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YOU ARE INVITED TO
SUNDAY SUMMER SIPPER
June 26 at 5:00 PM
Looking for a way to celebrate summer? Come to LCA's second annual Sunday Summer Sipper on June 26 at the Fire Station Park (Larrabee and Armitage, behind Engine 22's station). It's an absolutely hassle-free opportunity to enjoy music, summer drinks and hors d'oeuvres, while meeting and greeting old and new neighbors in the beautiful Fire Station Park gardens. This free event will feature free food containing at least one ingredient grown in the herb and vegetable gardens of the Park.
Learn about the herbs and vegetables planed by park volunteers and take some home for recipes. Enjoy the wet and dry areas of the garden filled with plants native to Illinois and surroundings.
LCA will also be honoring former 18th District Community Policing Sergeant Cynthia Schumann who retired on May 15 after 29 years as a Chicago Police
Officer. Read article about Sgt. Schumann in November 2015 issue of From the Heart.
Don't miss this chance to welcome summer! The event is scheduled to last from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, but we'll stay as long as you're having a good time.
Read about
and
see photos
from last year's Sunday Summer Sipper.
Oh, by the way, you can expect another magical surprise at Sunday Summer Sipper!
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There's nothing quite like movie night under the stars in Oz Park. This year, we're fortunate to have four movies in the Park. Mark your calendars and get those picnic baskets ready.
Saturday, June 25, 2016 from 8:30 PM - 10:11 PM
Friday, July 8, 2016 from 8:30 PM - 10:25 PM
Saturday, August 20, 2016 from 8:00 PM - 9:47 PM
Aug, 27, 2016 from 8:00 PM - 9:42 PM
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Thursday, June 23rd
LCA Monthly Board Meeting
Board meetings are held the f
ourth Thursday of each month
at
6:30 PM
in the back room of the
Marquee Lounge at Halsted and Armitage.
Friday, June 24th
15th Annual Chicago Sculpture Exhibit Kick-Off
Join the
Chicago Sculpture Exhibit on June 24th from 6:00-9:00 PM at 1544 N. Sedgewick (Sedgewick & North) as they celebrate the 15th anniversary of their program.
Meet this years Artists & Sponsors
and Partake in Food, Drinks and Fun!
RSVP/Info: 312-772-2872
Saturday & Sunday, July 23rd & 24th
 for their 48th annual Sheffield Music Festival & Garden Walk.
Learn more.
Saturday & Sunday, August 6th & 7th
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SAVE THE DATES
Thursday, September 15, 2016
LCA will host the third annual
An Evening in the Garden on Thursday evening, September 15.
An Evening in the Garden is a free neighborhood event held in our beautiful Fire Station Park featuring entertainment,
hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Read more about last year's event and see the photos from the event.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
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Our friends at
Fire Station 22 are dedicated to keeping our neighborhood safe. They also support the community in many other ways.
By staying fit, they are better able to protect our neighborhood. Earlier this month, LCA donated a set of weights and a weight rack to
Fire Station 22.
Our friends at Station 22 also need a new treadmill. If you or someone you know can donate a treadmill,
please contact Ben Hosek, Engineer at the station.
Pictured above from left to right, fireman Bill Quinn;
LCA Board member Betsy Costello, who serves on LCA's Community Affairs Committee; and fireman Tony Zarcone.
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LCA member Ben Hosek was
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LCA member Ben Hosek
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recently elected to his second term on the Local School Council at
LaSalle Language Academy
. Hosek, an Engineer at Fire Station 22, is one of LCA's most active members and serves on our Community Affairs Committee. Also elected to the LaSalle LSC was
LCA Board
member, Steve McClellan. Congratulations Ben and Steve.
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TREATS FOR THE HEART
 Each spring for the last 39 years, Chalkboard Pre-school has opened its doors to the public for a bake sale that's a treat for students, teachers, parents, neighbors. It's held twice over two days. There's cakes, cookies, muffins, brownies; most items are 10 cents and are sold by the schoolchildren, age 3 to 5. The children sit at tables with their homemade goodies and explain what they're selling, who made it, how good it is (they're sometimes eating what they're supposed to be selling) and how much each costs. This year a boy told me his entire tray of brownies and Rice Krispies treats could be bought for "a thousand million. Do you have coins?" Cont'd.
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Bauler Park
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| Theo Padgett hard at work at Bauler Park |
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A big thanks to all volunteers who helped clean Bauler Park on Saturday, May 21st. More than a dozen dedicated members of Lincoln Central and the Bauler Park Advisory Council removed dead branches and twigs left over from the removal of several large trees earlier this year. The weather was perfect, affording the group an opportunity to work and exchange ideas about the Park's future. Coffee and sweets were provided as a reward for a job well done.
Fire Station Park
Pictured below, LCA Vice President, Kathy Jordan;  Parks Chair Sally Drucker; and LCA member Nancy Morris, help prepare the gardens in Fire Station Park for June 26th's Sunday Summer Sipper. Sally, Kathy and Nancy work tirelessly throughout Spring, Summer and early Fall to help take care of the gardens in Fire Station Park.
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The above photo was taken just moments after demolition of the old Children's Memorial Hospital began on Tuesday, June 7.
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 Chalkboard, con't.
Chalkboard is housed in a storefront on Menomonee Street, between Cleveland Avenue and Hudson Street. Weekdays there are two three-hour sessions for 20 students at a time. If you live in the neighborhood, you'll have seen the children playing at Bauler Park, at Ogden Mall Park, in the sand boxes in front of the school, and trick or treating at nearby homes.
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Ruengpinyophun & Kopka
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Kopka's daughter and a Chalkboard graduate, has run the business with her mother, since 2013. They believe pre-school is a time for children to socialize and to learn through play.
Chalkboard is open year round, and mostly follows
the Chicago Public School calendar. Its
popular summer camp begins June 20 and runs for eight weeks.
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GEJA'S JULY SPECIAL
Our friends at
Geja's Cafe have a fantastic promotion coming in July. If you've dined at Geja's you already know why it was voted
the most romantic restaurant in the country in 2015. If not, its time you found out. Dining at Geja's is also a great way to show your appreciation for their support of your neighborhood.
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Thursday, June 16, 2016
Dear Neighbors,
You may have noticed that most LCA events now feature a magician. That's intended to represent our belief that magic is hidden throughout our neighborhood in ordinary, and sometimes unlikely, places.
Magic can be found in the smiles of children and in the friendships made at LCA's neighborhood gatherings. There is magic in the beauty of our parks and and in the hearts of the volunteers who tend to them. There is magic in the random acts of kindness that dot our lives.
There is magic in the heart of Isabelle Ketchum and her supportive family whose remarkable story we share in this issue, thanks to an article written by LCA Vice-President, Kathy Jordan. And for a small, resource limited non-profit like LCA, there is magic in the generosity of the sponsors who help support our efforts.
Though we believe in magic, it still takes us by surprise sometimes Only on the day the
Chicago Sculpture Exhibit rotated
a new sculpture into Fire Station Park last month did we learn the name of the new sculpture....
Magic!
From the heart,
Kenneth Dotson,
LCA President
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| The Ketchums on holiday |
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She's 16, is a junior at Alcott, works at a restaurant, likes Nicky Minaj, has a boyfriend
. Typical teenager, right?
Well, not exactly. This teen is an overachiever in the best sense of the word. She was born with Down Syndrome, and raises oodles of money for several organizations that support people like her who are, as her mother Kelly puts it, "differently abled."
Lincoln Park's Isabelle Ketchum certainly doesn't see herself as disabled in any way. She's been a hostess at Select Cut for a year, seating people coming in to dine. Her favorite part of the job? "I love the staff," she says.
She's just starting a "burger blog," highlighting "the best cheeseburgers I've eaten. So far 5 Guys wins, but I'll sample a burger a week and report on it."
For fun, she plays music--country, soul, pop, R&B, rap--and goes to concerts, thanks in part to her father John's work in the entertainment industry.
She also does well in school, says her mom Kelly, who talks to school classes about Down Syndrome "to say that difference is not something frightening. Talking about it helps kids realize that Isabelle's just like everyone else."
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John & Isabelle Ketchum
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Then there's' the fund-raising. The first event Isabelle mentions is the Polar Plunge, an annual event that supports the athletes of Special Olympics Chicago. "I was in the top 10 fund-raisers for the Polar Plunge for the past two years," she says proudly. "My Dad goes in with me," Isabelle says, but sister Chloe and Mom, Kelly, are spectators. "Next year, everyone goes in," says a very determined Isabelle. Cont'd.
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IMPORTANT NOTE
If you are reading this newsletter in Gmail, Yahoo mail and certain other email programs, the right hand side of the newsletter may be cut off before it concludes. If that happens, go to the very bottom of the email and on left hand side and you will see a message that says "[Message clipped] View entire message"
Simply clink that link and you will be able to read the entire newsletter or click here.
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FUN IN THE HEART
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US Rep. Quigley enjoying popcorn from Victory Gardens
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Those with a taste for pastries enjoyed food from local restaurants, while many took part in the raffle and silent auction featuring amazing prizes from
such donors as Josh Moulton Fine Art and Natural Elements Salon. Bicycle enthusiasts could get a tune-up from Performance Bike
.
Young and old alike flocked to the Fire
Engine 22
. The fireman gave tours of the truck and offered inside information on a firefighter's life.
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State Rep. Ann Williams greets constituents
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Quigley, State Rep.
Ann
Williams
and
43rd Ward Alderman Michele Smith
. Representative Williams and Alderman Smith both helped draw and announce raffle winners throughout the event.
The raffle and silent auction items were valued at more than $9,000 dollars.
Alderman Smith remarked to the crowd that the Spring Zing raffle contained the best selection of raffle items she had ever seen.
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THERE'S
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| John Adduci's "Magic" |
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Magic came to the Lincoln Central Association's Fire Station Park in late May in the form of the newest sculpture to grace the pocket park. Part of the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, founded in 2001 by former 43rd Ward Alderman Vi Daley, the sculpture was named Magic by its sculptor John Adduci.
Adduci is a native Chicagoan and internationally recognized artist who uses "the fluidity of metal to express both movement and stability in outdoor sculptures."
"I was going to call it 'Hypnosis' at first," Adduci said, wiping his brow after the effort to set the large sculpture in the place it will remain for a year. "But when I was working on the maquette, the concept of magic came to mind with the cape flying on either side, and the fact that it seems to be moving backward and forward at the same time."
"I love the way it catches the light," said new CSE President Pamela Cullerton looking at the newly placed sculpture. "It glistens and draws people's attention to it with its warm fluidity."
Adduci's
Magic
is one of more than 40 sculptures being placed in six wards this spring, thanks to the
Chicago Sculpture Exhibit
. Now in its 15th year, the nonprofit organization pairs local sponsors with area artists in an annually rotating public art collection.
Sculptures in the program are sponsored by individuals, organizations and businesses.
Over those years it has sponsored 54 artists and 141 sculptures.
The sponsorship fee per sculpture is $3,500.
Magic
was sponsored by General Iron.
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Isabelle Ketchum, cont'd
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Isabelle with Jen Kramer
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led by
Jen Kramer
, past president of
Special Olympics Chicago
and director of Special Events for
Navy Pier
. Jen and Isabelle met at
an aldermanic forum, when Kramer was running in the 43rd Ward. "This is the second year we've 'plunged' together," Jen says. "I am so proud that she is one of the top fund-raisers--out of 4,000."
Gigi's Playhouse, which serves children and adults of all ages, providing educational and therapeutic programs at no charge to families, is another target for Isabelle's fund-raising abilities. For
Gigi's Playhouse, Isabelle participates in an
annual run. "The rest of the family walks," she says.
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Isabelle & Chloe Ketchum
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Isabelle also participates in the
Best Buddies Friendship Walk, the number one walk in the country raising awareness and funds to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDO).
Best Buddies pairs children with disabilities for help and fellowship, and next year, Isabelle will be a Buddy coordinator, helping to pair up partners.
"Isabelle has exceeded everything they told us about when she was born," says Kelly. Her friends treat her no differently, and there has been no difference between raising Isabelle and Chloe." Just turned 13, Chloe adds in true sisterly fashion that Isabelle is "amazing and obnoxious."
Says father John, "I could not be more proud of my kids. This is one happy family!"
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Sculpture, con't
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Pictured above (from L to R) at the installation ceremony are former 43rd Alderman and founder of the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, Vi Daley; LCA President Kenneth Dotson; artist John Adduci; 43rd Ward Alderman Michele Smith and President of the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, Pamela Cullerton.
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"The program has been so well received," said Daley. "People really enjoy the sculptures." Noting that the program began modestly with a few sponsors and artists placing six to 10 sculptures, Daley said it grew in 2007, when
44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney joined the program. Since then, thousands of people have "viewed, inspected, enjoyed and critiqued the sculptures."
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A TOUR OF THE HEART
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LCA Director Bob Segal leads tour
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On Saturday, June 11th Bob Segal,
LCA Director, led an architectural tour of over 20 buildings in east Lincoln Park. Beginning at the bridge over South Pond (see photo at left), Bob started with a history of the park itself, then described the role of the
Lincoln Park Refectory (now called Café Brauer) in the
Prairie School architecture movement, noting that Café Brauer was actually the third building on this site.
Moving over to Lincoln Park West, Bob discussed the rise of the
apartment-hotel concept. He pointed out examples along the way -- notably the Parkway, Webster and Belden (Stratford) hotels. Walking up Lakeview Avenue, the group stopped to admire the magnificent Italian Renaissance-style
Theurer-Wrigley mansion.
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THANKS
Thanks to the following merchants for donating items to our Spring Zing raffle and silent auction. More than $9,000 in items were donated.
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CONGRATULATIONS OLD TOWN TRIANGLE
 
Congratulations to our friends at
Old Town Triangle Association for being selected as the #1 Art Fair in the country for 2015. Let's hope for a repeat in the 2016 Awards.
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Join our friends at 
