By Margot Holland
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
What beautiful August weather we have enjoyed! As neighbors come back from vacations and kids start back to school you can feel the energy building in the neighborhood! It has been quite a summer for many of us. So many things going on everywhere, it seems like one of the busiest summers ever in the neighborhood with concerts, softball, summer camps and all kinds of fun for everyone!
As BAPA’s board and staff prepares for fall and winter programming, we continue to reach out to all the neighborhood small business owners, homeowner and civic associations, parishes, Local School Councils and parent organizations, and business association, we are always humbled by the commitment of neighbors to the health and beauty of our community.
From my perspective, it seems as though we have seen tremendous growth in our commercial districts and we will work to support continued progress. To that end, we have coordinated with local women owned businesses to host a girls’ night out on Sept. 14 to Sip and Shop along the 99th and 103rd Street commercial corridors. It is sure to be lots of fun, so grab your friends and grown up daughters, and come on out to support the local economy!
This fall we continue our work in beautification by partnering with Openlands, a fellow Chicago non-profit, to plant 28 trees in residential parkways. This is always a great day full of camaraderie and accomplishment. If you are interested in volunteering or organizing a tree planting on your block, give us a call at BAPA, 773-233-3100. However, the true heroes of our beautification efforts are the volunteers who gather every week for “Weeding Wednesday.” These folks, led by BAPA’s own Mary Jo Viero, pick a spot in the neighborhood each week, often a Metra station, and work hard to clean up and weed the area. THANK YOU to this amazing group!
Beginning in October, BAPA will be hosting a six-week Tech Tuesday program geared towards seniors in our Community Room. The class will be held once a week, and people can explore how to use their phone, access apps, photos and much more. It is free to BAPA members. There will be more information to follow. We look forward to bringing more and more programming to our community and our members.
We are thankful for those who support BAPA’s mission through membership, and encourage anyone interested in becoming a BAPA member to contact us or check out our website at www.bapa.org. We look forward to a great month of September!
All the best, Margot
