OP singer a finalist in ‘Big Break’ competition
One of Oak Park’s own, singer Eva Ball, 25, performed Monday night with six other contestants in the Bar 1 Big Break competition at Duffy’s Tavern, 420 W. Diversey Pkwy. in Chicago.
The competition started with 500 hopefuls, competing for a single $15,000 prize. Eva made the cut and is one of five finalists for the final night of competition to be held this Monday, Aug. 18.
Eva’s mother, Nancy, a former Longfellow teacher, says her daughter, a 2001 OPRF High School graduate, majored in music at Earlham College in Indiana, then completed a master’s in social work. She is currently a back-up singer for a group called Wedding Banned.
Nancy said the competition consists of nine rounds. Judges presided (and decided) in the first four. Since then, the audience has done all the voting. So a lot depends on the friendliness of the crowds.
If you’re interested in showing your support, the show begins at 8 p.m. this Monday. If you want to check out videos of the competition, go to www.bar1bigbreak.com/videos.
Then there were 4
Pretty soon, the Oak Park Plan Commission won’t have anyone to hear the OPRF lights application. Commissioners are dropping out left and right, the latest casualty, reportedly, is Steve Ruszczyk, who will be on vacation so unable to attend. They had to cancel the scheduled Aug. 14 hearing, and may have to cancel hearings through the rest of August.
At full capacity, the plan commission has nine members. Presently, there are two vacant seats. In addition, one member will be unable to attend because of an illness in the family and another member was recused against his will because neighbors claimed that, as an IHSA track official, he couldn’t deliver an unbiased vote.
Approval by the plan commission requires five votes. Looks like this is going to drag on awhile.
Free Wheeling?
As of 4 p.m. Saturday, the top online story on Wednesday Journal’s website (WednesdayJournalOnline.com) concerned Village Manager Tom Barwin’s interview in Boulder, Colo., for the city manager’s job.
Out of curiosity, we checked the Oak Leaves website. The top story was “Wheeling may get reservoir.” Huh?
No joke. “Building a water detention reservoir in Wheeling’s Heritage Park may be the solution to different challenges faced by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the Wheeling Park District,” the blurb read.
On Sunday, we carried excerpts from Barwin’s Boulder interview. The Oak Leaves? Would you believe “Child seat inspection day huge success”? That took place in Glenview.
Not a word about Barwin’s trip. They finally mentioned it late Monday night.
Comings and goings
The landscape of downtown Oak Park has shifted in the past week or so.
Lido’s Caffé-a small Italian restaurant, coffeehouse, and dessert shop-opened Saturday. After months of fixing the joint up, the owners opened the café on the new Marion Street. It’s located at 122 N. Marion St., which formerly housed Abrahamson’s Furriers.
“It almost feels like a dream because you put so much into it, you just don’t feel that day is ever coming,” said co-owner Louise Mihalik of Berwyn.
The owners received a $35,000 grant from the village to revamp the vintage building. The project cost an estimated $115,000 according to village documents.
Lido’s is open seven days a week and offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Food items include paninis, grilled focaccia, croissant sandwiches, more than a dozen flavors of gelato, biscotti, pastries, candy, and muffins.
“Everything in this place is Italian but me,” Mihalik said.
They serve an array of beverages like fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, tea, and hot or cold coffee using the LaVazza brand. They also have outdoor seating and wireless Internet. The café can be reached at 708/660-0060.
Elsewhere on Marion, the Moveable Gourmet, just down the block, closed last Friday. Everything was still inside the business on Monday, but a sign in the front window read: “To our wonderful customers – Moveable Gourmet will be permanently closing Friday, Aug. 8. We thank you all for your loyal support.”
Across the street from Lido’s, the rug gallery and antique mall is closing down, according to a sign in the window. Closed on Monday, the sign read: “Lost our lease. Rug Department is not moving …Thank you for 8½ great years. Donna + Steve.”
Media Zone-an Internet café on the north side of Lake Street, a half block west of Forest Avenue-has a “space for lease” sign in its window. However, according to employee Alisa Schmitt, the business is searching for a new spot in downtown Oak Park. They’re downsizing by a couple of hundred square feet and shortening their hours from 8 a.m.-midnight to 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
What’s with the air horns?
Those who live along the CTA Green Line may be wondering: what’s with the late-night horns along the train tracks? Journal readers have reported hearing the blaring during all hours of the night.
Well, as a safety precaution, a CTA employee has to toot the air horn anytime workers are on or near the tracks and a train is passing through.
Workers are currently hammering away at the Oak Park Green Line stations, fixing canopies over the stops and correcting tracks, says Wanda Taylor, CTA spokesperson. Only a single track will be in running from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. this week between Harlem and Austin while crews conduct maintenance and repair on the track, she said. Customers should allow extra travel time through Friday.
Anyone with questions or concerns about the track work (or airhorns) can call the CTA at 1-888/YOUR-CTA or e-mail CTAhelp@transitchicago.com.