SEOPCO will be hosting three candidate forums prior to the 2019 Village election. We will host forums for District 200 OPRF High School, District 97 Elementary School and the Village Board of Trustees.

District 200: Wednesday February 27

Village Trustees: Tuesday March 19

District 97: Wednesday March 20

All forums will be held at Irving Elementary School, 1125 South Cuyler. Forums will also be streamed and archived on our Facebook page, @SEOPCO. The event will start at 7:00pm. All are invited to attend.

Neighbors,

Here’s a look at some of SEOPCO’s 2018 accomplishments.

• Organized our annual BarrieFest, which took place on September 8.  The Fest was held on Lombard due to wet conditions in the park. Bands played throughout the afternoon as approximately 400 neighbors visited our business fair and enjoyed the bounce houses and climbing wall. The Oak Park Fire Department stopped by, as well as the Oak Park Library’s Book Bike and Legacy Sports. Carnivore was busy throughout the day selling delicious sandwiches, and Happy Apple took care of delicious desserts. It was a wonderful afternoon to visit with friends and meet neighbors!
• Collaborated with the Plan Commission’s effort to propose plan design guidelines for existing homes and new development in Oak Park. In order to help the Commission understand local issues, a tour of the South East Oak Park neighborhood was arranged, with both positive and problematic examples of rehabs and new construction.
• Held a successful organization retreat on Saturday, April 14, with facilitator Gloria Cox at Community Bank’s south branch. During the session we identified gaps and opportunities to improve the impact of our activities and discussed organizational focus for the future.
• Informed our neighborhood about local events, communicating via Facebook, our email list and Twitter.
• Worked with our Neighborhood Resource Officer, Derrick Verge as he hosted monthly meetings at Barrie Center. Each month Officers Verge and Rumoro gather to discuss how to increase safety in South East Oak Park.
• Partnered with Culvers for an Election Day fundraiser to help raise money for the Irving PTO.
• Joined the Rotary to make donuts for the Oak Park Farmer’s Market. It’s a fun morning and a great way to raise funds for Pilgrim Lutheran and both of our organizations.
• Monitored developments on the Eisenhower Transportation Corridor. There was no significant movement this year, but SEOPCO continues to stay in touch with this important issue, with the help of Citizens for Appropriate Transportation.
• Held a successful fall membership campaign with contributions from about 30 neighbors.

SEOPCO is actively looking to fill 3 open positions on our board. They are “at large” positions which would give the board a total of ten active members. The board meets monthly on the first Tuesday from 7:30 – 9 PM.

Serving on our board, you can work on community projects without making a significant time commitment. In addition to attending our 90-minute monthly meeting, we estimate that members spend perhaps 1 – 2 additional hours during the school year and up to 5 hours in the summer months preparing for our big annual event, Barrie Fest.

In addition to Barrie Fest, we organize a variety of other neighborhood activities. We partner with the Irving School PTO & the Park District to hold Movie Night in Barrie Park. In local election years, we sponsor public candidate forums for Village and District 97 and 200 School Board positions. We act as an advocate for our neighborhood to Village government and we are always looking for new ways to raise the profile of South East Oak Park.

A list of board members can be found here, along with our mission statement and cultural beliefs. On behalf of the SEOPCO Board we welcome your interest to join us in continuing our efforts to make South East Oak Park a great place to live.

If you are interested in joining, please reply to SEOPCO via our email address, SEOPCO@gmail.com and provide your contact information with a brief bio and interest. We will reply to you.

Enjoy the rest of summer and our great neighborhood.

Yours truly,

Laura Crawford and Allan Flynn

Co-Chairs
SEOPCO

On Tuesday October 24, SEOPCO will be partnering with Culver’s of Berwyn to raise funds for the Irving PTO Scholarship Fund. A portion of Culver’s profits that afternoon/evening will be donated to the Scholarship Fund.

Join us anytime between 4:00 and 8:00 pm for a delicious Culver’s dinner, and help provide scholarship funds for extracurricular activities.

Just mention the Irving Scholarship Fund either at the drive-though or inside of Culver’s and they will make a contribution.

The kids will have burned off plenty of calories at the Fun Run earlier in the day, so enjoy the Culver’s flavor of the day, Mint Chip. And, you can meet Scoopy, the Culver’s mascot.

Hope you can join us next Tuesday.

Culvers Oct 24

Mark your calendars for our two big events in September.
Movie Night in Barrie Park will be held on Friday Sept. 9, in conjunction with Irving School and the Park District. We’ll have a pizza party starting in the late afternoon, then show a movie at dusk.

The next day, Saturday the 10th, is our annual Barrie Fest, starting at noon. We’re still working on the agenda — feel free to email seopco@gmail.org with suggestions. We will definitely have bands, a business fair, bounce houses and other entertainment.

Stay tuned for more details.