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November 8, 2023 Vol. 44, No. 19

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JOURNAL @oakpark

of Oak Park and River Forest

Education Guide Page 19

Sweet dreams come true at Broken Tart

Village plans to shelter asylum-seekers in two Oak Park locations The effort is estimated to cost nearly $370,000

After a little more than a year, here’s how the sister owners are faring

By JACK HELBIG Contributing Reporter

ERIKA HOBBS

By ERIKA HOBBS Editor

Dozens of asylum-seeking migrants who have been sheltering at an Oak

Park church since the Halloween snowfall will temporarily shelter in two Oak Park locations for about a month under plans the village released Monday night.

According to the plans, the West Cook YMCA will house women and children in 40 rooms on one floor.

See MIGRANTS SHELTER on page 10

The first day of September was a big day for the Mack sisters, Katie and Krissy. That was the one-year anniversary for their popular little pastry shop, Broken Tart, on Chicago Avenue in Oak Park.

“Oh Man,” Katie, the older of the two sisters, said, “One-year. It’s just crazy to look back and think we’ve been doing this for over a year.”

But of course, they have been doing Broken Tart much longer than that. They say on their website that the store was “a dream eight years in the making.” That was eight years spent planning and dreaming, raising capital and finding a space, gutting the place and rebuilding it to their specifications — and all the other myriad things you have to do to get a business ready and make sure you can keep it running after you open.

Katie and Krissy, who first conceived Broken Tart See BROKEN TART on page 14

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Parents sue The Children’s School, claiming racial and disability discrimination The family seeks compensation following expulsion of 6-year-old student

By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter

A Chicago family is suing The Children’s School after the private institution expelled their 6-year-old child, who is Black and has learning disabilities.

They claim the esteemed school practiced racial and disability discrimination against the student, and are seeking a minimum of $50,000 in damages.

According to the lawsuit documents obtained by Wednesday Journal, the suit was filed with the Circuit Clerk of Cook County on Oct. 6, naming Kwijona Calvin, a resident of the West Side of Chicago, as the plaintiff. Calvin, who is Black, is represented by Horvat Law of Chicago.

Pamela Freese, director of administration of The Children’s School confirmed there is a claim. Freese said she was unable to provide further comment, but said the claim was being handled by counsel.

According to the lawsuit, Calvin said she sought a better education for her daughter because the public schools in her neighborhood, Austin, could not meet her needs.

She chose TCS because “TCS suffers from none of the impediments that stunt the academic growth of children attending CPS schools in Austin,” and would provide “superior education opportunities in comparison to those afforded by the Chicago Public Schools,” as stated in the lawsuit.

Representatives from Horvat Law declined to comment on behalf of their client.

TCS is a private school set to offer a “progressive education” for students from kindergarten to eighth grade.

In September, nine of it 11-member board resigned, citing personnel issues, however, in an email sent to families on Sept. 6, six board members signed a statement that

said despite their best efforts, they had faced a “challenging time” attempting to preserve and embody “the values upon which this school was founded: diversity, inclusion, empathy, respect for differences, social justice, and a fundamental belief in the value of a truly progressive education.”

Freese said the school would work to appoint additional members to an interim Board of Directors until an election could be held.

The school will be moving to a portion of First Baptist Church of Oak Park on Ontario Street after their current location, old St.Edmund School on Oak Park Avenue, declined to extend their lease.

Before enrolling her child in TCS, Calvin communicated with administrators and took steps suggested by TCS to make sure her child’s needs were being met. According to the lawsuit, this included, but was not limited to: ■ Informing TCS of her child’s disabilities, including hyper-sensitivity processing disorder and speech disorder ■ Providing TCS with an individualized educational program, or IEP, developed by CPS for the child ■ Provided speech and occupational therapy evaluations ■ Permitted TCS to speak with her child’s therapist and former teachers ■ Enrolled her child in additional occupational therapy ■ Agreed to assist TCS in providing individualized one-on-one classroom assistance ■ Allowed TCS personnel to visit their home to interact with her child to gain a better understanding of her individualized needs While the agreement between TCS and Calvin included individualized one-on-one assistance, according to the lawsuit, the child was expelled before TCS provided the assistance. Calvin claimed that TCS had provided similar assistance to children with mental disabilities in the past, but had relayed their experience and their ability to provide an education to Calvin’s child, adding that the child’s needs were

AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ

The Children’s School, Oak Park, has called the St. Edmund School building home for the past five years. not an anomaly and the child “in no way impeded the education” of other students.

“Similarly situated white children were allowed the individualized one-on-one assistance denied [to the child] and were afforded other opportunities and support denied [to the child] despite behavioral issues that impeded the education of their peers,” lawyers said in the filing.

When Calvin entered into a contract with TCS, a $2,000 deposit was made. According to the lawsuit documents, Calvin’s tuition agreement with TCS for the 2022-23 school year was $9,100, which was broken down into seven monthly installments of $1,300.

Calvin’s daughter was expelled from TCS “without any substantive input from Ms. Calvin,” on or about Sept. 29, 2022.

According to the lawsuit, TCS claimed the expulsion was because the child was being “a distraction in the classroom.”

“The actions of TCS in expelling [the child] and denying her participation and the equal benefit of its education program was discriminatory and based on [the child’s] race and disability,” the fil-

ing said.

The lawsuit claimed that not only was the reason for expulsion “pretextual” but also that TCS violated their own “Parent Handbook,” which states they do not “discriminate on the basis of race, color … in administration of its educational policies, hiring policies, admission policies, financial aid program, or any other school-administered program.”

The aftermath of the expulsion caused emotional distress, not only to the child, but her family as well, as they had to resort to homeschooling the child until they could find suitable placement, the mother maintained. This, according to the lawsuit, caused “significant difficulties for Ms. Calvin and her family members” because they were “ill-equipped” to manage the child’s education at home.

The lawsuit also claimed that TCS engaged in conduct “that caused severe emotional distress to Ms. Calvin and [the child] including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, and feelings of abandonment and ostracization.”

A court date is set for December 2023.

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

BIG WEEK

Barbara Ballinger Lecture: Discussion on Intellectual Freedom, Book Bans & Censorship

November 8-15

Gangster History of Oak Park & River Forest, Adult Sunday, Nov. 12, 2 - 3:30 p.m., River Forest Public Library River Forest author John J. Binder, who researches the history of organized crime, returns to the library for a presentation on the criminal past of the Oak Park/River Forest area. In partnership with River Forest Township. 735 Lathrop Ave., River Forest.

The Prom

Friday Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday Nov. 11, 7 p.m.; Sun, Nov. 12, 3 p.m., Dominican University, Lund Auditorium Down-on-their-luck Broadway stars shine a media spotlight on a small town as they rally behind a brave girl who wants to go to prom with her girlfriend. The PROM was nominated for six Tony Awards and five Drama Desk Awards (winner — Outstanding Musical). Tickets $18: https://dom.universitytickets.com. 7900 W. Division St., River Forest.

Miles Andrew Sutton Sunday, Nov. 12, 3 p.m., Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church This Chicago-based musician has a resume that includes vocal coaching, piano teaching, and accompanying choirs. He can usually be found as the music director, pianist and organist at Euclid, but this special performance captures him playing solo piano.

405 S. Euclid Ave., Oak Park.

‘Seagulls’ Love Will Keep Us Together

The Women Of Natural History

Friday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., Pilgrim Congregational Church The Voices Of Hope Community Chorus, 60 voices strong, will exclusively sing songs dealing with that crazy topic called “love.” Pop, jazz and Broadway songs will be represented. $25 at voicesofhope.com, $30 at the door. 460 Lake St., Oak Park.

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 12 p.m., Cheney Mansion This presentation by Kim White focuses on pioneering women in the field of botany, entomology, ornithology and paleontology. 220 N. Euclid Ave., Oak Park.

Wednesdays-Fridays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m., Pleasant Home 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, 217 Home Ave., Oak Park. Performances of run through Nov. 19.

Saturday, Nov. 11, 1-2 p.m., Oak Park Public Library, Main Library & virtually This year’s Barbara Ballinger lecture is a panel discussion focusing on intellectual freedom, censorship, and book bans. Presenters include Emily Knock, associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; John Chrastka, a founder and executive director of EveryLibrary; Kelly Jensen, an editor at Book Riot; and Dr. Lucy Santos Green, director of the School of Library and Information Science, University of Iowa. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Trans & Non-Binary 101 & Allyship Workshop Wednesday, Nov. 15, 6-7:15 p.m., Oak Park Public Library, Main Library This special event will shed light on trans and gender non-binary identities. This presentation will do a deep dive into language, the various identities that fall under trans and gender non-binary, and being an ally.

This is a safe and affirming space to learn. Register now at oppl.org/calendar. 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Considering Matthew Shepard A Choral Suite for Choir, Orchestra, Soloists Sunday, November 12 | 4pm $30 / 15 students For tickets go to unitytemple.org The Unity Temple Choir presents “Considering Matthew Shepard, A Choral Suite for Choir,” with professional soloists and chamber orchestra on Sunday, November 12 at 4 p.m. at Unity Temple in Oak Park. This work has had a major impact around the world, telling the powerful story of the life and death of Matthew Shepard and the healing power of love and compassion, through music. Regardless of race, gender, orientation, or religion, audiences have experienced a profound catharsis.

Go to unitytemple.org to purchase tickets

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

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Mole: Spicing up your Thanksgiving dinner

By DAVID HAMMOND

A

Eats Blogger

n uncomfortable confession: I don’t much care for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey day is a proud American tradition, and I’m fine with any celebration of food, family, and friends. I’m just not that enthusiastic about the traditional dinner. The blandness of the turkey, sharpness of the cranberries, soggy bread stuffing, and pablum-like pumpkin pie, it’s just not for me.

One way I’ve tried to make a turkey dinner more interesting is to use a Native American sauce to liven things up. I’m talking about mole (moe-lay), which many believe to have been on this continent for centuries, prepared by the Aztec and other indigenous groups in Mexico.

“Mole” means sauce in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec, still spoken by over 1.5 million people. Several food-related words in our vocabulary come from Nahuatl, including chocolate, avocado, tomato, and chili, all very popular foods, indigenous to Mexico.

Many types of mole are served in restaurants both here and in Mexico. Mole amarillo is a sauce tinted yellow with yellow chilies; mole coloradito is reddish because it uses tomatoes and red-tinted chiles; and mole verde is green because it’s made, in part, with green chiles and pumpkin seeds.

But there are many more kinds of moles.

If you’ve had mole in a restaurant, the odds are you had the dark mole negro, which contains an Olympian number of ingredients. We’ve made mole negro once and, as I recall, it required something like 27 ingredients. Ancient south-of-the-border peoples used spiced rather than sweetened chocolate, and mole negro mixes chocolate with several kinds of chiles and other spices for multiple dimensions of flavor.

At NRebozo (7403 Madison St., Forest Park), you can get a Fiesta Mole, six enchiladas with six different moles. Senor Paco told us, “We have forty moles, and all the recipes are mine,” adding that if you want a quart or so, he will sell you some to take home for Thanksgiving dinner.

If you want to make mole from a recipe,

you can’t go wrong with RickBayless.com, though be aware, even his “Mole for Beginners” contains almost 20 ingredients.

Lazy like me? Go to just about any Mexican grocery for a plastic container of mole paste that can be the foundation for the sauce. It’s usually pretty good, and there’s no shame in this hack: I’ve seen huge mounds of dried mole amarillo, negro, and others for sale at Mexico City’s massive Mercado de Sonora.

In Montezuma’s Aztec empire, mole was traditionally served with turkey, an indigenous sauce for an indigenous bird, and if you don’t put mole on the table for Thanksgiving, consider using some with leftover turkey. Instead of the traditional day-afterthanksgiving turkey-mayo sandwich, mix it up a bit: get some fresh tortillas (available almost everywhere, including Pete’s Market, 259 Lake St.), and make turkey tacos or enchiladas with mole.

November is Native American Heritage Month, and mole for Thanksgiving is a delicious way to recognize the enduring culinary contributions of indigenous peoples … and spice up the Thanksgiving table.

Courtesy of NRebozo

Six moles for six enchiladas at NRebozo

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Murals are coming to North Avenue Code Ninjas Oak Park location at the Work on the Oak Park side is the west end of the corridor in 2021. next phase of the effort promises underway and is expected to toThe be more ambitious. T-NAD and OPAAC $103,000 in American Rescue Plan Act be complete in the summer got federal stimulus funding to paint some mu-

By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter

The North Avenue District and the Oak Park Area Arts Council are working to put up murals on both the Oak Park and Galewood sides of North Avenue.

However, the Oak Park plans are much further along than the Galewood ones.

Adding street art has been a long-term goal for Judith Alexander, the chair of The North Avenue District, an organization that works to revitalize both the Oak Park and Galewood sides of the section of North Avenue between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard. It is part of her broader vision to attract more customers to North Avenue businesses and to encourage more people in general to patronize both sides.

The North Art Bridge project also sponsored the painting of a window mural at

rals on the Oak Park side. On Nov. 2, the two organizations held a virtual meeting to get some ideas for what the murals would look like. OPAAC executive director Camille Wilson White said that they plan to choose the artists by mid-to-late winter, in time for the murals to go up in the summer of 2024, with the goal of finishing work by September.

The Galewood side will be trickier. Alexander said that she hopes that Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), whose ward includes Galewood, would use some money from his “aldermanic menu” funds. But Taliaferro uses the participatory budgeting process to give his constituents a say in how that money is used – and, even if the residents vote for the project, it may take years for the mural to come to fruition.

Under the aldermanic menu program, each Chicago ward gets $1.5 million a year

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

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Find your place SCREENSHOT

Sayre Park viaduct mural for infrastructure projects. The aldermen have a broad discretion over how this money can be used. Taliaferro is one of several aldermen – and the only West Side one – to use the participatory budgeting process to help decide how the money is spent. All 29th Ward residents ages 16 and older can propose projects and vote on which projects would get funding.

Taliaferro could not be reached for comment by publication.

In recent years, both sides of North Avenue struggled to attract and retain businesses. The two sides split between the two different jurisdictions, and North Avenue itself is a state highway and under the Illinois Department of Transportation jurisdiction, all North/Mobile wall of which complicates efforts to improve the corridor.

In a 2021 interview, Alexander said that busy traffic and a shortage of good pedestrian crossings hinders the ability of Galewood and Oak Park residents to patronize each other’s businesses. T-NAD has been pushing for better crosswalks, sidewalk improvements, more landscaping and traffic calming measures. But she believes public art plays an important part in “turn[ing] North Avenue from a barrier to a bridge,” citing Wicker Park and Pilsen as examples of communities where street art has played roles in community revitalization.

During the November meeting, she and Wilson White of OPAAC outlined some

of the parameters. The murals need to be clearly visible from the passing cars and should reflect the diversity on both sides of North Avenue.

“We want murals that unite rather than [create] divisiveness, so we want to avoid controversy, graphic nudity, that sort of thing,” Alexander added.

During a recent meeting, artist Ken Reif suggested refurbishing some of the “ghost signs” – fading decades-old advertisements painted on many walls throughout the corridor – or at least doing murals that incorporate some ghost sign designs. Wilson White said that she would be open to it, especially because the businesses they advertised have long since SCREENSHOT closed, so trademark violations aren’t an issue.

“I would love to see one or two of these [ghost signs] restored,” she said. “And I have checked – none of the businesses are still around.

They have been gone for years.”

Vanessa Druckman is a marketing and communications manager for Wonder Works Children’s Museum, located on the Oak Park side of North Avenue. In 2018, TNAD helped to get a mural put up on of its walls. Druckman said she was looking forward to seeing more murals at the corridor.

“My heart is filled with joy that all this beautiful art is coming to North Avenue this summer,” she said.

Oak Park and Galewood residents can email their mural ideas to info@oakparkareaartscouncil.org

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Sponsored Content

CAN SPEAKING GIBBERISH COUNT AS COSMOPOLITAN?

I

grew up in a very homogeneous community. Most everyone was Irish Catholic. Sure, there were some Italians, Polish, and one family was part Russian. But even if people were a different nationality, they were all Catholic. In fact, I did not know anyone who was not Catholic until I went to college (except for my dentist, Dr. Greenwald, who was Jewish).

That did not prevent me from wishing I knew someone different. People who looked different or spoke another language always seemed so exotic and interesting to me. Sometimes, when I was younger, I would pretend I spoke a different language by talking in gibberish. It made me feel so cosmopolitan.

Unlike me, my parents lived in neighborhoods of people from many different countries, with different religious beliefs, and who spoke different languages. This was in the 1940s. Living among many immigrants seemed like the way of life for my parents.

Times have changed, and now many people feel differently about immigration. Some still embrace immigrants, others feel that too much immigration will overwhelm the system, or we should help our current citizens achieve the American dream before we start helping immigrants to do so. There are valid points on both sides of the immigration debate. So, how did immigration change so much?

More than 86 million immigrants have entered the United States from 1783 to the end of 2019. Managing this flow is

now a huge challenge. But to passage of additional the U.S. has always needed immigration laws. As a to determine the rules of result, the United States entry. admitted more than a half million refugees between After the Revolutionary 1945 and 1953.

War, the nation’s goal was to grow the population During the Great to help pay the country’s Depression and World debts and fulfill the War II, not surprisingly, THERESA CLANCY Estate Planning Attorney demand for new laborers. there was not much Congress passed a law illegal immigration. granting citizenship to Unfortunately, immigration all those of good character who had enforcement quickly broke down in resided in the U.S. for two years. It the face of postwar immigration. Illegal created a short and uniform path to immigration increased dramatically citizenship. Of course, the law still during this time. excluded indentured servants, nonIn 1965, the immigration quota whites, and slaves. system was replaced with a new reform When the Civil War began in 1861, act. This law set up a preference system demand for workers in war industries for immigrants from certain countries increased. To fill the void, Congress and demographics. Unfortunately, passed additional laws to encourage the new reform act did not create immigration through land grants and a way for lower-skilled workers to gave private employers the ability to enter the country and legally work. recruit foreign workers. Many more Consequently, legal and illegal piecemeal laws were passed restricting immigration continued to increase. different types of immigrants.

In 1990, more laws were passed Then in 1921, immigration law to help stem the flow of illegal changed dramatically. Before 1921, immigration with little success. It was immigration laws allowed all those not until the pandemic that legal to migrate who were not specifically and illegal immigration drastically excluded. In 1921 and continuing until decreased. today, the opposite is true. Federal Today, illegal immigration is lower agencies decide which immigrants to than pre-pandemic days, but now admit and deny entry to the rest. migrants who are seeking asylum have In 1921, quotas were also created, surged. identifying immigrant limits based on Several factors make the migration country of origin. These quotas did issue more complicated today. not allow exceptions for refugees.

Previously, migrants were mostly single This oversight became a sense of men who had U.S. connections and shame during the Holocaust, leading they spread out organically across

the U.S. Today, many more migrants consist of families with children who do not have U.S. connections, Thus, they are more likely to need government services. Now, migrants can also easily share information on social media about the best places to go and what services are available. All these factors contribute to taxing the system.

There is some hope. The higher profile of asylum issues may push legislators to create comprehensive immigration reform. And the U.S. government may be more motivated to help curtail the violence, corruption, and poverty in origin countries that drives migrants to want to seek asylum.

There are benefits and burdens to immigration. To reap the benefits of immigration, such as new sources of human labor, skill, and talent, we must also accept the difficulty of social integration and the financial burdens.

Plus, there is the ethical question of whether we should be utilizing foreign workers without granting them protections against exploitation.

There are no easy answers to the issue of immigration. However, the longer we delay, the harder it will be to solve the problem. Like estate planning. If we delay estate planning, we may risk leaving a mess for our families to deal with. Act now to create an estate plan and make things easier for your family and future generations.

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

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C R I M E

Mercedes disappears after owner leaves keys in the car A 2017 white Mercedes containing expensive tools was taken on Halloween.

According to Oak Park police, the car was parked on the 6600 block of West North Avenue at about 2 p.m. when someone reached into the vehicle, took the keys, and drove away. The car carried a Milwaukee brand Pro Press, drill/hammer and impact drill. The Mercedes was entered into a stolen-cars database. The loss is estimated to be $30,880.

Catalytic converters ■ On Oct. 26, a catalytic converter was

cut from a Ford F-150 on the 900 block North Taylor at about noon. The estimated loss is $1,500.

■ A catalytic converter was stolen Oct. 29 or 30 from a maroon 2013 Toyota Highlander while it was parked on the 100 block of Harrison Street. The loss is estimated at $2,000.

■ On Oct. 29 or 30, the catalytic converter was stolen from a silver 2008 Toyota Highlander on the 800 block of Washington. The value is unknown.

■ A catalytic converter was stolen last week from a red Ford Edge on the 400 block of South Kenilworth. The estimated loss is $800.

■ Another catalytic converter was stolen from a 2012 Volkswagen Passat just before 6 a.m. Nov.2 on the 900 block of South Oak Park Avenue. The estimated loss is $1,500.

Other thefts and charges ■ Someone

removed a utility locator from a village-owned 2019 Ford Transit

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Woman carjacked An Oak Park woman was carjacked Oct. 29 just before 9 p.m. on the 100 block of South Ridgeland. According to police, she was sitting in her Dodge Durango when a man walked up to her, knocked on the window, and pointed a gun at her.

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Connect on the 800 block of South Maple some time between Oct. 23 and Oct. 26. The loss is estimated at $8,000.

■ A green women’s Schwinn Beach Cruiser bike was stolen from a garage on the 900 block of Hayes on Nov. 1 or 2. The estimated loss is $449.

■ A Plainfield man was arrested Nov. 2 on the 1000 block of Lake Street. He was held on charges of assault and criminal trespass. A court date is pending.

■ A man and another accomplice took about $300 from an Oak Park resident on the 1000 block of Lake Nov. 3. He gestured that he had a gun in his pocket. The pair fled the scene on foot heading east.

■ Two men were caught on video Nov. 4 breaking into a 2019 Chevrolet Express van on the 800 block of South Euclid by breaking the lock on the front passenger door.

They took about $9,200 worth of Pro Press machine, extension jaws for that machine and a mini-blower.

These items were obtained from Oak Park Police Department reports dated Oct. 26 to Nov. 4 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 Wednesday Journal staff

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

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MIGRANTS SHELTER

Village approves funding from page 1

Although each room is single occupancy, each can hold up to three people, meeting the village’s occupancy ordinances. About 50 people will move there.

The Carlton Hotel will house other migrants in 13 rooms that will be open later this week, although more rooms could become available. The rooms will be available for 28 days, just under the threshold for renters’ rights to take effect, which permits people to overstay in a location without funding.

These families and individuals will stay at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, a designated warming center, until about Nov. 11, although some may move out earlier. Roughly 120 people have been staying there, nearly shoulder-to-shoulder in the church’s basement.

Another 60 have been residing at United Lutheran Church on Greenfield Street and 20 more are at Calvary Memorial Church on Lake Street. These have been volunteer-run endeavors.

Oak Park officials who are leading the efforts, with volunteers such as Housing Forward, said nine people could shelter in the police station lobby, if needed. However, plans are underway to find other shelter so this option won’t be needed.

With this, officials said, the village is at capacity and has little, if any other space to shelter migrants.

The cost to the village for this next months’ worth of plans is estimated to top $369,580.

That includes food, janitorial services, translation services, housing and medical care.

The move comes after Oak Park village trustees passed an emergency declaration last week that gave Village Manager Kevin Jackson the spending authority to address immediate needs for the growing migrant crisis in the area.

The declaration will be reviewed Dec. 4.

Until then, Jackson has the authority to purchase food, transportation or other items for asylum-seeking migrants, volunteers or the Oak Park church that has been housing dozens of people over the past week. It will also permit him to more easily manage logistics, such as reallocating staff to help with tasks such as trash collection without interrupting everyday village operations.

“We’ve had no option but to react,” said Village President Vicki Scaman before the meeting.

N E W S

C O M M E N T A R Y

A Tuesday at church with asylum seekers ‘We start with a yes,’ the minister said. ‘And then we work it out.’

By ERIKA HOBBS I pointed to the white streak in the jetblack hair of a little girl in a Catholic school uniform, who was hanging onto the side-door handle of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

“I’m a sucker for white stripes,” I said half in English, half in Spanish, pointing to the white streak dividing my bangs.

Shy, she looked away. Her mom laughed.

Another tot in a pink stroller and pink T-shirt wore black mittens three sizes too big for her. Hace frio? I asked.

Is it cold? She grinned. “For us it is,” her mother said.

Then there was the thin boy in a tank and slides hopping down the church’s basement stairs, never looking up from the hip-hop video he was watching on his phone.

I followed him down.

These are the asylum-seeking refugees sheltering at Good Shepherd.

I met them on a blue-sky day under the sharp autumn sun only November can bring in Oak Park, a stark contrast to the gray snowstorm that drove them here on Halloween.

They’re sheltering at the church Rev. Kathy Nolte described as “small.” Not

small in heart, but inside the slice of church on the narrow plot at Randolph Street and East Avenue, the space is tight.

Tuesday is shower day at St. CatherineSt. Lucy Church, so many folks headed over there.

Still, every inch of common areas and what were once Sunday School classrooms have been converted to sleeping spaces, cafeterias and donation tables.

Every inch is stuffed with air mattresses, suitcases and piles — jeans and sweats and camouflage T-shirts and hoodies. And teddy bears. Like the giant one Katherin Alvarez, 20, and Julio Ruiz, 21, posed with when I asked if I could take a photo of the slumping stuffie with a sequined heart. The couple grinned as Julio puffed out his chest telling me they were from just outside Caracas, Venezuela. Katherin wrote her name in my note pad, topping her “i’s” with circles instead of dots.

As Nolte said, the church and its volunteers are making it happen.

“We start with a yes,” she said. “And then we work it out.”

It got worked out after village officials, the church, community organizations and volunteers came together to get medical treatment for styes and coughs. When they came together to drive people to laundromats so they could have clean clothes.

When local residents translated for free so the asylum seekers would not have to wait in line to be understood. When community groups intervened to help the migrants with immigration services.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood stepped up when the 25 children staying at church needed to play. Five-year-olds need to stretch their legs, too.

“We’re working not just to get them off the streets,” Nolte said. “We’re trying to get them to a place of wholeness.”

As conditions in Venezuela continue to deteriorate and the oppressive regime of Nicolas Maduro persists, more people are fleeing the country. The Associated Press reported in mid-October that monthly pensions dropped to $3.20 a month, only 20 cents more than a bottle of water. The hairdressers, avocado pickers and landscapers are leaving. At least one hairdresser is living at Chicago’s 15th District police station because she’s been hosted by a congregation and will move into an apartment later this month.

I looked at the stacked suitcases, the worn copies of Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, the stray green Crocs. “What would make you pick up and leave like this?” I say aloud.

Rev. Nolte looked at me.

“If my kids were at risk,” she said. “I’d do anything to protect my kids.”

The village Monday was awarded $250,000 through the Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services grant. Earlier this month, the village was awarded a $150,000 grant to plan how to act as a pass-through for future funds to partner with local agencies that provide services to migrants and unhoused people. The village matched that grant with American Rescue Plan Act funds, so the amount initially available for the emergency response was $300,000. This gives the village $550,000 to spend on these emergency services.

Volunteers began bringing refugees, most of them from Venezuela, to Oak Park’s village hall on Oct. 31, Halloween night, after temperatures plummeted and snow hit the area. O’Hare International Airport record-

ed .9 inches of snow, only the third time the area had measurable snowfall on Halloween since recordkeeping began in the 19th century, weather records showed.

As the night unfolded, volunteers brought about 50 people from Chicago’s 15th District police station in Austin about 10:30 p.m., worried that because they were sleeping outside, they’d risk suffering from exposure.

However, the lobby at Oak Park’s police station, located at village hall on Madison Street, was too small to hold the growing number of families gathered there.

Scaman said that about 1 a.m., she called the pastor at her church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, for help. The congregation opened its doors.

Estimates show that at least 20,000 mi-

grants are seeking refuge in Chicago, most of them bused in from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott. They have been sleeping at O’Hare or police stations, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed using winterized tents or other structures as shelter.

Officials said migrants who move to Oak Park from Chicago will lose access to housing under city programs. They have been notified and some have opted to return to Chicago.

Good Shepherd is seeking volunteers to help with cleaning and other tasks. The congregation no longer is looking for direct donations. To help, visit: https://www.signupgenius.com/ go/904054FAEA62AA0FF2-45883422good?useFullSite=true#/

Editor

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

11

Two District 97 schools ‘exemplary’ on state ratings The other 8 as ‘commendable’

said, is a result of being served disproportionately in underfunded schools.

Learning gains, or the growth a student makes in a year, however, has been strong in the state, education officials said, and they have accelerated faster than they have in pre-pandemic years.

The report shows that D97 also falls into that category, as it shows that for 2023 the district’s Black students proficiency rates scored 43.3% compared to the state’s score of 46.6%.

Scores for English language arts also were below the state’s score, showing the district’s score of 44.8% compared to the state’s score of 47.2%.

By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter

The grades are in and Oak Park Elementary School District 97 had high-performing schools across the district, with two receiving the highest score of “exemplary schools,” and the other eight bringing in “commendable schools” scores.

Bringing in those two exemplary scores were Beye Elementary and Holmes Elementary.

Each year, the state releases its Illinois Report Card to offer a look at students/ academic achievement at the state, district, and school levels. It also offers student and teacher information, as well financial data, at each level.

The Illinois State Board of Education reported that in 2023, schools’ statewide proficiency rates rose and hit the highest graduation rate in 13 years. Academic gains for Black students, who were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, improved significantly in many areas.

Despite the strides, officials said proficiency rates across the board remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Chronic absenteeism remains “alarmingly” high, they said, while pointing out that more work was needed to ensure students are able to recover from the social, emotional and academic impacts of the pandemic.

According to the Illinois Report Card website, exemplary designations are given to schools performing in the top 10%of schools statewide with no underperforming student groups and commendable designations are for schools that have no underperforming students’ groups, a graduation rate greater than 67%, and whose performance is not in the top 10% of schools statewide.

The district snapshot also showed that compared to the state’s average performance score, D97 had a lower percentage of students who experienced at least one transfer in or out of the school, receiving a 3.6% score compared to the state’s 7.4% for student mobility. According to the report, a higher turnover rate in students is shown to be both academically and socially disruptive to both ongoing students as well as those experiencing the transition.

Amanda Siegfried, senior director of communications and engagement, said the

Absenteeism

COURTESY OF DISTRICT 97

Beye Elementary School, 230 N. Cuyler district knows the data is impacted by larger factors, such as affordable housing and secure jobs, among others, but the district will still review the data to consider that mobility rate in context with the district’s 17% poverty rate compared to the state’s at 49%. When it comes to student mobility rate among disaggregated data, Siegfried said the district still “holds themselves accountable” and will look closer to understand why Black student mobility rate is three times higher than the district’s rate.

Enrollment for the district was reported as 5,492 students across the 10 schools, of which the largest percentage is composed of white students, who make up the majority of the 2,869 enrolled students. Additionally, the report card accounted for 869 Black students, 735 Hispanic students, 164 Asian students, and 850 students who reported to identify with two or more ethnicities.

Wednesday Journal will be providing information on a district-wide level with a more in-depth look on individual schools and what the numbers really mean in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, you can learn more about your local schools at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com and search by individual districts.

English language arts and math A little more than 49% of the district’s students met proficiency standards in English language arts, just shy of the state’s average of 49.8%. Comparing scores from 2022, D97 was able to maintain the same percentage, while the state’s dropped slightly from the 50% it received last year.

In mathematics, the district saw a decrease in their score, receiving a 49.1% for 2023, in comparison to their 2022 score of 52.8%. The state of Illinois was largely flat at 49.7% in 2023.

According to the Illinois Report Card website, the state of Illinois uses student growth percentiles to calculate growth.

The average proficiency rates in both ELA and math in Illinois remain below pre-pandemic levels. State officials, however, pointed out that Illinois has some of the most rigorous standards for proficiency in the nation, and its benchmark for proficiency is higher than that of 45 other states, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

However, the statewide averages of Black students’ growth and proficiency rates still lag behind other students. This, officials

Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the pandemic, but attendance has not bounced back in the state. The average rate dropped to 28.3% from 29.8% the year before. However, Black students’ rates increased dramatically. That’s because, state board officials said, they had disproportionately had less access to in-person instruction during the COVID-29 period and are now better able to attend classes.

Black students in D97 also had higher rates of chronic absenteeism. While not as high as the state’s score for 2023, which was 42.1%, the district scored a 26.3%, which was only 2.4% improvement from 2022’s score.

Overall, when considering the data from all student demographics, D97 received a score of 15%, scoring higher than the state’s score of 28.3% by 13.3%.

Student Demographics For 2023, D97 had English learners account for 3.2% of their student population, significantly lower than the state’s score of 14.6%. Both the state and D97 saw a slight increase in English learners from previous years, although the growth has been relatively slow, with D97 only increasing by .6%.

Students with IEPs were also reported, with D97 having a similar percentage as the state of Illinois throughout the previous years. For 2023, D97 had 16% of their students receiving special education or related services in accordance to their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), only 1% higher than the state’s.

12

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

ROBERTSWESTSIDE.COM

Rendering of Robert’s Westside.

Biggins shares plans for Robert’s Westside music venue

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Longtime talent booker plans diverse lineup at Forest Park venue

By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter

Robert’s Westside, the new music venue at the former Tap Room space at Madison/ Circle, is opening Nov. 20 with a week’s worth of events and plenty of acts coming down the pipeline.

The opening night will feature owner Donnie Biggins’ own band, the Shams.

On Nov. 21, they will hold the Soup and Bread fundraiser for local food pantries.

And Nov. 22 will feature a Fleetwood Mac cover band, while Friday night will feature a full-fledged house party with a DJ playing vinyl.

Biggins, an Oak Park native and a longtime Chicago area talent buyer, said that he wanted to book talent that reflects a wide variety of genres, because he wanted everyone to feel welcome at his venue and everyone has different tastes. He said he wants to nurture local talents with Open Jam and Open Mic events, and to host community events. But most importantly, Biggins said, he wanted to create an environment where Chicago area musicians can make long-term connections with an audience who would follow the acts through the years as they grow.

Biggins has a long track record as a talent buyer, working with Fitzgerald’s nightclub in Berwyn and, more recently, Forest Park’s Exit Strategy bar. Until recently, he operated the Golden Dagger music venue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, but he told the zoning commission that he recently sold it to focus on the Forest Park

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM venue. The name is a nod to Biggins’ fa- perform Dec. 2. Award-winning electric ther and Healy’s Westside – the bar that blues vocalist Shemekia Copeland will perwas operated by building owner and for- form Dec. 30.

Robert’s Westside will also nurture lomer village commissioner Mark Hosty cal talent. It will host Open Mic nights on before Tap Room.

Biggins said that the Nov. 20 opening is last Tuesdays of the month, and “Open meant to give Forest Parkers and other Jams” every first Tuesday. Biggins exwest suburbanites an introduction to Rob- plained that while open mics spotlight ert’s Westside and a chance to casually singers and spoken word artists, the open check it out. He thought that having his jams put the spotlights on bassists, guitar own band play during the opening night players and keyboardists.

“The open jam is more of a collaborative was fitting because the band got their start playing at Madison Street venues, such as community event,” he said. “I love open jams, because it’s a chance for the now-closed Molly Malone’s performers and musicians to Irish pub. meet each other, and it always Robert’s Westside is picking leads to new bands and new up the Soup and Bread fundfriendships.” raisers that used to be hosted Biggins said that both open at the Exit Strategy brewery, mics and open jams will be Biggins’ former employee. He free to the audience and partold the Review that they will ticipants. hold the fundraisers the third He said that one advantage Tuesday of every month – of a suburban venue over a which just so happened to be city venue is that the customthe second day of their operaers live in the suburbs for a tions. Biggins said that he and long time and want to plant Exit Strategy co-owner Katherroots there. Chicago customer ine Valleau are still working on base, in Biggins’ experience, the details of which pantries is more transient, with many will benefit from the Novemregulars moving to suburbs or ber fundraiser. other cities.

The other event formerly DONNIE BIGGINS “[In the suburbs], you get hosted at Exit Strategy, ForProprietor to, as an artist, build relationest Park Arts Alliance’s Tellships with the community that ers’ Night storytelling event, can be there for you for 20-30 will be hosted at Robert’s years,” he said. “That’s one of Westside every second Tuesmy favorite things about workday of the month starting this ing in the industry – getting to December.

The Friday event, he said, is meant to be know the artist in the beginning of their another introduction and more of a house careers and maintaining the friendship party. Both the Monday and Friday events throughout.” will be free, going forward, he plans to have Biggins said that he plans to make many some the Wednesday events “free with the shows free or free-with-RSVP to help foster RSVP” – the cover charge will be waived those relationships. for those who RSVP ahead of time.

He also hopes that Robert’s Westside can Biggins said that he wants Robert’s West- become a place where people socialize and connect with each other. side to be “home to all genres of music.”

“I’m of the opinion that we need to put “I think it’s good to have an eclectic mix of music in a music venue, because I think our phones away and get back out there it will be representative of your commu- and engage in real life and have a community,” he said. “I want everyone who lives nity,” Biggins said. “That is the communiin and around Forest Park to come [to Rob- ty that I love, sitting at the bar and having ert’s Westside] and feel like their tastes are conversations with someone I don’t know.

I would love to see the community engagebeing represented on stage.”

Biggins said that he hopes that custom- ment, and I would love to see real converers would be open-minded and come to per- sations, away from the Internet. We’ve formances that may not necessary be what just fallen in a horrible habit of [online] conversations that can go the wrong way they’re used to.

The venue has two major acts coming because you’re not actually in person with up next month. Country blues singer- each other. I want to be positive about it songwriter Charlie Parr, who Biggins has and encourage people to really come back worked with on multiple occasions, will in real life and enjoy.”

“I’m of the opinion that we need to put our phones away and get back out there and engage in real life and have a community.”

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

BROKEN TART Realized dream from page 1 in 2014 as a “very part-time” online business, focused at first on wedding cakes, and then expanded to other kinds of cakes and cookies. Krissy took full control of the operation when she moved for a time out of Chicago. This side hustle allowed her to follow her bliss – creating and baking pastries and cakes and other sweets.

Krissy said she had always loved baking.

“We had a lot of great cooks in my family,” she recalls. But she only began to consider seriously a career in food preparation during a trip she took to Europe after college.

“I was in Greece, I was in France, I was in Switzerland,” Krissy recalled, “and I was just eating amazing food and pastries everywhere I went.”

For example, in Lisbon, Portugal, Krissy encountered “these little egg custard tarts,” pasteles de nata, which she remembers fondly to this day.

“It was just a really eyeopening time for me,” she said.

After Krissy returned home, KRISSY MACK she devoted all Co-owners of her free time to making all the interesting pastries and desserts she had encountered on her trip.

Krissy also started a food blog with her sister, Katie, and a cousin. Krissy cringes a little when she talks about the blog, but it was clearly formative. “I would make a recipe and take a terrible picture of it.”

Katie didn’t do much baking, but she was living in New York at the time. “So, she would like go-to a bakery and then review the product. It was called Cookie Confessions. And I’m really glad it’s not on the internet anymore. It was horrible.”

It may have been horrible, but it solidified her interest in becoming a professional pastry chef. Krissy enrolled at the San Francisco Baking Institute and worked at several restaurants in the Bay Area. Af-

“I was in Greece, I was in France, I was in Switzerland, and I was just eating amazing food and pastries everywhere I went.”

FILE

Katie (left) and Krissy Mack, owners of Broken Tart on Chicago Avenue in Oak Park.

COURTESY OF BROKEN TART

ter graduation, she returned to Chicago to work for Boks Restaurant Group and Hogsalt.

It was around this time she and her sister opened the original, online version of Broken Tart. It blew up quickly. The online following skyrocketed to more than 6,500 followers on Instagram and had earned a place on Zagat Chicago’s 30 Under 30 in Food and Hospitality List. But that success was not enough. Krissy and Katie dreamed

of having their own brick-and-mortar version of Broken Tart.

They knew they made a great team. Katie had more experience on the business side of things. She had worked for several startups, including the media site, Refinery29 and Conde Nast.

Plus, Katie’s natural pragmatism balanced well with Krissy’s creative bent.

They were also lifelong collaborators.

Only two-and-a-half years apart, Katie and

COURTESY OF BROKEN TART

Krissy were close as kids. One of things they loved to play at was running pretend businesses. Stores. Restaurants.

“We made a cafe at our aunt’s house,” Katie remembers, “That was like our first like food thing.”

Krissy and Katie, both Oak Parkers, began gathering capital – and searching for a space in their adopted hometown.

As part of their fundraising, Krissy and Katie opened up a page on indiegogo.com.

Their goal was to raise $65,000. Their indiegogo.com proposal was a dead ringer for their current place: “a modern bakery and cafe inspired by the broken-in-yet-always-enchanting delis of Europe.”

Katie and Krissy made only $25,455 USD on the site, but that little bit of starter cash, plus their own savings, was enough to bring Broken Tart out of cyberspace and into the real world. The trick was where to build it.

“Oh, man, we looked for a while,” Katie said, “We were stalking this block. [The stretch of Chicago between Harlem and the Frank Lloyd Wright studio.] We actually looked at a space a few doors down, and it was really pretty, with the original press tin ceiling, but it was too narrow, so we couldn’t make it work. We were devastated.”

Then one day Katie was driving down See BROKEN TART on next page

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

15

Underground work for the new Pete’s Fresh Market is underway ComEd, too, is performing final tasks

By JAMES PORTER Contributing Reporter

Pete’s Fresh Market this week will be performing the final restoration work for underground improvements on its new site after at least four months of delays.

ComEd, too, will be performing final

restoration work for underground improvements.

According to the village manager’s weekly report, there will be one week of concrete restoration, plus two additional weeks of milling and resurfacing asphalt pavement.

The estimated time of completion is

before the Thanksgiving holiday.

ComEd will transfer service to AT&T’s new meter at the development site sometime in the next couple of weeks, after which ComEd will remove the remaining overhead lines and poles.

Construction on the site began around December 2021.

However, unforeseen delays have held up the project.

For the duration of the month, any residents in the area will be notified and will receive parking passes, since the roadway on the 300 and 400 blocks of Euclid and the 600 block of Washington will be milled and resurfaced.

CONTINUED from previous page Chicago and noticed a for lease sign in front of a space formerly occupied by a coin operated laundry. She called the landlord and was told he had literally just put the sign up. The space turned out to be just what they wanted. It was tiny, for sure, but had enough space for a great kitchen, a large display case, and even room (barely) for a few tables.

They signed their lease in February 2022, and spent the next five months building it out.

On any given weekday morning, even before the front door opens for the day, you will find people loitering nearby, queuing at the door, or hanging out in nearby parked cars, listening to Morning Edition. And throughout the day, traffic never seems to slow. Scads and scads of customers file in and out, picking up their morning coffee and a pastry or two, or a little lunch, or a box of scones, before scurrying off for work, or home, or the park. And on the weekends so many show up, a line snakes out the door.

Are the sisters thinking of expanding?

“We get asked that every single day,” Katie laughed.

For now, they’re planning, such as what to swap into their menu for November.

“We have a pumpkin muffin that one of our bakers developed that’s really delicious.” Krissy told me, her voice fluttering with excitement.

“It’s kind of a smaller size, but it’s super kind of rich. We toss it in melted butter after it’s baked and then roll it in sugar. So, it kind of mimics a donut. And we have a honey cake that is like a brown butter cake that’s soaked with honey-thyme apricot syrup. And then it has a light frosting of dulce honey whip.”

Katie jumped in: “Sometimes we just take a step back to like, whoa, we did this.”

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C O N T E N T

Russell’s secret is in the sauce and in your memories Russell’s BBQ stands the test of time

By RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR Contributing Reporter

Nostalgia will always be on the menu at Russell’s BBQ. They say you eat with your eyes and there is something more to that beyond the mouth-watering food at Russell’s. Walking into the time-honored location at Thatcher and North Avenue in Elmwood Park diners get not only a whiff of the meal to come, but also a warm, family, good-times-past feeling.

Celebrating its 96th year, Russell’s keeps the faith with six items from the original menu. BBQ roast beef leads the pack as the best seller. Slow roasted pork, thinly sliced, then served nestled on a hamburger bun is the number two all-time hit. Ribs, ham and chicken two ways round out the original offerings.

It’s the sauce that makes Russell’s stand out from all the other places you could get your BBQ fix. It’s a Polish recipe handed down from the original owners.

General Manager Ben Tapia says, “It’s a little bit different. It’s not Texas. It’s not a Memphis style. It’s more like a Carolina mixture. The stronger spice in our sauce is cinnamon. It’s unique.”

Russell’s BBQ sauce is shipped nationwide to customers who’ve moved too far away to come by the iconic location in person. Plenty do make a special trip though whenever they are in town. It’s not unusual for folks to come in and reminisce about the table their grandfather used to sit at or the time they had a first date there. High school reunions from a wide area schedule meetups in the dining room for a great meal while filling up on memories.

New memories are being made as well.

The 300-seat restaurant is a popular spot to host birthday parties, family get-togethers, and memorials. The extensive menu, which includes appetizers, burgers, hot dogs, sal-

ads, and even some vegetarian options can satisfy most eaters.

For parties at home, Russell’s will pack up trays of their very best for customers to pick up and serve to friends and family.

Russell’s has innovated too. Smoked BBQ joined the menu 15 years ago. The smoker runs for 14 hours, low and slow, to produce

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Russell’s today

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

Russell’s roast beef sandwich

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

The Anniversary Special: Ribs & Chicken, with beans and pickles

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023 17

S P O N S O R E D

RISÉ SANDERS-WEIR

(above) Russell’s Roast pork sandwich (left) Russell’s original North Ave. location tender, fall-off-the-bone meats.

Tapia says, “Ever since we started selling smoked meats, there’s been a lot of demand. I don’t want to change anything on the old recipe, but these are in addition to the ones that we already have.”

Ribs and chicken are the centerpiece of an anniversary platter special. Monday through Friday evenings there is a discount on half a slab of ribs and half a chicken served with beans, fries, coleslaw and a roll. At lunch, if you aren’t looking for a heavy meal, there is a soup special running from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Desserts are special here too. Eli’s cheesecake, brownies, cookies, pies, and cakes of many flavors tempt those who haven’t already loosened their belts too many notches. Ice cream and Italian ice are available too.

In the future, Russell’s plans to add new items to the menu. Renovations to the interior could expand the dining area, but there is no intention to alter the essence of the place. They are also pondering how to improve their drive-thru, which made its debut during Covid.

Other modifications are here to stay as well. Self-serve soft drinks have proved

popular. Meals are now delivered to tables after being ordered at the counter. These tweaks have proven acceptable to the diehard fans, but there is a line that Tapia knows can’t be crossed.

“Our customers don’t want us to change too much, because if you change it then it’s not going to be Russell’s. They say, we remember it the way it was because we’ve been coming here forever,” says Tapia.

“The meal goes better when you remember your parents and you as a kid. Nothing can replace those memories.”

Recently overheard at Russell’s as two older diners were exiting, satisfied with another meal, “Don’t ever change, Russell’s. Don’t EVER change!”

The details • russellsbarbecue.net 1621 N. Thatcher Ave., Elmwood Park Hours: Sunday through Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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

C O N T E N T

7426 W North Ave., Elmwood Park, IL 60707 Mon-Thu: 11am - 9pm • Fri-Sat: 11am - 10pm • Sun: 12 - 9pm

Call 708-456-6100 to make a reservation.

Keep up with Elmwood Park Eats

on OakPark.com

18

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Oak Parkers plan coffee shop/roastery in Forest Park

By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter

Doc Ryan’s bar rooftop deck will be filled with customers again next spring after an Oak Park couple works to open the U3 coffee shop and roastery in the one-story addition on the original building.

The long-time bar was once made up of two structures – the original two-story building and, later, a one-story addition with a rooftop deck. The 1937 Group, a Chicago-based cannabis grower and seller, bought the original building, while Kristi and Craig Ross, of Oak Park, bought the addition.

Kristi Ross said that they wanted to open at or near Oak Park, and they were pleasantly surprised to discover that a portion of Doc Ryan’s was on the market.

Ross said that she and her husband decided to launch U3 Coffee because they wanted a business where they could work together after decades of working in completely different fields, and they felt like coffee was one unifying constant in their professional lives.

Opening at the Madison Street corridor, home to some of her favorite restaurants, was a bonus. Ross said that they already have roasting equipment ready to go, and they hope to open in April 2024.

Doc Ryan’s, a Madison Street mainstay for seven decades, closed at the end of March.

Ross said that she lived in Oak Park “for basically 30 years,” and she and her husband raised their three kids in the village.

Kristi Ross’ career has been in finance.

Most notably, she co-founded the Tastytrade online stocks and options platform.

Craig Ross has worked in the pharmaceutical industry. With their kids growing up, they wanted to “do something together for the second half of our lives.”

From the get-go, they wanted to do more than roast coffee. The company has three other “arms” - the U3 Coffee Exchange, an online store that sells beans from other roasters, not just theirs, U3 Coffee Banks, which raises funds for farmers and other aspiring roasters, and U3 Coffee Media, an online platform that will promote coffee roasters.

Although U3 technically launched in June 2021, it wasn’t until the couple left their consulting gigs a year later that work began at its earnest.

Ross said that coming from “highly siloed, highly regulated” financial industry, she was surprised that other area independent coffee shops, such as Kribi Coffee, welcomed them with open arms and offered advice on how to get a roastery and coffee shop up and running. “[It was] incredibly refreshing to dive into any industry where your competitors were so open to sharing information,” she said.

Ross said that she was particularly grateful to Kribi Coffee founder Jacques Shalo for walking them through the ins and outs of the process.

“He was so genuine and open,” she said.

“He invited us to his roastery. We talked to his head roaster.”

Ross said that her husband’s background in pharmaceutical sales came in handy when it came to building connections and networking.

Independent coffee shops have been putting increasing priority on making sure their coffee beans are sources ethically – in other words, that they come from farms where farmers are fairly compensated for their labor. Ross said that she and her husband personally visited Costa Rica to meet the farmers and made sure that they use sustainable farming methods that wouldn’t harm the soil on the long run.

Customers buying the beans from the online marketplace already have the option of tipping the farmers and Ross said that the practice will continue once the roastery and coffee shop is up and running.

When they do open, one of their goals is to engage with area schools to give kids an opportunity to see how a roastery and a coffee shop operate. Talking about entrepreneurship, Ross said, is one thing – having kids see how a small business works makes it real.

“We want to make sure that [promoting entrepreneurship] is part of who we are and what we do,” she said.

Spice up your Thanksgiving with a Moroccan inspiration dinner.

129 S. Oak Park Ave, Oak Park • (708) 848-5555 • grapeleaves.us

November 8, 2023 19

E D U C AT I O N & E N R I C H M E N T G U I D E

Special Advertising Section

Education

Fall into Winter 2023

and

Enrichment

Guide

local schools | early learning | tutoring programs

20 November 8, 2023

E D U C AT I O N & E N R I C H M E N T G U I D E

36th Annual Production

38th Annual Production

Saturday, December SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4,2nd 2021 2pm and 7pm 2PM & 7PM Sunday December 3rd SUNDAY, 12pmDECEMBER and 4pm5, 2021

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allet Legere’s 38th annual production of the Nutcracker.

The production, in its entirety, will be presented at Dominican University Performing Arts Center in River Forest for the public on December, 2nd -3rd 2023.

This year Guest Artists Marcus Romeo and Bella Ureta will dance the Grand Pas de Deux, courtesy of the Cincinnati Ballet, Artistic Director Victoria Morgan. Also performing will be professional dancers from various Chicago Dance Companies as well as students from Legere Dance Centre and neighboring dance studios.

Ballet Légere is a non-profit organization which strives to provide an artistic cultural experience to the surrounding community. Our goal is to further the education of young dance students by offering

opportunities to perform alongside professional dancers in a complete ballet, as well as expose and educate all ages and cultures to the art of a ballet through our field trip program.

Performance Dates and Times Saturday, December 2nd 2pm and 7pm Sunday December 3rd 12pm and 4pm Dominican University Performing Arts Center 7900 West Division River Forest, IL 60305 To Purchase Tickets, Visit: www.balletlegere.org/tickets For more Information contact us: • 773.237.1874 • balletlegere@yahoo.com To make a donation, please visit: balletlegere.org/support-us.

Every child has a gift to be shared • Pre-K through 12th Grade. Private/Independent school since 1994. Listed by MENSA as a recommended program for gifted students.

• Private Music Lessons

If weather permits, many of our academic classes are done outdoors.

- Student to teacher ratio: some classes are one on one, two to one, with a maximum of six students to one instructor.

- Daily schedule is customized and flexible.

- Professional and passionate instructors.

- Guest tutors with real life experience.

- No test to enter, no traditional testing.

- Students paired by interest, in mixed age setting.

- Weekly reports sent to parents.

Current subjects, but not limited to, are:

• Foreign Language Lessons • Academic Tutoring

The Language & Music School at International Mansion

LMS/ International Mansion: every child has a gift to be shared

ur school can be best described as a ‘Homeschool in School’ style program.

We have a full dynamic Spanish Immersion curriculum and are listed by MENSA as a recommended program for gifted students.

We are a small school with only 30 students total between Preschool and 8th grade.

What sets us apart?

- Fluency in Spanish Achieved within one year during Preschool years, or within two years during Elementary School years. The Spanish language is spoken throughout as the target immersion language. Academic classes are all taught in English and/or Spanish and English.

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509 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park 1994 info@internationalmansion.com Text us at: (708) 296-3244 • InternationalMansion.com

• Penmanship • Reading/writing • Math • Science • Geography/history • Logic/coding • Theater (improv, superhero stage combat, musical theatre) • Martial arts

• Art (including painting, clay art, comic book art and more) • Music (Rock band, intro to most instrument, harmony, chorus) • Social emotional discussions/Life skills • Spanish immersion spoken through out the day and taught in lesson format • Russian immersion taught in lesson format

• Chinese immersion taught in lesson format • Intro to Foreign languages (Hebrew, Italian, chinese, japanese, korean, etc.)

• Physical education: Archery/Ice Skating/ Soccer, and more • Chess and board games • Architectural design

Early Childhood Learning Center Special Advertising Section

T

River Forest Community Center E D U C AT I O N & E N R I C H M E N T G U I D E Early Childhood LearninNovember g Cen8,t2023 er 21

Join the fun in the Early Childhood Program at the River Forest Community Center!

he River Forest Community Center provides an ageappropriate curriculum designed to encourage positive group interaction as well as foster individual growth.

Our teachers thrive on creating a safe and fun learning environment through play in which children are encouraged to explore and develop their cognitive, language, social intellectual and motor skills.

Full-Day: River Forest CommuHalf-Day nity C&en ter Rs iet vsetC r CFo om rem sm tuC o m m un ntiC te& yreCn etne terr Preschool Pre-K Rlyiiv vC e r F o r e m u n i t y R i v e r F o r o n i t y C e EarR h i l d h o o d L e a r n i n g C e n t e r er ForeEsatrlyCCohim netnetrer ldhm ooudn Lietay rniC ngeC Early Childhood Learn inHalf-Day g Cen&teFull-Day: r Eaarrlly yC Ch hiilld dh ho oo od dL Leeaa nBefore ng gC C ntteerr & and E rrn iiPreschool n eePre-K n

Our mission is to provide a handson approach to learning which allows the children to explore their environment while enhancing their social, emotional, cognitive and motor development.

The Early Childhood Programs include: • Munchkins & Playschool for Caregivers and Tots • Preschool (Half-Day & Full-Day) • Pre-Kindergarten (Half-Day & Full-Day) • Before & After School Programs • Summer Camps Coming Soon: Full-Day Infant and Toddler Care!

River Forest Community Center 8020 Madison Street in River Forest. www.rfcc.info - 708-771-6159

River Forest Public Schools Earn Top Designations from the State

O

n October 30 2023, the Illinois State Board of Education published the Illinois State Report Card, an annual evaluation of all public schools that provides each school with an individual Summative Designation.

River Forest District 90 public schools earned two Exemplary Designations and a Commendable Designation, the top two of the five leveled Summative Designations.

Lincoln and Willard Elementary Schools earned Exemplary Designations, reflecting overall performance in the top 10% of all K-8 public schools throughout the state. The Summative Designation index score for Willard indicates performance in the top 3-4% of all schools, and marks the second year in a row that Willard has earned

the Exemplary Designation. The Summative Designation index score for Lincoln indicates performance in the top 1% of all schools.

Roosevelt Middle School earned a Commendable Designation, demonstrating improved achievement on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness over last year in both English Language Arts and Math, as well as exceptional performance on the Illinois Science Assessment. Learn more at www. illinoisreportcard.com.

“We celebrate these Summative Designations because of what they represent - extraordinary teaching and learning across our schools,” said Ed Condon, Ph.D., Superintendent.

“Congratulations to the entire community.”

After School&Care Half-Day Full-Day: Before andFull-Day:  Half-Day & Half-Day & Full-Day: Preschool & Pre-K After Preschool & School Pre-K Care Preschool Summer Camps & Pre-K Half-Day Full-Day: Before and Half-Day & Full-Day:  Before and  Summer Camps After School Care Preschool & Pre-K After School Care & Pre-K Preschool  Parent and Tot  Before andPrograms  and Summer Camps  Parent Tot Programs  Summer Camps After School Care  Before Before and and   Parent and Tot Programs  Coming Soon: Programs Coming Soon: After School Care  Parent and Tot After School Care Full-Day Soon:  Summer Camps Full-Day Coming Coming Soon: Infant &Full-Day Toddler Infant &Camps Toddler  Summer Summer Full-Day  Camps Programs Infant & Toddler  Parent and Programs Programs InfantTot & Toddler Programs  Parent ParentPrograms and Programs 8020 Tot Madison Street  and Tot Programs 8020 Madison Street  Coming Soon: River Forest , Street IL 60305 8020 Madison 8020 Madison Street River Forest , IL 60305 (708) 771-6159 www.rfcc.info River Forest , IL 60305 Full-Day River Forest , IL771-6159 60305  Coming Soon: (708) www.rfcc.info  Coming Soon: Bring in this ad to receive $10.00 off your (708) 771-6159 www.rfcc.info Bring in thiswww.rfcc.info ad to receive $10.00 off your (708) 771-6159 Infantinitial&registration Toddler fee! EdGuide11-23 Full-Day Full-Day Programs Infant & & Toddler initial registration fee!Toddler EdGuide11-23 Infant Programs Programs

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22 November 8, 2023

A

E D U C AT I O N & E N R I C H M E N T G U I D E

Special Advertising Section

Ascension Schol supports Whole Child Learning

scension School has been a home to many members of the Oak Park community for over 110 years.

The school provides an education rooted in love, kindness, respect, and inclusion to students from Pre-Kindergarten three-year-olds to eighth grade. The strength and support of our Ascension community is notably present in the students’ academic, social, and spiritual education. Our goal is to create a positive atmosphere where students can grow in a safe, challenging and faith-filled learning environment.

With an average student to teacher ratio of 13:1, our faculty recognizes the individuality of each child’s development and has the opportunity to work with our students one on one to help them achieve their academic goals. Our students experience a well-rounded, Catholic education that enriches their minds, bodies, and souls.

This year Ascension is one of only 12 Chicago schools in its third year as a Museum of Science and Industry Partner school. Beginning in Pre-Kindergarten,

every classroom has access to iPads, chromebooks, interactive smart boards, and students are exposed to comprehensive STEAM opportunities throughout the year.

We offer both full and half-day prekindergarten programs. Our littlest learners’ day focuses on independent learning, socialization, reading readiness and literacy skills, and fine motor and gross motor development. Students are given specials each week including Art, Music, Spanish, and Physical Education.

Ascension provides outstanding fine and performing arts programs, extracurricular athletic programs and a number of clubs that promote teamwork, community and inclusion.

Ascension School also offers an Extended Day Program before and after school hours for families who need it.

The cost is dependent on the number of children in your family who use it and how much time is used. Learn what Ascension School can offer your child with a private tour at school.ascensionoakpark.com.

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Homes

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

23

Home & Studio gets much needed updates with help from Von DreeleFreerksen

By LACEY SIKORA

T

Contributing Reporter

his fall, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio has been getting modest makeover. The historic site’s 40-year-old roof is being replaced, the two chimneys have been tuckpointed, and shingles on the east and south gables of the home are being replaced.

“We do preservation work routinely, but it isn’t always visible to the public,” said Celeste Adams, president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. “But this roof project is. We wanted to reassure our neighbors that the new shingles will look different in color, but they will weather and return to the shade that people associate with the house.”

Local contractor Von Dreele-Freerksen is heading up the project, and Doug Freerksen said he couldn’t be more excited about being involved in the project. Freerksen, who cofounded VDF 40 years ago with Pete Von Dreele, noted that he has consulted on restoration work done at the Home & Studio in the past in his capacity as a member of the village’s Historic Preservation Commission, but this is the first time VDF has worked on the house professionally.

When he and Von Dreele started their business, it was with a passion for historic preservation and for restoring Prairie Style homes. Over the past four decades, VDF has worked on more than 30 Wright-designed homes, so they bring a lot of experience to Wright’s own home.

With any of VDF’s projects Freerksen said, “We always like to do our own pragmatic research, so we know what was there originally. Wright was not a fan of doing the same thing twice, but we do know what to look for. He only practiced in Oak Park for about fifteen years, and he used a lot of technology for the era.”

“Through a magnifying glass and with simple observation, we can learn what’s original and what’s been replaced,” he added.

See HOME & STUDIO on page 25

TODD BANNOR

Doug Freerksen of Von Dreele-Freerksen Construction Co. at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio on Oct. 17.

TODD BANNOR

A roofer from a subcontractor working with Von DreeleFreerksen Construction replaces the roof of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio on Oct. 17.

TODD BANNOR

Doug Freerksen pointing out original siding shingles identified by a circular rather than straight saw pattern at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio.

24

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

THROUGH NOVEMBER

11

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

OCCUPYING FRAMES: SIMPLICITY AND SPACES

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Ferguson Art Gallery

Bergmann Theatre

The work of Angela Green and Jim Gabbard combines photography with poetry.

Shakespeare’s ever-popular comedy comes to the stage in a special collaboration between the Artists of Concordia Theatre and the CUC Chamber Orchestra.

Free admission

7:30 p.m.

Arts Free admission

NOVEMBER

14-17 TUESDAYFRIDAY

FALL 2023

7400 Augusta Street | River Forest, IL 60305 CUChicago.edu/arts

I know it’s important to set guidelines for my kid about drinking and other drug use. When’s a good time to talk?

• after dinner • before bed • before school • in the car, to or from school activites Although active listening is important, remember, too much eye contact can feel like being put under a microscope. Talking while walking or on a drive together can help.

For more suggestions, visit: drugfree.org/ For Their Future.

Oak Park & River Forest Townships

Connect with us:

19 NOVEMBER

SUNDAY

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA AND SCHOLA CANTORUM CONCERT 7 p.m.

Chapel of Our Lord Conducted by Dr. Maurice Boyer Free admission

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

25

TODD BANNOR

Rebuilt chimney with scaffolding at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio on Oct. 17.

HOME STUDIO

Painstaking restoration from page 23 With the chimney, VDF employed a drone to look down the flue and take photos of the mortar joints, caulk and cracks. Freerksen said that with this technology, they can learn about a building in a couple of hours -- in contrast to a couple of days after sending someone up on the roof.

The chimneys were not touched during the 1970’s restoration of the building, and Freerksen said that they were so deteriorated “that you could literally put a finger through some of the mortar joints and some of the bricks.”

VDF took the chimneys down and rebuilt them with all of the original bricks that could be salvaged. They were careful to preserve the “ghosting” on the bricks, which provided evidence of where the roofline might have been altered with gables, terraces or awnings. Freerksen noted that it was important to preserve those faint outlines because a preservationist or historian might want to study those in the future.

Another key to rebuilding the chimneys was the mortar. The original mortar was a lime putty mortar that Freerksen said had visible lime chips.

While the mortar didn’t stand the test of time, VDF wanted to recreate the same visual look with the new mortar. They worked with Henry Frerk & Sons of Chicago to do a mortar analysis and create a mortar mix that matched the original mortar visually, but without the structural defects.

“If we didn’t do this, people might look at the building and think this was new,” Freerksen said. “We want it to look as close to 1909 as possible.”

On the roof, VDF is re-roofing with cedar shingles. If roofed according to today’s standards with roofing felt and ice dams, a cedar shingle roof might have a lifenspan of 25 years. Freerksen said VDF is using the technique likely

TODD BANNOR

Doug Freerksen (above) demonstrating the angled cedar siding shingles used on the edges of the gables at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio. Doug Freerksen (below) holding replacement bricks. used by Wright and used during the 1970’s restoration.

This method sets the 18-inch shingles over 1x6 pine sheathing boards with spacing that allows the cedar to breathe.

This method provides a 40-to-50-year life span for the roof.

The shingles for the gables were originally stained, not painted, and Freerksen said getting the color right was an important part of the process. With only one supplier of the stain still in existence and no perfect color match, they devised a mix of available stains to approximate the original dark color for the shingles.

These details may seem small.

“As you can tell, we’re just really into this stuff. We are delighted to be there.” Freerksen said.

Freerksen also noted that there’s a difference in restoring a Frank Lloyd Wright home and the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio. “We want to be correct, but we don’t want to overdo it,” he said. An original Wright design benefits from not being over-maintained or modernized, he added.

“There’s a real critical difference between a privately held Frank Lloyd Wright home and this one. My personal goal is that I want the Home & Studio to be established not just as a restoration but as a protected building in the neighborhood in which it resides. This building was designed as part residence and part commercial building, but it’s main role now is as a tourist destination.”

At the end of the day, he said, “This suits the neighborhood, it suits the neighbors, it suits the Historic Preservation Commission, and it suits the goals of the Trust to showcase this treasure.”

The work was made possible by a gift from the Goshorn/ Schumann Trust. Dawn Schumann was a founding volunteer at the Home & Studio and the first president of the Trust.

Adams said that the Home & Studio remains open for tours while the work is being completed and noted that some visitors have enjoyed being able to see the preservation work in progress.

Looking ahead, Adams noted that 925 Chicago Avenue, the home to the east of the Home & Studio that is owned by the trust, will also be further restored. While the house has recently received exterior updates, Adams said a grant from the state will allow the trust to focus on the interior. The work, which will begin in the spring of 2024, will allow the interior to house an FLW reading room and archives on the first floor, as well as a work center on the second floor.

26

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

Democracy Needs News.

News Needs YOU.

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Donate to Wednesday Journal.

A note from Erika Hobbs, our new editor Dear Readers, I am thrilled to be part of the Growing Community Media team and its four publications: Austin Weekly News, Wednesday Journal, Forest Park Review, and Riverside-Brookfield Landmark. Our work is important and I look forward to sharing our plans to grow our impact.

The stakes are high for local journalism across the country - and here at home. This fundraising campaign will set us up for a successful 2024 and ensure that we continue to provide authentic local news that can make a real difference in our communities.

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

VIEWPOINTS

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

27

The tricks and treats of Halloween 34

Helping neighbors in need since the ’70s

H

oliday Food and Gift Basket, a program of the Community of Congregations, has been a beloved tradition in Oak Park and River Forest since the 1970s. Every year we provide grocery gift cards in November and holiday gifts in December to families that have been referred to us by organizations across the community, including schools, townships, and social service agencies such as the Infant Welfare Society Children’s Clinic, Housing Forward, and New Moms.

All participants must meet financial eligibility guidelines by having income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level, set by the Department of Health and Human Services. For instance in 2023, a family of four qualifies for our program with an income at or below $55,500. This year, 773 families have been referred to us. They range in size from individuals to a family of 12.

Our support of these families is two-pronged. Each individual or family will receive a Jewel gift card within the next few weeks that varies from $35 to $80 depending on the family size. We hope that these gift cards will help offset Thanksgiving grocery expenses and provide a more enjoyable holiday.

We also match families with sponsors who shop for gifts off a provided wish list, wrap the gifts, and deliver them to us at United Lutheran Church, beginning Dec. 4. Then on Saturday, Dec. 9, volunteers will load up their cars with the wrapped gifts and spread holiday joy throughout our community.

Last year, Wednesday Journal editorialized that Holiday Food and Gift Basket “is honestly one of our favorite charitable projects of the year for Oak Park and River Forest.

The program connects in so many community-affirming ways.”

Here is your opportunity to be a part of this “community-affirming” program. We are looking for people willing to do three things: 1. Sponsor – Purchase gifts for an individual or family.

2. Donate – Help pay for grocery gift cards.

3. Volunteer – Sign up to deliver holiday gifts on Saturday, Dec. 9.

While my family has been a longtime sponsor of the program (my children, who are now 19 and 16, can’t remember

KELLY POLLOCK One View

See KELLY POLLOCK on page 33

JACK CROWE

Venezuelan asylum seekers find sanctuary from the cold at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park on Halloween.

I

Oak Park faces a reckoning on migrants

had found the gloves at Menards. The Venezuelan asylum seekers at the 15th District police headquarters in Chicago, on Madison just east of Austin Boulevard, pointed to their hands and said “guantes.” Gloves.

The snow fell in the wet globules you see in December, but not on Halloween.

The police station lobby overflowed with families sharing air mattresses. Plastic bags of clothes. Unaccompanied minors. A few homeless guys from the local community staying warm, too.

Outside, a string of tents flopped in the wind. Inside them, wet clothes frozen solid.

Some less-cold young people scooped the snow off their tents and made snowballs. On Madison Street, a few blocks east of Laurie’s Bakery, McDonald’s and the new Oak Park Community Recreation Center, This is what a humanitarian crisis in the U.S. looks like in 2024.

I handed out gloves. But they needed everything.

Blankets. Hats. Shoes to replace sandals.

Some asked for winter boots despite wearing second-hand gym shoes they’d traded up for.

A young man approached me holding the hand of his 2-year-old. She at least wore a winter coat. But he gestured to her coat and unzipped it to show the single T-shirt she wore underneath.

By the next evening, I had more gloves, six for $6 at Menards. But something had changed. There were fewer Venezuelans.

About half had been temporarily moved to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church near Fenwick High School.

Despite my lack of Spanish (I mash together a few words or sentences I think are Spanish, mostly to no effect), I figured out the woman was asking me to take her to an “iglesia.”

A church. I told her and her husband the church they wanted was Santa Catarina — St. Catherine/St. Lucy,

JACK CROWE

See MIGRANTS on page 33

28

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

O U R

P

V I E W S

Oak Park and migrants

roud but nervous. And more proud. That is our mix of emotions as Oak Park’s village government announced its plan to house and care for some 200 migrants over the next month.

These asylum-seekers, mostly from Venezuela, were welcomed into Oak Park by a blend of village government support and the uplifting, but never unexpected, swell of volunteer and faith-community support. While discussions had certainly been had, the arrival of the migrants from overflowing shelters on the West Side came quickly on Halloween night as temperatures dropped and the first snow of the winter fell.

Over the past week and until the end of this week, more than 100 people took shelter at Good Shepherd Lutheran. An empty commercial site housed another 50 individuals. United Lutheran and Calvary Memorial have since stepped up and welcomed migrants.

Now the village has worked to secure a more stable, if still short-term, solution. Tuesday evening the village board approved spending up to $370,000 over the next month to house and care for migrants. SRO rooms at the West Cook YMCA and hotel rooms at the Carleton will also be added as available. A range of wrap-around supports, including food and medical care, are funded.

Given Oak Park’s adjacency to Austin, which has been sheltering hundreds of migrants at the 15th District police station on Madison Street, and factoring in the grace-filled and determined efforts of so many Oak Park- and Forest Park-based volunteers, it was inevitable and essential that Oak Park take official action in support of these people in this humanitarian crisis.

That said, like Chicago, which is seeing its budget strained by its support of migrants, the support Oak Park offers cannot be open-ended and financial support from state and federal sources will have to be secured.

Plans to allow these asylum seekers to rapidly secure work permits is a partial answer. As so many migrants have told our Francia Garcia Hernandez in her reporting for our Austin Weekly News, these are people who want to work and are eager to support themselves. Speeding that opportunity is vital.

The generous support of nonprofits, volunteers and the faith community will remain core to this crisis. But those entities will simply be unable to cope and problem-solve without the capacity local government alone can provide.

Good for Village President Vicki Scaman for leading on this.

Good for Village Manager Kevin Jackson for his responsiveness in leading his staff.

This is a moment to be proud of the Oak Park values that made this step inevitable.

And it is time to lean into those values even if there is some pain.

V I E W P O I N T S

Why not Central Daylight Savings Standard Time?

I

t’s gone again. That extra hour of sunlight — when there is sunlight — hard to tell sometimes in November.

Sunday was the official end of Daylight Savings Time and the beginning of a blanket of darkness that deepens through the December solstice, when 2 p.m. feels like late afternoon.

I appreciate darkness but in smaller doses. I prefer the dark that follows the summer solstice in late June, when it covers just a third of the day. Two parts light, one part darkness feels about right. I can even live with the equinoxes, half and half. It’s when light is reduced to a third of the day that I start bracing for winter’s austerity.

When Central Standard Time arrives (even the name is depressing), I curse our culture’s slavish devotion to a completely obsolete tradition that, as far as I can tell, benefits no one. I can’t imagine any group lobbying passionately for CST. Their slogan would be, “At the darkest time of the year, let’s make it one hour darker!”

The night sky, I’ll admit, is a lovely sight, but not at 4 in the afternoon.

I know change is difficult for many Americans, but all we need to do is leave well enough alone.

Just drop the “Savings Time” and call it, you know, Daylight. People who say they hate change also like keeping things simple. What’s simpler than Daylight?

It may be impossible to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but all it would take to get rid of Central Standard Time is to do nothing each November, which is a great month for doing nothing — other than preparing a large feast on the fourth Thursday. Believe me, it would still be plenty dark by dinner time on Thanksgiving if you love eating by candlelight.

Every year, we shake our heads and say, “We should eliminate this stale old tradition.” But then some killjoy drops the bomb: It would take an act of Congress. Well, that kills that joy. We don’t even have a functioning House of Representatives, so it’ll never happen. They operate on Congress Standard Time all year long, where the clock only moves backward. If it were up to the Republicans, they’d shut down time altogether, along with the government.

I suppose we should be grateful that whoever masterminded changing the clocks twice a year at least gave us an extra hour of sleep to go with the darkness. And by March, we’re more than willing to give up an hour of sleep in order to get that extra hour of light. Heck, a few days before Daylight Sav-

ings Time returns in 2024, we’ll be getting a full extra day thanks to Leap Year, which at least is based on something scientifically measurable.

What most of us don’t think much about, and fail to appreciate, is that we get an extra hour of light in the morning in November and an extra hour of darkness on March mornings. So it evens out somewhat. Maybe that extra morning light helps dairy farmers find their way to the barn to milk the cows.

Mostly, though, changing the clock is just an illusion. The sun and Earth don’t change. The only thing that changes is our clocks … for no discernible reason.

I have to admit, I love the extra hour of light in March, just as spring and the sandhill cranes return. It induces a mini-ecstasy for those of us with DAD (Darkness Affective Disorder). So maybe it’s worth the utter irrationality of switching our clocks.

The only other argument I’ve heard for sustaining this tradition is that change is good for us.

Keeps us alert and on our toes. Livens things up.

It’s also a good gag. Twice a year, it makes a lot of people either an hour late or an hour early for church that first Sunday.

Seasons change four times a year, and most people appreciate the breaks in routine, so maybe a couple of extra changes also does us some good.

Those are the only benefits I can come up with.

We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, but twice a year (and not even every six months) we switch our clocks before going to bed for no reason whatsoever. Think about that. And we all meekly submit. You can’t even protest because if you refuse to change your clocks, you’ll either be an hour late or an hour early for anything you choose to attend.

Besides, most of our clocks change on their own, without lifting a finger. To resist, you’d have to change them back to the way they were before.

Spring forward, Fall back. Sounds like a good metaphor for the change-averse nature of the American psyche. One step forward, one step back.

Which just gets us back where we started.

On a walk at sunset last Saturday, I think I heard the sun exclaim ’ere it rode out of sight: “Happy Central Standard Time to all and to all a good night.”

KEN

TRAINOR

V I E W P O I N T S

T

The migrant crisis and local implications

he migrant crisis is clear and present.

It’s heartbreaking to see families with little kids struggling to cope with the Chicago winter while trying to piece their life back together in a strange new world. We have to do what we can to help the situation.

Locally, we have options but no consensus on the best approach forward. I want to clarify my positions and their rationale as an elected representative and as a private citizen.

On Oct. 30, the Oak Park Village Board unanimously approved $300,000 toward local migrant relief efforts. I voted in favor of this as it was $150,000 in grant money from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, matched by the village using surplus American Rescue Plan Act dollars (federal money and not local tax dollars).

On Oct. 31, a day after the board acted in good faith to contribute to the solution, community organizers bused 100+ migrants to the Oak Park police station late at night with no warning or coordination. The community organizers took a page out of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s playbook to “ambush” the village. Our good-faith efforts just the previous night was taken advantage of.

Continuing to react to this escalation in good faith risks further escalation. This puts us on an open-ended path with no outcome in sight.

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

I applaud our village staff ’s efforts this week. I supported the temporary emergency declaration to provide Village Manager Kevin Jackson the flexibility to address the immediate needs within an approved budget and set timeline.

Locally, we have a persistent homelessness crisis that remains unaddressed and many residents in our community are struggling to remain in Oak Park due to high taxation.

Our police and fire departments are shortstaffed with community safety often at risk.

Hence as a local elected official, addressing the migrant crisis with local tax payer dollars or deploying local village staff time at the expense of serving our community is a disservice to my constituents.

I also believe that the migrant crisis is a federal issue that cannot be solved locally.

Private citizens and community organizations have done a commendable job over the last several weeks.

These efforts must continue and expand with local governments connecting private voluntary actions with evolving needs as we wait for federal interventions.

So while I have and will continue to contribute personally, I am not supportive of local tax dollars or village resources deployed under these circumstances.

Ravi Parakkat is an Oak Park village trustee.

RAVI PARAKKAT One View

Cluster Tutoring is now ‘Learning Edge’

I am writing to draw your attention to the need for volunteer tutors for Learning Edge Tutoring (formerly Cluster Tutoring).

Learning Edge Tutoring is a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides free one-to-one tutoring to students in grades K-12 who come primarily from the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. Becoming a tutor gives you an opportunity to make a difference in a child’s life.

As a board member of Learning Edge and a volunteer tutor, I know I’ve made a difference in the lives of every child I’ve had the privilege to tutor. One of my first students, who started with me as a struggling reader in fifth grade, just entered Illinois State University this year.

Many of our tutors stay with a student for sev-

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

eral years or more and become trusted mentors to the child and family they work with. Few endeavors in life provide such high rewards for such a small investment of time — just 90 minutes a week during the school year.

Today, 15 students are waiting for a tutor. If you would like to contribute to the life of a child, consider joining us at Learning Edge. For more information, take a look at our website, https://learningedgetutoring.org or call us at 773-3785530. No teaching experience is necessary. Learning Edge provides training, materials, and math and reading support to tutors.

Leslie Hodes

Board president, Learning Edge

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 ■ 250-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

H O W

T O

R E A C H

U S

ADDRESS 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 ■ PHONE 708-524-8300 EMAIL Dan@OakPark.com ■ ONLINE www.OakPark.com Wednesday Journal is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. The newspaper is available on newsstands for $2.00.

A one-year subscription costs $48 within Cook County and $60 outside of Cook County.

Advertising rates may be obtained by calling our office. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, IL (USPS 10138). Postmaster, send address corrections to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302. © 2023 Growing Community Media, NFP.

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Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

V I E W P O I N T S

Ask your representatives to support a ceasefire

We are encouraged to see that 66% of Americans support a ceasefire on the war in Gaza. We are confident that that percentage is even higher in Oak Park.

CJPIP (Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel) will continue to work to unite people of all backgrounds toward the goals of peace, security, justice, and equality for all.

We know that our community can turn grief and outrage into meaningful action.

We know we can hold multiple truths: that the massive killing, wounding, and hostage-taking of civilians in Israel by Hamas and the annihilation in Gaza of families, homes, hospitals, houses of worship, and schools by Israel — are all war crimes.

And we must also be willing to recognize the context of these past weeks and reject decades of dispossession of the Palestinian people, systems of crushing inequality and injustice in Palestinian daily life, and the 16-year strangling blockade of Gaza. We can see that path has just brought violence and suffering

to Palestinians and to Israelis.

For decades, our government has fanned the flames of violence by offering unwavering support for Israel’s policies in the form of granting massive military aid, maintaining a foreign policy that supports Israel’s crippling blockade of Gaza, and in recent weeks, cruelly blocking a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council. All our government’s words about humanitarian aid are hollow without a ceasefire.

We must act in these hard and painful days to tell our Congress people that we are the Ceasefire Majority by calling: Congressman Danny Davis, 202-2255006, and ask him to join other Illinois representatives, Garcia, Ramirez, and Jackson, in supporting the House ceasefire resolution.

Senator Durbin, 202-224-2152, and Senator Duckworth, 202-224-2854, to tell them they must support a ceasefire now.

Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel Steering Committee Oak Park

Thank you for upholding free speech on Gaza

Thank you for publishing the front page story on the war in Gaza [News Oct. 25] and calling for a ceasefire now.

Thank you for being sensitive to the deep grief and the urgency of the situation facing Palestine.

I know there are opposing views, but in a time where people’s voices are increasingly being censored and silenced, it is encouraging to see our local paper stand for freedom of speech and represent journalism with integrity. We are a country founded on freedom of speech.

Thank you for upholding this right and for publishing a piece that acknowledges the horrors and the genocide that is happening in Gaza; all paid for by our tax dollars.

I specifically want to thank the two

journalists for their writing and their coverage of this urgent issue facing our world.

One thing: There are Christians who support a just peace for Palestine/Israel, in addition to Jews and Muslims!

Most major denominations have “PIN” groups — Palestine Israel Networks — who support a just peace with full human rights for all. They are allied with Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine as well. And we are in touch with Palestinian Christians in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza! Yes, there are Christian Palestinians, too.

Thank you.

Pauline Coffman Oak Park

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Urgency of the PalestinianIsraeli situation

Thank you for publishing the front page story [News, Oct. 25] on the war in Gaza and opposition to it. Thank you for being sensitive to the deep grief and the urgency of the situation facing Palestinians and Israelis.

In a time when people’s voices are increasingly being censored and silenced, it is encouraging to see our local paper stand for freedom of speech and represent journalism with integrity by including community voices who oppose Israel’s policies toward Gaza.

Students all over the U.S. are being pressured

to keep silent about their position on Palestine; peoples’ jobs are being threatened because of posting “I stand with Palestine” on Facebook, and Palestinian people are being assaulted and even murdered simply for being Palestinian.

We are a country founded on freedom of speech. Thank you for upholding this right and for publishing a piece that acknowledges the horrors and the genocide that are happening in Gaza, supported by our tax dollars.

Sue Foran

River Forest

Here’s some context

Wednesday Journal is taking heat from Israel’s supporters — a hot blast of strawman arguments that purportedly reflect the “complexity” of Palestine-Israel. That “complexity” is itself a strawman, concealing the one belief common to everyone’s tribe: what we do is justified and what the other does is not. Our violence is reluctant and necessitated by “context.” Theirs erupts solely from fanatical hatred of us; there is no context.

Well, here’s context. Gaza is effectively occupied (much like the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Palestinians are relentlessly expelled from homes and fields). Israel’s military strictly controls Gaza’s land exits and perimeter. Fishing in the adjacent Mediterranean Sea is severely restricted. Israel strangles Gaza’s imports, exports and air space and repeatedly disables its single power plant. Only a tiny fraction of Gaza’s fresh water is drinkable. Unemployment is almost 50%, poverty even higher among its 2.3 million residents.

Advanced medical care is unavailable without an Israeli exit permit.

Anywhere else, when militias or gangs form in despairing communities, we acknowledge the context of hopelessness. But in Gaza, the world’s most densely populated urban place, context ends when Hamas heartlessly lashes out, and thousands of innocent Palestinian children can die in a backlash of vengeance and ethnic cleansing called “self-defense.” After that, what will the context be?

I do agree with some commenters’ suggestion that the WJ leave this conflict to other forums.

WJ will satisfy no one, much less those who condemn interviewing “two (!)” organizations they call “pro-Palestinian”), even if the Journal plunges into the bottomless chasm of argu-

ments/counter-arguments that blur a conflict about identity, land and resources. Although an admirable local newspaper, the Journal will never have enough journalistic real estate for Israel-Palestine.

As for the inevitable antisemitism smear coming my way, I’m a Jew, raised in Back of the Yards. There was jump-you-and-grab-your-stuff antisemitism. And single-you-out-in-school antisemitism. So I don’t tolerate antisemitism. But criticizing the Israeli state is not antisemitism.

Nor is defending the right of the Palestinians, or anyone else, to the universal values of justice and opportunity.

David Gilbert

Oak Park Citations for paragraph 2: Re: Gaza unemployment – https://www. worldbank.org/en/country/westbankandgaza/ overview Re: Gaza poverty rate (53%, para. 1) – https:// databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_ download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_PSE.pdf Re: travel/movement restrictions – https:// www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/14/gaza-israelsopen-air-prison-15 Re: fishing limits – https://www.nytimes. com/2022/11/27/world/middleeast/israeli-blockade-gaza-fishing.html Re: advanced medical care for Gaza residents – https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/13/israelrecord-low-gaza-medical-permits & https://www. amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ mde150362008en.pdf Gaza potable water – https://www.rand. org/pubs/research_reports/RR2515.html & https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

WJ’s coverage is not biased

Evidently, the WJ’s coverage of the Israel/Hamas/Palestinian conflict really angered some of its readers. The disgruntled retorts to the WJ front page article in question [News, Oct. 25] caused this reader to wonder if any of them understand the basic tenet of honest journalism — that being to present news based on facts, to get a story straight, and be as up-to-date as possible. You know, “comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable.”

The article in question has been accused of being the “most biased ever,” along with “imbalanced” and “inaccurate” and possibly intending to offend Jews in our community.

One letter counted column inches given to the Israeli viewpoint of this horrific conflict versus the Palestinian perspective.

Oh, therefore WJ was taking the Palestinian side? No it was not. It was reporting on the most current, factual realities of the matter at hand. Those who want to invoke histories from 2005 to much further back in time to somehow give cover to their vitriol, show their own massive bias as far as what is happening every single day to the Palestinians.

Since the horrific Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing roughly 1,400 of its people,

A

Israel has responded by — as of today, Nov. 2 — killing approximately 9,000 Palestinians, including over 3,500 children. It is also nauseating, and infuriating. That is the here and now. This the present, regardless of any historical accounts of either side’s actions. The WJ story isn’t biased. When will you defenders of what is clearly an ongoing genocide be satisfied with this sickening unbalanced response to Oct. 7?

The U.S. has, since 1946, provided Israel with billions of dollars of aid. Both national political parties have rubber stamped this monetary support in that timespan.

Joe Biden, almost immediately after the conflict started, pledged more money — and bombs! — to aid the response to Oct. 7. Bombs that cannot distinguish between Hamas militants and innocent men, women and children.

That is the reality and to not see that reality reflects sadly on those who accuse the Journal of being biased. If only the mainstream media would report as honestly on this egregiously one-sided “war” as did Wednesday Journal, maybe Biden and our government might demand a ceasefire.

If only ...

Joe Harrington

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

31

Israel-Hamas war: points of agreement

In recognition of the fact that there are well-meaning persons on both sides of this divisive issue, permit us to submit a few points of view to which most of us might agree: 1. We can agree that Israel has the right to exist and Palestinians (Muslims and Christians) have the right to live in their own homeland.

2. We can agree that Israel has the right to defend itself.

3. We can agree to condemn Hamas for killing innocent Israelis and yet be critical of Israel to the extent that its response disproportionately kills innocent Palestinians.

4. We can agree that one can be critical of Hamas without being called racist or be critical of Israel without being called antisemitic.

5. We can agree that both parties bear some responsibility for where we find ourselves in this conflict. Neither is entirely blameless.

6. We can agree that in war there are

no winners.

7. We can agree that the negative ramifications of this war will continue for generations to come as young Israelis and Palestinians will struggle to cope with the years of conflict they have experienced.

8. We should be supportive of President Biden and the efforts of the U.S. government to secure humanitarian aid for those suffering in Gaza.

9. Discourse and dialogue among our citizenry concerning this conflict can and should be conducted with civility.

All views should be treated with respect.

10. Playing the blame game and/or claiming victimhood is a waste of our time. It is what it is. We need to focus on solutions.

We recognize this is a divisive issue, but we should resist efforts to bifurcate ourselves into “Us” and “Them” camps.

Max & Mary Anne Brown River Forest

Oak Park

Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism

s a Jewish resident of Oak Park, I was disturbed by the negative responses in the Viewpoints letters to the article “Jewish, Muslim Oak Parkers on the Israel-Gaza war: ‘a collective mourning’” [News, Oct. 25] in which I was quoted as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Those letters called the article offensive, biased, imbalanced, inaccurate, and claim that Jewish Voice for Peace does not represent the mainstream American Jewish community. These responses intend to stifle and censor important voices within our community and indicate the writers’ fear of changes happening within it, particularly among the younger generation — a growing realization that there must be justice and equality for all those who live in the land between the river and the sea, with no group claiming supremacy over another, and that

there is no military solution that can bring that to fruition. Only peace and justice can do that.

Calling for a ceasefire — as JVP does, and which both the American and Israeli administrations reject — is a call for peace. Calling for an end to militarism and the use of American tax dollars to continue funding the military-industrial complex and arm other countries is a call for peace. Calling for the end to Israeli military training of U.S. police departments is a call for peace. Calling for an end to illegal settlements and the blockade of Gaza is a call for justice, without which there is no peace.

Calling for equal human rights for Palestinians is a call for justice, without which there is no peace.

Even moderate voices recognize the inequality at play. In 2006, former President

Jimmy Carter, in Peace: Not Apartheid wrote: “Apartheid is an accurate description of what is going on in the West Bank.” In January 2021, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem issued a report that termed Israel an apartheid regime. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both concluded that Israeli treatment of Palestinians meets the definition of apartheid.

U.S. politicians and media have distorted history by incorrectly conflating antisemitism with anti-Zionism. This distortion led politicians in Illinois to pass a law against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement. This is a peaceful movement to pressure Israel to change its practices towards Palestinians. Consider the consequences of making peaceful protest illegal.

DEBORAH ADELMAN One View

There is a long history of Jewish antiZionism. My parents were both anti-Zionists.

The Jewish congregation to which I belong, Tzedek, led by Rabbi Brant Rosen, in 2022 voted to define ourselves as anti-Zionist.

There are many rabbis — a diverse group including young, gay, trans, Jews of color, and women — who are anti-Zionist and are speaking out for peace and justice. Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. We anti-Zionists to have a legitimate place within the American Jewish community.

I am hopeful for the future. I have seen many Jewish young people rejecting the narrow thinking of their elders, rejecting militarism as a solution, rejecting apartheid as a system, and rejecting the assumption that Israel speaks for all Jewish people.

Deborah Adelman is a longtime Oak Park resident and professor emerita of English and Film Studies at College of DuPage.

32 Temple WednesdayChoir Journal,presents: November 8, 2023 The Unity

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Failing our families Considering Considering Matthew Shepard Matthew Shepard F The Unity Temple Choir presents:

The Unity Temple Choir presents:

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Sunday, November 12 | 4pm Sunday, November 12 | 4pm $30 $30/ /15 15students students

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A Freewill donation will be collected to benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation

A Freewill donation will be collected to benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation

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ollowing a neighbor’s call to police, these tragic words were written into their case records: “5-year-old Johnny Cooper said … ‘Somebody was hitting me, and the belt hurt, but my mommy didn’t mean to hurt me.’” Just four months later, both of Johnny’s parents were arrested and charged with killing their little son. His mother stabbed him to death during one of her drug-induced rages. His father buried him the backyard.

This horrendous report is true, except for the name. It should be noted that DCFS had this family on their radar, with a caseworker periodically checking in on them. Sadly, the tragic, short life is one of too many brutal DCFS cases on record.

The trial had a unique quality as it was the first time in DCFS history in which a caseworker was held responsible for neglect. His excuse for allowing the abuses was that he was overworked and didn’t think the situation was as dire as it actually was. His reports of previous visits to the household noted filthy conditions, urine and feces on the floor, and multiple open liquor bottles strewn on various surfaces. Both parents were found guilty of murder and were sentenced to 30 years in prison.

When DCFS was founded in 1964 here in Illinois, it was considered an outstanding service helping families in need. It had adequate funding and caseworker staffing.

In its early years the agency was prominently acknowledged for the positive impact it had families. However, the quality of services provided early on soon faded. Inadequate funding meant less services and fewer caseworkers.

Internal upheaval within the organization ensued. Although the state Department of Finance increased funding to DCFS, the agency was never equal to the original agency. Dedicated workers and leaders were difficult to keep, especially since the agency kept failing to meet its goals. Even the most diligent caseworkers were faced with the impossible task of keeping children safe due to the huge caseloads of families they had. Some critics see DCFS as an agency with a revolving door of applicants. It’s an agency in chaos. It doesn’t have adequate staff to handle the daunting task of the work. It has too often failed to protect children in a time of ever-increasing need for these crucial services. It is a “perfect storm” of dysfunction that fails families.

It cannot be overlooked that DCFS has played many active roles in helping Illinois families. There are many successes in which needs were met, be that support for a family, reunification, or finding safe homes for children. Often DCFS works in collaboration with various educational systems, social services, and religious groups for needed family disruptions and foster care. These collaborations must be strengthened.

The original goals with which DCFS was established feel like an off-shoot of some of the ideals of Jane Addams and the Hull House. The early residents who lived in the settlement house helped the poor by delivering babies, nursing the sick, preparing the dead for burial, and sheltering young women from abuse.

Poor, immigrant children were occasionally treated to a field trip. My husband, Marty, was one of those children. He told how he was being rambunctious and that Jane Addams herself firmly took his hand and sat with him on the streetcar. He said he did not feel he was being punished. Although at first, he remembers being somewhat embarrassed, he then felt comforted, safe, calm, and understood.

Isn’t this what we want for all children, at a minimum?

DCFS is not a lost cause, yet this albatross of a now dysfunctional agency needs reconfiguring. Protecting children and providing services to families is too critical for it not to be revitalized.

Let us prioritize attention to, and support for, these necessary services.

HARRIET HAUSMAN

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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33

Enlarging our sphere of caring

ne evening a few weeks ago, I was walking out of the parking garage where we keep our car when I saw a woman huddled in the corner.

She was eating something from a paper bag and did not look up at me as I passed. This was where she would be spending the night.

Something about seeing her hit me. I recognized that often I pass people panhandling on the street; sometimes I give them money, other times not. But I often excuse myself by believing that someone else will help them, or that maybe they have somewhere to stay when night approaches.

Seeing a woman in our parking garage hit me differently. She clearly had no other place to go.

I went inside our home and grabbed a blanket and some food, then walked back out to her. “Do you want this blanket?” I asked. She did not answer. “I brought some

food, too.” She looked at me with no reply.

“I’ll just leave this here in case you want it,” I said, setting the items down and walking away.

I was struck again by the limits of what I could do. I live several hundred yards from the spot where this woman planned to spend the night. I live in a comfortable condo with beds, running water, plenty of food. Even more than that, I have resources of income, wealth, and health insurance from a job. And beyond that, I have family members who would bail me out if ever those resources failed me. I don’t know what she had when she was born or what she has now, but I have to believe that many systems failed her to lead her to this point in her life.

Do our mutual obligations flow from our choices, or from our inheritance of shared

Upcoming feasibility forums

Last week’s One View article on the ongoing study of how best to use the former rectory at the St. Catherine-St. Lucy campus in Oak Park as a base for a social ministry outreach to Austin residents garnered a lot of interest from readers wishing to learn more about this effort.

Those interested in attending one of the upcoming forums, where members of the Feasibility Study Committee will share what they have learned as well as expected next steps, are encouraged to sign up using this link: www.signupgenius.com/go/904044BA8AC22A2F85-town#.

Forums are scheduled at the following locations in the coming weeks: ■ Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. – St. Bernardine Cafeteria, 7246 Harrison, Forest Park ■ Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. – St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 545 S. East, Oak Park ■ Sunday, Nov. 12 at 11:30 a.m. – Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, 744 Fair Oaks, Oak Park ■ Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. – Pilgrim Congregational Church, 508 Lake, Oak Park Registering ahead of time enables the committee to prepare each venue for the number of expected attendees, but all are welcome even if unable to register.

Questions? Please contact committee co-chair Dan Doody at dan@doody.com.

Anne Hennessey

St. Catherine-St. Lucy Feasibility Committee

humanity? Too often, I regard my shared group members as the only ones who deserve my obligations. And of course it is natural that I devote more of my attention, care, and resources to my own child than someone I just saw on the street. I am not arguing otherwise.

I am proposing that a situation where we devote all of our attention, care, and resources to our child to the exclusion of the rest of our human family is equally reprehensible. If my focus on my child means that I try to grab all the resources, benefits, and opportunities for them to the exclusion of everyone else, that is a problem.

That is how an impulse toward caring becomes corrupted. That is how we are left blaming the homeless rather than those who took the wealth. That is how we end up blaming the migrant family rather than

JIM SCHWARTZ One View

KELLY POLLOCK

those who create the destabilizing conditions that lead to migration. That is how we end up blaming struggling parents rather than those who benefit from the current system of inequality.

It is naive to believe that we can snap our fingers and magically become one human family that values every member equally.

But it is equally naive to believe that we can solve our problems by reinforcing the privilege and inequality that already exist.

Instead, each moment, we must do the difficult work of recognizing what we have in common, extending empathy from our child to the homeless woman. From our parent to the migrant. From our familial sibling to our human sibling.

This is the work that grows mutual obligation from the soil of our shared humanity.

Jim Schwartz is an Oak Park resident, an educator, and a blogger at Entwining.org.

MIGRANTS

Helping neighbors for the holidays

Responding to refugees

from page 27

from page 27

a holiday when we haven’t gone shopping for another family), this is my first year as director of Holiday Food and Gift Basket. And I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people in our community who give so freely of themselves.

Just this week a woman asked to sponsor four families of six people. That’s 24 people! She divides the names between her office and her family. And a man emailed me that he was making a $5,000 donation to help pay for the Jewel gift cards that our families will receive. And then there’s the woman who has been delivering gifts to Mills Park Tower in Oak Park for 38 years! It’s a tradition that she began with her father in 1985 and has continued with her teenage son.

Because I am the only paid employee of the program, none of this would be possible without the many volunteers who help with entering data, matching sponsors with families, and stuffing envelopes.

These are sometimes thankless tasks, but I couldn’t be more grateful for their help.

And now I’m asking for your help too. As of this writing, we still have hundreds of families who need sponsors (many of whom only want gift cards, which makes for an easy shopping trip) and we are still $20,000 short of our fundraising goal.

Someone recently said to me, “People want to help. They just need to know how to do so.” I have the answer. Please visit our website at https://www.communityofcongregations.org/holiday-food-giftbasket for details on how to sponsor, donate, or volunteer.

Thank you on behalf of Holiday Food and Gift Basket and our neighbors in need.

Kelly Pollock is director of the Holiday Food and Gift Basket Program.

where there is a shower and clothing program — but it was closed until the next morning.

They were insistent. The husband held his cellphone translator to my ear, which said they needed a ride to the church with their luggage.

How much would I charge to drive them? It finally dawned on me that they were trying to get to Good Shepherd to get out of the cold.

We packed up the luggage and a small child — who, by the way, was all smiles and delight.

Gratis, I replied. No charge. And we drove to Oak Park to the comparative warmth of a church basement.

So there it is. The people who made it past the national border a thousand miles south in Texas have moved to Oak Park. Our neighborhood. We can’t ignore the work we still need to do so that all of our neighbors in Austin can thrive. But now it’s our time to respond to the refugees.

Jack Crowe is co-chair of the committee to repurpose the St. Catherine’s rectory into a mission-driven social services connector project, now called “Neighborhood Bridge.” He is also involved in the efforts to address the humanitarian crisis with the Venezuelan asylum seekers living at District 15 police headquarters in Austin.

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Welcome the stranger, no matter the costume

water.” He walked down the steps.

Riding Hood, and a piece of cake all roamed y the time I met him, he was no longer “Wait a second, I need that cup back.” freely. running.

“Aw sorry, here you go.” I took my cup and Batman, a soccer player, and their vampire It was a quarter past four and my said goodbye. older sister came up the steps. They greedily Oak Park street was empty. I sat on my Before I could process what had just ocleaned over the candy. front porch waiting for trick-or-treatcurred, two children came up the path. The “What do you say?” I asked. They stood ers when I heard leaves crunching behind girl was dressed in medieval battle-gear and back, puzzled. me. The gate to the her head sported a pair of mouse ears. Next “Happy Halloween?” suggested the soccer backyard opened. to her, the boy’s face poked through a stuffed player.

I stood up to see starfish.

“You say, ‘Trick or treat.’” who it was … a “What are your costumes?” I asked.

Recognition dawned on their faces. “Trick teenage boy, clad in “I’m a warrior mouse,” said the girl. “Do or treat!” black and holding you know about the Redwall series? My “Has everyone forgotten what to say on a creepy clown Halloween?” I asked the empty porch, as the mask in his hand. A name is Matthias.”

“I’m a starfish!” said the little boy. kids walked away. stranger coming from my backyard?

“Why did you choose to be a starfish?”

The answer apparently was yes. Everyone Completely befuddled, I asked him, “What had. the heck are you doing back there?”

The toddlers showed the most “Sorry, don’t worry about it, I’m promise. Their parents would acleaving.” company them to the porch and the “Not so fast. How did you get into journey up was a big accomplishmy backyard?” ment. The mom or dad would nudge “I jumped the fence, man. I was runtheir kid, “Say trick-or-treat now.” ning away from someone.”

The kid would stare at me shyly “That means you jumped multiple and attempt something between a fences!” mouthing and a whispering of the The boy was winded. He sat down words. A few toddlers remained on the top step of the porch. “Hey, silent, but I’m convinced the words could I get some water?” he asked. sounded in their heads.

“I’m super-thirsty.”

As the children grew older, these I gave him the cup of water I had words were forgotten. just poured for myself, and he drained Frodo and friends were an excepit. I sat on the bench behind him. tion. They said, “Trick-or-treat,” “Who are you running from?” before reaching the porch. Did it “I was running away because I took someone’s candy.”

PROVIDED count if you said the words that “How much?”

Tyler and Bryce Trainor were a hit as Vending Machine early? I was feeling generous.

One of the sculpted pumpkins “Maybe 50 pieces.” He reached into and The Claw. displayed on my porch was modeled his bag and took out a plastic Tupperafter Gollum. I asked Frodo if he ware full of candy. “I told my little “Because I like starfish.” knew who it was. He kneeled down and eyed brother that this year I would try to steal Then he pointed: “That’s a Reese’s wrapthe pumpkin. someone’s entire bowl, so when I saw the per on the bench. You ate the Reese’s, didn’t “Is it the Grinch?” container lying out without anyone around, you?”

“No.” I put it all in my bag. But a guy in the house “Yes, I did.”

“E.T.?” saw me. He chased me down two blocks and I “That’s why you’re asking too many ques“No.” had to jump some fences to get away.” tions.”

Frodo was out of guesses.

“Well, you succeeded.”

I had been silenced. I told them they could Then three girls approached.

“Yeah, man. Thanks for letting me rest each pick two pieces of candy from the bowl.

“I’m Taylor Swift.” here.”

Like many after them, they dove their hands “I’m also Taylor Swift.”

“Maybe you should give the Tupperware into the bowl’s uncharted depths in search “How about you?” I asked the third girl. back.” of some rare candy that was not present “I’m Megan.” She did not look enthused.

“My dad parked our car right outside the on the surface. And like many after them, After the girls came a gaggle of boys. One guy’s house, so I guess I’ll be back there of them wore a Chiefs jersey. at the end of the night. Hey, could I have their hands emerged without success. They “Ah ha! And you are?” I asked. another glass of water?” settled for something on top.

“Patrick Mahomes,” he said.

I hesitated. “Sure. But you better not take More trick-or-treaters began to swarm the These kids had no sense of coordination. my candy while I’m inside.” block. An inflatable dinosaur waddled across Now a mother carried her toddler up the “Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson.” the street singing, “Doo doo, doo doo, doo steps. The child wore a chicken onesie. I I refilled his cup and went back out. He doo doo.” James Bond in a dapper tux fastasked her what she was. drank and said, “Alright, I should go find walked with a fierce grip on his candy-bag.

She whispered, “Chicken.” my dad and my little brother. Thanks for the A pink princess, Black Panther, Little Red

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She sifted the candy around with her mitten. Her hand was too tiny to grab a piece.

“Do you have any Hershey’s?” she asked.

Our Costco-sized candy-bag did not come with Hershey’s.

Her mother approached. “She doesn’t know what she likes, let me help her find something.” Mom chose a 100 Grand and took Chicken down the stairs.

Night had fallen and my feet were frozen.

The trick-or-treaters slowed to a trickle. I glanced down at my journal, blackened with notes from my conversations that afternoon.

On no other day in the year did strangers of all kinds approach my doorstep expecting the hospitality of a treat. On no other day was I there waiting for them.

I thought that Halloween’s ritual of front-door encounters was a powerful way for citizens to engage with neighbors they otherwise would not. The kids I met might need a reminder to say, “Trick or treat,” but their excitement at going door-to-door and talking with strangers gave me hope.

When times turn sour, perhaps our Halloween encounters will remind us to welcome the stranger, no matter the costume they wear.

O B I T U A R I E S

Sheila Trainor, 70 Affirming educator of children

Sheila Reynolds Trainor, 70, of Oak Park, died on Oct. 21, 2023. She taught for more than a decade at Beye and Whittier schools in Oak Park’s District 97.

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.

Full obituary in the Nov. 1 Viewpoints section.

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Odette Stoffel, 102 Choir organist, 19th Century Club volunteer

Odette Marselle “Dee” Stoffel, 102, died peacefully at home on Oct. 29, 2023. Born in Uniontown, Ohio on Dec. 11, 1920, growing up on a small farm in nearby rural Myersville, the only child of Raymond and Helene (Dorn) Feikert, she kept vivid memories of swimming in a branch of the Tuscarawas River with her best friend, Goldie Spriggles, and selling vegetables with her dad at the Farmers Market in Akron, snagging an ice cream for the trip home. The house had room for a piano, which began a lifelong passion.

While attending Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio she met her husband of 69 years, Lester L. Stoffel. He was instantly smitten after eyeing her at a football game, her blond hair a sharp contrast to a red coat.

With graduation came enlistment; they married in June 1943 before Les was deployed to Europe. After a brief stint with her in-laws, she found a garden apartment in Lakewood, Ohio, and sent off a note to her new husband: there was room for a piano! Before he could reply to suggest more practical furniture given limited funds, he received a photo of Odette with the piano.

On his return, Les studied library science before they moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, where he settled in as head librarian. With three children in tow, in 1955 he took the top job at the Oak Park Public Library where they would stay for the next 20 years. She worked part time in an office, but her love was music: she served as choir organist for First Presbyterian Church in Oak Park and had a steady stream of private students. Her passion also provided “pocket money” to fund her love of shopping, particularly for hats and shoes, necessary for a complete outfit. An active community volunteer, she worked alongside her friend Carolyn Poplett at the Nineteenth Century Woman’s Club.

Les and Odette had fun arguing about politics and competing in games and sports (sometimes fiercely), from bridge tournaments to tennis matches, and continued to play golf together into their 80s. Avid travelers, they checked off each of the U.S. National Parks before adding Mexico, Central America, Europe and Asia. It was after a visit to Paris that Odette dropped her long-used

O B I T U A R I E S nickname of Dee and embraced her given name.

Odette Stoffel is survived, and will be greatly missed, by her children, Carol (John) Allen, Christopher, Jennifer Stoffel (Stephen Phillips); her grandchildren, Leslie Allen, Chad (Chrissy) Allen, Alexander Phillips; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Lester, in (2012).

ly Lewis-Arthur (Odel Arthur); her son, Morgan Scott Lewis; her other children through marriage, Bill Patten, James, and Jayne Patten; and her granddaughter, Ellie-Simone Arthur. Lillian also leaves behind many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, through her marriage to Harry.

Lillian seemed to fit several lifetimes and affected countless people in her 77 years. She will be loved deeply and greatly missed.

Lillian Morgan Lewis, 77

Hannah Zeller, 32

Artist, hospice chaplain

Lillian Morgan Lewis died in her sleep on Oct. 17, 2023, in Tucker, Georgia due to injuries suffered in an auto collision. Born Lillian Alisha Morgan on April 12, 1946 in Chicago to Rilla Mae Bryant and Daniel Morgan. She was the youngest of four children, with whom she played and grew with on Princeton Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood.

After graduating from Englewood High School, she continued her education, receiving her bachelor’s degree from Mundelein College, now part of Loyola University Chicago. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University, capstone to a successful career as a working artist, illustrator, and interior designer. Her artwork was most publicly shown on the original billboard for Blue Chicago, a local, well-known blues club. Her pieces are in multiple private collections and have been shown in top galleries around the United States.

In the second act of her life, she was ordained a minister, and served as a hospice chaplain, helping many families in and around Chicago face the challenges that come along with losing a loved one. In 2013, she and her second husband, Harry, moved to Duluth, Georgia, after living in Oak Park, Illinois for 40 years, to enjoy a well-earned retirement.

She was married and widowed twice: wed first to Augustus Eugene Lewis (d. 2/12/1989) and then to Harry O. Patten (d. 8/15/2017).

She was preceded in death by her siblings, Josephine, Daniel, and Patricia; as well as her stepsons, Harry Patten and Robert Patten.

Lillian is survived by her daughter, Dr. Kel-

Mental health advocate, loved theater Hannah Zeller, 32, left us on Oct. 29, 2023 after suffering cardiac arrest following a choking incident.

She graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School, then went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, majoring in Community Leadership and Art History. She later earned a Master of Social Work degree from Dominican University and was recently employed by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, where she was programs manager, creating programs supporting children and youth mental health. At the end of October, she was to begin a new role at the American Academy of Pediatrics as the program manager for Prevention of Youth Suicide.

Hannah loved black coffee, gold jewelry, her dog Zoe, autumn, Gilmore Girls, art museums, Erykah Badu, astrology, Thai food, The Sopranos, fine cheese, red wine, and wearing the color black. Passionate about art, theater, mental health support, and advocacy for the unhoused, she became involved in theater at a young age. Aside from performing, she directed a number of shows through the BRAVO Performing Arts Academy and at Oak Park and River Forest High School. She was involved in choir in both middle school and high school and also sang in a female a capella group. Hannah was a giver, even at the end of her life. She had signed to be an organ donor. All of her viable organs were donated through Gift of Hope. She will live in those recipients, and in us.

Hannah is survived by her mother and father, Julie and Craig Zeller; her sister, Madeline Zeller; her grandmother, Marilyn Zeller; her uncles, Erik Johnson and Kirk (Carla) Zeller; her aunt, Marcia Griffin; and a number of cousins. She is also survived by her

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

35

chosen family of honorary aunts and uncles, and countless friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Nov. 18 at First United Methodist Church of Oak Park, 324 N. Oak Park Avenue.

In lieu of flowers, we ask you to honor Hannah by donating to Erika’s Lighthouse or Housing Forward.

Graham Putnam, 76 Youth baseball coach, magician

Graham Robert Putnam, 76, formerly of Oak Park, died under hospice care in his home in Dexter, Michigan on Oct. 31, 2023. Born in Lansing, Michigan, after earning an MBA at the University of Michigan and service in the Army National Guard, his longstanding interest in magic led to his career as owner of Chicago-based FUN Inc., manufacturing magic tricks and novelties, one of which was “Whoops” the original rubber vomit. For many years, he enthusiastically coached youth baseball in Oak Park, where he raised his family. Active in the Showmen’s League of America, he received their Hall of Honor Award and annually attended Abbott’s Magic Get Together and Michigania Alumni Family Camp. He was honored that his friends and family went out of their way to spend time with him.

In retirement, he became an avid duplicate bridge player and took opportunities to travel. He was a supporter of the performing arts and had a lifelong interest in theater. He honored the careers of his mother and sister through contributions to scholarships for educators.

If you asked Graham, he was always “wonderful,” even in the last weeks when he was anything but. Graham’s last performance was earlier this year at his daughter’s wedding where he gave a father-of-the-bride speech and performed card tricks for guests.

Waiting for him in the afterlife are his father, DeVon Putnam, his mother Velma May (Graham) Putnam, and his sister, Evonne Putnam. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn (Andersen); his daughter and son-in-law, Elise and Lewis; his son and daughter-in-law, Miles and Elizabeth; and his granddaughters, Evelyn and Victoria.

His family will hold a memorial celebration on Dec. 2 from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor.

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SPORTS

Fenwick girls swimming claims another sectional

Title is the program’s 23rd in the past 24 seasons

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

There are few certainties in life (beyond death and taxes), but you can add an item to that exclusive list: the Fenwick High School girls swimming and diving team winning an IHSA sectional.

This proved true once again on Nov. 4 as the Friars won their sectional title with 317 points. Lane Tech was second with 281, and OPRF was third with 243.

It’s Fenwick’s 23rd sectional championship in the last 24 seasons, something Friars’ head coach Ben Munster anticipated.

“It feels good,” he said. “I told the girls all week that’s what I expected. We looked good [at the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference meet], and a lot of the girls did better here.”

“It’s amazing,” added Fenwick senior Cailey Peele. “The energy was so high … we brought it today.”

Fenwick swept and qualified all three relays for the IHSA state meet. The 200yard medley relay of junior Evelyn Mulvihill, freshman Maggie Rainiere, junior Anna Doherty, and Peele won in 1:45.74; the 200 freestyle relay of freshman Maeve

Ryan, Rainiere, sophomore Claire Wood, and Peele won in 1:37.83; and the 400 freestyle relay of Mulvihill, Wood, Peele, and Doherty won in 3:33.35.

The Friars also qualified in six individual events. Doherty won the 200 individual medley in 2:06.19 and placed second in the 500 freestyle in 5:01.80 to set a new school record.

“It’s awesome,” Doherty said of her milestone in the 500. “I wanted to break the record last year but I didn’t. This year I did, and I’m really excited about that.”

Peele won the 50 freestyle in 24.38 seconds. Mulvihill won the 100 backstroke in 57.57 and placed second in the 100 freestyle in 52.58. And junior Viktoria Castillo won the diving competition with a score of 380.65 points.

Although Munster said Fenwick has gradually improved over the course of the season, he believes the Friars can do even better at the state meet.

“We’ve got one more week to go, and I feel that the job’s not done,” he said. “We still have to improve the small things with our turns and finishes, and we’ve got to improve our relay times and do better individually.”

OPRF’s Walby wins 100 breaststroke Junior Kate Walby was the lone state

SARA JANZ

Fenwick Friar Anna Doherty during the 200 yard individual Medley. qualifier for the Huskies, winning the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:07.66. She rallied over the final 50 yards to overtake Rainiere, who finished in second, .12 behind.

“It’s very exciting to have all your hard work pay off,” Walby said. “We work with [OPRF head coach] Clyde [Lundgren] very specifically on the back half, and I knew I could bring it back if I wasn’t too far off.”

“That was a fun event for Kate,” Lundgren said. “Between her, Hailey Boland, and [Rainiere], the winner was going to go Downstate. But I was hoping all three

could go based on time.”

OPRF had a young and largely inexperienced team this season. But Lundgren felt things went well and thinks the Huskies will learn from this year and improve.

“I’m really proud of how they did,” he said. “Of all our individual swims [at Fenwick], we had only three that weren’t lifetime bests, but those three were still season-bests. It was a great day to be a Huskie.”

The IHSA state meet is Nov. 10-11 at FMC Natatorium in Westmont.

Trinity’s McGreal, Fenwick’s Gamboa earn all-state

McGreal becomes Blazers’ first all-stater in girls cross country

By BILL STONE Contributing Reporter

Trinity High School sophomore Molly McGreal hoped to improve significantly at the Class 2A girls cross country state meet Satur-

day after finishing 107th in 2022.

Fenwick freshman Juliana Gamboa simply wanted “to leave everything on the course.”

Just when the two weren’t sure what was going to happen during the 3.0 miles at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, they found each other.

Then they worked together to earn top-25 allstate honors.

McGreal was eighth in a school-record 17:40.96 to become the first all-stater in Trin-

ity history.

“We ran together the last 800 [meters] and really pulled each other along. That was probably my favorite part of the race, just running with her,” McGreal said. “I was just really hoping for all-state and that’s what I did. Best race ever. It’s amazing, so lucky.”

Gamboa was 14th (17:47.33) as the Friars’ fifth all-stater and only second with a top-15 state finish.

“It was a really good race. It was really fun.

During the race [McGreal] really inspired me,” said Gamboa, who ran a personal best by 15 seconds.

“I was trying to stay calm, focus on my breathing, but her being there really helped me. The last mile was tough. I was exhausted and she was like, ‘You’ve got this.’”

Fenwick finished 25th (591 points) under first-year coach Latoya Zubowicz-Hill. Senior

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S P O R T S

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OPRF girls volleyball ousted by Willowbrook in sectional Huskies start well in final, but fade in the end Entering the IHSA Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional final against Willowbrook, Nov. 1, the OPRF girls volleyball team had every reason to feel confident about winning its first sectional title since 2013, given that the Huskies had dealt the Warriors their only defeat on Sept. 29 in three sets.

Unfortunately, the adage about the difficulty of defeating an opponent twice in a season rang true in the rematch as Willowbrook rallied to defeat OPRF 23-25, 25-23, and 25-12.

“This one’s going to hurt for a while,” said OPRF coach Kelly Collins. “You’ve got to give credit to Willowbrook; they played an outstanding match. They had relentless defense, fought through everything, and really wanted to win.”

“I don’t think anyone was expecting this to end,” said OPRF senior outside hitter Grace Nelson, who had 15 kills, 15 digs, and an ace. “Willowbrook outplayed us, and it was just sad to end that way.”

OPRF (31-7) started the opening set strong, taking the first five points of the match. However, Willowbrook (39-1) rallied to take the lead, and things seesawed back and forth. The Huskies, thanks to clutch kills from Nelson and Ella Hullinger, were able to steady themselves and prevailed.

Things looked good in the second set, too,

as OPRF jumped out to an 8-1 lead. But after a side out gave Willowbrook possession, the Warriors’ Hannah Kenny, a junior committed to Louisville, sparked a 10-0 run as her serving changed the momentum of the match.

“They had aggressive serving,” Nelson said. “That pressure was just too much.”

“They took us out of our system, and we couldn’t get anything going,” Collins said. “Callie Kenny [Hannah’s older sister, a Marquette commit] was unstoppable; we

knew the ball was going to her the majority of the time, but we just couldn’t get a block up.”

After Willowbrook took the second set, the final set briefly was tight. But leading 7-5, the Warriors applied the proverbial hammer with a 12-2 run that sealed the Huskies’ fate.

“Unfortunately, as much as we prepared and knew what they were going to do, we just struggled to execute,” Collins said.

“Then that third set, we came out flat and

didn’t show much fight; they pretty much rolled us.”

Collins thanked Nelson, Hullinger, and the other seniors — Keira Kleidon and Kinsey Smith (25 assists, 4 digs, ace) — for their contributions to the program and the excitement they provided, not just to the school, but the community.

“They’ve had so much success and been outstanding,” Collins said. “They’ve displayed a great amount of work ethic and it’s been fun to see them grow and develop not just into strong volleyball players, but outstanding young women.”

Nelson, who will attend the University of Kansas next fall, said she enjoyed playing with what she called “a special group” and felt the sectional loss shouldn’t detract from what they accomplished.

“Ella, Keira, Kinsey, and myself are really close, and it was nice to end things with them,” Nelson said.

She is also optimistic about next season, which brings back five players, including juniors Phoebe Shorney and Gabby Towns (6 kills, 4 blocks) and sophomores Samantha Shelton (9 kills, 5 digs) and Tewa Woodson.

“They’ve really grown as volleyball players and I can’t wait to see what they do the next couple of years,” she said.

Collins also likes the Huskies’ potential for 2024, saying that there’s “unfinished business.”

“Our coaches are not looking at next year as a rebuild by any means,” she said. “We have a strong foundation, and we’re really excited about our underclassmen coming up. We’re already chomping at the bit to get out there next season.”

Anna Scholtens (100th, 19:09.13), freshmen Lily Kotynek (202nd, 20:56.88) and Allison Austin (206th, 21:01.02), sophomore Romy Bergetz (217th, 21:11.52) and juniors Kyra Miller (219th, 21:14.84) and Emma Brennan (234th, 22:12.63) also raced for the Friars.

Trinity junior Jade Morelli (165th, 20:10.19) was the Blazers’ other individual qualifier.

In 3A boys, Fenwick senior Nate McKillop was 193rd (16:04.78) after being an all-stater in 2A the past two seasons, including the Friars’ 2021 state championship season.

McGreal, who ran a then school-record 17:48.2 at regionals, took advantage of her state experience Saturday, particularly beforehand.

“I kept breathing and I did a lot of reflect-

ing before the race, too,” McGreal said. “Preracing really helped me out. I did it a lot more today, especially on the long car ride.” She “felt comfortable” but worried about missing all-state, maybe even being 26th, when she was in the 40s early.

“I was like, ‘If Molly’s OK [in the 40s], I’m OK with it.’ She knows what she’s doing,” Gamboa said.

“Girls were falling off and I was just staying strong. I felt good and I was excited to do well,” McGreal said. “[Gamboa and I] met each other [at sectionals] and we knew of each other. But it was really fun running with her and she’s a really good girl.”

McGreal moved from 35th after one mile

to 25th (11:50.2) after two with Gamboa 30th (11:51.7). McGreal’s strong finish helped her pass another four or five runners in the final 400 meters.

“It was such a fun race to watch. She put herself in great spots at every mile,” Trinity coach Johann Gonzalez responded. “Her two biggest strengths this season was patiently working the middle of all her races and finishing with a strong kick. We felt as long as she didn’t get boxed in at the beginning, she would be in position to finish in the top 25.

Finishing eighth was a pleasant surprise.”

Morelli just missed her goal of sub-20:00 at her first state meet.

“It went really well,” she said. “I think it was around early October when [Gonzalez]

was like, ‘You can individually qualify.’ I was like, ‘Now I’ve got to really start focusing.’”

Another standout for the Friars was Scholtens, a transfer from OPRF who was integral in Fenwick, qualifying as a team for state for the fourth time and first since 2019.

“We could not have been more blessed to have her. She’s not a leader in a sense of being vocal. You just follow her lead,” Zubowicz-Hill said. “It was really a rallying cry to make sure she has the best memory possible.

“They’ve worked incredibly hard. They’ve adjusted to a new coach, a new culture. What I love about this team is [Scholtens] leads through her actions and a really strong group of freshmen who have bought into the culture of excellence and it shows.”

By MELVIN TATE Contributing Reporter

STEVE JOHNSTON

Oak Park and River Forest’s Kinsey Smith (4) goes up for a block at the net against Willowbrook during the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional Championship, Nov. 1, in Hinsdale.

38 Wednesday Journal, November 8, 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

PART-TIME CIVILIAN CALL TAKER FOREST PARK, IL

Experience or not.

Call for more information.

708-738-3848

PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOREST PARK, IL

The Forest Park Police Department is seeking Part-Time Parking Enforcement Officer(s); Shifts to be filled are 8:00pm – Midnight or Midnight – 6:00am. The position is a rotating schedule assigned by the Supervisor – 4 days on and 4 days off which includes weekends and some holidays. Eligible candidates will be required to pass an aptitude test and an extensive background check.

Qualifications include high school diploma (or equivalent), a valid driver’s license, knowledge of basic parking regulations, and good verbal and written skills.

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 IT SPECIALIST (CHICAGO, IL) Provide analysis & determine the School’s n/work & computer system needs; dsgn & support LAN & WAN routing & connectivity; monitor n/ work performance & review system & security logs; plan, coord, & implmt n/work security measures to protect data, s/ware & hardware; plan, sched, & test of new &/or upgraded s/ware, d/base and n/work systems.

Bach deg in IT, Comp Sci, or Info Security & 24 mos of F/T exp in the job or as IT Coordinator are reqd.

M-F, 40 hrs/wk. Send resumes (only by mail) to Alex Connell, Horizon Science Academy-Belmont, 2456 N Mango Ave, Chicago, IL 60639.

The Forest Park Police Department, seeks a Part-Time Civilian Information Management Call Taker. Eligible candidates will be required to pass an aptitude test and an extensive background check. Qualifications include high school diploma (or equivalent), good verbal and written skills, working knowledge of the computer and Windows, ability to type accurately, a good working knowledge of the English language, the ability to treat customers and co-workers in a polite manner and the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines. Data entry skills and experience answering telephones/operating a switchboard are preferred.

EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS ARE MANDATORY. Open until filled. $18.25/hour. Applications are available at Village Hall, 517 Desplaines Ave. 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

HOUSING PRGRAMS COORDINATOR

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Housing Programs Coordinator in the Neighborhood Services Department. This position is responsible for coordinating and participating in the more complex and difficult work of staff assigned to the Village’s single-family and multi-family rehabilitation, multi-family housing incentives programs, and lead programs; serves as a liaison between financial institutions, property owners, tenants and contractors; and performs a variety of technical tasks relative to assigned areas of responsibility. This position also supervises the community development/property maintenance inspector assigned to the rehabilitation program at the direction of the Neighborhood Programs Manager.

Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website https:// www.oak-park.us/your-government/ human-resources-department. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

R E N TA L S

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

OAK PARK & FOREST PARK

708-386-7355

MMpropMgmt.com

MARKETPLACE

TOOLS WANTED:

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

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

$$E Top $$ allS makes, Etc. HOM SERV ICE

CLASSICS WANTED Collector James

Restored or Unrestored ELECTRICAL PAINTING Cars630-201-8122 & Vintage Motorcycles CLASSIC PAINTING A&A ELECTRIC Ceiling Domestic / Import Cars: Fast & 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 Ferrari’s, Jaguars,Low Muscle Cars, Cost •708.749.0011 Mustang & Mopars

PETSEtc. $$ Top $$ all makes,

708-409-0988 • 708-738-3848

Collector James

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

FLOORS KLIS FLOORING INC.

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:

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

Call Uncle Gary 708-522-3400

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

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

630-201-8122 FIREWOOD cat calls FIREWOOD UNLIMITED

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

Oak Park’s Original Pet Care Service – Since 1986

Daily dog exercising Complete pet care in your home House sitting • Plant care Bonded References

708-524-1030

WOODWORK Terry's

Woodwork Restoration On-site refinishing of wood

and fiberglass since 1977.

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

References available.

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

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 8, 2023 39

CLASSIFIED BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 BY E-MAIL: EMAIL@GROWINGCOMMUNITYMEDIA.ORG 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 NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE OF COURT DATE FOR REQUEST FOR NAME CHANGE

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):

STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT COOK COUNTY 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

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 TENTATIVE ANNUAL BUDGET OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

A public hearing of the President and Board of Trustees (“Board”) of the Village of Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois, will take place on Monday, November 20, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, regarding the Village of Oak Park tentative annual budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2024 and ending December 31, 2024, at which time interested persons will be heard.

The tentative annual budget is available for public inspection prior

to the public hearing at the Office of the Village Clerk, Village Hall, 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois, during regular business hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The hearing may be continued by the Board to another date at the public hearing by public announcement at the hearing setting forth the time and place thereof. The tentative annual budget may be revised and adopted by the Board without further notice or hearing.

Published in Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed bids from qualified contractors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. local time until 3:00 p.m. on Friday, December 1, 2023, for the following: Village of Oak Park 2024 Emergency Fiber Optic Cable Repair Work Bid Number: 24-104

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

a non-profit newsroom

Published in Wednesday Journal November 8, 2023

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

Growing Community Media

We’ve got YOU covered.

Bid documents may be obtained from the Village’s website at http://www.oak-park. us/bid. For questions, please call Public Works at (708) 3585700 during the above hours.

Donate today at LEGAL NOTICE The Village of Oak Park will receive sealed proposals from qualified contractors at the Public Works Center, 201 South Boulevard, Oak Park, Illinois 60302 Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. local time until 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 for the following: Village of Oak Park SCADA Integration Services Project Number: 24-107 Proposal 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 8, 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

PUBLIC NOTICES

Local

PUBLIC NOTICES

News

PUBLIC NOTICES

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

40

Wednesday Journal, November 8, 2023

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