photo of Ralph Frese by Laurence Reed

I thought we didn’t have another show until April 1st, but there is one on tonight.  And it’s one of my favorites.  We call it “Getting There” and there are four stories: the king of no-handed cyclists, the guy who runs 21 miles to work twice a week, winter bike commuters, and a portrait of legendary Chicago paddler Ralph Frese.  Tune in!

The show on Friday night was the last of the 13 shows we made for this first season.  Now, a break till April 1st when we will begin to repeat those 13 shows. 

If you have watched the entire series, sorry… you’ll have to wait till the fall for new shows.   But if you’ve missed any of them, you’ll have another chance.  Here is the line-up starting in April.   And, of course, you can always watch segments on the homepage.

In addition to wild praise and offers from Hollywood, there are two kinds of email we get most about Jay’s Chicago:  “where are they now?” and “how do I find out more?”  

I’m happy to report that, now, with a few clicks of the mouse, you can answer those questions and more about many of the people in our stories.  You can also read about our experiences making the stories. 

Do you see that ”Behind the Stories” link at the top of the page?  That will take you to this new part of our website.  There you’ll find a list of all the stories that have ”Behind the Stories” stuff.   

Right now there is information about just 8 stories –  the ones that air tonight plus several more.  We will keep adding more all the time.

I thought that having my own show and website might turn me into one, but after those first few entries I ran out of steam.  Most of what people seem to be interested in anyway is the “where are they now?” type questions.  “How do I get in touch with that guy who builds ships in bottles?”   

So that’s what we’re pulling together now – an update and contact information for each story in the series.  I’ll let you know when that goes up.

John Kohan near Belmont Harbor

Whenever we’ve run this piece about John Kohan riding his bike no-handed along the lakefront, we’ve gotten angry emails from people who think we are just promoting his reckless behavior.  What do you think?

If you think he is endangering people, you’ll be happy to know that John has moved to San Francisco, where he still rides no-handed.  But he says he has never found a bike path he likes as much as the one on Chicago’s lakefront.

I have to say, I still laugh every time I watch the piece about my mom’s bowling league.  What a great group of feisty, funny women!

My mom was after me for a long time to do that story.  “Some of these ladies have been bowling together for 50 years!  How can you go wrong?”  I finally agreed, but when cameraman Tom Siegel and I arrived at Sy’s Lanes in Lincolnwood, I thought, “am I out of my mind!?”  It’s my mom, my aunt and their friends — if this piece is bad, I’m in serious trouble.

Tom is always great at loosening up a situation, but with a group of older Jewish women, he was really in his element.  The mood eased up quickly, thanks to Tom, and the best line of the night came from bowler Lois Goldfein.  She was talking about how, years ago, they were getting pushed out of the PTA bowling league by younger women.  “They were having babies,” she said, “and we were having hysterectomies.”

My visit with the bowling league was back in 2006.  Now, most of the women are in their 80′s and no one is bowling anymore.  But they just had a reunion lunch yesterday, and my mom got a few updates.

Four of the ladies walk regularly at Lincolnwood Town Center mall.  Florence still makes beautiful, unusual baskets.  Eva’s daughter Debra Silverstein is running against Bernie Stone for alderman of the 50^th Ward.  My Aunt Sylvia has 19 grandchildren if my math is correct.  Lois Goldfein rarely misses a Bulls game.  Sy’s Lanes is closed.

And my Mom, I’m sure, has a typically spectacular dinner planned for tonight – the family is getting together to watch the premiere of some new show on Channel 11.

I can see now that one of the great things about putting this show together is going to be getting back in touch with the people I profiled over the last few years.  I just hung up with Sarge McKinnon.  When I did the story about the 16″ softball league in Washington Park, Sarge was the league commissioner and senior umpire.  At 77, he’s still the senior umpire.

Leonard "Sarge" McKinnon

Last Sunday was the final tournament at Washington Park – 34 teams competed on thirteen diamonds.  In the end, “Solution” came out on top, beating 2009 champs “Dog Pound.”

You can see the story of Sarge and the Washington Park league on October 15th at 7:30.

The show hasn’t even premiered yet and already there’s a blog? Will anyone read it? As we prepare to launch “Jay’s Chicago” – and as I get used to having my name in the title – this blog will be a place for me to tell you more about the people you’ll meet in the stories and to offer a glimpse behind the scenes.

Patrick Skoff's van

First, a little about the show. The stories you’ll see each week first aired on Chicago Tonight. So, yes, in a sense, they are reruns. Creative repurposing! But I’m willing to bet that you didn’t see most of them. Or any of them. Take a look at the few sneak previews we’re offering, then tune in on October 15th and Friday nights after that, and see what you think. And then tell us what you think.

One thing about that first story, “Art Hunt.” I just emailed Patrick Skoff yesterday to tell him that his twitter treasure hunt will be featured in the first episode of Jay’s Chicago. He told me that in November, he’s taking his show on the road. He’s loading his colorful, beat-up old van with paintings and driving across the country, giving them away as he goes.

And this afternoon, I’m off to shoot another story – about a guy who does what he calls “Sacred Transformations.” He covers tattoos or scars that represent something about your past that you want to leave behind. But he doesn’t just cover them – he works with you to design a new image to represent your new path, your new sobriety, new life, whatever. You can watch it on Chicago Tonight in a couple weeks, or on Jay’s Chicago later this season. Reduce, reuse, recycle!