For Chihuahua races, OPer keeps his cool
While fellow competitors were loading up on carbs, hitting mock tracks near their water bowls and working in an extra nap or two, Pablo-able-bodied and 15 pounds-opted for a laid-back approach to Unleashed. For Petco’s regional Chihuahua race in North Riverside on Saturday morning, Pablo “did absolutely nothing to prepare,” says Jillian Clouse of Oak Park, one of Pablo’s three coaches at the event.
“He’s not a professional racer, but he runs a lot on his own-mostly in circles,” Jillian said. In packs of 10, more than 200 mini-dogs ran down a 1/18th furlong (35-foot-long) track for the chance to make the national finals in San Diego this summer. Pablo was cool with Bones, a long-hair from Wonder Lake, scoring that honor.
Beyond Dilbert
Many of us took introspective turns after 9-11. Chicago native Jerry Patterson, a VP on Wall Street at the time, kept his eye on the business world but from a new vantage point. Patterson moved his family to the quieter scene of Des Moines, Iowa, where he now not only works in corporate circles, he doodles about them. Patterson, 41, takes his pen and watercolors and turns what he sees and hears at business meetings into colorful prints he markets as Real People Art.
“What goes on in the business world exemplifies what goes on in the rest of life-the trials, the tribulations, the drama,” says Patterson, whose witty work is on display at Joyce Smoler’s shop, 135 N. Oak Park Ave. Patterson will be in Oak Park on Saturday, visiting At the Gallery from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., ready to tell us how space monkeys and chicken heads call attention to the human condition.
We love Oak Park!
Next Tuesday is the 40th anniversary of Oak Park’s Fair Housing Ordinance, and while the occasion isn’t generating a lot of attention around the village (you can read part III of the Oak Park integration story in LifeLines today, page 35), a couple of local groups are marking the moment.
Signs to commemorate the anniversary and the work of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center (“Expanding Options, Ensuring Demand, Encouraging Community”) are available at the Housing Center for $10 each.
The signs proclaim: “We Love Oak Park, Fair Housing and the Housing Center.”
According the Rob Breymaier, executive director of the center, the signs are perfect for the lawn or your front window.
To reserve your sign call the center at 848-7150.
Meanwhile, the Historical Society of Oak Park-River Forest wants to restage one of the famous “open housing marches” that took place on Saturdays in 1966, proceeding from Stevenson Park past the old village hall at Euclid and Lake to the former Baird & Warner Real Estate office on Marion Street near North Boulevard.
The marches drew a lot of attention to the movement and led to the passage of the Fair Housing Ordinance.
But looking out the window at variable temps in Oak Park, the Historical Society decided to wait till this summer to re-enact history. In the meantime, call Director Frank Lipo, 848-6755, for details.
We love Obama!
Tuesday, in addition to being the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Ordinance, could be a big night for presidential candidate (and Illinois Senator) Barack Obama. Everyone (or anyone who isn’t sick of this long, drawn-out marathon) will be watching Indiana and North Carolina.
Obama fans have the option of going to FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt Road (Berwyn side, near Clarence), to watch returns on their giant screen TV and listen to The Waco Brothers with Jon Langford, who will be performing (perhaps during commercials?).
Anyway, it’s an Obama for America fundraiser, hosted by Kate & Bill FitzGerald, Tom Gearen (an Oak Park native who now works for the Obama campaign) and Kati Murphy. Admission is $50 if you’re a “Friend,” $96 if you’re a “Co-Host,” and $250 if you want to be a “Host.”
It all starts at 5:30 p.m., May 6.