Come and network with local business professionals on 9/10 at 5:30pm at First Bank & Trust (8047 Skokie Blvd.) in Skokie, IL.
RSVP by going to: http://www.jewishb2bnetworking.com/business-event/open-house-networking-first-bank-trust-0
Hear from David Hochberg, host of the Townstone Financial Show, on “Credit Enhancement 101”.
FREE Event! Kosher wine and refreshments will be served!
RSVP by going to: http://www.jewishb2bnetworking.com/business-event/open-house-networking-first-bank-trust-0
Located at 4400 Golf Road in Skokie, Il you’ll find The Charcoal Oven Restaurant. Back in the twenties it was known as the Oasis Little Club and was operated by a woman named Celina Tulley. She ran this “off the beaten path” roadhouse/speakeasy until she sold it to Eddie “Dutch” Vogel, a contemporary of Al Capone in 1932. Eddie Vogel outfitted Chicago and the suburbs with “one-armed bandits” and used the Little Club as his safe-house and private club. When “Dutch” thought he would retire, he sold it to Phillip Georgouses in1949. Phill, attended Northwestern and socialized at the popular Northwestern hangout, The Little Club, before he went off to WWII. Phill was in the first wave of the D-Day Invasion at Omaha Beach, The Battle of The Bulge, and the Liberation of Paris. When Phill returned, the Northwestern University favorite since the twenties would be renamed The Charcoal Oven Restaurant. Phill transformed it into a true Supper Club. By the 1950s, a kitchen would be added to cook up the Charcoal’s new regime of dining fare – fresh fish, Prime Steaks, Greek chicken, and lamb chops served on white linen tablecloths with real silver. Today, many of the regulars still order off the menu, and sometimes call the night before to say, “You know, tomorrow night I’m going to feel like having a roast duck.”
This 65-year-old gem (longest continuously run restaurant in Skokie, IL.) The Charcoal Oven is worth visiting, not just for it’s great food, but for a nostalgic taste of what restaurants used to be. The Charcoal Oven is 100 percent authentic. The original retro neon sign out front, dining room, and vintage bar all harken back to an era of supper clubs, classic American food, and big powerful automobiles. Phillip Georgouses passed away on December 25, 2010 at 87 years of age.
Today the Charcoal Oven enjoys a resurgence under the direction of Phill’s daughter Maria and her husband Rich. Under Maria & Rich, the Restaurant has been carefully restored to be the original north shore supper club that Phill had originally envisioned.
A Storefront Makeover Contest for Devon Avenue businesses between California and Kedzie will pay $2,500 to the winning storeowner, with cash prizes of $1,500 and $1,000 to the second and third place winners, respectively, announced Michael Schubert, a former Chicago commissioner of housing.
Schubert, special consultant to a committee of the West Rogers Park Jewish Community Council focused on strengthening West Rogers Park as a desirable neighborhood, unveiled the contest at a networking event for Devon Avenue merchants held July 30 at newly remodeled Ted’s Fresh Market, 2840 W. Devon.
“This is the first of many programs aimed at recreating Devon Avenue as an exciting international marketplace,” said Shalom Klein, community organizer and business consultant and vice president of Moshe Klein and Associates.
The program, featuring a continental breakfast, attracted some 20 storeowners, business people, and community activists who share a common goal of upgrading Devon Avenue.
“Communities go through stages,” said Schubert, who played a key role in the revitalization of Bucktown and Wicker Park. “First, cynicism, that things won’t get better. Then that gets chipped away and attitudes change as momentum builds.”
Howard Rieger of West Rogers Park, past president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, the national umbrella organization of federated Jewish philanthropies, who volunteered to convene the community-revitalization committee with Rabbi Leonard Matanky of Cong. KINS, said, “The Jewish community has a huge stake in preserving West Rogers Park because this is the core Jewish neighborhood in Chicago, with an enormous investment in institutions that would be impossible to recreate.”
The Storefront Makeover Contest is set to run September 1 through November 30.
Schubert explained that once entrants file an application, a “before” storefront photo will be taken. Rejuvenation projects – whether involving new signage, doors or windows, or improved window displays – can then begin. “It’s pretty much anything that will make your store more welcoming to customers.” After the work is completed, an “after” photo will be taken. A panel of design professionals will review submissions.
The first 25 entrants will receive a $25 gift certificate from Home Depot.
Among those who attended the reception hosted by George Ballis of Ted’s Fresh Market were Esther Sabo, Tel Aviv Bakery; Richard Trumbo, Music House Academy of Music and Dance; Amer Chaudhry, Care & Care; Drs. Fatima and Anwar Mohiuddin, Universal Medical Center Rehab; Irv Loundy, Devon Bank; Rabbi Tzvi Bider, Chicago Center for Torah & Chesed, and Barbara Singal, principal of Business Operations Solution, and Amie Zander, president and executive director, respectively of the West Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
“Devon is a diamond in the rough, and now’s the time to make it shine,” said Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward). Silverstein assured storeowners that Devon Avenue streetscape improvements set to begin within the coming year will not upend parking on both sides of the street at the same time. “Wider sidewalks will be great for sidewalk cafes,” she said.
For further information about the Storefront Makeover Contest, contact Mike Schubert at mfscds@aol.com
A special rate of $50 is available for young professionals to attend our annual concert, featuring The Temptations. So, what are you waiting for?
RSVP via Facebook at:
The Temptations! A Benefit Concert for the Children and Adults of Keshet
AND purchase your ticket at:
www.Keshet.org
There may be no busier person in Skokie than Shalom Klein who lives there, works there and volunteers much of his time there.
And there may be no busier month for Klein than June.
Klein helps run Moshe Klein & Associates Ltd., his father’s bookkeeping and accounting firm that helps small businesses. It has two offices on Dempster Street in Skokie – on the east side and the newer office on the west side near the Skokie Swift train station.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Klein’s activities, especially in helping small businesses grow and connect with job-seekers.
Next week, he will stage the third annual free The Business Event at Evanston High School. It will host important small businesses and key speakers and will draw thousands of people. Later this month, he will chair Skokie’s first Economic Development Commission meeting. He is founder, steering committee member and former chair of The Dempster Street Merchants Association. Newly married, he is also pursuing an advanced degree in Jewish professional studies in business and administration.
Dear Skokie Mayor Van Dusen and Village Trustees,
The Dempster Street Merchants Association is a team of businesses focused on revitalizing and modernizing this historic street, especially here in Skokie. We recognize the past, but we are building for the future.
In today’s economy, access to high-speed data networks, or high speed Internet, is essential to operate efficiently, better serve customers and truly compete in a global marketplace.
Businesses in surrounding villages are benefitting from the faster internet speeds and competition in communications networks provided by the U-verse network from AT&T. Businesses in Skokie should too.
That’s why the Dempster Street Merchants Association strongly supports bringing AT&T U-verse to Skokie.
High-speed internet networks are essential to virtually every business in every industry, including our members in professional services, retail, automotive, education, health care, insurance and news and media services.
This is a very good product from a reputable company seeking to bring new services to benefit our village. We’re fortunate to be a community with a strong economy. But we must continue to advance our infrastructure, and broadband is the economic development infrastructure of the 21st century.
For our businesses and our economy, we encourage you to take action to bring the AT&T U-verse high-speed internet network to Skokie.
Sincerely,
Shalom Klein
Dempster Street Merchants Association
