The Oriole Park Community Club is a non-profit, non-political association of community members dedicated to fostering the general welfare of the Oriole Park neighborhood. We hold bi-monthly public meetings, usually in the Oriole Park field house. Among other things, we host invited speakers, sponsor the annual fourth of July parade and sponsor tax appeal seminars. We serve as an important link to neighborhood institutions, including the 41st ward office, library, park, police and school.
Saturday, July 3, 2010 Annual Independance Day Childrens Bicycle Parade. Step off at 9:30 a.m. Parade will assemble at 9:00 a.m. at the north end of Oriole Park (7500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.) Route follows Bryn Mawr to Oriole to Berwyn to Olcott and back to park (~1/2 Mile) All children are especially invited to participate in the parade by decorating their bikes in patriotic colors. Prizes and a program will follow the parade. Our Grand Marshal of the parade this year will be Mr. Elias Estrada, Principal of Oriole Park Grade School. The 2010 Junior Citizen Award will also be presented to Oriole Park student Khusbu Patel, for leadership and service in our community.
Monday, May 17,2010: General Meeting of the Community Club in the Oriole Park Field House at 7:00 p.m. Hear about the Library's Summer Reading Program in conjuction with the Art Institute of Chicago. Learn details about the re-formation of the Oriole Park Garden Club. Volunteer to help with the Annual Independence Day Parade. Meet the 2010 Junior Citizen Award winner! Elect officers for the community club. Voice your concerns in an open forum on addressing neighborhood needs!
Friday, May 14, 2010: Annual Oriole Park "Clean and Green" Day from 3:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m. at Oriole Park. Volunteers will meet at the Oriole Park Field House. Please bring work gloves. Snacks will be provided. Please RSVP by emailing the club (see the "Contact Us" tab.)
Monday, March 15, 2010: General Meeting of the Community Club in the Oriole Park Field House at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will focus on history and story-telling about our neighborhood and others on the Northwest side of Chicago. Representatives of the Northwest Chicago Historical Society will participate in the evening's events.
January 25, 2010: Science educator extraordinaire Lee Marek presented his entertaining and educational WEIRD SCIENCE program in the Oriole Park School gymnasium for the Community Club's 2010 Family Night. Mr. Marek combined demonstrations of chemical and physical phenomena with humor, videos and audience participation. He is widely known nationwide for having performed over 500 times around the country and also having appeared over 30 times on the David Letterman Show. The Oriole Park audience thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Marek's presentation which was full of surprises mixed with engaging humor. He is affiliated with the Chemistry Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
November 16, 2009. 7:00 p.m. Oriole Park Field House. 41st Ward Alderman Brian Doherty will give his annual "State of the Ward" address. Oriole Park School Principal will report on programs, progress and plans for the school. Also, learn more about the Community Club's plans for the upcoming year. Refreshments will be served.
September 21, 2009. In an annual collaboration with the "Friends of the Oriole Park Library" the Community Club presented a program titled "Community Information Night". Susan Arl, president of the "Friends" conducted the meeting in which several speakers were featured. Al Firak led off, filling in for Elias Estrada, principal of Oriole Park School. Mr. Estrada couldn't attend because he was ill. Al is a member of the school's Local School Council and he reported on the excellent academic performance of the school and its growing enrollment. Mr. Estrada is pressing for a permanent school addtion, not additional modules, for Oriole Park School. Frank Clark was the next speaker. He gave a report on the programs offered in the park and, more specifically, in the field house. He was followed by Carlene Merges, Childrens Librarian in the Oriole Park Library. She reported on children's and adult's programs offered in the library. She also gave statistics on the heavy usage of the library, the fith busiest branch library in the entire system. Susan Arl followed Carlene by describing how the "Friends" support the library by providing funding for some of the programs, and by sponsoring the annual Holiday Open House. The principal means for coming up with the funds has been the annual book sale conducted by the "Friends". For some unknown reason, CPL management has suspended permission for "Friends" groups throughout the city to conduct book sales. The Community Club and the "Friends" have written letters seeking restoration of book sales in the branch libraries. Al Firak was the final speaker, on behalf of the Community Club. He reviewed all of the annual community activities sponsored by the Club; the highlight being the annual Independence Day Children's Bike Parade. He also reviewed all of the successful campaigns by the Club, e.g. getting the field house, the new library, blocking the construction of a 21 unit condo building on a sidestreet in the neighborhood, and improved traffic safety on Higgins Road and Harlem Avenue. He concluded by directing the attendees to a supply of Residential Assessed Valuation Appeal forms that he obtained from the alderman's office. He provided a brief explanation on how the forms had to be filled-out. Completed forms were due October 5, 2009 at the Cook County Assessor's Office.
Please renew your annual membership!
Individual or family membership: $10 Over age 65 membership: $5
