Sugar Beet Winter Farmer's Market, Autre Monde Wins Award

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Acoustic Guitar Vocal Performance at Pleasant Home
Roger Kotecki and Friends will entertain and enlighten with the stories behind the songs, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s favorite spiritual, Steal Away. Doors open at 3pm for light fare and tours of the first floor.

Best Native Plants for Full Sun from West Cook Wild Ones
West Cook Wild Ones has created the following list to help out anyone who is new to native plants and is unsure of where to begin their efforts.

Gloor Open Houses for January 19th
Weekend open houses in the area from Gloor Realty

Meet Theresa - A Story of Determination and Inspiration
Moving story about a dog overcoming dire circumstances.

CN100 Game of the Week preview: Boys Basketball - Fenwick vs. Proviso East
Fenwick’s impressive start to the season has been done despite significant injuries to key players. The team’s best player, Northwestern commit Scott Lindsey, has missed the entire season but resumed practice Monday. There is a chance he could play in either of Fenwick’s key games this weekend (the Friars face St. Joseph Friday). Smith has been out since injuring his ankle at a Christmas Eve practice, but he will play this weekend. Both grew up in the Proviso district and are anxious for a chance to play in the game. 

District 97 Seeking Members for Two Board Committees
District 97 is seeking dedicated individuals from the community who are interested in taking an active role in shaping the future of our schools by applying to serve in a voluntary capacity on our Finance Oversight and Review Committee (FORC) or our Committee for Legislative Action, Intervention and Monitoring (CLAIM).

Native Plants for Bird Habitat by Stephen Packard, Hosted by West Cook Wild Ones
Our native birds are struggling to survive.  The Audubon Society has written that many of our popular bird species are down by 68% while others are down by 80%.  Many of them migrate and face many dangers on their trips and habitat loss, pesticide use, car and building collisions (window collisions account for about 1 billion bird deaths each year).

Autre Monde Cafe & Spirits honored by peers with business excellence award
Autre Monde Café & Spirits, 6727 W Roosevelt Road, was recognized with the George W. Ashby Award for Business Excellence at the Berwyn Development Corporation’s (BDC) Annual Meeting on January 8, 2014. Opened in 2011, this pan-Mediterranean restaurant and bar was an adaptive re-use of a vacant storefront into a new destination restaurant. Autre Monde has the ambiance of a European wine bar and offers shared plates for dinner as well as Sunday brunch. 

Want to sell your house? Make sure your photos stand out in the crowd!
I spend a lot of time sorting through listings on the MLS for my clients, and I'm baffled at the number of listings in 2014 that aren't photographed to show off the home's features, or aren't even photographed at all! Our multiple listing service requires only one exterior photo of the property but allows agents to upload as many as 25.

Winter Farmers' Market Brings More Than Local Food to Oak Park
Together with Faith in Place and the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation, The Sugar Beet Co-op is hosting a winter market next weekend. In preparation for the market I wanted to do some quick research in order to compile a table to list the vendors, their offerings and their websites.  I asked my husband to watch the kids for an hour so that I could finish this relatively quick project for our newsletter, The Weekly Beet. 

Seniors can Defer up to $5,000 in Property Taxes

Senior citizens struggling with property taxes can defer payment of their property taxes until their homes or condominiums are sold.  According to Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar, the Senior Citizen Tax Deferral Program allows seniors to defer as much as $5,000 of their property tax bill every year.

Applications for Senior Citizen Tax Breaks Mailed
Oak Park senior citizens received renewal applications for senior citizen property tax exemptions earlier this week, and will have until February 5 to return them to the Cook County Assessor’s office.  Local senior citizens should feel free to call the office of Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar for help completing the forms.

CUC's New Center for Literacy Benefits Area Children and Adults

Concordia University Chicago’s new Center for Literacy will host a community night and ribbon cutting on Friday, January 17, at 6 p.m. The free event will begin in the West Annex, Room WA 123 and then move to the Christopher Center, Room CC200 on the University’s River Forest campus.

The event is designed to celebrate the accomplishments of the first group of children to take part in the Center’s Jumping into Multiliteracies (JiM) program, partially funded by Youth Services of the Oak Park and River Forest Townships. Current students of the program will present what they have learned in person and via student-produced video segments. University faculty and administrators will be on hand to provide an overview of the Center’s resources and answer questions from community members.

Oak Park Resident Elected a State Bar Delegate to American Bar Association
Oak Park resident Emily N. Masalski, an associate attorney at the Chicago law firm of Deutsch, Levy & Engel, Chartered, has been elected an Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) “Under 35” delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.

River Forest Reads Kicks off on Monday, Jan. 20 With Clarence Goodman
The River Forest Library will kick off their first community reading program, River Forest Reads, on Monday , January 20th at 2 PM with “Chicago, Emancipation to Inauguration”, presented by Clarence Goodman.  A veteran of the stage, studio, and road, and the proprietor of C Chicago Tours, Goodman has been called the best tour guide in Chicago.  During his presentation, he will take us on a tour of Chicago and discuss the city’s pivotal role in black history. This program is free.