Chicago Branch Library Adult Services Librarian Bruce Sullivan. --Greater Southwest News-Herald photo by Kathy Headley
Welcome, Bruce Sullivan
By Kathy Headley
Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor
6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778
This week we welcome a new member to the Chicago Lawn Branch Library staff: Bruce Sullivan. Bruce comes to us as the new Adult Services Librarian and it’s his job to come up with new ideas and programs for adult patrons.
Bruce is no stranger to the neighborhood. Growing up, his mom worked at the Illinois Bell office at 61st and Kedzie. He remembers spending his preschool years at Kiddie Kove on 66th and Kedzie, across from the Beth Jacob Synagogue. He still recalls one year in preschool, learning to make matzo balls.
Bruce comes to us from the Ashburn-Wrightwood Branch. Before that, he spent three years at the Pullman Branch. As he settles in to his new position, one of his short-term goals is to learn Spanish to better serve some of the patrons still learning English.
Now wait until you hear what Bruce has come up with for his first event. I would be willing to bet this has never been featured here before. Here’s the scoop:
November is Native American Heritage Month. With that in mind, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, Bruce has set up an event called Learn Potawatomi with Mango Languages. This will be a stepping stone and serve as a tutorial for any patrons interested in taking advantage of the software program for learning other languages.
“On the 29th, you’ll have a chance to familiarize yourself with Mango Languages,” said Bruce. “Join us on Zoom as we explore the features of Mango and work through some basic lessons on the Potawatomi language.”
To attend the hour-long event (6:30-7:30 p.m.) register at chipublib.org/events at least 24 hours before. Then you’ll receive an email with a link to the secure Zoom class. I plan on attending. See you in class!
As you read this, we are no doubt nearing the end of Spirit Week at the Southwest Regional Senior Center, 6117 S. Kedzie. Friday, Nov. 18, is Bring Your Caregiver Day. It culminates the Center’s celebration of Spirit Week with Thank Fest at 10:30 a.m. featuring a special holiday meal.
The Center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day but reopen the day after for lunch and regular programming The following Monday, Nov. 28, everyone is invited to join in decorating the Center for Christmas at 10 a.m.
I stopped in to see Ben Arias and his dedicated group last week. If you remember, they host the community dinner at Marquette Park every Tuesday. Ben tells me that on Tuesday, Nov. 22, they will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and the fixings. Kids will be able to join in on a Thanksgiving craft as well.
The holiday banners have gone up on the light poles on 63rd Street. They always look really nice, and it unifies the area too. Thanks to Greater Southwest Development Corp. for keeping up the tradition.
Next Saturday, Nov. 26, GSDC is sponsoring a Small Business Saturday event for our neighborhood shops. GSDC will be giving candles to businesses around our commercial corridors to promote shopping local. When we shop at the participating businesses, we will get a free candle with purchase of a product at that business. A complete list of businesses will be available in time to take advantage of this promotion.
The Bogan High School Class of 1987 has finalized its plans for its reunion which will take place at the Rooftop Tap, 12231 S. Harlem, Palos Heights, on Saturday, Dec. 10, beginning at 6 p.m. The event features an all-you-can-eat taco bar. Tickets are $25 per person at the door or pay $22 in advance by Zelle (708) 705-0400. Class pics will be taken at 8 p.m. An ‘80s band starts at 9. The first 30 advance paid will get a class gift and two free raffle tickets.
Now, let’s return to 1978. Over the last two weeks we’ve learned three new businesses opened in the autumn of that year. The first was Bressler’s 33 Flavors on the southeast corner of 63rd and Kedzie. Second was The Whistle Stop in the former Chicago Lawn Grand Trunk station. The third was Bronco at 7151 S. Western. Brad O. was the first to identify Bronco as a gas station, although he remembers that location best as a Clark Station. Some of you may remember the manager of Bronco’s as Joe Barnes.
Well it’s certainly time to pick up everything we need for our Thanksgiving meal. Forty-four years ago the best sale seemed to be at the grocery store at 2454 W. 63rd St. They opened two more stores but this was the first and longest running. They were offering Norbest turkeys for 79 cents a pound and sweet potatoes for 19 cents a pound. Anybody remember where we are going?
Local News
Basketball 2024-25: The Southwest Regional Publishing X/Twitter previews
Editor’s note: Coaches in the Southwest Regional Publishing coverage area are encouraged to submit preseason information by email to: mikeclarkpreps@gmail.com. Boys Acero-Soto: Wolf Pack looking to take step forward after 1-win season. Top 2 scorers return in senior Gs Cruz Lopez, Tony Macias. Also expected to contribute: G Favio Hernandez, C Alexander Bahena, PG Enrique…
Jack Elliott, Mount Carmel race into Class 7A quarterfinals
Jack Elliott is running again, and that spells trouble for the rest of Class 7A. Elliott, Mount Carmel’s senior quarterback and a Vanderbilt commit, missed time with an injury in the regular season. He was limited to passing when he returned. But in the Caravan’s 48-15 win against visiting St. Charles North on Nov. 9,…
Travis Stamm’s big night helps unbeaten Lyons roll
Travis Stamm of Lyons was noticeable in the first half Nov. 8, grabbing a pair of touchdown passes, but the savvy senior noticed something that the average fan likely did not. The Lions, in his estimation, were flat, even leading Downers Grove South by a pair of touchdowns. So, like a good captain, he took…
Loyola rallies to end Marist’s season in Class 8A second round
The deeper you go in the playoffs, the smaller the margin of error becomes. Marist found out how small Nov. 9 on their cozy home field. The RedHawks made only a handful of mistakes in the course of 48 minutes in their Class 8A second-round game against Loyola, but those miscues cost them dearly. The…
Steven Armbruster sets TD record as St. Rita advances
What stands out about St. Rita quarterback Steven Armbruster to Mustangs coach Martin Hopkins? “Steven works hard,” Hopkins said. “And he prepares very hard. When you work hard like he does in practice, the more comfortable you are on game day and that makes things easier for us. “Steven puts the team in good positions…
IHSA football playoffs: Second-round results, quarterfinal pairings
With seedings and records in parentheses. Class 7A and Class 8A are seeded 1-32, while the other six classes are seeded in two 1-16 brackets. Second round Class 8A Loyola 24, Marist 20 Lyons 63, Downers Grove South 20 Class 7A St. Rita 21, Willowbrook 9 Mount Carmel 48. St. Charles North 15 Class 6A,…
Richards returns to state quarterfinals for first time since 2019
Three snaps. That’s how long it took Richards running back Myles Mitchell to have a positive impact in a 42-14 victory over downstate Washington on Nov. 8 in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs in Oak Lawn. On the third play from scrimmage, Mitchell took the handoff from quarterback Noah Escobedo, got…
Fired-up Nazareth rolls into Class 5A quarterfinals
Tim Racki knows well what it takes to win a state championship. After all, he has guided Nazareth to the last two state titles in Class 5A and five overall since 2014. Racki has nine total titles, counting the four he won at Driscoll. So while the Roadrunners shut out Payton in the opening round…
Mike Walsh’s Football Top 10, Week 12
1. LYONS (11-0) Last week: 8A, Beat Downers Grove South 63-20 This week: vs. Naperville Central, 7 p.m. Friday Comment: Two playoff games with 101 total points for the thriving Lions. 2. ST. RITA (9-2) Last week: 7A, Beat Willowbrook 21-9 This week: vs. Quincy, 3 p.m. Saturday Comment: Quarterback Steven Armbruster has a program-record…
St. Laurence reaches Class 4A quarterfinals, but wants more
Making the state quarterfinals is a nice accomplishment. But after finishing second in the state in Class 4A last season, St. Laurence wants more. The Vikings took another step in the process on Nov. 9 as they defeated Wheaton Academy 26-14 in a Class 4A second-round game in Burbank. Next for St. Laurence (8-3) is…
Neighbors
Plan to ban carbon injections near aquifers stalls in Senate
Capitol News Illinois An Illinois Senate committee hit pause on a bill to ban carbon sequestration injections near aquifers after more than an hour of debate Wednesday. Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, asked that the Senate Executive Committee to wait to act on Senate Bill 3968, which would have banned the practice, until lawmakers…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
Carbondale faces legal battle over protest restrictions outside abortion clinics
Capitol News Illinois The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade turned Carbondale into a critical medical hub: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, three clinics offering abortion services opened in the small, liberal university town in conservative rural southern Illinois. It’s now the closest place for people across a huge…
‘This is the way things are done in Illinois’: Defense attorneys begin cross-examining star witness
Capitol News Illinois CHICAGO – The former chief lobbyist for electric utility Commonwealth Edison has spent the last week telling a federal jury how he bent over backward to accommodate hiring requests from former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Led by the prosecutor questioning him, ComEd exec-turned-cooperating witness Fidel Marquez repeatedly said he and other…
Lawmakers return to Springfield as projected budget deficit looms
Capitol News Illinois SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers returned to Springfield Tuesday for the first time since May following news earlier this month that they’re facing a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The news didn’t surprise Republicans, who condemned “drunken spending” policies, but the Senate’s top Democratic budget…
Capitol Briefs: Former Gov. Quinn pushes for ‘millionaire tax’ amendment; Underground Railroad task force issues findings
Capitol News Illinois A week after ballots were cast, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said the Nov. 5 election results show voters are willing to support a graduated income tax structure to provide property tax relief. Quinn, who left office in early 2015, made a stop at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday to…