In coordination with three nearby wards and the City's Bureau of Forestry, a meeting was held this week at Lane Tech High School to discuss to impacts of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). For those who remember the Dutch Elm disease and Asian Long-Horned Beatle infestations of years past, losing a large number of trees changes the character of entire neighborhoods. Seeing the recent devastation caused by the EAB in Michigan, Indiana and already some of the Chicago Suburbs, we need to work fast. Chicago has already lost about 10,000 ash trees to this pest and there are many more trees in jeopardy. There are approximately 85,000 ash trees in the City's public area that are in danger from EAB. This summer the Bureau of Forestry will be inoculating 35,000 of them and the rest will be inoculated next year. The bad news is that many are already infected and will have to be removed and dealt with in a way that won't spread EAB further.

Aside from trees on City of Chicago property, there are over 400,000 ash trees in parks and school properties, in peoples yards and on private property that are potential in need of inoculations. The inoculation costs the City approximately $40 per tree, but for private residents it may cost quite a bit more. One thing you can do as a neighborhood or block club is to identify ash trees on your private properties and ask about a bulk-rate from an arborist or landscaping company that can administer the inoculation. Similarly for schools and park lands, And the community is also looking to adopt the ash trees in schools and park lands in order to fund their inoculation. We will post more information as we receive it in our newsletter, but you can also find out more at http://saveyourash.org/  - under their FAQs they have guidelines on identifying trees that are affected.  

Chicago's new bike share system, Divvy (www.divvybikes.com), is scheduled to launch this summer (see Jon Hilkevitch article). With roughly 100 jobs to be created, Divvy is looking over the next few months for assemblers, stagers, inventory specialists, placement team members and bike techs. Click here for more information.

Child's Play Touring Theatre has joined Chicago's North Center neighborhood with their new space at 4161 N. Damen and is holding an Open House on Saturday, May 4, welcoming people to stop by and learn more about the organization. The troupe's actors will be on hand to lead acting and improvisational games for young ones, and to perform. Doors are open from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.

 Child's Play is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization theater arts-in-education organization dedicated to inspiring and encouraging children's creativity. Through writing workshops, school residencies, afterschool programs, performances and camps, the company guides children through the process of writing original stories and poems, and then performing those stories on stage in productions complete with music, scenery, costumes and props.  "Our goal at Child's Play is to help children understand the value and significance that writing and reading has on their lives. Our performances and workshops offer a powerful teaching tool that strengthens and enhances the teaching and learning process, while exciting young minds, building new skills and creating confidence, while still having fun," says June Podagrosi, Executive Director.

A goal of Child's Play this year is to promote their peace initiative through workshops and performances. Workshops will focus on having children write about how kids can make a difference in the world by helping others, creating feelings of peace, and fostering support within their communities. Words such as trust, care, respect, fairness, responsibility and citizenship will be examined. This workshop is called, "Be a Peace of the Puzzle."  Performances will follow a storyline built from the resulting mix of children's stories and poems and set to music, billed as "Piece by Peace", which will reflect the children's thoughts and ideas.

A benefit to raise funds for the peace initiative will be held on Thursday, June 13, at the law offices of Holland & Knight, 131 S. Dearborn St., Chicago. Cook County State's Attorney, Anita Alvarez, will be honored at the event for her work on anti-violence and safety initiatives. Also, honored is long-time Child's Play supporter, George Howe, a composer, lyricist and cabaret performer. This event also includes a Child's Play performance. Tickets and more information can be found at cptt.org.

Child's Play has a long history in Chicago, moving  here in 1982 after being founded in 1978 in Champaign, IL. The staff is comprised of professionally trained actors who tour throughout the United States and includes notable alumni such as Andrew McKay, Jeff Richmond, and Tina Fey. The troupe has performed in prestigious venues such as The Goodman Theatre, Ravinia, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Smithsonian Institute, and Navy Pier. To date, they have reached an audience of over 4 million children, educators and adults and performed the works of over 16,000 young authors.  

Prak-SisContemporary Art Association is pleased to announce Axis 2013 International Art Festival, Prak-Sis Annual Art Festival from May 3rd to 5th. This festival, subtitled Royal&Loyal, will take place in the Northcenter neighborhood at the Ravenswood Event Center. There will be a volunteer meeting at 1 pm and 4 pm on Saturday, April 26, at 1917 W. Irving Park Rd. RSVP your interest at 773-715-4171.

The AXIS International Art Festival is intent and focused on becoming a leading international contemporary art institution in an array of multimedia art disciplines; strives to respect traditional art practices while examining new media with educational overtones; is launching a community based art festival in Chicago which stands to anchor important art initiatives for years to come; and shall bridge the gap between cultures, generations and educational themes and intends on becoming an important entity in the international contemporary art scene.  

North Center Satellite Senior Center located at 4040 N. Oakley at the senior campus by Irving Park and Western is in need of donations of the following items: Tea Cups with saucers, vintage table clothes - for round and long tables, Tea pots, Sugar and Creamers, Tea cozies, 3-tiered serving stands, anything related to tea like tea infusers, sugar tongs etc. In addition, we are looking for gently used books of all types for our upcoming LitFest IV Have I Got Another Story. . . and Book Sale  June.   Items can be dropped off here at the center in bags or boxed to the attention of Liza Martin or can be picked up from you by contacting Liza at lmartin@catholiccharities.net or by phone 312-744-4029.  Our senior center services over 1700+ active participants 55 years and better per month.   

Garden Lovers. Please join us to discuss our gardening initiatives for the upcoming year.  Wednesday, May 8th 6pm here in the alderman's office. Whether you are interested in community gardening or you're a home gardener, is there something you'd like to learn about? Are there gardens you would like to tour? We want to hear from you.

Last week, Animal Care & Control was the grateful recipient of a large load of linens. Thanks for donating your unwanted towels, sheets and pillows. Thanks to Susan D. for running them down there.

Carol R. and friends from Water's Neighbors brought tea pots, tea cups, a punch bowl & cups over to the Northcenter Senior Center. Thanks for being such generous neighbors.

Walking Tour of Columbus Park. On Saturday, May 18, at 10 am, join Friends of the Parks for a walking tour of historic Columbus Park, an historic landmark designed by Jens Jensen on the city's west side. On the walk you will learn about Jensen's prairie landscape design, with an Illinois river, waterfall & woodlands. To register go to: www.fotp.org. 

Wanted! Your unused garden space.  Do you have garden space that you aren't using? There are neighbors looking for space for vegetable gardening.  They are happy to share the bounty of the garden, trade labor for space and create a warm community feeling. Sound crazy? We initiated our first home community garden last year and it went so well it is continuing this year. Want to consider it? Call me: Dara 773-868-4747

Oak Trees available for planting.  It is time again to plant trees, and if you have a space for a new tree on your property, Waters Elementary School is offering some saplings for free.  The ancient burr oak trees that grace the property produce a bounty of acorns every fall, and the squirrels kindly plant them for us.  They intend to return to these acorns for food in the winter, but they lose some of them-and those acorns sprout!  That means that Waters has an abundance of small bur oak trees to offer for you to plant in your yard or parkway this spring.  If you would like one, contact Pete Leki at petelekisan@gmail.com or Mark Dawson at msjddawson@sbcglobal.net.  You can also contact our office.