Karen Winters - Chicago, IL

Giving the gift of food to help fight hunger.

The City of Chicago is sponsoring "One City, One Food Drive" in conjunction with the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Donations are being accepted through this coming Friday, December 9th at over 150 locations across the city including fire & police stations, libraries and office buildings. The Chicago Food Depository has provided a list of the most needed items, which are:

• Soup
• Tuna
• Beans
• Canned Vegetables
• Canned Fruits
• Rice
• Cereal
• Pasta
• Peanut Butter
• Chili

Please remember those who may not have enough to eat by giving the gift of food this holiday season. In the words, of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, "because of you someone will eat today."

Back in January ago I wrote about a very interesting tour of Chicago's Pedway. The Pedway is a system of climate-controlled, interconnected, underground and overhead walkways. One of the comments I received was from the tour guide herself, Margaret Hicks.

Then this summer, when the community organization South Loop Neighbors asked me if I had any tour suggestions for our September event schedule, I said "yes, actually I do." I contacted Margaret and she agreed to lead an evening tour for us. To keep it in a South Loop theme, we asked Margaret to give her tour of the Redlight District. This particular tour gives a history of when the Printer's Row area, now known for it's trendy lofts and chic condos, was the hub of Chicago's vice district. South Loop Neighbors, (SLN), rarely offers tours that take place after dark but for this tour it added to the ambiance.

The tour of the Redlight District was very well received. And, as a bonus, I finally got to meet a new friend in person. The reason I had this new friend to call on for this event is because of writing hyper-local posts on activities around Chicago. In writing my previous post, and having Margaret comment on it, we connected. And through that connection we were able to do business together.

So now I have 2 fantastic tours of Margaret's to recommend. The Pedway Tour and The Redlight District Tour. For more information on her tours visit Margaret's website, Chicago Elevated. To reserve your spot on an upcoming tour, contact Margaret by email at margaret@chicagoelevated.com or call her at 773-593-4873.

* My photos did not turn out well. When I receive the photos of this tour from one of my fellow SLN directors I'll update this post.

** Truth in advertising message inserted here --> I still have not made it to the Pedway Tour but the cold weather will be back before we know it, so ....

This afternoon a friend invited me to a concert by the choral group Chicago A Capella. Founded by Jonathan Miller, the group is in it's 18th season. Their repertoire includes Jewish choral music, chants, blues, gospel and vocal percussion.

Today's program, Days of Awe and Rejoicing, was actually a narration of the history of American Jewish choral music with example pieces performed by the group, interspersed with recordings of 1950s era performances by acclaimed composer Max Janowski and his choral group. The voices of the extremely talented artists in Chicago A Cappella were amazing.

Mr. Miller's mission with this group is "to bring the chants and High Holiday prayers out of the Synagogue and to expose them to a wider audience be they of a Jewish or non-Jewish background."

This month and next, you can see Chicago A Capella perform Days of Awe and Rejoicing, at the following locations in the Chicagoland area.

Sunday, September 25 - 4:00 pm
K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation
1100 E Hyde Park Blvd
Chicago, IL

Saturday, October 15 - 8:00 pm
Nichols Concert Hall
1490 Chicago Ave
Evanston, IL

Sunday, October 16 - 4:00 pm
Pilgrim Congregational Church
460 Lake St
Oak Park, IL

Saturday, October 22 - 8:00 pm
Wentz Concert Hall
171 E Chicago Ave
Naperville, IL

When looking at condos, some of the concerns buyers have is how would the lifestyle of neighbors in adjoining units affect the enjoyment of their new home. Today I attended a presentation by Sylvan Energy Consulting. Their services include, but are not limited to, Comprehensive Home Energy Audits and Odor & Sound Mitigation Remediation.

One of Sylvan Consulting's past clients was a condo buyer, (not a client of mine), who purchased a condo only to find out that the excessive smell of cigarette smoke detracted from the buyer's enjoyment of her home. It was not immediately known where the offending odor was coming from. Sylvan performed tracer gas testing to determine airflow patterns into her unit. The testing revealed that the cigarette smoke originated in the unit below. Apparently the person in the unit below was a heavy smoker who also traveled a lot for work. The smoker had been out of town during the showing and inspection of the condo. But after moving in, and living there for a while, the new homeowner became painfully away of the days and times that her neighbor was home.

Once Sylvan Consulting determined the source location of the smoke, they developed a process to remediate the cross contamination of air between the units. Now the client's condo is the dream home that she had envisioned when she purchased it.

If you have issues with energy efficiency, soundproofing or air quality issues, Sylvan Consulting can be reached at 312-320-8771.

On Saturday, September 17th, from 11am until 3pm, The Chicago French Market is holding a Meet The Market Open House. Market vendors will offer free samples, demos and complimentary champagne.

Enjoy performances by award winning, Chicago artists The Spares and by young musical students, The Wiggleworms. Performance times for The Spares are 11:00am and 12:15pm. The Wiggleworms take the stage at 11:45am. The Wiggleworms are 1-3 year old students at Chicago's famed Old Town School of Folk Music.

The Chicago French Market is located at 131 N Clinton. The Market is open Monday - Friday, 7:00am to 7:30pm and Saturday 8:30am to 5:30pm. Closed on Sunday.