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!