more

November 1, 2023 B25

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7407 Madison St, Forest Park, IL 60130 708.771.3063 | www.fiorebakes.com

Monday - Thursday 11:30AM – 9PM

Friday 11:30AM – 10PM

Saturday Brunch | 10AM - 2PM Dinner | 2PM - 10PM

Sunday Brunch | 10AM - 2PM Dinner | 2PM - 8PM

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner!

Don’t miss the meatballs!

7841 Grand Ave, Elmwood Park

Sun - Fri: 9 am - 2 am, Sat: 9 am - 3 am

(224) 833 - 1800 • sportznook.com

6

GAMING MACHINES!

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Sportz Nook is a restaurant but looks like a bar

D

A growing menu of delicious fare

ave Carlson is putting his own culinary spin on the Sportz Nook menu while keeping alive the memory of its former owner with a weekly meatloaf special.

With more than 35 televisions tuned into sporting events across the globe, The Sportz Nook, 7841 W. Grand Ave., invites hungry locals to “come in a stranger and leave a friend.”

Carlson, the general manager, has 12 beers on tap and put considerable attention to detail in the menu that keeps customers coming back for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Our customers like to say we are a restaurant disguised as a bar,” said Carlson with a smile. “You can come in at 9 a.m. for a Denver omelet, play some games in the afternoon, or have a dinner that will really surprise you.”

The diminutive bar opened in May 2022 and Carlson took over the role of general manager just two months after the opening.

His love for food service blossomed at age 13 when he took his first job as a busboy and dishwasher at a banquet hall. Over the years he worked in restaurants across the city and developed his own arsenal of recipes.

And now he is bringing his own culinary

Sportz Nook sportznook.com

7841 Grand Ave., Elmwood Park 224-833-1800 touch to the Elmwood Park bar menu.

“I’ve been cooking for 45 years and I have a palette,” said Carlson. “I started working on my meatball recipe when I was 15 years old and I’ve perfected it over the years.”

Today, Carlson serves up his “dense yet tender” bocce meatballs at Sportz Nook.

They start with a combination of beef, pork and veal, Pecorino-Romano brings flavor and Carlson swears by the addition of Liborio breadcrumbs. He is singularly devoted to the bakery located just around the corner from the bar. The meatballs are baked and then simmered in a scratch made red sauce.

The menu is being expanded to include grilled whiskey BBQ shrimp and a hummus plate to please vegetarians. Carlson is also proud to serve white wine steamed mussels at the restaurant that masquerades as a bar.

“We are getting the reputation for hav-

FILE

Hummus plate

FILE

The “bocce” meatballs are a menu specialty at Sportz Nook in Elmwood Park. They are slow simmered in house-made red sauce and full of flavor. ing really good food and that matters to me,” said Carlson who credits his longtime friend Terry Harb for bringing him to The Sportz Nook.

Harb, who owned several restaurants and bars, was “always begging” Carlson to come to work for him. Carlson refused until Harb pitched him the management position at The Sportz Nook.

“I’d known him for 16 years and I always said no until he mentioned Elmwood Park,” said Carlson. “I grew up here; this is my home — I just can’t say no to Elmwood Park.”

Harb loved Carlson’s homestyle dishes and had insisted that he put his famous meatloaf on the menu when the weather turned cold.

Sadly, Harb died before winter, but Carlson honors his friend’s memory by offering the meatloaf entrée every Friday evening.

“The meatloaf is made with love, and I know how much he loved it,” said Carlson who credits the dish for keeping Harb’s memory alive.

The Sportz Nook brings a surprisingly robust menu to a traditional bar. Carlson credits his friendly staff and growing customer base for their gaining popularity.

The bar offers patio seating in the summer, occasional live music on the weekend and filling menu options every day of the week.

Come in for a limoncello martini and stay for the meatballs.

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White wine steamed mussels

FILE

Rocky’s Cheese Steak

B28 November 1, 2023

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A special light, a simple welcoming at Little Gem Café

I

magine you are in Paris or London on a chilly autumn day where leaves of burnt orange, yellow and green go swirling and dancing through the crisp clear air. A rosy warm glow fills your cheeks and the newness of fall fills you with vigor!

On North Marion Street framed in rich dark oak, you see flickering shimmers of amber and gold through tall, wide windows encasing The Little Gem Cafe.

A stylish little restaurant. Intimate. Elegant.

Romantic and warm with a friendly welcoming feel. Here you are treated to a relaxed fine dining experience. Casual or smart all feel at ease.

Celebrating its 9th anniversary on Marion Street it’s because of the lighting that saturates the gold ornate ceiling and bounces off the mirrors, the bar and candlelit tables or maybe because of the overall cuteness of the space? The exposed brick, mahogany bar, solid wood tables and cherry wood chairs.

However, as we celebrate our 9th anniversary heading into our 10th year, we think it’s time to spill the beans. It’s you! You are The Little Gem. Everyone in this lovely spot on Marion Street looks forward to serving you.

The Little Gem Café offers regional cuisine with seasonal specials served for lunch, brunch and dinner.

While reservations are recommended, walkins are always welcome.

Lots of people have asked where the name The Little Gem came from. Everyone thinks

189 N Marion St, Oak Park, Ill Info@Thelittlegemcafe.com 708.613.5491 | thelittlegemcafe.com

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Introducing ENCORE!

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Dinner, dancing, cocktails, live music

ittle Gem, one of Oak Park’s small and happy dining discoveries, has expanded with the opening of ENCORE! And true to its owner’s musical roots, the new spot, right next door to the old spot on Marion Street, in music infused.

Live jazz and country blues featuring Chicago artists in an intimate venue will be the core of the music at ENCORE! Along with great food and drinks.

The new restaurant is cozy, cheerful and warm. You’ll find music that comes from the heart and the hearth right in front of an antique oak fireplace.

At ENCORE! there are two beautiful bars to choose from with a specialty bourbon collection that also feature fine wines, craft beers and cocktails.

Service is always upbeat and friendly, for example your server Kyle is happy to say he has been at Little Gem since Day 1.

That was in 2014.

The owners are very hands on and there is always laughter in the air.

Little Gem and Encore! are perfect for any occasion.

Catering and private parties are available.

And did we mention dancing.

Dining, dancing, cocktails. What could be better?

Come in and say hi. We will love to see you.

The details Encore!

The Little Gem Cafe

187 N. Marion St. Oak Park.

Visit Encorelittlegem.com

189 N. Marion St. Oak Park.

Visit Thelittlegemcafe.com

708-613-5491 Gift cards, private parties and customized menus are available.

To book a party call 917-327-8997 or email us: info@thelittlegemcafe.com Outdoor dining weather permitting.

November 1, 2023 B29

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Always changing, La Lupita stays true to its roots New bar, new kitchen and, coming soon, an upstairs lounge

T Quesabirrias

LA LUPITA

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

here’s lots to love on the revised menu at La Lupita. Quesabirras is a flavor sensation. The dish is made of marinated goat meat, cooked in a rich broth. The tender meat is then folded into a tortilla nestled with cheese. The reserved broth is served as a side for dipping.

The owner Sal Figueroa says, “When we added the quesabirras, there was a video that went viral on TikTok and Instagram. We have been bombarded with people who want to try it.”

Back when Covid shut down the dining room, Figueroa opened an al fresco patio on the sidewalk out front and made good use of the downtime to renovate inside. A new kitchen was built in the back, allowing the dining room to expand, and that made room for a full bar.

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La Lupita

lalupitaberwyn.com

6539 Cermak Rd., Berwyn Hours:

Monday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Two hits have emerged from the expanded drink offerings. One is the margarita flights. Pick from a selection of guava, mango, lime, tamarind, d, cucumber, and strawberry. Another nother is mescal-based options. tions.

The liquor’s smokey profile adds a depth and nd complexity to classicc drinks, but it also opens up new options like the popular hijass por dios: a combination ion of berries and a house-made e-made mezcal and organic agave syrup. And just added – a variety of mojitos.

But that is not all that’s new. Brunch, Mexican style. French toast leads the menu filled with favorites like chilaquiles and huevos divorciados. A mimosa flight m makes it a celebration. c Elsewhere on the Elsewh menu are vegetarian and even vegan options ve waiting to be w tried: Bistek tr de Soya a la Mexicana, NoMexi palitos Azteca, Chilies Az Rellenos de Queso, and many more.

“We are, the only are I believe, belie

LA LUPITA

Mexican restaurant in the area with vegan options,” he says.

Each weekday La Lupita features a different happy hour drink special from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. And one more new feature in the works is a lounge on the second

floor, which is slated to open at the end of the year.

Change is fun, but don’t worry. Lupita, Figueroa’s mom whom the restaurant is named for, is still there, handmaking her signature blue and yellow tortillas.

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Inside story of Spilt Milk

What’s your specialty?

We are a bakery specializing in homemade pies and American-style pastries. We bake everything from scratch, right here at our shop in Oak Park -- and we strive to use local and seasonal ingredients whenever possible. We love partnering with local farms and purveyors to feature “The Best of the Midwest” in all of our pastries!

When did you open Spilt Milk?

Molly and I started our business in 2014, and initially we baked out of Molly’s apartment kitchen for farmers’ markets, weddings and events. We eventually started renting space at Kitchen Chicago, a commissary kitchen in the West Loop. But we were growing quickly and knew we needed a kitchen of our own and a retail space to continue to keep up with demand. In 2016, we rented a small storefront in Oak Park and opened Spilt Milk Pastry in October 2016. The rest is history!

We are inspired by all sorts of things -- but to be honest, most of our recipes are rooted

Two sisters, one story of love for baking and community

in family tradition. Growing up, our mom and dad were always baking and cooking -- and we draw a huge amount of inspiration from our parents and grandparents. Cooking was such a part of our family tradition, as it is for so many folks!

selection of butter shortbread cookies is so yummy, I could eat about a million of the rosemary shortbread cookies. I also love our Ham and Gruyere sandwich with homemade pickles and lots of butter.

What is the best thing about Spilt Milk?

We worked with the wonderful Theresa Jurgus from Baird & Warner to help us scout our current location. It was a mad scramble to get our current location open in just 6 weeks from lease signing to opening day.

That included doing a full kitchen build-out (with permits!). It truly takes a village -- I still marvel at the community effort that went into opening our current shop and am so grateful for the support of our neighbors and friends who helped us along our journey!

We love Oak Park and the community of folks that really make this village special.

The customers have sustained us through some pretty difficult years as we’ve grown our business and had to pivot in every possible direction over the past few years to keep things humming along. We are proud to be part of the community here and feel so grateful to our customers and the folks who trust us to cook and bake for all their celebrations big and small.

What’s your most popular dish or item? What is your favorite dish?

Our bestsellers are Key Lime Pie and our Savory Breakfast Quiche. Personally, my favorites are always changing ... but our

How did you choose your location on South Blvd.?

How do you differentiate yourself from other bakeries?

Honestly, we don’t worry too much about this. We try to focus on our product and making it the best it can be. I think it’s incredible that Oak Park has so many stellar

bakeries in town, and the wider Chicago community is spoiled for excellent pie and pastry shops. It’s an inspiration to be part of the bakery community here. There’s always something delicious to try!

Where do you see Spilt Milk in 5 years?

Hopefully still standing -- ha! Molly and I love Spilt Milk, and we hope to be here for many years to come. My daughter Winnie recently told me that when she grows up, she wants to help mommy and Aunt Molly run the bakery.

That brought some tears to my eyes. We have worked so hard to build this bakery, and we love our team, we love the community, and we love the food!

Spilt Milk

spiltmilkpatry.com

811 South Blvd., Oak Park

B32 November 1, 2023

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Kinslahger Taproom encourages a return to pub life Bring friends or make friends at Kinslahger

Y WWW.ALEXANDERMOROZOV.COM

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

ou can sip Kinslahger brews all over town. Ordering them in restaurants or picking up a pack to enjoy at home is great, but the Kinslahger Taproom is an experience all its own.

The cozy storefront space at 6806 Roosevelt Rd. fronts the brewery. Its early 1900s vibe harkens back to a time when local bars were neighborhood gathering places.

Owner Keith Huizinga wants to encourage that kind of interaction again, “It’s intimate. There’s no TVs. I want people to come down here, have a conversation with a friend or spouse or whoever, and enjoy the space.”

An ideal night at the taproom for him is one table with a group playing cards, another full of friends reconnecting, but the best is when new connections are made.

“It’s been so much fun since we’ve been open and I’m behind the bar

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Kinslahger offers a variety of beverages beyond beer: craft wines, a rotating selection of unique cocktails, regionally made sodas, and even non-alcoholic brews. The menu celebrates small and often local businesses. Pretzels are served up from the Daly Bagel with house-made mustard.

Other snacks are similarly curated: Japanese almonds, peanuts and a meat and cheese board.

Customers are also welcome to order in or bring food from home.

Kinslahger’s reputation has soared over its almost 8 years in operation. Oak Park’s original brewery is focused on lager-style fermentation where the ingredients are the star of the show – rather than the brewing process itself, which is more common with ales. The bar’s draft line-up is a trip around the beer world: German dunkel, Baltic porter, New World lager. One of their most popular offerings is the Chicago Common, an ode to the bricks of the same name. The deep, earthly red is full-bodied with piney hops and rye spiciness.

Onsite Huizinga offers more limited-run options, “We do different flavors that we call the Weekly Kinsman, just something that’s always rotating through as a small batch. It’s fun for us to be creative.”

A favorite is a pilsner infused with a hint of jalapeno peppers and a Berlin

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6806 Roosevelt Rd., Oak Park Hours:

Thursday and Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Saturday: 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Available for private events Credit card only

weiss augmented with a dash of raspberry syrup. These are only poured in the taproom. Luring us in and providing a place to reconnect with community, make new friends, and enjoy conversation, just like our great-grandparents did before TV. … and we did a bit more before the pandemic.

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Sushi & Sashimi Lunch Special

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Fresh flavors are the star at New Star

Small touches, fresh ingredients make New Star shine

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

F

Contributing Reporter

reshness is the most important element in New Star’s success, according to owner Jinny Zhao.

That is the way to ensure the best quality and consistent flavors. When she bought the restaurant almost a decade ago, Zhao transformed the kitchen to follow that rule. And it guided her as she turned an underused banquet room into a hibachi steak house.

Tucked in the back of New Star are eight teppan grills, where chefs cook in front of diners. It’s dinner and a show. More than one group of diners sit together around each grill, so it’s best to make reservations if a larger group wants to be seated together.

Japanese steak houses are famous for flaming onion volcanos, acrobatic feats

with eggs and even whole bowls of fried rice. While New Star doesn’t disappoint on the stage show, the real draw is the quality.

“Japanese style cooking uses fresh meat, fresh everything and just cooking for you.

People love it,” says Zhao.

To keep improving the dining experience, New Star doubles down on freshness by making its own hibachi sauce. Better known as Yum-Yum sauce, the ingredients include fresh apple, fresh peach and tomatoes.

“Even myself, I put some on a bowl of rice, my Yum-Yum sauce, and just eat it. It tastes so good,” says Zhao.

That joy comes through in everything Jinny Zhao does. As she updated the restaurant space and menu, she wanted to attract a new generation of customers looking for even more options.

“I was thinking that the young people, they do love sushi,” says Zhao.

So, she added a sushi bar and an

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There is a full bar which features tropical drinks.

This expansive take on Asian foodways means that diners at one table can sample many different styles at one meal.

The smallest detail does not go unnoticed by Zhao. She designed the colorful bags covered in sunflowers that await take-out customers in the warmer months. When the weather takes a turn for the chilly, the restaurant switches to a zipped, insulated bag. The investment in high quality take-out bags is worth it to Zhao.

“Chinese foods need to keep warm. If you order in cold weather like Chicago, when you get home, I don’t want it to get cold,” she says.

For dine-in customers there are special touches too. Coloring pages, crayons, and even small toys to keep children occupied while they wait for their adults to be done talking. But it’s the rack of umbrellas that really sets New Star apart when it comes to customer service.

Years ago, when Zhao was on vacation in Taiwan with her children, she was caught in the rain and needed to make a run for it to get to the airport on time. A kindly store owner told her to take an umbrella. She insisted that she couldn’t because she would be unable to return it. Zhao took the umbrella and returned with a lesson in customer service.

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“I came back to the United States, thinking, wow, I should do something like that. When older people or people with kids come in, when it’s raining, we say take one and bring it back next time when you visit.”

The location on Elmwood Park’s North Avenue restaurant row creates an atmosphere and advantage for customers that Zhao loves.

“The people you can walk up and down here and say, ‘Hey, I want to eat this. I want to eat that.’ Also, we’ve got a parking lot on the corner.”

The parking lot actually belongs to Zhao. It came with the restaurant when she purchased it, but she shares it with all the restaurants on the row. What is good for the customer is good for New Star, says Zhao.

Zhao, who had previously owned another restaurant, came out of retirement to undertake the challenge of New Star.

She is proud of what she has accomplished, “I am enjoying doing this.”

New Star

newstarrestaurant.com

7444 W. North Ave., Elmwood Park Hours:

Monday: Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Friday: Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Sunday: noon to 9:30 p.m.

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Committed to Oak Park and River Forest.

Left to right: Denise Warren, Oak Park Branch Manager; Susie Goldschmidt, Oak Park River Forest Market President; Michael Starrick, River Forest Branch Manager

Whether you’re seeing a movie at the Lake Theatre or heading for a hike in the G.A.R. Woods, we think you should be able to get all of your banking done in your neighborhood… with people who love the area as much as you do.

Byline is privileged to be a part of the Oak Park and River Forest community, and we are proud to partner with local nonprofits like Beyond Hunger and sponsor local events like Thursday Night Out in downtown Oak Park.

To learn more about our commitment to Oak Park and River Forest, visit bylinebank.com/oprf

©2023 Byline Bank. Member FDIC.