Saturday, March 17, 2012

Call for Volunteers: Wicker Park's Gardens






Note: following is a message from Doug Wood of the Wicker Park Garden Club. A release form from the park district must be signed and brought with you prior to gardening. You can print the form, included here.

Hello Gardeners,

This Saturday, March 17 - We will begin gardening at the 10,000 sq. ft of Gardens in Wicker Park.

During the next few weeks we will clear off the gardens, cut back ornamental grasses and other perennials, add soil amendments, and prune summer blooming shrubs. You will work with a Veteran Wicker Park Gardeners when you volunteer in the garden. They will instruct you on what to do and how to do it – so, you can learn the horticultural techniques and then apply them at your home gardens. PLEASE ask QUESTIONS – it is a time to learn.

SIGN UP
1. PLEASE Let Me Know Which Days and Times You’d Like to Attend – You can attend the entire session (10am-2pm) or come later – like (11:30-2).
2. PLEASE SIGN the attached form and bring to the first session. This form is required for all who work in Park District Community Gardens in the Parks.
3. Please bring pruners, kneepads, a trowel, and gloves if you have them.

MARCH – Please let me know which days and times you would like to garden.
1. Saturday, March 17 – 10am – 2pm
2. Saturday, March 24 – 10am-2pm
3. Saturday, March 31 – No Gardening
TOOL SHARPENING at Private Home

APRIL – Please let me know which days and times you would like to garden.
1. Saturday, April 7 – 10am – 2pm
2. Saturday, April 14 – 10am – 2pm – Devoted to Mulching All Trees in the Park – Also Garden Tending
3. Saturday, April 21 – 10am – 2pm - EARTH DAY AND GARDENING
4. Saturday, April 28 – 10am – 2pm

MAY
PLANT SALE – SAT/SUN MAY 5 & 6 – Volunteer times
These shifts are the same times on both Saturday and Sunday.
DISCOUNT: Those who work 4 hrs get 10% discount on plants

SHIFT I - 8am-10am – Set up
SHIFT II - 10am-12noon
SHIFT III - 12-2pm
SHIFT IV - 2-4pm
SHIFT V - 4-5 – Tear Down

Doug Wood
www.WPGarden.org

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Just say no to Scroll Fatigue, here's Section One of Today's Pipeline

(Note: To prevent "scroll fatigue" in the e-newsletter, I am posting section one here. sorry, no time to add links, all of the links will be in the actual newsletter, due out by 1PM today. sign up here)

The power of a community taking care of one of its own was felt this past Monday night at the Double Door. Read on.

In other news, it's a busy night in the neighborhood. Per the Friends of Bloomingdale Trail's website, work on the trail's Framework Plan is nearing completion. There will be a an event tonight (Thurs. March 8) at Yates Elementary, 1839 N. Richmond Street, featuring two open house (one from 5-6PM; the other 7:30-8:00PM), as well as a presentation and Q&A (6:00-7:30PM). More details here.
Curious what "framework" means, too? Visit this Grid Chicago post.

Across town, also happening tonight, the Wicker Park Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Google Places, Time Out Chicago, bartenders from local haunts like Pint and Club Lucky, and event host, the Jackson Junge Gallery to produce a Mixologist Mash-Up! At the mash-up, the Official Drink of Wicker Park will be determined by attendee voting. Doors open at 6PM. I.D. required for entry. Proceeds from the $25 ticket (buy online through 5PM today; otherwise $35 at the door) benefit the chamber and you'll even receive a free subscription to Time Out!

Speaking of subscriptions, thanks to those have taken our Anonymous Reader Feedback survey thus far (there's still time; take it here). 75% of you checked "yes," that you'd be willing to pay to subscribe to this weekly e-newsletter, and one person wrote, "I wouldn't be willing to pay [for the pipeline] but I would take a pledge to shop at Pipeline advertisers."

In response to the question of, "If there were no sponsored news/advertising, I'd enjoy reading the Pipeline more than I do now," 75% of you said no. One person elaborated in the comment field, with, "I like advertising. It helps pay for things and it also informs us what is new in the vendor community."

Another respondent gave us lots to think about:

"But to be honest, the pipeline seems kind of amateurish--just random stories and ads...and colors....is there a mission statement? What exactly are you covering? Wicker Park and Bucktown only? It's a confusing newsletter."

As for the colors, we're not sure. We like playing around with the Constant Contact template, and tend to prefer pink for Valentine's Day and green for St. Patrick's. We're the first to admit we're amateurs in the design dept. We resist the idea of having a "brand" and a specific color scheme but it is something to think about for the future.

So here's our first mission statement, open to revision and interpretation: Chicago Pipeline's mission is to strengthen our local economy by providing a community-driven, people-inspired news and information pipeline that is sustainable through advertising sponsorships from the community we live in and report on. Our core coverage areas are Wicker Park/Bucktown and surrounding neighborhoods like West Town, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park.

The question about our mission statement or lack thereof was the best thing to come out of the survey. I (alisa) initially began the pipeline as a small freelance project, to assist Paula Barrington, former director of the WPB chamber, with writing her weekly chamber member newsletter, Around the Water Cooler, which I renamed to Street Scene.

About four months into Street Scene, it became a much bigger (and more time intensive) project than I'd anticipated, and that was entirely my fault. I kept learning about events and shops and wanted to "expand" on them. I changed the newsletter's name to the "The Pipeline," symbolizing a pipeline of virtual information that was supported by those who utilized it either by passively reading it, actively contributing news or story leads to it, or passing it on by sharing it through social media. Kennedy, owner of Casa de Soul, pictured, was featured at the top of our very first pipeline. Casa is now unfortunately closed, like many of the small businesses we've reported on over the past few years. It is these small shops that we hope to bring more awareness to, and while I detest the word "shill," if we are to be considered a shill, we'd rather invest time writing about an indie-owned business that doesn't exist anywhere else than a Shamrock Shake.

I believe the pipeline offers a nascent new model for delivering information. It's certainly not a perfect model and has many flaws. Three years deep, I still consider the pipeline to be perpetually beginning and I am always exploring ways to, as Sammy Sosa once said, "Keep it continue."

The stronger our sponsorship support, the better our content, as I believe in compensating our contributors when we have sufficient advertising funding. If you are a local business interested in joining the pipeline's network of advertising sponsors, for the mutual benefit of strengthening the pipeline as well as sharing your message and offerings in PRINT this summer, we invite you to check out our rate card for the upcoming Summer Printed Magazine, and call 773-960-3997 to set up a meeting with myself, Alisa, or Davis Popper, a young writer, pictured, whose been shadowing me the past month, and, as it turns out, teaching me. Davis brings a greater level of professionalism, efficiency, and positivity to the pipeline.

Unlike traditional media where an advertising sales rep might call you back at lightening fast speed, our operators aren't exactly standing by... we're busy reporting on the neighborhood, speaking of which, we hope to see Pipeline readers at the Trail Meeting tonight and the Mash-Up. We'll do our best to hit one or both.

Thanks for reading.

Alisa Hauser

Holstein Happenings, March Edition

All of the following words are from Friends of Holstein Park. Sign up for their once monthly newsletter, and you'll never miss a Holstein Happening.

Holstein Happenings
March 3, 2012


Spring . . . Are you feelin' it?

The pace around Holstein Park picks up with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the end of this month . . . spring programs starting in April . . . and a heavy schedule of summer events and festivals coming up.

But first, make sure you get familiar with the new Chicago Park District website. Anyone who wants to participate in park programs must now REGISTER IN ADVANCE of the sign-up date. More details are below. Meanwhile . . .

Drop-In Yoga - Saturday mornings 9:30-10:30 AM
Start you weekend off right with Saturday morning yoga! Zephyr Artistic Director Michelle Kranicke leads an hour of yoga every Saturday in the field house auditorium. (Bring your own mat.) Drop ins welcome! Each session is $12. For more information, call 773-489-5069 or email zephyr@zephyrdance.com.

Friends of Holstein Park - Tuesday, Mar 20 at 7PM

Thanks to everyone for a great turnout last month, and to all the people who are organizing new committees. There are plenty of fun events ahead - The Holstein Park Centennial, Circus in The Park, Apple Pie Contest. Please stop by and get involved.

Browse Summer Programs Online - Monday, Mar. 26
Anyone who tried to sign up online for spring programs at Holstein last month knows the process was hardly seamless. You can save time and frustration by going to the Park District website early to register and BROWSE all available programs starting Monday, March 26. Actual online registration for summer programs does not begin until April 9.

The new website is a little confusing. If you click on activities, however you can see available programs by location, age or category (art, sports, etc). Type in Holstein Park and you should see all the summer programs available. Write down which ones you want, confirm that you are registered, then keep that information handy for the April 9 registration date.

Good luck!

Easter Egg Hunt - Saturday, Mar 31 10 AM

The Easter Bunny will be there. Will you? Please join us for the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Senior Citizens Park. Once again, we will have two different starting times (for different ages). Children under 3 years old can start hunting at 10 AM. Children between the ages of 3 and 9 start at 10:30 AM.
If the weather is nice, we anticipate a strong turnout; but would like to keep participation to around 50 kids for each hunt. Please go to the
Friends of Holstein Park website to sign up in advance. A $3 donation is suggested. (This event may be canceled in inclement weather.)

AND FINALLY . . . When you walk into the field house, make sure you notice the "Summer Day Camp" mosaic the park kids have been making. (How can you miss it? It's right on the wall.) Many thanks to Bucktown artist Connie Hinkle for directing the project, and to Friends of Holstein Park and the Bucktown Arts Fest for funding it. It's awesome!

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Holstein Happenings is a monthly newsletter from Friends of Holstein Park to keep you informed of what's happening in our park. If you would like to add more names to the Holstein Happenings mailing list, send new addresses to friendsofholsteinpark@yahoo.com.
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Friday, March 2, 2012

Comrade Cycles: Now Open in UK Village


If the faces behind Comrade Cycles look familiar, it’s because all three comrades involved in the new worker-owned bike shop at 1908 W. Chicago Ave. in West Town’s UK Village previously cut their teeth as mechanics at other local shops, such as Wicker Park’s Rapid Transit, Working Bikes in Pilsen, Johnny Sprockets, and the Evanston-based Recyclery.

The only difference between their new gig and the previous ones, though, is that today they own and operate their own full-service neighborhood bike shop, and share profits amongst the three of them, not unlike a co-op business model. Read more.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Free Green Can Press Release, Sept. 23, 2011



uh, better late than never? we didn't get a chance to cover this story at the time, but here's the press release from Sept. of 2011.

ALDERMAN MORENO RIBBON CUTTING FOR FIRST NEIGHBORHOOD INSTALLATION OF FREE GREEN CAN PUBLIC RECYCLING KIOSKS

Alderman Proco Joe Moreno will be cutting the ribbon and taking any press questions, on Monday, September 26, at 3 p.m., about Free Green Can bringing their public-recycling service to the 1st Ward.

These dual purpose recycling/trash containers and their collection are not paid by tax dollars. Free Green Can, a Chicago-based private company, pays entirely for their installation, maintenance and collection by selling advertising space on the can to family-friendly, eco-forward Chicago businesses. Two of their current clients are PepsiCo Dream Machine and General Mills (Yoplait Greek).

Free Green Can has a contract with the Chicago Park District and already has over 2,000 recycling kiosks deployed throughout park facilities, spread across the entire city. In addition, Free Green Can delivers recycling solutions to Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field and several top Chicago special events.

These 20 neighborhood, dual-purpose cans, which were installed on September 25, will be the first example of the company offering its service to a Chicago neighborhood.

Join Alderman Moreno and Free Green Can President and CEO, Steve Holland, at 3 p.m. on Monday, September 26 at the South East corner of Milwaukee/North and Damen (Approx: 1576 N. Damen).


Attached is a picture of one of the cans and a Google map showing where these cans are going in the 1st Ward.


Regards,

Matthew Bailey
Director of Legislative Affairs & Communications for
1st Ward Alderman, Proco Joe Moreno