Two weeks ago in Viewpoints, we published a letter about the sorry condition of many Oak Park streets [The village needs a list of really bad streets, June 20]. We offered readers the chance to nominate their (least) favorite. So far, here are the members of the “Pothole Pantheon”:
D.R. of Elmwood Park said, “I am not a resident of Oak Park, but I am a member of the YMCA. The street alongside the Y building, Randolph from Harlem to Marion is in deplorable condition-one deep depression and many potholes. It’s bad all the way to Oak Park Avenue. Please help.”
“I would like to nominate the 500-700 blocks of Carpenter Avenue as Oak Park’s Worst Paved Street,” writes Alyson Ryan. “The brain trust in Public Works paved the street from Madison to Adams and didn’t finish the job on a street that only runs from Madison to Harrison! The street is so filled with potholes and uneven pavement that guests to our home comment on it with pity.”
And Rosemarie Nowicki, who sent the original June 20 Viewpoints letter, wrote: “Thanks for asking about the streets!” and offered the following list:
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Van Buren – pick a block, any block!
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Adams, going east from Wisconsin
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Monroe, same as above (Hmm, I see a pattern forming here!)
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Carpenter, north from Harrison
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Kenilworth, south from Lake
I’m still traveling and sure there will be more!
Anyone else care to chime in? E-mail ktrainor@wjinc.com or call 613-3310 and leave a voice-mail. We’ll also accept incriminating photos if you care to submit them.
Fantasy alert: Spartz to join Potter fest
Don’t say you weren’t warned: Pottermania returns to Oak Park on Friday, July 20, as the Oak Park Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (OPACVB) and Magic Tree Bookstore co-sponsor the “Countdown to Midnight Book Release Festival,” starting midday and continuing through midnight-at which point the latest, and allegedly last, Harry Potter book will be released. Events are scheduled in Scoville Park, The Avenue and Downtown Oak Park business districts, Pleasant Home and Mills Park. Businesses will offer “wizard-ware” and “magical menus.”
As if that weren’t exciting enough, the latest news is that MuggleNet.com has joined the festival. MuggleNet.com is the very popular (among muggles) website of one Emerson Spartz. It is the Internet’s “most-visited children’s website,” according to the OPACVB. Inspired by the Harry Potter series, Spartz created the site in 1999 when he was just 12 years old. Now it’s the favored place for Potter fans to interact and discuss the books and movies.
Spartz will be on hand July 20 to conduct an interactive discussion with fans at the Scoville Park stage from 8:30 to 10 p.m. To show how popular this guy is, he co-authored What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7, which is currently #2 on the N.Y. Times Children’s Bestseller List with 335,000 copies in print. He’ll be signing that book on the Library Plaza after the discussion.
By the numbers
1,182 People who bought vehicle stickers on Friday at the Oak Park Village Clerk’s office
132 People who purchased stickers on line
2.4% Increase in number of stickers purchased over 2006
Veteran WJ driver killed
An independent contractor who has delivered publications for Wednesday Journal, Inc. the past six years was killed last Wednesday afternoon when the mini-van he was driving was struck by a semi-trailer truck at Route 83 and 63rd Street in Willowbrook.
Timothy Preston, 66, who was delivering copies of Chicago Parent magazine at the time, was killed instantly. His son Elisha, who was with him, was not hurt.
A former Oak Park resident, Preston regularly took Elisha, who suffers from Down syndrome, on his routes with him. He continued to drive the young man around on his Wednesday Journal paper route even after the family moved to LaGrange Park.
The driver of the semi-trailer, Dragomir Kostov, 43, of Des Plaines, reportedly suffered minor injuries and spent the night in a hospital. Police cited Kostov for disobeying a traffic control device and for having defective brakes. They continue to investigate the accident.
“We’re devastated for the family,” said WJ distribution manager Kathy Hansen. “He was such a devoted father.” Hansen said Preston would take time off to bring Elisha, who is in his mid-20s, to Special Olympic events.
“It was very obvious how much he loved his son,” WJ staffer Anthony Buonomo said of Preston, whom he remembered as a friendly and well-read man who made people laugh.
Elisha reportedly has not fully realized the impact yet.
“Does this mean I can’t deliver papers anymore?” he asked his mother.
-Bill Dwyer
Kicking cancer
The 4th annual Kicks for Kids charity kickball tournament is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 14 at Hutchinson Fields in Grant Park. Why should folks here in Oak Park and River Forest care? Well, it’s a good cause, raising funds for the Kid Power program, which assists children suffering from serious illnesses. But there’s also a local connection. One of the organizers is Danielle Villari-Swets, a cancer survivor herself (and 1992 OPRF Homecoming Queen) who grew up in Oak Park.
Here’s how she summarized her ordeal and subsequent involvement in Kid Power:
“I became a cancer survivor in November of 1989 when I was diagnosed with AML leukemia. At that time I was not close to anyone who had cancer. Mine had a 30-percent survival rate, but we decided early on that my chances were 50/50. I was going to live or I was going to die. I went through a year of chemotherapy and then I went into remission, catching up with school and friends. Gaining energy, growing hair-at 15 years old I just wanted to blend in. Then I relapsed. Our last treatment option was a bone marrow transplant. My only sister was not a match so we harvested my own bone marrow and treated it with high doses of chemotherapy. My family had ups and downs, and we found out how loved we were. My sister was 7 and never came home to an empty house; a grandma or aunt was always there. Our Oak Park neighbors made food and dropped it off at our house. People donated blood for me. Classmates at OPRF had fundraisers.
“The financial burden is huge; we capped our $1 million insurance plan. My father changed jobs. My parents’ friends offered to buy our house in case we went bankrupt from the medical bills. My mom stayed with me at the hospital, eating my food trays and sleeping in a chair next to my bed. People I did not even know sent cards and presents. Some sent money and others prayed for me.
“I know I would not be here today if it wasn’t for friends and the kindness of strangers. Through Kid Power I have a chance to help other kids the way people helped me. I see others struggling, sometimes with little support. I was lucky, I am grateful. I thought I’d take my own experience and show these kids something, be an inspiration, but they are the ones who inspire us to do our best work and to live a better life.”
For more information, contact www.chicagokicksforkids.org or call the Kid Power office at 312/224-7872. Ask for Danielle.