Every year, thousands of visitors flock to Springfield, the heart of the Land of Lincoln, to see Lincoln’s stomping grounds. But thousands more visit the city for another reason: to attend the Illinois State Fair each summer. One of the Fair’s key structures, the Coliseum, was designed for prizewinning ponies as much as for people. It recently was treated to a major renovation that focused on safety and sustainability while honoring its illustrious past.
Get the scoop on the Young Filmmakers Contest from Founding Director Sue Crothers:
“The One Earth Film Festival has always been about activism. It’s not just about watching films. So that’s the goal for the next 10 years of the festival, a return to hopefulness through activism and envisioning the future you want. Overall, though, I want to say that for the whole 10 years, it’s been a huge privilege to work with these young people and to elevate their voices.”
Local peeps: if you live in Chicago’s Greater West Side (roughly Garfield Park to Bellwood), come by the Austin Town Hall Farmers’ Market on Thursdays from 1 to 6 p.m. at 5610 West Lake Street, Chicago (312-744-0565). Through the end of October, enjoy a lovely setting—on a sprawling green lawn dotted with trees in front of the historic Austin Town Hall building. The vendors switch in and out: on the early summer day I came, there was a perfect mix of fresh produce, enticing hot meals, frozen meats, sprouted greens and other locally made foods.
The annual West Cook Wild Ones garden walk “Birds, Bees & Butterflies: A Native Garden Walk” is back Saturday, July 23, from 1 to 5 p.m. The walk is designed to inspire and teach home gardeners about the beauty, ease and usefulness of the plants that have lived here for thousands of years, and the animals and insects that depend on them. Habitat loss is among the primary factors driving population declines of important local and migratory species. Each new native plant garden—no matter how small—can help support vital insects, birds and other wildlife.
According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap Study, one in seven people in Cook County will experience food insecurity this year. Want to do something? Come out to “Food Aid,” a two-day music festival July 22-23 to enjoy local bands and tackle food insecurity in Oak Park and surrounding communities. The weekend promises to be full of fun, as well as helping fill people’s tummies with nourishing food.
My husband and I are pretty highly functioning when it comes to plastic-consciousness/plastic-avoidance: For years, we’ve brought our own reusable bags to the grocery store, and we’ve picked up plastic bottles during our walks so we could put them in the recycling bin. We drink from reusable water bottles. Pre-COVID, when we went to restaurants, we brought our own containers for leftovers. . . . And yet, as I look around my home—at the shampoos and conditioners, moisturizers, dish and laundry soaps, toothbrushes, sun block, the bottle that holds my calcium supplements, the one that holds the Tylenol I took for my headache the night I started thinking about this—I feel daunted at the challenge of living plastic-free.
