Stay ConnectedThe It’s Skokie Podcast focuses on Skokie, Illinois. Our weekly guests include representatives from local government management, elected officials, community and business leaders along neighbors, and friends who get together to discuss the many good reasons to love Skokie. Listen in. I promise you will learn something.
Listen in. I promise you will learn something.
Mark Bechtold and I met at the Village Inn in Downtown Skokie and discussed the types of home loans Mark offers and the position of US Bank in the market.
Sloppy joes, tater tots and 5 minutes of interesting banking talk. Have a listen. I promise you will learn something!
We meet with Heather at Euro Echo Cafe in beautiful downtown Skokie and discuss a number of really cool things that Heather does. In addition to being the Choreographer for the Skokie Police Departments Viral Police video, she is the organizer of Wednesdays on the Green and the owner of Kaleidoscope Dance.
Recorded live at Euro Echo Cafe in beautiful Downtown Skokie we cover all sorts of Skokie and hope you will become inspired to get more involved.
Today's podcast was recorded at Village Hall in Downtown Skokie. Besides the milestone of our 30th episode, we get to talk to the Mayor of Skokie himself, George Van Dusen.
This is a great inside look at his life in politics and how he got here today in his own words. We discuss his wife and her gift of storytelling and discover he really has the gift as well.
Have a listen, I promise you will learn something.
We venture to the Niles Township offices to talk to Mike Isaacs, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, and the Pioneer Press. Mike was the writer that covered Skokie in the Skokie Review for whoever owned the paper until recently.
We talk to Mike about Skokie and the stories he covered. It wasn't always good news but he covered the community as deeply as his editors would allow. Mike was a source of information for most every Skokie event big or small for a long time.
Currently, Mike is working for Niles Township as a media consultant. We talk about the upcoming open house at the Township offices on 6/15 and all the services provided by the Niles Township office here in Skokie.
For Episode 28 Scott, Ilene and our faithful sidekick, Mark are back for another visit around the Village. Today we meet up with Gina Speckman, the Executive Director of the Chicago North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).
The CVB does everything from helping make the arrangements for large to small group events to assisting with information for a small wedding that hasn't got a planner. We even joked they could help you with your date night. The CVB promotes all the hotels in member communities and the member businesses that support the mission and organization. There is much more tourism in the area than you would expect. Learn the secrets in today's episode.
Ilene and Scott went to Village Hall and met with Michael Lorge. Michael is a long time resident of Skokie and community builder/leader.
Michael has strong connections to Skokie and the Jewish community. We learn about what all he does for the community and the day to day work of the Corporate Counsel. We learn just a little bit of how the process works inside Village Hall.
Today Ilene, Mark, and Scott met with Jon Marquardt and Robin Horwitz from the Skokie Park District at Euro Echo Cafe in beautiful Downtown Skokie. We discuss the Devonshire Cultural Center and The upcoming Festival Of Cultures. Did you know Skokie has a Pride event coming up? Robin shares the upcoming season at Devonshire and Jon is quizzed on his musical theatre knowledge. Did you know raccoons can drag off mannequins? This and more in today's podcast.
Scott, Ilene, and Mark assemble at Sweety Pies in beautiful Downtown Skokie to talk about the past 24 podcasts, where we have been and where we are going. We get Mark to talk about a big event at the Township office on June 15 and discuss the upcoming interview with the Mayor. It's been fun doing these and we hope for many more to come.
Ilene and Scott ventured over to The Village Inn recently and had a great meeting with Matt from the Talking Farm. Did you know that Skokie has a three-acre working produce farm? Learn more about what the farm does and how it helps the community in this weeks episode.
They offer 12 Educational Programs where students learn, using hands-on techniques, about sustainability, urban agriculture, and horticulture.
Over 3,350 learning hours yearly offering over 3,000 hours of on-farm, hands-on, intensive learning to members of the community of all ages.
The farm produces 21,000 pounds of sustainably-grown produce for the community yearly between the Howard Street Farm and other off-site gardens and urban farms. By 2022, they aim to produce over 60,000 pounds.
Both Ilene and Mark needed the day off so I asked my friend Andy Herrmann from @properties to sit in and keep us on the rails. Today, Andy and I go back to the Skokie Public Library to record the podcast. We meet with Roger Hirsch from the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra (SVSO). We talk about everything from the community participation in the orchestra to the venue they play at - the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts.
The orchestra is a mix of professional musicians and amateurs with half of them living in Skokie or the area. They do four concerts a year with one coming up on Sunday, April 28, 2019. Have a listen I promise you will learn something.
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