Carried out in March our first ever Cabin Fever event at Oak Park Friends School, featuring musician Mark Dvorak. SEOPCO collaborated with two important organizations, Beyond Hunger and Music & Potlucks.
Initiated a meeting with neighbors and five leading Oak Park officials to discuss the proposed Taco Bell at Roosevelt and Austin in February. Neighborhood concerns were aired, the role of the Village in the development was clarified and mitigations to traffic and noise issues were discussed.
Kept the community informed about Zoning Board meetings and changes to the Taco Bell proposal.
COVID 19 –
Communicated village news via Facebook and our email list regarding the SIP from the village, parking,
Promoted the restaurants that were open and how they were accommodating customers
Helped publicize their efforts as Oak Park Porchfest was forced to become Couchfest, moving their stellar music series from our porches to Zoom.
Inaugurated our series SEOPCO Stories, sharing some of the narratives of our neighbors in South East Oak Park.
Represented the neighborhood in the hiring process for new Police Department’s Resident Beat Officers and Neighborhood Resource Officers.
Worked with our Neighborhood Resource Officer, Derrick Verge, as the monthly meetings he hosts with John Rumoro moved from Barrie Center to online. Each month Officers Verge and Rumoro gather to discuss how to increase safety in South East Oak Park.
Partnered with the Rotary Club of Oak Park and River Forest to make donuts for the Oak Park Farmer’s Market. It’s a fun morning and a great way to raise funds for Pilgrim Congregational and both of our organizations.
Reimagined our annual BarrieFest as a moving musical feast by partnering with Fitzgeralds. Five musicians performed short sets in seventeen locations, offering a socially distanced good time for many appreciative South East Oak Parkers.
Friends and neighbors – here’s a sample of what we did together as a board and as a neighborhood in 2019
Organized our annual BarrieFest, which took place on a picture-perfect Saturday Sept. 7. Bands played throughout the afternoon as approximately 500 neighbors visited our business fair and enjoyed the bounce houses and climbing wall. The Oak Park Fire Department stopped by, as well as representatives from the police department and Legacy Sports. Carnivore and Opportunity Knocks catering were busy throughout the day selling delicious sandwiches. It was a wonderful afternoon to visit with friends and meet neighbors!
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.
Participated in the
Art’s District’s What’s Blooming on Harrison fest in May, passing out some cool
highlighters and spreading the message about our organization.
Partnered with Park
District of Oak Park to bring “Movies in the Park” to our
neighborhood, with an evening showing of Paddington 2. This same event was
shared with Washington Irving Elementary for their Back to School event.
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.
Assisted local
business It’s A Sign in their efforts to move from Madison Street to a new
space on Roosevelt Road.
Publicized the first
season of Oak Park Porchfest and contributed safety equipment for their
excellent concert series.
Initiated a
collaborative partnership with Oak Park Friends School, who will have an
ongoing presence on our board. We’re also making plans to hold an event at OP
Friends in early 2020.
Partnered with the Rotary
Club of Oak Park and River Forest to make donuts for the Oak Park Farmer’s
Market. It’s a fun morning and a great way to raise funds for Pilgrim Congregational
and both of our organizations.
Join us for fun, food, and friendship in Barrie Park! Noon until 5:00pm on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Activities include:
Bounce House & Obstacle Course for All Ages Climbing Wall Fire Truck with Flame House Food from Carnivore Live music Organization & Business Fair Bike Registration by OPPD
South East Oak Park Community Organization will be holding a forum for candidates running for the District 200 OPRF High School Board. The forum will be held on Wednesday, February 27 starting at 7:00pm at Irving School.
Six candidates are running for three open positions on the board. We’ve compiled some information from the candidates on their background and positions, available at this link:
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.
