Chef/Owner Iliana Regan began One Sister as a means to showcase her food, talent and sustainable concepts to the Midwest. Her dream was to turn her business into a restaurant by taking the smallest steps possible, building a clientele and name in whatever way she could. She began in the summer of 2008 by taking her vegetables, homegrown goods and foraged items to farmers' markets. Her pierogi, a farmers' market staple, filled with local, homegrown or foraged goods became the hit. A short time later her pierogi reached local stores and press, receiving rave reviews. She then pushed One Sister to the next level by opening her home so guests could experience her more dazzling creations. This crucial step allowed for a wider range of acknowledgment and financial support. She has now accomplished her goal, Elizabeth Restaurant, a tribute to her sister.

Iliana Regan is self-taught and relies on land, nature and life as her inspirations. Her food is an artistic expression and replication of the world around her. Elizabeth Restaurant strives to remain as local, organic and sustainable as possible. Elizabeth's Mission is to highlight nose to tail, root to branch, and farm to table Midwestern bounty. Elizabeth's Goal is to build community through love of food and nature.  Elizabeth sells tickets rather than taking reservations to keep in line with our mission. We want to remain as earth conscious as possible, eliminate waste, keep our staff small and our space intimate. We will work with fine and rare ingredients. This is all a means to do our best to serve you. To keep up to date on our ticket sales and news you can follow us on our Facebook page and twitter feed.  

To read more about them visit the blog. Elizabeth welcomes you to New Gatherer Cuisine.

CPS Commission on School Utilization is charged to engage with the community and make the best possible recommendations about utilization in the Chicago Public Schools. To do that, the Commission will meet regularly with the community. It also welcomes feedback from the community, both in person, or through its website.  

Ravenswood Elementary School has a few remaining spots for its well respected Tuition Based Pre-K.  Take advantage of these spots and become part of the ever strengthening Ravenswood School community. Ravenswood added a second class due to the overwhelming success of this program; don't miss out on this opportunity. For tours contact E. Yeliz Zurawic at 773-534-5994 or click here.    

Audubon Science Fair 2012. Congratulations to the Audubon Middle School Students (Grades 6-8) who participated in the 2012 Audubon Science Fair. Out of approximately 150 students in Audubon's Middle School, approximately 42 were chosen by Middle School Science teachers Ms. O'Dowd and Ms. Weisman to present their science fair projects and to be judged at the Fair. Take a look at this terrific neighborhood school at www.audubonelementary.org.

Waters Elementary School has a weekly newsletter, Green Notes. Take a look at the warm and involved community that this neighborhood school has inspired. Want to learn more? Email communications@waterstoday.org.

Waters Fund Raiser.   From Tuesday, December 4, through Sunday, December 9, full-service family salon Rock Candy at 4141 N. Lincoln Avenue (773-883-3000,  www.rockcandysalonandspa.com) will donate 40% of services revenue from Waters families to the school. Offering haircuts, manicures and pedicures for the whole family, makeup applications, glitter tattoos and other services, call 773-883-3000 to book your appointment and be sure to mention Waters Fundraiser!

Save-the-Date: Sunday, December 9, when salon owner Sarah Phillips and Waters mom Karen Halverson will host a Holiday Open House from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at Rock Candy to celebrate Waters' week-long fundraiser. If you any questions, please contact Karen Halverson at karenrhalverson@hotmail.com. 

WATERS ELEMENTARY'S 4th ANNUAL HOLIDAY ART SALE  Truly BUY LOCAL this holiday season!

December 1st, 2012
Saturday, 10am to 3pm
Waters Elementary School
4540 N. Campbell Ave., Chicago, IL 60625

Come for the Waters Elementary School's Holiday Art Sale and stay for the Big Fork sausages, Cake Walk and community fun! Looking for one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted gifts this holiday season? Our artists are local, super creative/talented and are selling amazing work this year. Come support a Chicago neighborhood school and its students, and gather with neighbors, families and friends in the true spirit of the season for a fun-filled day of food, local shopping, and community. Don't miss this super hip, local event on December 1st!

Is there anything you want folks to know about your school? Please send along your information; we will publish it in our newsletter, then it will be on our website until the date(s) has passed.  

December is a busy time of year for everyone with guests visiting. If you need daily residential guest passes, now is the time to visit the Chicago City Clerk's office at room 107 of City Hall or the North Side Satellite Office at 5430 W. Gale Street, near Lawrence & Milwaukee. You may also order your passes online (returning purchasers only, first time guest pass buyers must do so in person). Remember that you can only purchase 30 passes, two books, per address in a 30-day period. Guest passes are $8 for a set of 15. When purchasing in person, bring a photo ID and proof of current address. Satisfactory proof includes having your current address listed on your photo ID, a mortgage/lease, utility bill, cable bill or phone bill with your name listed

New Car for the Holidays? Don't Forget to Transfer or Purchase Your City Sticker Within 30 Days!

Are you taking advantage of the end of the year car sales? Or, maybe you are buying a new car for someone special? Don't forget that within 30 days of buying the car you either need to transfer your old 2012 - 2013 city sticker or buy a new one!

To Transfer Sticker From Old Car to New Car: You must bring in your old city sticker peeled from the windshield of your previous car. Yes, it will likely break apart into pieces, but bring it into one of our offices in whatever condition. Also bring with you your new vehicle bill of sale or registration and a photo ID or driver's license. This transaction can be done at our City Hall Office or our 2 Satellite Offices. There is a $20 transfer fee and any applicable vehicle upgrade charges may apply, such as going from a passenger to a large passenger vehicle.

New Vehicle Purchase, Never Had a 2012 - 2013 City Sticker: Bring with you your new vehicle bill of sale or registration and a photo ID or driver's license. If you require residential parking on your city sticker and your current zoned address is not on your driver's license you must bring satisfactory proof of your current address using a mortgage/lease, utility bill, cable bill or land line phone bill with your name on it. This transaction can be done at any sales location. Please remember you only have 30 days from the date of the purchase of the new car to complete either transaction. A list of prorated city sticker fees, valid through Dec. 31, 2012. More information can be found on the City Clerk's 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.

We received several requests from around the ward to help bring Christmas to families who are in need in our community. These items will be collected here in our office and we will distribute them to the various schools, pantries and Toys for Tots. Your continued generosity is greatly appreciated. You are what make this wonderful neighborhood what it is.

• Neighborhood schools have identified many families who are in very dire need this Christmas. We are collecting gift cards for these families. Some suggestions would be: grocery stores, Target, Sears (by 12/16)
• Warm hats, scarves, gloves and mittens for neighborhood pantry clients; especially in dark colors for adults (by 12/12).
• Canned hams for Christmas food packages. (by 12/12)
• Toys for Tots (by 12/14)

We want to thank Gaia International for their generous donation of dozens of winter coats that will be distributed next week.

Volunteers Needed. Alderman Pawar and Northcenter Chamber of Commerce will be bringing holiday cheer to our ward's revered seniors on Friday, December 21, 2011, at St. Benedict's Catholic Church 2215 W. Irving Park Rd. If you are free for an hour or two between 7AM and 1PM that day to help set up and/or serve the seniors, please call Dara 773-868-4747 or email dara@chicago47.org. Your participation would be greatly appreciated! I promise, you'll have fun!

Plan for a Happy Healthy Holiday for Furry Friends. Please click here for more information. 

Check out the infrastructure map on our webpage!

Water Mains for Hermitage and Paulina

City crews from the Dept. of Water Management are replacing the 19th century mains under Hermitage from Byron to Grace and under Paulina from Grace to Irving Park.  The installation should be completed by the end of December and restoration will follow in Spring 2013.   

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 the end of 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 Christmas, 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 mid-December.    

Metra Traffic Closures and Detours 

• The bridge at Foster and Ravenswood is CLOSED until 12/21/2012 to install the drilled shafts at the abutments.
• The bridge at Winnemac will be CLOSED between 11/30/2012 and 12/31/2012 to install the bridge.
• The bridge at Leland will be CLOSED until 12/07/2012 for brace installation.  
• Irving Park to Berteau detours will be up intermittently through Mid December.
• 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.