🌱 Author Honored By TIME, NPR + Festival Theatre Recovers After Fire

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving, Oak Park and River Forest! Before you enjoy your holiday, here's a quick guide to some local headlines:

• Forest Park Public Library will name a new director soon
• Overnight parking is allowed in both villages this weekend
• A local World War II veteran shares her "secret to a long and healthy life" on her 100th birthday

But first, today's weather: Cooler; a shower in the p.m. High: 51 Low: 34.

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Here are the top 4 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. The Oak Park Department of Public Health is offering tips to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses during the holidays. RSV, flu and COVID-19 cases are increasing statewide. (VOP)

2. Forest Park Public Library is expected to name its new executive director early next month. Former River Forest Public Library Director Sue Quinn has been serving in the role on an interim basis since October. (Review)

3. Oak Park Festival Theatre’s managing director penned an essay in the Wednesday Journal this week, marking one year since a Lake Street fire destroyed the theater company’s office. Tom Arvetis announced plans for the future, including a new artistic director and three-year plan to improve accessibility and diversity. “Our community of supporters made sure we would endure,” he wrote. (Wednesday Journal)

4. Literary praise continues for Oak Park author Jessamine Chan’s debut novel “The School for Good Mothers.” Her book was included among the best of the year on several major lists, including those compiled by TIME Magazine, The New York Times and NPR, which called it “a disturbing and thought-provoking look at government involvement in child welfare.” (Time/NYT/NPR)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• Cars and Coffee Oak Park hosts its Annual Thanksgiving Day Drive. (7:45 a.m.)
• A Turkey Trot 5K runs through Elmwood Park. (8:30 a.m.)
• St. Giles hosts a Thanksgiving Mass. (9 a.m.)
• Six new releases are playing at Lake Theatre, including “She Said” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” (4 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Overnight parking restrictions are now lifted in Oak Park. The ban will go back into effect Monday at 2:30 a.m. (VOP)
• Housing Forward is celebrating its longtime volunteers who served through the peak of the pandemic. (Housing Forward)
• Dominican University professor Dr. Tamara Bland will receive this year’s Nurse Influencer Award from the American Nurses Association of Illinois. (DU)
• West Sider and World War II veteran Fannie Farmer turned 100 years old last month, telling Austin Weekly News that keeping a schedule is the “secret to a long and healthy life.” (AWN)
• Brookfield Zoo’s Holiday Magic lights festival opens tomorrow. (FOX)

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That's all for this Thanksgiving! The Daily will be back Saturday with another update.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy, healthy and safe holiday.

— Georgi

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based newsletter writer and partner content curator. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Oak Park-River Forest Daily? Contact me at georgi.presecky@patch.com.