Category: Announcements

SPCA Halloween Movie Night on October 23rd

Please save the date for our Halloween Movie Night. The event is scheduled for dusk on October 23rd. We will provide popcorn and treats. We will also play a family-friendly Halloween movie on an outdoor screen. More information about this event will follow.

SPCA Fall General Meeting Was Successful

The SPCA held our Fall General Meeting at the Sauganash Park Fieldhouse on September 21st, 2021.

We were joined by Alderman Nugent, Police Commander Pontecore, and Kevin Kuhn from the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Our friend Dana Fritz from Congressman Quigley’s office also shared some messages with our audience.

Brian Nadig from Nadig Newspapers wrote about the event here and in our local paper.

We attempted to live-stream the event. Some listeners reported audio problems. If we continue hosting hybrid-meetings, we may acquire a microphone to improve our audio quality. Thank you to all who participated and attended!   Also, if Kevin Kuhn from the Forest Preserves of Cook County inspired you to volunteer, you can sign up here.

Coat Drive for Afghan Refugees

The Coat Drive for Afghan Refugees ends this week. Officials expect that over 500 Afghan refugees will re-settle in the Chicagoloand area. Senator Rahm Villivalam, Representative Denyse Stoneback, and Representative John D’Amico have organized a coat drive to help them.

Date: Monday, September 20 – Friday, October 8.
Accepted Items: New or clean, gently used coats (coats only – no other clothing)
Drop-off Locations: Donations can be dropped off at their offices (Or visit bit.ly/DriveDropOff)
Details: Donate new or clean, gently used, coats for the RefugeeOne “Share The Warmth Drive” for incoming refugee families. Donations can be dropped off from 9AM-5PM, Monday-Friday at any collection location.

We hope to see you at our Halloween Movie Night on October 23rd.
Thank you for being our neighbor!

SPCA Fall General Meeting TONIGHT at 7 PM

Please join us in-person tonight at the Sauganash Park Fieldhouse at 7 PM.

Masks are required per city, county, and state health mandates. We will distribute masks at the door.

We will be joined by Alderman Nugent, Police Commander Pontecore, and Kevin Kuhn from the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

If you cannot make it in-person, we will offer a live-stream of the event at this link. Members who join us online will NOT be able to interact with our speakers at this time. I hope that you can join us in-person and show our community leaders that we care about our neighborhood! 

Where: 5861 N. Kostner Ave.
When: TONIGHT, Tuesday, September 21st at 7 PM
What: Neighborhood General Meeting with Civic Leaders

 

Coat Drive for Afghan Refugees

Over the coming months, officials expect that over 500 Afghan refugees will re-settle in the Chicagoloand area. Senator Rahm Villivalam, Representative Denyse Stoneback, and Representative John D’Amico have organized a coat drive to help them.

Date: Monday, September 20 – Friday, October 8.
Accepted Items: New or clean, gently used coats (coats only – no other clothing)
Drop-off Locations: Donations can be dropped off at their offices (Or visit bit.ly/DriveDropOff)
Details: Donate new or clean, gently used, coats for the RefugeeOne “Share The Warmth Drive” for incoming refugee families. Donations can be dropped off from 9AM-5PM, Monday-Friday at any collection location.

 

We hope to see you at the General Meeting tonight at 7 PM.
Thank you for being our neighbor!

Don Morton
SPCA President

SPCA Summer Kickoff Event Was Successful

The event was well-attended. It felt good to get together as a community once again. We’d like to thank our good friends Congressman Quigley and Alderman Nugent for sponsoring the event and spending time with us. We’d also like to thank Caldwell Food and Liquor for donating the beer and The Learning Experience Sauganash for the toys, fitness packs, and science kits that were given to our children. We also appreciate the members of the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band that performed for us.

We hope that you had a good time too. But either way we want to hear about it.  You can use this form to share feedback with our board about the event. We will review it at our next board meeting in September. Speaking of which, now is a great time to consider joining the SPCA board. Contact us if you are interested in working more closely with us.

Membership Cards Have Been Distributed

The SPCA has partnered with six local businesses: Alarmist Brewing and Taproom, Dakota 94, Donna’s Garden, Chai Asian Bistro, Sauganash Grill, and The Learning Experience Sauganash. These local business are providing discounts and benefits to all card-carrying SPCA members.

We have finished distributing our membership cards to all current members who paid their dues as of July 26th. If you didn’t receive your card, and you paid your dues, maybe we made a mistake. Contact us and I will be happy to look into things and get your membership cards to you. Also, if you haven’t joined our association for this cycle yet, now is a great time to join.

Thank you for being our neighbor!

Request for Feedback on Snow Plowing

Members of the SPCA board are interested in gathering community feedback on our snow plowing operations. We want to hear from you. Are you happy with our current performance? Should we make changes to the program? How can we improve? Please let us know.

Praying Mantis Egg Sign-Up

Each spring the SPCA delivers praying mantis eggs to members on our distribution list. These eggs are placed in backyards throughout Sauganash Park and provide natural mosquito control. If you are an SPCA member and would like us to deliver praying mantis eggs to your home this spring, sign up here.

39th Ward Public Safety Meeting

Alderman Nugent is hosting a virtual community safety meeting on Tuesday, March 23rd at 6:30 PM. She and Chicago Police from the 16th and 17th Districts will answer questions and address safety concerns. You may submit questions before the meeting to [email protected]. You must register in advance to attend the meeting: https://bit.ly/30ORlGA

SPCA E-Neighborhood Watch Program Update

We now have nearly twenty volunteers for our E-Neighborhood Watch program. If you have a camera system on your home, you may sign up here. If you experience crime in our neighborhood, you can request camera footage here.

Spring General Meeting for the SPCA

The SPCA holds a General Meeting annually on the third Tuesday of April. We invite all interested community members to attend. Our Spring General Meeting will be held by ZOOM this year on April 20th at 7 PM. I will share the link to the meeting with you as the date approaches.

Congressman Mike Quigley from the US House of Representatives will join us. Also Jenise Celestin from Sweedish Hospital will join us. She will share the latest information about vaccinations for Covid-19. She will also show us how to get vaccinated.

We hope that you can join us!

Don Morton
SPCA President

Snow Plow Updates

We try to avoid calling plows, but when cars get stuck in the street, it seems like the right thing to do. We called for plows this weekend, and they helped us get out of the snow. Unfortunately, not all our neighbors received the same level of service. I apologize directly to our neighbors on Kildare and Glenlake, who seem to have received the worst service. I know how frustrating it is to follow a plan, do your part, and still experience a service failure.

We have taken action to avoid this in the future. The problem was caused by a new driver and the unique layout of our streets. If we call for plow drivers in the future, we will provide them with these maps, which show optimal routes for clearing east and west streets and north and south streets. Next time we will prepare our drivers to succeed.

Update on Our E-Neighborhood Watch

Our E-Neighborhood Watch program has seen an uptick in neighbor participation. Here is a general coverage map, which shows the approximate locations of our volunteers.

If you have cameras on your home or business, and would like to volunteer for our program, you can sign up here.

Here is how the program works:

1. If you witness or are victim to a criminal offense in Sauganash Park, you can request camera footage from your neighbors here.

2. We (the SPCA) will receive your request.

3. We will check it against our index of neighbors who have volunteered to help.

4. We will relay your request to neighbors nearby and ask them for footage.

5. They may choose to share their footage. If they do we will send it to you.

We hope to spread greater awareness of this program. As the weather gets warmer, crime in our area usually increases. I suspect this year will be no better. We should prepare in the ways that we can. Please participate if you are able by volunteering or educating your neighbors about our program.

Participatory Budgeting

SPCA board member Iram McGill has been tirelessly representing our neighborhood in the 39th Ward Participatory Budgeting Process. Alderman Nugent created this program, which allows community members to spend some of the ward’s discretionary menu money. Last year, voters chose to get our underpass at Lowell and Granville repaved.  Now it’s time to vote for this year’s projects.

I don’t want to influence your voting. I just want to give you some sample projects that are on the table this year:

A Left Turn Lane at Devon and Pulaski

Improvements to the Baseball Diamonds at Sauganash Park

Bus Stop Benches at Pulaski and Rogers/Sauganash Ave

There are 22 total project proposals from across the 39th Ward. Let’s make our voices heard! All votes must be cast by February 12th. There are only 9 days left to vote. Register to vote now!

Thank you for being a part of this community and contributing in the ways that you do!