There are many magazines that come cramped into our mailbox. Most of them are wanted, but a few show up unsolicited in an attempt to intrigue us into yet another periodical.
However, when a complimentary copy with a special introductory offer arrived attached to West Suburban Living magazine I was more than interested, because it contained an article on Riverside. I had anticipated the magazine after receiving a call from the writer Lynn Petrak, who was doing the piece for the magazine.
Petrak, while not a Riverside resident, was more than familiar with the village, having married Michael Petrak, who grew up in Riverside. Her mother-in-law, Kathy Petrak, still is a village resident, so the younger Petraks and their children make frequent visits to grandma’s house. It was with this personal interest and fascination for the village that the writer looked beyond her knowledge of Riverside to showcase our town.
Petrak did her research for the article, honing in on the landscape architecture of Frederick Law Olmsted and giving credence to the town’s slogan “Village in the Forest.” She looked to the Riverside Public Library, a treasure in its own right, for much of her information, exploring the beauty of the building and poring over the books, photos and paintings pertaining to Riverside.
Highlighting different places of interest and including statistics, Petrak interviewed Village President Michael Gorman, Chew Chew owner Scott Zimmer (Petrak and her husband, along with another former Riversider, Rob Grimm and his wife Jesse, just happened to celebrate New Year’s Eve there), Patty Miglore from Aunt Diana’s and yours truly to get another perspective of the town from both the business and resident side.
The article is a must-read for residents, and non-residents will find particular interest in what the town has to offer for an afternoon of shopping and dining. However, under the heading of museums and galleries, the Fra Angelico Art Foundation is listed. It is no longer there, but almost in the same spot you will find the Riverside Wine Bar – not a bad place to stop.
The January-February edition of West Suburban Living is now available and surely there is a copy at the Riverside Public Library. Glad to receive the magazine and read about my hometown from someone else’s viewpoint.
