• Need a clean sweep? The Park District of Forest Park will be holding a family garage sale for Spring Cleaning on April 23 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sites are $10 per family.
The sale will coincide with opening day for Little League and with the on-going soccer league.
Larry Piekarz, assistant director at the park, said the day should yield profits for would-be sellers.
“We are hoping that with it being outside this year it will be accessible. I will have the grill and we will be serving food for people who walk through,” he said. “Between the two opening day crowds, we will get a lot of people who come through.”
Also promised, music over the P.A. system. For information contact the park district at 366-7500.
• Save the date: April 16 is the official opening day for Forest Park Soccer. With 11 teams in Forest Park, this year’s league promises to be great fun.
“I can’t think of any sport that is going to be better at building up lung capacity than soccer,” said Will Walsh, president of the soccer board. “When you are playing on a full field, there is a lot of running and there is a lot of standing around in other sports.”
Walsh promises a great workout for the kids and a fun, exciting season.
“We are here to teach kids how to play soccer,” he said. “There is not a high school in the area which has a kid starting and playing who hasn’t gone through our program.”
The varsity teams have seventh and eighth graders, the division three team has fifth and sixth graders, division two has third and fourth graders mostly and division one”where all the fun is”has the pre-kindergarteners to second graders.
Their first games run on April 15, though, so get the cleats on and go down to the park to cheer the little champions on.
• Village council is considering modifications to the solicitors ordinance, making would-be solicitors pay for a background check and obtain a village identification card before they can go door to door. The ordinance changes would only affect commercial solicitors, not charitable organizations or religious/political institutions.
• Residents can expect an easier time getting around Forest Park, as a new bike rack will soon be installed at Village Hall to accommodate bikers.
• Save the date: April 30 has been designated for registration of eligible junior and all-day senior kindergarten students at D91 for the ’05-’06 school year. Registration runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Field-Stevenson School, 925 Beloit Ave.
• New Village Clerk Vanessa Moritz began work officially Monday after being sworn-in as Village Clerk. Welcome!
• Commissioner Mark Hosty is still seeking resumes to fill the position at the head of the Department for Public Health and Safety. Three have been interviewed, but the position is still open so get your resumes ready.
• The Historic Preservation Society completed the first draft of a preservation ordinance last week. The draft was reviewed by the committee and is being edited as we speak. Commissioner Timothy Gillian hopes to present it to the council very soon.
• The asphalt plant opened April 11. This means potholes and alleys can be fixed, so pass any requests on to the Department of Public Works at Village Hall. ITry to get requests in by the end of the week.
• Flower box planting began April 12 and the Spring tree planting program will begin on April 25. Any requests for tree trimming on the parkways should be sent to village hall before then, as the requests will be dealt with on a first come first serve basis.
• Playgrounds and tot lots throughout the village will be inspected next week. Also in the works, three village employees will be receiving training in the near future to be in-house inspectors for the playgrounds.
• Save the date: Don’t forget the Kiwanis Pasta Dinner on April 23 at the Community Center, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Come out and support the Forest Park Kiwanis.
• The Shape of Things opens tonight at Circle Theatre, don’t bring the kiddies, mature and surprising content.
