🌱 Biden Visits + Great Chicago Fire + Scarecrow Season

Happy Friday, OPRF! Let’s get to your rundown of the news.

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First, today's weather: Mainly cloudy, showers around. High: 73, low: 63.

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

1. President Joe Biden visited the Chicago area yesterday to emphasize the importance of COVID-19 vaccine mandates by large employers. The president was in Elk Grove Village at a construction site run by Clayco, which requires vaccines or tests for all employees. Biden also met with Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, whose vaccination policy has been extremely successful. (CNBC)

2. Open House Chicago will return to Oak Park and Austin next weekend. The annual architectural walk went virtual last year due to the pandemic, but will return to an in-person format Oct. 16-17. “Oak Park has a little something of everything,” said Adam Rubin of the Chicago Architectural Center. The tour will visit Pleasant Home, One Lake Brewing, the OPRF Museum and more. (Forest Park Review)

3. Rehm Park reopened last weekend during Fall Fest, and the Park District of Oak Park says community members are responding well to the playground’s accessibility improvements. Work took six months and cost about $1 million. (Wednesday Journal)

4. Dominican University is renovating its main entrance ahead of the school's centennial anniversary next year. Work is being completed on the limestone columns and steel gates off Division Street, which date back to World War II. (Wednesday Journal)

5. Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on Oct. 8, 1871. Several Oak Park business owners saw their shops in the city destroyed, but several citizens pitched in to help bring food and supplies to the survivors of the fire, which lasted for more than two days and destroyed 17,000 structures. (OPRF Museum)

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Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• OPRF Youth Services hosts a drop-in movie and gaming event for kids grades 5-8. (3:30 p.m.)
• Enjoy “slightly spooky family fun” at the Halloween Hoot N’ Howl at Thatcher Woods. (5:30 p.m.)
• Take a “Spooky Stroll” in Austin Gardens. (6 p.m.)
• OPRF High School students perform a production of “Miss Holmes.” (7 p.m.)
• Oak Park Art League hosts an opening reception for the new exhibit “Art for Social Change: Made to Disrupt." (7 p.m.)

Oak Park-River Forest Patch Notebook

• Oak Park is seeking feedback on its parking pilot program with an online survey. (VOP)
• Local librarians are recommending horror titles this Halloween season. (OPPL)
• Scarecrows are popping up around Forest Park as part of a Historical Society fundraiser. (Forest Park Review)
• Oak Parker and former ABC President James Duffy died this week at age 95. (ABC7)
• The Park District of Oak Park has opened time slots for private guitar lessons. (PDOP)

From our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Sonny Acres Farm is open for our annual Fall Festival NOW - Oct. 31 (October 8)
• FREE-Family Food Distribution (October 9)
• LSG SKY CHEFS: Fall 2021 Hiring Event (October 14)
• Chicago Artisan Market - 100+ top artisans (Sun, Oct 17 | 10am-4pm) (October 17)
• Add your event

Announcements:

• 1st Unit Closes, New Photography for The Cheshire in Oak Park (Details)
• Studio of Art is now teaching classes! (Details)
• Add your announcement

Job listings:

• LSG SKY CHEFS: Fall 2021 Hiring Event (Details)
• Add your job listing

That's all for this Friday in Oak Park and River Forest! I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow for the Saturday edition of the Daily.

If you're just joining us, welcome to Patch's newsletter! I'm available at georgi.presecky@patch.com to answer any questions or comments you have about the Daily. And here is the link to subscribe if you'd like to invite friends and neighbors to get daily updates on the news near you.

Have a great weekend,

Georgi

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based reporter with seven years of experience writing for entertainment-based publications. She represented FF2 Media for five years at film festivals across the U.S., from Sundance to Austin. 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 campus newspaper, she earned honors from The Associated Collegiate Press Association and American Scholastic Press Association. She began working for Patch in 2019.