Early reports are that Saturday will be sunny and in the 60s. For those of us who have marched through sleet, downpours and snow in Forest Park’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, this sounds like a weird and unnatural weather gift.
We’ll take it — despite worries our grandchildren will pay for this climate cataclysm on future St. Pat’s days.
OK, enough reality. Forest Park is anticipating crowds along Madison Street which could reach close to 10,000 people. This parade is endless fun and one our village’s premier opportunities to show off to visitors looking for an excuse to celebrate two weeks ahead of the actual St. Parick’s Day.
The Review will be among the 70 or so organizations marching this Saturday. We’re hoping to be lined up close enough to hear the Proviso East Marching Band.
See you on the street.
Arts blossom
While we are previewing Saturday’s parade, let’s also point out the story in today’s Review that spells out the full range of arts and culture events coming right up during Forest Park’s spring season.
We come back to this subject regularly. Forest Park has blossomed into an arts mecca in a decidedly idiosyncratic way. We’re not talking about symphonies and a Bogart film festival. Forest Park’s lineup is homegrown, participatory and fun.
In May there is the repainting of the Circle Avenue bridge. Art with a glass or two of wine during the April Wine Walk. Readers Theater featuring plays by women in March and May at the American Legion Hall. Stoop Sessions — five in all — starting in June. Bring your lawn chair. The Arts Alliance is bringing back its 48 Hour Film Challenge. Participants have to make the short films before the rest of us gather to watch them.
New to the scene is Robert’s Westside, the Madison Street venue, clearly open to hosting all manner of arts exploration, including a Makers Market in April and a (Story) Tellers Night every second Tuesday.
Be there.
A new niche in housing
When two essential nonprofits join together to solve a problem, well, things happen. Housing Forward, Maywood based, and Sarah’s Inn, headquartered in Forest Park, have won federal funding to create a transitional housing program for families fleeing domestic violence.
Providing those families with stable, mid-term housing is vital to holding families close, to offering a base of operations where traumatized people can regroup and step toward a future of safety and love.