v26-2 From the President

by Robert Remer

In the last report I urged you all to come to the Spring Benefit, which occurred just the day before this column was started, and I am pleased to report it was a roaring success. We had some great food, great camaraderie and a great turnout at Nookies on Bryn Mawr. We should especially thank Marty Stewart for organizing another great event, as well as Tiffany Middleton for the quality silent auction, Barb Strauss for keeping track of the reservations and money and keeping us sane, Betty Mayian who always contributes so much to the benefit, as well as Dorothy Nygren, Pat Duff and Richard Ludka for all their help. And special thanks to the almost 140 of you who attended and supported the silent auction.

We try to rotate among Edgewater restaurants, but as the event grows bigger each year our options have been reduced.

In March we had our annual meeting, again to a full crowd, and we welcomed Newberry Library’s chief cartographer, Jim Akerman, who gave a most interesting presentation on the history of road maps and roads on Chicago’s north side. You the members also re-elected Board members Marsha Holland, Arthur Arfa, LeRoy Blommaert, Paul Bonilla, and myself; you also elected our newest Board member Steve Meiss to his first term. Steve has been very active in Edgewater, including a stint as President of the Edgewater Glen Association. Welcome Steve.

In April, the Board also elected officers for the coming year. I was honored to be reelected for another year and look forward to working with this terrifically active Board of Directors. Barb Strauss, who puts in an incredible amount of time and devotion in all things EHS, was reelected Treasurer. Marsha Holland will continue as Recording Secretary, keeping dutiful track of the Board’s activities as well as her many research interests. Kathy Gemperle was reelected Vice President, along with Marty Stewart, who will be working with me in community outreach. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to our invaluable Board members who had served last year as Vice Presidents: Sandee Remis, Thom Greene and Morry Matson. As well, I would like to thank Tiffany Middleton who, among her many other activities at EHS, had served as Corresponding Secretary. We appointed a special Board committee to look at our by-laws and our organizational structure. They made a recommendation that Corresponding Secretary, given emails and electronic communications, had become an outdated notion in an organization like ours; so we plan to keep the position in abeyance until the next time we choose to recommend amendments to the bylaws. Tiffany had done a great job of working with Barb Strauss developing standard correspondence templates that could be used electronically by the different committees. Thanks again, Tiffany.

Last issue, I had reported on steady progress to save Trumbull School. In the meantime, we have met with Alderman O’Connor (40th) and representatives of Chicago Public School, along with local block clubs and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. As of this date, the proposed language for the Request for Proposal (RFP) to sell Trumbull will include language for acceptable usage as a school or housing with a theater in the auditorium; also the prospective buyer would have to seek or accept landmark status as part of the purchase. As you can see we are very hopeful, and we look forward to the RFP going out later this Spring, with strong purchase bids to follow. We will keep you posted.

We continue to do outreach for volunteers and to the community to keep you apprised of our work. We have recently attended the 48th ward Senior Fair, the Chicago Volunteer Expo, and meetings of West Andersonville Neighbors Together, East Andersonville Residents Council and Swift School. I’d like to thank those who participated in those activities, including Maya Lea, Joanna Hazelden, Marty Stewart, Dorothy Nygren, Betty Mayian and Barb Strauss. If you have an event, a community gathering, or would like us to come speak to your group about EHS and local history, don’t hesitate to contact us.