Photo Contest: Get caught reading at Evanston Public Library

The Evanston Public Library will launch the 1st Annual Get Caught Reading community photo contest on Saturday, Sept. 14. Photographers of all ages and expertise levels are invited to capture images of people expressing the joy of reading in all its forms: books, tablets, e-readers, magazines, audiobooks, newspapers, as well as in various places, from private spaces to public venues.

Photos may be submitted from September 14 through September 28. The voting period will be October 2 through October 9,  with winners based on popular vote through the Internet from the community-at-large. Four winners will be chosen. There will be a first and second place award for those 18 and under, and a first and second place for those older than 18 years of age, as well as one Honorable Mention for each age group.  

The winning photographs will be featured on the Evanston Public Library website and prizes will be awarded. For more information, please contact Jill Schacter, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at jschacter@cityofevanston.org.

Photos submissions will be taken via a website link once the contest is live on Sept. 14

Contest rules:

1. All photos must be taken in Evanston by residents of Evanston.  

2. All photos submitted to the Get Caught Reading contest may be used, without further notification, at any time, by the Evanston Public Library in marketing and informational materials including but not limited to, brochures, newsletters, social media and web-based communications.

3. The photographer agrees to obtain permission from any person included in the photo before submission to the Get Caught Reading contest.

4. The Evanston Public Library reserves the right to decline acceptance of submitted photographs based on content we deem to be inappropriate for public posting/viewing. 

This Weekend: First Shared Streets comes to Dempster Street

From http://sharedstreetsevanston.com

The first Shared Streets will be held on historic Dempster Street at Chicago Avenue, in the heart of Evanston. From 12:00 to 5:00pm on Sunday, September 1st, all are invited to enjoy the street, free of charge, and free of motorized traffic. The route will feature two open blocks on Dempster Street, plus a car-free area on Sherman Place in front of the Dempster CTA  stop. 

The open space of the street is offered, but also flowers & greenery, snacks & water; music, art & dance, hula hooping, Zen chanting, tai chi & yoga; a children’s parade, cycling & walking tours, and plenty of community outreach. It is an argument for safe, healthy, sustainable transportation; and a reclamation of space and time for art and for community. We will demonstrate two hot topics: the street as a place, and the complete street. Bring your bike, skateboard, scooter, or just your own two feet, and let’s enjoy our public realm!

Participants and In-kind Donations:

• Evanston Bike Club: Bicycle safety education
• Active Transportation: Chicagoland bicycle information
• Bucephalus Bikes: Family bicycle tours
• Evanston History Center: Historical photos & walking tour (Mayre Press)
• The Recyclery: Bicycle collection drive (bring your old, unused bikes!)
• McGaw YMCA: Zumba class
• Citizen’s Greener Evanston: Complete Streets survey
• Escola de Samba: Brazilian drumming (also Cuban and African)
• Chinese Cultural Academy: Tai chi chuan
• Lighthouse Yoga: Yoga
• Cynthia Narcisi: Hula hooping (hoops provided)
• Come Out Dancing: Salsa dance lessons
• School of Rock: Rock concert
• Toastmasters Evanston: Speeches at “Speaker’s Corner”
• Evanston Lumber: “Speaker’s Corner” materials
• Frances Willard Historical Association: Outreach
• Southeast Evanston Association: Outreach
• Allan Breedlove & Ndidi Nwaneri, Loyola University: “Ask the Philosopher”
• Sharon Weeks, 2nd Baptist Church: “Ask the Minister”
• Rev. Bret Lortie, Unitarian Church of Evanston: “Ask the Minister”
• Mystery guests: “Ask the Alderman”
• Evanston150 teams: Project displays
• Walk ‘n’ Roll: Tactical urbanism
• LOOK Chicago: Street safety education
• Wheel & Sprocket: “Cycling as Transportation” (bike accessories show)
• Sharon Hyson, Teaching Artist and Art Therapist: Community art-making for all ages.  Possible creations include decorating your transportation and parade creations such as hats, puppets and musical instruments.
• Turin Bicycle: Bicycle maintenance clinic
• Zen Buddhist Temple: Zen chanting
• Clare Tallon Ruen & company: LakeDance (interpretive dance)
• Evanston Ecology Center: Critter Crew
• City of Evanston: Tap water station & forestry outreach
• Celebrate!2013 / Evanston150: Outreach
• Chicago Transit Authority: History & outreach
• Ten Thousand Ripples: Interactive art-making
• Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp: Landscape architecture
• We Fix Bikes: Bicycle Maintenance
• Nature’s Perspective Landscaping: Landscaping
• Unitarian Church of Evanston: Tables and chairs
• Anton’s Greenhouse: Flowers
• Mudlark Theater: Outreach
• Jessica Jacobs: Official Photographer / Videographer
• Whole Foods: power bars
• Leadership Evanston 2013: “Culture of Community” Block Party Promotion

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About Us

Walk ‘n’ Roll is one of the ten project teams that emerged from the community-based Evanston150 visioning process in November of 2011. Our mission is to make Evanston safer and more enjoyable for walking and cycling. We have grown to a group of around 80 residents committed to making this wish a reality.

Our 2012 projects included a weekly staffed bike corral at the downtown farmers’ market, where we tagged and guarded dozens of bikes at any one time. We also pulled off Evanston’s first Park(ing) Day, which transformed two parking spaces at Main and Custer into a temporary people’s park. We argue before city council for pedestrian safety measures and better bike infrastructure. We promoted the EAC bike corral and the Davis Street protected bike lane, and won on both counts.

Check out and consider joining our online discussion group for all things related to better walking and biking in Evanston. Follow related postings from around the web on our Facebook page. We are always looking for new members and fresh ideas. 

Beach glass for breakfast and the lies we tell children

Where there are waves, seagulls and sand there is a beach. But I meet people all the time who get annoyed that I call going to the beach, "going to the beach." They protest, "you should call it going to the lake." I love how silly humans can be to get caught up in an argument like that.

Here is a photo of the beach glass I collected the other morning at the beach. I am a beach comber, a collector, a scavenger - always with my butt up in the air, digging for treasure. What is NOT photographed is the dead seagull I found that had a brick smashed over its head. Poor seagull. "Why did he die?" my friend Luka asked me? She's only 4 so I told her the seagull died because he was a Grandpa Seagull and he was old.

See you at the beach.

You've got two more Tuesdays in August to shop for a good cause

In a unique cause marketing campaign designed to help the Evanston economy and help fund support services for residents, Connections for the Homeless, YWCA Evanston/North Shore, andYouth Job Center of Evanston are partnering with local businesses for the second annualEvanston Works Together: 4 Tuesdays in August 2013.  Each Tuesday in August, 44 participating retail stores and restaurants will contribute 5% of sales to the three non-profits. The funda generated will support free financial literacy, job-readiness, and job training programs at all three organizations.

Aug. 17: Duck Race and Pluck at Dawes Park Lagoon

From the City of Evanston website:

The annual Duck Race and Pluck is a "fun-raiser" for theEvanston Environmental Association, which supports the City of Evanston's Ecology Center. Rubber ducks travel around the Arrington Lagoon in Dawes Park on waves created by volunteers with paddles. Funds raised from the event go towards the Evanston Ecology Center’s resident "critters."

Sponsor one duck for $10 or a “Quack Pack” of three for $25. The fastest ducks and those lucky ducks plucked from the brace will win prizes for their sponsors. You may take your ducky home after the race. For more info. or to reserve your duck(s), please call 847/448-8256.
Location: Dawes Park, Sheridan Rd. at Church St., 1700 Sheridan Rd.
Day/Date/Time: Sat., Aug. 17, 3-5pm
Fee: see above for duck sponsorship; free admission
Age Level: All ages

Big Butt Girls in Evanston through August 25

How fun that I get to put "Big Butt" in my headline today and it's not to mock but to celebrate a new play opening for Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre. Read below!

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre's "Big Butt Girls and Other Fantasies - The Remix!"

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre's fourth and final main stage play of their Summer 2013 season is Big Butt Girls and Other Fantasies — The Remix! The play will run from August 10 to August 25 at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St. in Evanston.

Playwright Marsha Estell (Heat) is brilliantly funny and bittersweet in this solo performance. Audiences will join Marty as she longs for her childhood on the South Side of Chicago. All she cared about was listening to James Brown, dancing with her father and developing into a “Brick-House!" Now, trapped by varicose veins, hot flashes and that "middle-aged middle," Marty will lead you in a performance both hilarious and bittersweet.

Showtimes are 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $12 at the door and $10 in advance. For more information, click here or call the Noyes Center box office at 847-448-8260, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Free Searching for Sugar Man Screening this Saturday

Starlight Movie Series: Searching for Sugar Man

Twiggs Park, Dodge Ave. at Simpson St., Evanston, IL at 8:10 PM

While rock n' roll musician Sixto Rodriguez's time in the United States had passed, he was unknowingly becoming a pop music sensation South Africa. After his rumored death, two die-hard fans from Cape Town set out to find out what happened to their hero and discover far more than they had hoped in this inspirational documentary. 

Join us at 8:10 p.m. on Saturday, August 10, in Twiggs Park for a free screening of the film, Searching for Sugar Man. Twiggs Park is located on Dodge Ave. at Simpson St.

Free movies will be shown in Evanston parks on select Wednesdays and Saturdays at dusk. Visit www.cityofevanston.org/starlight for movie titles and locations.