Days 10-12 of Bridgeport Christmas!

10. On the Tenth Day of Christmas… Ten Pounds of Sausage
If your sweetheart is the curious type, take her along when you visit the pocket-wholesale-food cluster behind Henry Palmisano Park, on Poplar Street. Makowski’s Real Sausage has been making sausage back there since 1938. They sell sausage wholesale, but also to the public. Nicole Makowski says they sell cooked sausages in 5 lb packages, raw sausage in 10 lb packages. Prices range from $3.50 to $6.00 per pound. Nicole says they are best known for their smoked polish, which comes both skinless and in natural casing. They also sell Real brand franks and wieners, as well as bratwurst, knockwurst, chorizo and andouille. http://realsausage.com/

11. On the Eleventh Day of Christmas… Eleven Bridgeport Coffee Company Roasts
If you love a coffee drinker, make sure you head to Bridgeport Coffee House to grab some of their locally hand-roasted beans for a great cup of coffee. This is not just great coffee–many roasts they offer are organic, fair trade, or direct trade, as well. You can pick up some beans at the Bridgeport Coffee House at 3101 S. Morgan Street, or order online (including 2 and 3 bag gift box options) at bridgeportcoffeecompany.com.

12. On the Twelfth Day of Christmas… Twelve Savory Pies!
Bridgeport is fast becoming the place for savory pies in Chicago. With so much going on for the holidays, let one of our fantastic new businesses do the cooking for you–it will make your next holiday party much more relaxing! Pleasant House Bakery (946 W. 31st Street) has several Royal Pies and one pasty (pass-tee) on the menu, including Steak & Ale, Chicken Balti (curried chicken), Mushroom & Kale, and Cold Pork Pies. They also make additional seasonal savory pies. Give them a call or stop in for details and place an order for your next get together (pleasanthousebakery.com).

Days 7-9 of Bridgeport Christmas...

7. On the Seventh day of Christmas… Seven Moonshine Fish Lures
Henry's Bait and Tackle has been on Canal Street since 1972. Kyle, a young salesman who says he practically grew up at the store, is reluctant to make gift recommendations, because every fisherman knows what he/she likes. He says the Moonshine lures are really hot this year. They are “jigging” lures– you jerk them up and down in the water. Their bright colors can be made to glow in the dark, and they hold their charge for a long time. Moonshine lures sold so well in summertime, Henry’s is carrying some for ice fishing, too. Kyle also speaks highly of the Shimano Stradic reels (they retail for about $180). They turn smoothly and have an excellent drag system (an adjustment you make to the resistance that prevents a fish from pulling out too much line, without allowing it to snap the rod). http://henrysmarine.com/

8. On the Eighth Day of Christmas… Eight Funky Records
When Neal Keller opened Let’s Boogie Records 35 years ago, he sold all new records. Over the years, technologies changed, and the shop evolved into a used record store, with some 8-tracks and cassettes. Now, vinyl is hip again in a retro-cool way, and some of the record companies are making reissues. Some are even issuing brand new albums on vinyl. Let’s Boogie has the new Tom Waits album on vinyl–he says the kids are rediscovering him. He still gets customers from Asia to Sweden who stop in to buy up large quantities of specific labels, or genres. Visit Let’s Boogie and you’re sure to find something you loved listening to, or always wanted to hear. Let's Boogie on Yelp.com

9. On the Ninth Day of Christmas… Nine Precious Oils
Augustine’s Eternal Gifts (3327 S. Halsted) is your best source for Frankincense and Myrrh, but they have scores of other scents, and they will mix custom potions from their wall of ingredients to meet customer requests. You can wear them, or heat them in a dish to suffuse a room. Augustine’s owner, Cathryn Hennes, says her family has been running shops in Bridgeport for 100 years–though earlier generations sold candy and ice cream. In addition to oils and incense, Augustine’s carries a wide range of other spiritual supplies, from prayer candles to crystals, amulets, and tarot cards. http://www.authenticspiritualgoods.com/

Days 4-6 of Bridgeport Christmas...

(continued)

4. On the Fourth Day of Christmas… Four Winter Cocktails
Are you in the mood for some artisanal cocktails to warm you up? Take your loved one to family owned & operated Nana’s (3267 S. Halsted St.) for some seasonal cocktails, and stay for dinner. If you like whiskey drinks, try the Fresh Fig & Seedling Orchard Cherry Old Fashioned, or if you like lemonade in summer, try the Fall Cranberry and Ginger Bridgeport Lemonade. Other tasty concoctions include the Fall Sidecar and The Prince of Fall cocktail. You can check out the full menu at nanaorganic.com.

5. On the Fifth Day of Christmas… Five Chicago Sports Team Jerseys
Grandstand (600 W. 35th Street) sells jerseys and hats for all the Chicago teams (yes, including the Cubs). But you can buy jerseys anywhere, a Grandstand owner observes. She says people travel to Grandstand from across Chicagoland because they’ve got an amazing collection of other stuff. They have seasonal ornaments including miniature team Christmas trees, hand-painted tree-ornaments, and White Sox player-nutcrackers. They also have clothes from slippers, to socks, to negligees, plus a great assortment of toys, including team-themed Monopoly games and Mr. Potato Head. http://www.grandstandsox.com/

6. On the Sixth Day of Christmas… Six Bike Maintenance Workshops
Winter is the perfect time to take your bicycle apart and rebuild it. And Blue City Cycles at 3201 South Halsted is offering a winter series of bike maintenance workshops that can teach you, or the lucky gift recipient of your choice, to do just that. Workshops are $30 each, or $150 for a 6 class series that starts with the basics (fix a flat and make simple adjustments) and progresses through brakes, derailleurs and each of the bearing systems, and culminates with the fine art of truing a wheel. But act quickly, classes are limited to 3 students each – the number of bike stands in the shop. http://www.bluecitycycles.com/

(PSST - Issue 4 is now out at your local businesses - pick up a copy today!)

12 Days of Bridgeport Christmas (condensed version)

We're posting the 12 Days of Christmas article here in installments over the next 4 days to give you some ideas of what you can grab in the neighborhood for your gifting needs. Enjoy!

The 12 Days of Christmas: A Bridgeport Gift Guide
By Kristin Ostberg & Lynn Barnett

Been procrastinating with your shopping? Well, we’ve got the gift guide for you. We bet there’ll be at least one thing on this list that will surprise you – and it proves you don’t have to leave the neighborhood to get great gifts. It has been a tough year for retailers, which is an even better reason to spend your money here in Bridgeport!

1. On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me… One Traditional Tattoo

If you want to get your sweetheart something that will last forever, but don’t want to choose the wrong thing, consider buying a gift certificate to use at Bridgeport Tattoo Company (3527 South Halsted). Bridgeport Tattoo has walls full of traditional designs, and a reputation for doing very good work, safely, and for a fair price. The folks in the shop say a tattoo the size of a deck of cards typically runs about $150, but they can do smaller or simpler designs for $100 or less, or much larger ones for $100 an hour. http://www.bridgeporttattooco.com/

2. On the Second day of Christmas… Two Diamond Earrings

A friend of the Bridgeport International raves about Oscar’s Watch & Jewelry, now at 3505 South Halsted. Our friend had scoured Jeweler’s Row on Wabash, looking for an engagement ring. Then he walked into Oscar’s and found the perfect, distinctive, ring-set right here in Bridgeport. He says the quality was as good as anything he’d seen elsewhere, and the price was better. Oscar Serna first set up shop as a jeweler in Bridgeport in 1977. The shop has many types of fine jewelry & watches, and also repairs both on the premises. Want something extra special? They offer custom design work, as well. http://www.oscarswatchandjewelry.com

3. On the Third Day of Christmas… Three Brawling Monsters

Monster Island Toys (3335 S. Halsted) carries a wide range of action figures, but it’s best known for its Japanese monsters, including Godzilla, and the other beasts he fought with. Owner Loris Basso says he is the only Godzilla dealer in Illinois. He has customers who drive days from Canada to shop the store in person. But lately, between the recession and the big box sore options, there haven’t been enough of them. He may close the store at the end of January, depending on how the holiday sales go. Now’s the time to stock up! Some of the figures become collector’s items rapidly. A model of Ghdorah –a 3 headed dragon on display in the store’s counter–retailed for $25 when it came out a few years ago, and is trading for $100 today. http://www.monsterislandtoys.com/

Winter Issue Soon

The Holiday Issue of the BI Will be coming out soon!

A recipe from this month's issue:

Wiki that Cocktail: The Flip
with Edmar

Since it is the BI’s holiday issue, I thought I would share a delicious recipe that we made for our bar, Maria’s Packaged Goods and Community Bar.

A flip is a class of mixed drinks. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term was first used in 1695 to describe a mixture of beer, rum, and sugar, heated with a red-hot iron (“Thus we live at sea; eat biscuit, and drink flip”). The iron caused the drink to froth, and this frothing (or “flipping”) engendered the name. Over time, the proportion of eggs and sugar increased, the beer was eliminated, and the drink ceased to be served hot.

White & Snowy Flip in Bridgeport
Recipe by Ken Zawacki and Eric Olson of Maria’s.
Our flip is a cold gin flip using Junipero Gin. Junipero is made by Anchor Brewing Company, one of the first major craft breweries in the US who got their hands dirty with distilling spirits. Their gin is made by hand in the classic “distilled dry gin” tradition, utilizing more than a dozen botanicals in their natural state, in a small copper pot still at their little distillery on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. You can try a Dutch Gin as a substitute.

RECIPE:
1 and 1/2 ounce of Junipero Gin
1/2 ounce of simple syrup
1/2 to 1 ounce egg white
Two dashes of nutmeg
One cinnamon stick
1 1/2 ounce Knudsen’s Spiced Cider

Add ice gin, simple syrup, egg white, and cider into a shaker. Shake vigorously for 20-30 seconds
Pour in a chilled rocks glass.
Add nutmeg and cinnamon stick
Drink.

The New Issue of the BI is out

Get your copy at your favorite shop in town... Or try Bridgeport Coffee, Maria's, Pleasant House, Dunkin Donuts, or Ramova Grill...

Download a copy , here>>>

Bridgeport Wants to Retire Crawford and Fisk coal plants

A note from our friends at Sierra Club:

As you read this, Chicago is at an energy crossroads. Our community remains dependent on dirty energy sources like coal that contribute to asthma, lung disease, cancer and other serious health and environmental problems. Here in Bridgeport, that Crawford and Fisk coal plants just across the river are contributing to cancer and respiratory disease, as well as causing asthma attacks especially in children.

The good news is that we have solutions. There is a bright future in transitioning to clean energy, but change will not come unless we demand it. That’s why we here in Bridgeport are building a campaign to pass a strong clean energy plan through this fall that will limit dangerous health pollution from coal and create clean energy jobs for Chicago workers.

We can make this happen this fall, but we need YOUR help. The best way to learn more and get involved is to come to our Community Action Meeting to Move Beyond Coal Wednesday night here in Bridgeport. RSVP right away and bring a friend to:

Community Action Meeting to Move Beyond Coal

Wednesday September 28^th 7:00-8:00pm

Benton House

3052 South Gratten St, Bridgeport

(Refreshments Provided)

All are welcome, please bring your friends!

We have a unique opportunity this fall to push Edison International to stop burning coal and bring in clean, healthy jobs. We need investment in the health and wellbeing of Bridgeport, not more of the same.

So please join us on Wednesday Sept 28^th at 7:00pm. We will have special guest speakers attending, as well as lots of your neighbors. You can expect to find out how you can make a real difference to support the campaign and bring an end to unhealthy coal pollution. It’s time to tell Edison International that enough is enough, and that we’re ready for clean energy now!

RSVP here to let us know you can make it, and bring a friend! Bring a neighbor! Bring anyone interested in cleaner air and a healthier Bridgeport!

Best,

Emma Greenbaum

Sierra Club Field Organizer

Clean Power Coalition Campaign

Bridgeport, Chicago, IL

520-275-4812

emma@greencorps.org

September 24th is Chicago's Roll Beyond Coal Day

Form our friends trying to make The Fisk Power plant (across the river) change to clean energy:

The coal plants in the city of Chicago have been polluting our air for decades. Our campaign to transition these plants is a defining moment in the Sierra Club's national Coal to Clean Energy Campaign. Coal combustion puts billions of tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

Here in Chicago, the Fisk and Crawford coal plants are contributing to climate change by emitting 5 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

At our Roll Beyond Coal event, September 24th, we'll call on Midwest Generation, owner of Chicago's two coal plants, to clean up or retire the plants and support renewable energy projects.

Don't miss out -- sign up to attend the Roll Beyond Coal Event on September 24th!

Here are the details:

WHO: You, your friends, and family!

WHAT: We'll kick off the day with a massive bike ride from Daley Plaza to Dvorak Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. We'll gather with community residents and others in front of the Fisk coal plant for a rally and clean energy march.

WHEN: Saturday, September 24th, 11am

WHERE: Bike Ride leaves Daley Plaza at 11 a.m., Rally near Dvorak Park (1119 W. Cullerton St.) in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood starts at 12:30 p.m.

Questions: Christine Nannicelli, christine.nannicelli@sierraclub.org

RSVP: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Calendar?id=156861&view=Detail

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Christine Nannicelli
Beyond Coal Campaign
Sierra Club

Property Owner & Manager Workshops

Hey there, in our latest issue that recently came out, we had an article titled, "You might be a slumlord if..." that talked about property maintenance and tenant screening. The information we posted about the workshops at the end of the article was slightly incorrect, we've learned. Here's a link to more information about the 4 upcoming workshops (two in Sept. and two in Nov.): http://www.greenpublicsolutions.com/landlord-resources-training/property-mgmt-training/schedule/

"Massage" Parlors Closed

We are super excited by the response we had to our last issue of the BI! Thanks so much for your feedback, your contributions and spreading the word!

We think the last issue had a greater impact than we ever could have imagined. The Bridgeport Red Light District Crossword Puzzle and the Massage Parlor Wordsearch might have caused some controversy and action. Since the last issue came out three "massage" parlors have closed on Archer Avenue.

Wow.

We want to thank our community leaders for shutting down some pretty shady businesses. And we applaud your efforts on making the neighborhood safer for women.

Of Science and Smoke Stacks

By By Melissa Naiman
(From Vol 2 Issue 1 of the BI)

It’s pretty clear that the Fisk and Crawford Generating Stations are bad for the health of Bridgeport residents. Numerous scientific studies have established that exposure to the types of chemicals and particulate matter that the Fisk plant releases negatively impacts our wellbeing. In 2002, the Harvard School of Public Health published a mathematical model that combines information on how weather conditions move emissions from coal plants and how pollutant concentrations damage health to determine how many people get sick or die because of a given plant. When this model was applied to the Fisk and Crawford plants in Chicago, they estimated that each year the plants contributed to 41premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2800 asthma attacks. This equates to between $750 million and $1 billion in health related damages in the Chicagoland area over the last 8 years.

Despite protests and scientific evidence, the Fisk plant won’t be required to reduce its chemical emissions until 2015. Even then, how would we know, as a community, that the upgrades actually improve our situation? Other urban communities situated near industrial areas have successfully partnered with local and state governments to implement technologies necessary to quantify pollutants in their local area and pressure federal authorities to enforce compliance.

Sheffield, England has been monitoring NO2 levels (one of the chemicals released by the Fisk plant) through a network of community volunteers and laboratory analysts. Volunteers place plastic tubes coated with a special chemical that traps NO2 around the city and then submit them to a lab to calculate NO2 concentration. The local government uses this information to guide air quality policies. Similarly, Tonawanda, NY conducted an air monitoring study using special canisters that captured toxic molecules and analyzed them using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. This helped target inspections of two plants suspected as point sources of pollution. After remediation, air monitoring showed a 33-56% reduction of the toxins emitted by these plants. These monitoring efforts are both supported by governmental funds.

The EPA sponsors two grants that could help Bridgeport improve air quality and the environment overall: the “Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program” and the “Community-Scale Air Toxics Ambient Monitoring Program”. Further details and past announcements can be found at http://www.epa.gov/air/grants_funding.html. If the EPA can’t enforce national standards, we can at least try to take their money to improve our neighborhood.

New issue of the BI is on the streets

Volume 2 Issue 1 is on the streets of Bridgeport. Find a copy at the Bridgeport Coffee House, Maria's, Pleasant House bakery and other locations near you.

Our next open meeting will take place Tuesday July 26 at 8pm at Maria's Packaged Goods & Community Bar. Stop by and bring an article idea with you!

We are meeting about issue 2 right now!

After a long hiatus. The next issue of The Bridgeport International will be coming out soon!
Look for our launch party and an issue near you soon..

Artists for Migeul Del Valle

NEW DATE!!
February 10, 2011 7-9pm

Co-Prosperity Sphere

3219 S Morgan Street

Chicago Il 60608

Join us Thursday February 10, 2011 from 7 to 9pm for a chance to meet and ask Chicago Mayoral candidate Miguel del Valle some questions regarding the arts in Chicago.

We have joined a group of concerned citizens who find Miguel’s progressive stance on the issues as our ONLY alternative in this historic and important election for Chicago’s next Mayor.

If you believe that money cannot buy an election and if you believe you have a voice when it comes to choosing a candidate that aligns more closely to your interests than the other candidates, please join us.

We want to ask Mr Del Valle what he will do to promote the arts and culture in Chicago and get him to re-create an independent Department of Cultural Affairs in Chicago. We also want to know how he can help creative industries in Chicago and see if he has plans to improve the state of the arts in Chicago.

We are conducting an art raffle during the event to benefit Miguel’s campaign. As you know he refuses to accept campaign money from businesses that have contracts with the city. So your help will go a long way.

Please come by.

Spread the word.

We usually do not throw our hats in for any politician. A real grassroots campaign can make a difference..

Don't forget to register to vote.

We were checking out Steve Vances awesome local Bridgeport neighborhood blog and came upon his suggestion that you register to vote.. thanks steve:

From his blog:

"While you await the results of my interviews with the three Aldermanic candidates, please ensure you’re registered to vote in the 11th Ward. If you recently moved within Chicago, you need to update the Chicago Board of Elections with your new address so you get a more convenient polling place AND so you can vote for the 11th Ward alderman.

• Register to vote – You can register (or change your address) by mailing this form (PDF), at the Board of Elections office in the Loop, or at any DMV/Secretary of State office.
• Check your registration status (this tells you which address you’re currently registered at)

The election is on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. You have until Tuesday, January 25, 2011 to register to vote or change your address. If you don’t change your address in time, you have to vote at your assigned polling place."