Colliding Worlds

Several of my worlds collided today in a good way.  There was the thread of my working world, there was the thread of my SEOPCO board member world, and there was the thread of my Irving School world.  All three of those threads were woven together into something pretty special.  I spent most of the day at the Whole Foods Market - River Forest Barrie Fest booth, plugging the upcoming 5% Day for the Irving Schoolyard Project.

While we spoke to the parents about shopping at our store on November 1st, when 5% of the day's proceeds will go for grass for the Irving playground, the kids worked on a craft project.  They traced their hands on old posters from the store.  The cutouts of the hands will become a new mural that will be displayed in the store's cafeteria later this fall.

As a SEOPCO board, we always try to have a "green" element to Barrie Fest.  This year's green project was pretty cool, and it came together because of my colliding worlds.
Earlier this year, Whole Foods in River Forest began a composting program in its store.  It's been part of my job to make sure my department is properly sorting its garbage and composting appropriate material (that's fancy-talk for part of my job is sorting garbage).  Anyway, as part of this project, I was able to go on a field trip to Land and Lakes' composting facility on the south side of Chicago to see where the compost goes once it leaves our store.  While touring that facility, I discovered that the compost from southwest Oak Park's pilot composting program also winds up there.  That's when the wheels in my brain started turning.
SEOPCO has had several "green" forums over the past few years, and we'd been thinking it was time to move our green activities out of the talking stages and into something more practical.  We thought it would be really great if we could give away some of the finished compost material that starts out as food and yard waste in southwest Oak Park.  Land and Lakes, in conjunction with Waste Management, graciously offered to donate quite literally a ton of the organic compost material for us to give away at Barrie Fest today.  Our Irvin Girl Scout troops helped shovel the dirt into bags so people could haul it away.

Honestly, I had no idea how much a ton really was, or how many bags it would take to dispense with all that organic soil supplement.  Would we run out in an hour, or would we have half-a-ton of leftovers?  Oh, the thoughts and concerns that go into a project like this when it's executed for the first time!
I learned that a ton of dirt fits nicely into the bed of a U-Haul pick-up truck, but the truck sits pretty low once the dirt's dropped in.  I found out that one case of eco-friendly garbage bags (donated by Whole Foods) wasn't nearly enough to bag a ton, especially since we had to double-bag because the bags were ripping under weight of two shovel's worth of material.  The girls filled about 70 bags and the truck was not even half empty.  I panicked a little (How in the world am I going to get all the rest of this out of the back of this truck?), but I shouldn't have worried.
People in Oak Park (at least in the southeast quadrant) really love to garden, and they were downright giddy to get free compost.  This group is also resourceful, and many brought their own bags or wagons to haul away the compost.
When it was all said and done, the truck was about three-fourths empty.  My friend and fellow SEOPCO board member, Michelle C-R, had the brilliant idea of giving any remaining compost to Irving School for its garden project.

The Irving Garden Ladies were thrilled to get a pile of high-quality, organic compost, and we dumped all that was left at the edge of the garden, where it will rest comfortably until the harvest is complete.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my community?

Movie Night

Tonight was Irving School's Back to School Picnic, combined with SEOPCO's Movie Night at Barrie Park.  Since I'm on the SEOPCO's board and also an Irving parent, I pulled double duty tonight, helping SEOPCO set up for the movie and also selling pizza for the PTO.

As I watched families stake out their space and settle in for the evening, it occurred to me that this movie-in-the-park event is almost the modern equivalent to the drive-in movie.  It's so much fun watching a movie outside in the park!

SEOPCO Referendum Forum

I've been on the board of the Southeast Oak Park Community Organization (SEOPCO) for almost a year-and-a-half now.  It's a great organization that's currently being lead by Jim Kelly and Michelle Chapman-Reinstra.  I love being a part of this group because we are not a hastily-formed group bent on NIMBY-ism.  We strive to make all of Oak Park, but especially Southeast Oak Park, a better place to live.  Tonight we sponsored a public forum at Irving School on the upcoming District 97 tax referendum that's on the ballot this spring.  I served as timekeeper for the debate, and honestly, I was more than a little nervous.  It's not that I don't know how to keep track of time (altho Baird may occasionally argue that point). My nervousness stemmed from what had happened at prior forums. One of the panelists who participated in our forum this evening claimed bias against an earlier forum, and was threatening to sue the PTO that sponsored that previous forum.  The idea that, if I made a mistake in keeping time and that mistake was construed as bias, which might in turn put my fellow board members at risk for a lawsuit...well, it was rather nerve-wracking.

Our forum started on time, was well-run and well received, and very informative.  I was able to accurately keep time.  We received lots of positive feedback about the evening.  You can listen to the debate here.

If you live in Oak Park and haven't already done so, please take a few moments and get informed on this important issue.  And then , please make sure you vote next month!

Making Good on a Threat

Early this summer, the Village of Oak Park sent us a letter saying that Fillmore Street outside our house was scheduled for major construction.  When I read the notice I groaned a bit.  Even tho Fillmore Street between Gunderson and Scoville is clearly in desperate need of repair, it's one of my major east/west routes.  The idea of this stretch of pavement being off limits to me, at a time when the Ike is also under construction and the Roosevelt Road streetscape project is pending...well, it's all just a bit much in my opinion.

For awhile I kept my eyes peeled, assuming that some morning over the summer I'd pull out the big blue whale from the garage, attempt to head west down Fillmore, and find myself stymied by the Fillmore resurfacing project.  It never happened.  Eventually I forgot about the notice and assumed the project had been put on hold because of the summer construction strike.

Toward the end of last month, a crew dropped off construction signs on our parkway.  I was reminded again of the threat of my major route being interrupted.  And once again, the signs just sat there, with no movement whatsoever.  It got to the point where I barely even noticed the signs anymore.

Well, bright and early this morning, I was sipping my coffee in the living room.  My quiet suburban morning was interrupted with sounds so loud my house shook.  Guess what?  The Village finally made good on its threat to fix Fillmore.  Construction started today.

Part of that construction project includes tearing up the sidewalk on our corner.  Oh, goodie.  This is the exact same sidewalk where, just a few months ago, the Village of Oak Park spent money to put down directions showing us how to get to Irving School.  I'm just going to leave it all right there, before I start ranting again.

For the Record

When I bought my first car after moving to Chicagoland, I had no idea I needed a Bensenville (my place of residence at the time) city sticker. We don't have those in Iowa, so it never even occurred to me to get one. I actually drove my car for almost a year without a sticker.  Then I went out to my car one morning and found a ticket on my windshield.  I was slapped with a $50 fine for not having a City of Bensenville sticker.  I didn't even know what was meant by a "city sticker."  I quickly found out that ignorance is no excuse, and it is also costly. Not only did I get hit with the fine, I still had to buy the current year's sticker, plus pay the late fee. This was my introduction to what I call "back-door taxing," all those little ways that municipalities generate revenue without actually calling it a tax.

It's been said that living in Oak Park is like living in one giant condo assocation, given all the rules and regulations.  Our tag line may be Step Out of Line, but in reality it should be "Stop here for more than a quick second, and we'll find a way to ticket you."

So, when these two envelopes were in my mailbox today I became instantly cranky.  "What now?!" was my initial thought.  Then I simmered down.  It was just the Village mailing me the new stickers that must be displayed in the cars by July 1st.  You may wonder why in the world I consider this "blog worthy," and why my entry is titled as it is.  In the last year, the Oak Park enforcers have been known, on occasion, to ticket a vehicle for not having a sticker, even when one was displayed.  When citizens appealed the ticket with proof they had purchased the sticker they were told, "You may have purchased it on time, but there's no proof you actually had it displayed in your vehicle."

For the record, I received my sticker today, and I promptly placed it on the front of my minivan.  It's two weeks before the July 1st deadline.

Free Trader Joe's, Compliments of the Library

I've been participating in the library's summer reading program for adults.  That means I read books, fill out a slip of paper saying whether or not I liked the book, and put the paper into a box for a weekly drawing.  This morning I received news that I'd won the weekly drawing!  My prize:  a $15 gift card to Trader Joe's.  I can't wait to spend this!

Thin Mints at Last!

There was much rejoicing in the Shattuck house, especially by Drew, when our neighborhood girl scout delivered the goods.  I'm betting they'll be long gone by the end of the week.

Big Crash

This evening I was going thru email when I heard a strange, unnatural noise. It sounded a bit like a muzzled car crash. It was different from the screeching tire sound we often hear that wafts down Fillmore from Ridgeland Avenue. It sort of sounded like sound effects from a computer game. But then came the glaring red-and-blue lights of emergency vehicles and in a flash I knew this was real. This was the scene on Fillmore just east of our alley:

An SUV went up against Ted's parked Porsche Cayenne and lost badly. The fire department used the jaws of life to free the driver, and then they whisked him off to the hospital.

You can fight city hall

If you spend any time in Oak Park listening to the conversations of its citizens, you'll pick up on some common threads. You'll hear passion about politics. You'll catch some snippets of a volunteer group planning an upcoming event. There'll be some chatter about the local schools. Someone will bring up the arts. Discussions about carbon footprints and going green will be thrown in the mix. But no matter where the conversation starts, you can almost guarantee that given a few minutes, talk will turn to the bane of Oak Parker's existence: the parking nightmare.

If you live in Oak Park and drive with any degree of regularity, you know exactly what I'm talking about. "Step out of line" may be Oak Park's official motto, but "Park legally if you can, we'll ticket you anyway" is what it should be. Everyone here has a story about the nightmare of trying to find parking. It's usually followed by a parking ticket story.

Here's my story. There are exactly three legal parking spots in front of the high school, where one is allowed to park for a full 15 minutes without penalty. These legal spots are sandwiched in between handicapped parking on one side and driver's ed parking on the other. Last week I was lucky enough to score one of the legal spots when I went to pick Kelsey up for early release. Or so I thought.

I returned to my minivan to find a $250 ticket attached to my windshield, claiming I was parked in handicap parking. I had the presence of mind to take this photo with my cell phone before I pulled away from the curb. I called Village Hall's Parking Adjudication group and got an in-person hearing, which was scheduled for today.

I showed up at Village Hall and pleaded my case to the judge. She saw my picture and agreed I was parked legally. She dismissed the ticket. 45 minutes of my time, and $250 still in my pocket, along with the very smug feeling that I won. Victory never tasted so sweet.

Top 10 Reasons Why Oak Park's New Logo-Tagline Fail

Since I've been snarking on Facebook about this logo and other people have been blogging about it, I decided it was time to mention it here. Here's the logo...


...and my top ten reasons why it fails:

10. The Village of Oak Park preaches "shop local," but they outsourced this to Tennessee.
9. Is it a giant diaper pin...or something else?
8. It's a target for sex jokes too numerous to mention.
7. It's completely generic.
6. Ms. Linne's art students at Irving Elementary could do better.
5. We spent $65,000 for this? Really?
4. "Step out of line" has negative connotations.
3. I can see it fitting nicely between the giant razor blades that grace the Harrison Street Arts District.
2. Mixed message alert! The logo is a linear design, yet the tagline is "step out of line."
1. If you have to explain your tagline you're an epic fail.

Clearly, the geniuses who are collecting a paycheck from the Village of Oak Park lack creativity. They are completely out of touch with those who live in this community.

Out of touch village employees + out of touch out of towners = complete lunacy.

Irving Pride

One of the things I love about Southeast Oak Park is the sense of community. I consider it a privilege to live within walking distance of what I consider the best-kept secret in Oak Park: Irving School. I've been making the two-block trek across Ridgeland to the school for nine years now. Even after all this time, I am still amazed at the dedication of the teachers and staff at our school. Each one of my children is a better person because of their Irving experience. While the rest of Oak Park embraces diversity in theory, we successfully live it out in this neck of the woods, and our neighborhood school plays a big role in that.

So, it is with great pride that I have displayed an Irving School Fly Like an Eagle" sign on my front lawn. It's been loads of fun watching these signs spring up all over the Irving district.

Soup's On

One of my favorite committees at Irving School is the Staff Appreciation Committee. This committee is living proof that many hands make light work. We've been providing the teachers with soup, salad, bread and dessert on the Thursday of parent-teacher conferences for years now.
Jules and Mel coordinate this event, and it runs like a well-oiled machine. I contributed chicken noodle soup and cranberry almond crunch. Thanks DJ for the pics!

And I'm happy to report that both Erin's and Drew's conferences went well. We are so blessed to have enthusiastic learners in our home.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

Today I got up with the dawn, dressed in pink and black, left the house early and headed down to Lawrence and the lakefront to participate in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5 mile walk along the lakefront. I had the privilege of being part of The Pampered Chef's team. I caught up with the two bus loads of Home Office staff on my way to the starting point.Being a Pampered Chef consultant in the Chicagoland area has its advantages, and the honor of walking with Dorris Christopher (founder), Marla Gottschalk (CEO), and Jean Jonas (Sr. VP, Sales) made the day extra special.

We couldn't have asked for better walking weather. The day was sunny, the sky was bright blue and the air was crisp. There was definitely a feeling of mixed emotions swirling around me. There were many who were walking to celebrate victory over this terrible disease, but there were many others who were walking in memory of someone who was no longer here.

I walked today because breast cancer has profoundly affected my friends, colleagues, and neighbors. I walked for those like Mary Ann, who are no longer here. I walked for friends like Jackie, Marlene and Peach, who have survived. And I walked for those many, many friends who have faced panic and uncertainty while waiting for a diagnosis.

I'm proud to be a part of a company that belives in giving back!