School ‘report cards’ show decline, PAGE 11
Vol. VII No. 44
vfpress.news
NOVEMBER 2, 2022
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Gwendolyn Franklin dies, PAGE 8
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Sidney Hurst Jr. dies at 97
Hurst’s mother’s family were among first Blacks to settle in Oak Park, while his father’s family was first Black family to settle in Maywood By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
There’s a long history of Blacks moving back and forth between Maywood and Oak Park — two suburbs with some of the richest Black communities in the state. Sidney Hurst Jr., scion of the first Black family to settle in Maywood (on his father’s side) and one of the first Black families to settle in Oak Park (on his mother’s side), was the embodiment of both those rich communities and that cross-border movement. Hurst. Jr. died Oct. 14 at 97, just short of his 98th birthday. Born Oct. 26, 1924 in Oak Park, he died in one of the oldest houses in Maywood, the village his grandparents, Iva and Amanda Hurst, called home in the late 19th century. His funeral services were held last week. If you aspired to own land in Maywood in the late 1800s, you may have gone to Fourth of July picnics in hopes that one of the rockets shot in the air had your number on it. If it did, you obtained the privilege to buy land. If not, you may have done what Iva did. “My grandfather didn’t get one of those See HURST on page 8
MICHAEL ROMAIN/Staff
Sofia Guzman, 6, shows off her Halloween costume during PLCCA’s trunk-or-treat event in Maywood on Oct. 29. See more photos on page 3.
Living Fresh Market fleshes out plans for Maywood store Owners say remodeled Forest Park store, replete with coffee sushi bars, could be blueprint for second Maywood location By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The developers of Living Fresh Market, the grocery store at 7520 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park, gave the public a glimpse of what a second Maywood location might look like during Maywood Mayor Nathaniel George Booker’s town hall meeting on Oct. 27. Village officials announced in August that the Living Fresh owners
were eyeing the former Maywood Market at 615 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood for its second location. At Thursday’s meeting, Living Fresh representatives said they envision the Maywood store operating in the mold of the current Forest Park location — a quality grocery store that’s also a See LIVING FRESH H on page 6
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