Congratulations to all the Forest Park Review writers for the many Illinois Press Association awards won. Jean Lotus, not really gone and never forgotten, headed the list.
And speaking of awards, Rebecca Leehey‘s father, David Leehey spent last weekend in Boston competing in an international piano competition. David didn’t win the competition, but he did very well. After the music, he and some relatives spent the next afternoon at Fenway Park — in a box seat! In case you have never had that experience, the “seat” is like a hotel room, complete with food, assorted beverages, many private comfortable seats and even its own bathroom!
When David isn’t practicing the piano, he’s practicing medicine at Hines and Loyola. Besides having a famous father, Rebecca is the person of the much loved and famous dog, Marathon.
Did you happen to tune in to the Chicago Blues Festival last Saturday? Do you ever listen to Blues Before Sunrise? The host of that program is Steve Cushing, a Forest Park boy. He graduated from Garfield and Proviso East, which was just Proviso in those days. Steve was interviewed on WGN and talked about the latest blues book he’s written. Steve recently interviewed Buddy Guy and is a great fan of that blues legend.
In last week’s column, Joe Breseman was the featured star. Joe and his brother Jim are so connected in my mind that even as I wrote, I turned Joe into his brother Jim. Joe is the Californian with the lovely wife Michele. Jim is living in Florida. Hope to hear from him, too. By the way, their sister Suzie is also living in Florida now.
Recently some library volunteers were honored and now we’re honoring them in the Review. They are Victoria Boylan, Margoann Brown, Rochester (Roc) Pruitt and Robertas Petrouskas. Libraries couldn’t function without their volunteers. A big Thank You to Victoria, Margoann, Roc and Rob.
On June 28, there will be a visitation of Oak Park churches. For more information, call the Oak Park Visitors Center. 708-524-3544.There are several architectural masterpieces worth checking out.
On June 25 at 7 p.m., Centuries & Sleuths will feature speaker/author Donald Sender, who will discuss Untold Facts about the Custer Debacle: The Battle of the Little Big Horn. Seating is limited, so call to reserve a seat: 708-771-7243.
Birthday greetings to Emily Myntti, Trevor LaPoint, Artie Gray, Maria Willinger, Ginger McKay, Angela Hodges, Sophia Miller, Jane Hseu, John Mahoney, John Fabbrini, Lillia Tester, Sidney Gray, Charles Watson, Leshundria Ford, Jackson Ramirez, Susan Covington, Jennifer Medica, Dorothy Spinelli, and Tyler Leninger.
Happy anniversary to Jon and Jenny Kuehl, Jill and Brian Hosty, Danny and Diane Mohr, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Chen, and Angela and Corey Fink.
Jackie is a former Chicago and Elmwood Park schoolteacher with an undying love for music, friendly pets and a host of life’s other treasures too numerous to list. She was born on the far southwest side of Chicago in a great neighborhood when it was a great time to be young.
