I usually clean out and rearrange my car in early spring when my Grandsons’ baseball games make it a necessity to make sure my first aid kit is up to date and that I have instant ice packs just in case. But as we have all experienced, this is not a normal year. In Illinois, we are just opening from the COVID-19 quarantine, and games will hopefully commence by the end of the month. Hooray! But I digress, now is a great time to clean out your car and make sure you have everything you need. Here’s what I suggest:

1. Check your glove box. It should contain all the necessary paperwork, a good small flashlight, and the Owner’s manual. Make sure all paperwork is up to date. Especially insurance card. Have $20 and a roll of quarters. Cell phone charger.
2. Emergency escape tool- this is that small device that could save your life someday. It will cut your seatbelt and break your driver’s side window in case of a pin in an accident. It should have two hammerheads to break then clear the glass. Keep in the glove box.
3. Jumper cables, fire extinguisher, and emergency warning triangles, which are so necessary in an emergency. Make sure your spare is in good shape, and you have everything you need to change a tire. Work gloves, duct tape, and a poncho can be handy to make those break down moments easier.
4. Have a good quality first aid kit. It will always come in handy. Paper towels and Kleenex, along with disinfectant face wipes, will get used weekly. We all have regular disinfectant sheets, but these should not be used on your face. Ziploc bags of various sizes are good for garbage and make an instant ice pack with cooler ice at a picnic or game. 
5. A blanket is always a good idea; get a Mylar one if you do not have much space. I always keep extra gym shoes and socks. A couple of sweatshirts are great when it gets nippy. Stock some non-perishable, such as non-melting snacks like dried fruit and energy bars. Water is good too, but not when it is hot—the plastic leeches into the water. I always have a cooler in the back if I am going to be gone all day. 

KATHLEEN WEAVER-ZECH AND DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO

As we inch closer to the beginning of our summer season, Chicago has moved into Phase 3 of 5 by cautiously opening the city.  So, needless to say, we’re still in virtual mode when it comes to our usual weekend entertainment of hanging out in big crowds of people!

For everyone missing the Chicago Blues Festival, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is taking the music online.  Tune in to this weekend’s Millennium Park at Home:  Blues Music.  The programming runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each evening and is hosted by Tom Marker of 93XRT and WDCB 90.9FM.  Your Blues line-up for this weekend is Melody Angel and John Primer on Saturday and Ivy Ford and Toronzo Cannon on Sunday.  Weather permitting, you may want to set-up your backyard as if you were at Millennium Park watching this live!

Join the Chopping Block for their virtual cooking demonstrations, via Zoom, and watch your chef in action while they teach you how to prepare the dishes as you observe and take notes.  Also, their Zoom moderator will make sure your questions submitted through the chat option are answered during or after class.  Bon Appetit!

Saturday’s demo will run from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. with chef Lisa Counts.  She will demonstrate how to prepare a Seasonal Fruit Cobbler.  Skills covered in this class are selecting fruit, preparing fruit fillings, using cornstarch as a thickener, and making drop biscuit topping!

Sunday’s demo will run from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. with chef Hans Mooser.  He will demonstrate how to prepare Grilled Flank Steak with Smoked Salsa Verde.  Skills covered in this class are selecting and grilling beef, determining beef doneness, working with tomatillos, smoking techniques, grilling green vegetables, and working with fresh herbs!

For the first time in its 42-year existence, Run for the Zoo will transform into a virtual experience.  This annual event benefits Lincoln Park Zoo and helps to keep its doors open 365 days a year for free!  The virtual race highlights include a 5K and 10K virtual race with an option to run, walk, or just enjoy nature in your community and support the zoo; a virtual Safari Stampede race to encourage kids to express their inner animal; mailed race packets that include your themed tech shirt; commemorative supporter medals for qualifying participants; and more!  Please note that all runners must be registered by this Sunday, June 7^th, and complete their distance by Sunday, June 21, 2020.  Good Luck all!!

The 73^rd annual 57^th Street Art Fair is also going online after the in-person Art Fair was cancelled.  So, all you art aficionados out there will have the opportunity to learn about the artists you would have seen in person, while being directed to the individual artist sites with works available for purchase.  As this is the Midwest’s oldest juried art fair, the committee felt it was important to support our incredible artists who are finding this to be a particularly difficult time by hosting it as a virtual event.

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago

While baseball fans wait to find out exactly how the 2020 MBL season will unroll, we continue to look at great players from all of Chicago’s sports franchises. Today, the Chicago White Sox are up to bat. It’s been 15 years since the team won the World Series, here’s hoping that youth and a few trades can get the South Siders back into the playoff hunt after many years of forgetful seasons. 

Frank Thomas: One of baseball’s all-time great sluggers, Frank Thomas, aka The Big Hurt, spent 15 years as a first baseman and designated hitter for the White Sox. The seventh pick in the 1989 draft, Thomas quickly made a name for himself with his crushing power at the plate.  By 1993, Thomas joined Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, and Ted Williams as the only players to hit .300 with more than 100 RBI, runs and walk in and over 20 home runs in three consecutive seasons. That same year and again in 1994, The Big Hurt was named American League MVP. At the end of the century, Thomas struggled a bit before reclaiming his former glory in the 2000 season, where he won AL Comeback Player of the Year with 43 home runs and 143 RBI. In 2005, Thomas was injured and didn’t play in the post-season that ultimately led to the White Sox’ World Series victory. He remains the leader for the team in many categories, including career home runs (448) and RBI (1,465). In 2014, Thomas was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Shoeless Joe Jackson: Every team has its share of controversy, and the White Sox are no exception. Yes, Shoeless Joe and seven other players from the 1919 White Sox agreed to fix the World Series and accept money for losing. For their participation in the fix, that era’s team, known as The Black Sox, was expelled from baseball. But let’s not forget what the outfielder did at the plate. Shoeless Joe holds the third-highest career batting average in league history at .356. Jackson came to the White Sox in 1915 from Cleveland, and by 1917, the South Side team were World Series champions with Jackson hitting .307 and the team defeating the New York Giants. The controversial 1919 World Series loss to the Cincinnati Reds saw Jackson make 12 base hits, a then record for the World Series. In addition, he committed no errors and threw out a runner at the plate. Jackson and seven other members of the team were accused of taking $5,000 each to blow the series. A grand jury looked into the allegations in 1920, and the next year acquitted the eight players of wrongdoing. Nonetheless, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the players for life, making them ineligible for the Hall of Fame. 

Paul Konerko: Returning to the modern era, it’s easy to see why Konerko appears in many lists of greatest White Sox players of all time. Traded by the Reds to the Sox in 1998, Konerko proved to be a consistent hitter and dependable fielder from the get-go. With a .279 batting average and a total of 439 home runs as a player. Konerko’s stats across the board are solid. Still, it was his play throughout the 2005 Championship season that forever made him a favorite amongst Sox fans. That team became only the fifth to stay in first place throughout the entire 162-game season, with Konerko hitting 40 home runs. Throughout the playoffs and into the World Series against the Houston Astros, Konerko stayed hot at bat, hitting the first grand slam in the team’s World Series history in Game 2. By his retirement in 2014, Konerko was a six-time All-Star, World Series champ, and had his No. 14 White Sox retired by the team. 

Tune in tomorrow when we take a look at more great Sox players throughout the decades.

ERIC KAPLAN AND DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO

Whether you inherited the shrub or neglected it on your own, overgrown shrubs are a blight on your landscape. If you inherited the shrub, decide if it is even worth it. Do you love it? Does it fit the landscape? You can just remove it, but replacing it can be costly. Realize that with a large, very overgrown bush, proper pruning can take three years. But if you decide to keep it, the work is relatively easy, and you will end up with a beautiful shrub.

Some think “I will just cut it way down,” but this does not address the main problem of old growth. You will get no new growth on the lower part. You need to give it a good trim first. Shape it the best you can. Next, look for the oldest, thickest branches near the center. These branches often are bare of greenery except at the very top. You will want to cut out one-third of these branches. Choose the thickest branches and cut them off as near to the ground as possible. If any branches look diseased, trim them at the ground also. This will stimulate the plant to produce new growth around the pruned area. It might be necessary to tie up the shrub and stake it to give some support through the process. 

Fertilize the shrub regularly and make sure it has adequate water. Keep it trimmed throughout the summer, training it to the shape desired. For the next two years, you will repeat this process of cutting out a third of the oldest growth. In the third year, trim it down to the height you wish. We used this method on two bridal wreath bushes in front of our house. It worked great! For a good reference book for pruning, add this one to your landscaping library- The Pruning Book: Completely Revised and Updated by Lee Reich, available on Amazon.

KATHLEEN WEAVER-ZECH AND DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO

To say Chicagoans waited a lifetime for the Cubs to bring home a World Series Championship is an understatement given that 108 passed since the team won it all in 1908. The decades of disappointment were made up for in 2016 when the team beat the Cleveland Indians to shock the world. While different eras of Cubbie history produced a plethora of beloved players, let’s take a look at the standouts from the 2016 team who put an end to the most extended championship drought in sports history.

Anthony Rizzo: Rizzo landed in Chicago in a trade from San Diego Padres in 2012 and quickly showed that he had All-Star potential. The first baseman became the first player in team history to have three game-winning RBIs in his first five games wearing Cubbie blue. A fan favorite with numerous All-Star appearances, Rizzo became the first left-hander in Cubs history to have over 40 doubles and 30 homers in 2016. His amazing fielding abilities led to a Golden Glove Award that same year. Of course, the 2016 World Series saw Rizzo score seven runs and five RBIs to help the team win it all in a series that stretched to seven games. The power hitter continues to be the face of Cubs as they try to reclaim the greatness of a few years ago. Off the field, Rizzo, who was diagnosed with and overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma, created the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation to help with cancer research.

Kris Bryant: The third baseman solidified his status as a Cub great with crushing outings at bat time and time again. During the magical 2016 campaign, Bryant became the first player in the modern history of the MLB to hit three home runs and two doubles in a single game against the Cincinnati Reds. Also, Bryant hit 39 home runs along with 121 runs, leading the league in runs scored for 2016. That same year, in addition to the World Series win, Bryant took home the National League MVP Award in only his second year in the majors. In 2018, the fan-favorite hit his 100th home run, becoming the 22nd Cub to hit that milestone in team history and the quickest to do so. Bryant continues to play for the team and hopefully will be part of a resurrection to greatness under new manager (and former teammate) David Ross.

The Pitchers: Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester: The Cubs’ dynamic duo on the mound played a vital role in the 2016 season. Arrieta, a dominant pitcher who could send offenses running in fear, came to the team in 2013 ad stayed until 2017. No stranger to pitching complete games and no-hitters, Arrieta was crucial to the 2016 season, winning Game 2 and Game 6, which forced a Game 7, resulting in the team winning the World Series. Lester, who had two World Series wins with the Boston Red Sox before joining the Cubs for the 2015 season, was crucial as well in the 2016 series. The lefty won Game 5 against the Indians and pitched relief in Game 7, leading to the team winning for the first time in 108 years. Both pitchers should find themselves on a Hall of Fame ballot whenever their careers come to an end.

Ben Zobrist: The utility player came up big for the Cubs since signing with the team in 2015. His dominant play at bat during the 2016 playoffs helped the team return to the World Series. Cubs fans will forever remember the 10th inning double Zobrist hit in Game 7 of the World Series. The hit was just what the team needed resulting in Chicago bringing home the championship. Considered by many to be the most crucial hit in Chicago Cubs history, Zobrist was named the World Series MVP for his efforts.

That does it for today. Hopefully, baseball will return very soon. Until then, come back next week, where we will look at the great players from the Chicago White Sox.

ERIC KAPLAN AND DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO