Wednesday Journal - 12/12/18 by Wednesday Journal

W E D N E S D A Y

December 12, 2018 Vol. 39, No. 19 ONE DOLLAR @oakpark @wednesdayjournal

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Old but not out Homes, page B5

OPRF pushes plan focused on students, classrooms School board begins debate on prioritizing Imagine OPRF facilities plan By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

Tuesday evening, the school board at Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 began discussing initial steps to implement portions of the Imagine OPRF master facilities plan. The board had recommendations from its administration on both construction priorities and ways to finance a first phase of work. The construction recommendations focused on remaking classrooms, science labs, special ed spaces and student gathering spots. The finance proposal came with sternly expressed concerns that the district has to change the historic trajectory of its spending to avoid financial pitfalls and property tax spikes. The Imagine OPRF plan, if fully executed, is projected to cost $219 million and could take up to a decade to fully implement. The initial discussion Tuesday took place after press time. See OPRF PLAN on page 11

Photo by Paul Goyettee

SENDING A MESSAGE: The local advocacy group Oak Park Call to Action projected quotes from Frank Lloyd Wright onto Unity Temple over the weekend. The messages were an apparent response to a developer’s plan to build a 28-story residential tower near the temple.

As Unity Temple crafts message, activists send their own

By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

The 28-story tower proposed by Golub & Company hit a roadblock with pronouncements by Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb and most of the board of trustees opposing the height of the structure and its potential negative impact on Frank Lloyd Wright’s

SAVE THE DATE

Unity Temple. The proposed development prompted a group called Oak Park Call to Action to project images onto the Lake Street façade of Unity Temple over the weekend, quoting its famed architect. Local photographer Paul Goyette, who said he is a member of Oak Park Call to Action, said he was asked to take photos of the quotes that

were projected on the side of the temple. They appear to be in response to the tower proposal. Those Wright quotes state: ■ “Respect the masterpiece. It is true reverence to man. There is no quality so great, none so much needed now.” ■ “Maybe we can show government how See UNITY TEMPLE on page 12

SAY Connects presents our next installment in a series of community conversations. Come hear what our young people have to say. January 17, 2019 • Julian Middle School Auditorium: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Registration is Required - RSVP at oakpark.com/sayconnects Email advance questions to: sayconnects@oakpark.com

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Every Story Deserves a Great Beginning.

Naturally.

The Alternative Birthing Center at West Suburban Medical Center gives mothers more choices –– from nitrous oxide for pain control to water births. Our certified nurse midwives and staff provide a safe, highly personalized experience for your and your family. We also offer round-the-clock obstetrics and anesthesiology. And should the need arise, neonatal experts from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago are always available.

Begin your story your way at the Alternative Birthing Center.

To learn more, visit WestSubMC.com/NaturalBirth or call (866) 938-7256.

Client ID: WSMC Component: 10.25x11.33 Space Ad WSMC 10.25x11.33 Nayurally 10.25x11.33 Space Ad 012116.indd Project Number: WSMC012116 Colors: cmyk1

Flat Size: 10.75x11.83 Finished Size: 10.25x11.33

1/21/16 3:01 PM

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

I N S I D E

R E P O R T

NY Times names ‘America to Me’ one of TV’s top shows James Poniewozik, the New York Times’ TV critic, recently shared his list of the best TV shows of 2018. Mingled in with the second season of Donald Glover’s (aka Childish Gambino’s) Atlanta and Netflix’s Bojack Horseman is … Ta Da … America to Me. The nod is just the latest round of critical praise for the 10-part docuseries that drills down into Oak Park and River Forest High School’s complex racial challenges. Poniewozik writes of the series, directed by longtime Oak Parker Steve James, that it “was an involving, bighearted story of kids, their dreams, their challenges, their triumphs and their everyday drama. You don’t have to watch ‘America to Me.’ But you’ll be glad if you do.”

Photos by ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

In the mood Participants enjoy free horse-drawn carriage rides along Lake Street on Saturday, Dec. 8, during Home for the Holidays on Marion Street in Downtown Oak Park. Wolfgang Driver, middle left, of Oak Park, grabs cookies from the hot chocolate and cookie tent. Members from the Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, bottom left, sing seasonal songs. More photos on page 15.

Michael Romain

Nature Yoga to close

It was more than just a yoga place — you could get waffles there, too — but Nature Yoga Sanctuary in the Oak Park Arts District will be doing its last sun salutation on Dec. 16. Nicole Sopko, owner of the yoga studio and vegan restaurant at 146 Harrison St., said in a Facebook post that the business is no longer able to continue. “In life, there is always a chance that things will not work out as one might hope,” Sopko writes. “When we began this ambitious project, I told people that the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work and that in the end, ‘it’s only money.’” Sopko could not immediately be reached for comment. She said in the departing post that she realized that what is lost through the closure is “much more than financial.” “We are losing 14 years of yoga community and togetherness and that is not easy. Personally, I have taught weekly in Oak Park for more than a decade and I will miss what has grown there,” Sopko writes. The business opened in October 2017, moving from Yoga Trek studio, located across the street at 911 S. Lombard for 13 years. Nature Yoga Sanctuary distinguished itself from other yoga studios in Oak Park through its café that offers all vegan and cruelty free products. Sopko noted that her other location at 2021 W. Division St., in the Ukrainian

Village neighborhood of Chicago, will remain open.

Timothy Inklebarger

Suburban Unity Alliance hosts debate

There are likely to be a lot of people on the stage at the first candidate forum for Oak Park village trustee hopefuls — 11 people have announced their intention to run for three open seats in the upcoming municipal election on April 2. The candidate forum, scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St., is hosted by Suburban Unity Alliance. Seating is available for 120 people, according to an announcement and free tickets to the event can be reserved online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ oak-park-il-village-board-candidateforum-tickets-53085652616.

Timothy Inklebarger

Oak Parker named to infrastructure committee

Mike Sturino, president of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders As-

sociation, has been appointed to serve on Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker’s “Restoring Illinois’ Infrastructure Transition Committee.” Sturino is a resident of Oak Park. MIKE STURINO “Illinois’ role as President of the Illinois Road a transportation and Transportation Builders hub for the naAssociation tion is a critical component of our economy,” Pritzker said in a statement. “My administration will prioritize a comprehensive 21st-century capital bill to build the infrastructure we need to

restore Illinois’ place as an economic leader.” Sturino joins representatives Dan Lipinski (3rd), Cheri Bustos (17th), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (4th) among others on the committee. The group will meet this month to develop a report on the state’s infrastructure needs, and present their findings to Pritzker on Jan. 14, Inauguration Day. “State-of-the-art transportation infrastructure will make Illinois more competitive and improve its citizens’ quality of life,” Sturino said in a statement. “We look forward to working closely with the Pritzker administration to make that happen.”

Nona Tepper

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Dec. 12 - 19

BIG WEEK “A Christmas Carol” Community Reading

Select Pix: “The Nutcracker” Tuesday, Dec. 18, 10 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m., Lake Theatre: See the theatrical premiere of Tchaikovsky’s ballet performed by Staatsballett Berlin in a “charming and spectacular traditional production. $8.50; $6, matinee/seniors/ children. Info: classiccinemas. com. 1022 Lake St., Oak Park.

Oak Park String Academy Benefit Concert Saturday, Dec. 15, 2 p.m., Grace Lutheran Church: Hear violin and cello performances by faculty and students, beginner through advanced. Free; donations encouraged to support Hephzibah Children’s Association: OPStringAcademy.com. 7300 Division St., River Forest.

Sunday, Dec. 16, 2 to 4 p.m., Pleasant Home: Gather around the fire and listen to Charles Dickens’ classic read by community members. Selected children invited to read lines from “A Visit from St. Nicholas” before the main story. Free; includes hot chocolate and cookies inside the historic home decorated for the holidays. Both self-guided and docent-led tours of the National Historic Landmark in its holiday splendor are also available, Thursdays through Sundays; more: http://pleasanthome.org/visit. 217 Home Ave., Oak Park.

Ross Barney Architects Monday, Dec. 17, 1:15 p.m., Nineteenth Century Club: Architect and Senior Project Manager Ryan Giblin presents some of the complexities, challenges and successes of recent works, including the Chicago Riverwalk, CTA Morgan Street Station and the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. $15, requested donation. More: nineteenthcentury.org. 178 Forest Ave., Oak Park.

Opening Saturday, Dec. 15, 3 to 5 p.m., Art Gallery, Main Library: At “Bridging the Gap” mosaics and paintings by Judy Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 15 and 16, and Bridget Steed are featured that reflect on “change, 1 to 6 p.m., Gallery Pink: transition, and the in-between space” See “Resonance,” with paintings by Janice Elkins Sunday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m., Third Unitarian Church: found when shifting from old to new. and sculptures by Gina Lee Robbins, who create “abKelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, will speak about her experiences Exhibit through Dec. 31. A portion of stract works that often elicit a visceral response.” This protesting. She has protested in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, domestically against US drone policy and the ongoing attacks purchases benefits Good Memories exhibition of recent works is the result of a decadeon famine-imperiled Yemen. Questions: 773-626-9385. 301 N. Mayfield, Chicago. Encore Choir, which supports people long dialogue, portraying the synchronous rhythms with memory between their exploration of form, tone and emoloss and caregivers. 834 Lake St., tion. To view outside gallery hours: 708-648-3131, Oak Park. 708-837-6126. 149 Harrison, Oak Park. Thursday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m., Oak Park Temple B’Nai Abraham Zion: This year’s vigil honors the work of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (named by the shooter in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue). Bring a small holiday gift/gift card, non-perishable food item or financial donation. Sponsored by OP Temple, MOMS Thursday, Dec. 17, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Demand Action OP-Austin, Waging Peace of First United Church of OP, Congregations Main Library: Committed to Peace, Gun Responsibility Advocates, and Ascension Peace and Justice Catch the holiday tour of The Oak-Leyden Adult Choir, Committee. All are welcome. Questions: cwoznica.illinois@gmail.com, 708-383comprising participants in Oak-Leyden’s Lifelong Learn8619. 1235 N. Harlem Ave, Oak Park. ing Centers and Residential Services. They are said to Sunday, Dec. 16, 3 p.m.,

Art Exhibitions

Kathy Kelly, Peace Activist

Candlelight Vigil to End Gun Violence

Free Readers Ensemble: The Cocktail Hour

Nineteenth Century Club: In the mid-1970s, upstate New York, a playwright returns to his family’s house, bringing a play which he has written about them. He wants their permission, but as the martinis flow so do the recriminations and revelations, both funny and poignant. Free. 178 Forest Ave., Oak Park.

Voices of Oak-Leyden

bring “joy to all who hear them.” 834 Lake St., Oak Park.

Multiple Goods Fair Saturday, Dec. 15, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 16, Noon to 6 p.m., Compound Yellow: Visit this showcase for artists, makers, and craftspeople who have come together with their creative, useful, wellmade, sustainable and conceptual objects. Opens with a reception Friday, Dec. 14, 5 to 9 p.m. Purchase gives back to the community. 244 Lake St., Oak Park.

CAST Theater Festival: Homefront Thursday, Dec. 13, through Sunday, Dec. 16, Auditorium, Percy Julian Middle School: Julian Middle School’s theater students present a series of plays set during World War II. Come be inspired by tales of heroism and survival. • Letters to Lucerne – the story of girls at a Swiss boarding school during the war (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.) • Kindertransport – tells of a mission to rescue Jewish

children (Friday, 7:30 p.m.) • Cry Havoc – the true story about nurses on Bataan, Philippines (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.) • Decision Height - a tale about female WWII pilots (Sunday, 3:30 p.m.) More: jpnose19.wixsite.com/cast-at-pjms/20182019-season. $10; $5, students/seniors. Tickets: bit.ly/ casthomefront. 416 S. Ridgeland, Oak Park.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

ART BEAT

A plum pudding role for Henry Lombardo By MICHELLE DYBAL

Contributing Reporter

oodman Theatre’s staged version of the classic Christmas novella is now in its 41st year. And this year, one Oak Park 9-year-old, Henry Lombardo, got his own Christmas miracle when he was cast in this season’s show, playing a variety of young characters — including Tiny Tim during many week-night performances. “I will be in over 50 shows before the end of the year,” Henry said. “I work very hard to balance this with school.” The fourth-grader at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary is new to professional theater but has experience on local stages. Photo provided He acted with Oak Park’s Ovation Academy in 101 Dalmatians, Winnie the Pooh and their VERSATILE: Henry Lombardo (left) appears Christmas Spectacular. He also appeared in as “Ignorance” along with the “Ghost of Julian’s CAST summer theater production Christmas Present” and “Want” in the 41st of The Lion King – Savage Summer. annual production of ‘A Christmas Carol’, He has musical chops as well, singing in at Goodman Theatre. Oak Park’s Pro Musica Youth Chorus for the past three years. Henry tap dances, plays piano and drums, and just started learning pealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignothe trumpet at school. rance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, “He’s always been interested and all of their degree, in all forms of music and would but most of all beware Somehow he gets sing along to songs and learn this boy, for on his brow I thoughtful, sitting by them very quickly,” said Allison see that written which is himself so much, and Collins, Henry’s mother. They Doom, unless the writing thinks the strangest look for outlets to channel his be erased. Deny it!” things you ever heard. energy and joy through perWhen Dickens wrote He told me, coming forming. the book, published Dec. home, that he hoped When auditions were an19, 1843, he couldn’t posthe people saw him in nounced for A Christmas Carol sibly have known the the church, because at Goodman Theatre, the famimpact his tale of an old, he was a cripple, and ily aimed for the long-running miserly and greedy man it might be pleasant show tradition. turned grateful giver to them to remember His dream came true after would have so many upon Christmas Day, auditioning with more than Christmases later. who made lame beg150 children. At his first audi“It feels like Dickens gars walk, and blind tion, he recited a Shel Silverwrote this story for evmen see. stein poem, “Adventures of a eryone,” Henry said.

Bob Cratchit Frisbee,” and sang “Joy to the “When I arrive at the the“A Christmas Carol” World.” By the second call-back, ater before the show and Henry was asked to walk like I see everyone excited to Tiny Tim, something he had to see it, it makes it very improvise since he didn’t know special every single time. this would be asked of him. He said the au- Everyone is happy and that’s really nice to dition process was “a little nerve-wracking, be around. And then when we’re on stage but it was exciting.” and you can hear the laughter and the joy Henry has more than one chance to sing everyone is experiencing, that’s very special in the show — he solos as a boy on Scrooge’s too.” doorstep and sings as a caroler and also as See “A Christmas Carol” through Sunday, Tiny Tim. He dances during the Fezziwig Dec. 30, at the Albert, Goodman Theatre. party and acts as a schoolboy. Henry Lombardo plays Tiny Tim, WednesAnother important role he plays is Igno- day through Fridays, through Dec. 21, and rance who appears alongside Want with the Ignorance and other characters during Ghost of Christmas Present. all the shows. $35 and up. Tickets/more: “They are Man’s,” says the Spirit, looking goodmantheatre.org. 170 N. Dearborn St., down upon them. “And they cling to me, ap- Chicago.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Shadows and shade

et’s start in 1971. It will seem eerily familiar. I promise. Our elementary school district was looking for cash. Its headquarters were housed in an old school building it deemed obsolete. That school building, the handsome Lowell School, was sitting on what was recognized as a prime piece of real estate, the southeast corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue, right on the edge of the downtown. Of course, these days that historic 1924 school would never have been sold for demolition. But in 1971 we were at the tail end of the post-war, modern-is-everything phase. And so, District 97 sold the 3-acre Lowell School site to the highest bidder. That would be Jonas Stankus, a developer with plans so grand and financing so skinny, that he would make today’s developers look like pikers. Stankus proposed building a pair of 55-story high-rises on the site. Twin 55-story towers in a town where the tallest building at that point was the beautiful Art Deco Medical Arts Building on Lake Street. That was audacious. And also problematic for so many reasons. In December 2003, as Oak Parkers furiously debated whether a proposed development on Harlem Avenue — then called Whiteco and now known mainly as Trader Joe’s — could really be 17 stories, the Journal sent Katharine Grayson, one of our best reporters, into the archives to compare and contrast Stankus and Whiteco. Reading her long report is like reading the story today on page one. While there was plenty of vocal opposition from the beginning, the Stankus project also had notable supporters. The main arguments of supporters, many of them political leaders, were economic. Oak Park was just at the start of the experiment with racial integration and history was clear that, with any attempt at integration, economic investment would dry up. Having a developer ready to spend $30-40 million in Oak Park was seen as a beacon to other investors. Also, there was concern about the tax base declining even as Oak Park’s village government faced its first-ever deficit. Some things never change. The opposition, according to Grayson’s interviews and readings of old articles from the Oak Leaves, had many points to make. It would be impossible to fill

the nearly 1,200 apartments planned in the twin towers, some said, echoing current opposition to high-rises. There were concerns over traffic congestion and too many dogs. Some objected to the architecture as cold and modern. Here’s a quote from a citizen at a public hearing that seems both dated and current. “I never saw a fiction story like I’ve heard tonight. Why, if someone smoked marijuana and had a dream like that, we’d put them in jail.” Ultimately though the opposition to Stankus coalesced around Unity Temple and the shadows the 56-story towers would cast over the Wright landmark. Same argument that last week led Oak Park’s political leadership to nix a proposed 28-story tower just east of Unity Temple. Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb said the proposal from Golub and Company was too tall and that Unity Temple had to be protected. Conspiracy-minded neighbors believe this is all a ruse to get an eventual OK on a 20-story building which will be touted as a compromise. We’ll see. Clearly something is going to get built on the current site of a bank drive-thru. Eventually Jonas Stankus scaled back his plan to twin 37-story towers. He got an OK from the village at that height and actually began to dig the foundation before his weak financing dried up. Christine Vernon, a critic of Stankus and a critic of high-rises today, helped put the kibosh on federal backing of the financing Stankus had lined up. So instead of being forever known as the developer of Stankus Towers, old Jonas’ name became attached to the decadelong, and two-story deep foundation we always enjoyed calling the “Stankus Hole.” There will always be tension between new development and the current built environment. It’s natural and healthy. I’d argue for more height over the squat ugliness of what I still call Whiteco or, to honor its resemblance to modern Russian architecture, the Pravda Building. And I’d say of all the new construction underway, it is the massive sameness of the not-so-tall project at Harlem and South Boulevard that is most overwhelming. But in the case of Unity Temple, we have only so many international landmarks to protect.

DAN HALEY

Tickets are on sale now! Visit EmeraldCityTheatre.com

CRAFT AMERICAN FARE Enjoy Our Menu With Happy Hour Specials Daily Takeout & Delivery Options Available An Oak Park favorite for more than 35 years 151 North Oak Park oakpark.winberies.com (708) 386-2600

Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, Illinois 60302 PHONE 708-524-8300 ■ FAX 708-467-9066 ■ ONLINE www.OakPark.com | www.RiverForest.com Wednesday Journal is published weekly by Wednesday Journal, Inc. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Wednesday Journal, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302-2901. Periodical rate postage paid at Oak Park, Illinois (USPS No. 0010-138). In-county subscription rate is $35 per year, $60 for two years, $87 for three years. Annual out-of-county rate is $43. © 2018 Wednesday Journal, Inc.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

‘A small little flame can dispel much darkness’

Tiled menorah a response to antiSemitism incidents at OPRF By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

In Oak Park, a gesture of unity came just in time for Hanukkah (or Chanukah), which ran Dec. 2-10. Community leaders gathered at the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St., on Dec. 9 to mark the installation of a giant “Unity Peace Menorah” inside the public library. The menorah is a response to recent anti-Semitic incidents at Oak Park and River Forest High School, which include graffiti and digital messages featuring swastikas. “We are reaching out to the entire community to join us in this effort of creating unity,” Rabbi Yitzchok Bergstein, director of the Chabad Center, said in a statement released last week. “The story of Chanukah has an eternal message, one that resonates for all cultures, all religions

at all times — ‘Light will always prevail over the forces of darkness’.” Bergstein explained that Chanukah “celebrates the victory of a small band of Jewish warriors over the mighty Syrian-Greek army who tried to root out the individualism of the Jews by suppressing the practice of all Jewish law.” Bergstein explained that the holiday, along with the lighting of the menorah, “contain messages that are highlighted by the freedoms we are blessed to have in this country allowing us to freely and openly express our beliefs. “The lights of the menorah emphasize the idiom that ‘a small little flame can dispel much darkness’ that the way to combat hatred, bigotry and intolerance is by increasing in acts of goodness, kindness, love and compassion.” Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb was among the attendees at Sunday’s commemoration. On Dec. 10, a group of students from The Children’s School, who created the 100 tiles that make up the menorah, walked to the library to bask in the light. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

TRIUMPH OVER DARKNESS: Rabbi Yitzchok Bergstein thanks students for the tiles they created for the menorah on display in the art gallery at Oak Park Public Library.

Now Open at Our NEW LOCATION!

& C LY D O N S A L O N & D AY S PA 708 • 771 • 2418 1048 CHICAGO AVE • OAK PARK , IL 60302 W W W. C L Y D O N H A I R S A L O N . C O M

B LO W O U T B A R

& K E R AT I N

T R E AT M E N T S

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Oak Park tax levy increase held at 3 percent Cuts and drawdown on budget reserves helps trustees reach target By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

Oak Park Village Board: No on medical cannabis tax Village aims instead for tax on anticipated legal recreational cannabis By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

The Oak Park Board of Trustees is poised to again reject a proposal that would place a 6 percent tax on medical cannabis. It’s the second time the Village of Oak Park has brought a plan to trustees to place a tax on the drug that is prescribed as a treatment for patients with conditions such as AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. The village proposed implementing the tax on medical cannabis in 2015, but the board of trustees rejected the proposal, largely because the drug would be the only medication taxed in that way in the village. Other prescription medications are not. The new proposal by the village would have imposed a 6 percent tax on both medical and recreational cannabis. Village Attorney Paul Stephanides explained that the proposal was intended to get a tax structure on the books in anticipation of recreational cannabis being made legal under the new administration of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who promised during the campaign to legalize recreational cannabis. Trustee Bob Tucker was one of the trustees who rejected the 2015 tax plan. He reminded trustees of the board’s earlier decision. Tucker requested that the board consider taxing recreational cannabis at the 6 percent rate and medicinal at a nominal rate like half a percent. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said it is uncertain what the state might do in terms of taxation, and the proposal aims to get a taxing structure on the books before a de-

cision is made at the state level. The village is attempting to grandfather in a local tax on recreational cannabis if the state attempts to usurp home-rule authority for taxing the drug, she said. “I think the concern was that, in the case of Oak Park for example, at some point in time the state outlawed the ability for municipalities with their home-rule authority to tax tobacco sales, but cities that already had it in place were allowed to keep those taxes.” Pavlicek noted that some cities like Evanston have implemented a tax on medicinal cannabis. Trustee Deno Andrews, in an attempt to get a rough estimate of how much it might affect consumers of the drug, asked how much an ounce of medicinal cannabis costs. The board broke out in laughter when Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb authoritatively stated, “Last time I checked it was 200 bucks.” Abu-Taleb assured trustees that he looked it up before the meeting, adding that he “thought this was going to come up.” He said most patients use about $5 to $10 of the drug per day, according to his research. “So about 30 cents a day would be the tax at 6 percent if it was a $5-a-day dose; that’s a lot,” Andrews said. Andrew said he agreed that because of the potential financial impact to users, the tax on medical cannabis should be at a maximum of 1 percent. The board is expected to revisit and vote on the issues at a future meeting. tim@oakpark.com

The Oak Park Board of Trustees approved a 2019 budget at its Dec. 11 meeting that increases the tax levy by 3 percent. That puts the levy increase at $959,817 for a total levy of $32 million. The board was able to keep the tax levy increase lower this year by drawing down $1.4 million in available cash reserves from the general fund. That reduces the fund balance from $12.7 million to $11.3 million. Oak Park resident David Gentry testified before the board, saying that without the use of cash reserves, the levy increase would have been 7.4 percent. He quoted the budget, which states: “It is unlikely that the village can continue to limit property tax increases to 3 percent annually goDAN MORONEY ing forward unless Trustee there are increases to other revenues (such as sales tax or similar), there is a dramatic reduction in non-core service support (e.g. property tax support for grant funding agreements or services provided to other taxing bodies) or there is a dramatic reduction in core municipal services.” The budget was approved on a 5 to 2 vote, with trustees Deno Andrews and Dan Moroney casting the dissenting votes. Moroney said he was disappointed with the budget because of an unwillingness to get the levy increase down without tapping into budget reserves. “We owe it to ourselves … to reduce the deficit to a million [dollars],” he said, calling the tax burden “a death by a thousand cuts.” “I’m not in favor of this budget because I don’t think we tried to get it to where it needs to be,” Moroney said. The 3 percent goal was established by the

“I’m not in favor of this budget because I don’t think we tried to get it to where it needs to be.”

Taxing Bodies Efficiency Task Force, which was established by the Oak Park Board of Trustees earlier this year to find ways to limit the tax burden on homeowners. Trustee Jim Taglia said he was comfortable spending reserve funds, calling it a “good thing,” because the board did not use money from the reserves in the previous fiscal year. He noted that trustees have scheduled a study session for next year to explore the idea of priority-based budgeting, a strategy for determining the most vital needs in the village and prioritizing spending accordingly. “I think priority-based budgeting would help us address those concerns,” he said. Andrews said he believes “taxes are out of control” in Oak Park and there needs to be a better effort to rein in spending. “We got a decent start this budget season, but we didn’t come anywhere near where we needed to go,” he said. He warned that the fund reserves “are there for a reason” adding that he believes the economy could be headed for a recession. “That’s what you save for,” Andrews said. DENO ANDREWS Oak Park Mayor Trustee Anan Abu-Taleb noted that about half of the $32 million levy covers fixed costs like police and fire pensions and debt service. The 3 percent levy increase equals about $900,000, he said. That’s about $25 more each from taxpayers with homes valued at about $300,000 to $400,000, he said. “I think we’re doing the best we can,” he said. Trustee Simone Boutet said that the budget process has been torturous because of the struggle of looking at and debating individual items to cut from the budget. Boutet added that a lot of the cost of the municipal budget comes from worker salaries, and the village board should consider looking more closely for cuts there next year because of “multiple layers of management” working at village hall. tim@oakpark.com

“We got a decent start this budget season, but we didn’t come anywhere near where we needed to go.”

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

C R I M E

Oak Parker fights off would-be robbers

An Oak Park resident was the target of an attempted robbery in the 100 block of Augusta on at about 5:50 p.m. on Dec. 8. The victim punched in the jaw by a man who implied he had a gun and then demanded the victim’s money. The two then got into a physical altercation and a second offender approached from behind and joined the original offender. The two offenders then fled eastbound on Augusta and northbound between two houses east of Austin Boulevard. The first offender was described as a black, 6-foot, 170 pounds, light-skinned with short twists in his hair and wearing a red jacket with white stripes on the sleeves, gray sweatpants and white shoes. The second robber was described as a black male, 6-foot-2, 300 pounds and wearing a blue jacket with white lettering across the chest and blue jeans. No loss was reported. ■ A Chicago resident was robbed and beaten in the 6000 block of Roosevelt Road at 11:17 p.m. on Dec. 4. The offenders approached the victim, punched and kicked

him and took a black wallet containing $100. The offenders then fled in a silver 4-door sedan, possibly a Ford Taurus.

Burglary An Oak Park resident’s 2018 Honda Civic was burglarized in the 500 block of South Oak Park Avenue between 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 4 and 3:09 a.m. on Dec. 5. The offender broke a window to the vehicle and took a bowling ball. Four tires and wheels were stolen from the vehicle as well. The estimated loss is $1,850.

Theft A gray 2012 Volkswagen CC was stolen from the 400 block of South Elmwood between 5:20 p.m. on Dec. 4 and 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 5. The estimated loss is $21,400.

Assault Oak Park have reported that a man with a handgun threatened a motorist at the in-

tersection of Division and Harlem at 8:10 p.m. on Dec. 2. The offender was described as a Hispanic male in his 20s, 5-foot-7, with a thin build and wearing a black skull cap and a black jacket. The offender exited an older blue van and approached the victim’s vehicle, making verbal threats and brandishing a handgun. The offender fled the scene in an unknown direction.

These items, obtained from the Oak Park and River Forest police departments, came from reports, Dec. 4 - 8, 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 Timothy Inklebarger

Little Free Library on Oak Park Ave. torched Residents rebuilding after late-night blaze destroys library By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

File this under the topic “This is why we can’t have nice things.” Oak Parker Sarah Corbin and her family wanted nice things, nice things for the community. So a couple of years ago her family came together to build a Little Free Library for Corbin’s mother, a former teacher and reading instructor in Melrose Park, who now lives in the same two-flat as Corbin and her husband and children in the 500 block of South Oak Park Avenue. Little Free Libraries is a nonprofit organization that encourages people to place small boxes on their property inviting people to take a book and leave a book – the best part is the whole thing is free. Corbin’s husband built the little library – most of them resemble a wooden bird house with a little door you can open to check out the free books – and her brother painted it. But in the early morning of Nov. 6 the reading fun ended with a visit from Oak Park’s finest. At about 2:30 a.m. Corbin was awakened by police and firefighters at her door. Someone had set the Little Free Library

on fire. Oak Park Police Commander Roger Grivetti said s o m e o n e waved down an officer at 12:42 a.m. and police quickly extinguished the fire. Firefighters also were dispatched to the scene to investigate. Grivetti said there were no witnesses and no known video footage is available of the culprit. He confirmed that no one has been taken into custody. There are also no suspects. And no leads. Asked if that meant it is an ongoing investigation, Grivetti responded, “Sure.” Corbin said the whole thing was over by the time she was awakened by emergency responders. The Corbin family is not dissuaded by the incident, though, and have decided to rebuild. They’ll be working on the new Free Little Library over the weekend, Corbin said. She said the little library is part of the Free Little Library system; according to the Free Little Library world map on its website, there are more than 30 of the boxes in

BEFORE AND AFTER: The Little Free Library in the 500 block of South Oak Park Avenue was set on fire in the early morning of Thursday, Dec. 6. Photo provided

Oak Park. The post for the Corbin’s house on the website quotes Corbin’s mother, Nora Abboreno: “I may be the steward but this LFL was a family project from the beginning. I have to give credit to all who helped make it. My daughter facilitated the whole project. My son-in-law constructed the library, my grandchildren primed the surface, and my son painted the black-eyed Susans on the outside. Even my son in California helped by getting the charter. It went from being my LFL to the neighborhood’s when people started adding books even before the door was finished.” Corbin said in a telephone interview that the fire destroyed the library beyond repair, so they’re starting from scratch. They hope to have the new library up sometime in the next few days. tim@oakpark.com

brought to you by

Your Ice & Snow Management Checklist As one of the region’s largest providers of snow and ice management, covering Cook, DuPage and Will counties, we recognize better than just about anyone else that it is a highly demanding, year-round effort that requires thoughtful and comprehensive planning. Customers, too, need to put some thought into who they hire for this task. Here are four keys to Scott consider: McAdam Jr. 1. Confirm that your provider is insured, in case there is any damage that occurs in the course of work. Does your small operator (think solo practitioner) have sufficient insurance? 2. Get acquainted with the Snow Removal Service Liability Limitation Act. Enacted in 2016, it states property owners can no longer transfer liability to a contractor for losses that were not the contractor’s fault. So, choosing a quality contractor is even more crucial. 3. Insist on clear communication— what kind of weather forecasting do you receive, do you know when the snow-removal crews will come, and what if something pushes them off schedule? With McAdam, notification happens in whatever manner the client requests—usually via e-mail. 4. Ask about horticultural expertise. We provide a gentler treatment of an ice-melt blend for those areas that need it. In an increasingly chloride-conscious world, being an environmental steward is important for the McAdam team. For more information, including rates on snow removal services, call 708-771-2299.

2001 Des Plaines Ave. Forest Park 708-771-2299 www.mcadamlandscape.com

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

West Side mourns blues giant

Eddie C. Campbell, 79, died on Nov. 20 By BONNIE McKEOWN Contributor

Family members and musicians paid tribute to West Side bluesman Eddie C. Campbell, at a memorial service held Dec. 8 at New Progressive St. James Missionary Baptist Church. Campbell died Nov. 20, at his home in Oak Park, according to the Chicago Tribune and his Facebook page. In 2013, Campbell suffered a stroke while in Germany. Fans raised thousands of dollars to bring him back to the U.S. He was unable to return to the guitar, but after physical therapy he was able to sing and play harmonica for several more years. The master guitarist, songwriter and singer was born May 6, 1937 to Gracie and Edward Brown in Duncan, Miss. — the youngest of three brothers and one sister. The family moved to Chicago when he Campbell was six. As a teen, he was already playing blues with Luther Allison and later with Little Walter. During his youth, he also boxed. Church pastor Reno “Sim” Wilson, Campbell’s nephew, named after the family’s oldest brother, said Campbell fought off eight gang members who tried and failed to recruit him. “He got a reputation and nobody messed with our family because of him,” Wilson said. During the 1970s, Campbell was also known for riding a purple Honda motorcycle around the West Side, sometimes with guitar in tow, and sometimes with his oldest kids, Edward and Mae-Mae. His first album, King of the Jungle, debuted in 1977 for Steve Wisner’s short-lived “Mr. Blues” logo. The album in-

cludes the guitarist’s lighthearted Christmas song, “Santa’s Been Messin’ with the Kid”. His 1984 album with a Dutch group, Let’s Pick It!, first came out on Black Magic. He spent much of the 1980s in the Netherlands and Germany, where he met his former wife and manager Barbara Mayson. After returning to the U.S. in the 1990s, Campbell slowly gained recognition in the music industry. “He was a late bloomer in launching his career,” said Pastor Wilson. “He didn’t know how to read and write. He would go sing in some club and musicians or promoters would write down and steal his songs and make hits out of them. Then when he’d sing the songs, people thought he stole them from the other people.” Campbell’s mother introduced him to Muddy Waters, said blues producer and critic Dick Shurman. But Campbell was also influenced by fellow West Siders like Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Eddie Taylor and Jimmy Reed. “Most of the cats that you listened to, back in the ’50s, lived on the West Side,” Campbell told the Chicago Tribune in 1993. “That’s where the name came from, West Side blues.” “Playing the blues doesn’t give you the (media) coverage that rock ’n’ roll gives you,” he said in a 1994 Tribune interview. “White guys copy the black culture, and they get all the attention, whereas if B.B. King plays a concert, you would hardly even know it That’s why the blues guys are driving Fords while the rock ’n’ rollers drive the Porsches.” Campbell recorded “That’s When I Know” for Blind Pig in 1994 and Gonna Be Alright in 1999. Tear This World Up (2009) and Spider Eating Preacher (2012), were produced by Dick Shurman for Delmark Records.

File photo

Blues musician and Oak Parker Eddie C. Campbell. When home from Europe, he’d visit with family and with musician neighbors. “He never got separated from his roots,” said Darrell Dwayne (D.D.) Jackson, who played with Campbell. Jackson reminded the congregation that the White Elephant lounge once stood on the very site occupied by the New Progressive church today. Joe Wilson, another nephew of Campbell’s, noted that Eddie and other family members got a sense of humor from matriarch Mama Gracie. Among family, Campbell was known as “Eddie B” for “blues.” Wilson, who moved back south to Holly Springs, Miss. in 1989 to earn a degree from Rust College, recruited his uncle to play in Mississippi. “His band really lit the place up,” Wilson said. “Eddie was the epitome of blues from the old school.” Musicians at the memorial agreed. CONTACT: bonni@barrelhousebonni.com

Let’s upgrade your new home for the holidays.* •

Fireplace

•

Window Treatments

•

Closet Organization

*Up to $40,000 toward upgrades only. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated.

A collection of single level luxury residences •

Featuring 3 to 4 bedrooms and office/den

•

Direct elevator access to each home

•

$599,900 - $1,499,900

RF-LakeStreet.com | 312-335-5354 Sales Center at 7579 Lake Street | Open Daily 12p-6pm

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Another AirDrop incident reported at OPRF This one, though, was not racial in nature, officials say By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

Oak Park and River Forest High School officials have completed an investigation into another incident involving Apple’s AirDrop feature, which allows users to send messages to phones nearby. This most recent incident, however, which happened Friday, did not involve hate speech, officials said. “The content of the message was determined to be a meme showing hardware and electrical accessories with the words ‘white power accessories’ above it,” according to an email sent to OPRF families on Dec. 7. District officials said the AirDrop was “confined to one classroom and all students present at the time were interviewed. Of the three students who acknowledge receiving the message, they all reported to have declined it.” Shortly after starting an investigation into the incident, officials received an anonymous tip from a student who admitted having accidentally shared the AirDrop message “to students other than one who consented to receiving it.” That student has since “apologized for any confusion over the error,” OPRF officials said in the statement. “While hate speech was not involved,

OPRF PLAN

Focus on academics from page 1 According to a memo drafted by D200 Supt. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams, among the administration’s “initial recommended components” are an estimated $32.6 million worth of projects. They include the renovation and/ or construction of 76 general education classrooms, all-gender restrooms, three science labs and daycare facilities. Other components are the first-phase installation of a student commons area on the first, second and third floors; and the installation of an ADA-compliant elevator at the north end of the high school. Pruitt-Adams explained that the renovation and/or construction of classrooms, kitchen and laundry areas, a sentry room and an ADA-compliant restroom in the high school’s Transitional

we felt it was important to share,” the statement reads. This isn’t the only time the term “white power accessories” has caused confusion. In 2016, a newspaper in the UK reported that there had been public outcry after someone posted to social media the photo of a shelf placard reading “white power accessories” hanging in one of the store’s aisles. The sign, it turns out, had been advertising “white goods,” which typically describes large electrical appliances like refrigerators and washing machines that are usually white. The letter that OPRF officials sent out Friday did not go into detail about the context of the AirDrop message or the student’s intentions for sending it. Friday’s incident happened roughly a month after a student used AirDrop to send the image of a swastika from somewhere in the high school’s auditorium to students’ cellphones during an assembly. After OPRF and law enforcement officials conducted an investigation, a 15-year-old OPRF student was charged with harassment through electronic communication. The student appeared before a judge last month before being released into the custody of his parents.

Education with Access to the Mainstream program are the only items that address issues that were identified as “most urgent, based primarily on physical condition of those facilities.” Pruitt-Adams said that, if the board considers making a commitment to “rectifying the most urgent facility needs, it also could consider” taking action to implement what the district is calling Component D. This component, which has an estimated total project budget of $65.4 million, includes the replacement of the district’s aging pools, the construction and/or renovation of locker rooms for boys and non-binary students, the installation of an ADA-compliant elevator at the south end of the high school, among other projects. “While several of the items listed in Component D are identified as important rather than urgent, the most cost [effective] way to complete Component D would be to do all the work [at] once rather than delaying the non-urgent items until later,” Pruitt-Adams explained.

OPRF mulls 2.1% levy increase

Increase is in line with inflation, represents moderate financial approach By MICHAEL ROMAIN Staff Reporter

The Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education will consider adopting a 2.1 percent tax levy increase for 2018, which is the rate of growth in the Consumer Price Index. The district’s total 2018 levy request is around $68 million — $1.4 million more than the final 2017 tax extension of $66.6 million. The board could also seek a slight increase in revenue from $2.5 million worth of new taxable property in the district, which could generate another $77,000 in tax revenue. In a memo prepared by Cyndi Sidor, the district’s interim CFO and chief school business officer, and Robert Grossi, the district’s financial consultant, the levy “would increase the annual taxes of a $400,000 market value home by approximately $68.” Sidor and Grossi explained that, from the 2011 to 2017 tax years, D200’s tax levy has increased by slightly less than 1 percent — from $66.1 million to $66.7 million, for a

Pruitt-Adams said that the administration is nonetheless recommending that the school board “authorize issuing a request for qualifications for design services only” for the $32.6 million worth of “initial recommended components.” “Doing this project would have a significant and immediate positive impact on students while taking into consideration the District’s financial uncertainties, previous Board discussion, the size and scope of component D, and community input,” said the memo. The administration also recommended that the board continue to spend around $4 million a year on basic capital expenses and to “immediately establish” a $20 million capital reserve fund “to ensure that funds are available to address future projects within” the high school’s facilities, according to a document drafted by Robert Grossi, the district’s financial consultant. The money in the reserve fund would come from the district’s more than $100 million fund balance. Grossi said that the $20 million reserve amount is consistent

difference of roughly $515,000. By comparison, they said, the tax levy for the village of Oak Park and Oak Park Elementary Schools District 97 have increased by 46 percent and 29 percent, respectively, over that six-year period. Over that time period, they added, D200 “has levied $32.2 million less than it was entitled to receive under the law and instead depleted approximately 20 percent of its fund balance reserve to cover operating deficits.” Sidor and Grossi described their recommendation as a measured approach in order to avoid an unsustainable alternative. The school district, they said, needed to take an approach that allows its revenues to match expenditure. “A long-term scenario whereby expenditure growth exceeds revenue growth by 2 percent annually will result in a decrease of fund balances in excess of $25 million and annual deficits in excess of $8 million,” Sidor and Grossi wrote the memo to the school board. “This is not sustainable.” “We recommend a more gradual, longterm increase in tax revenues matching the rate of inflation,” they said. The board is scheduled to adopt the final tax levy at a regular meeting on Dec. 20. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

with a recommendation made by the Finance Advisory Committee, established in 2013 to address the district’s ballooning fund balance. Grossi explained that the reserve fund could grow from interest earnings, private donations made to OPRF for capital projects and more money being transferred into the fund in the future. “The District’s future financial condition is directly tied to the available funds for capital projects,” Grossi explained, adding that the school board’s “most important focus” is “maintaining a structural balanced budget” in which “on-going annual revenues are always equal or greater than on-going annual expenses. “This is key to providing not only longterm fiscal stability, but is also the key to addressing long-term facility needs and long-term avoidance of property tax spikes that can shock the District’s tax base,” he said. CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Oak Park Mayor: 28 stories is too tall

By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER Staff Reporter

Plans for a 28-story luxury apartment building on Lake Street could be in trouble, following a letter to the editor Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb released to Wednesday Journal this afternoon. In the letter Abu-Taleb says he believes the structure, located less than a half a block from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, is too tall. The proposal by Golub & Company would construct the 299-foot building at 835 Lake St., where a U.S. Bank drive-thru is currently located. Golub has not yet submitted an application for the project to the Village of Oak Park, but it did hold a public meeting at the 19th Century Club in late November to present the proposal to Oak Parkers. Abu-Taleb said in his letter that Unity Temple is “one of the crown jewels of the community” and that any development on the site of the U.S. Bank building “addresses the concerns of this monument.” He added that it must be acknowledged that “the bank drive-thru is not the highest and best use of that property.” “I do not envision, nor do I support, a 28-story building on this site,” Abu-Taleb wrote. “I have, therefore, asked Golub to revisit its plans and explore other options that would not place Oak Park’s tallest building in this location.” Jim Prescott, a spokesman for Golub, is-

UNITY TEMPLE Leaders speak out from page 1 operate better as a result of better architecture.” Both Rev. Alan Taylor, senior minister at Unity Temple, and Heidi Ruehle-May, executive director of the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation, said they had nothing to do with the projections. No one from Oak Park Call to Action was available for comment, according to Goyette, who is a photographic contributor to Wednesday Journal. Taylor said in a telephone interview that he and the leadership at Unity Temple were “taken aback that another group was using our building for their own agenda.” “I am disappointed that a group outside of Unity Temple would have an action like this claiming to be defending Unity Temple while not contacting the leadership of either the congregation or the restoration foundation,” he said. Meanwhile, the church’s congregation, the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy are conferring with their respective boards and members on how to respond to the proposed tower development. Arguments have largely centered around

sued a statement late Wednesday use common sense and facts and saying “Golub & Company apprecirational thinking and behavior ates Mayor Abu-Taleb’s comments that we can all benefit from.” and shares his interest in develThe mayor appears to have oping a transit-oriented project support from the five of the at 835 Lake St. that is sensitive to six remaining members of the neighbors and responds to strong board. Trustee Andrea Butdemand for additional rental ton could not immediately be apartments in Oak Park. We will reached for comment, but the continue to solicit feedback about other five board members also preliminary plans for a developvoiced their opposition to the ANAN ABU-TALEB ment that makes sense for this site height and density of the proOak Park Mayor and Oak Park, which is why we posed building. initiated ongoing communication “I’m supportive of this letter,” Trustee Bob Tucker said in a telephone with neighbors like Unity Temple.” Abu-Taleb said in a telephone interview interview. “I think that like any proposal that he has asked Golub to “go back to the that comes before the board for developdrawing board” on the project and come ment, a proposal needs to be sensitive not only to the Oak Park community but also to back with something better. Much of the controversy centers on the the surrounding buildings.” He called Unity Temple “Oak Park’s archishadow the building will cast not just over Unity Temple, considered a masterpiece by tectural treasure and one of the greatest arthe famed Oak Park architect, but over near- chitectural treasures of the world” adding that 28 stories is “too tall.” by Scoville Park. Trustee James Taglia echoed Abu-Taleb’s “I’d like to see us get to a place where Golub, which is a very credible developer, can get comment that the height is “much too tall” to a place with Unity Temple where they can adding that it also is too dense. be neighbors,” he tells Wednesday Journal. “People say, and I’ve heard this discussion, that Abu-Taleb added that he hopes Oak Park- they’d like to see something of the density of Disers and Golub can have a rational conversa- trict House (a 28-unit, five-story luxury condo detion about the proposed development. velopment finished earlier this year at 708 Lake “I know this is election season and I just St.),” Taglia said in a telephone interview. hope we don’t use fear to divide us and apTrustee Simone Boutet said she is “very peal to the worst in us,” he said. “I hope we glad this is (Abu-Taleb’s) position.”

“I’m very glad he’s respecting the architecture of Unity Temple and surrounding buildings that are also historically interesting,” she said in a telephone interview. The building has been positioned as a transit-oriented development because of its proximity to the Metra and CTA trains, a point that Boutet said she supports. “But we should be doing it in moderation, so that the buildings are appropriate in the context of their surroundings,” she said. Trustee Deno Andrews said the height of the building is a concern “but my biggest consideration is the impact on Unity Temple.” “I consider Unity Temple to be the primary stakeholder in what gets built next to them,” he said in a telephone interview. “A blessing from Unity Temple would go a long way toward getting my support.” Trustee Dan Moroney agreed that the proposed building was “just too dense for that plot of land.” He said in a telephone interview that he was not willing to put his name on something that damages an “inherent attribute” of the village. Moroney added that the height of the building, its proximity to Lake Street and to Unity Temple are all of concern to him. “I think with a little compromise from all parties involved there could be a solution that satisfies the developer, Oak Park residents and the architectural integrity that reasonable minds can get behind,” he said. tim@oakpark.com

the shadow the proposed building by Golub will cast on Unity Temple, blocking sunlight into the building for part of the day, which was one of the key design elements of the building. Unity Temple features stained-glass skylights and clerestory windows – located above eye level – around the sanctuary to allow natural sunlight into the building. The building also just underwent a $25 million restoration, which rehabbed much of the interior and exterior of the building. Opponents of the project worry that construction could cause vibrations that could damage the newly renovated structure. Unity Temple also is included in a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings across the country in the process of being nominated as a World Heritage Site, a designation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for its cultural significance. Taylor said in an email to Wednesday Journal that the congregation’s leadership is generally grateful for statements of support for Unity Temple from the community and its leadership. “We are grateful for Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb expressing his support of a development that has the support and buy-in of Unity Temple,” Taylor wrote. That references a letter Abu-Taleb penned on Dec. 5 (and which accompanies this story), stating “I do not envision, nor do I support a 28-story building on this site” without

also added to the steep price tag. Ruehle-May said that like the congregation, the restoration foundation has met with Golub & Company officials privately. Asked if the developer has made offers to contribute to the restoration project, Ruehle-May said they had not. She said the restoration foundation’s concerns are twofold – the impact the shadow of the building would have and the impact on the building during construction. Ruehle-May acknowledged that it is a concern, noting that Unity Temple’s foundation is about four to five feet below the ground and vibrations from construction are a concern. Golub officials have said publicly that the proposed project would not require excavation and that caissons would be used to anchor the building. That would cause fewer vibrations, argues Golub vice president Michael Glazier, who said the company would monitor the vibrations during construction to ensure no damage is caused to Unity Temple. Glazier has said the LED lighting added to Unity Temple during the restoration would limit the impact of the shadow through the stained glass in the sanctuary. Ruehle-May said the lighting was added to provide light through the evening and dark hours of the day. “It’s really the sunlight that creates the visual effect that Wright intended,” she said in a telephone interview. About 25,000 people visit Unity Temple every year, she said. tim@oakpark.com

Unity Temple’s blessing. Taylor said in his email to Wednesday Journal that the congregation is in conversation with its members to craft a response to the proposal. “Unity Temple is the first house of worship to have stained glass both in the ceiling and around all four sides of the sanctuary,” Taylor wrote. “Its architectural design provides for a composition of light within the sanctuary that sometimes makes worship magical. “I understand that Frank Lloyd Wright felt that Unity Temple was his most significant contribution to the history of architecture and therefore his most famous building. Why is this so? I defer to architects and the leaders of UTRF, the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust to explain why.” Ruehle-May said her board, too, is crafting a response to the proposal. She said that the $25 million restoration of the building, completed last year, is not fully paid for. The foundation still needs $10 million in donations to pay off the renovation project. That project included a restoration of the exterior, which was cracking, along with new interior plaster walls and paint. The interior rehab included restoring art glass and skylights in the sanctuary, along with restoration of the plaster walls, paint finishes and woodwork. Environmental improvements – a geothermal heating and cooling system and upgraded electrical system –

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Sincerely,

Anan Abu-Taleb Mayor, Village of Oak Park

(CLOSING AFTER 33 YEARS) 14KT WG INVISIBLE CLUSTER EARRINGS WITH SEVEN DIAMONDS

.75CTTW

NOW $1,19900

nd Se Eng mi ag M em ou en nt t R GA s, Di ing RY am s, L G AN em on ar D sto d E ge RO ne ar Se N Jew rin lect AR e gs io E lry and n of RE Co En TI lor gag RI ed em NG en ! t

WAS $2,72300

TO US M

(While Supplies Last!)

NOW $48900

RY T

Was $1,32000

HI N

14KT WG Diamond Heartbeat Pendant

Available 3 Days Only Thursday Dec. 13th, Friday Dec. 14th and Saturday Dec. 15th

THIS WEEK ONLY

Dear Community, have been following the public discussion regarding the proposed private development at 835 Lake St. While the village has not yet received an application for a planned development, I want to thank Golub for its interest in a second location for quality residential development in Oak Park. Unity Temple is one of the crown jewels of our community. We need to ensure that any development on this site addresses the concerns of this monument, but at the same time acknowledge that the existing bank drive-thru is not the highest and best use of that property. I am, therefore, supportive of a mixed-use transit-oriented development on this site, so long as the development has the buy-in and support of Unity Temple. I do not envision, nor do I support, a 28-story building on this site. I have, therefore, asked Golub to revisit its plans and explore other options that would not place Oak Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tallest building in this location. I commend Golub for proactively communicating its plans to neighbors, including several meetings with representatives of Unity Temple. I am encouraging Golub to continue that dialogue in hopes they may reach agreement on a development plan that is sensitive to Unity Temple, brings new residents and investment to support our local businesses, schools and parks, and preserves the experience of worshipers and visitors at Unity Temple. To the Unity Temple, as you consider the implications of new development on that block, I hope you would keep in mind the potential benefits of new neighbors, as well as the benefits of new investment to the community as a whole.

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS

EV ER Y Di a E T

Oak Park mayor weighs in on Golub proposal

101 S. Marion St. Oak Park, IL 60302

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Perfect Gifts FUR All at York Furrier

Pretty Zippy

For Glam or on the GO

Cozy Comfort

FUNctional Fur

Great Outlook

Accessories to Stylish Coats

Wrap-up Your Holiday Shopping with Gifts worth Presenting from York Furrier. For him or her, yourself or someone really special, find perfect Stocking Stuffers and Gifts with Presence! SHOP online or in-store. The YF Holiday Collection is

Furs

Cashmeres

Elmhurst City Centre 630-832-2200 107 N. York Street, Elmhurst, IL 60126

ON SALE NOW!

Leathers

Shearlings

Connect:

YorkFur.com/subscribe

Handbags

Accessories

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

H O M E

F O R

T H E

H O L I D A Y S

2 0 1 8

Winter Wonders Santa Claus/Father Christmas attends to a client on Marion Street in Downtown Oak Park during Saturday’s Home for the Holidays event. (Bottom left) Bob Vobornik and Mike Delaney set the mood at Sugar Fixe. (Upper left) Sleigh rides were popular even without the snow.

Photos by ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

One Stop Shopping. Our Price: $20.76 (Reg. $25.95)

Our Price: $23.19 (Reg. $28.99)

Our Price: $25.99 (Reg. $32.50)

Our Price: $22.40 (Reg. $28.00)

Our Price: $29.99 (Reg. $37.50)

Our Price: $23.99 (Reg. $30.00)

Our Price: $27.99 (Reg. $35.00)

Gift cards, t-shirts, and tote bags designed by

CHRIS WARE!

1045 Lake Street ■ Oak Park ■ 708.386.9800 ■ www.booktable.net ■ Mon-Sat 9 - 9, Sun 11 - 6 ■ Look for us on Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr!

$20

$24

Our Price: $63.99 (Reg. $80.00)

Our Price: $11.16 (Reg. $13.95)

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

RYOI!NG R U H ET S G TICK FAST!

“best bet of the season”

- Chicago Tribune

“poignant and laugh out loud funny” - Wednesday Journal “brimming with both comfort and joy” - Windy City Times “a wholly entertaining show” - Chicago Reader

Photo by David Hammond

Harry & David pears.

DECEMBER 14-30

Tickets at OAKPARKFESTIVAL.COM Performed at Madison Street Theatre | recommended for ages 10+ Change your address,

not your neighborhood

For Christmas, say it with pears

And although Harry & David he iconic “Twelve Days now has brick-and-mortar retail of Christmas” ends each outlets (the closest one to Oak stanza with the words Park is in Rosemont), mail or“pear tree,” and perhaps der is still their main business. that’s part of the reason In the days before one could pears and Christmas seem to go get high-quality produce from together. The other part of the places like Whole Foods, Marireason is Harry & David. ano’s, and a host of smaller Since I was a little kid in the specialty stores, Harry & David 1950s, we’ve been getting and provided a way for people in sending Harry & David fruit even remote locales to sample for Christmas, and usually that excellent fruit. means pears. Pears remain In the photo above, the pear my favorite way to say “Happy on the right looks a little more Holidays.” Local Dining blemished than you might This year, we got an early & Food Blogger expect with Royal Riviera pears, shipment of Royal Riviera but the skin is coming off anypears and, oh man, perfection. way, so it hardly matters. For We use a vegetable peeler to years, we’ve been buying Maverick pears precisely skin each pear, but you could use from Harry & David, and these are effeca knife, of course, or you could just cut the tively “seconds,” pears that are not as fine pears in half and eat the fruit with a spoon. as their peers. There’s about a 30% price The flesh of these pears is so lush and firm, difference between Mavericks and Royal sweet and refreshing, that we treasure each Riviera pears. glistening bite. In the morning, Harry & David pears Harry & David Rosenberg inherited the are a reason to wake up and have one for fruit company — which specialized in Roybreakfast; for a light lunch, a pear and al Riviera pears — from their father. Their some cheese is just right; after dinner, a first market was Europe. When the Great pear with ice cream is a suitable dessert. Depression reduced European demand for We’ve made cooked and pickled pears, but such luxury goods, the brothers switched for pears as good as the ones from Harry their marketing focus to the United States & David, I would recommend going comand switched their last name to Holmes in mando, with nothing on them and doing response to the rise in anti-Semitism both nothing with them but skinning and eating at home and abroad. them. That, to me and many others, is the Though Harry & David has now extended taste of Christmas. the product line to include lots of different December is National Pear Month. That’s kinds of fruit, cakes and candy, their flagright: this fruit gets a whole month! ship product is still the Royal Riviera pear.

DAVID

HAMMOND

with senior living at Brookdale Oak Park. For senior living in the neighborhood you know so well, look no further than Brookdale Oak Park. Our Independent Living and Assisted Living community offers an active, enriching lifestyle without having to leave familiar surroundings and friendships.

► To schedule your personal visit, call (708) 622-9233 today.

Brookdale Oak Park Independent Living | Assisted Living 1111 Ontario Street | Oak Park, Illinois 60302 157329 CB

Bringing New Life to Senior Living® brookdale.com

VIEWPOINTS

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS FRIDAY 5 P.M. Email Viewpoints editor Ken Trainor, ktrainor@wjinc.com

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

How to reduce property taxes p. 19

Beating the bushes for Bush testimonials

y name is John and I am a contrarian. I ask for sympathy. Nestled somewhere between pessimism and cynicism on the worldview spectrum lies contrarianism. As far as I can remember, I have always been a contrarian. I can’t help it. It’s not my fault. I thought the media coverage of George Bush and his death was a bit much. There is no tragedy or surprise when a 94-year-old man dies. But I guess it was a slow news week — the California fires had been put out, Mueller was editing his report, and no alligators had gotten loose in a Florida mall. Suddenly every braying news donkey had an opinion or a reminiscence to share. Prior to all the coverage, I had pretty much forgotten about Mr. Bush. I remembered him as a nice rich guy who jumped out of airplanes on his birthday riding piggyback on a skydiver. His presidency was similar to Fred Hoiberg’s tenure as Bulls coach — nice guy, not particularly successful or memorable. He was certainly no Phil Jackson. The news media really emphasized what a good husband and father he was. It annoys me when actors, professional athletes and politicians get credit for doing what they are supposed to do. Most everyone I know has a busy difficult life, but they love their spouse and kids, and none of them have a limo, helicopter or plane at their disposal (except Batman, but I don’t know him). Can we please stop talking about the Greatest Generation? My dad and uncles all survived The Great Depression and fought in World War II, but they were quite aware that that happened decades and decades ago. They didn’t make a big deal about it. It was called duty. Citizens did their duty. Enough already. Speaking of history, the Founding Fathers, you may recall, fought a war to escape the tyranny and privilege of monarchy. All the pomp and ceremony for our presidents when they live and then die seems a little too regal for me. They are just men (irony noted). I would think a presidential library, naming rights to the Houston airport and having your face and name on

JOHN

HUBBUCH

See HUBBUCH on page 20

Another mile marker passed, too soon

’m in charge of teaching my kids to drive. It turns out to be a good fit. I enjoy how driving humbles my teens, who, like all before them, including us, feel they have the world already figured out. After failing repeatedly, my oldest daughter asks churlishly if I’ve ever, in all my years of driving, had to make a three-point turn out of an alley? Why, my middle daughter inquires, does it take so long for cars to start moving after the light turns green? This never occurred to her until she herself was behind the wheel. They are righteously appalled when a driver cuts into the lane, but I don’t remember them ever commenting on it despite years of unintended expletives that have fallen out of my mouth since their carseat years. Now I’m driving with my youngest. Falling somewhere between our methodical first-born and our mercurial middle child, he takes our sessions seriously but not to the point of tears. By fall, he’s received the requisite training from the high school, and we go out for the first time. Being the last child has its drawbacks and, having gone through this twice before, I wasn’t in a particularly supportive frame of mind. But he was just as excited, as were his sisters, when they first slipped behind the wheel. These days mark his first steps toward the border of his parents’ ambit: days of freedom, of independence, of “away.” I have always dreaded the first few times out. It’s the “ohmy-we’re-all-gonna-die” phase. Things look very different from the passenger seat; cars parked along the curb menace as we drive by, and it takes all my willpower not to rip the steering wheel from his new driver’s hands. Every error seems magnified, both in my mind and literally in my vision. But I still want to be that ideal, supportive dad, praising my son’s successes while not freaking out when he doesn’t

quite hit the mark. In this way, driving is not that different from toilet training, or any other rite of passage. We press on, and I silently appeal to the god of new teenage drivers. In lieu of a pew, I stamp my feet on imaginary brake pedals. Occasionally he glances at me, but I don’t think he understands the trauma ward my inner mind has become. And like his older sisters, with time my son becomes more at ease, the learning curve not as steep. His hands slacken a bit, and one even falls casually off the steering wheel. I admonish him, but not with much gusto, merely calling it in instead of the full-throated orders I barked when he first took the wheel. I likewise start to relax as, for the last time, I merge from teacher to passenger. And with that comes a familiar surprise — we have time together. There are no screens, no texts from mid-level friends or social media photos to examine and rank. There is the music selection, but that debate is age-old and comfortable. We have even settled on a few artists we both like (Thank you, Weird Al!). On our best trips, we have conversations about weighty things — girls, classes, the future. And then, all too quickly, I tell him to point the car in the direction of home. Dinner is soon, and he has homework to do. And I realize, as he parks the car in front of the house, how fleeting it all is. I tell him he did a good job, but it’s perfunctory now; he knows he’s ready to drive on his own, even if the state of Illinois does not. We walk into the house, and I feel my years. Two of my children are in college, and my last one has only a little time left. I have gone from manager to confidant to observer, and it all just seems too fast. Just one more drive ... please. Eddie Pont is an Oak Park resident.

EDDIE PONT

One View

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

O U R

V I E W P O I N T S

V I E W S

Tough talk on OPRF’s spending

he recommendations this week from the OPRF superintendent to the school board on initial steps in implementing the Imagine OPRF facilities master plan are encouraging to us. With a strong focus on updating dozens of classrooms, special ed spaces, student gathering spots and ADA and security updates, Supt. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams chose an equity forward path that we strongly support. Those recommendations price out at $32 million, a not-insignificant sum. Using existing cash reserves to fund these projects seems to be the recommended route. Another solid recommendation. The board’s discussion of these recommendations began on Tuesday evening after press time, so it is not certain how these ideas were received. We will certainly be following up in our news pages and on this editorial page. Coupled with the facilities recommendation at Tuesday’s board meeting was a very strong, and to us persuasive, memo from Robert Grossi. He is an interim consultant to the district as it works toward hiring a new finance manager. In just two pages, Grossi lays out some hard financial truths for District 200, which tell us that, if the board concurs, this district is beginning to grasp the limits of its ability to address challenges simply by spiking property taxes. Grossi notes the district is “in very good financial condition now.” That will happen when you illicitly pile up $100 million in taxes not directly approved by voters. But he says, if new revenues are stuck at under 2 percent a year and spending by the district continues at a rate that mostly doubles the new income, the district is “extremely vulnerable to exploding deficits and rapidly deteriorating fund balance reserves.” Grossi closes by saying after the district diverts a portion of the cash reserve for facilities investments, that effort “must be paired with commitment by the district to align future expenditure growth to future revenue growth.” Getting there, he says would require “reducing expenditure growth at a level at or below the future rate of revenue growth.” In other words, this school historically has a spending problem and voters won’t sit idly by and pay endlessly for this proclivity. These are good lessons. If overdue.

Clipping a high-rise It didn’t take long for the collective wisdom and accumulating negative public response to bring Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb to issue a strong criticism of a plan to build a 28-story high-rise almost next door to Unity Temple. Five of six sitting trustees reached by a Journal reporter chimed in that the proposal from Golub and Company was super-sized and had to be rethought. They’re right, of course. Adding seven floors more than any previous Oak Park building and then setting it next to one of the more notable architectural accomplishments in the world is bad planning. We are rightly back to the 1970s when the proposal for Oak Park’s first high-rise, the twin 55-story Stankus Towers at Forest and Lake, was laid low by the prospect of shadows over Wright’s temple. Add in concerns, too, over shadows on Scoville Park and something had to give. Four thoughts: 1. Conspiracy theorists who believe the fix is always in and in favor of developers on these projects should take note. Wasn’t the case this time. 2. Public response is heard and often heeded. Albion is building a different high-rise than planned up the street based on strong concerns raised by residents. There will be no 28-story high-rise going up at Lake and Grove. 3. Golub and Company should open negotiations to expand its current proposed parcel by acquiring land along North Boulevard. Despite their protestations, as currently configured, this is a small lot and it inevitably leads to demands for more height. 4. Don’t mess with Unity Temple.

@ @OakParkSports

Words that stir something in us

he foundational passages highlighted in last week’s column [A new birth, Viewpoints, Dec. 5], have long stirred something deep in me, so I wanted to see if they subjected you to the same enchantment. But readers didn’t react much. Several complained I italicized too many words, or the wrong words, or both. I took too many liberties. Which is ironic since liberty is at the heart of most of the passages included. Several readers were perplexed that I chose to italicize seemingly unimportant words, like “that,” “this,” “then,” and “here.” But those were the words that stood out for me. In my deeper dive, they sounded like a drumbeat. The underlying rhetorical rhythm felt significant. Like an early version of bullet points. ■ That all human beings are created equal … ■ That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights … ■ That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness … ■ That to secure these rights, governments are instituted that derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Too many italics? How about among these (not limited to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) and just powers and consent of the governed? So many of these words warrant emphasis, including We, the first word in our two founding documents. We the people … all of us. Our consent, and only our consent, gives government its just powers. That’s especially pertinent when two out of three presidential administrations in this century thus far derived their powers elsewhere — two out of three lost the popular vote. The governed did not give their consent. Powers were derived from the Supreme Court (2000) and the Electoral College (2016). The governed never directly gave their consent to the Electoral College. For a slave owner, Jefferson was quite eloquent about liberty and equality in his introduction to the Declaration of Independence, which is mostly a laundry list of grievances, surrounded by poetry. The conclusion is also moving in its own right. “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” A sacred compact, the beloved community. Do we still pledge this to each other? You wouldn’t know it if you attended a Trump rally. These are powerful words. They are, as one reader commented, not only foundational but aspirational. All are created equal. Just government secures our unalienable rights. We may believe that, but we don’t live it. Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, tried to lead the living to dedicate themselves to finishing the work of the recently fallen, and to devote themselves to the cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion, to highly resolve that the fallen did not die in vain, leading to a new birth of freedom so that government of, by and for the people will never perish because at that point it was very much in doubt. Lincoln used the word “here” so often, I think, because he was trying to wake people up to the historic moment, a way to anchor them in the present. It was an important term for him. He also used it in his 1862 address to Congress, quoted in Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait”:

“The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility …” Here … this … now, as one modern practitioner of mindfulness put it. Lincoln was simply ahead of his time. The first three passages featured last week echo the drumbeat of our bedrock belief — that all are created equal. King — 101 years after Lincoln, who spoke 87 years after Jefferson, who coined the immortal phrase in his first sentence — called upon the nation to “live out the true meaning of our creed.” Fifty-five years later, we haven’t done so. I wanted to see if these passages still have the power to stir, inspire, ennoble. Not many responded. Is it because what those words stir is discomfort? Do they ask too much of us? Are they no longer “foundational” and “inspirational,” merely “aspirational”? Here’s what a few readers said (I’m most appreciative): Ever since Trump was elected, the spirit, if not these very words, courses through my mind and body. This administration does not represent America. It only occupies its offices and has temporary license of its powers. It does not represent the people of America except as a mirror and megaphone to the fears and prejudices that plague us — nor do our political parties, who look for the votes of 50%+1 instead of the care and protection of all. I pray that the words of our founders and other great American leaders will ultimately open the eyes of our citizens and create a different, better election outcome in 2020, else I fear for our country’s future.

KEN

TRAINOR

John Wallick

These words, sentiments, aspirations, and — most of all — truths speak to me more wholly, more loudly, more urgently today than ever before.

Terri Schultz

The words — all poetry — made me proud that our country produced these authors. Sad also at the unfulfilled promises. And King made me cry. Nicely put before us. Thanks.

Bill Dring

The passages I included are, for me, foundational, inspirational and aspirational. I, too, feel great pride that we produced leaders who could articulate such ennobling truths, but I also wonder, as King prophetically said, whether we will ever live out the true meaning our creed. If, as Susan B. Anthony said, men and women will ever be equal and unleash our tremendous human potential. If we will ever, as James Madison wrote in the Constitution’s preamble, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of liberty for all — in other words, become a more perfect union when we have never even lived up to our own name: United States of America. If I used too many italics for emphasis, it’s because when I read these words, I get carried away. If we replaced the national anthem with the Gettysburg Address or “I Have a Dream” before athletic events, mine would be the loudest voice in the crowd — my hand proudly poised over my heart. Too many italics? Don’t get me started.

V I E W P O I N T S by Marc Stopeck

S H R U B T O W N

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

W E D N E S D A Y

JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest

Editor and Publisher Dan Haley Senior Editor Bob Uphues Associate Publisher Dawn Ferencak Staff Reporters Michael Romain, Timothy Inklebarger, Nona Tepper Viewpoints Editor Ken Trainor Sports/Staff reporter Marty Farmer Columnists Marc Blesoff, Jack Crowe, Doug Deuchler, John Hubbuch, May Kay O’Grady, Kwame Salter, John Stanger, Stan West, Michelle Mbekeani-Wiley, Cassandra West, Doris Davenport Staff Photographer Alexa Rogals Editorial Design Manager Claire Innes Editorial Designers Jacquinete Baldwin, Javier Govea Business Manager Joyce Minich IT Manager/Web Developer Mike Risher Advertising Production Manager Philip Soell Advertising Design Manager Andrew Mead Advertising Designers Debbie Becker, Mark Moroney Advertising Director Dawn Ferencak Advertising Sales Marc Stopeck, Bill Wossow Inside Sales Representative Mary Ellen Nelligan

How to reduce our property taxes

or years, our elected officials have said that new property will reduce our property taxes. It can be done. This is how: Zero is a powerful number. It is time for our local taxing bodies to use it. Each December, taxing bodies in Cook County decide on a property tax levy for next year. Simply put, taxing bodies in Oak Park use current tax revenue, raise it by CPI-U (consumer price index urban) and then anticipated tax revenue from new property, resulting in the available property tax revenue for the next year. To reduce our current property tax, this is the practice that must change. Taxing bodies must use zero for new property revenue in the levy calculations. Over the next three years, this would amount to a 10%-plus reduction in our local property tax. The question is, “Should the tax money generated from new property become additional income for the taxing body to spend or should it help reduce the current property owners’ tax bill?” Here is a very simplified example: Currently, our town has 10 properties and paid a tax bill of $100. Each property paid $10. This year, a new property is built that will generate $10 in taxes. When taxing bodies want additional income, this is what happens: $100 current revenue + (CPI x $100) + $10 new property = $112 Divided by 11 properties = $10.18 new tax bill Each property owner pays an increase of 1.8%

over the current year. When taxing bodies want to provide tax relief to residents, this is what can happen: $100 current revenue + (CPI x $100) + $0 new property = $102 Divided by 11 properties = $9.27 new tax bill Each property owner has a reduction of 7.3% over current year. This was a very simplified example. In real dollars, our property taxes could be reduced by 10% over the next three years, if taxing bodies did not include dollars generated from new properties in their levy request. This year the savings would be about 1% reductions for property tax payments made in 2019. Next year though, the reduction is 8%. This is because both the Downtown and Madison Tax Increment Financing districts are expiring. The property in those two districts will be returning to the general village EAV as new property. The 8% tax relief would affect tax payments made in 2020. The third year an additional 1+% reduction can occur with additional new property being added to the tax rolls. It will reduce property tax payments in 2021. In the next few weeks, each taxing body in Oak Park will be voting on their tax levy request for 2019. There is no time like the present. Let new property help lower our property tax bill. Do not include new property when calculating the levy. Sharon Patchak-Layman, an Oak Park resident, is a former member of the district 97 and 200 school boards.

SHARON PATCHAKLAYMAN One View

Event Coordinator Carmen Rivera Ad Coordinator Nonna Working Circulation Manager Jill Wagner Distribution Coordinator Wakeelah Cocroft-Aldridge Front Desk Carolyn Henning, Maria Murzyn Chairman Emeritus Robert K. Downs

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

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

V I E W P O I N T S

B Notice of Proposed Property Tax Increase for Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 I.

A public hearing to approve a proposed property tax levy increase for Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 for 2018 will be held on December 20, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the high school. Any person desiring to appear at the public hearing and present testimony to the taxing district may contact Cyndi Sidor, Interim Chief School Business Official, at 201 N. Scoville Ave. at (708) 434-3264.

II. The corporate and special purpose property taxes extended or abated for 2017 were $66,657,009. The proposed corporate and special purpose property taxes to be levied for 2018 are $68,036,000. This represents a 2.1% increase over the previous year. III. The property taxes extended for debt service and public building commission leases for 2017 were $0. The estimated property taxes to be levied for debt service and public building commission leases for 2018 are $0. This represents a 0% increase from the previous year. IV. The total property taxes extended or abated for 2017 were $66,657,009. The estimated total property taxes to be levied for 2018 are $68,036,000. This represents a 2.1% increase over the previous year.

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

D200’s and Imagine’s recommendations

oth the District 200 administration and the Imagine OPRF group have issued facility plan recommendations to the school board. In the Dec. 11 meeting agenda, the administration suggests that the board could consider moving forward with the $65 million Component D (called Sequence 2 in the Imagine plan), housing a 10-lane competition pool with a dedicated diving well and a 600-seat aquatic center, while spending the administrationrecommended $32 million on facility improvements, including special education program needs and classroom renovations. In addition, the administration recommends that the board immediately transfer $20 million of operating fund reserves into a capital reserve fund to address future projects within its facilities. Before presenting its $218 million master facility plan to the board for acceptance, the Imagine group attached a long list of recommendations, linked in the Nov. 15 meeting agenda, Executive Summary, page 7. Imagine’s recommendations are an act of overreach. Their intent is to exert undue influence and control over the plan, its implementation and funding. One recommendation pressures the board to push through the first phases of the plan, Sequences 1 & 2, bypassing voters on the $95 million expenditure, before the April 2019 election when three of the seven board seats will be up for grabs. Sequence 1 would earmark $28 million to relocate the library and tutoring center to the middle of the building, along with some classroom renovations. These same academic “opportunities” were identified in another recent plan, the 2016 Long Term Facility Plan.

In contrast to the Imagine plan, the nearly yearlong 2016 plan included no overreaching recommendations for the board. In Imagine’s Sequence 2, $67 million would be spent on demolishing and rebuilding the southeast corner of the structurally sound building to house a pool that is double the size of a standard-size high school competition pool in a large aquatic center. While Imagine says its pool only costs $2.5 million (digging the hole, its mechanicals and liner), in reality, Sequence 2’s entire $67 million price tag is an associated pool construction cost. It is cost prohibitive to build this oversized pool within the existing building, based on 2014 estimates of $80-87 million, while the other elements in the proposed four-story sports complex could be addressed and accommodated through repairs and renovations. The board begins discussing its newly accepted facility plan at its meeting this week, which could include Imagine’s recommendation to push through a $95 million expenditure without voter authorization, and the administration’s recommendations, which include the suggestion that the board could move forward on Component D with its 17-lane practice pool and aquatic center with seating for 600 spectators. A formal facility plan recommendation and action item will be included in the agenda of the Dec. 20 regular board meeting. Please consider emailing the board, BoE@ oprfhs.org, regarding these recommendations and assert your right to vote on D200’s largest capital works project ever. A board seat is not a blank check.

MONICA SHEEHAN One View

HUBBUCH from page 17 coffee cups and placemats should be enough for anyone. No need for a federal holiday, multiple services, train processions, ad nauseum. I do appreciate that the funeral orgy may have been therapeutic for the country. President Bush’s passing was a reminder that not that long ago our President was a decent man who tried his best for the good of the whole country. This, of course, is in such obvious and marked contrast to the cartoonish mendacity and buffoonery of the current president. But then Red Lobster is a feast when compared to medieval gruel. My point here is a bit larger. Percy Blythe Shelley, more famous today as the husband of the currently celebrated Mary Shelley,

Monica Sheehan is a member of OPRF Pragmatic Solutions.

wrote: I met a traveler from an antique land, Who said — “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert … Near them on the sand Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on those lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

V I E W P O I N T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

C O N S C I O U S

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

A G I N G

Learning a lesson at the turnstile

work out regularly at the Tennis and Fitness Center. I’ve been a member there for many years, and I love their Yoga Centre. One day last week, as I passed the front desk to flash my membership card at the small entry turnstile, I was slowed by the older woman in front of me. She walked with a cane and was slightly hobbled. It was early morning, she was bundled up, and her scarf covered dark vibrant hair. She was reaching for her membership card and keeping her balance and holding her cane all at the same time. She looked up at me. Her eyes smiled yet her mouth grimaced just a bit, wrinkles at the edges of both. The flash of a slightly quizzical look moved across her face. Her lips trembled ever-so-slightly. I noticed all this in an instant, and then she apologized to me, as if she had done something wrong. Right there at the turnstile. Plaintively. “I am so, so sorry; why don’t you just go ahead of me?” Several thoughts flooded my brain seem-

Merit Badge Academy deserves attention

On Oct. 27, the Boy Scouts of America hosted a merit badge all-day training at Triton College. The theme of the training was concentrated on the STEM program - Astronomy to Weather. The Scouting program offered an additional 120 merit badges and 170 scouts attended this program. The activity was sponsored by the Pathway to Adventure Council and Triton College. Some of the classes were limited to 10 scouts, such as welding. The idea came from Bertha Guzman and Colleen Leahy, both from the Franklin Park area. Jonathan Nelson and Kristine McCall of Triton College made all the physical and facility arrangements. This was a new adventure into STEM by the Boy Scouts of America. In the spring of 2019, our district will sponsor another Merit Badge Academy, planned to be held at Elmwood Park High School. In the past, this event has included 300 scouts. I hope Wednesday Journal will report on this amazing event.

Kevin Nygren-Lucas

Winner of Automotive Maintenance Merit Badge Troop 28, Oak Park

ingly instantaneously: Why is she apologizing to me? How can I help her navigate this turnstile? Turnstiles are inherently problematic for many people. When she used to play tennis, did she have a good first serve? And there it was again — a mix of empathy, ageism and awareness. Yes, a turnstile makes sense at a tennis and fitness center. It always has made sense. But that was in the past. The future is not how it has always been. By definition, the future is change. I’ve been learning about the non-binary nature of reality, i.e. the spectrum. My kids are helping to educate me. Autism. Gender identity. Neurodiversity. And following my interaction with the woman at the turnstile, I’m putting health on a spectrum. Healthy does not equal youth. An older

woman who walks with a cane can be healthy too. Her presence at a tennis and fitness center is legitimate, and will be more and more so, given today’s longevity. Every day, 10,000 people turn 60 in this country. The “workout” demographic is already exhibiting more and more graying hair. Pickleball is soaring in popularity. The Yoga Centre has added over-60 yoga classes. But what about our mental image of healthy? Who do we picture when we think “healthy workout”? Because of internalized ageism, most of us see buff, balanced or beautiful. That probably doesn’t match reality as closely as it used to, and that’s one lesson I learned at the turnstile last week. Her apology to me for being slow, hobbled and differently abled, her apology for just being who she is, is still fresh in my mind. As if she had to apologize that her very

MARC BLESOFF

existence was getting in my way, intruding into my life. Another example of internalized ageism. The younger and the older can co-exist in mutual respect. The physically abled and the differently abled can coexist in mutual respect. Any of the “us and thems” can coexist in mutual respect. But it is more than just co-existing. We live in an interconnected reality. We all need each other to be healthy. We all need our healthy climate and our healthy earth. When people recognize how we are interconnected, they take better care of themselves, each other and the planet. We can take important steps in that direction when we start to see the threads of empathy that connect us. Marc Blesoff is a former Oak Park village trustee, co-founder of the Windmills softball organization, co-creator of Sunday Night Dinner, a retired criminal defense attorney, and a novice beekeeper. He currently facilitates Conscious Aging Workshops and Wise Aging Workshops in the Chicago area.

OPRF concert lived up to ‘Those Things that are Best’ I was fortunate to get a ticket for OPRF High School’s “Prisms of Winter” concert last week and I wanted to say a public “Thank You” to the teachers and the students who participated. The excellent quality and variety of what was presented really lived up to the motto, “Those Things that are Best.” There were kids of every grade, skill level, race and gender identity involved

and it was wonderful. If you are feeling discouraged about the climate at the high school these days, this concert is something you should see. Thanks again to the students and teachers for a beautiful evening of music.

Amy Anderson de Jong

and decrease pollution. Where’s the money we need? It’s in the bombs we’ve been dropping in other countries’ wars we’re supporting! Vested interests lobby to use our tax dollars and our soldiers to seize control of land, fossil fuels and finances. These wars create refugees in Asia, Africa and Latin America, who then come seeking help. Our own damaged veterans have trouble finding jobs and aid. Our whole economy needs to be changed from war to peace. Companies making money from weapons need to redirect their talents toward green jobs in a clean infrastructure. Every bill before Congress poses a choice in these matters. Which will it be — death or life for our world?

I am mystified that the OPRF High School discussion seems not to include eliminating football. Surely a community that fancies itself to be at the leading edge of social issues should be appalled that we continue to facilitate and celebrate the destruction of our youths’ minds and bodies. Apparently we can ban smoking but not gladiatorial carnage. And herein lies the solution to several footprint issues: Tear down the stadium. Site a new, modest swimming pool on part of the stadium footprint. Put tennis courts on the roof. Devote the southwest corner of the site to whatever new facilities the police department needs. A collateral benefit is that the police, who seem to spend a great deal of time at OPRF, can simply walk there. Walking the neighborhood is a best law enforcement practice anyway.

Austin

Oak Park

Tradition of Excellence Award 1999 Arts OPRF class of 1981

More than talk is needed

During the holiday season we talk of “peace on Earth.” We need to do more than talk. We must push our public officials to curb the wars our country is sponsoring and support initiatives for peace. Take a minute to drop a postcard or email our two Illinois U.S. senators, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, and your congressman (Rep. Danny K. Davis, Luis Gutierrez or Mike Quigley.) Tell them to pass legislation encouraging diplomatic efforts for peace in North Korea. Tell them Congress, not the president, holds constitutional authority to declare war; tell them to reclaim war powers and stop giving the Pentagon blank checks of untold trillions. Americans need health care and housing. We must fix roads, rail lines, water systems. We need systems to reduce fossil fuel use

OPRF should eliminate football

Bonni McKeown

Bob Stigger

V I E W P O I N T S

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

The village should listen to its own study

n Nov. 26, a sharply divided village board approved the Madison Road Diet. Three trustees voted against the proposal. Trustees Button, Taglia and Tucker and the mayor voted in favor. Much of the debate among board members focused on a new 300-plus-page traffic study, commissioned by the village and finalized only a week before the meeting. Here are some of its key findings: ■ Under Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidelines, Madison is not a good

candidate for a road diet because its traffic volume is too great. The FHWA places roads that are candidates for road diet into four categories, ranging from “great” to a very tepid category 4. That category applies to roads with an average daily traffic volume greater than 20,000. Madison’s average is well above that at just under 25,000 (p. 25). ■ The traffic study goes on to consider peak hour traffic volumes (p. 24). For roads with peak-hour traffic volumes above 875, “the fea-

sibility of a road diet is less likely.” According to the study, Madison traffic volumes range from 725 to 1,187, well above the “less likely” number. So what will a slimmer Madison result in? Again, the village’s own report provides an answer: ■ Intersections on Madison will degrade. Intersections are graded on a scale of A to F (p. 28). Madison intersections are currently graded “D or better” (p. 29). After the road diet, numerous intersections will degrade to a

JERRY

BOWMAN One View

River Forest

FOOT CLINIC

7351 Lake St. (Just west of Panera Bread)

Do you wake up with heel pain?

Dr. Linda Lambert

eel pain is one of the most common conditions I treat" says Dr. Linda Lambert of the River Forest Foot Clinic. If you wake up having difficulty putting your feet on the floor, Dr. Lambert can help.

Heel pain or plantar fascitis is caused when the foot flattens out with weight bearing. Sometimes a heel spur forms where the plantar fascia attaches to the heel bone. A heel spur can be diagnosed with an in office x-ray. There are many ways to treat heel pain without doing surgery. Rest, ice, antiinflammatory medication, supportive shoes and stretches help in most cases. Custom made orthotic devices or cortisone injections may also be needed. Call Dr. Lambert, you don't have to live with foot pain. Aetna, AARP, Blue Cross PPO, United Healthcare, Healtspring, Humana, PHCS, Medicare Assignment & most other insurances accepted • CIGNA PPO

26 Years’ Experience • Se Habla Espanol • Free Parking

708.366.FOOT (3668)

grade of E or F. An F intersection is described as, “The volume-to-capacity ratio is very high, progression [i.e., traffic flow] is very poor, and the cycle length [to clear the intersection] is long. Most cycles fail to clear the queue” (p. 28). In other words, at “most” times, people will not be able to get through the intersection in a single red-green signal cycle. ■ Key north-south streets like Ridgeland and Oak Park Avenue will also see delays at the Madison intersections (p. 30). The Oak Park Avenue intersection, for example, will move from a C intersection to “E/F” (p. 30). Lines on Madison at that intersection are projected to extend east past Wesley Avenue (p. 35). The village’s consultant and author of the report also conceded that he and the village had no data or projections on diversions from Madison along the residential north-south side streets. South of Madison, these streets are almost entirely residential, but the village and its consultant did not study how many drivers will turn down these streets to avoid the degraded intersections on Madison. One trustee noted this and said that he expected a parade of citizens coming to future board meetings seeking cul-de-sacs and other control measures. I am sure he is correct. Equally alarming, the consultant conceded that “minor” accidents on Madison will actually increase with a road diet! This brand new study has convinced me that we are moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar project unsupported by the data. Yes, we need action on Madison. Yes, we need to revitalize that business district. Yes, we need enhanced safety measures at Madison intersections. But all of this can be done without a road diet “less likely to succeed.” And all of this can be done without diverting traffic past schools on Washington and Jackson or down residential streets filled with young children. As a dissenting trustee pointed out, we in Oak Park need to make data-based decisions. The village board failed that test. Jerry Bowman is a lifelong resident of Oak Park.

A clarification

The article from two weeks ago regarding the future of the River Forest Community Center [River Forest agencies mull Community Center’s future, Viewpoints, Nov. 28] was intriguing and also missing some important information that citizens of the village, as well as some individuals of the agencies cited in the article, seem to be unaware of. The River Forest Community Center is the primary tenant of the River Forest Civic Center Authority building and has a long-term lease management agreement to operate the facility. The lease management agreement requires the River Forest Community Center to be directly responsible for building maintenance, paying the rent, paying utilities, and the operating costs.

Tom Ames

River Forest

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

WE HAVE A NEW LOOK!

LEAD . LEARN . PROMOTE

Get to know us better in 2019! Join us at oprfchamber.org

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

O B I T U A R I E S

Sidney Blair, 94

Orthopaedic surgeon and professor Dr. Sidney J. Blair, 94, a resident of Oak Park for 57 years, died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, at Wellington Terrace in West Chester Pennsylvania on Nov. 24, 2018. Born on Dec. 15, 1923 in Chicago to the late Kate and Harry Blair, he attended Sullivan High School and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis. An enlisted member of the U.S. Army during WWII and an officer in SIDNEY BLAIR the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict, he served as the Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Destroyer Escort. He received his M.D. from the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, in 1948. He served his internship at Cook County Hospital and his residency at Hines VA Hospital and the Shriners Hospital in Chicago. He later did post-graduate study in hand surgery at the University of Iowa. In 1986, he was appointed chairman of Loyola’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation and the Dr. William M. Scholl Professorial Chair, holding those appointments until 1991. He continued to serve as professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and chief of the Hand Section, where he was recognized nationally as an expert in trauma, arthritis, peripheral nerve problems, congenital deformities of the hand and prevention of industrial hand injuries. He retired in 1994 and was appointed emeritus professor, based on a distinguished lifetime career of healing, teaching, mentoring and guiding. Dr. Blair was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, and numerous other professional organizations. In 1995, the Sidney J. Blair M.D. Lecture in Hand Surgery was established by generous contributions of numerous Loyola faculty, alumni, staff, and friends of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and continues. In the company of his wife LaMoyne, he traveled extensively throughout the world, where he lectured/consulted at medical facilities in countries such as Japan and Sweden. He never stopped educating himself, taking courses, traveling and reading, with a special interest in environmental issues in the Mideast. At the age of 90, he published a book, The Doctors Beck of Chicago, a biography of three brothers who made significant contributions to modern medicine in the late 1800s, early 1900s.

He was a longtime member of West Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest, the Oak Park-River Forest Rotary Club, the Off the Street Gang of OPRF and many other local organizations. LaMoyne Blair, his wife of 65 years, predeceased him as did his brother, Marshall (Shirley) Blair. He is survived by his sons, Brian (Cathy) Blair and David (Marcia) Blair; his grandchildren, Shawn (Kristen) Blair, and Brandon, Eryn and Hannah Blair; and his great-grandchildren, Liam and Addison Blair. Visitation will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13 from 3 p.m. until time of service, 7 p.m., at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park. Interment will take place at noon on Friday, Dec. 14, at Floral Hill Cemetery, Hoopeston, Illinois. Memorials are suggested to Neot Kedumin Park in Israel (www.n-k.org.il) or Compassus Living Foundation (www.compassuslivingfoundation.org/give/).

Bette Jordan, 98 Head of Oak Park Schools public relations

Bette K. Jordan, 98, died on Dec. 2, 2018 at her River Forest home. She grew up in Oak Park and later moved to River Forest where she raised her family. She had a long career in public relations, learning the trade while working at the Patricia Stevens modeling and talent agency in Chicago during the 1950s. She handled press relations and publicity for the Miss Chicago contest, which was part of the Miss America organization. A few years BETTE JORDAN later, she became the head of public relations for the Oak Park Public Schools, a position she held for 17 years. She also had a second career as a real estate broker for F.C. Pilgrim Co. in Oak Park, where she was a member of the Million Dollar Club. An accomplished writer, she published several articles in the Chicago Tribune and was ahead of her time as a working mother. She was active in several charities and a longtime member of River Forest Presbyterian Church. She will be greatly missed by her family and those who knew her. Bette Jordan was the wife of the late Forbes E. Jordan; the mother of Susan Jordan, Sally Jordan and Nancy Jordan; the grandmother of Sarah Rose Jordan and Nicholas Jordan Diefenbach; daughter of the late Oscar C. and Eva Kleinow (nee Conway); sister of the late Violet Rottschafer and the late Jack P. Kleinow; and the aunt of many nieces and nephews. Services and interment was private, ar-

rangements by Drechsler Brown & Williams Funeral Home. The family appreciates memorials to the Oak Park Animal Care League or The AntiCruelty Society of Chicago.

Florence Brannon, 98 Dietician

Florence Brannon, 98, of Oak Park, died on Dec. 9, 2018. Born to James and Mary O’Neil in Ludlow, Massachusetts, she graduated in 1941 from UMass-Amherst with a B.A. in Home Economics and was a member and officer of Chi Omega. In 1942, she was recruited by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to the West Coast where, for six years she served as a food inspector of California canneries. While living in San FLORENCE BRANNON Francisco, she married Richard Brannon and after the war, the couple moved to Milwaukee where their son, Richard, was born in 1949. She and her son moved back to Ludlow a few years later. She earned an M.A. in management at Ohio State University and resumed her career with the federal government, now as a dietician for the Northampton V.A. Medical Center, where she worked for 35 years, rising to the level of chief dietician supervising the 65 staff members serving this 500 bed V.A. hospital. She was active for many years in the American Dietetic Association and Zonta International, a service group focused on empowering women around the world. Following her retirement from the V.A. in 1985, she became a great traveler, visiting family, friends and historic places across the U.S. as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including the Great Wall of China. In December 2002, she moved to Oak Park and, despite advanced rheumatoid arthritis, was very observant and pleasant as ever. In celebration of her 98th birthday two months ago, she ordered Chinese food with champagne and creme brûlée for all. Florence Brannon is survived by her brother-in-law, James Marshall, as well as many nieces and nephews and other loved ones. She was predeceased by her son, Richard; and by her sisters, Alice (James) Marshall and Marion (Paul) Scholten. Visitation, Mass, and reception will be held on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. at Brookdale Senior Living on the second floor in the Oak Park Room with Rev. George Omwando presiding. Arrangements are being handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home. She will be interred in Ludlow, next to her son, Massachusetts arrangements with Kapinos-Mazur Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers memoriam gifts can be made to the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pantry or charities of the donors’ choice.

Mercedes Kozacki, 100 Oak Park resident

Mercedes E. Kozacki (nee Pasowicz), 100, of Oak Park, died on Dec. 7, 2018. Born in Chicago on Sept. 6, 1918 to Edward and Maryanna Pasowicz, she was the wife of the late Walter; the mother of Mercedes (Charles) Eitz, Marcelline (the late James) Solecki, and Theresa (William) Ringhofer; grandmother of Karen (Richard) Dziagwa, Sharon (John) SzybMERCEDES KOZACKI kowski, Steven (Andrea) Solecki, Walter (Julie) Fisher, Susan Eitz, Sandra (Coby) Crawford, and Nicole (Kingsley) Austin; great-grandmother of Chas, Alexander, Christopher, Christian, Lilliana, Savannah, Kylie, Ethan, Ian, Kierstin and Jake; and the sister of the late Daniel (the late Lena) Pasowicz and the late Adele (the late George) Moritz. A funeral Mass will be held at Ascension Church in Oak Park at a later date. Interment will be private. Arrangements were handled by Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home.

Martin Dullum, 89 Korean War veteran

Martin Stanford Dullum, 89, of Riverside, formerly of Oak Park, died at Hines VA Hospital on Nov. 24, 2018. Born on Sept. 23, 1929 in Oak Park, he was a Korean War Army veteran and enjoyed fishing, gardening, and helping others. He was a member of the VFW and the American Legion. Martin Dullum was the husband of Nancy (nee Horvath); the father of Martin Dullum, Lad (Jennifer) Dullum, Tarrie Dullum, Andrew Dullum and Tammie Dullum; the grandfather of Kit Perkins, Liam Anthony Dullum, and Abigail Margaret Dullum; brother of Bea (late Harry) Sorensen, Shirley (late Norbert) Michaels, the late Helen (late Len) Williams, late Jack Dullum, late Marvin (late Martha) Dullum, late Viola (late Richard) Salach and the late William Dullum; and the uncle of many nieces and nephews. Visitation was held on Nov. 30 from 2 to 8 p.m. at Kuratko-Nosek Funeral Home, 2447 S. Desplaines Ave. in North Riverside, with military honors at 7 p.m. Cremation is private. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.KuratkoNosek.com.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

RELIGION GUIDE Presbyterian

Check First.

First Congregational Church of Maywood

400 N. Fifth Avenue (1 block north of Lake St.) Come join us for Sunday Morning Worship at 11 am Pastor Elliot Wimbush will be preaching the message. Refreshments and fellowship follow the service. 708-344-6150 firstchurchofmaywood.org When you're looking for a place to worship the Lord, Check First.

You’re Invited to A Church for All Nations A Church Without Walls SERVICE LOCATION Forest Park Plaza 7600 W. Roosevelt Road Forest Park, IL 60130

William S. Winston Pastor

ELCA, Lutheran

Good Shepherd

Worshiping at 820 Ontario, Oak Park IL (First Baptist Church) 9:00 a.m.—Education Hour 10:30 a.m.—Worship

All are welcome. goodshepherdlc.org 708-848-4741

Lutheran—ELCA

United Lutheran Church

409 Greenfield Street (at Ridgeland Avenue) Oak Park Holy Communion with nursery care and children’s chapel each Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Service 7AM, 9AM & 11:15AM Believer’s Walk of Faith Broadcast Schedule (Times in Central Standard Time) Television DAYSTAR (M-F)

3:30-4:00pm

Nationwide

WJYS-TV (M-F)

6:30-7:00am

Chicago, IL.

WCIU-TV (Sun.)

10:30-11:00am

Chicago, IL.

Word Network

10:30-11:00am

Nationwide

(M-F)

www.livingwd.org www.billwinston.org

West Suburban Temple Har Zion

1040 N. Harlem Avenue River Forest Meet our Rabbi, Adir Glick Pray, learn, and celebrate with our caring, progressive, egalitarian community. Interfaith families are welcome. Accredited Early Childhood Program Religious School for K thru 12 Daily Morning Minyan Weekly Shabbat Services Friday 6:30pm & Saturday 10:00am Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 708.366.9000 www.wsthz.org

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

744 Fair Oaks Ave. Oak Park 386-4920 Sunday Schedule Christian Education for All Ages 9:00am Worship Service 10:00am

Child care available 9-11am

fairoakspres.org OAK PARK MEETING OF FRIENDS (Quakers) Meeting For Worship Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at Oak Park Art League 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park Please call 708-445-8201 www.oakparkfriends.org

Roman Catholic

Ascension Catholic Church

www.unitedlutheranchurch.org

708/386-1576

(708) 697-5000 LIVE Webcast - 11:15AM Service

Fair Oaks

Lutheran-Independent

Grace Lutheran Church

7300 W. Division, River Forest David R. Lyle, Senior Pastor David W. Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Lauren Dow Wegner, Assoc. Pastor Sunday Worship, 8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Sunday School/Adult Ed. 9:45 a.m. Childcare Available

Grace Lutheran School

Preschool - 8th Grade Bill Koehne, Principal 366-6900, graceriverforest.org Lutheran-Missouri Synod

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church

305 Circle Ave, Forest Park Sunday Worship, 9:30am Christian Education Hour 8:30am Wednesday Worship 7:00pm Wheelchair Access to Sanctuary Leonard Payton, Pastor Roney Riley, Assistant Pastor 708-366-3226 www.stjohnforestpark.org Methodist

First United Methodist Church of Oak Park

324 N. Oak Park Avenue 708-383-4983 www.firstUMCoakpark.org Sunday School for all Ages, 9am Sunday Worship, 10am Children’s Chapel during Worship Rev. Katherine Thomas Paisley, Pastor Professionally Staffed Nursery Fellowship Time after Worship

808 S. East Ave. 708/848-2703 www.ascensionoakpark.com Worship: Saturday Mass 5:00 pm Sunday Masses 7:30, 9:00, 11 am, 5:00 pm Sacrament of Reconciliation 4 pm Saturday Taize Prayer 7:30 pm First Fridays Feb.– Dec. & Jan. 1

Rev. James Hurlbert, Pastor

Roman Catholic

St. Edmund Catholic Church

188 South Oak Park Ave. Saturday Mass: 5:30 p.m. Sunday Masses: 9:00 & 11:00 a.m., 5:30 p.m. Weekday Mass: 8:30 a.m. M–F Holy Day Masses: As Announced Reconciliation: Saturday 4:15 p.m. Parish Office: 708-848-4417 Religious Ed Phone: 708-848-7220

St. Giles Family Mass Community

We welcome all to attend Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. on the St. Giles Parish campus on the second floor of the school gym, the southernmost building in the school complex at 1034 North Linden Avenue. Established in 1970, we are a laybased community within St. Giles Roman Catholic Parish. Our Mass is family-friendly. We encourage liturgically active toddlers. Children from 3 to 13 and young adults play meaningful parts in each Sunday liturgy. Together with the parish, we offer Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based religious education program for children in grades K-8. For more information, go to http://www.stgilesparish.org/ family-mass-community or call Bob Wielgos at 708-288-2196.

Third Unitarian Church 10AM Sunday Forum 11AM Service Rev. Colleen Vahey thirdunitarianchurch.org (773) 626-9385 301 N. Mayfield, Chicago Committed to justice, not to a creed

Roman Catholic

St. Bernardine Catholic Church Harrison & Elgin, Forest Park

CELEBRATING OUR 107TH YEAR! Sat. Masses: 8:30am & 5:00pm SUNDAY MASSES: 8:00am & 10:30am 10:30 Mass-Daycare for all ages CCD Sun. 9am-10:15am Reconciliation: Sat. 9am & 4pm Weekday Masses: Monday–Thursday 6:30am Church Office: 708-366-0839 CCD: 708-366-3553 www.stbern.com Pastor: Fr. Stanislaw Kuca

Upcoming Religious Holidays

Dec 2-24 Advent Christian 12 Feast day - Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Christian 16-25 Posadas Navidenas Hispanic Christian 21 Yule Christian

To place a listing in the Religion Guide, call Mary Ellen: 708/613-3342

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

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

HOURS: 9:00 A.M.â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5:00Â P.M. MONâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;FRI

WEDNESDAY

Classified

YOUR WEEKLY AD

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

Deadline is Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

Place your ad online anytime at: www.OakPark.com /Classified/

Please Check Your Ad: The publisher will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion. Wednesday Journal Classified must be notified before the second insertion. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement.

BY PHONE: (708) 613-3333 | BY FAX: (708) 467-9066 | BY E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@OAKPARK.COM | CLASSIFIEDS@RIVERFOREST.COM HELP WANTED Construction Manager sought by Dotterel, LLC to confer with supervisory personnel, owners, contractors, or design professionals to discuss and resolve matters such as work procedures, complaints, or construction problems, to plan/ schedule construction projects, prepare budget estimates, reports, and inspect/ review projects to ensure building code and regulation compliance. Location: Chicago, IL; Bachelor of Science degree and 2 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience required. Weekly travel to various worksites in Chicagoland area required. Please mail resumes to Marek Sasadeusz, 6225 N. Hermitage, Chicago, IL 60660. Developer Senior sought by Anthem, Inc. in Chicago, IL, to participate in requirement definition, validation & documentation, and diagnose and resolve complex production issues. Apply at www.jobpostingtoday.com, ref# 95940. DevOps Engineer sought by Cars. com in Chicago, IL. Implmt cont bld, deploy & rls prcs. Aply @ www. jobpostingtoday.com (ref # 33609) ELECTRICIANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HELPER PART-TIME Part-time Electricianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Helper. Must have own transportation. Call for more info 708-738-3848. Part Time Positions Available for 2018-19 school year After-School Recreation / Day Care Worker Youth Development Specialist on site at Oak Park public schools The Day Care Program of Hephzibah Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association is accepting applications for nurturing individuals to provide care and supervision of 5-11-year-old children in the After School Day Care program on site at Oak Park public schools. The days and hours are Monâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Fri from 2:30-6:00 PM and 2:00-6:00 PM on Wednesdays. Plan and supervise arts and crafts, indoor & outdoor play, games, sports, homework help and more. Requirements include: -6 semester hours in education, recreation, social work or related college courses -previous experience working with children. Openings available for the 2018-19 school year starting. Contact Amy Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Rourke, Director of Day Care at aorourke@hephzibahhome.org

SUBURBAN RENTALS

OFFICE SPACE FORÂ RENT

FOREST PARK 1BR STUDIO Garden Apartment w/ heat & parking. $700 per month. 708-227-7007

THERAPY OFFICES FORÂ RENT Therapy offices for rent in north Oak Park. Rehabbed building. Nicely furnished. Flexible leasing. Free parking; Free wifi; Secure building; Friendly colleagues providing referrals. Shared Waiting room; optional Conference room. Call or email with questions. Shown on Sundays. Lee 708.383.0729 drlmadden@ameritech.net

FOREST PARK LOFT STYLE APT 2nd floor of 2-flat w/ laundry room. Walk-in closets & pantry. Heat, parking & gas incl. Close to transportation. Avail. Dec. 1. $975 plus security. Call Henry 708-436-3644. OAK PARK SMALL 1 BR Downtown Oak Park. Hardwood floors throughout. All utlities included. $800 per month. Call 708-657-4226.

ROOMS FORÂ RENT AUSTIN CLEAN ROOM With fridge, micro. Nr Oak Park, Super Walmart, Food 4 Less, bus, & Metra. $116/wk and up. 773-637-5957 Large Sunny Room with fridge & microwave. Near Green line, bus, Oak Park, 24 hour desk, parking lot. $101.00 week & up. New Mgmt. 773-378-8888

WANTED TO BUY 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

CEMETERY LOTS CONCORDIA CEMETERY Two lots near entrance in Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park. $1600 for both, or best offer. Email: russ.home@gmail.com

PETS While youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re away, your pets are okay . . . at home

cat calls

Oak Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Original Pet Care Service â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Since 1986

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

524-1030

SUBURBAN RENTALS

M&M

property management, inc.

708-386-7355 â&#x20AC;¢ www.mmpropmgt.com 649 Madison Street, Oak Park Contact us for a complete list of available rentals throughout Oak Park and Forest Park.

Apartment listings updated daily at:

Equal Opportunity Employer

PUMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BARBERSHOP Barber Wanted 773-889-9811 Starting A New Business in 2019? Call the Experts Before You Place Your Legal Ad! Publish Your Assumed Name Legal Notice in Wednesday CLASSIFIED! Call 708/613-3342

Find your new apartment this Saturday from 10 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4pm at 35 Chicago Avenue. Or call us toll free at 1-888-328-8457 for an appointment.

ELECTRICAL

CLEANING CLEANING FOR YOU Experienced, reliable, honest, 100% satisfaction guaranteed! Call or leave a message: 708-870-6740 or 708-262-9756

Pamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A+ Cleaning Service

Fall is here! Time to make a change? Take a moment to preview our detailed cleaning. For a free estimate please call 708-937-9110

Ceiling Fans Installed

FIREPLACES/ FIREWOOD

A&A ELECTRIC

708-409-0988 â&#x20AC;¢ 708-738-3848 Sr. Discounts â&#x20AC;¢ 30 Yrs. Exp Servicing Oak Park â&#x20AC;¢ All surrounding suburbs â&#x20AC;¢ Chicago area

FLOORS

HANDYMAN

KLIS FLOORING INC.

%,%#42)#!, (!.$9-!. 3%26)#%3

New hardwood flooring installation & pergo. Sanding, re-finishing, staining. Low prices, insured. Call: 773-671-4996 www.klisflooring.com

GARAGE/GARAGE DOOR Our 71st Year

Garage Doors &

FIREWOOD

Electric Door Openers

Fast Delivery MIXED HARDWOODS â&#x20AC;¢ $130 F.C. CBH & MIX â&#x20AC;¢ $145 F.C. 100% OAK â&#x20AC;¢ $165 F.C. CHERRY OR HICKORY â&#x20AC;¢ $185 F.C. 100% BIRCH â&#x20AC;¢ $220 F.C.

Free Estimates

Sales & Service

UNLIMITED

Seasoned 2 years Stacking Available

847-888-9999 Order online:

BASEMENT CLEANING

Let an American Veteran do your work

We make service calls! We fix any electrical problem and do small jobs Home Re-wiring â&#x20AC;¢ New Plugs & Switches Added New circuit breaker boxes â&#x20AC;¢ Code violations corrected Service upgrades,100-200 amp â&#x20AC;¢ Garage & A/C lines installed Fast Emergency Service | Residential â&#x20AC;¢ Commercial â&#x20AC;¢ Industrial Free Home Evaluations | Lic. â&#x20AC;¢ Bonded â&#x20AC;¢ Ins. â&#x20AC;¢ Low Rates â&#x20AC;¢ Free Est.

ELECTRICAL ++++++++++++++ + + + HUGHS + + ELECTRIC + + + Appliance lines + Lighting + â&#x20AC;&#x201D;services + Furnace repair & tune-ups + + + Trouble calls Free Estimates + + + 10% Senior Discount + Insured Since 1986 + + Lic &Good References + + + 708-612-4803 + ++++++++++++++

HAULING

(708) 652-9415 www.forestdoor.com

HANDYMAN CURT'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Drywall Repair â&#x20AC;¢ Painting Fans Installed â&#x20AC;¢ Carpentry Trim Gutter Cleaning â&#x20AC;¢ Window Repair

www. suregreen landscape.com

Credit Cards Accepted

FREE ESTIMATES Excellent References No Job Too Small

708-488-9411

NOVENA NOVENA PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN (NEVER KNOWN TO FAIL) OH, MOST BEAUTIFUL flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor ofheaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me, herein you are my mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, show me herein you are my mother. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (3 times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days and publish; your request will be granted. RB.

You have jobs. WeÂ have readers! Find the best employees with WednesdayÂ Classified! Call 708-613-3342.

!LL 4YPES OF (OME 2EPAIRS 2EPAIRS )NSTALLATIONS 0ROFESSIONAL 1UALITY 7ORK !T 2EASONABLE 0RICES 0ROMPT 3ERVICE 3MALL *OBS A 3PECIALTY

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

HEATING/ AIR CONDITIONING HEATING AND APPLIANCE EXPERT Furnaces, Boilers and Space Heaters Refrigerators Ranges â&#x20AC;¢ Ovens Washer â&#x20AC;¢ Dryers Rodding Sewers Lic/Bonded 25 yrs experience

Mikeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home Repair Drywall H Painting H Tile Plumbing H Electric H Floors Windows H Doors H Siding Ask Us What We Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Do

FREE SERVICE CALL WITH REPAIR AND SENIOR/VETERAN DISCOUNT.

708-785-2619 or 773-585-5000

708-296-2060

PAINTING & DECORATING

HANDYMAN Roofing Repairs Concrete Repairs â&#x20AC;¢ Drywall All types of handiwork Call For Free Estimates

773-732-2263

CLASSIC PAINTING

Fast & Neat Painting/Taping/Plaster Repair Low Cost

Ask for John

708.749.0011

PLUMBING

A-All American

Plumbing & Sewer Service FREE ESTIMATES Service in 1 Hour in Most Cases

All Work Guaranteed Lowest Prices Guaranteed FREE Video Inspection with Sewer Rodding /P +PC 5PP -BSHF t /P +PC 5PP 4NBMM Family Owned & Operated

t Lic. #0967

classifieds@OakPark.com | classifieds@RiverForest.com

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CLASSIFIED

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

Let the sun shine in...

WINDOWS

Public Notice: Your right to know In print • Online • Available to you 24 / 7 /365

BROKEN SASH CORDS?

OakPark.com | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIlliPUBLIC NOTICES

CALL THE WINDOW MAN!

FAST RELIABLE SERVICE

LEGAL NOTICE

(708) 452-8929

Licensed

Insured

Ralph Grande Elmwood Park 708-452-8929

Serving Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park & Riverside Since 1974

PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D18155967 on November 20, 2018. Under the Assumed Business Name of GOLD COAST RESTORATION with the business located at: 1212 N LAKE SHORE DR 33BS, CHICAGO, IL 60610. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: PIERCE EDWARD JOHNSON 4731 TOPEKA DR, LOS ANGELES, CA 91356. Published in Wednesday Journal 11/28, 12/5, 12/12/2018

Attention Home-Improvement Pros! Reach the people making the decisions. Place an ad here! Call 708/613-3342

Chertkow and Chertkow (22019) Attorneys for Petitioner 1525 East 53rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60615 STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF COOK )ss Circuit Court of Cook County, County Department, Domestic Relations Division. In re the marriage of OMOTAYO A. OLORUNDARE, Petitioner and KAMARDEEN OLORUNDARE, Respondent, Case No. 2018D-006150. The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, the above named Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief; and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent, file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 2, 2019, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a judgment for Dissolution of Marriage entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY A. BROWN, Clerk. Published in Wednesday Journal 11/28, 12/5, 12/12/2018

PUBLIC NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

LAW OFFICE OF LINDA EPSTEIN Attorney for Petitioner 722 W. Diversey Parkway Ste. 101B Chicago, IL 60614

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing on the 2019-20 school year calendar will be held at 7:30pm on Thursday, December 20, 2018 at the School District’s Administration Building located at 201 North Scoville Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois in the Board Room (Room 213). This hearing will be for the consideration of District 200’s school calendar for the 2019-2020 school year. In accordance with Illinois School Code, the district is required to notify the public that the district’s proposal is to hold school on Columbus Day, October 14, 2019. As we did during the 20182019 school year, this additional day of student attendance during the Fall Semester of 2018 will allow practice SAT tests to be administered to our 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students such that teachers will be able to use results to inform their classroom practices during the 2019-2020 school year. Testimony regarding this proposal will be taken from both educators and parents.

PUBLIC NOTICE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE Special Warrant No. 359

STATE OF ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF COOK, ssCircuit Court of Cook County, County Department Domestic Relations Division In re the Marriage of KORNELIA ERDELYI, Petitioner, and LEO RIVERA, Respondent. No. 2018 D 010236 The requisite affidavit for Publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to you, Leo Rivera, Respondent, that a Petition has been filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, by the Petitioner, Kornelia Erdelyi, for Dissolution of Marriage and for other relief: and that said suit is now pending. Now, therefore, unless you, the said Respondent file your response to said Petition or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Room 802, Richard J. Daley Center, in the City of Chicago, Illinois, on or before January 9, 2018, default may be entered against you at any time after that day, and a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage Entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. DOROTHY BROWN, Clerk.

PUBLIC NOTICES

NOTICE OF DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY NOTICE is hereby given that the Village of Oak Park’s Draft Program Year 2017 Comprehensive Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (Draft CAPER) will be available for public review and comment during business hours from December 13 to December 27, 2018 at the Oak Park Village Hall (Neighborhood Services Division) 123 Madison Street, Oak Park, Illinois 60302; at all three public library branches in Oak Park; and on the Village’s website. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and non-English speaking persons, as needed. Program Year 2017 ran from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018. As a recipient of federal funding under the Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Solutions Grant and Section 108 Loan Guarantee Programs, the Village is required to submit annual performance reports to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Any comments concerning the Draft CAPER should be submitted in writing to Mark Dwyer, Grants Supervisor, at the Village Hall address listed above, or by calling 708.358.5416, by 5 p.m., December 27, 2018.

Published in Wednesday Journal 12/12, 12/19, 12/26/2018

Published in Wednesday Journal 12/12/2018

SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS, VILLAGE OF OAK PARK NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE SCHEDULE OF REGULAR MEETING DATES OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK PARK AND ITS BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES IS AS FOLLOWS FOR THE YEAR 2019 VILLAGE BOARD (REGULAR MEETINGS) VILLAGE BOARD SPECIAL MEETINGS FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD* PERSONNEL COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD REINVENTING GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD BOARD OF HEALTH BUILDING CODES ADVISORY COMMISSION CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT COMMISSION CITIZENS POLICE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CIVIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS COMMISSION COMMUNITY DESIGN COMMISSION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION DISABILITY ACCESS COMMISSION* ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY COMMISSION FARMERS’ MARKET COMMISSION FIRE & POLICE COMMISSION FIREMEN’S PENSION BOARD HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE EDUCATION COMMITTEE HOUSING PROGRAMS ADVISORY COMMITTEE LIQUOR CONTROL REVIEW BOARD PLAN COMMISSION POLICE PENSION BOARD TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

1ST & 3RD MONDAYS, 7:30 PM 2ND & 4TH MONDAYS, 7:00 PM IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. 4TH TUESDAY, 7:00 PM 3RD THURSDAY, 5:30 PM 1ST WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM 3RD TUESDAY, 7:30 PM 2ND THURSDAY, 7:00 PM 4TH WEDNESDAY, 6:45 PM IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. 3RD WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM 4TH WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM 1ST TUESDAY, 7:00 PM 2ND WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM (No Meeting in December) IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. 2ND THURSDAY, 7:30 PM 4TH WEDNESDAY, 7:30 PM 3RD WEDNESDAY, 7:30 PM 3RD WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM 4TH TUESDAY, 7:30 PM (No Meeting in December) 1ST THURSDAY, 7:00 PM IRREGULAR, NOTICE POSTED 48 HRS. BEFORE MTG. 4TH MONDAY, 7:00 PM 1ST WEDNESDAY, 7:30 PM

UNLESS OTHERWISE DESIGNATED, MEETINGS ABOVE ARE SCHEDULED AT VILLAGE HALL, 123 MADISON ST., OAK PARK, IL. – FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL (708) 383-6400 * LOCATIONS VARY VICKI SCAMAN, VILLAGE CLERK Published in Wednesday Journal 12/12/2018

Published in Wednesday Journal 12/5, 12/12/2018

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D18155987 on November 26, 2018. Under the Assumed Business Name of HEYSTEEV with the business located at: 7449 WARREN AVE APT 1R, FOREST PARK, IL 60130. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: STEVEN M WILLIAMS 7449 WARREN AVE APT 1R, FOREST PARK, IL 60130 Published in Forest Park Review 11/28, 12/5, 12/12/2018

PUBLIC NOTICE Request for Proposals Request of Proposals for Recreation Management Software (RMS) Owner: Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St, Oak Park, IL 60302 The Park District of Oak Park will accept proposals for Recreation Management Software. The Park District of Oak Park will receive proposals until 2:00 p.m. (Chicago time) on Thursday, January 10th, 2019 at 218 Madison St., Oak Park, Illinois. The proposal documents and requirements will be available on the Park District’s website as of 10:00 am Wednesday, December 12th, 2018. Copies of the proposal specifications are available via the Park District of Oak Park website at: http://www.pdop.org/bids-and-rfps/ For additional information, contact Kyle Cratty at kyle.cratty@pdop.org or (708) 725 2015. The Park District of Oak Park encourages minority and women owned business firms to submit bids for this project. Park District of Oak Park By: Kassie Porreca, Secretary Park District of Oak Park 218 Madison St. Oak Park, IL 60302 Published in Wednesday Journal 12/12/2018

NOTICE is hereby given that the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department, County Division has rendered judgment for a special assessment upon property benefited by the following improvement: the public alley in the 4100 block between Deyo Avenue and Dubois Boulevard in the Village of Brookfield, as will more fully appear from the certified copy of the judgment on file in my office and that the warrant for the collection of this assessment is in my possession. All persons interested are hereby notified to call and pay the amount assessed at the collector’s office of the Village of Brookfield, 8820 Brookfield Avenue, Brookfield, Illinois 60513 within 30 days from the date hereof. The assessment may be paid in ten (10) equal annual installments at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum payable beginning on January 2, 2019, and on the 2nd day of January of each of the nine successive years. Each installment is to be calculated as follows: ten percent (10%) of the total amount assessed against the tax parcel of property plus interest at the rate of six (6%) percent per annum on the unpaid balance due. Dated: November 30, 2018. Doug Cooper Village Collector, Village of Brookfield Published in RB Landmark 12/5, 12/12/2018

PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D18156001 on November 26, 2018. Under the Assumed Business Name of THE RUSTIC WINDOW SHOP with the business located at: 1116 WASHINGTON BLVD APT 305, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: CICELY V. FORD 1116 WASHINGTON BLVD APT 305, OAK PARK, IL 60302. Published in Wednesday Journal 12/5, 12/12, 12/19/2018_

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION CITIZENS BANK NA F/K/A RBS CITIZENS NA SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO CHARTER ONE BANK, F.S.B. Plaintiff, -v.EDNA R. MCCOY, CHICAGO TITLE LAND TRUST COMPANY SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE TO LASALLE BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE U/T/A DATED 10/17/1990 A/K/ A TRUST NO. 1182-CH, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 18 CH 00566 205 S HARVEY AVE OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 1, 2018, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 8, 2019, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 205 S HARVEY AVE, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-08-307-0160000. The real estate is improved with a residence. 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, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-17-18077. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

CLASSIFIED

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

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

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 | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-17-18077 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 18 CH 00566 TJSC#: 38-7973 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. I3104532

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. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC, Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088. Please refer to file number 259194. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce,

LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago, IL 60602 (312) 346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 259194 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 16 CH 15592 TJSC#: 38-8909 I3105166

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, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-18-05365. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-18-05365 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 2018 CH 06228 TJSC#: 38-8099

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. I3104723

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, examine the court file or contact Plaintiff’s attorney: CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.,

15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please refer to file number 14-17-17633. THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL 60527 (630) 794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-17-17633 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 17 CH 16675 TJSC#: 38-8087 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. I3104721

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION MTGLQ INVESTORS, L.P. Plaintiff, -v.ELISABETH MUSSLEWHITE, THE HERITAGE MANOR CONDOMINIUMS ASSOCIATION, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 16 CH 15592 441 SOUTH TAYLOR AVENUE UNIT 1C OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 9, 2018, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 10, 2019, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 441 SOUTH TAYLOR AVENUE UNIT 1C, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-08-321-0311008. The real estate is improved with a gray vinyl siding, two story townhouse with an attached garage. 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

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, AS TRUSTEE FOR CIT MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-1 Plaintiff, -v.JOYCE PILLOW Defendants 2018 CH 06228 1118 N AUSTIN BLVD OAK PARK, IL 60302 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 4, 2018, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2019, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1118 N AUSTIN BLVD, OAK PARK, IL 60302 Property Index No. 16-05-307-028. The real estate is improved with a single family residence. 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

MORTGAGE DIRECTORY

MORTGAGE RATE DIRECTORY LENDER COMMUNITY BANK OF OAK PARK - RIVER FOREST

(708) 660-7006 1001 Lake St., Oak Park IL 60301 www.cboprf.com

AMOUNT

RATE/YR

80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80%

4.875% / 30 yr. fixed 4.750% / 20 yr. fixed 4.375% / 15 yr. fixed 4.375% / 5 yr. ARM 4.500% / 7 yr. ARM 4.750% / 10 yr. ARM

POINTS/ APP. FEE 0%/$550 0%/$550 0%/$550 0%/$550 0%/$550 0%/$550

A.P.R.

4.949% 4.851% 4.502% 5.075% 5.020% 5.051%

· Approved IHDA Mortgage Program Lender · Financing available up to 97% LTV Construction Loans and Home Equity Lines of Credit available – call for terms.

Mortgage rates are accurate as of Monday afternoon. Due to the fluctuation of mortgage rates, the rates may vary before publication. Contact your mortgage lender for complete details. Mortgage rates vary in APR and other qualifying factors.

To Advertise your Mortgage Rates, call Mary Ellen Nelligan: 708/613-3342

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Plaintiff, -v.AGNIESZKA KRYCZKA, BEATA I. WAKULINSKA Defendants 17 CH 16675 1020 LATHROP AVE FOREST PARK, IL 60130 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on October 4, 2018, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2019, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 1020 LATHROP AVE, FOREST PARK, IL 60130 Property Index No. 15-13-416-0100000. The real estate is improved with a residence. 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

Cla

OIS ILLIN

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE ON BEHALF OF THE FDIC 2013-R2 ASSET TRUST Plaintiff, vs. DIANA R. DEGORI, AKA ROSE DEGORI; KENNETH P. DEGORI; BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.; JOHN WILLIAM LEVINE, AKA JOHN LEVINE Defendants, 18 CH 7120 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY

AdveNrEtTWiOsRing d e i f K ss i ADVERTISING SERVICES

Place your ad in hundreds of Illinois newspapers! Call Illinois Press Advertising Service 217-241-1700 or visit www.illinoispress.org

EMPLOYMENT - DRIVERS

LEGAL SERVICES

Rewarding Our Drivers from Day ONE! $1600 sign-on Bonus! EXPERIENCED DRIVERS *Flatbed *Step Deck *Van *LTL Reefer. Pay is 26% Gross Flatbed/Step Deck & up to .53/mile Van/Reefer. Full benefits w/FREE Health & Life Insurance, 6 paid Holidays + Industry leading Driver Bonus Program! Must have Class A CDL. Call Ruth or Mike at TTI Inc. 1-800-222-5732. Apply online ttitrucking.com.

NEED LEGAL HELP? Get a FREE referral to an attorney! Call the Illinois State Bar Association Illinois Lawyer Finder. The advice you need! 1-877-270-3855 or https://www.isba.org/public/illinoislawyerfinder

HEALTH

FREON R12 WANTED: CERTIFIED BUYER will PAY CA$H for R12 cylinders or cases of cans. (312) 291-9169 www.refrigerantfinders.com

IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE were diagnosed with ovarian cancer after use of TALC products such as Baby Powder or Shower to Shower, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Charles H. Johnson 1-800-535-5727

WANTED TO BUY TOP CASH PAID! FOR OLD MOTORCYCLES! 1900-1979 Dead or Alive! 1-888-800-1932

TRAINING/EDUCATION AIRLINE CAREERS FOR NEW YEAR–Become an Aviation Maintenance Tech. FAA-Approved Training. Financial Aid if Qualified - Job Placement Assistance. CALL AIM 1-800-481-8312.

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

CLASSIFIED

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

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 | RiverForest.com | PublicNoticeIllinois.com REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-07-323-052-1006. Commonly known as 426 WISCONSIN AVENUE, OAK PARK, IL 60302. The mortgaged real estate is improved with a condominium residence. The purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by subdivisions (g) (1) and (g)(4) of Section 9 of the Condominium Property Act Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC, One East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60601. (614) 220-5611. 18-014935 F2 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3106357 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT– CHANCERY DIVISION WINTRUST MORTGAGE A DIVISION OF BARRINGTON BANK AND TRUST Plaintiff, vs. SARAH GULLETTE-JOHNSON; AARON N. JOHNSON; UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS; Defendants, 17 CH 10102 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-18-313-020-0000. Commonly known as 1015 S. Kenilworth Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60304. The mortgaged real estate is a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: Bidders must present, at the time of sale, a cashier’s or certified check for 10% of the successful bid amount. The balance of the successful bid shall be paid within 24 hours, by similar funds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. For information call Mr. James M. Crowley at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Plunkett Cooney, P.C., 221 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60601. 312-670-6900. INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION Selling Officer, (312) 444-1122 I3106349

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

local employees = happy employees!

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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 informedthat 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. WEDNESDAY JOURNAL Forest Park Review, Landmark

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

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

Contact Mary Ellen Nelligan for more information. (708) 613-3342 • classifieds@OakPark.com | classifieds@RiverForest.

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

S P O R T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM Sanchez finished with 16 points for OPRF. The Huskies also received valuable bench contributions from junior center Karly Cantrell (8 points, 8 rebounds), and senior guard Faith Smith (7 points). In addition to talent and experience, the Huskies have chemistry. “This group plays together and for each other,” Coughlin said. “That goes a long way. Having two dynamic senior guards like Ahsha and Darse goes a long way too. “This was the first game Karly didn’t start, she had four points the entire season.” Coughlin added. “To get that boost from her was huge. Faith was awesome off the bench.” Trinity struggled due to poor shooting, turnovers and KIM COLEMAN foul trouble. Highly Trinity coach touted sophomore forward Makiyah Williams was called for three fouls in the first half. Playing limited minutes, she finished with a team-high 10 points. “(Williams) is a fantastic player,” Coughlin said. “She can do everything. And she’s only a sophomore which is scary.” Junior forward Lauren Saleh had eight points, while sophomore guard Savannah Childress added six points for Trinity. On a positive note, the Blazers dominated the glass. Saleh and Williams had 10 rebounds apiece. “We learned a few games back that we had to rebound,” Coleman said. “Moving forward, that’s the number one responsibility. Everyone needs to rebound. You can’t win games if you don’t. I was proud with how we handled ourselves on the boards, and I’m sure we’ll continue to do that as the season goes along.” Under Coleman’s guidance, the Blazers are looking to develop an identity. With only two seniors, Trinity has several young players understandably finding their way. This year, they’ll be without the services of promising junior guard Dayjah Chmielewski, who is out for the season with an ACL injury that she suffered during the offseason. “Dayjah is a big loss for us,” Coleman said. “She’s been a starter on the varsity the last two seasons. But we have a lot of kids who are hungry and ready to fill the role. It’s all about putting the pieces together and trusting each other. We’re heading in the right direction. It’s all about patience.” Coughlin believes it’s just a matter of time before Trinity regains its status as one of the Chicago area’s best programs. “Trinity is a great program,” he said. “Kim’s going to have them rolling. They’re really well-coached. It won’t take her long to get this program back to the top.”

“I don’t think the Golden State Warriors could win a game shooting like that.”

Photos by Carol Dunning

OPRF senior Darse Sanchez shoots a free throw. (Left) Trinity sophomore Makiyah Williams pulls up for a jumper in traffic against OPRF.

HUSKIES

Sweet revenge from page 32 them this year. We’re going to beat them at their house like they beat us at our house. We came in with that mentality. We worked hard in practice and in the film room so we were ready.” Spencer, one of the best players in the West Suburban Conference, turned in another stat-sheet stuffing performance with a game-high 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. “I thought Ahsha played a really mature game at point guard,” Coughlin said. “In addition to her leadership, Ahsha knows

when to slow down and when to explode and take over. She’s growing as a person and a player. I’m pretty lucky to have her because she’s one of the better point guards in the state.” OPRF set the early tone with its pressure defense, forcing 10 turnovers in the first quarter. Consequently, an early 6-4 Trinity lead quickly evaporated as OPRF went on a 14-0 run to close out the quarter. “The energy before games during warmups is where it starts,” Spencer said. “When everybody’s pumped up and real aggressive on defense, we get steals and easy layups so that felt good. Defense is what will win us games this year. We’re going to be a good defensive team.” Although Trinity’s new coach Kim Coleman praised the Huskies for setting the tempo, she was not pleased with the Blaz-

ers’ abysmal shooting. “(OPRF) did a good job of pushing the pace,” Coleman said. “Our kids fought and played hard the entire game, which is always nice. But we shot 21 percent from the field. I don’t think the Golden State Warriors could win a game shooting like that. We’re going to learn from this and keep it moving.” Besides aggressive defense, a healthy Sanchez helped the Huskies’ cause. Sanchez, who has been injured often during her varsity career, scored 13 points in the first half to power OPRF to a 27-16 advantage at halftime. Spencer took over in the third quarter, tallying nine points to extend the lead to 45-27 after three quarters. “We’re tiny so we’ve got to pressure the ball quite a bit,” Coughlin said of the team’s defensive strategy. “Once we built a safe enough lead, getting into foul trouble and getting into a chaotic game wasn’t in our best interest. “We pulled back in the second half, which is something we normally don’t do,” he added. “I had a bad feeling about foul trouble, plus we turned the ball over a few times to start the second half. We don’t play half-court defense often, but we decided to do it in the second half. It paid off for us. It was a really good team win.”

S P O R T S

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

Friars sign letters of intent Eight Fenwick student-athletes will play college sports A group of Fenwick High School student-athletes signed letters of intent to play collegiate sports next year. The following is a list of the signees, the college they are attending and their respective sport. The eight Friars pictured are (left to right): Lucas Kolovitz – Purdue University Fort Wayne, Baseball; Josh Kirkham – Bradley University, Golf; Sam Patston – Juniata College, Soccer; Rachel Martinez – University of Southern Indiana, Softball; Payton Comstock – U.S. Naval Academy, Water Polo; Liam Hutchinson - University of Notre Dame, Swimming; McKenzie Moorman – University of South Carolina, Volleyball; Claire Gatermann – Lehigh University, Track and Field.

Get a new lease on Get Get aanew new Get new renters Get aanew lease lease on on lease on insurance. lease on renters renters renters renters insurance. insurance. insurance. Did you know your landlord’s insurance. insurance only covers the

Courtesy Fenwick High School

Terry Lemley, Agent 191 North Marion Oak Park, IL 60301 Bus: 708-383-3163 Terry Lemley, Agent Terry Terry Lemley, Lemley, Agent Agent terry@terrylemley.net

191 North Marion 191191 North North Marion Marion Oak Park, IL 60301 OakOak Park, Park, IL 60301 IL 60301 Bus: 708-383-3163 Bus:Bus: 708-383-3163 708-383-3163 terry@terrylemley.net terry@terrylemley.net terry@terrylemley.net

building? I’m here to help DidDid you know your landlord’s Did you you know know your your landlord’s landlord’s protect your stuff. insurance only covers the thethe insurance insurance only only covers covers LET’S TALK TODAY. building? I’m here to help building? building? I’mI’m here here to help to help protect your stuff. protect protect your your stuff. stuff. LET’S TALK TODAY. LET’S LET’S TALK TALK TODAY. TODAY.

Registration ends February 1st. Late fees apply after the 1st pending space availability.

StateCompany, Farm Florida Insurance Winter Haven, FL IL State Farm Fire and Casualty State Farm GeneralCompany, Insurance Company, Bloomington, State Farm FloridaState Insurance Haven, FL FarmCompany, Lloyds, Winter Richardson, TX 1708133 State Farm Lloyds, Richardson, TX 1708133

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

@ @OakPark

SPORTS

Friars sign letters of intent 31

OPRF flips script on Trinity

Spencer, Sanchez lead Huskies to long-awaited win against Blazers By MELVIN TATE

Contributing Reporter

ntering Saturday night’s high school girls basketball game, Trinity had defeated visiting Oak Park and River Forest approximately 20 straight seasons. The local matchup has been called a rivalry by title rather than reality. “This is known as a rivalry game, but it really hasn’t been a rivalry because we don’t win,” OPRF coach J.P. Coughlin said. “It might have been close to 20 years since we last defeated them.” At least for this season, the narrative has finally changed in the Huskies’ favor after their 52-37 victory over the Blazers in River Forest. “When coach told us (about the losing streak), we said ‘Let’s step it up,’” OPRF senior guard Ahsha Spencer said. “(OPRF senior) Darse (Sanchez) and I said to ourselves that we lost to them in overtime last year and we can’t lose to See HUSKIES on page 30

OPRF senior guard Ahsha Spencer elevates for a jump shot against Trinity on Sat., Dec. 8. The Huskies won 52-37.

Photo by Carol Dunning

Indoor Tennis • Holiday Specials! Kids 3 and Up Classes! Adult Beginner to Advanced Classes, Lessons, Leagues & Teams. Big Hit Drills. Inquire.

BEGINNER CLASSES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC*

GIFT

Tennis & Fitness

For private tennis lessons, tennis classes, personal training, yoga.

CERTIFICATES

PickleBall Yoga

• Pilates Spinning Group Training

301 Lake St., OP

(708) 386-2175 TENandFiT.com * restrictions apply

Christ mas 2018

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

A GUIDE TO AREA CHURCH SERVICES

--—-- all are welcome --—--

Jazz Prayer

Christmas Carols

Enjoy familar Christmas songs to live jazz–upbeat and filled with riffs. Come at 7:10 pm to enjoy the refreshments

Christmas Eve Family service, 5 pm

May the peace & joy of Christmas live in your heart all year long.

Holiday Services at Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation 7:00pm

Friday December 21st :: Winter Solstice Celebration

Christmas Eve Services Monday, December 24, 2018 3:00pm

Christmas Pageant & Worship for All Ages

7:00pm

Family Candlelight Service

10:30pm Organ Recital 11:00pm Candlelight Service with Carols and Readings 875 Lake Street | Oak Park IL | 708 848 6225

(Child-friendly service)

Traditional Candlelight Service 11 pm

(Pre-service music begins 10:30pm)

Good Shepherd

Lutheran Church, ELCA Temporarily located at 820 Ontario St. Oak Park • 708-848-4741 goodshepherdlc.org

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

The Catholic Parishes of Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park welcome you with open arms to our Advent and Christmas Season Services Come and f

n with us! o s a e s s i h t f o y o j l a e r eel the

Ascension Catholic Church

808 S. East Avenue, Oak Park (708) 848-2703 - ascensionoakpark.com Advent Evening Prayer Wednesdays, December 12 and 19 at 7:00 pm Contemplative Prayer Saturdays, December 15 and 22 at 8:30 am Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturdays from 4:00 – 4:45 pm Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve – Monday, December 24 Mass at 4:00 pm – with Schola Mass at 6:00 pm – A Children’s Focus Mass with Choristers Mass at 11:00 pm; Carols at 10:30 pm with the Adult Choir Christmas Day – Tuesday, December 25 Mass at 9:00 am and 11 am– with Organ and Instruments The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 – Mass at 5:00 pm Sunday, December 30 at 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 am, and 5:00 pm Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God – New Year’s Day Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 9:00 am Taizé Prayer for the World Day of Prayer for Peace at 7:30 pm

St. Giles Parish

1045 Columbian Avenue, Oak Park (708) 383-3430 - stgilesparish.org Eucharistic Adoration Thursday, December 13 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm in Church Tuesday, December 18 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in Gleeson Building Conference Room (2nd floor). 7:30 pm Prayer Service followed by Eucharistic Procession to Advent Circle Garden in McDonough Hall (Gleeson Building). Exposition of Blessed Sacrament in Advent Circle Garden until midnight. Thursday, December 20 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm in Church Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturdays from 8:30 – 9:00 am Saturday, December 22 from 8:30 – 9:30 am Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve: Monday, December 24 3:00 pm Children’s Christmas Mass in Church 3:15 pm Parish Christmas Mass in Gym 5:00 pm Youth/Teen Mass (with Teen Choir) in Church 7:30 pm Family Mass Community Mass in Gym (Carols at 7:00 pm) 10:30 pm Christmas Vigil Mass in Church (Carols at 10:00 pm) Christmas Day: Tuesday, December 25 Masses at 9:00 and 11:00 am The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 – Mass at 4:30 pm Sunday, December 30 – Masses at 7:45, 9:30, 11:15 am & 5:00 pm Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God Monday, December 31 at 4:30 pm Tuesday, January 1 at 9:00 am

St. Bernardine Church

7246 W. Harrison Street, Forest Park (708) 366-0839 - stbern.com Simbang Gabi Saturday, December 15 Mass at 5:00 pm Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve – Monday, December 24 Family Mass at 5:00 pm Caroling at 10:00 pm High Mass at 10:30 pm Christmas Day – Tuesday, December 25 Masses at 8:00 am and 10:30 am The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 at 5:00 pm Sunday, December 30 at 8:00 and 10:30 am Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God—New Year’s Day Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 9:00 am

St. Edmund Parish

188 S. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park (708) 848-4417 - stedmund.org

Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord Christmas Eve: Monday, December 24 4:30 pm Vigil: Family Mass Choral music and carols begin at 4:00 pm. 10:30 pm Vigil Lessons and Carols begin at 9:50 pm. Christmas Day: Tuesday, December 25 Masses at 9:00 am and 11:00 am Choral music and carols begin at 10:50 am. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 at 5:30 pm Sunday, December 30 at 9:00 and 11:00 am Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God - New Year’s Day Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 10:00 am.

St. Luke Parish St. Catherine-St. Lucy Parish 38 N. Austin Blvd., Oak Park (708) 386-8077 - stcatherinestlucy.org

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve – Monday, December 24 Masses at 8:30 am and 5:00 pm - Family Christmas Mass (Prelude at 4:30 pm) Christmas Day – Tuesday, December 25 Masses at 8:30 am and 10:30 am The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 at 5:00 pm Sunday, December 30 at 8:30 and 10:30 am Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God Monday, December 31 - Masses at 8:30 am and 7:00 pm Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 10:00 am

St. Vincent Ferrer Parish 1530 Jackson Avenue, River Forest (708) 366 -7090 - svfparish.org

Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long December 22nd at 3:00 pm in the Church Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve – Monday, December 24 Mass at 4:00 pm Mass at 10:30 pm – Adult Choir Christmas Day – Tuesday, December 25 Masses at 7:30 am, 9:00 am and 11:00 am The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 at 5:30 pm Sunday, December 30 at 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 am, and 5:30 pm Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God—New Year’s Day Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 9:00 am 12:00 pm

7600 Lake Street, River Forest 708-771-8250 stlukeparish.org Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Christmas Eve – Monday, December 24 4:00 pm – Family Mass Preceded at 3:30 by “A Child’s Christmas,” a program music by our children’s choirs 6:00 pm – Mass with Sounds of the Season provided by flute, brass and voice 10:00 pm – Mass Preceded at 9:30 pm by “A Classic Christmas,” festive choral music and traditional carols with organ, brass, flute and violin Christmas Day - Tuesday, December 25 9:00 am Mass: Contemporary Christmas - Modern sounds of the season with our Contemporary Choir and guitar, brass and flute 11:00 am Mass: Traditional Christmas with music by the Chancel Choir with organ, flute and brass The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Saturday, December 29 at 5:00 pm Sunday, December 30 at 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 am Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God—New Year’s Day Monday, December 31 - Mass at 5:00 pm Tuesday, January 1 - Mass at 9:00 am and 11:00 am

Community Advent Reconciliation Service The Catholic churches of Forest Park, Oak Park, and River Forest will gather for an Advent Reconciliation Service on Monday, December 17 at 7:00 pm at St. Giles Parish, 1045 Columbian Avenue, Oak Park. Join us for an evening of communal prayer with time for individual confessions.

CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE

OAKPARK.COM | RIVERFOREST.COM

Come home for the holidays and connect. Sunday Service is at 11:00 am. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service • Sunday, December 24th at 7:00pm Christmas Morning Service at 11:00am

First Congregational Church of Maywood Please like us on Facebook

400 North 5th Avenue • Maywood, IL 60153 (708) 344-6150 www.firstchurchofmaywood.org

Keep Christmas with us.

THE 2018 HOLIDAYS ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER! LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW ABOUT YOUR 2018 HOLIDAY SERVICES VIA THE MOST-READ LOCAL NEWSPAPERS!

Wednesday Journal, December 12, 2018

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES 4:00 pm Family Service 8:00 pm Candlelight Service 11:00 pm Candlelight Communion Christmas Day 10:00 am First Presbyterian Church of River Forest 7551 Quick Avenue, River Forest

www.firstpresrf.org Wheelchair and Hearing Accessible

(708) 366-5822 Pastor Paul Detterman

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Christmas Worship

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Family Candlelight Service - 5:00 p.m. A Service of Lessons & Carols - 10:00 p.m.

Communion Service 9:30 a.m.

New Year’s Eve The Peace the World Cannot Give

Service 7:00 p.m.

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church 305 Circle Avenue, Forest Park • (708) 366-3226 • www.stjohnforestpark.org Rev. Leonard R. Payton, Pastor Rev. Roney Riley, Assistant Pastor Wheelchair Access to Sanctuary

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5

Advent & Christmas Guides CHRISTMAS CHURCH GUIDE II will be published on December 19.

DEADLINE: Friday, December 14th at NOON

Christmas Concert

Sunday, December 16, 4pm  Music of Gerald Finzi, Paul Bouman, Carl Schalk, John Rutter, and more

Christmas Eve, December 24 Children’s service, 4:15 and 6 pm  Lessons and carols led by the   children of Grace Holy Communion, 8 pm Candlelight Holy Communion, 10:45 pm Music begins at 10:30 pm

Christmas Day, December 25 Holy Communion, 10 am

Call Mary Ellen

at 708/613-3342 or email: maryellen@oakpark.com

7300 Division St.▪︎ River Forest ▪︎ 708-366-6900 ▪︎ GraceRiverForest.org

Zak Knebel

Patti Sprafka Wagner 708.218.8102

Patti@swkgroup.house

Master Bath Steam Shower

Roomy Bedrooms

Stained-Glass Windows

Twelve Days of Christmas!

New Tandem Office Windows

Story Renovation

Star Agents, Chicago Magazine

Foot Island in the New Mahogany Kitchen

Rooms in this 4-Square

Blocks from Fox Center & Park

Rooms in this Prairie Beauty

708.383.8700 | 1011 South Boulevard Oak Park, Il 60302 B4 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate â&#x2013; December 12, 2018

773.290.9293

Zak@swkgroup.house

Foot, Lower Level Ceilings

Custom Cabinets in the New Kitchen

Property transfers p. B11

December 12, 2018

Homes

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

POP OF COLOR: Ronbo’s Fine Painting, owned by Ron Feley (above), tackled this River Forest Victorian, recently earning the grand prize for Best Use of Color in the 2018 Chicago’s Painted Ladies Competition.

Old but not out W A River Forest Victorian gets a face-lift

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

hen Vito and Mary Beth Ippolito purchased their Victorian home in 2015, they knew the River Forest house was in need of some restoration from the moment they first saw it. “It was painted a rather unattractive shade of light blue,” Vito recalled. The couple tackled quite a bit on the inside and also took on the unpleasant exterior. A few years into their tenure in the home, they are finding the home is worth all of the effort.

The couple hired Ron Feley of Ronbo’s Fine Painting, Inc. to help them update the exterior of the house, and the Ronbo’s paint job on the house was recently awarded the Grand Prize for Best Use of Color for a Victorian in the Chicago’s Painted Ladies Competition. Vito Ippolito said they knew they wanted the exterior to complement the grand stature of the home. “The old colors really didn’t do justice to the house,” he said. “They just don’t make them like that anymore.” He said they wanted a bolder color that would accentuate the architecture, and thought the white columns and carefully

chosen trim colors would make the details on the exterior pop. Feley says that painting an entire house that is of a certain age and size is roughly a five-week process. A few of those weeks are spent prepping the exterior prior to painting, but he encourages clients to consider colors as soon as they hire him. “Before we can paint, we have to prep it out,” Feley said. “We scrape off old paint and assess wood damage and then decide if areas of wood need to be replaced or if we can fill holes with epoxy and caulking. We do all of this before we get to the paint.” See FACE-LIFT on page B7

December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

ONE Magnificent Cause

Donate a new, unwrapped toy through December 13th and put a smile on a child’s face this holiday season. *Please no stuffed animals, battery operated or realistic war-type toys.

1147 FOREST AVE, RIVER FOREST

731 BELLEFORTE AVE, OAK PARK

500 WILLIAM ST, RIVER FOREST

6 br, 4.1 ba $1,400,000

5 br, 4.1 ba $999,000

5 br, 5 ba $793,000

Pauline Sharpe 708.848.5550

Cory Kohut 708.848.5550

Monica Dalton 708.848.5550

325 N GROVE AVE, OAK PARK

946 FERDINAND AVE, FOREST PARK

847 S KENILWORTH AVE, OAK PARK

1100 N OAK PARK AVE, OAK PARK

936 MARENGO AVE, FOREST PARK

5 br, 1.1 ba $514,900

7 br, 4 ba $479,000

4 br, 1.1 ba $475,000

3 br, 2.1 ba $455,000

8 br $447,500

Alice McMahon 708.848.5550

Mark Hosty 708.848.5550

Kelly Fondow 708.848.5550

Jeanette Madock 708.848.5550

Get Noticed. World-Class Marketing that moves your home from Listed to Sold. 101 N. Oak Park Avenue | 708.848.5550

OPEN SUN 12:302:30

OPEN SUN 13

107 S EUCLID AVE A, OAK PARK

1414 MARENGO AVE, FOREST PARK

1157 GUNDERSON AVE, OAK PARK

1142 WENONAH AVE, OAK PARK

1120 LATHROP AVE, FOREST PARK

3 br, 2.2 ba $435,000

3 br, 3.1 ba $425,000

3 br, 1.2 ba $406,000

3 br, 1 ba $375,000

3 br, 2.1 ba $369,900

Kelly Fondow 708.848.5550

Dorothy Gillian 708.848.5550

Tabitha Murphy 708.848.5550

Cory Kohut 708.848.5550

Tabitha Murphy 708.848.5550

1105 THOMAS AVE, FOREST PARK

156 N OAK PARK AVE 2H, OAK PARK

1020 RANDOLPH ST 3W, OAK PARK

7251 RANDOLPH ST B6, FOREST PARK

811 LEXINGTON ST 12, OAK PARK

4 br, 3 ba $349,999

2 br, 2 ba $349,000

3 br, 2 ba $320,000

2 br, 1 ba $119,900

1 br, 1 ba $115,000

Mark Hosty 708.848.5550

Sarah O'Shea Munoz 708.848.5550

Monica Dalton 708.848.5550

Armando Vargas 708.848.5550

Tabitha Murphy 708.848.5550

| B6 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

FACELIFT

Trends come and go from page B5 He says that for a Victorian of the size of the Ippolito’s Keystone Avenue home, it is typical to test between five and 15 colors for an exterior paint job and experiment with placement for various shades. Feley said that Mary Beth Ippolito knew she wanted a dark blue shade for the main body of the house, but they still tried out more than a few hues. “She picked the darkest, brightest blue on the market that would work,” Feley said. This particular color took three coats to reach its intended depth. Calling colors a very personal choice, Feley says that communication with the client is key, and that people’s personal preferences play a large role. “Everyone has a different favorite color, and everyone, even the neighbors, will weigh in,” he said. In business since 1998, Feley says that he has seen color trends RON FELEY come and go. Owner of Ronbo’s “A new thing is to Fine Painting only use two colors on an exterior,” he said. “You used to see three to five colors on a house like this. The younger generation wants everything a bit simpler. We’re doing a lot of white, dark blues and dark greys right now.” While the clients choose the colors, Feley’s years of experience help them make the most of their home’s historic architecture. “I put up samples and accent trims to help them see how things will look,” Feley said. “A lot of the time, you don’t see the colors come together until it’s all done. I like to accent the architectural details to add depth to the house.”

“I like to accent the architectural details to add depth to the house.”

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

BEFORE AND AFTER: Before the new paint job, the Keystone Avenue home was painted a “rather unattractive shade of light blue” (below left). The new color scheme (above) helps emphasize the home’s architectural details. The owners of the home have also restored the interior (below right), including the dramatic grand staircase. The Ippolitos also took on a lot of restoration work on the inside of the home. The dramatic grand staircase was one the home’s selling points, and they restored the stainedglass windows on the stairwell. Vito Ippolito recalls that the wooden floors on the second floor were so damaged, they almost snapped when walked on. The couple replaced the hardwood floors and were careful to use wood with a grain that was consistent with the original floors on the first story of the home.

The couple renovated the two bathrooms on the second floor of the home and added a separate heating and cooling system to the third-floor space to make it more comfortable in all seasons. The front porch wood was warping, so the couple replaced that as well. This past spring, they tackled landscaping on the property. While the entire project took a few years to realize, Vito Ippolito notes that there were many benefits to doing the work with care. “Because of the amount of work we had

done, we were able to take advantage of the historic tax freeze,” he said. “That is significant. There is a lot of paperwork involved, but it is great that we have incentives to restore these types of homes and preserve them.” Other benefits might not be tangible, but for old home lovers, they are just as significant, according to Vito Ippolito. “These are the kinds of houses that are worth restoring,” he said. “It’s kind of a part of our history, too.”

December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

BERWYN

3 BR, 2 BA .....................................$235,000 Tagger Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien â&#x20AC;¢ 708-456-6400

3 0 :DOVK &2 1SVEFOUJBM 6LQFH

OAK PARK

CHICAGO

2 BR, 1 BA ..................................................................................................................... $154,000 Steve Scheuring â&#x20AC;¢ 708-369-8043

2 BR, 2 BA .....................................$469,000

OAK PARK

3 BR, 2.2 BA .................................................................................................................. $360,000 Steve Scheuring â&#x20AC;¢ 708-369-8043

Tagger Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien â&#x20AC;¢ 708-456-6400

3 0 :DOVK &2 1SVEFOUJBM 6LQFH

OPEN SUNDAY 12- 2 P.M. 211 ELGIN, #5K

FOREST PARK

2 BR, 2.5 BA ..................................$299,900 Ken Van Santen â&#x20AC;¢ 708-975-0210

OAK PARK

5 BR, 2.1 BA .................................................................................................................. $537,000

3 BR, 1.1 BA ..................................$434,900

Steve Scheuring â&#x20AC;¢ 708-369-8043

OAK PARK

2 BR, 2.1 BA .................................................................................................................. $548,000 Steve Scheuring â&#x20AC;¢ 708-369-8043

Gabe Caporale â&#x20AC;¢ 708-456-1919

Want to see your listings in Distinctive Properties? Contact Marc Stopeck at 708.613.3330 or marc@oakpark.com B8 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate â&#x2013; December 12, 2018

Now in our Second Century of Service

OAK PARK

4 BR, 2 BA .....................................$492,000 Tagger Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien â&#x20AC;˘ 708-456-6400

3 0 :DOVK &2 1SVEFOUJBM 6LQFH

To find a local expert, go to oakparkrealtors.org

RIVER FOREST

5 BR, 3.1 BA ...............................$1,499,998

OAK PARK

3 BR, 2.3 BA .................................................................................................................. $690,000 Steve Scheuring â&#x20AC;˘ 708-369-8043

Gabe Caporale â&#x20AC;˘ 708-456-1919

THE POWER OF

more MacNeal Hospital is joining forces with Loyola

Medicine to give you more expertise, more sub-specialty care and more peace of mind. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all the more reason to make MacNeal Hospital, and Loyola Medicine, your first choice for quality care.

Learn more about MacNeal Hospital at macnealhospital.org

ÂŠ2018 Loyola Medicine

Want to see your listings in Distinctive Properties? Contact Marc Stopeck at 708.613.3330 or marc@oakpark.com December 12, 2018 â&#x2013; Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

Our team of brokers is committed to your success! F E A T U R E D

P R O P E R T Y

Oak Park Don’t miss your chance to enjoy the luxury of District House! This stunning 3-bedroom unit (plus office!) is the last developer listing available and boasts a breathtaking open floor plan, 10 ft. floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony overlooking the LEED-certified green roof. 3BR/2.5BA........................$599,000

Erica Cuneen

Cynthia Howe Gajewski

Managing Broker

Erica Cuneen • 708-220-2025

Broker Associate

Ruby Blair

Broker Associate

Oak Park

I PR

Denise Espinosa

Broker Associate

Karen Baldwin

Broker Associate

Denise Sacks

Broker Associate/ Office Manager

Michele Strimaitis

Phil Joseph

Broker Associate/ Client Care Coordinator

Broker Associate

Lisa Allen

Kristen Hollinden

Client Care Coordinator

Marketing Coordinator

Martha Murphy

Broker Associate

Isaac Jordan

Marketing and Technology

Oak Park

Berwyn

Vintage with updates, including “green” certification. 3rd flr master suite with vaulted ceiling. Vintage wdwrk, art glass, built-ins, WBFP, HW flrs with inlays, updated kitchen, bamboo flrs. Space for office, fa rm, rec rm and/or guest suite! New roof (2016), HE HVAC (2018). 5BR/2.5 BA ........$650,000

Sustainable design on double lot! Open floor plan, beamed ceilings, 1st floor family room, 2nd floor laundry, master suite with private deck, 3 closets, tub & shower, finished basement! Rare energy star rated home-geothermal heating/cooling system. 5BR/3.5BA .........................................$750,000

Rare opportunity to own HUGE 2 flat on deep, double lot with double garage (4 car parking) only 2 blocks from vibrant downtown OP! Units are 3/4 BR, 1400+ square feet each. Possibility to duplex down into the basement for even bigger living space! 2 Flat – 7BR/2BA..................$485,000

Fantastic Four Square! Large eat-in kitchen with new SS applncs, expanded master BR, updated electrical, sump pump. Newer sewer line, roof, furnace, A/C, and garage. Private patio, koi pond. Central location close to trans! 3BR/1.5BA...............$424,000

Bungalow with hardwood floors. 2 BRS on main flr & 1 HUGE BR upstairs that can be a combo BR/office/playroom. Updated kitchen has walk-in pantry Central A/C is ready to keep you cool! Close to shopping, metra, & bus, 3BR/1.5BA ................$265,000

Erica Cuneen • 708-220-2025

Cynthia Howe Gajewski • 312-933-8440

Oak Park

C RA

Oak Park

Chicago

C RA

Oak Park

Unique condo is truly a one-of-a-kind find! Hardwood floors, woodwork, art glass windows, abundance of natural light make unit incredibly warm and inviting. Kitchen with cherry wood cabinets, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. Don’t miss out! 3BR/2BA ................$320,000

Bungalow in highly desirable location! Large living room feat built-in bookshelves, opens to DR. Eat-in kitchen leads to enclosed back porch, overlooks backyard. Second floor master suite boasts sitting area, newer BA, closet space. Fully-finished basement. Has it all!4BR/3BA........$525,000

Stellar opportunity to build your dream house in an ideal, central location in Historic OP! Once-in-a-lifetime deal, lots in this urban suburb are rare, The Ridgeland/OP Historic District- does not allow tear-downs. Your winning lottery ticket: an opportunity to build new! Vacant Lot .................$699,000

Georgian in heart of Galewood. Hardwood floors, new windows, open floor plan, updated granite/SS kitchen, DR. LR with WBFP, mantel, built-in shelving. Fnshd bsmnt, large fam rm with WBFP. Wellmaintained home! 3BR/1.5BA ......$325,000

HDWD flrs, built-ins, art glass! Modern kit with ss applncs. Mstr Suite with two walk-in closets, window seat plus mstr BA, double vessel sinks, sep shower, soaking tub. 3rd flr with BR, wd flrs, built-ins, skylights. Fnshd bsmnt with half BA. Close to El, shops and restaurants. 4 BR/3.5 BA .................$600,000

Erica Cuneen •708-220-2025

Cynthia Howe Gajewski • 312-933-8440

Erica Cuneen • 708-220-2025

Erica Cuneen •708-220-2025

C RA

Forest Park

C RA

S Berwyn

D OL

Oak Park

Wonderfully updated condo in Forest Park, super clean, move-in ready with assigned parking space! Features a large living room with wood laminate floors, a newer AC unit, remodeled eat-in kitchen with stainless appls, wood cabs and granite countertops, and tile backsplash. 1BR/1BA..........$85,000

You can’t go wrong with this solid brick bungalow! Beautiful original woodwork and great bones! There are 2 generous-sized bedrooms (large closet in master), a partially finished basement with retro rec room (tall ceilings, wet bar!). 2BR/1BA...........$199,900

Great location 2 blocks from the Green line. This 2-bedroom, 2-bath house has charm, art glass & sensible updates. Great bathroom w/tub & shower. Amazing basement space. The deck—the yard! Yes! 2BR/2BA.............................................$372,500

Cynthia Howe Gajewski • 312-933-8440

Karen Baldwin • 708-288-1995

Cynthia Howe Gajewski • 312-933-8440

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

708.386.1366 • 109 N. Marion St., Oak Park • beyondpropertiesrealty.com B10 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

P R O P E R T Y

T R A N S F E R S

Oak Park home sells for $715,000

The following property transfers were reported by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds from October 1 to October 31, 2018. Where addresses appear incomplete, for instance where a unit number appears missing, that information was not provided by the recorder of deeds.

OAK PARK ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

511 Linden Ave 533 N Grove Ave 323 S Humphrey Ave 1104 N Elmwood Ave 1019 S Scoville Ave 725 Wenonah Ave 736 S Scoville Ave 1142 S Grove Ave 1183 Home Ave 924 Wenonah Ave 936 N Lombard Ave 1023 S Highland Ave 1134 S Euclid Ave 419 N Lombard Ave 1201 Rossell Ave 820 Woodbine Ave 829 Home Ave 721 Ontario St C12 515 S Euclid Ave 1015 S Elmwood Ave 546 N Cuyler Ave 312 N Ridgeland Ave 1022 S Scoville Ave 710 N Humphrey Ave 407 Wisconsin Ave 1182 S Ridgeland Ave 1018 N Humphrey Ave 216 S Maple Ave 36 920 Home Ave 851 Columbian Ave 625 S Highland Ave 842 S Highland Ave 421 S Kenilworth Ave 4211N 222 N Marion St 2K 224 S Oak Park Ave 4D 1170 S Humphrey Ave 1401 N Harlem Ave 1018 S Cuyler Ave 231 S Maple Ave 906 S Austin Blvd 1011 S Oak Park Ave 1033 Ontario St 1DS 829 Home Ave 819 Lake St 8192E 346 Wisconsin Ave 3461 301 W Chicago Ave 2SE

$1,205,000 $900,000 $715,000 $687,500 $674,000 $670,000 $564,000 $561,000 $560,000 $539,000 $535,000 $530,000 $495,000 $480,000 $475,000 $450,000 $450,000 $425,000 $390,000 $386,000 $382,000 $375,000 $370,000 $356,000 $350,000 $340,000 $336,000 $300,000 $265,000 $265,000 $255,000 $250,000 $240,000 $222,000 $221,500 $221,000 $215,000 $215,000 $210,000 $200,000 $195,000 $177,500 $175,000 $153,000 $146,500 $141,000

Locasto George W Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Mcgrath Thomas C Krueger Scott D Tr East Scoville Corp Pulse Usa Inc C & P Oak Park Llc Wittmann Joseph Warrior Const Inc Fitzpatrick Catherine L Comeaux Elizabeth A Bauer Joseph W Trudell Jeanette K Maschke Ken Hendrix C Thomas Molina Aquiles Jkkiv Llc Doar Timothy J Garcia Erminia Red Investments Llc Jurczak Ellen J Tr Federal Home Loan Mtg Corp Eckberg Judith A Tr Liefrinck Erik Mclellan Jason Duncan Renita D Feldman Maureen K Fisher Lynne Worthington Susan A Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Mulvihill Colleen A Byrd Steven Kucharczyk Wanda Hamdan Rana Garmon Gregory Srodon Amy C Tamburrino Caroline M Walker Melissa Icompany Inc Kumis Maria N Shack Jonathan Judicial Sales Corp Lanier Micah Marek Amy P Setlawan Emil

Clary Jason D Erlich Margaret Marzan Cesar F Rosado Fitzpatrick James Adams Arthur J Hsieh Whitney Fox Ronald P Dunn Casey Edward Frederick Randy Payne Lindsay Mays Sara E Sultan Faraz A Bielaga Taissa N Robinson Alicia Jane Waterbury Walin John M Mares Brett M Viollt Kevin D Lawrence-Moriarty Diane Hammer Matthew R Wittmann Joseph Kenney Livia Krohvan Llc Series 002 Boumgarden John H Rock Edward Michael Borelli Jean Meyer Eileen Schweitz Kurtis J Hasley Sheila Warrior Const Inc Hanawalt Assets Llc Sellers Advantage Chi Town Llc Wong Bryan K Burke Patrick J Krueger Kimberly A Tr Jastrzebski Steven C Rei Co 10 Llc Pacheco Cristian A B R Homes Llc Guerin Sarah L E Green Solutions Inc Melendez Crystal L Zlabis Alexandra L Jkk Iv Llc Zawisza Andrew Molloy Kevin Rodriguez Sandra L

323 S. Humphrey Ave., Oak Park

OAK PARK ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

1130 Ontario St C5 1041 Susan Collins Ln 505 228 N Oak Park Ave 3HH 1103 Holley Ct 202 444 Washington Blvd 406 228 N Oak Park Ave 1DD 1136 S Harvey Ave 107 S Elmwood Ave 11 405 S Maple Ave 4 248 S Marion St 105 824 N Austin Blvd 2SE 1109 Holley Ct 114 918 Clinton Ave 516 Washington Blvd

$130,000 $126,500 $125,000 $120,000 $112,000 $95,000 $85,000 $75,000 $71,000 $68,500 $58,000 $45,000 $479 Unknown

Jutkins J Ronald Intercounty Judicial Sales Corp Prauss Gail G Tr Taddei Lisa M Outly Barbara A Garafolo Jil K Farlinger William Justiice Amy Beth Midland Ira Inc Fbo Rowe Sandra Twin Ii Llc Catts Patricia Lee Clary Jason D Judicial Sales Corp

Stallings Leonard Sun Ping Cunneen Patti Jo Purcell Alexander R Wilson Therese M Boleslav Yvette Ambrosia Homes Il Llc Series 64 Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Lauer Norman C Blue Line Dev Llc A1 Corp Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Mclellan Jason Live Well Fin Inc

RIVER FOREST 1302 Jackson Ave 1339 Ashland Ave 7610 Washington Blvd 747 Thatcher Ave 7615 Washington Blvd 755 William St 1020 N Harlem Ave D3 407 Ashland Ave 5J 1410 N Harlem Ave 1541 Monroe Ave 15411/2 1410 N Harlem Ave 1401 William St 730 Lathrop Ave

$800,000 $800,000 $515,000 $500,000 $472,500 $450,000 $285,000 $240,000 $215,500 $100,000 $5,000 Unknown Unknown

Ruback Eric M Onal Ergun Prevolos Michael Washington Jared Adm Mcfall Rebecca Ambrosino Kyle Golz Guilbert Tr Hopkinson James Cook Ryan King Scott Tr Cook Ryan Judicial Sales Corp Judicial Sales Corp

Shillington Sarah Li Jun Olson Erik Carroll Nicholas Joseph Anderegg Daniel M Manning Lydia K Bridges Tim R Brennan Paul L Serumago-Young Karundi Afesa Inv Inc Cook Ryan Wells Fargo Bk U S Bk Tr

See PROPPERTY TRANSFERS on page B12

December 12, 2018 â&#x2013; Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B11

P R O P E R T Y

T R A N S F E R S

Continued from page B11

FOREST PARK ADDRESS

PRICE

SELLER

BUYER

447 Hannah Ave 7706 Monroe St 311 Marengo Ave 333 Elgin Ave 510 Ferdinand Ave 7541 Brown Ave 201 1130 Ferdinand Ave 7634 Madison St 206 Lathrop Ave 1238 Marengo Ave 1124 Des Plaines Ave 228 Elgin Ave 7717 Adams St 315 Burkhardt Ct 1534 Marengo Ave 828 Hannah Ave 251 Marengo Ave 3HS 1520 Elgin Ave 1021 Des Plaines Ave C207 7432 Washington St 307 1005 Des Plaines Ave A407 320 Circle Ave 506 315 Des Plaines Ave 506 1005 Des Plaines Ave A407 7432 Washington St 401 815 Thomas Ave 926 Dunlop Ave 205 7212 Jackson Blvd 1E

$645,000 $382,000 $375,000 $375,000 $285,000 $280,000 $239,000 $235,000 $235,000 $230,000 $227,500 $227,500 $225,000 $221,000 $195,000 $195,000 $169,000 $155,500 $130,000 $118,000 $109,000 $107,000 $93,000 $90,000 $90,000 $70,000 $67,000 Unknown

Watson Scott Hibbitts Kevin Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Watts James S Ii Manchester Realty & Dev Llc Huston Kori Pia Tr Gentile Daniel Chase Chicago Title Land Trust Co Tr Robins Lori L Mccarthy William C Kakani Sudhakar R Newgard Brant Wagner Kathleen A Ind Adm 315 Burkhardt Trust Czyprynski Steven Tr Paulenas Andrius Wheeler Nancy Tr Roti Sam A 1021 Desplains Llc Jegerski Jill Kallen Fin & Cap Services Inc Oriordan Mairead Sharabiani Ashkan Spearman James Barabas Zbigniew Fahey Thomas J Ruffer Eileen R Tr Judicial Sales Corp

Turgeon Thomas Bowen Sherrie Ray Anna D Leal Gilbert Stephany Michael Joseph Jr Nugent James Weller Alan W Madison St Venture Llc Cliggett Kevin P Villalobos Lindy A Dutton Terence J Pecoraro Phillip V Sullivan Julie A Modimby Llc Allen Samuel Grobe Jennifer M Chapman Edna L Apex Natl Real Est Llc Epinger Bobby E Kuchipudi Ramesh Chandra Spearman James Weissenberger Glen Trust Grgeta Kristi A Mcclure Aaron Varlon Ska Grp Llc Fahey Margaret Carbonell Jesus Federal Home Loan Mtg Corp

Home for the Holidays

Road Trip on the Horizon? LUXURY

510 KEYSTONE, RIVER FOREST :: $1,395,000 :: 7+ BED :: 7.5 BATH Gourmet kitchen opens to family room. Attached 3 car garage. Walk to train.

KATHY & TONY IWERSEN 708.772.8040 708.772.8041 tonyiwersen@atproperties.com

B12 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

Let us know we’ll hold your paper!

Email: circulation@oakpark.com

Generations of Excellence since 1958

708.771.8040 • 7375 W. North Ave., River Forest DonnaAvenue Barnhisel Don Citrano 7375 West North Dan Bogojevich Julie Cliggett MANAGING Anne Brennan Alisa Coghill River Forest, Illinois 60305 BROKER/OWNERS Karen Byrne Kay Costello Kevin Calkins JoLyn Crawford 708.771.8040 Tom Carraher Andy Gagliardo Maria Cullerton Pat Cesario Joe Cibula

Tom Poulos

Julie Downey Kurt Fielder

Yvonne Fiszer-Steele Ramona Fox Laura Gancer Chris Garvey Lisa Grimes Dan Halperin Sharon Halperin Greg Jaroszewski

Vee Jaroszewski Noa Klima Sherree Krisco Jack Lattner Susan Maienza Charlotte Messina Vince McFadden Elizabeth Moroney

Colleen Navigato John Pappas Sue Ponzio-Pappas Rosa Pitassi Caroline Rauch Michael Roche Jenny Ruland Laurel Saltzman

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

1206 LATHROP • RIVER FOREST OPEN SUNDAY 1-3

1217 N MARION • OAK PARK OPEN SUNDAY 1-3

827 LATHROP • FOREST PARK OPEN SUNDAY 1-3

UNIQUE QUALITY BURMA BUILT HOME with 5 bedrooms and 3 full, 2 half baths. House has many wonderful features; 2 separate office areas, hardwood floors, kitchen with all newer appliances, adjoining eating area-family room. Finished basement. Three car garage .....................................................................................$895,000

THIS HOME HAS IT ALL! Open floor plan, hardwood flooring and natural woodwork. High-end kitchen, first floor laundry area. Four large bedrooms. Large basement offers additional living space. 2-car attached garage. Tons of storage with lots of natural light throughout. ............................................................................ $795,000

SPACIOUS, SOLID BRICK COLONIAL HOME situated in the middle of a quiet, cul do sac. This 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 powder room family home boasts beautiful stained hardwood floors throughout, marble fireplace, built-in bookshelves, three season porch. Ready to move into!...............................................................................$485,000

TWO STORY BRICK & FRAME HOME w/open floor plan on first floor with slate entry & hardwood floors. Large LR, formal DR open to wood cabinet kitchen. 2nd floor has 4 BRs, 5th BR in basement. Basement is semi finished with laundry room. Large fenced in yard, 2 car garage. ........................................................................... $349,000

1426 JACKSON • RIVER FOREST

744 HAYES • OAK PARK

532 N OAK PARK • OAK PARK

228 FRANKLIN • RIVER FOREST

ELEGANT, GRACIOUS HOME with 4 BRs, 2-1/2 BAs offers a large formal LR w/gas fireplace, spacious DR, hardwood floors, beautiful molding, family room, eat-in kitchen, finished lower level and whole house generator. Outside includes back deck & 3 car garage. ........... ..................................................................................................$719,000

MOVE-IN READY with space for everyone! Enjoy the well thought out design of this 5 BR, 4 bath home! 1st FL includes open floor plan, kitchen/family room combo, BR, full bath. 2nd FL features 4 BRs, 2 full baths, laundry. Finished basement with additional BR and 4th full BA. .....................................................................................$599,900

LARGE ENGLISH COUNTRY TUDOR HOME with 5 BRs, 3-1/2 BAs in the heart of Oak Park’s Historic District. Impressive home blends both old and new, with natural woodwork and the modern conveniences in a gourmet kitchen which boasts commercial grade appliances. ...............................................................................$749,950

LOVELY BRICK GEORGIAN with elegance, modern day conveniences, and space. Features include hardwood floors, 3 fireplaces, family room, double-sided fireplace, sunroom with heated floors, beautifully paved patio. Lower Level rec room w fireplace and heated floors. ......................................................................... $875,000

RIVER FOREST HOMES

LOVELY TUTOR HOME in premier River Forest location offers beautiful woodwork and custom built-ins throughout. Free flowing space for family and entertaining! Original details blend seamlessly with the updated 3-story addition. Elegant, well constructed home!.......................$899,000 GREAT LOCATION & EASY LIVING in this single family Tri-level home on a quiet Cul-De-Sac street. Great flow for entertaining, complete with family room. MBR has an en-suite European bath. Finished lower level has a 1/2 bath, study and exercise room. Growth to make it your own. ...... $599,000 PRICE REDUCED GREAT RANCH HOME... Sun filled living room, eat-in kitchen, two bedrooms, one and a half bathroom, bonus room…den or 3rd bedroom. Mudroom, laundry room, finished basement. Abundant storage and a great location! Have a look and make an offer! .................... $365,000

CENTER OF TOWN VICTORIAN with high ceilings, four spacious levels of living in beautiful Oak Park. This 5 bedroom, 3-12 bath home offers a formal entry, wood burning fireplace, sun room, family room, eat-in kitchen. Great flow, tons of natural light & storage throughout this beauty! ............ ............................................................................................................. $675,000 CLASSIC QUEEN ANNE HOME with 3 bedrooms, 3-1/2 baths includes Living room with gas fireplace and attached Sun room. 1st floor family room, updated kitchen with attached breakfast room. Great closet space. Finished rec room in basement. Custom deck. Great house for entertaining! ...................................................................................................... $529,000 READY TO MOVE IN charming 3 bedroom home features a welcoming front porch with swing and sitting area. Home offers magnificent oak woodwork, stained glass & hardwood floors. Finished basement. Large deck & beautifully landscaped yard. Home has many extras! ...... $449,500 A TRUE OAK PARK BEAUTY! Enjoy the deep park-like lot in Northwest Oak Park. Well maintained 1905 Farmhouse with 3 Bedroom, 1-1/2 baths. In great condition! ............................................................................. $435,000 WARM, INVITING CLASSIC OP HOME with vintage charm throughout. Double parlorliving room has stained glass window, hardwood floors. Dining room is highlighted with beamed ceiling and built-¬in cabinet. Eat-in kitchen with cozy pot belly stove. Basement family room, full bath, laundry, storage. ................................................................................ $415,000

909 BONNIE BRAE • RIVER FOREST

N E W LIS TI NG!

RARE NEW CONSTRUCTION in prime location is like no other. From the cut limestone, European detailing to the unequal foyer, it has no peers. This 7 bedroom, 7-1/2 bath home offers private office, elaborate chef’s kitchen, 10 ft ceilings, mud room, impressive lower level. .......................$2,750,000 STATELY BRICK/STONE ENGLISH STYLE HOME with 6 bedrooms and 7-1/2 baths. Features include a formal living room with limestone wood burning fireplace, dream kitchen, sun-soaked breakfast room, Smart Home ready, white oak floors, mud room, 10 ft ceilings. ......................$2,750,000 BURMA BUILT BUHRKE HOUSE combines Tudor revival & chateau style architecture elements. Gorgeous décor and impeccable attention to detail and care found in house and landscaped grounds, extends to fabulous in ground pool and patios. Perfect for entertaining. .......................$2,399,000 SETTING A NEW STANDARD in approachable elegance, this five bedroom, 3-1/2 bath home will exceed your ex-pectations with wide plank hardwood floors, striking lighting and custom millwork throughout. One of a kind floor plan, and three fully finished levels. ......................... $1,250,000 STATELY LANNON STONE GEORGIAN that is move in ready with five large bedrooms, and three full baths. Large room sizes, remodeled gourmet kitchen, family room, three fireplaces , full finished basement, walk up third floor storage with 10 foot ceiling. Slate roof. Attached 2 car garage ........... .......................................................................................................... $1,095,000

OAK PARK HOMES

UNPRECEDENTED ESTATE in the Frank Lloyd Wright Historical district of Oak Park! This meticulously renovated 5 BR, 5 full / 2 half bath property offers exquisite details and refined finishes that boast timeless materials and over the top custom millwork. This is a showcase home! ... $1,625,000 STATELY BRICK CENTER-ENTRANCE COLONIAL. Generously sized LR & DR, wood burning fireplace, high ceilings, beautiful crown molding, architectural details, leaded glass windows and hardwood throughout. Sunroom with French doors. Basement w/ rec room, bar & ample storage. ............................................................................................................. $760,000

FOREST PARK HOMES ENJOY LUXURY LIVING in this masterfully renovated home on an extra wide lot. Gutted down to the studs, this Impressive open concept home features wood floors, natural light and high-style designer finishes. 1st FL office, finished LL family room and easy access to a large deck. .. $474,000 PRICE REDUCED SPACIOUS EXPANDED BUNGALOW in walkable area of Forest Park with 3 bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths. Open living room and dining room with oak flooring, cozy country kitchen with walk-in pantry, open office area, family room/play area, fenced yard, two car garage. ..$319,500

CONDOS/TOWNHOMES/2-FLATS

RIVER FOREST 3BR, 2BA. Two parking spaces. ........................... $309,000 RIVER FOREST 1BR, 1BA. Covered rear patio. ...............................$124,500 OAK PARK 3BR, 3BA. Two separate balconies. .............................$405,000 FOREST PARK 2BR, 2BA. Generous balcony. ................................ $164,500 FOREST PARK 1BR, 1BA. Vintage unit. ............................................$99,500 FOREST PARK 1BR, 1BA. Neat and tidy! ..........................................$97,500 $97,500

WILL YOUR HOME BE READY FOR THE SPRING MARKET? Contact a Gagliardo Realty Associates Agent for a free market analysis

For more listings & photos go to GagliardoRealty.com December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B13

Distinction

(di stingk’ shen) noun. The act of distinguishing excellence; making a difference

...unless you select the professional who has distinguished himself by making a total commitment to excellence—Tom Carraher. Call Tom Carraher at 708-822-0540 to achieve all of your real estate goals.

SINGLE FAMILY HOMES

It is extremely rare to find real estate professionals who set themselves apart with distinction in everything they do...

ADDRESS

TOWNHOMES

Tom Carraher redefines the essence of real estate service.

Sunday, December 16, 2018 REALTY CO.

LISTING PRICE

TIME

827 Lathrop Ave, Forest Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gagliardo Realty Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $349,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 1016 Baldwin Ln, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $450,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3:30 1217 N. Marion St, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gagliardo Realty Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $485,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 721 Ontario St. UNIT 106, Oak Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $495,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1:30 1206 Lathrop Ave, River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gagliardo Realty Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $795,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 719 Linden Ave, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coldwell Banker Residential. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $825,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12:30-2

ADDRESS

REALTY CO.

LISTING PRICE

TIME

211 Elgin, UNIT #5K, Forest Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $299,900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-2 7451 Brown Ave. UNIT F, Forest Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baird & Warner Oak Park/River Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $299,900 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-2 156 N. Oak Park Ave. UNIT 2H, Oak Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group349000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1:30

Tom Carraher

Realistic Expectation–Proven Results

This Directory brought to you by mrgloans.com

7375W. West NorthAve. Avenue 7375 North River Forest, Illinois 60305 River Forest 708.771.8040 708.771.8040

http://tomcarraher.realtor.com

B14 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

Providing financing for homes in Oak Park and surrounding communities since 1989. Conventional, FHA, and Jumbo mortgages Free Pre-approvals

7544 W. North Avenue Elmwood Park, IL 708.452.5151

Mortgage Resource Group is an Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee. NMLS # 207793 License # 1031

In The Village, Realtors® 189 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 (708) 386-1400 HomesintheVillage.com

Featured Listings for This Week River Forest $960,000 4BR, 4BA Call Marion x111

Oak Park $748,800 4BR, 2.1BA Call Kyra x145

MY WHY? i A stellar app branded just for me, automated marketing resources

Oak Park $725,000 4BR, 2.2BA Call Roz x112

at no additional charge, a lead generation system that works... I could go on. The tech offerings at RE/MAX® make it possible for me to do more – with intention. I now have more energy and time to give my clients an unforgettably successful experience.

Oak Park $639,998 4BR, 4.1BA Call Keri x127

Why RE/MAX? The tools. That’s why.

Forest Park $439,900 Multi unit Call Joe x117

Find your why. joinremax.com/inthevillage

December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B15

The Joyful Giving Catalog

Coordinated by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

We connect giving to impact!

AgeOptions AgeOptions helps to empower older adults in Suburban Cook County by connecting them to information and resources so they can thrive as they age. AgeOptions has served older adults since 1974 reaching more than 155,000 older adults and caregivers last year alone. AgeOptions partners with community-based nonprofits serving older adults and their caregivers to ensure that every aging person has access to in-home care, adult day services, nutritious meals, intervention and prevention of fraud, abuse, and neglect, and advocacy to protect their right. To donate, volunteer, or simply find out about the many services and programs available to you or your loved ones, go to www.ageoptions.org or call us at 708-383-0258.

Animal Care League Animal Care League offers a safe haven for pets in need. Founded in 1973, Animal Care League takes a proactive approach to animal care and adoption as well as preventative measures to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our communities. With over 1000 pets coming to our doors each year, Animal Care League counts on supporters to ensure that we can provide what is needed from routine vaccinations to life saving surgery. Make a difference in the life of a homeless animal by visiting www.animalcareleague. org where you can sign up to volunteer, make a donation, view our adoptable pets, and learn about upcoming events.

Austin Coming Together (ACT) Austin Coming Together (ACT) exists to create a thriving Austin community. ACT’s mission is to increase the collective impact of our member organizations on improving education and economic development outcomes in the Austin community. ACT provides backbone support for a network of more than 50 non-profit, faith-based, public, and private entities committed to improving

the quality of life in the Austin community. Since 2010, we have helped our members take a strategic and collaborative approach to achieving outcomes together.

For more information about membership, volunteering, or to make a donation please contact Executive Director, Darnell Shields, at 773-417-8613 or dshields@ austincomingtogether.org

BUILD, Inc. Since 1969, Austin-based BUILD, Inc. has helped thousands of Chicago youth escape gang violence to become positive community leaders. BUILD is a second family to young people who face steep obstacles, yet succeed every day with the help of caring mentors who share similar backgrounds. Programs like the Block 51 Arts Academy, Austin Summer of Opportunity, and BUILDing Girls 2 Women foster creativity, social-emotional health, and academic success of youth ages 6 to 24. Gifts to the Attitude of Gratitude campaign support expansion of programs in Austin, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Logan Square, and Fuller Park. Visit www.buildchicago.org or call 773-227-2880.

Celebrating Seniors In May 2011 Celebrating Seniors launched its first Celebrating Seniors Week, which has since become a vibrant annual tradition in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park. Celebrating Seniors is dedicated to honoring, recognizing and serving local seniors. The organization concentrates on four main objectives: • To facilitate cooperation between the business community, government agencies and non-profit organizations for the benefit of the senior population. • To promote senior groups and organizations that serve persons 60 and older. • To raise public awareness of issues affecting seniors. • To generate funds to support at-risk and vulnerable elders. To volunteer to support our Celebrating Seniors Week or to contribute financially to our community mission, visit us at www. celebratingseniors.net.

B16 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

The Children’s Clinic/ Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society Will you join us? We’re on a mission to advance the health and well-being of children in need. When you support the OPRF Infant Welfare Society, you help vulnerable children in our community and surrounding areas access critical healthcare, including pediatric, dental and behavioral health services. Our Children’s Clinic is an important safety net for 3,500 children each year, and your generosity is key. Your gift of $50 will provide a toddler with two essential vaccines. Or for $150, a young patient with autism can receive specialized preventive dental services. Make a gift at www.oprfiws.org or call 708406-8661.

Cluster Tutoring For more than 27 years, the Cluster Tutoring Program has been providing free one-to-one tutoring to students in grades K through 12 who primarily come from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. Our dedicated volunteers meet with students for 30 weeks throughout the school year to provide literacy instruction, homework help, and mentoring. We also offer a summer reading program and additional academic enrichment opportunities through community partnerships with Concordia University and the Mathnasium in Oak Park. Your support of Cluster assists us in fulfilling our mission, which is to help young people realize their potential through the power of learning in an environment that strengthens the student, the tutor, and the community. For more information or to make a donation, please go to our website: www. clustertutoring.org or contact Executive Director, Kara Kalnitz, at 773-378-5530.

The Collaboration for Early Childhood The Collaboration for Early Childhood is your resource for early childhood information in Oak Park and River Forest. We provide the connections vital to every child’s opportunity for success in learning and in life. We work with more than 60 organizations so that parents and their children receive critical information and support services, children are screened for developmental delays, teachers in child care centers, preschools and family child care homes provide high quality programs and our most vulnerable children and their families experience a strong web of support. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit us at collab4kids.org or follow us on Facebook.

Concordia University Chicago Founded in 1864, Concordia University Chicago is an affordable, comprehensive liberal arts-based Christian university based in the Lutheran tradition. Through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education, College of Graduate Studies, and College of Innovation and Professional Programs, Concordia-Chicago offers more than 100 areas of study through traditional, blended or online classes leading to a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree. Classes are taught by professors who are passionate about teaching and student success. Currently, more than 6,000 full-time undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at Concordia-Chicago, River Forest. Make your secure donation by visiting www. cuchicago.edu/givenow. Your support ensures the best and brightest programs for our next generation of teachers, church workers, business leaders, gerontologists, and a host of other vocations!

Oak Park Festival Theatre Since 1975 Oak Park Festival Theatre, the Midwest’s oldest professional outdoor classical theatre, has brought the magic of dramatic masterpieces to generations of our neighbors. Whether performing under the stars in beautiful Austin Gardens as we do each summer or at any of the many local venues where we partner with local philanthropic agencies (such as Housing Forward, Oak Park Housing Authority or Nineteenth Century Charitable Association), Festival Theatre breaths fresh air into timeless texts for Oak Park and beyond. With ticket prices kept friendly for every budget and free admission for all under 13, we rely on the generosity of our audiences to continue our dynamic community dialogue. Donations can be made on-line at oakparkfestival.com or mailed to us: Oak Park Festival Theatre, P.O. Box 4114, Oak Park, IL 60303.

Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory Since 1986, the Friends of the Oak Park Conservatory has been inspiring and educating visitors. We manage over 150 volunteers. We offer free tours through the showrooms and free educational programs for kids. We sponsor two free events at the Conservatory KidsFest and FallFest. We host the Uncorked summer-series and we are celebrating the 30th annual plant sale this coming spring. We give grants to the park district to make improvements to the Conservatory. We rely on volunteers, members and donors to make these events, programs and grants possible. Please consider helping us grow. Join. Donate. Volunteer. For more information about membership, volunteering, or to make a donation please contact Executive Director, Beth Cheng, at 708.725.2460 or director@fopcon.org.

George and Adelina persevere and succeed with the help of OPRF Food Pantry

o matter the challenge, George and his family face it head-on. George, his wife Adelina, and his stepson Nicholas take obstacles in stride, not afraid to work hard and seek out resources when needed. Since being referred by Oak Park Township, Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry has been one of these resources. “This Pantry gives us such decent portions. I’m the chef in the family and I’m careful to take only what we’ll use, because we get a lot,” says George. In addition to receiving groceries, on-staff Social Services Coordinator, Amanda Kuhn, has helped the family explore their options for public benefits. George, 49 is legally blind, as is his wife Adelina, 53, who also has epilepsy and diabetes. Despite their obstacles, their

undaunted attitude is inspiring. “The only limitations we have are the ones we put on ourselves,” says George. It took him a year to find seasonal work after moving to Chicago from Texas a year ago. Shortly after the move, his stepson, Nicholas, joined the pair from Florida. George now works at the Brookfield Zoo’s Tropical Grill, and he’s thrilled to be there. “I have a great rapport with the animals, and I get to volunteer with the red panda, too! Plus, with the zoo’s musical entertainment, I’m jamming out while I’m working, ‘cause they crank it up!” he laughs. Adelina is about to start studying at Triton College and hopes to find a way to work with the blind and hearing impaired. She and George also plan to try the Pantry’s next session of Cooking Matters

Green Community Connections

com or mail us at: Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak ParkP.O. Box 2222. Oak Park, IL 60303

The most recent United Nations report shows that the worst effects of climate change will hit by 2040 if we don’t act now. Go “all in” for the planet with your donation to the 8th annual One Earth Film Festival, an OPRF grass-roots effort that inspires climate action, resilience and environmental justice in communities throughout Chicagoland. In 2018, we hosted 60 film screenings, and 95% of surveyed attendees reported being inspired to get involved in issues or solutions. Protect the planet by joining One Earth today: oneearthfilmfest.org/give. Memberships start at $25. Bill Reilly of The Reilly Group at Merrill Lynch will generously match your donation now through #GivingTuesday.

Ernest Hemingway Foundation Of Oak Park The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park is a non-profit 501(c)(3) literary arts and educational foundation dedicated to thoughtful reading and writing. The foundation offers a wide variety of programming, all open to the public, to nurture and encourage creative expression for students and for people of all ages. Through tours and exhibits at Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace museum, the foundation fosters an understanding of his life and work, his Oak Park origins and his impact on world literature. Your gift supports creative outlets for people of all ages through professional teacher development, local author and performing artist programs, inter-generational engagement, a writer-in-residence program, as well as student writing workshops, mentorships, and scholarships. For more information about us or to donate online go to www.hemingwaybirthplace.

Hephzibah

Hephzibah Children’s Association was founded in 1897. We serve more than 1,000 children and families each year through innovative, community-based programs. Hephzibah provides a Group Home for children who have been taken from their families due to profound abuse or neglect. Our skilled staff recruits and trains foster parents, and offers ongoing support to help all family members navigate challenges. Our after-school Day Care operates on a sliding scale to serve working parents in Oak Park, with programs based at each elementary school. To make a real difference in the lives of children and families, please donate today at hephzibahhome.org.

Historical Society Forest Park

The Historical Society Forest Park was founded in 1975 for the purposes of “collecting and preserving the rich heritage of Forest Park.” The historical society offers tours of Haymarket Martyr’s Monument in Forest Home Cemetery every Saturday in the summer, collect oral histories of Forest Park Veterans of Military service, hosts several historical events a year and celebrates Forest Park. For more information about us or to donate visit us at www.forestparkhistory.org or mail us: Historical Society of Forest Park PO Box 311 Forest Park IL 60130 Search our website for exciting events and programs You can also become a member of the Society and/or volunteer.

to learn more about diabetic-friendly and heart-healthy cooking. “We’re proactive,” says George, “living together and addressing each other’s needs.” A remedy for success, indeed. To make a donation to the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, visit oprffoodpantry.org.

George and Adelina are both legally blind.

Housing Forward

New Moms

The mission of Housing Forward is to transition people from housing crisis to housing stability. By emphasizing homelessness prevention, supportive services, employment readiness and supportive housing, we are able to offer a comprehensive, long-term solution that moves clients into housing quickly and keeps them there. Housing Forward is the only nonprofit organization in west Cook County with a comprehensive, long-term solution for preventing and ending homelessness. Founded in 1992, the agency provides integrated services to at-risk and homeless individuals and families in six areas: emergency assistance, employment readiness, supportive housing, outreach and engagement, supportive services, and emergency shelter. To learn more, visit www.housingforward. org or to donate, www.housingforward. org/give, or contact Janet Gow, Director of Development & Communications, at 708.338.1724 ext. 262.

L’Arche Chicago L’Arche Chicago is a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together in homes, as family. In our group homes in the OPRF neighborhoods, we strive to merge the highest quality of care and genuine friendship. We seek to create a world that welcomes difference and celebrates the unique gifts of all people, where each person has a genuine place of belonging. Support L’Arche Chicago and help us to create that kind of world right here in Oak Park River Forest. larchechicago.org/2018

Since 1983, New Moms has been interrupting the cycle of poverty for two generations: young moms and their children, by offering supports in the most important areas of the life of a family – stable housing, job training, and family support. These supports, along with a loving environment, equip young moms as they work to create strong families. Through our holistic approach, young moms experience a transformation of heart and mind as their life stories change from ones of hopelessness to lives filled with stability, health and vision for a strong future. Learn more at newmoms.org.

Nineteenth Century Charitable Association

The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association strengthens our community through learning, giving, and sharing our landmark building. We provide community outreach, scholarships, and public programming in five areas: music, art, literature, science, and social sciences. The NCCA is the owner of 178 Forest Avenue, commonly referred to as the Nineteenth Century Club. Our charitable and cultural activities are supported by our members, volunteers, donors, and by the events held at the Club. Programs are open to all and we welcome all ages to join. If you would like information about volunteering, joining or donating, please call us at 708-386-2729 email to info@ nineteenthcentury.org.

December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B17

Cluster Tutoring provides an invaluable resource for students

luster Tutoring offers one-to-one tutoring to students, grades K through 12, primarily from Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Over the course of thirty weeks during the school year, Cluster’s program enriches the lives not just of the students, but of the volunteer tutors as well. For the past five years, Jocelyn has been coming to Cluster and working with her tutor, Darla. Last year, Jocelyn showed exceptional dedication to her school work and a consistently positive attitude, improving her grades by 46% and increasing her reading fluency by 12%. Cluster recognized Jocelyn’s achievements by naming her Student of the Year.

Oak-Leyden Developmental Services The mission of OakLeyden Developmental Services is to help children and adults with developmental disabilities meet life’s challenges and reach their highest potential. The organization offers life-changing support in three areas: Children’s Services, Residential Services, and Lifelong Learning. Empower people with developmental disabilities today at https://www.oak-leyden. org/get-involved/donate.

Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry $1 = 3 meals, is an equation only you can make possible. With your help, Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry has been reducing local hunger for nearly 40 years. Your support means we are able to meet the needs of nearly 16,000 families struggling with hunger each year. It means we can provide over 50 pounds of nutritious food plus access to vital programs and services to help people stretch limited food budgets in healthy ways. It means that even a little goes a long way: every $1 donated can feed a neighbor for an entire day. To make a donation, visit oprffoodpantry. org or send checks payable to OPRF Food Pantry to Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301.

Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation The Oak Park – River Forest Community Foundation is based on a powerful promise: to create an enduring institution where people can come together and pool their resources to meet our community’s most pressing needs; not just now, but forever. For sixty years, generations of thoughtful and caring donors and residents have empowered the Foundation’s work to safeguard and advance the communi-

“Jocelyn has matured into a confident student who cares about school and is a kind and caring person. Spending time with Jocelyn on Tuesday is the highlight of my week!” Darla said. “Cluster has provided us with the tutoring resources to help keep Jocelyn on track academically.” Help Cluster Tutoring continue to help students like Jocelyn stay on track and excel. Donate at clustertutoring.org.

ty in which we live, raise our families and work. From helping donors with legacy gift planning, to managing donor advised funds, to strengthening local non-profits, we connect. Visit oprfcf.org or call 708-848-1560 (ask for Rhea Yap) to start a fund, discuss your charitable estate plans, or make a donation today.

Oak Park Regional Housing Center Since 1972, the Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) has been an advocate for fair housing. Our mission is to achieve meaningful and lasting diversity in communities. The OPRHC works to counteract steering and encourages pro-integrative housing options. We promote Oak Park as a community for all races, attracting people who respond to and strengthen that kind of climate. We work with local entities to coordinate a multifaceted effort to promote and sustain the community’s rich diversity. Support our work with a donation at https:// oprhc.org/donate/ oprhc.org • 708-848-7150 info@ oprhc.org • 1041 South Boulevard Oak Park IL 60302

Opportunity Knocks Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to providing opportunities and resources for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they may pursue their educational, occupational and social interests. Our approach to programming is person-centered, peer-led and community-based. Due to challenges in relying on the State of Illinois as a funding partner, we rely on our community for that partnership and support. We are nearly entirely privately funded. That fact makes your support that much more important. To learn more about Opportunity Knocks or to make a donation in support of the Warrior Mission, please visit us online at opportunityknocksnow.org.

B18 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018

Cluster Tutoring volunteer tutor Darla with her student Jocelyn.

PING! PING! (Providing Instruments for the Next Generation) is an all-volunteer organization that loans musical instruments to students in need in grades 4-12 in Oak Park-River Forest school districts 90, 97, and 200 so that they can participate in their school band or orchestra. PING! also provides music enrichment for its students through workshops, mentoring, summer music camp scholarships, private lessons, and field trips. Founded in 1998 PING! is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and over the past two decades has served more than 600 students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in the music programs at school. PING! depends on the community for donated instruments and financial contributions to maintain its instrument inventory and program funding. For more information or to make a donation, go to www.pingoprf.org. If you have an instrument to donate, send us an email at pingoprf@gmail.com.

Pro Bono Network We believe access to justice should not depend upon your ability to afford an attorney. There are simply not enough legal aid lawyers to help people in dire need of legal aid. These include issues of safety from an abuser, adequate housing, and the ability to get a job. Over Pro Bono Network’s fairly short existence we have enabled 300+ attorneys to give more than 16,500 pro bono legal hours to over 2,500 clients in need. Learn more and donate at pro-bononetwork.org. Your support will make a difference in the lives of others!

Pro Musica Youth Chorus Pro Musica is the ONLY community children’s chorus in the greater Oak Park area for kids in 1st grade through high school. For over 25 years Pro Musica has brought music education, performance opportunities, and

youth empowerment programming to over 1,100 children. Evidence shows that kids who sing in chorus get better grades, are happier, and become more community involved adults than their peers. Yet about half of area school children do not have access to chorus. Pro Musica is committed to reaching more children in our community by driving youth music education across socio-economic barriers. • $25 provides sheet music for 1 singer for a season • $50 provides rehearsal space for our singers for 1 week • $100 provides 10 free tickets for seniors to our Spring Concert Help us make a difference in a child’s life – go to promusicayouthchorus.org and donate today!

The River Forest Public Library Foundation “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people,” said Andrew Carnegie. That’s why he funded thousands of public libraries a century ago to help people help themselves through selfdirected learning. Today, the River Forest Public Library (RFPL) carries on that core mission by providing not just books and periodicals but also a wide array of digital resources (onsite and remotely), interactive programs, and other transformative learning opportunities. Honor a family member, a cherished teacher or mentor, a dear friend, or your own love of lifelong learning by giving to the RFPL Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, at 735 Lathrop Avenue, River Forest, IL 60305 or rfplfoundation.org/donate. Your gift will inspire others and transform the lives of so many in our community.

Sarah’s Inn

Since 1981, Sarah’s Inn has worked to improve the lives of those impacted by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. Our Intervention Program provides bi-lingual services for families affected by domestic violence in order to safely navigate crisis, effectively process trauma

and ensure self-sufficiency. Our Training and Education Program creates a network of skilled bystanders to appropriately intervene as first responders and community advocates. Our Together Strong Project was created to prevent relationship violence by teaching youth about the impact of their choices, giving them the tools to lead healthy lives, and empowering them to make a difference in their community. To donate, visit donatenow.networkforgood. org/sarahsinn, or make a tax-deductible donation through postal mail by sending a check to: Sarah’s Inn, PO Box 1159, Oak Park, IL 60304

St. Angela School At St. Angela School we have been called to serve the families of Chicago’s west side, a neighborhood that is too often underserved. We provide our boys and girls with a safe and loving environment, challenging academics, counseling services, a focus on early literacy, and the strong sense of belonging to a school family. As we prepare to begin our second century, we’re proud to voice our commitment to Austin by continuing to invest in our future here: in our people, our programs and our campus. Learn more about us at www.saintangela. org; we hope that you’ll feel called to help!

The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest

Named “Community Orchestra of the Year” in 2018, The Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest, under the leadership of award-winning conductor, Jay Friedman, continues to bring extraordinary and accessible concerts to our community. Ticket sales provide less than half the funds needed for the Symphony’s performances. Your gift keeps the orchestra going strong and allows us to maintain affordable ticket prices, including free admission for all students through college. Please help us continue and strengthen our 86-year tradition of bringing beautiful and inspiring music to Oak Park and River Forest. Make your end-of-year tax-deductible donation at symphonyoprf.org, or: P.O. Box 3564, Oak Park, IL 60303-3564.

Thrive Counseling Center Thrive Counseling Center (formerly Family Services of Oak Park) has provided mental health services to our community for 120 years. Located in the heart of Oak Park, our mission is to build healthy minds, families and communities by empowering people

The Joyful Giving Catalog

to attain mental and emotional well-being. Hope, resilience and recovery form the heart of our programs and services. Last year we provided critical services to approximately 1,400 friends, neighbors and family members including…

St. Angela School serves a vital role in Austin

• counseling for youth and adults • psychiatric care and medication management • in-home counseling for older adults • psychosocial rehabilitation day program • 24/7 crisis intervention • Suicide Safer Community Program • adult and youth group therapy, including: • art therapy • stress management • coping with anxiety • grief support • Sibshops To learn more or donate, please visit www. thrivecc.org or call 708-383-7500, ext. 322. Follow us on Facebook!

UCP Seguin Of Greater Chicago

UCP Seguin believes that all people, regardless of ability, deserve to achieve their potential, advance their independence and act as full members of the community. So we stop at nothing to provide life skills training, assistive technology, meaningful employment and a place to call home for people with disabilities, as well as specialized foster care for children. Our goal: life without limits for people with disabilities. Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. Donate online at ucpseguin.org or send gifts to UCP Seguin, 332 Harrison Street, Oak Park IL 60304

Way Back Inn/ Grateful House

Since 1974, Way Back Inn and Grateful House have successfully provided residential and outpatient treatment for men and women in Oak Park and surrounding communities who are trying to overcome an addition to alcohol, chemical substances such as opioids, and gambling. Our mission is to rebuild lives damaged by addiction in a personalized healing environment, where men and women’s lives are transformed and relationships are healed. Our recovery program focuses on the integration of the body, mind, and spirit.

Kindergarteners at St. Angela School.

or nearly 100 years, St. Angela School has been profoundly impacting Chicago’s Austin community. One family, that of Braden Seaton, exemplifies the school’s ongoing positive effect. Brayden is in kindergarten and he is the third child in his family to attend St. Angela. Brayden’s mother, Sheneatha, insists that there is no other place she would want her children to be. “Nowhere else,” she says, “could they have experienced the love this staff has for these kids – love that comes from leaders and runs through the whole staff. Their care for my three sons has been amazing! They have helped them stay on track and have always kept me informed

of new educational opportunities. My older boys are now at Fenwick High School: Bryce, a senior and Bryton, a freshman. Both are on scholarships and thriving. I know they’re good students, they work hard; but St. Angela got them there with a level of care that you do not find at other schools in Austin. I attribute their success to St. Angela School, our second home.” With a donation to St. Angela School, you can help continue the school’s tradition of providing high quality education and support to children— like Brayden, Bryce and Bryton—and families on Chicago’s west side. Please go to www.saintangela.org.

West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) West Suburban Special Recreation Association (WSSRA) provides recreational programming for individuals with disabilities who reside in Oak Park, River Forest and nine other surrounding communities. Donations to WSSRA, help provide financial assistance to those participating in our yearround programs and summer day camp. To make a donation, please visit wssra.net.

For more information or to make a donation, go to: www.waybackinn.org or call us at 708-345-8422.

Coordinated by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation

December 12, 2018 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review

B19

Paying it forward.

Phyllis Walden had

two strong role models in her brothers; both exceptionally smart, intellectually curious, generous, and unafraid to pursue interests that may not align with what others expected. Creating a scholarship fund was the best way Phyllis could honor their memory, by seeking out scholarship candidates that reflect these same values.

“The Foundation was a powerful ally, offering options, and helping me work through the details...or sometimes, just listening. “

“Having a college scholarship changed my life!”

A degree provided Jim Marshall a successful, adaptive career. But, college also introduced Jim to his future wife, Alice. When Alice Marshall died in 2017, Jim wanted to honor her memory and their shared passion for education by designating dollars for a scholarship fund for employees of Brookdale who pursue higher education.

“Donor advised funds are great instruments that allow you to leave your impact on society, and I am happy to have the Community Foundation doing the work to manage this fund.”

Working together, there is so much we can do to transform lives and grow prosperity in and around Oak Park and River Forest, now and for generations to come.

Contact Rhea Yap

to learn more about how our expertise can fuel your passion

708.848.1560 or ryap@oprfcf.org

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation sponsors the Season of Giving in support of nonprofit organizations serving our communities.

www.oprfcf.org B20 View more at OakPark.com/Real-Estate ■ December 12, 2018