Hi, Lombard Park District, way to shoot yourself in the foot. Right before Taste of Lombard at Madison Meadow, you tear up the playground at the corner of Madison and Addison and it’s fenced off for the festival. Unbelievable. Like there wouldn’t be any little kids who would want to play there? Or some people walking over that area and tripping over the fence and having a fall? Well planned.

Paul Friedrichs, executive director of the Lombard Park District, responded: “The playground was not taken down just prior to the Taste of Lombard, in fact the old playground was taken down in April and the planned four-week construction started on the new one immediately thereafter. The construction was originally scheduled to start in March, but Mother Nature had other plans for us; the ground was under snow and too frozen to begin. When we were able to start demolition of the old playground and the construction of the new one, Mother Nature again had other plans for us and decided to make it rain every other day throughout April, May and June. Yes, it rained 45 days during those three months. Due to this excessive amount of rain that Lombard experienced, staff could not safely finish the project on time. As far as people “tripping over the fence and having a fall,” there were no reported injuries at the site, before, during or after the Taste of Lombard. Finally, 50 percent of the playground was actually open to the public before and during the Taste of Lombard. Please feel free to call me anytime to discuss this issue or any other park district-related issue at 630-953-6016.”—JAC

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Hello, this is Lombard calling. What happened to Suzanne Bolur? She writes such great articles for your paper and her work has not been in your paper lately. I really enjoy her articles. Please bring her back. Thanks.

Thank you for those kind words about Suzanne Bolur. I’m sure she will enjoy reading your comment. You are right, it’s been a few weeks since she has done an article for the paper, but fear not, her articles will be returning as she does contribute news from time to time.

Any suggestions for an upcoming article by Bolur can be sent to: lombardian @sbcglobal.net.—blm

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Lombard calling. As a daily Metra commuter, I was surprised to see village representatives at the station handing out doughnuts and fliers touting the $8 million-plus in “improvements” for the train platform. I had to read how much this is going to cost twice to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. The reason I was surprised is that for two weeks prior, I had the privilege of stepping over a giant pile of who-knows-what sitting on the stairs that go up to the platform at Parkside. The first day it was shocking, seeing something like that plopped there on the third stair as commuters danced around it to catch the train. Three days later it was still there. Now, with an empty beer can stuck in it like a birthday candle. Finally it rained heavily, which rendered it into a large puddle which eventually dried into a less obvious, yet still crumbly brown stain. It was still encrusting the stairs even as the good news was shared. If Lombard wants to have a first-rate train station, maybe take care of what’s already there before blowing a fortune on upgrades. It would seem over 8 million bucks can be saved with nothing more than a shovel and a hose.

Would love to have been able to forward this comment to the village, but as everyone knows the Village of Lombard has not answered/responded to SPEAK OUT questions or comments since May 2011. Checking the flier handed out by the village on Friday morning during the Commuter Appreciation event, the flier included a funding breakdown of the $8.1 million project, which is Metra ($3.8 million), Union Pacific Railroad ($3.3 million), Illinois Commerce Commission ($750,000) and the Village of Lombard ($294,000).—blm

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This is for the caller who talked about going to the VFW in Villa Park for the fish dinner and said they had gambling there and it was very classy. You just got lucky, that’s all. It’s obvious you haven’t done any research or studied the video gaming that goes in establishments like that. That’s where gamblers are going to get their fix. They’re not going to get them from church raffles. They’re not going to get them from split the pots. They’re not going to get them from the lottery or anything like that. As I said, you just got lucky. For all you people out there who want video gaming, get over it. It’s not going to happen.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. If you have a chance to stop by and take a look at the Terrace View Pond, you would be absolutely shocked. It’s an absolute disaster. There’s seemingly no water left in it. It’s nothing but muck and weeds, mosquitoes, and the stench is absolutely to die for. How unfortunate for the village to spend all that money to leave the village members with the biggest eyesore by far in the western suburbs. Absolutely unacceptable. How dare you spend my tax dollars on something as bad as that. This is Lombard calling. We’d love to see what the next plan is. Thank you and God bless you all.

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Here’s my story about pigeons. My son owns a beautiful ‘68 Corvette. Just this week we were admiring it when a pigeon swooped down and you-know-what on hood. I said, "I’ll go and get some toilet paper." He replied, “Don’t waste your time, Dad. He’d be miles away by then.” Thank you.

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Recently someone called in and mentioned that the best way to fix some of our issues here in town is to put in a four-way stop, in particular at Main Street and the Prairie Path, where the people on the bikes have to stop but they really don’t seem to care—they just cross anyway. The streets were made for cars, not bicycles. We do not live in China. It is time for us to take our streets back. They are for motorized vehicles. The problem I have with all of these bikers is they pull in front of you, they ride in front of you; this whole idea that all of a sudden we in the motor vehicles are supposed to be looking out for them? When I was a kid, I was told to look both ways before I cross the street. I’m just wondering when that changed. Really? A handful of bikers are going to ruin our traffic? I don’t think so.

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This is Lombard calling. I just want to say President Bill Mueller, God rest his soul, when he was our village president, he had Lombard running like clockwork. Everything was working correctly. Anything that needed to be done was done. Anything that had to be done was getting done without bureaucratic politics, without issues with the trustees, without issues with the patrons and the people who live in Lombard. We in Lombard really miss President Bill Mueller, God rest his soul, and he will be missed always because nobody in Lombard seems to do anything correct—ever. Thank you.

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Lombard calling regarding the issue of drivers abruptly stopping for cyclists and pedestrians emerging from the Prairie Path on Main Street. According to village ordinance, I believe those on the Prairie Path are supposed to stop when they reach Main Street, then wait for a break in traffic before proceeding across. Drivers are to stop if riders or pedestrians are proceeding across, but they are not supposed to arbitrarily stop if they just see someone on the path who wants to cross. This is not a side street; this is main thoroughfare and could cause a multi-car accident. I think the suggestion of a four-way stop sign is an excellent one, since it is apparent that too many cyclists, pedestrians and drivers don’t believe they are obliged to obey the current ordinances. Thank you.

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This is for the caller who said that village trustees were doing such a wonderful job in Lombard. Ha, ha, ha. Village trustees in Lombard and the president himself seem to think this is one big rock concert, and as far as the video gambling goes, why don’t you just get over it, Lombard? You’re not going to have it. It’s obvious you haven’t done any research on this video gambling. We all know what it attracts. This is not Las Vegas. I know we’re not towns that have it. This is Lombard. If you want to go into a place that has video gambling, go right ahead. Gamblers Anonymous is waiting. So just do a little research on it. So just get over it. Wake up, people.

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Lombard calling. I have several neighbors with fire pits. Fire pits are one thing, but billowing 10-foot smoke coming from a fire pit for two hours is a forest fire. They say that exposure to smoke and carcinogens can cause autism in children. Just think about that. Bye.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I just received a door hanger for Peter Breen and I just want to say that I had sent an e-mail to Dan Whittington, Laura Fitzpatrick and Peter Breen commending them for their stand on the no-video gambling. I received an e-mail back from both Dan and Laura on how to have my voice heard. I never heard back from Peter Breen; he never responded. So, he does not have my vote from here on. Thanks, bye.

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I wanted to say how nice it was of the village officials to greet commuters at the train station on Friday. Not only did they provide plenty of coffee, fruit and doughnuts for commuters, they also handed out written information and maps of the upcoming changes to the station area, while the underpass construction is taking place. It was especially nice to see so many village officials there—the new village manager, the president and many directors of different community groups. There were also Lombard police officers and railroad personnel there. It’s nice to be informed of our upcoming changes. Thanks, Lombard.

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Longtime Lombard resident calling. In regard to the Jaycees Taste of Lombard and all the previous calls, if the Village of Lombard did not mandate the Jaycees to hire off-duty Lombard police officers for time-and-a-half, the Jaycees could save a lot of money by hiring a private security force to the security at the Taste of Lombard. With that savings the Jaycees could offer a free event, which is what Dick Tross always argued for. Or, with that savings, the Jaycees could apply that money to a better fireworks display. One other item in regard to the Taste of Lombard; the Jaycees should seriously consider renaming it to something such as Lombard Fest, since most of the food vendors do not represent Lombard at all. They’re just carnival vendors. Thank you.

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Hi, this is Lombard. A huge thank you to the Village of Lombard. Saturday night we had a huge branch crack off the tree and ended up on our driveway. Luckily no one was hurt and no cars were damaged, but the village came out Saturday night and cleaned it up and came out first thing in the morning and removed the excess branches and everything. Great response. Thank you to the village.

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I’m a concerned resident of Lombard and this planet. I discovered something very disturbing at Lilacia Park this spring. I was at the park and a worker was spraying Roundup on each tulip where the bloom was done. I asked why and he said it helps them die back sooner.  Seriously? Is this really necessary?  Is it too “ugly” to watch the tulips die naturally? Roundup has been linked to more that 20 adverse health effects including birth defects, infertility and cancer. As someone who has experienced both infertility issues and cancer, this just makes me angry and sad that our parks department would use Roundup so needlessly. I will be calling them directly but I wanted to raise awareness that this was going on in our parks.

Paul Friedrichs, executive director of the Lombard Park District, explained: “Always glad to hear from a fellow concerned resident of the planet. Something we are very proud of at the Lombard Park District is our successful passing of the SCARCE Environmental Friendliness Audit. SCARCE stands for the School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting. The park district received our Earth Flag (which we fly proudly) from SCARE and DuPage County for our green practices, policies and procedures. Staff continuously looks into better products and equipment to use in our parks and facilities. Although we do not use that exact product, staff is currently investigating alternative natural products for killing weeds and the tulips after Lilac Time. Regarding your questions “Is it really necessary (for them to die sooner)?” and “Is it too “ugly” to watch the tulips die naturally?” At most parks my answer to both would obviously be ‘no.’ However, Lilacia Park is not most parks. It is a horticultural gem, a place that Lombardians have been proud of for the past 85 years since it was bequeathed to us from Colonel and Mrs. Plum. It is a special place that people drive for hours to come see. So at Lilacia Park, I would say yes, it is necessary that the 25,000-plus tulips in the park die fast and are removed expeditiously. I have been told many times that no one wants to come to Lilacia and see those dying plants. I might add the process of spraying the tulips that we do is the same that the horticulturalists at the arboretum use. Although you haven’t called me directly at this point, please feel free to do so at 630-953-6016 and I will be happy to discuss this issue or any other park district-related issue.”—JAC

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This is Lombard calling. I enjoyed Marguerite Micken’s “On the Beat” column in the July 23 issue, but I was surprised by a couple of restaurants that she didn’t list, and thought I should add them to the discussion. Lom Ling has probably been in downtown Lombard longer than any other restaurant I can think of. And, she also did not mention what I consider to be Lombard’s best restaurant, Praga, which is on West St. Charles, just east of Elizabeth Street.

See “On the Beat” on Page 12—JAC