This Monday, October 1st, MacSpecialist will feature Apple products and related wares when it opens the newest retail store in Oak Park. Located at 805 Lake Street, MacSpecialist will be open 9AM to 9PM Monday through Saturday and 10AM to 6PM on Sundays.

Through the Grand Opening Week activities, MacSpecialist will give away over $10,000 worth of prizes, including iPad, iPhone and Mac accessories and more. To enter the hourly drawings, simply fill out an entry form at the store (no purchase required.)

Situated near Oak Park Avenue, MacSpecialist will join the crush of
commercial activity in the Avenue Business District, near restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, the public library and the CTA Green Line. The store will fulfill a strong need for technology and electronics shops in the area. MacSpecialist features 2,000 square feet of Apple products, including iPads, Macs, and a large collection of third party accessories.

For further information, please contact Tim Robertson, COO of
MacSpecialist, at tim@macspecialist.com or at 269-986-5013.

MacSpecialist Storefront Opening Oct 1, 2012

Jim Solnes of Scoville Square and Mr. David King of David King and Associates are pleased to announce the execution of a long-term lease at 805 Lake Street.  The long-term lease is the largest lease in more than a decade in Oak Park.

MacSpecialist, the premier Apple Reseller in the Chicago metro area, will open the flag-ship store on October 1st.  The Oak Park store will feature Apple products, including iPads, Macs, and a large collection of third party accessories.

As an Apple Authorized Service Provider, MacSpecialist will feature one of the area’s largest independent Apple warranty repair facilities offering service for iPhones, iPads and Macs.  iPhone users will be supported with warranty exchange services.  Mac users can enjoy repair and upgrade options for warranty and out-of-warranty Apple Computers.

MacSpecialist is moving forward on the 6,045 square foot space formerly occupied by Baird & Warner Real Estate.  David King of David King & Associates represented MacSpecialist in the exhaustive search of Oak Park & surrounding suburbs and in the lease negotiations.  Jim Solnes represented the Scoville Square ownership.  The storefront will undergo significant renovations.  Demolition has already begun.

“I’m thrilled to represent MacSpecialist in my hometown of Oak Park” said David King.  According to Tim Robertson, Chief Operations Officer at MacSpecialist, the Village of Oak Park President David Pope was extremely “persuasive”.  “I could not be more excited for MacSpecialist to join the Scoville Square Family” said Scoville Square’s managing partner, Jim Solnes.

“At a time when many companies are scaling down, and the news is full of massive layoffs, MacSpecialist is looking to hire upwards of twenty employees in the Oak Park community.” said Tim Robertson, Chief Operations Officer at MacSpecialist. “We plan on bringing the full Apple retail experience to Oak Park with a fantastic location at 805 Lake St. We will have a huge service area that can do both warranty and non-warranty work, as well as a world-class training facility for professional level certification classes.”

During the Grand Opening week of October 1st-5th, MacSpecialist is planning on daily giveaways in celebration of the new store. Details of the Grand Opening are being kept secret until a few weeks before the store opens.

“Apple sells fantastic products, and we are very excited to be able to offer them in Oak Park. We are a locally owned company that has been in business since the mid-1980s, and are looking at Oak Park as our flagship and corporate headquarters for years to come” said Tim Robertson.

Yesterday evening we had the great honor and pleasure to travel to Chicago’s Midway Airport to welcome back to Chicago, my wife’s Uncle Dick. Uncle Dick was the recipient of a seat on the Honor Flight Chicago’s most recent trip to Washington DC. It was a most amazing experience to be among the more than 3,000 well wishers assembled to honor our “Greatest Generation”!

According to Uncle Dick, he and his lovely bride of more years than I can shake a stick at – awoke at o-dark-hundred so the Uncle Dick could muster at Midway Airport.  My Uncle and his fellow travelers were transported to the waiting chartered jet and whisked off to our nation’s capital.  Once on the ground in Washington DC they were toured “all over the place” including the new World War II Memorial on the Mall.  Since all of the WWII vets on the flight are getting up in years, there were plenty of wheelchairs and young volunteers to escort the vets to see the sights.  After a full day of sight seeing, the intrepid travelers were loaded on the charter flight for the return trip to their departure point, Midway Airport.

Upon arrival at Chicago Midway Airport, the plane’s passengers were welcomed with a water canon salute from the Chicago Fire Department.  I am told, by those who know, that the water canon salute is reserved for only the most important, highest ranking visitors.  Our WWII vets sure qualify in that regard!  The more than seven hundred volunteers who make Honor Flight Chicago work had one more surprise in store.  When the flight disembarked, our Vets were greeted by members of our active-duty armed forces, backed up by a contingent from both the Chicago Fire Department and Chicago Police Department.  The tired Vets were serenaded by Bag Pipers and escorted by sailors from Great Lakes Naval Station to the main arrival concourse to be greeted by an assembled throng of well wishers.  My wife’s Uncle is not given to tears – a trait that is common to that age group of heroes – but his eyes were a tad wet from the reception from family and strangers.

None of the WWII Veterans pay anything for the days activities.  All costs are paid for by Honor Flight Chicago.  To date, Honor Flight Chicago has flown over 3,000 veterans to Washington, D.C. and there are more that 1,000 on a waiting list. On each trip to Washington, D.C. Honor Flight Chicago takes between 95 and 100 veterans. The cost of each trip is $50,000.00 or $500.00 per veteran. Sponsorships are available and encouraged.

The mission of Honor Flight Chicago, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, is to raise funds to provide more WWII Veterans the chance to visit Washington DC and the WWII Memorial. On June 3, 2012, Honor Flight Chicago will host “Made in America” Benefit Concert to be held at the Paramount Theatre, located at 23 East Galena Blvd., Aurora, IL. All of the proceeds will benefit Honor Flight Chicago. The headliner will be Ricky Lee. The opening act will be Chicagoland’s patriotic sweethearts, the Legacy Girls. There’ll be two shows at 2:00 & 6:00 pm. General admission tickets are $40 and admission for WWII Vets is only $20. Advance ticket sales are available on the following websites: www.honorflightchicago.org, www.paramounttheater.com or www.rickyleemusic.com. The Paramount box office can be reached at 630-896-6666.

From our good friend, Wendy Tannenbaum, President North Avenue Business Association:

The City of Chicago unveiled a snow response website at www.chicagoshovels.org to assist residents and businesses during severe winter weather.  The site has a GPS system which will feature real time locations of Chicago snowplows.

The site includes online winter apps that will help people better navigate during the winter months.  Twoinch.es informs and alerts drivers of winter snow routes and parking bans.  Wasmycartowed.com uses data to assist with towed or relocated cars. There’s also a shovel-share program.

Call Oak Park’s snow info line at 708/358-SNOW (7669) to find out if the emergency snow parking ban is in effect.

For more info, go to Oak Park’s website at www.oak-park.us/publicworks.   Then click on the Winter Snow link.   Find out info about winter snow parking routes, snow parking FAQ’s and restrictions and sidewalk shoveling requirements. For more info, contact the Department of Public Works at 708/358-5700.

Shoveling requirements

Below, please find the requirements for snow removal from the City of Chicago and the Village of Oak Park.   To view, please click below:

• Chicago Snow Removal Ordinance
• Oak Park Snow Removal Ordinance

Emergency Preparedness Resources

NABA has put together an Emergency Preparedness Resource list. This valuable list includes phone numbers and websites.  To view,  click on NABA Emergency Preparedness Resource List.

Chicago’s Emergency Preparedenss info and resources:  www.AlertChicago.org

Oak Park’s link to Emergency Preparedness Planning and Response, go to: www.oak-park.us/prepared/index.htm.

Sign up for Emergency Alert Notifications:

Sign up to receive emergency alert notifications at www.AlertChicago.org.

Sign up for alerts from Oak Park’s Community Notification System by using this link: www.oak-park.us/notifyme/. You can be notified by phone, email or text when the no parking ban goes into effect.

Seconds Count in the Event of an Emergency

Please attach address numbers on the back of your building or garage abutting the alley, so that emergency vehicles can find your residence or place of business in the event of an emergency.

From our fiends at Berwyn Development Corp and the Roosevelt Road Business Association President, Paul Zimmerman

With construction substantially complete, a unified and more pedestrian-friendly Roosevelt Road welcomes back residents, visitors and commuters with the installation of traffic calming hardware. As part of the award-winning, comprehensive streetscape improvement undertaken by the City of Berwyn, Village of Oak Park and Town of Cicero, three lighted crosswalks have been installed along Roosevelt Road at the intersections of Home Avenue, Gunderson Avenue and Lombard Avenue.

The in-roadway warning lights are the first crosswalks of this type to be installed on an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) roadway. The marked crosswalks have protective lights installed directly into the roadway that flash when activated by pedestrian push-buttons. Illinois State Law requires motorists to stop for pedestrians at marked crosswalks. The LED lights increase the visibility of the crosswalk and provide an early warning to motorists to brake to a full stop for crossing pedestrians. These energy efficient lights are solar-powered.

“This is a win-win situation for businesses and their patrons and has unified the business district by creating more defined paths for pedestrians. On bustling roadways like Roosevelt Road, this type of crosswalk helps clarify right-of-way and increases everyone’s safety,” stated Paul Zimmermann, President of the Roosevelt Road Business Association. “The lighted crosswalks have been effective at reducing roadway incidents and are being used nationally with excellent results. They are a great addition to the corridor,” added Anthony Griffin, Berwyn Development Corporation Executive Director.

The entire streetscape project, spanning just over one and a half miles, consists of very few traffic signals where safe pedestrian crossing is permitted. The addition of three lighted crosswalks adds much needed safety to this pedestrian-oriented commercial corridor.

For more information about the Roosevelt Road streetscape project, visit www.rooseveltroad.com.

One of the vexing issues associated with any major municipal construction project is that the “punch list” – the odds-and-ends of any construction project, can often drag on for a very long time after the project has been substantially completed.  Kudos to Paul Zimmerman for keeping the focus on Roosevelt Road!