GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.
Vol. 100, No. 20
$1.00
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW MAY 17, 2017
PMSA ranks high among IL high schools PAGE 4
‘Slim’ Lindbergh lands in the limelight PAGE 14
@FP_Review @ForestParkReview
Cemetery puts the frown on Clown Week Annual August celebration canceled by Woodlawn’s parent company By THOMAS VOGEL Contributing Reporter
W
oodlawn Cemetery’s Texasbased parent company has cancelled the annual International Clown Week celebrations held by an outside group at Showmen’s Rest, a historically significant plot inside the burial ground. The yearly event, which has happened every August for the last 17 years, commemorates the victims of a 1918 train-ontrain crash in Indiana that killed dozens of members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Fifty-six victims are buried at Woodlawn, Cermak Road and Desplaines Avenue, according to the website of The Showmen’s League of America, an industry association that bought a burial plot at Woodlawn in 1917 where the victims are interred. A spokesperson for Dignity Memorial, a Houston-based network of cemeteries, funeral homes and cremation facilities that includes Woodlawn, sent a statement to the Review confirming the cancellation. “We will no longer host Clown Week at Woodlawn Memorial Park. We are committed to preserving Showmen’s Rest for visitation and remembrance in anticipation for See CLOWN WEEK on page 7
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
REVITALIZED: Ariel Smith crafts her mural on the Circle Bridge, Saturday, alongside 114 other artists. “Cover our Rust” started with a vision to beautify the rust-stained panels on Circle Avenue. See more photos on pages 5 & 8.
Forest Park is still a ‘Walk Friendly’ town ‘Bronze’ designation applies until 2022
By ROBERT J. LIFKA Contributing Reporter
Forest Park’s designation as a Bronze Level Walk Friendly Community has been
renewed for another five years. First awarded to the village in 2012, the designation has been renewed until 2022. “I’m very proud of this Walk Friendly designation,” Mayor Anthony Calderone
r e n n i D a t s a P s i n a May 20th Kiw
said. “I hope we can build upon it to become the gold standard of a pedestrian-friendly community one day.” See WALK FRIENDLY on page 7
Howard Mohr Community Center er
7640 Jackson Blvd. 4 PM to 8 PM
Adults $10 65+ & Kids $7
For more information call 708.771.7737 or email KiwanisClubFP@gmail.com