Talk of the Town

By the time you receive this FORUM issue, we will have a new President. During this climate of economic upheaval, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and national problems of great magnitude, let us hope that our new leader can inspire us all, be a powerful force and renew our trust in government.

Early Voting!

What a pleasure to report on a winner! Truly and totally successful! As of last Wednesday, our total vote count in Blue Island was 2,208. Election judges Burnis Hester and Ricardo Moreno were not only ef cient and helpful; they made it enjoyable. The machines cooperated too-except due to the tremendous crowds, they simply slowed down. And, of course, we must also salute all of you who came into the East Annex and Voted ! The count Thursday morning was over 2500!

Our Parks—aren’t they?

The saga continues and once again our Blue Island teams are getting the hustle. First, we hear of soccer teams being locked out and then another team’s fee (?) being raised-the same team that was locked out of the park several times last season. Bickering over concession stands (who is really authorized to run them?) and lack of courtesy by some board members leaves us standing there with our mouths open. Add their internal personnel problems to this milieu and you can only say—what the heck? It is time for new people to step up and run for positions open for election this April. We have had so many complaints and complaint letters here at the FORUM, citizens expressing their views—now it’s time to DO something!

By the way, has anyone publicized, praised, acknowledged the Palomino team who achieved runner-up status in the national championships—2 years in a row? Congratulations! What great, great kids. Star athletes!

And the PeeWee Untouchables made the playoffs! More in our next issue!

Aldi’s is looking just great!

Nice store, lovely landscaping. A much needed and appreciated addition to Western Ave. On the other side of the coin, never has Western Avenue looked so very bad—and so very empty. You come in our of ces you are worried. So are we. It certainly would help if vacant storefronts looked more attractive. Sheets, dirty and water-marked brown paper do nothing to either enhance the community or make places look “rentable.” Local of-  cials, who complain about citizen parties and the like, should instead take a strong look at our town’s image.

For example, Menard’s has paper folded shades that cost $5. Store fronts could be made attractive (hey, what the heck—presentable) with clean windows, perhaps a shade, a neatly lettered “for rent” sign, perhaps a chair and a  ower arrangement. Think about some of our local vendors like Bartle’s, Flowers by Cathe, Carr Gardens. Wouldn’t some shops like to display wares in an attractive manner? Call your alderman! Make it a priority! Go ahead - say you read it here!

And for the hundreds

(we’re not kidding) who have questioned and complained that the Enormous gray building is totally out-of-place on Western Avenue. We can’t help but wonder-what were they thinking? And now the closing of Vermont Antiques just hurts—their beautiful windows always showcased our community. At the time of this writing, there are efforts to keep it open—but they needed vendors.

Now is the time to take stock of what we have and remember all of our antique shops have items that are suitable for gift giving!

SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES!

Your Attention, please!

Should you find mistakes in this newspaper, we’re just testing you - We want to see if you’re on your toes!

Seriously, we try very hard, publishing minimally 24 pages a month and designing ads, too! Quite frankly, we are sometimes appalled when we look at other publications that contain some pretty glaring errors - including grammatical!

We’re not saying don’t call us, please do, sometimes things are simply overlooked. We appreciate your attentiveness and understanding!