CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS - LINCOLN SQUARE, SOUTH LOOP, LAKEVIEW, PORTAGE PARK, NILES
LINCOLN SQUARE
I call my Northwest Side neighborhood BungalOasis for a good reason, says Mazurka Wojciechowska, who has lived there for four years. As the nickname I gave the community implies, you can find many beautiful bungalows here. Some of these great homes with the stained-glass leaded windows, original flower boxes and limestone decorations. Many of corners are anchored by vintage apartment buildings.
This is an area that is attracting more and more "hip" neighbors. Over the years I since I was a grade-school student in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in the '60s. I have watched Lincoln Park, Old Town, Lakeview and Lincoln Square change in diversity. The homes fit many lifestyles and economic levels. Click here to read more.
SOUTH LOOP
At first glance, it looked like a disaster in the making. It was fifteen minutes before show time, and hardly anyone had shown up to attend the performance.
Was the reopening of HotHouse, in its new home at the Viaduct Theater, going to be a failure?
HotHouse devotees need not worry. Once the headliners took the stage, sometime past 10:30 p.m. Saturday, it was standing-room-only for the return of a sorely missed Chicago cultural institution.
Considering that the main stage at the Viaduct, at 3111 N. Western Ave., seats about 300, the HotHouse comeback was quite impressive. There were nights at the old HotHouse, in the South Loop, when the number of people onstage outnumbered those in the audience. Read the entire article by clicking here.
LAKEVIEW
There's nothing wee or precious about petite sirah. This is a red wine that has been compared, seriously, to John Wayne and whose big, gallant profile is at odds with its pocket-sized name. Like the Duke himslef, petite sirah (also spelled "syrah") generates passionate feelings from those who delight in its rough and ready style.
"The best are tannic, solid, super chewy choices, packed full of flavors of blueberries and white pepper. In short, they're manly-man wines," said Joe Kafka. Joe is the owner of Kafka Wine Co. in Lakeview. "Let them open up and then serve with a steak or a cigar."
Like a good cigar or steak, quality petite sirah is costly. There are relatively few low-priced "entry-level" examples of this varietal. Bogle and Concannon are two of the best known affordable brands.
Why is petite sirah so pricey? Scarcity. Learn more about this wine selection, by clicking here.
PORTAGE PARK
When he sings Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" at various open mike nights around town, Reverend Chris Doering is used to the response he gets.
"You're a priest?" an audience member asks.
"It's a shock to them, but they enjoy it. They say, 'I'm going to your church.' I say, 'See you Sunday morning,' " said Father Doering, 35 who is the pastor of Our Lady of Victory parish in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood.
Through his musical performances outside the church, Doering challenges the static images of nuns and priests who exist only inside the church, behind the altar. He says it's refreshing for people to see that priests are regular people and for the priests to engage others through music. Read all about it by clicking here.
NILES
With a whistle around his neck, Earl Gunderson coached a group of students in floor hockey in a Park Ridge elementary school gym that has become sort of a second home for the 75-year-old retiree.
I just love the enthusiasm of these little ones," Gunderson says during a break from his work at Field Elementary School. "You can get caught up in your own senior world."
Senior citizens have volunteered for a long time in schools. At Field and other schools in Park Ridge-Niles District 64, they are paid the Illinois minimum wage of $7.50 an hour to assist teachers and pupils in the classroom.
The district is one of two in the northwest suburbs that pay seniors to tutor students, help with art projects, class decorations, greeting visitors, filing, paperwork and other odd jobs. Learn more by clicking here.
JENNIFER GARRITY & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
