Visit https://gracelandwest.org/forms/ for information on upcoming GWCA
events and Information on a new program for Recycle Pickup at your home!
Category: Events & Announcements
June 23, 2011
47th Ward Block Club Discussion
Led by Dan Kleinman, Organizer of TheNeighborhoodFirst.org and volunteer with 47 Ward Alderman Pawar
Recap of Meeting by Linda Silbert for Graceland West Community Association
The purpose of this meeting was to bring together the the other active clubs in the 47th Ward.
There are 12 active clubs, only 6 were present at this meeting; Greater Rockwell Organization, Ravenswood Community Council, Graceland West Community Association, Riverbank Neighbors, North Center Neighborhood Association, and Anderson South Neighborhood Association.
Ernie Constantino, Director of Constituent Services for Alderman Pawar spoke about improving services and reaching out to communities; truly communicating with local residents.
Attendees from the 6 clubs above introduced themselves and spoke a bit about their Councils and their neighborhoods. All the clubs have Active members, meet Quarterly and have a membership fee. They all have newsletter and pride themselves on communicating and knowing their neighbors; having Garden Walks, Garage Sales, Neighborhood Block Parties, Dinners. I said that I joined the Council about a year ago and I am the liaison between the Council and the Alderman’s office. In the past the Alderman has asked about new businesses and has wanted the approval of GWCA. It has been a good relationship and I expressed that I wanted this to continue. The Alderman continues to send Newsletters to members of the 47th Ward. If you want to receive these newsletters and are not…please send your email address to info@chicago47.org. Many groups have Websites and some use facebook and Yahoo groups to communicate with neighbors. Most Clubs began in the late 70’s early 80’s except for Ravenswood Community Council which began in 1959.
Dan Kleinman wanted this meeting to bring together the Clubs that form the 47th Ward to discuss and formulate a process that we all can use to develop and grow. There are other areas in the 47th Ward that do not have Clubs and there was talk about supporting these neighborhoods in starting a Council and possibly mentoring with existing Councils.
Ernie said that he would have a Map of the 47th Ward available so that we could see the Neighborhoods clearly. We even joked about having T-shirts made!
Garden Walk
“Weeds are nature’s graffiti”
CALLING ALL GARDENERS
Our 29th annual Garden Walk will be Sunday, July 17th, from noon-5PM. Please consider showing your garden. If you only wish to enter your front yard, that is fine. Please help us scout eligible gardens by suggesting that your neighbors participate. There will be a dinner at 6PM for gardeners,(free) and anyone else who would care to join us ($5.00 donation) at 4117 N. Greenview. Contact donnaforsberg@sbcglobal.net to sign up.
Dear Neighbors who bounder the alley of Asland, Montrose, Greenview and Cullom. Here is response from the Alderman’s office on our petition to rebuild the alley.
Hi Mark,
I have CC’d your neighbor Terry Baublis to this reply – he had dropped off a copy of your initial petition and special assessment paperwork. I have been making some calls to City Hall to try to find out what the status is on this as it seemed that you had all of your paperwork in order. I found out some things and have bad news and good news:Bad news is the special assessment program has been halted and the project is not scheduled. The good news is I may be able to go through some other measures to have the alley resurfaced.I am in contact with CDOT on the issue and I will be in touch soon.Thank you and best regards;Bill HigginsProgram Analyst & Coordinator47th Ward Alderman Pawar’s Office
Dear Graceland West Neighbors:
PLEASE CALL 911 TO REPORT DIESEL BUS IDLING.
After years of legislative and citizen effort, Municipal Ordinance 9-08-095 passed making it possible for police to ticket diesel busses idling more than three minutes. You’ll see signs on Irving Park, Clark and other streets close to CUBS Field and similar venues. This ordinance will help us reduce diesel fuel air pollution in our neighborhood. This pollution is a health hazard which contributes to cancer, cardiac, respiratory and endocrine disease. Children, the elderly and those with asthma or other respiratory problem are at increased risk. (AFTER YOU CALL 911, YOU CAN ALSO REPORT TO THE CUBS HOT LINE 1 800 THE CUBS or 1 800 843-2827)
Please also let me know if you see problems not resolved by this regulation or have other neighborhood environmental or health concerns..
Another game day topic: Earlier this year, Beat Officers let our community know they have increased efforts regarding drunk drivers. Please call 911 to report impaired drivers.
Sincerely,
Janice Horwich
From Everyblock.com:
Enter to win $1,000 for your next block party or neighborhood project
Do you want to make your block a better place? Participate in the EveryBlock Very Important Neighbor Contest from June 13 – July 1 and you could win $1,000 for a block party or neighborhood project. To learn more about the Very Important Neighbor Contest, including the official rules, visit Chicago.EveryBlock.com or http://chicago.everyblock.com/2011/neighbor-contest/.
EveryBlock provides frequently updated neighborhood news, plus tools to have meaningful conversations with neighbors.
The site is simple to use: create an account and choose which places you’d like to follow — say, your home and your workplace. Your custom EveryBlock homepage, updated throughout the day, will show you what’s been happening near your followed places, plus what people in those places are talking about. Join in the neighborhood conversation when you’ve got something to contribute — a question for your neighbors, a news report, an event listing, or just a heads-up about something people in your neighborhood should know about.
Oh Hi Everyone;
For those living within the boundaries of the above streets. I am bringing the petition to have the alley repaved to the Alderman Pawar’s office today. We will see if we can make any progress with this alderman in getting our pathetic alley repaved. Thanks for you patience in this matter.
Kind regards.
Terry Baublis
As many of you know, there has been a considerable amountof discussion regarding potential improvements at Lakeview High School.
The current principal is leaving and 3 new potentialprincipals will be attending the meeting on Monday, June 6th at 6PM for a Meet & Greet.
Meeting discussions willbegin at 6:30PM in the Lakeview High School Social Room.
Steve Bines has generously invested many years ofservice to the Lakeview school council as our Graceland West representative andit is very important that our community aligns with Steve to engagethe Lakeview school leadership as committed neighborhoodfamilies seeking improvements at Monday’s meeting.
The school board is pushing to replace the exiting principalwith the current vice principal who will continue with status quo for thenext four years.
It is critical that our community show support forprogressive new leadership at our local high school through ourpresence at Monday’s meeting.
Please invite your neighbors and friends from schoolto attend this important meeting.
This could be a great opportunity to begin transitioning ourneighborhood high school to a top-tier Chicago high school.
Hope to see you Monday!

Multi Family Yard & Garage Sale.
Multiple homes from Irving to Montrose, Ashland to Clark Street.
Books, antiques, clothing, kids clothes, furniture, toys, tools and much more.
Saturday, May 21st
9AM to 4PM rain or shine.
Caps Meetings
Caps Beat 1922 Meeting
For Residents above Berteau.
7pm Wednesday, May 11th, 2011, 4701 North Ashland, Chase Park.
Caps Beat 1923 Meeting
For Residents below Berteau.
7pm Tuesday, May 10th, 2011, Lakeview High School.