Project Roots

Mentors Model Success for African-American Teens

By Victoria Scott

Evanston native Bryon Harris, 30, left town after his junior year in high school and returned with some credentials he knows to be all too rare among African-American men: a 1994 high school diploma from Atlanta, a college degree in law enforcement from Jackson State University in Mississippi and a master's in counseling from National Louis University.

Back in his hometown, Mr. Harris realized he could share his accomplishments with Evanston's African-American boys. Many, including those he meets in his job as a counselor in the child and adolescent program at Metropolitan Family Services (MFS), 820 Davis St., tend to see themselves as outcasts, forgotten and negatively stereotyped.

Mr. Harris believed he could help them map a route to success. Project Roots, launched at MFS on April 1, creates such a map.

It is the brainchild of Mr. Harris and five of his childhood friends, young African-American men who grew up with him in Evanston and went on to obtain college degrees and professional jobs.

Boys were a natural target for the program. Figures drawn by MFS from the National Center for Educational Statistics show that boys, in general, risk academic failure. They make up two-thirds of the population in special education and are 30 percent more likely than girls to flunk or drop out of school. And in Evanston, according to the 2005 Illinois District 65 Report Card, 38.6 percent of African-American eighth-graders scored below grade level in reading and 50 percent below grade level in math.

Middle school boys strike Mr. Harris and his friends as particularly vulnerable, because these days, "things are accelerated," he says. "Things we were doing at ages 14 to 16, kids now are doing at 9 to 11. They are more influenced by TV and radio than I was, by fashion and language and what's ‘cool.'" Too often, he says, academic success is viewed by African-American teens as being "white" and career choices as limited to athletics and entertainment – or drug dealing for quick money.

In nearly two years at MFS Mr. Harris had met many parents anxious for him to mentor their children. Given time constraints, he says, and his preference for a group approach where boys "rely on peers, not just adults, for support," he had turned them down.

When he announced Project Roots, Mr. Harris received 38 calls from interested parents. "The parents are doing as much as they can," says Mr. Harris. But often it is not enough. Though Mr. Harris acknowledges the support of his "great, strong parents and family," he and his friends also benefited from the Federation of African-American Males (FAAM) basketball program. Many Project Roots boys miss out, he says, because they do not participate in athletics.

The young men hope that through Roots they can provide the endorsement and community foundation boys are missing. Still young enough to be considered hip, the facilitators include a computer engineer and FAAM coach; an outreach specialist for Oak Park; a fourth-grade teacher at Kingsley School; a substitute teacher for District 65; a site coordinator for children at Kingsley; and, of course, a counselor. Youth workers by profession, most also see the boys around town.

They formulated three goals for Project Roots: increased self-esteem, improved academic success and a widened perception of career choices. Such goals fit well with the mission of MFS, says Barbara Ellson, associate director of development for external affairs. Only 10 years in Evanston, MFS concentrates here on confidential counseling and has a long history of serving families elsewhere. The agency, which turns 150 in 2007, was one of the groups that distributed money after the Chicago Fire.

Between 25 and 30 boys regularly attend Saturday Roots meetings at MFS. The first eight weeks they explored their cultural identity. Using a curriculum from the Oakland Men's Project, facilitators conducted group sessions from 11:30 to 1:00, followed by lunch. Participants were urged to speak their minds without fear of being judged. In small and large groups they compared experiences with discrimination, racism, stereotyping, drugs and gangs. Says Mr. Harris, "We all grew up dealing with the same things."

When, soon after launching the project, Mr. Harris noticed the curriculum was not "grabbing" the boys, he and his posse began adapting it for Evanston. They use shared stories, role-plays - even homework - to reinforce the goals. Boys are encouraged, says Mr. Harris, "to come up with their own ideas." Each "has to be an individual at the end of the day," he says.

The next eight weeks will focus on African-American health issues. Besides AIDS, diabetes, high blood pressure and sickle cell anemia, the facilitators will tackle sexual issues and "how young men view women," says Mr. Harris.

The Evanston Community Foundation underwrote the first eight-week session; the Village Treasure House of Glenview has funded the next. The program will last as long as its funding, says Mr. Harris. Ms. Ellson is now turning her grant-writing skills toward sustaining it.

Peregrine Falcons are Banded at the Library

The photogenic chicks seem to be healthy. They have been banded and blood-typed so they may be identified when they take flight in late June, said Kate Todd, Library Administrator.

This is the third year in a row that peregrine falcons have nested at the library. However, the mother was not unfamiliar with the area. She is the same falcon that nested there last year. She laid four eggs in early April, of which three hatched, and is the new mother to two males and one female, said Ms. Todd.

Every year the birds are named after cultural icons. This year's chick's names were announced at the June 12 banding. The female was named May after May Theilgaard Watts, the late famed naturalist from Morton Arboretum. The males were named Dashiell after Dashiell Hammett, author of "The Maltese Falcon," and Robinson after Robinson Jeffers, an American poet who wrote several poems on birds of prey.

The nesting of peregrine falcons in urban areas "is not an uncommon phenomenon anymore," said Ms. Todd. The Chicago Peregrine Project is aiding in the reintroduction of the once-endangered species into the Midwest, according to their website. For current photos and updates on the peregrine falcons visit the Evanston Public Library website at www.epl.com/falcon cam. More information on the Chicago Peregrine Project is available on the Field Museum website at www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/mary/about.html.

An Icon Retires

Father Bob to Leave St. Nick's After 18 Years

By Julie Drew

Special to the RoundTable

Rev. Oldershaw spoke May 24 at a police appreciaiton ceremony. He will give his last mass as St. Nicholas pastor on June 25.

When June ends, so will the 18-year tenure of the Rev. Robert Oldershaw as pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in south Evanston. Father Bob has been a voice and a presence at many community gatherings, and a leader in many local events and issues.

His parish welcomed the Spanish-speaking parishioners of Ascension Parish when it closed in 1989. Fr. Bob traveled to Mexico to learn Spanish, and over the years he became a voice in the community for justice for Latinos, both locally and nationally. In April he participated with a group of the clergy petitioning for immigrant rights.

When one of his parishioners, Mario Ramos,shot and killed another Evanston boy, Andrew Young in the late 1990s, Fr. Oldershaw reached out to both the Young and Ramos families.

The story of his intervention inspired a PBS documentary, "A Justice That Heals." Fr. Bob became active in the movement for gun control. The experience also led him to become a police chaplain in Evanston.

Fr. Oldershaw has also participated in Leadership Evanston, in the City's Long- Range Planning Commission, on the Commission on Panhandling, the AIDS Advisory Board and the Board of Solidarity Bridge. He is an active member of the Evanston Ecumenical Action Commission and the Evanston Interfaith Clergy. Parishioner Eileen Heineman commented, "Fr. Bob is a model for us, a pastor who stretches us to act, both individually and as a parish."

Fr. Oldershaw was born in Evanston and attended Lincoln and St. Mary's Schools. Some of his earliest memories include Cooley's Cupboard, where he and his brother and sisters would go as a treat.

He also remembers his Cub Scout and Boy Scout days, and the fact that these groups were racially integrated.He says, "I knew these guys but didn't really socialize with them much outside the Scouts.

"Then one year we went to a Boy Scout camp meeting in New Mexico, and some of the other kids were making remarks about our black troop members. It was a moment that promoted our own troop solidarity, as we rallied around "our" members.But I didn't really know the half of it.

"Later on, when I came to St. Nick's, I was on a panel for Leadership Evanston. I would talk about, you know, church issues in the City. And one time some educators were talking about the process of desegregating the schools.

"Dan Phillips started talking, and he was relating a story of a time he and his father had gone to Cooley's Cupboard – my Cooley's – and the waiter kept walking past them.Finally, they asked the waiter for service, and he brought over the manager, who informed them that ‘Cooleys doesn't serve colored people.'

"I almost fell off my chair. All that time, all those curlicues and cokes and glasses of chocolate milk, and I was totally unaware that I could go there because I was white. I had had a childhood of white privilege. And I didn't know."

Parishioners also know Fr. Oldershaw as a consummate musician. In May, former members of the kids choirs he has led came from as far away as Florida - and even Rome, Italy - to honor him. In a night of both sacred and secular music, Fr. Bob and his former proteges re-lived and re-sang church music as well as the scores of "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Sound of Music," musicals Fr. Bob had directed in his days in residence at St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Hyde Park and St. Clements in Chicago. Fr. Bob was also the liturgy coordinator of the mass in Grant Park during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Chicago in 1979.

He says that although that experience was wonderful, he feels experiences he has had as a pastor at both St. Clements and St. Nick's hold deeper personal meaning for him. "The most satisfaction in this work comes from being with people in their most hurting, sensitive and profound moments. It's more than a privilege," he says.

Parishioners also value Fr. Oldershaw's creativity and leadership in the liturgy. He instituted the parish practice of "Novembering," during which parishioners are invited to display photos of deceased loved ones around the church through the whole month. This practice was inspired by the Mexican tradition of displaying altars for the dead in their homes. Fr. Oldershaw is also a gifted homilist, and has participated in pulpit exchanges with many of the Evanston clergy.

Fr. Oldershaw's final mass as pastor will take place the weekend of June 24-25, and a parish celebration of his 44-year ministry will follow. Fr. Bob says of his work, "It's an incredible gift, and I've been taught a great deal."

He will remain in Evanston, and plans to remain active in parish and community affairs, "but a little less hecticly," he says.

Fr. Britto Berchmans has been appointed as the next pastor of St. Nick's. Fr. Britto was born in Madras, India, and taught at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome for five years before becoming the associate pastor at St. Anne Parish in Barrington.

aRound the Community

Fifth Ward Meeting: Alderman Delores Holmes invites community members to the next Fifth Ward meeting, set for 7 p.m. on June 15 at Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, 1655 Foster St.

Gallery Mornea Presents Four Chicago Printmakers: Gallery Mornea presents the work of Bert Menco, Elizabeth Ockwell, Paula Campbell and Janet Lefley in an exhibit entitled, "Impressive Impressions: 4 Chicago Printmakers." This exhibit will run through July 2 at 602 Davis St. These four artists have been working together at the North Shore Art League for the last several years after having been transplanted from the Evanston Art Center, where they had formed a close-knit group of printmakers. In this exhibition, Gallery Mornea wishes to pay tribute to this community, while showcasing their strengths as individual artists. The show will feature a collection of etchings, lithographs, drawings and giclés by these four artists. Free. 847-864-1906.

Musical Offerings: The Musical Offering has two upcoming performances in June, which include "Harp Fest – Let Your Soul Dance!" and a concert of traditional Irish music. Both will take place at 743 Custer Ave. "Harp Fest – Let Your Soul Dance!" will take place at 7:30 p.m. on June 15. This presentation is a recital of solo and ensemble harp music performed by Annette Bjorling and studio. They will perform music from classical, Celtic, French Folk, jazz, klezmer and Eastern European traditions. Hear traditional Irish tunes played by Jesse Langen and other leading Irish musicians from the Chicagoland area at 7:30 p.m. on June 29. Do not forget your dancing shoes. Free. 847-866-6260.

Music Institute of Chicago Alumni Reunite: The Music Institute of Chicago presents its first Alumni Reunion concert at 7:30 p.m. on June 17 in Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave. Come hear performances of Beethoven, Chopin, Ligeti and Ravel by acclaimed faculty and alumni, including Marta Aznavoorian, Katherine Lee, Sang Mee Lee, Isabella Lippi, Laura Usiskin and Matthew Hagle. Donations benefit Artists of Tomorrow Fund. 847-905-1500 ext. 108.

The "Edges" of Summerfest: "Edges" kicks off NU's Summerfest 2006 performances, which include various theatre and film-related events going on throughout the summer. "Edges" runs June 22-25 at the Josephine Louis Theatre, 20 Arts Circle Drive. Created by Pasek and Paul, a new songwriting team, "Edges" is a song cycle that follows the pivotal moments in the lives of four distinct characters as they attempt to break free and discover the power of their true potential. $10-$25. 847-491-7282.

A Look at the Chicago World's Fair fights Homelessness: At 7 p.m. on June 23, long-time Chicago history and architecture guide Bill Hinchliff will present his slide lecture: "The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: The Greatest Show on Earth" at Gallery Mornea, 602 Davis St.Mr. Hinchliff will talk on the event that sparked the award-winning book, "The Devil in the White City," by Erik Larson. All proceeds will benefit Connections for the Homeless. 847-864-1906 or 847-475-7070 ext. 106.

Walking for Children. Mayor Lorraine Morton, Police Chief Frank Kaminski and Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky joined Officer McGruff and hundreds of Evanston residents to draw attention to child health and safety issues in the fourth annual Walk-a-thon and Health and Safety Fair. Pivot Point International, Inc. and The Wellness Revolution sponsored the event, which raised $50,000 for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Evanston Art Center's 18th Evanston + Vicinity Biennial Announces Winners
One of the largest interior site-specific pieces ever exhibited at the Evanston Art Center has been awarded first prize ($1,500) at the Center's 18th Evanston + Vicinity Biennial exhibition. Stacza Lipinski's acrylic on vellum assemblage, "Out of the Woodwork," ascends up the wall of the Center's winding staircase, its pink and grey shapes arecut from thin vellum seeming to grow in a natural pattern of plant-like forms. Second prize went to Katherine Drake Chial's abstract acrylic and oil painting on canvas, "Parallel Universe," while Harold Mendez's digital print "Put Cho' Money Where Your Mouf' Is" won third prize. The exhibition includes work by three dozen artists from the region. Gallery hours are Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m.- 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1p.m. – 4 p.m.. Visit www.evanstonartcenter.org. Lighthouse Rotary Announces $9,500 in Grants The Lighthouse Rotary Club has awarded $9,500 in grants to eight Evanston organizations that serve youth. The club's grant of $1,500 to Foundation 65 will help provide structured reading support to 65 first graders in District 65 schools over the summer, a time when struggling readers can easily lose new-found reading skills. Serving Evanston's young children, the Childcare Network of Evanston will receive $1,000 to support its work with caregivers in license-exempt homes to foster early learning. The $1,500 award to the Youth Job Center will allow 14- and 15-year-old youths to serve as summer school reading and math tutors for younger students in District 65 summer school programs, helping them to attain the skills needed to advance to the next grade. Another $1,500 grant to benefit older youth is being made to Literature for All of Us to purchase books for middle- and high-school girls participating in after-school book groups at Family Focus during the school year. A pair of programs will target groups of middle school girls and boys. Shanti Foundation for Peace will receive $1,500 for "Tell me Your Story," a project that provides after-school opportunities for seventh- and eighth-grade girls at King Lab School to develop non-violent decision-making skills and better communication with each other through art and the creative process. Metropolitan Family Services will receive $500 to support its "Project Roots," gatherings that bring African-American middle school boys together to explore personal, academic, and career goals with African-American role-model mentors. The North Shore Senior Center is the recipient of $1,000 to support low-income grandparents raising their grandchildren. Evanston's School for Little Children is to receive $1,000 to refurbish its bike room and provide additional equipment for it.

"The White Earth"

Andrew McGahan's "The White Earth" was awarded Australia's Miles Franklin Prize for Best Novel in 2004. It is just now being sold in the United States. The novel tells a sweeping saga of the Kuran Plains in the northern part of the Darling Downs from the time of the Aborigines to 1993.

The Europeans had pushed the native people off to settlements, much like the way the U.S. government drove the American Indians from the Great Plains –with violence and injustice.

Kuran Station became a huge sheep farm, with the Edmund White family living regally in a mansion. John McIvor, son of the Station master, grew up in that house. His father had dreams that he would one day marry the only daughter and thus inherit it all.

The Depression changed everything, and John McIvor had to start out with nothing, but he always had hope of getting Kuran Plains.

In 1993, a nephew of John McIvor died, leaving his eight-year-old son, William, homeless. By this time, John McIvor does indeed own all of Kuran Plains, and he invites William and his destitute mother to move into the mansion, now run-down with its paint peeling and floorboards rotting.

John tells William that if William lives up to his standards, John will leave Kuran Plains to him.

William is not sure what his great uncle expects of him but he tries. William's mother just sits and cries and watches TV, telling him that their only salvation is for him to inherit.

John recruits William to help him send out flyers urging a resistance to the pending legislation, Native Title, that would give Aborigines who have had continuous presence the right to freely travel their native land.

Mr. McIvor is strongly against this. He has fought hard to get this land and he does not want anyone trespassing – not even archeologists who are looking for Aboriginal ceremonial places.

He says he is not a racist. but he does not want to see his land turned into a tourist place. However, some of the people who support John McIvor are racists and it becomes very hard for young William to figure out what is right from what is wrong.

Eventually, William has to make a decision about Kuran Station, much like the decisions everyone must make about what is fair in correcting the injustices committed by our ancestors.

This novel paints a beautiful picture of Australia and gives the reader a real feeling for what is must be like to live in the Outback.

Faces of Evanston Photography Contest

The Second Annual Faces of Evanston photography competition will be held June 15-August 30. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Evanston, the competition is open to all ages. Pictures must have been taken in Evanston and consist of the entrant's concept of the "Faces of Evanston" which can mean a photo of persons, objects or geography of Evanston.

This year's winning entries will be eligible for cash prizes including $250 for the first place winner, $150 for second places and $100 for the third place winner. In 2005 winning entries included a black and white photo of an Evanston resident, a color print of a "No Parking" sign reflected in a pool of water and a black and white portrait of people socializing in a local restaurant.

Dr. Stamata Blanas, DDS, a Kiwanian and art collector, encouraged residents and non-residents to submit their entries. "We were pleased to display the entries in a number of public venues last year. This year First Bank in Evanston will be the first site to display the photos," said Dr. Blanas. She added, "It's a wonderful view of this community and why it is so special to those of us who work or live here."

Judges for the photography contest include Ted Van Zelst, an art collector and supporter of programs at the Art Institute of Chicago, Gerry Mascai, co-chair of the Public Art Committee of the city of Evanston and Dino Robinson, President, Robinson Designs, an accomplished photographer.

All entries must be accompanied by a $10 registration fee. A complete list of all of the rules and regulations governing the contest, as well as a downloadable registration form, can be accessed at www.kiwanisclubofevanston.org or Dr. Blanas at 847-475-4544. The website details how many photographs and what format will be need for judging purposes. All entries and registrations fees must be received no later than August 30.

The Kiwanis Club of Evanston was founded in 1920. In 2005 the club made grants exceeding $31,000 to twenty-one community based organizations, primarily in Evanston.

The Kiwanis Club of Evanston meets weekly at Gio's Restaurant, Tuesdays at noon.

"An Inconvenient Truth"

Last year, 2005, was the warmest in a century and a half of record-keeping.  The other years in the Top Ten have all occurred since 1992.  Virtually all climatologists agree that human-produced carbon dioxide, a "greenhouse gas," is a principal cause of this global warming.

Highlighting these and other data in an unusually riveting PowerPoint presentation, former Vice-President Al Gore walks us through the bad news: The warming levels will increase, polar and Greenland icecaps will melt, sea level will rise, coasts will flood, hurricanes will intensify, ocean currents will shift, interdependent species will die off ... unless humans change their carbon dioxide-generating ways.

"An Inconvenient Truth," a Davis Guggenheim documentary about Mr. Gore's perhaps Cassandra-like warning, has been playing to appreciative audiences.  It does not entertain or divert them.  To the contrary:  Rather than divert, it seeks to awaken the oblivious and the skeptical.  Mr. Gore considers global warming a "slow-motion catastrophe."
The question is not whether to respond, but how and how fast.  "It's not just a political question, it's a moral question," he says.

Mr. Gore sees the skeptics as self-deceiving, or in some cases simply bought off.  He asserts that while no articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals express much doubt about the mechanics or dangers of global warming, more than half the coverage in the popular press expresses such doubt.  Why the discrepancy?  Mr. Gore places the blame on a concerted effort by those who profit from the culpable industries.  Consider, for example, the tagline of an ExxonMobil-funded ad campaign:  "Carbon dioxide:  They call it pollution, we call it life!"  It is tragically laughable.  What might ExxonMobil say about a tsunami?  "Lots of water:  We call it life!"

Understandably the film's science is debatable.  But it would take generations to compile incontestable evidence.  In Mr. Gore's view we just do not have that much time.  "My generation," he says, "that is, the baby-boomers, will probably live to hear their grandchildren ask, 'Why didn't you do more to stop this?'"  Another relatively minor weakness is the sometimes mawkish focus on Mr. Gore's life-altering personal tragedies, which invites the unfair ridicule and pop psychoanalysis that undermined Mr. Gore's political campaigns.

But overall the documentary succeeds in creating an accessible, sober, non-Michael Mooresque tone, which the subject probably requires.  And whatever the stylistic or scientific shortcomings, they are nothing compared to the film's unique value at this moment in history.

After outlining the myriad global warming-related threats, Mr. Gore concludes on a hopeful note.  He argues that just as the political will grew to slow the depletion of atmospheric ozone, the will can grow to cut carbon dioxide emissions.  The film largely emphasizes individual action, choices each of us can make to reduce our harmful impact.
While this may be a natural emphasis, it strikes me as pat, and the one weakness of the film really worth discussing.  After unflinchingly presenting the hard data on global nature, the film does flinch in its assessment of human nature.  It is not as broad-spirited as Mr. Gore seems to hope.  Even if awakened or shaken by this film, we probably will not make lifestyle choices based on the perceived needs of the planet or of humanity.  Many may place pro-environment bumper stickers on their cars; few will actually stop driving. 

Referring to the psychological impact of the famous "Earthrise" photo taken during an Apollo mission, Mr. Gore suggests humans have been developing a more global consciousness.  Yes, but genuine answers to global warming probably will not stem from trying to "love" the planet.  In Graham Greene's words, "One cannot love humanity.  One can love only people."

The greater hope lies in our understanding that humanity's earth-shaking successes may carry the seeds of demise, and realizing that, as a group, we can support choices we would not make as individuals.  To give one example:  while we will not simply give up driving, we might support higher gas taxes to help discourage it.  In the main, "An Inconvenient Truth" drives home that kind of message well.  It takes us to the brink and begins to explain how, together, we can pull back.

1 hr. 40 min., Rated PG for mild thematic events.

"A Prairie Home Companion"

Based on Garrison Keillor's beloved public radio variety show, the charming film "A Prairie Home Companion" follows the cast and crew of a lesser-known version of itself as they prepare for and perform their last show.

The film lacks a traditional story arc. Instead, Mr. Keillor, who penned the screenplay and stars in the film, and director Robert Altman are content to let the night unfold without much to-do over the finality of it all, which is just fine; as the hapless security guard Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) points out, Midwesterners like to deal with problems by ignoring them and hoping they will go away.

The star-studded ensemble is a joy to watch. Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin play Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson, sisters who harmonize old folk songs onstage and talk over each other off stage, recalling bittersweet memories of their performing family past while Yolanda's teenage daughter (Lindsay Lohan) obsesses about suicide and death. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly play Dusty and Lefty, two bumbling cowboys from the range who sing dirty songs, at least by public radio standards. Kevin Kline's Guy Noir fumbles around behind the scenes trying to get the attention of the mysterious woman in a white trenchcoat (Virginia Madsen) who turns out to be an angel of death. And Tommy Lee Jones plays a Bible-thumping Texas philistine, referred to by the cast as "The Axeman," who has bought out the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul (where the real show is still performed) and is turning it into a parking lot.

Viewing the collaboration of these two master humanists makes it clear that Garrison Keillor and Robert Altman are a match made in a Midwestern heaven, as their subtly sweet-and-sour sensibilities blend together like strawberries and rhubarb. Mr. Altman's camera floats effortlessly from the onstage performances to the backstage banter. Mirroring the camera is Mr. Keillor, with his arid wit and smooth baritone voice, entertaining the live audience with song and jokes about duct tape and fine Norwegian herring and reassuring his fellow companions with pointless stories and his "every show is the last show" attitude.

Mixing song and humor with the melancholy reality that everything (and everyone) must come to an end, "A Prairie Home Companion" reminds us that life, while not that great, sure ain't that bad either.
1hr 45min. Rated PG-13 for some adult humor.

Chicago Sounds Lush with Lucy Smith

"American Idol" must really get under Lucy Smith's skin. The show, which rewards the "talents" of singers with dubious musical training and education, is antithetical to hard-working vocalists like Ms. Smith. She has earned both a Bachelors degree in music from Columbia College in Chicago and a master's in jazz studies (Vocal Performance) from Roosevelt University.

She has been a vocalist for blues and jazz bands since the early 1990's, is the leader and arranger for the Lucy Smith Quartet/Trio, has appeared in a variety of plays, including "The Vagina Monologues," been featured in music segments for television shows, and has performed at Chicago venues such as the HotHouse, Park West, Pete Miller's, House of Blues and Speakeasy Supper Club.

Lucy Smith sounds as if she would be as comfortable playing to a packed House of Blues Crowd as she would to 12 people at The Green Mill on a Tuesday night. Her vocals maintain complexities while sounding effortless.

Ms. Smith's quivering intonations on the gospel cover "Go Down Moses" provide emotive emphasis on the cry for freedom, while the percussions, trumpet and pianoof her accompanying band punctuate the sentiment when Smith declares, "Let my people go."

On "Kiela," her voice permeates the room through black speakers and enters the soul through aural osmosis. "Kiela" is funky without losing its jazz base, containing the right mix of instrumental experimentation and structural songwriting, thrusting a bebop breakdown between lyrics like. And in the show of lives with many voices/She knows the days are made from simple choices. Well, Lucy made the right choices when she picked her backing band-they superbly accent her smooth voice.

Playful, mellow and full of soul, Lucy Smith is virtually a Chicago institution. Fans of jazz, blues, funk and r&b should check out www.lucysmithjazz.com for information on her upcoming shows.

Lucy Smith will be performing at Twiggs Park on June 20 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Starlight Concert Series.

Veggie Mama : Pineapples

By Anna Mussa-Ivaldi

Let's suppose you lived in colonial America, and were visiting with friends. And let's suppose that, while everybody around you was chatting, you were lost in existential considerations: "Am I somebody? Have I achieved a status in life? Have I accomplished something I will one day being remembered for?" Then, it is dinner time, and the dining room door opens to reveal the answer to your questions: a pineapple at the center of the table. If the hostess went to such great lengths to find a pineapple to celebrate your visit, it meant that yes, you were somebody. You had made it. You had achieved enough status to show up, one day, in the history books.

Pineapples (originally "anana" or "excellent fruit") were a rarity in colonial times. The Carib Indians imported the fruit to the Caribbean islands from their explorations of the tropical oceans. Pineapples were probably originally from the areas now known as Brazil and Paraguay. Indians ate them as a fruit and used them to produce wine.

Although pineapples traveled from the Caribbean Islands to the American colonies candied, glazed and packed in sugar, they rarely made it to Boston, Philadelphia, or Williamsburg as a whole fruit. The tropics, as is well known, are hot and humid, and wooden ships were not the ideal - although then the only - form of transportation for degradable food. Most of the time, the pineapple cargo would rot before reaching its destination. The rare times in which it made it, however, it quickly disappeared into the hands of confectionery shops. Some historians say that resourceful (and unscrupulous) confectioners made the most of the fruits by first renting them to households by the day, (for the bragging needs of low middle-income families) and then reselling the same fruits to families rich enough to buy and eat them.

Christopher Columbus imported the fruit to Europe during his second trip to the New World, in November 1493. It took, however, more than 200 years before gardeners figured out how to grow the fruit properly: The British finally succeeded by growing it in specially built hot-houses. Around this time the fruit name changed: Because its exterior resembled a pine cone and its interior tasted like an apple, it was renamed pineapple. Even though we associate pineapples with Hawaii, they were imports there, brought from Jamaica by the British in the 1886, more than 200 years after they were well known in Europe.

Pineapples have been celebrated in the arts like – maybe - no other fruit, painted, sculpted and imprinted into buildings, fabrics, china, wallpaper. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation collection has several objects decorated with pineapples, a 1780 jelly mold and a 1763 multi-tiered dessert tray with a large cast pineapple under a pagoda roof. The Louvre collections include a snuff box decorated with a green and yellow pineapple. Even Wedgewood, in England, was inspired by the tropical fruit to decorate some of its tea sets in the 1760s.

Pineapples also flourished in Colonial architecture. The Brandon Plantation in Prince George County has a pineapple on a roof pinnacle. The Shirley Plantation has a pineapple on the roof, two on inside doorways, and one on the a caddy finial, made of ivory and topped with a silver crown.

The largest pineapple, however is the one built by an early governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore. He ordered the construction of a formal garden and, in it, a garden house built in the shape of a 37-foot-tall pineapple.

Throughout the 1700 and 1800s, the exotic pineapple appeared in the kitchens of the most creative cooks. Cakes in the shape of pineapples adorned festive tables, as well as candies, creamed ice, cookies - even pineapples-shaped gelatin molds. Bowls, cups, pitchers and fruit trays were decorated with pineapple. Some historians have concluded that at the origin of the "pineapple craze" was the fruit's symbolic meaning. Like the pine cone, a symbol of fertility for it's numerous seeds, it was well- suited to the newly born society of the New World.

Although the pineapple finds many uses in the kitchens of the world, this time and season calls for its introduction to a ritual that is 100 percent American: the summer barbecue. And who can give us a better recipe than the Dole website? After all, it was James Dole who in 1851 founded in Hawaii the Dole Company and began the first pineapple-growing and canning operation.

Fresh Pineapple Salsa
1 1/2 c. fresh pineapple, chopped
1/4 c. red onion, chopped­
2 tbsp. granulated sugar­
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice­
1/2-1 tsp. (or to taste) jalapeno pepper, finely chopped­
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely minced­
1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped­

Mix all ingredients well in a glass bowl. Adjust seasonings to taste. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Yield 1 3/4 cups.

Source: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1949,146183-250193,00.html

All Kids to Reach the Top

Committee Fundraises for Fully Accessible Playground

By Leah Lavelle, Intern

Lawson Park is the planned site for one of few fully accessible public playgrounds in Illinois

All kids are different, but they do not have to play differently. By mid-2008 Lawson Park, near Lighthouse Beach on Sheridan Road, may become home to a fully handicap-accessible public playground. Noah's Playground For Everyone, as it will be called, will offer fun to all children — including those with sensory, developmental and physical limitations. It will open as one of few such public playgrounds in Illinois, said proponents.

All City playgrounds that have been renovated since the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 are handicap-accessible, said Superintendent of Parks and Forestry Paul D'Agostino. Yet most playgrounds vary in degree of accessibility, since the Act requires only that a percentage of the playground equipment at each site accommodate handicapped users. Plans for the proposed Noah's Playground, however, will make it 100 percent accessible, said Mr. D'Agostino.

The playground will be named after Noah Cutter, who was born in 2003 with neurological anomalies and died in December 2005 of unknown causes. Noah's parents, Julie and David Cutter, have said that even with handicaps, young Noah was able to show lots of affection.

With Noah as their inspiration, Mr. and Ms. Cutter have formed a committee, along with their family, friends and Noah's service providers, to help create a playground for every child, regardless of ability. "[It will be] a park where he would have been able to play. The typical park would not have worked for him," said Ms. Cutter.

The Noah's Playground committee has begun to raise money to design the playground so that "all kids can play side by side," said Ms. Cutter. Intended to promote understanding, tolerance and acceptance among all children, the site may include specialized equipment like a table-level sandbox, which will allow wheelchair-riders to pull up and bring all sand-players to the same level.

From the scrape-safe specialized ground surface up, the playground will be designed with every child in mind, offering elements such as ramp systems that allow wheelchairs and walkers to reach the playground's highest points, alternative toys and equipment that allow all children to play together, and bright colors, varied textures and noise makers to stimulate all of the kids' senses.

The City has considered building handicap-accessible playgrounds before, Mr. D'Agostino said. "We've talked about it in the past, but it's never been really feasible." With the help of the committee in providing the necessary funding for the playground, Mr. D'Agostino said the City has been supportive of the project from the start: "We did this to expand what the residents of Evanston have available to them, whether disabled or not."

The playground, estimated to cost $700,000, will be designed and maintained by the City, said Mr. D'Agostino. The City will provide $400,000, so the Cutters and their committee are trying to raise the additional $300,000 necessary to make the playground fully accessible.

The committee will donate raised money to the Evanston Parks Foundation, which Mr. D'Agostino explained is the certified non-profit organization "affiliated with the Parks and Forestry and Recreation departments." The foundation was created during the past few years in response to calls for a tax-deductible charitable organization for the benefit of the City.

The committee has organized a number of events as part of their fundraising efforts. Visit www.noahsplayground.org or call 847-866-8879.

Youth Benefit From ECF Awards

By Mary Helt Gavin

Penelope Sachs of Evanston Symphony Orchestra and Roseanne Palermo of Head Start will collaborate on "Music in Your World," a music education program with the Head Start program at District 65.

Boys will be the primary beneficiaries of the latest Evanston Community Foundation grants, with funds going to Family Focus's Male Involvement Group, "Boys Crew" of Literature for All of Us, Project Roots of Metropolitan Family Services and "Keep It Real" of Youth Organizations Umbrella. All these programs focus on social, emotional and academic growth and preparing boys to make positive decisions. Grants were also awarded to programs for girls, Evanston youth, children with special needs and senior citizens, as well as issues of social concern.

Sara Schastok, executive director of ECF, announced that 22 organizations would share $141,000 in awards this year – some from private funds within ECF, some through the Community Partners Network of ECF, one in connection with Northwestern University and one through a foundation in Chicago Community Trust. For the ninth year, Northwestern University Dance Marathon charity fundraiser shared a percentage of its proceeds with ECF, contributing a total of $250,000.

The other programs receiving grants from ECF include Campus Kitchens at Northwestern University (free meals and culinary job training), Center for Independent Futures (housing for adults with disabilities , Citizens Lighthouse Community Land Trust (affordable housing), Evanston Alliance on Homelessness, Evanston Ecumenical Action Council (homelessness), Evanston Latino Student Achievement Task Force, Evanston Public Library (literacy program), ESCCA (clothing for school children), Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Services (physical fitness program), Evanston Symphony Orchestra (music program with Head Start), Noah's Playground for Everyone (accessible playground), Open Studio Project (creative art for women in shelters), PEER Services (program for girls whose lives are affected by alcohol), Ridgeville Park District (Brummel Park outreach), St. Nicholas Church (mentoring of Latino gang members), Warren W. Cherry Preschool (expanding program for children with special needs) and World Relief DuPage (legal services for immigrants).

In presenting the awards, ECF Chair Kirk Hoopingarner said he was "humbled by the spirit in the community. The innovation and creativity of the not-for-profit community is incredible.

Now in its 20th year, ECF is home to more than 30 endowed funds and over $5.5 million total assets.For more information, contact Ms. Schastok at 847-492-0990 or at info@evanstonforever.org .

Under The Wire

Introducing the Trees Beneath Utility Lines

By Libby Hill

A recent seminar held at the Ecology Center showed about 50 Evanston educators how to instill healthy eating habits in their students. Judy Elsass, vice-president of Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc., welcomed the group and talked about KEB's exciting collaboration with Slow Food Chicago to create a model edible school garden at Dawes School.

Joel Smith, co-director of Slow Food Chicago (slowfoodusa.org) explained the need to bring families back to the dinner table as a center of family life, of our culture and as a place to enjoy wholesome food.

Lynn Hyndman, KEB's School Gardens chair, presented an overview of the Dawes School edible garden project. This program teaches an ecological approach to growing food and involves students in planting, harvesting, preparing and tasting the end results.

Jean Saunders reviewed local policy initiatives governing food in our schools, including the work of the Healthy Schools Campaign (healthyschoolscampaign.org) and the Wellness Policy Committee of District 65. She also touched on the Farm to School programs that will be implemented in some Illinois school districts.

To comply with a federal law, school districts throughout the United States must establish a wellness policy by the beginning of the school year 2006, which is late August or early September for many districts.

After the program, in the Slow Food tradition, guests enjoyed fresh spring salads prepared by Keep Evanston Beautiful board members. In keeping with the event's earth- friendly theme, biodegradable plates, knives and forks (made from corn) were used.

The seminar's co-sponsors, KEB and Slow Foods Chicago, are grateful to the individuals and groups who participated, helped fund and facilitated this gathering. Special thanks to the staff of the Evanston Ecology Center.