Northcenter, Chicago - The Northcenter Chamber of Commerce will host its annual Veterans Day Observance on Sunday, November 11 at 11:00 a.m. in Northcenter Town Square, 4100 N. Damen. The event will begin with cadets from the Lakeview High School JROTC presenting the color guard ceremony. Event speakers will be local elected officials and Northcenter Chamber executives. "We are thankful every day for our men and women in the military," said Northcenter Chamber Executive Director Garrett FitzGerald. "This is an opportunity for the community to celebrate the patriotism and willingness to serve of all the people that have worn a uniform." Veterans Day events traditionally begin at 11:00 a.m. to commemorate the temporary cessation of World War 1 hostilities between the Allied Nations and Germany that went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The event will take place in front of the new flag pole installed by the Northcenter Chamber of Commerce after a car accident in 2011 destroyed the previous pole. A final speaker list will be announced at the end of the week and will be available on the Northcenter Chamber website.

During the holiday season, Ravenswood Community Services (RCS) collects hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves to hand out to neighbors in need.  This year, RCS will distribute the warm items on December 20th at the Tuesday Night Food Pantry and Community Kitchen. Chicago's winter is long and cold, and many of our neighbors need help to stay warm.  Please consider donating new or handmade warm accessories for your neighbors this year.  Adult sized hats, mitten, and gloves are needed most for this distribution.

Please drop off your donations at Alderman Pawar's office by Monday, December 19.

For more information about Ravenswood Community Services, to make other donations, and to volunteer please visit their website at  or contact the RCS office at 773-769-0282.

Ravenswood Community Services (RCS) provides hunger and poverty relief, health services, and life skills education in the Ravenswood and Uptown neighborhoods.  In 1993, RCS began handing out bags of groceries to about 20 neighbors through the front doors of All Saints' Episcopal Church.  Today, this vibrant non-profit serves about 350 neighbors each week and implements strategic neighborhood change through its feeding programs and through a partnership with Ravenswood School.

Common Pantry is looking for volunteers to assist in the following areas of their growing operation:

Program Coordinator

Volunteer will assist in executing our Home Delivery and Produce Distribution programs. 

Volunteer Coordinator

This position will assist the Director in coordinating available volunteer resources with the labor resource requirements of the organization.

Common Community Coordinator

Volunteer will assist with the execution of our social service assistance program. Computer literacy and strong interpersonal skills are highly preferred for this opportunity.

For more details on these opportunities please visit their website.   

If you are interested and have the availability to work with us in one of these areas, please contact their Director, Scott Best, at commonpantry@hotmail.com.  They can arrange a time to meet with you and discuss more details on these positions and address any questions you may have.

The Filbert Playlot Park Renovation

Horner Park Dog Friendly Area

Community Meeting

November 15, Thursday 7pm, at Horner Park Fieldhouse,  2741 W. Montrose Avenue  Come support Chicago's first and largest "grass" Dog Park!

• 1.89 fenced acres at the South end of Horner Park to run along Irving Park from the river to California inside current walking paths, extending to the North short of the walking path.
• Canine grass surface (lead free artificial turf designed for dogs). Trees would remain. Additional landscaping may be added but none of the park's current concrete paths or other amenities would be disturbed.
• Dog-friendly water fountain and plenty of space to run and play.  Of course, you and your pet would still be welcome to walk in the rest of the park as usual too.
• It is imperative to have community support in order for this project to go forward.  Please spread the word about the meeting and try to get as many supporters as you can to attend.
• Information about the proposal can be found at www.hornerpark.org under the "Initiatives" tab, "Dog Friendly Area" link. 
• If you want to volunteer to be the media director for this campaign, or in any other capacity, please email dfac@hornerpark.org.  

Let's make this underutilized area of Horner Park a safe space for our dogs! Sponsored by the Horner Park Advisory Council, Dog Friendly Area Committee, and Alderman Mell and Alderman Pawar. 

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission's College Illinois! program has reopened for new applicants interested in purchasing 529 prepaid college tuition plans for their children. For as low as $42 a month, Illinois parents and grandparents can start preparing for their children's or grandchildren's higher education. Any amount put into a 529 prepaid tuition plan is tax exempt. More than 35,000 Illinois families have already purchased 70,000+ contracts. College Illinois! has already paid nearly $400 million in tuition and fees to 936 institutions on behalf of 21,500 students. Through December 31st, Illinois residents can purchase College Illinois! prepaid tuition plans at 2011 prices. With college costs and student loan debt skyrocketing, there's never been a better time to start planning ahead for your child's college education. To open a College Illinois! 529 prepaid tuition plan, call 877-877-3724 or visit their website. 

Chamber App Takes Off; Weaves News for Your Community

A Northcenter Chamber of Commerce mobile neighborhood news app is leading to greater engagement between residents and local businesses. The app presents news from neighborhood leaders in real time.

Restaurants, entertainment venues, schools and more are enjoying the advantages of the app. Frequent refreshes of content as well as such standard tools as search, directories and map functions, are creating a favorite tool for users. The content favors local companies and works well with the Shop Local theme of the Northcenter chamber. Local companies are combining their social media to create larger and more varied links.

The app is available free to consumers on Android and iPhones. A smart web page allows access by web browsers, including those on phones with touch screen ability.

To try the app, please click here. 

Bulldog Pulls Donors Choose Data

The Welles Park Bulldog has started a new feature, pulling data from Donors Choose and listing it by school on its page. Donors Choose is a website that features small projects usually for educational purposes. The site has no connection to The Bulldog.

The Bulldog listed 38 projects from 11 North Side Chicago public schools. "We'll strive to maintain an updated list," Publisher Patrick Boylan said.  The Bulldog is an award winning online news site for the Ravenswood neighborhood.

The schools currently on the list are:

Amundsen High School, Audubon, Bell, Chappell, Coonley, Courtenay, Lake View High School, Lane Tech, McPherson, Ravenswood, Stockton and Trumbull.

Any school in the Ravenswood community able to solicit through Donors Choose will be listed.  The listing can be found here.

End of the Season. Over this past summer hundreds of neighborhood families enjoyed an unusual occurrence---absolutely no cars on their streets for a day! How did this happen? Through block parties! We applaud and thank all of the neighbors who organized block parties throughout the 47th Ward, and with 186 this year we arguably have the most number of these neighborhood events in Chicago. Block parties help neighbors meet, get to know one another and feel more connected to their communities. Once folks get together they can have a huge impact on their neighborhoods. They can plan a work day, plant corners or parkways, get involved in their local school, share resources, find good babysitters, exchange equipment or fill out block audits that determine how public money is spent in our ward. Best of all, block parties are fun! We hope that you will consider having a block party next year. The 2013 forms will be on our website in January.

Holiday Hams Needed. Our good friends at Ravenswood Community Services will be distributing food to their clients for Christmas. Please help! We will be collecting 3-5 pound canned hams. Bring them to our office by noon on Wednesday, December 12. Thanks for your generosity.

Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling. Do some fall cleaning and protect your identity by shredding unwanted personal, financial or confidential documents for FREE on November 17, Saturday 9-11AM, at 4544 N. Broadway.  Please remember to remove all your documents from binders and  remove any paper clips as well before coming out to the trucks. Thank you to Representative Greg Harris and Alderman James Cappleman for hosting this.

Foster Parenting. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI) is seeking qualified foster parents in your community for their traditional, behavioral and medically specialized programs. You can make an amazing impact on a child's life! You're invited to an informational meeting at Bezazian Library, 1226 W Ainslie in Chicago on Saturday, November 17th from 10 am. -11:30 am. Please RSVP and/or for more info contact Clifford Francois at 312-949-4804 or at clifford.francois@lssi.org.

Support Openlands With Your Christmas Tree. Lake Street Landscape Supply is donating $5 for every Christmas Tree sold this season to either Openlands or  Found Chicago, depending on the choice of the tree buyer. They also offer a 10% discount coupon for used trees returned for recycling in January. Read more.  

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. You can help by making a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund online, by text or by phone. Donate by visiting www.redcross.org, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. The Red Cross is also in need of blood donations. To give blood, please visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.

Audubon Teams Need YOU! Just wanted to ask if any parents or community members would like to coach boys' basketball for the Audubon Hawks?  We are looking for coaches for a 5-6 grade and 7-8 grade team.  If you are interested, please email audubonptp@yahoo.com or call 773-534-5556.

Waters School Is Readying For Christmas Get Rid Of Gently Use And Never-Used Toys!  The Goodie Tree will be back at Waters Holiday Art Sale on December 1st! $1 for kids to pick a prize off the tree. We are looking for NEW or GENTLY USED toys appropriate for ages ranging from 4-14. Last year some of you bought new items, which was quite generous, thank you. Some of you may have things in your house you have never opened. Please bring toys to the OFFICE anytime between tomorrow, Nov. 6 & Friday, Nov. 23. GUIDELINES: "Gently used" means it looks good and still works! No stuffed animals please, unless brand new. No clothes please. Legos are favorites and great for all ages.

Check out the infrastructure map on our webpage!

Sewer Mains for Wolcott and Ravenswood

City Contractor is making connection to the existing sewer at the intersection of Addison and Wolcott. The work will be done in late November. In early December, City crew will start installation of sewer pipes on Wolcott (Addison to Bradley) and Ravenswood (Belmont to Roscoe). The installation will be completed by the end of February and restoration will follow in Spring 2013.  

Water Mains for W. Winnemac, Ashland to Ravenswood

City crews have replaced this old 1894 main.  The main work is completed and the road is now open.  We are working to coordinate restoration with the rest of the work in this area.  To see the residents' notice click here.   

Irving Park Streetscape

The final phase of this 2-year streetscape construction will be installation of the new curbs and gutters, and parkway permeable pavers by mid-November.

Peoples Gas Main Replacement (Restoration) 

All of the mains and services in our area are now installed!  Peoples Gas and their contractors are working hard to get all of the restoration done by the end of this month. They may have some work that will have to wait until Spring.  Come December if there is pending work on your block, please call our office so we can make sure it is on their list. We anticipate all restoration on Irving Park, Montrose, Western and Lincoln being completed by the end of November.    

Metra Traffic Closures and Detours   

Metra's switch over the outbound platform at the  Ravenswood station to the temporary platform has been delayed.  Stay tuned for more information and look for notices at the station about this change.     

• The bridge at Foster and Ravenswood is CLOSED until 11/16/2012 to install the drilled shafts at the abutments. Partial closure and detour will remain in place until 11/21/2012 
• Irving Park to Berteau detours will be up intermittently through early December.
• Berteau to Montrose on Ravenswood wall installation on south end of block will continue through November with parking restrictions posted as needed.  
• Grace to Irving Park detours will be up intermittently through early December.
• Waveland to Grace, east of the tracks, will have parking restrictions intermittently for the next 3 weeks and detours intermittently through early December.
• The Ravenswood Metra Station construction has begun;  parking has been restricted from 15' south of Leland, north to Lawrence Ave. through December.
• Parking restrictions and detours may be opened, when possible, and re-closed once work is ready to resume.  

For more information, visit the infrastructure section of our website  or contact Bill Higgins at bill@chicago47.org or 773-549-2745.