Countless kids came out, plentiful pecks of pumpkins were decorated, spooky stories were read, cartons of candy were consumed, and much mirth was had by all.  It was lovely to see so many neighbors enjoying the beautiful morning together.  Special thanks goes to Kami McLochlin for her dynamo-like efforts in organizing the event.

Like last year, we have photographic evidence of the festival for posterity.  A small sample can be found in the slideshow below.

The full set of photos can be found by clicking here.

Thanks to all for coming out!

Check out the photos here.

See, lots of fun.

Please join us again this year for “Part II, The Revenge” this Saturday at 10:30.  Bring your kids and/or animals in costume, meet some new neighbors, and enjoy the fall weather (we hope).

Here are the details:

GWNA Halloween Celebration
Saturday, October 29, 2011
10:30 AM – 11:30AM
Scaryside Maul (Sunnyside Mall, circa Malden)

Also, we’d appreciate any donations of candy or funds to cover pumpkins.  If you’re interested, please send an email to gracelandwilson [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!

See you there!

We’ve got a group of folks that are eager to get the block club rolling with a bit more gusto.  Come join us!

We’ll be kickin’ things off with an open meeting to anyone who lives within the boundaries of Montrose to Wilson, Malden to Broadway.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the dining room of the Brightview Care Center at 4538 N. Beacon.  Click here to view a map.

Here are the items on this meeting’s agenda:

• 2nd Annual Sunnyside Mall Kid’s Halloween Party (scheduled for Saturday 10/29 at 10:30AM.  More details to follow soon.)
• GWNA Board Elections
• Neighborhood Safety

Please stop by and also invite your neighbors.  We’re still looking for people that would like to be involved, so please don’t hesitate to speak up.

See you there!

There are over 40 buildings ready to sell their wares within the boundaries of Montrose/Lawrence and Racine/Dover.  Come out, stroll the neighborhood and see if anything strikes your fancy.

Maps should be available at all the individual yard sale locations.  Enjoy!

Magnolia Malden neighbors is organizing the 17th annual Sheridan park yard sale on Saturday, August 6th.  Here are the details:

SAVE THE DATE !!!!
Annual Yard Sale – August 6th
17th ANNUAL SHERIDAN PARK YARD SALE

The sale will be held this year on Saturday, August 6th, with a rain date of Sunday, August 7th., from 9am to 3pm. There is no cost to participate; however if you plan to sell you MUST register by NOON on Thursday, August 4th.

Call: 773-275-0648;
Fax: 312-861-4797 or;
Email: mm.blockclub@gmail.com.
Give your name, phone #, email and address where you will be selling.

SELL, BUY and SOCIALIZE!!

Sign up and get sellin’!

The idea is to have the city create a passageway on the north or south of the Truman College parking garage that can be accessible to folks in the neighborhood.  He states:

There is no pedestrian passage between Truman College and Wilson Yard, forcing long walking detours to either Wilson Avenue or Montrose Avenue for residents, students, staff, and shoppers.  Wrap-up of construction makes this a perfect time to fix a problem created by the failure to adequately engage the surrounding community in the planning process.

Another neighbor adds:

“We talked some in our parks meetings about walking distance. Planners like to use the “5-minute walk” as the distance most people are willing to walk before they consider driving. IT works out to approximately 1/4 mile. There is a good article about it here.

I did some measuring to get a sense of the problems that the Wilson Yards development presents. I looked at the distance from the intersection of Sunnyside and Malden to the entrance to Target.

If Sunnyside continued on through and you could walk straight down the street to Target, the distance would be just under 1600 feet. A little outside of the quarter mile radius, but probably a distance that most people in the city are used to walking.

With the Truman garage in place and no easy way around it, the shortest distance is now over 3100 feet! That is surely an encouragement for a lot of people to drive to a place that they should be able to walk to.

If a pathway is created around the north side of the garage and under the L tracks, we could get the distance down to 2100 feet. A full 1000 feet closer than it currently is now.”

If you’re intrigued, you can sign the petition here.  Google map with annotations can be found here.

A fellow member wanted to pass along the following information to any parents in our area:

“A group of parents in Uptown have started a Facebook group called the Uptown Parents Network. Any parent who is interested in improving the neighborhood for their children or themselves is invited to join. Currently the group is getting organized, and will start meeting up in local parks as a type of “positive loitering”. Eventually the group hopes to focus on school issues in Uptown or look at targeting some other issue relating to parents and kids in the neighborhood. Ideally, the group will eventually include a wide segment of Uptown parents, but we’re still getting the word out. Please join by going to our Facebook group here:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_199970530038431

Then, click the “Ask to Join Group” button at the top.

Thanks!
Susan Ridihalgh”

Thanks to everyone in advance for making a difference in our community!

We could really use someone on within the GWNA boundaries to volunteer for this Aldermanic Crime and Safety Committee.  Please see the letter below for further information.

Responses are required by Wednesday, May 4th.

Thank you!

–

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

For the last several years and throughout this latest election, crime and safety have been among top concerns in our ward.  Under Alderman Cappleman’s direction, we are now in the process of forming the 46th Ward Crime and Safety Committee; a committee formed to not only discuss these issues, but work to create solutions and strategies for improvement.  We are looking for volunteers to serve on the committee and I ask you for your help.  Before you decide, I would like you to understand the commitment involved:

• The committee will meet for 1-2 hours each for three consecutive weeks to kick-off.  The first meeting date has not yet been determined, but we want to start ASAP.  If you are interested, please reply with your best and most convenient evenings so we can accommodate everyone as we understand your time is valuable.
• These meetings are not only discussion based, but action oriented.  We will be asking committee members and volunteers to take the lead on various initiatives which may include researching policy, writing documents, gathering data, etc.  All meetings will be at Alderman Cappleman’s office at 4133 N. Broadway.
• During our first meeting, we will be developing our Vision Statement which will be the baseline for our future activities.  Please consider the following and have suggestions to share regarding the following questions to help us craft our statement:

• What values do we want to preserve in the ward?
• What is working well?
• What needs to be changed? Identify the top 3 priority initiatives within your committee’s topic that you would like to see implemented in the 46th Ward.

• How will these initiatives promote economic development in the ward?
• How will these initiatives promote sustainability and environmental responsibility within the ward?
• Who will these initiatives immediately affect and how will they be involved in attaining the goals?
• Who else will be part of the solution (identify stakeholders and roles)?
• What are the goals to reach these three initiatives and how will we measure success (include timeline if necessary)?

Please respond to me by Wednesday, May 4, 2011 with your contact information and dates of availability so we can schedule the first meeting.  I look forward to working with you and our new Alderman, James Cappleman, to help make Uptown a safer community.

Please feel free to forward this on to others whom you think may be interested as well!

Regards,
Keith Forshaw

keith@chicagolakeview.com
Cell: (773)-315-1515

Two final candidates to choose, separated by only 5 votes last time around.

Only one shall remain by 7 PM tonight.

Polling places can be found here.

Your vote will count; do it.

OK, time to get informed; here are the important bits (note that The 46th Ward Great Debate is the one GWNA is co-sponsoring with other block clubs):

EARLY VOTE!

Early voting has already begun and is offered Monday-Saturday at Truman College (from 9AM – 5PM).

ON-TIME VOTE!

You can vote at your own precinct location on April 5th (just about two weeks from today).  Your polling place can be found here.

VIDEO DEBATE!

There have been at least three video interviews/debates between Cappleman and Phelan.  Check ‘em out:

• CLTV Interview
• WTTW Interview
• Sun-Times Editorial Board Interview

LIVE DEBATE!

You’ve got four opportunities to check out the candidates live, going toe-to-toe.  It’s free, more entertaining than watching TV reruns and likely to earn you your civics badge.  Check ‘em out:

• Tuesday 3/22: Walking, Biking and Transit Forum, Tuesday, March 22nd, 7-8:30pm, at Gill Park (sponsored by Walk Bike Transit PAC and neighborhood residents)
• Thursday 3/24: The Great 46th Ward Debate, Thursday, March 24th, 7-8:30pm, at Peoples Church, 941 West Lawrence (sponsored by GWNA, UCRD and various Uptown block clubs, among many others)
• Sunday 3/27: League of Women Voters Debate, Sunday, March 27th, 2-4pm, at Peoples Church, 941 West Lawrence
• Monday 3/28: Candidate Debate sponsored by Alds. Shiller and Tunney, Monday, March 28th, 6:30-8pm, Truman College.

GO TIME!

Phew.  That’s a lot of info.  But, then again, this is a once in a lifetime chance to elect a non-incumbent alderman.  Dare I say, it’s very much worth your time to invest in this; it is your community after all.

Please learn about these two candidates and then get out and vote (early and often)!