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Happy Canada Day! … from Chicago…

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In connecting two concepts:

July 1 is Canada Day. July 1, 1867 was the day that HRM Queen Victoria signed the British North America Act and officially declared Canada to be a country.

Milt Rosenberg is an iconic Chicago radio broadcaster. Over the years, he has regularly interviewed the likes of Henry Kissinger and Margaret Thatcher. Mr. Rosenberg has a regular show, “720 Extension” that may be heard on Chicago’s WGN Radio. WGN Radio broadcasts on 720AM and at www.wgnradio.com and on numerous social media.

This year, on Sunday, July 1, 2012, Milt Rosenberg will commemorate Canada Day by interviewing Canadians who live in the Chicago area. I happen to be one of those lucky Canadians invited to participate.

“720 Extension” will air Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 10PM Central Time.

An Expanding Role for Babuk Presentations

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The relationship enjoyed by Canada and the United States is a model to be envied around the world.  While the cross border relationship thrives in many ways, the intertwined nature of both countries’ economies is fascinating:  not only are both countries each others’ largest trading partner, but the value of exports from one virtually equals the value of imports from the other.

The premier of Saskatchewan once made a presentation in Chicago about hot dogs with mustard and Chicago Cubs baseball at Wrigley Field. The United States exports baseball as a national past time and cultural phenomenon, Canada exports virtually every bit of mustard consumed in the States that supports baseball. It’s that entwined.  In another presentation I recall, the Canadian Minister of Industry once recounted travelling with the materials of an automotive part – from the extraction of raw materials to the completion and installation of the manufactured part.  He crossed the border between Detroit and Windsor seven times.

Naturally, I go back and forth quite a bit between the two countries, and I’ve made extensive presentations on both sides of the border.  For some time, through an outgrowth of public presentations, I’ve helped companies understand the markets on the other side of the border.  It just never occurred to me to formalize that as part of Babuk Presentations, Inc.

Until now.

Linking international connections with professional, architectural knowledge to the cross border import / export Architectural / Engineering and Construction communities of Canada and the USA.

That’s us.  It’s just a natural extension of what’s been happening all along.

Manitobans and Modernists from both parts of the Twentieth Century

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The University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture has held an annual Chicago Field Trip for a very long time.  I’ve heard first hand accounts of the field trips that occurred during the 1940’s; I gather that they’ve been going on prior to that.  For the past couple years, I’ve been honoured to have made presentations to the group visiting Chicago.

The University of Manitoba (not my alma mater) is located in Winnipeg.  Burton Cummings of the Guess Who described Winnipeg as the perfect place for an aspiring musician of his time in which to grow up: local CBC radio broadcasts carried the latest from Britain, while Chicago radio stations enjoyed excellent reception across the endless plains.  Local school and community programs provided excellent support for music and the arts; putting all of this together was the perfect foamation for a rock band in the mid sixties.

One of the other arts that Winnipeg has always supported has been architecture.

hamilton stairA prominent figure in the development of the Chicago School skyscraper format of the 1880’s was William LeBaron Jenney; his successor partner was William Bryce Mundie, an architect from Hamilton, Ontario who was very much supportive of the idea of mentoring young architects into the profession, just as he had been similarly mentored in Hamilton.  A young architect who passed through the Jenney and Mundie practice was John Atchison, who kept in contact with Mundie throughout his career.  Atchison established his practice in Winnipeg at the time of a great building boom; he had the only locally based architectural practice with the wherewithal to do skyscrapers. Winnipeg provided many a patron for Atchison’s work; the city’s  Exchange District is brimming with it.

Winnipeg International Airport Lounge
Lounge, Winnipeg International Airport. Green, Blankstein, Russell and Associates, Architects. 1964

Moving the clock ahead several decades, John A. Russell came to Winnipeg to head the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, starting just after the Second World War.  Himself a modernist proponent, he brought faculty educated at top European and American design schools who had worked in some of the most progressive practices; he imported a litany of “who’s who” in the architecture and design world as visiting lecturers; he encouraged his students to continue onto some of the top graduate schools in the world.  Many of those students came back to Winnipeg.  Coupled with a vigorous artistic community, Winnipeg became home to one of the most talked about architectural programs anywhere.  The city reflected the train of thought going on at the University.  A recent exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery “Winnipeg Modern” shows it.

The “Winnipeg Modern” exhibit was ground breaking.  Though it made news in Canada, it’s unfortunate that it didn’t get a lot of airplay elsewhere.  However, another great Winnipeg topic for an architectural exhibit would be the skyscrapers of the early 20th century, and their contribution to Canadian architecture.  Let’s have at it.

US / Canada Rail Infrastructure Luncheon

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Yesterday, I attended the US / Canada “Pay the Freight” Rail Infrastructure luncheon presentation, presented jointly by the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Consulate General of Canada and the Union League Club of Chicago, where the luncheon was held.

The Union League is a tremendous venue for events like this – centrally located, spacious facilities and displaying the largest privately held art collection in the country.  Not to mention that its present clubhouse, opened in 1926, was the product of Chicago’s most prolific Canadian architect, William Bryce Mundie.  Mundie – born, schooled and articled in Hamilton, Ontario – was the successor to the “Father of the Skyscraper”, William LeBaron Jenney in his practice.  Mundie was also a well known member of the Union League; a bit confusing, since the Union League is a patriotic American organization tracing its roots back to the Union vs. Confederacy.  To this day, one needs to be American to join.  My account of how Mundie trained a young architect coming through the Jenney and Mundie office by the name of John Atchison, and how Atchison ended up in Winnipeg as the only local architect with the wherewithal to do “skyscraper” buildings during its pre First World War building boom caught the interest of the Assistant Deputy Minister of Transport Canada.

While transportation and rail networks in North America have traditionally been oriented east to west, economic realities see more north to south linkages and railway networks are being reoriented to reflect this reality.

The accounts of Canada’s Pacific, Central and Atlantic Gateways – all of which involve Chicago – are all very industrious.  I mentioned to a consular friend about my family’s Canadian Pacific Railway background, the response being that at one time, some 40% of Canadians worked for a railway.  That much of Canada’s economy depended on transportation. The gateway projects reflect this importance.

A further presentation compared the amount of the US Gross Domestic Product spent on transportation now, and in 1979.  That amount has been cut in half over this period of time; directly attributable to more and more products being shipped by railroads rather than by trucks.  If just 10% of what currently is shipped by trucks were to be put on a train, the amount of greenhouse gas and energy reductions achieved would be quite astounding.  This reduced amounts of required transportation costs reflected by railway efficiencies become free to be channeled elsewhere in the economy.

Not a bad deal…

Otherwise, the luncheon was a great occasion to catch up on old acquaintances and create new ones.

Ten Hours in Toronto

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Spending ten hours in a city usually happens unexpectedly when your airplane connection is delayed.  This wasn’t the case here; this was planned in advance.

I had a promotional plane ticket given for me, one that was going to expire this month.  It had to be used, City of Toronto garbage collectors’ strike or not.

In my wanderings around downtown Toronto, it really wasn’t bad at all.  I’d compare it to a clean day in New York City.  A train that I took, however, passed by one of the city parks turned into a makeshift dump – a rather surreal mountain of plastic garbage bags.

There were hand sanitizing stations everywhere you could imagine. It seemed that someone was handing me a “moist towelette” wrapped in foil at every turn.

Garbage collectors’ strike or not, it really wasn’t too bad.  At least downtown.

The Porter Airlines thing

I flew there and back on Porter Airlines – a “retro” airline that flies  in and out of Toronto’s Island Airport.  The stewardesses are decked out in pillbox hats and pencil skirts, they even offer passengers food and beverages – just like the old days.  And they too handed out those ubiquitous moist towelettes in foil packages.  Toronto must be the city with the world’s cleanest hands.

It’s a veritable who’s who that fly on Porter.  At their gala reception in Chicago last February, I had a lengthy conversation with Mike Harris, former Premier of Ontario. Last March, who happened to take a seat opposite me in the departures lounge at the Island Airport but Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada.  This time, I had the pleasure of showing a reporter from the Toronto Sun how to take the El from Midway Airport into Chicago, and giving my “nickel n’ dime” tour of Chicago’s southwest side along the way.

From the Island Airport Ferry, going to the Mainland
From the Island Airport Ferry, going to the Mainland

The Island Airport is incredibly handy to fly in and out of, it’s only a couple blocks away from the Royal York Hotel and Union Station.  At what other airport in the world is one required to take a ferry – across water – to the baggage check-in?  Then, they drive you to the Royal York. 

 The Royal York Hotel (I’m not sure if it still is a Canadian Pacific owned property) is always a hoot – ever since they closed the Beehive Room and ended the perpetual Petula Clark show that was ongoing for years (I’m suspicious that she may not have had THAT many hit songs to sing), they still have Her Majesty’s portrait hanging in the lobby, looking quite excited at the prospect at camping out there once more. I could never understand.

Rencontre avec Darrel G. Babuk – Architecte, spécialiste en réseau de transport

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Publié le 9 septembre 2006

In english:  some time ago, I was recommended to Christophe Loustau, Recipient of the prestgious Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship.  Christophe’s research project was to document the original New York City – San Francisco transcontinental railway across the United States.  I did an amalgamation of many of my usual railway & architectural history presentations.  This presentation completely zapped every single word of french vocabulary I knew, as I’m sure that it did the same for Christophe’s english.  An entry from Christophe’s journal follows, which can be seen at www.christopheloustau.com .  Maintenant, en Français:   

dearborn stationDarrel G. Babuk est un passionné de transport ferroviaire. Il est architecte AIA, membre de l’institut royal d’architecture du Canada, reconnu comme LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional) et associé chez DLK Civic Design à Chicago. Il travaille pour différents clients comme Chicago Transit Authority sur le développement de leur réseau de transport. Actif dans le milieu associatif local, professeur à l’école d’architecture de Triton College et féru d’histoire de l’architecture, il participe à de nombreuses conférences pour faire partager cette passion. union stationD’origine canadienne, il a grandi dans les gares même de Grassy Lake et Vulcan, Alberta dans les prairies de l’Ouest canadien où son père était opérateur télégraphiste. Notre rencontre s’est faite ici, à Chicago où nous avons traversé en long et en large la ville et sa banlieue dans sa superbe Chevrolet Corvair de 1965. Chicago a toujours été la plaque tournante commerciale dans le transport des marchandises des Etats-Unis. Sa position stratégique au croisement des Grands Lacs et des canaux et le formidable essor de son réseau ferroviaire en ont fait le berceau d’innovations architecturales et techniques. riversideNos différentes escales nous ont menées à parcourir différents thèmes étroitement liés au réseau ferroviaire : gare, entrepôts de fret et ponts ferroviaires et, à l’incontournable Frank Lloyd Wright.

A la fin du XIXe et au début du XXe siècles, plus d’une vingtaine de compagnies ferroviaires convergées vers Chicago. Six gares principales les accueillaient. Aujourd’hui, sur ces six gares, il ne reste plus que deux d’entre elles : Dearborn Station qui a été reconverti en complexe de restaurants et de services et Union Station qui est toujours utilisée par Amtrak. riverforestLes autres ont été détruites pour faire place à l’appétit des constructeurs. Union Station est l’œuvre de la compagnie d’architectes Graham, Anderson, Probst & White exécutée entre 1913 et 1925. Elle est l’un des plus beaux exemples de l’architecte néo-classique de la ville. A l’origine, elle était implantée sur deux blocs avant que celui côté Est, le long du canal, soit en partie démoli pour implanter un tour de bureaux. De ce bâtiment, seules les voies en sous-sol sont toujours existantes et encore en fonction.
pivotDe ces gares majeures implantées en cœur de ville près du Loop, qui est le nom du métro aérien qui dessert le centre de la ville en formant une boucle, les trains se dirigeaient vers la proche banlieue où chaque gare formait alors le centre d’un nouveau quartier, d’une nouvelle communauté. Celle-ci se développait autour de la gare sur un rayon d’un kilomètre environ, distance pouvant être facilement parcouru à pied. Les gares de Riverside et River Forest, que nous avons visité, sont deux exemples de ce développement. st charles airCe modèle a été étudié et promu par Sir Ebenezer Howard dans son livre « Garden Cities of Tomorrow » en 1902, basé sur sa thèse de 1898.

Du fait de son réseau dense de canaux navigables, l’accès à la ville par les voies ferrées nécessitait la construction de ponts permettant la libre circulation des bateaux. Après le grand incendie de 1871, de nouveaux principes de ponts métalliques sont construits par les compagnies ferroviaires permettant de libérer le passage. 8 lane pennPlusieurs systèmes sont inventés par leurs ingénieurs : pont tournant (swing-span bridge), pont à bascule (bascule bridge), pont transbordeur (vertical-lift bridge), … Plusieurs de ces ponts ferroviaires sont en cours de protection par la ville de Chicago dont le pont tournant de la compagnie Illinois Central Railroad, le pont basculant de la compagnie St Charles Air Line, le pont basculant de la Pennsylvania Railroad appelé « Eight Track » et le pont transbordeur de la même compagnie. centreliftTous ces ponts ont un fort impact dans le paysage, souvent industriel, dans lequel ils se trouvent. Leur préservation est un repère important de l’histoire ferroviaire de la ville de Chicago.

 

 

  
CMDDe cet intense transit, les entrepôts de fret de l’Union Freight Station sont encore visibles. Ces imposants bâtiments de plusieurs centaines de mètres de long sur une cinquantaine de large et sur cinq étages de haut montrent l’impressionnante capacité de stockage que devait avoir la ville de Chicago. Aujourd’hui, ces bâtiments sont en majorité utilisés pour leur fonction originale. Toutefois, pour quelqu’un d’entre eux, des reconversions en loft commencent à se faire.

CMD towerD’autres traces restent toujours visibles comme les silos de stockage (grain house). Ils sont les précurseurs des premiers gratte-ciels. Suite au grand incendie de Chicago, le bois avait été abandonné au profit du béton armé, leur donnant cette silhouette qui a inspiré Le Corbusier dans son livre « Vers une architecture ». Aujourd’hui, ces ouvrages sont à l’abandon.

More of Christophe Loustau’s journal may be viewed at http://www.christopheloustau.com/

 

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Deux journées de folie en compagnie de Darrel Babuk

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session du 8 au 9 septembre 2006

In English:  some time ago, I was recommended to Christophe Loustau, Recipient of the prestgious Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship.  Christophe’s research project was to document the original New York City – San Francisco transcontinental railway across the United States.  I did an amalgamation of many of my usual railway & architectural history presentations.  One of those sites was Riverside, Illinois, one of the first – and currently best preserved – transit oriented development, or classic American suburbs,  in existence.  On the way to Riverside, we happened to stumble across the Route 66 Car Show in Berwyn, Illinois.  Christophe politely asked if we could stop to take a look, I think that he underwent a form of culture shock.  An entry from Christophe’s journal follows.   Maintenant, en Français:  

 
1965 Chevrolet Corvair
 
 
 

 

J’ai rencontré à Chicago une véritable personnalité, architecte et passionné de gares. Darrel est d’origine canadienne, où il a grandi dans une gare avec sa famille, son père était opérateur télégraphiste. Notre rencontre c’est faite un vendredi en début d’après-midi. Nous devions nous rencontrer pour un café avant de se revoir le lendemain pour parcourir la ville sur différents sujets tournant autour des gares. dashboardMais le café, c’est très rapidement transformé en road trip dans sa superbe Chevrolet Corvair bleu turquoise de 1966. A l’intérieur, des tapis blancs à petits pois noirs donnent un effet rétro.

 

 

Nous sommes parti vers la banlieue de Chicago pour flâner autour de Oak Park et pour voir les différentes maisons de Frank Lloyd Wright tout en discutant. backseatC’est impressionnant de voir l’effet que peuvent produire de simples maisons que l’ont a étudiées, vues dans des livres et de se retrouver là, en face d’elles. Il faut dire que cet architecte est le plus célèbre des Etats-Unis. Son architecture est tout simplement remarquable. Le soir, la pause café à continuer en dîner avec Darrel et sa femme dans un très agréable restaurant.

dashboardLe lendemain, nous sommes partis à nouveau à l’assaut de Chicago au volant de sa superbe américaine. Nous avons traversé de long en large tous les endroits les plus intéressants pour mon étude. C’est formidable de rencontrer quelqu’un passionné par un sujet et prêt à vous le faire partager. En chemin, une autre surprise nous attendait sur la célèbre route 66. Une manifestation de voitures américaines anciennes était organisée. tigerNous nous sommes arrêtées une petite heure pour voir toutes ces magnifiques voitures avec leurs lignes extravagantes, leurs intérieures grands luxes et leurs chromes étincelants. Quelques unes sont de véritables cultes à la culture des années 60 et 70. La célèbre expression “mettez un tigre dans votre moteur” était mise en scène ainsi que le plateau repas haut en couleurs des drive-in.

cadillac57chevy fintbird60oldscarhop

More of Christophe Loustau’s journal may be seen at http://www.christopheloustau.com

 

Two National Holidays, One Week

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What could be more cumbersome to get things done and to maintain a schedule than two national holidays – one mid week, one on a weekend – in the same week? 

Independence Day celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, signaling the creation of the United States of America. It happens on July 4.  Many towns, like Chicago, have their giant fireworks displays the night before, on July 3.  July 4 is a Saturday this year; I guess that everyone is observing their day off from work on Friday, July 3 – no?

Dominion Day (or more recently, Canada Day) celebrates Queen Victoria signing the British North America Act and creating Canada. It occurs on July 1.  Knowing that this somewhat British element had to compete with mammoth American celebrations on July 4, the thought was to try to upstage this all by having the Canadian celebration a couple days earlier.

Dominion Day is Wednesday this year.  I guess that people are putting their unused vacation days and comp time towards Monday and Tuesday, not being able to wait to enjoy time off in sunshine – ?  Maybe it’s just convenient to take the whole week off. 

Who knows? It’s challenging to schedule anything this week.

The Illinois Saint Andrew Society Highland Games British Car Show

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The good hostess favours of rain ponchos the evening previous was an omen indeed.  Unprecedented 70 mph winds and heavy downpour rains swept through the area.  Upon checking email at 430 on Saturday morning, a note read “.. the Games will go on..”

Just a wee bit of the 7000 pounds of this 1953 Bentley R-Series
Just a wee bit of the 7000 pounds of this 1953 Bentley R-Series

The Illinois Saint Andrew Society is the oldest and longest continually operating charity in the State; it’s like a Scottish benevolent society.  For the past twenty-three years, it has staged the Highland Games – heavy athletics, rugby, soccer, dancing competitions, shortbread baking contests, dog shows, sheep herding… For the past few years, the program has been expanded to include a British Car Show.  I am honoured to Chair the committee that organizes the car show within the overall Highland Games Committee.  The British Car Show Committee led to the formation of the Scottish Motor Club, an organization that can continually promote the Highland Games, the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, and offer moral support to anyone relatively new to Lucas Electronics.

Looking down the Car Show Row, early in the morning
Looking down the Car Show Row, early in the morning

The Highland Games were held at the Oak Brook Polo Grounds. The grounds are being converted from polo accommodations to soccer; a seemingly insignificant though very major change is that soccer fields have longer cut grass that tends to retain water.  The thought that came to mind is that kilts are always preferable to trousers when marching through wetlands. The grounds were awfully soggy at 6AM. 

Lotus Europa (left) Lotus Super Seven (Right)
Lotus Europa (left) Lotus Super Seven (Right)

Nightmarish thoughts of low-slung Lotuses (Lotii ? ) and 7000 pound Bentleys came to mind.  The Village of Oak Brook was quick to disallow cars on the main field; the car show had to quickly relocate.  After an impromptu committee meeting, a well drained site along the main walkway to the admission gates was chosen.  Though a bit tight in area, it had exceptional visibility and even offered shade.  The Highland Games are highland games first and a car show second, so cars are never a major bill.  This year however, despite overnight flooding and fallen trees leaving neighbourhoods in disrepair, some seventeen cars appeared.  None sank in the mud, as our site had no mud to sink into.

Not a Sunbeam Imp, but rather a 1973 Land Rover Series III
Not a Sunbeam Imp, but rather a 1973 Land Rover Series III

The Arts & Culture Club of the Saint Andrew Society invited me to make a presentation describing Scottish cars.  There were Scottish Americans who formed automobile companies like Winton, Buick, then General Motors; and there was the Rootes Group who built a factory at Linwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland that manufactured Hillman Imps (mainly) with the occasional Sunbeam Alpine and Humber Scepter coming off the line.

1963 Sunbeam Imp, photo from the 2008 Highland games British Car Show
1963 Sunbeam Imp, photo from the 2008 Highland Games British Car Show

Midway through the afternoon, a friend’s Sunbeam Imp (as badged in the US) appeared, making the display complete.

Another friend contacted me earlier, I had asked if he could bring his 1929 Austin, as we didn’t have any pre-war British cars showing.  He returned the contact indicating that a friend of his was letting him use his racetrack to try out his McLaren F1.  This constitutes quite an acceptable reason for not attending the Highland Games British Car Show.

Lotus Elise
Lotus Elise

Early in morning however, my daughter won First Place for dancing the Flora, and Second Place for the Sword Dance!

A good time was had by all, with the Lotus Corps Chicago attempting to convince me that my next car should be a Lotus M100, while people from New Zealand approached me, actually recognizing my car as a Clubman Mini, and sharing stories.

Scottish Motor Club Oak Park Avenue British Car Show

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The Scottish Motor Club is comprised of Illinois Saint Andrew Society members who own classic British cars and look for excuses to get them out of the garage now again.  In doing so, we promote the Society, its goals and its programs.  I chair this group.  Our major event is the Highland Games British Car Show, held this year at the Oak Brook Polo Grounds.  We attend other events throughout the year, and this year, we decided to hold a ‘pre-event’ in a neighbouring community to promote the Saint Andrew Society and the Highland Games. The Oak Park Avenue Business Association is a group I know. I used to hold membership in this organization when my practice was located in Scoville Square in Oak Park. 

DSC00213By using a few contacts I know on the Avenue; the Scottish Motor Club made a presentation to the Association to stage a car show with accompanying events.  Two other businesses on the Avenue, the K9 Cookie Company and The Irish Shop helped us on this presentation. The Magic Tree Bookstore lent support and their facilities, as did the management of Scoville Square. The Wednesday Journal newspaper gave publicity. With all approvals in place, and with an effort of heroic proportions mounted by the manager of Cucino Paradiso who secured a street closure permit, the show went on as planned.

1967 MGB-GT
1967 MGB-GT

On the afternoon of July 14, like clockwork, Oak Park Avenue between Lake Street and North Boulevard was closed down, and about sixteen or so British cars and a motorcycle appeared, as did a client who drove his 1963 Lincoln Continental ( let’s see – this was the basis for the US presidential limousine, it saw a lot of international exposure: ok, we’ll let it in! ). 

1957 MGA "hotrod"
1957 MGA “hotrod”

It was a great collection – an MGA and an MGB-GT, a couple Jaguar XKE’s and a classic Jaguar XK150, a Triumph TR3 and Spitfire, a bunch of Lotus Europa’s and assorted other cars. 

Not even counting the 1967 Sunbeam Tiger that kept driving around but never stopping, we had fifteen or so cars appear – real cars, not counting the folded-paper model cars that were displayed through the Chameleon Clothing Company. 

1973 Jaguar XKE 2+2
1973 Jaguar XKE 2+2

The K9 Cookie Company joined with the Oak Park Animal Care League to stage a dog show with an interactive exhibit identifying the thirteen breeds of dogs from Scotland, they both invited friends with dogs to bring them to the Avenue and parade them around.  The Thistle and Heather Highland Dancers made an appearance, then the City of Chicago Pipe Band ( who practice around the corner at Grace Episcopal Church ) marched onto the Avenue and played, eventually the highland dancers started dancing flings to the pipe band, and then sword dances – at one point, there were about 200 people watching.

The Thistle and Heather Highland Dancers with the City of Chicago Pipe Band
The Thistle and Heather Highland Dancers with the City of Chicago Pipe Band

It was quite the afternoon of activities.  All was so successful that no one even noticed that this was an entirely volunteered event – no one was paid anything for their energies other than hearty gratitude and applause.

Thank you!

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