Friday 15
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At tonight’s simulated four-car drunk driving accident, the North Lake County Emergency Medical Services System, Victory Memorial Hospital, and the Newport Volunteer Fire Department hope to scare anybody who’s ever thought about drinking and driving. The organizers have hired actors to reenact a violent accident on a rural road in Wadsworth, Illinois. They’ve scripted in multiple casualties and near-death injuries. Real-life cops, paramedics, and other personnel will respond. All orders will be given through loudspeakers so that the audience, which will be standing in darkness just off the “accident scene,” can hear. They’ll see everything from the arrival of the cops and the removal of trapped victims to emergency on-the-scene medical care and the transportation of victims to nearby hospitals. It’s free; to see it, meet at 8 PM at the East Good Luck parking lot at Tempel Farms, 17000 Wadsworth Road in Wadsworth. Buses will take you from there to the simulation. Call 708-360-4179.
Eight houses and four gardens make up today’s 11th annual Austin Historic Homes Tour. One of the stops on the westside trek is the Warner House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright rival Frederick R. Schock and built in 1869. Its ornate woodwork was done in black walnut as opposed to the golden oak that was more typical of the era, and the house is topped with a cupola from which–according to local legend–the original owner watched the Chicago Fire. The homes are open from 10 to 4 today. Tickets are $10 from the Austin Schock Neighborhood Association, which will set up shop at the cul-de-sac at Midway Park and Waller Street. For details, call 921-6860.
Monday 18
Four years ago George Baldwin, a former pastor and professor at the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri, gave up his ordination and his post, gave away everything he owned, and went to work with the poor in Nicaragua. While there he met Montserrat Fernandez, a teacher from Spain doing volunteer work through Christian agencies. We Are Two; We Want Peace, their global mission sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, brings them to Chicago for one week to talk about their work. Admission to the talks is free. Tonight’s presentation begins at 7:30 at the Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church, 405 S. Euclid in Oak Park. More are scheduled for noon tomorrow at the Second Unitarian Church, 656 W. Barry; 7 PM tomorrow at the United Church of Rogers Park, 1545 W. Morse; 4:30 PM Thursday at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2121 Sheridan Road in Evanston; 7:30 PM Thursday at the First United Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman Ave. in Evanston; and 5:30 PM next Friday, June 22, at the Chicago Peace and Music Fest, Montrose Harbor, 4600 N. Lake Shore Drive. Details at 276-5626.
