Oak Parkers and some of the village’s more famous former residents made headlines this year, getting recognition from any number of local, national and digital media outlets.
West Suburban Living Magazine voted downtown Oak Park the “Best Shopping Center,” even when pitted against Oakbrook Center and Geneva Commons in its annual “Best of the West” rankings.
“This recognition signals that our constant efforts toward business development, recruitment, marketing and events are worthwhile,” Max Williams, executive director of Downtown Oak Park, said of the honor.
NerdWallet.com, meanwhile, a personal finance website, named Oak Park the 18th most educated city in America in July. It was the only municipality in the state to make the top 20. The website built the ranking using the percentage of high school graduates, college graduates and those with master’s and graduate degrees.
Oak Park’s most famous writer got a shout-out in September by BuzzFeed.com, an entertainment news blog, taking the No. 1 spot for “11 Historical Hunks That’ll Make You Want to Time Travel.”
“Should we talk about how much he looks like a young Tom Cruise? Is Tom Cruise a time-traveling Ernest Hemingway? Oh my,” the post notes.
Hemingway, who grew up in Oak Park and graduated from OPRF High School, also was honored by local business leaders this year who named a business district after him. With the support of the Hemingway family, the Avenue Business Association rebranded this year, renaming itself the Hemingway District. The change is part of an effort to connect the Downtown Oak Park, Avenue and Pleasant districts.
Another OPRF student made headlines this year — this time for his love of birds.
Avid birder Aaron Gyllenhaal broke the record for spotting the most birds in Cook County in a single year. The 23-year record was broken by Gyllenhaal in October, after the high school junior spotted a Surf Scoter, a variety of duck.
Gyllenhaal wasn’t the only one breaking records this year. Former Oak Park resident and actor Betty White set the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Longest TV Career for an Entertainer (female).” The actor, who was 91 at the time the record was broken began her career in 1939 and has appeared in numerous movies and television shows such as “The Golden Girls,” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” But she began her life here in Oak Park.
Beef with Meatless Monday
Oak Park’s Meatless Monday proclamation (board-supported, minus Trustee Peter Barber) didn’t digest well with one beef cattle farmer.
In fact, the proclamation upset this small-town cattleman so much he traveled from the pastures of Sandwich, about 60 miles away from Oak Park, to attend a special meeting of the village board in July.
His beef was with the language.
Despite what Oak Park’s proclamation suggests about personal and environmental health, related to meat consumption, the farmer encouraged Oak Park officials to look at more research. He said his farmers invest in the humane treatment of animals, produce lean cuts of beef, and work to address sustainable environmental programs.
The farmer suggested Oak Park’s proclamation relied too much on speculation and ignored the real farmers who produce quality, safe meat. He called on the trustees to “rethink the wisdom of Meatless Mondays.”
No hard feelings though. The farmer ended by extending an invitation to the board to visit the DeKalb County Fair (finest in the state, he says). He hopes the trustees will take a trip west to meet “real farmers” and learn “how beef is really made.”
