La Grange Today

Annual rally, movie to celebrate racial diversity

La Grange this weekend will celebrate an often overlooked facet of its diversity—African Americans, who comprise about six percent of the village's residents—with two events sponsored by the CommUNITY Diversity Group.

The 17th annual Race Unity Rally is scheduled for Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Rd.

A screening and discussion of the feature film, "The Great Debaters," starring Denzel Washington, will be held tonight at 6:00 p.m. at the public library, 10 W. Cossitt Ave.

Admission to both events in free.

Sunday's rally will feature an address by Rob Breymaier, executive director of the Oak Park regional housing center, titled "Creating a Community Welcome to All: The Importance of Encouraging Integration and Open Communities."

Rev. Debra Williams, pastor of Davis Memorial AME Church in La Grange, will receive an acievement award in recognition of her services to the community.

A musical tribute to the late John Lewis, a renowned jazz pianist and composer who was born in La Grange, also will be featured.

Village President Elizabeth Asperper will read a proclamation in support of diversity.

For more information contact Linda Eastman at          708-579-5114        .

La Grange calendar of events makes its debut

When we launched the daily we said that, while we would cover events in the La Grange community, it was not intended as a calendar of events because we were planning to include one as a separate section on our host site, www.everythinglagrange.com.

That calendar is now a reality. You can link to it directly right here.

You will find that it actually is a composite of calendars organized by various categories of interest. The main "calendars" page presents a list of all events  for the current day. You can flip forward through the days (or back, to see what you missed) and even display events only for those categories in which you are interested.

In the left-hand column are links to calendars specific to each of the categories, offering a long-range view of events.

Events that cross over among categories appear on all relevant calendars.

The calendars are admittedly sparse at this time, but that will change quickly as we increase our contacts within the community.

You can do your part by letting us know about any events with which you are involved. The section will soon feature a built-in form to make this task easy and organized. In the meantime, you can send us your information via email.

Your thoughts on adding new categories, or  any other suggestions, are always welcome.

Oldest African-American church in LG turns 112 today

Click on photo for larger image

Davis Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in La Grange, marked its 112th birthday today with special morning services and an afternoon of song and celebration.

Musical performers included pianist Stephanie Travis, liturgical dancer Quincy Williams, the Praise Team from Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Evanston, and vocalist Minister Daniel Garrett, (pictured above at the keyboards). Davis' pastor, the Rev. Debra Williams, (above right), also sang, accompanied by Rev. Garrett.

Davis Memorial was organized in 1894 in Hinsdale. The congregation moved to La Grange two years later. In 1916, it acquired land on E Calendar Ave and built the current church.

The second oldest black church in La Grange, Second Baptist on Washington Ave, celebrates its 110th birthday next Sunday.

Hear the Revs. Williams and Garrett sing - Flash required.