F O R E S T PA R K
ForestParkReview.com Vol. 107, No. 12
$1.00
REVIEW MARCH 20, 2024
Special Section inside PAGE 8
@ForestParkReview @FP_Review
Dave Novak, former park district director, dies at 73 Novak worked for the park district for 33 years and played an instrumental role in the village’s annual No Glove Nationals By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Dave Novak, Forest Park resident and longtime employee of the Park District of Forest Park, died Tuesday at age 73. Novak was on a Cayman Islands cruise, snorkeling over a shipwreck, when he had a fatal accident, according to his son, Dan Novak. Novak is survived by his wife, Carol, sons Dan and Nicholas Novak, and six grandchildren. He was a beloved member of the Forest Park community. Novak grew up in Riverside and attended RiversideBrookfield High School. He graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in recreation administration. A year after graduating, he became the softball league supervisor at Forest Park’s park district. From 1975 to 1983, Novak was the park district’s superintendent of recreation. He then became director. See DAVE NOVAK on page 16
Funding generations How one scholarship aims to help make-or-break situations. Story on page 7.
MICHELLE WOEHRLE
209 Scholarship board members Michelle Woehrle, president, and Gwendalyn Carver, vicepresident, with 2023 awardee Guadalupe Mendez Lopez from Proviso Math and Science Academy, at the 2024 Forest Park St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Tom Holmes: Maintaining the forest in Forest Park
Jill Wagner: How procrastinating aids spring cleaning
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
PAGE 18
PAGE 17
IN Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 THIS ISSUE Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14