🌱 Oak Park Among 'Best Places To Live In U.S.' + Food Aid Festival

Good morning! Let's get to today's Oak Park-River Forest Daily.

First, today's weather: Warm with periods of sun. High: 89 Low: 71.

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Are you a parent in Oak Park looking for summer activities for your child? Magical Minds Studio hosts a series of week-long summer art camps for children from PreK through middle school, from June 13 to Aug. 19. Programs include puppet making, Legos, ceramics, clay, painting, photography and Outdoor Adventure for middle schoolers. Enroll by May 15 with the code PATCH2022 and receive a 10 percent discount. To learn more and to see this summer’s schedule visit Magical Minds Studio today.

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Here are the top 3 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. Oak Park made Livability’s list of “Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2022,” ranked number 28 out of 100. Other Illinois towns on the list include Naperville, Evanston, Downers Grove and Bloomington. (NBC)

2. Fenwick and OPRF High Schools will face off on the football field this fall for the first time since 1989, Wednesday Journal reports. “I hadn’t been alive the last time these two schools played each other so it’s an honor to be the head coach leading the Friars into this match-up,” Coach Matt Battaglia said. The game is set for Aug. 27. (Wednesday Journal)

3. The 8th Annual Irish American Movie Hooley Film Festival will move to Lake Theatre this Sunday, featuring a screening of the Oscar-winning comedy “The Great McGinty.” Tom Sturges, son of the film’s director Preston Sturges, will be in attendance at the event presented by the Houlihan family of River Forest. (Wednesday Journal)

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

• It’s the final day to donate materials to the upcoming Friends of the Oak Park Public Library book fair. (9 a.m.)
• Oscar winner Jordan Peele’s “Nope” opens at Lake Theatre. (10:40 a.m.)
• Paint an Edward Hopper-inspired masterpiece at Dole Center. (6 p.m.)
• The Local Group performs a porch concert at the Hemingway Birthplace Museum. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Food Aid Festival to benefit local pantries begins today in Chicago, with additional events planned for tomorrow at School of Rock Oak Park. (Food Aid Festival)
• Metra is surveying passengers about future schedules “in a post-pandemic world.” (Patch)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters will open a new location in Austin. (AustinTalks)
• Forest Park Theatre Company will host a special preview show of its Shakespeare adaptation “Innogen” tomorrow at the library. Performances officially begin Aug. 5. (Forest Park Review)
• Fiore Pizza and Bakery opened a new market on Madison Street. (Forest Park Review)

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Featured businesses:

• Laurie Christofano, Realtor | RE/MAX In the Village — (Visit website)
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Events:

• City Hot Spot HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen delivered to you! Order by Wednesday. (July 28)
• One-of-A-Kind Meerkat Experience Coming to Oakbrook Center (August 2)
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That's all for this Friday! See you tomorrow for another Daily.

— Georgi Presecky

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