Everyone loves a parade: Orland Days a hit this year

Everyone loves a parade, including the kids who stand by the curb as the parade floats, fire and police vehicles and politicians and small businesses walk past tossing some neat candies to the excited kids.
This year's Orland Days Parade was excellent and had more people seated along the route, although it still could use more support from the community. And Orland Days, hosted and organized by volunteers from the Lions Club of Orland Park, was very well done, with some better food booths and a nice music tent nearby.

The Metra Station parking lot worked great for this year's event (held there last year too) and was far better than the spread at the old Homemaker's parking lot where Orland Days hit a low point. The food was terrible back then, but not this year. It was very good.

The corn on the cob from the Scouts was top notch and so were the sandwiches and the drinks. My favorite was the M8K Ur Own slush. Although the tickets were steep -- a sign of the still spiralling down economy, the rides were good. The best was the Inverter. Wow! Scary. And there were several others this year that included flips, spins and fast diving seating that were frightening to watch let alone actually ride.

The kids loved all the rides, of course. And the carnival atmosphere was appealing. But, still. As much as I enjoyed Orland Days, I wish we could have more. The rock band Janus was very good and there were many others. But the variety was narrow.

The parade, though had a great contingent from the Orland Fire Protection District headed by the nice-enough Pat Maher, who is planning to run for Cook County Commissioner. And that was Topic A1 at the Orland Days festival when I went there. Several firemen came up to me to say hello and said they appreciated having a columnist hold the politicians' feet to the fire regarding who gets promoted, who gets passed over, who is driving around in a taxpayer funded battalion chief's SUV and who has to schlep and do all the work.

It's my humble opinion Maher is going to lose to incumbent 17th District Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman who has been breaking headlines left and right leading the fight on behalf of the taxpayers against unresponsive and beleaguered Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Stroger shoved a 1 percent sales tax hike down the throats of the taxpayers without once trying to reduce his own wasteful spending. And that will cost Stroger his job.

And it won't be soon enough as Stroger is a very vindictive and mean person surrounded by a bunch of vindictive and mean consultants and taxpayer-paid lapdogs who sing his praises to keep their high priced and wasteful jobs. (Of course, that doesn't include the competent Parliamentarian and Oak Lawn attorney Burton S. Odelson who does a good job. Too bad Stroger doesn't always listen to good advice.)

But Gorman was out there shaking hands and giving candy personally to all of the kids and she walked both sides to make sure no little tyke was without the booty. People were cheering her on and thanking her for leading the fight against the Stroger sales tax.

Maher's troubles begin with his father and the too obvious ties not just to Chicago's 19th Ward but to the power hungry Machine that wants to push Orland under its thumb.

It ain't gonna work. But, Maher will learn that he will be a better candidate in some future race and without the nudge from his father or the political consultants who are swarming around him like a coveted front-row seat ticket to a Rolling Stones' concert.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Opening of the Gaelic Park Irish Fest was tremendous

The Gaelic Park Irish festival once again achieved a high mark in fun and entertainment. With six stages offering music, culture and magicians and more, the entertainment was non-stop and impressive. I loved the magicians, the professionals and the localswere all great.

They had a good selection of carnival rides and games. Lots of stuff to do, although the cost to get in is expensive. (We went early and took advantage of the half-price entrance -- $20 for two adults and a child).

And the FOOD was great. Good food. Great drinks. We spent the whole of Friday afternoon and night there enjoying every minute. They also had an animal farm with rides and a petting zoo. (Bring the hand sanitizer. It's a great habit to learn like wearing your seatbelts.)

I hope Orland Days can do as good. I'll give it a try this week. We have to support our local festival. And I hope the Lions have gotten their act together to put together something impressive -- although they really could still use more media help.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Taste of Orland is one of the region's BEST EVENTS

The one thing I can't argue about is that Taste of Orland Park is one of the best events in the Southwest Suburbs, far better than even Taste of Chicago.

You get better food at Taste of Orland Park. It's not gigantic but it is roomy and they have booths that run up and down the parking lot south of the Orland Park Civic Center. They're very affordable.

The entertainment of okay. But remember, this isn't Chicago. It's budget-strapped Orland Park where Chicago's 19th Ward really goes by the name "Ward #1."

Here's a list of the restaurants that will be at Taste of Orland Park, beginning this Friday August 1 through August 3 -- with my reviews of each and every one of them, of course:

Buca Di Beppo -- You get more bang for the buck here than anywhere else. This is one of my local favorites. You get too much food here, but who's complaining. The Veal Limon is my favorite, hen I go there.

Café Gaston -- Very classy. Perfect for breakfast. It has this stylish outdoor cafe. It's one of those places where you might imagine writers, socialites, creative types and other community leaders pausing to enjoy a great meal.

Cold Stone Creamery -- Never been there.

Cooper’s Hawk -- Never been there.

Ichiro Japanese -- Love this place, too. The Sushi is a bit pricey. Still, it's the best Sushi around, short of driving all the way downtown or near north in Chicago.

Mo’s Chinese Kitchen -- Beef Fried Rice is tops here. Very affordable and the perfect place to get Chinese food.

Oberweis Dairy -- Okay, the owner is a goof. A little too conservative for me, but you don't have to vote for him to love his ice cream. It's great.

Orland Meat Market & Deli -- Never been there.

Palermo’s of Orland Park -- I had an okay experience here, but I prefer the Oak Lawn Palermo's when it's open. Weird hours. They have this great stuffed artichoke -- sometimes. And the Veals, pastas and salads are great.

Papa Joe’s of Orland Park -- Went there once and didn't suit my tastes.

Plaza Café -- The absolute very best Steak Skillet in Orland Park and I have TRIED THEM ALL! The pancake house down the stret doesn't even come close to this place. Too bad the village is shoving them out of the plaza at 143rd and LaGrange Road.

R.C. Mulligan’s -- Not bad. Great place to have a Genuine Draft.

Rock Bottom Brewery -- Never been there.

Sam Maguire’s -- Okay.

Taj Mahal -- Didn't like the buffet at all. And I love Indian cuisine. I prefer downtown or on Devon Avenue in Chicago.

94 West -- Sunday Brunch here doesn't come any better. It is the best int he Southwest Suburbs. Very classy. Thsi si the place you want to be for those special occasions like an anniversary, Valentine's Day, or just plain dinner! Love it! The owner will have those little steak sandwiches again this year. Can't wait.

Here's the link to the Village of Orland Park's promotional flyer on the event. Enjoy it?

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com

Writer notes something I forgot

Orland Park was ranked 92 on Money Magazine's 100 Best Places to live. But Heather Warthen, one of my favorite journalists and the editor of the Orland Park Prairie, noted in her feature that in 2006, Orland Park was ranked 45.

I'm always hammering Orland Park's politicians. Some people say I do it because I don't like Orland Park, but I know two things about criticism: 1) Criticism is what forces elected government officials to do the right thing, the jobs they are paid to do but often contend they do as a favor for us; and 2) identifying faults and shortcomings is th efaster way to becoming even better, far more effective than patting yourself ont he back as our Mayor Dan McLaughlin often does to himself.

See I think Orland Park is a great community. But I also think it can be even better. Why aren't we number 1 on Money Magazine's top 100. Don't get me wrong. There are only about 100 "cities" in America (a city defined as having a population of more than 200,000), and there are thousands more towns and villages like Orland Park. How many thousands? I don't know. But I still think we are the best.

So how do you become better? By patting yourself on the back all the time and NEVER saying anything bad? (Criticism is considered a "sin" in Orland Park. You say something critical of Orland Park and the politicians put you ont heir blacklist.) I don't think pretending something is great when it is not is the right way to become even better.

You become better by identifying your faults, areas of shortcoming, and then correct them. You correct them and in the process you improve the bigger picture.

We have a lot of great things. A Great Police Chief. A Great Trustee Patricia Gira. A Great looking Village Hall. A TREMENDOUS civic center and director there. We even have great events like Taste fo Orland Park which is far better than Taste of Chicago. Okay, the Orland Days Festival can be better -- and I sure took some grief for saying that, but it's true. It has developed a bad reputation over the years and I am not sure why. But the Lions should figure it out, recognize it and then make it better. This year's Orland Days was better, I'm told. Maybe and other Orland Parkers will return to the Festival which has lost crowds over th eyears due to being sho ved around from dump to dump (like the old Homemaker's Mall -- that was the worst!) We have a great public pool. It's one of the best. And we have great schools and an even GREATER Recreation Department.

Some of our elected officials are lacking, deficient in leadership. But what else is knew in politics?

So I say, yes, let's be cheerleaders. Let's be community boasters. But, let's also be honest. And make Orland Park an even better community by not just applauding everything. But by also acknowledging where things need to be improved.

My list of things that need to be improved:

1 -- Office of the mayor -- needs to be more responsive and willing to listen.
2 -- Several trustee seats -- need to be replaced with people concerned about the community, not themselves or local politics.
3 -- Retail planning in the village needs to be improved. There are too many empty storefronts (When is the old Orland Park movie theater building going to be turned into the bright jewel it once was?).
4 -- Traffic control. Traffic in Orland Park is abysmal.
5 -- Flooding is still an issue in many areas, even on normal rainy days.
6 -- More openness in government: Put village board meetings on cable TV instead of those events that are videotaped that spend more time showcasing the elected officials.
7 -- More public participation in events like theater and comedy performances. (Get rid of the cliques).
8 -- More diversity at our summer festivals. I love Irish music but there is more in Orland Park, isn't there?
9 -- More funding and support for our schools.
10 -- How about one place where you can get a great corned beef and rye sandwich, instead of all the pasta and steaks. I'm just saying more variety!

Okay. That's my wish list.

Ray Hanania
www.OrlandParker.com