The Story: Two artists invent a “twitter” treasure hunt to give away their art.
Update: Last we heard, Patrick Skoff and Sam Brown were traveling across the country in Patrick’s van, doing art hunts along the way.
Patrick's Van
More Info: Here is their website.
Find them on Twitter: @SkoffAndSam
Chicago Tribune article
Pete at Great Lakes Dragaway
The Story: The legendary drag strip in Union Grove, Wisconsin has been around since 1955. Now, in addition to all the regular racing, they have “Real Street Drags” nights, when they try to entice illegal street racers off the streets.
Behind the Story: The idea for this story came to me when I picked up my car from my mechanic, Pete. The place was closing, but there were a bunch of guys working on their own cars, getting them ready to race.
The last scene in the video – where I drive down the track – almost didn’t happen. They were about to close up for the night when someone’s engine exploded halfway down the track. Nobody was hurt, but they couldn’t clean it up in time for any more serious racing. I had wanted to race Pete — the idea of WTTW’s minivan racing Pete’s monster sounded too funny to pass up. That wouldn’t work if Pete couldn’t really drive fast, so instead I drove the track myself.
Update: In April 2011, Great Lakes Dragaway was selected as the most historically significant drag strip in an online poll.
More Info: Pete’s Auto Clinic is located at 3426 W Bryn Mawr Avenue in Chicago. Tell him Jay sent you.
Great Lakes Dragaway website
The story: Fritz Hocking is a musician and an avid cyclist. In March 2010, he was riding on the lakefront bike path when he swerved to miss some pedestrians, fell and fractured his pelvis. How safe is the lakefront path? Are changes necessary?
Behind the Story: Fritz’s wife Katie is a colleague of ours on Chicago Tonight. The idea for this story came when she told us about Fritz’s terrible fall.
Update: Fritz was back on his bike in 4 months and rode throughout the winter. Katie did her best not to think about it too much.
More Info: Active Transportation Alliance website.
Fritz Hocking’s website.
The story: Chicagoan Noam Pikelny is now considered one of the best and most innovative banjo players.
Behind the Story: Noam Pikelny’s mother was a teacher at my daughters’ elementary school. Years ago, I remember hearing that her young son played the banjo. How cute. Then I heard that he was playing gigs in a bluegrass band in middle school! That’s got my attention. Next I knew, the amazing mandolinist Chris Thile of Nickel Creek had tapped him to be part of his new venture, Punch Brothers. You mean I get to do a story about a young banjo virtuoso and meet Chris Thile? I’m there.
Punch Brothers
Update: Noam has been very busy since we did this story back in 2008. Here is some of the latest news:
Punch Brothers were recently featured in the March 2011 issue of Interview Magazine.
In Sept, 2010, Noam was the first recipiant of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. That came with a $50,000 award! Read the article here.
On November 5, 2010, he appeared on Late Show with David Letterman playing a comedic version of “Dueling Banjos” alongside Steve Martin, and later performed with Martin and Punch Brothers.
More Info: Noam’s myspace page
Punch Brothers website
The story: Chicago-area mountain biking? We’ve got a local expert – Pete Strazzabosco, author of Chicago Mountain Bike Trails Guide.
More info: Chicago Area Mountain Bikers website
Buy Pete’s book here.
Pete also has a website with photos of his favorite greasy Chicago food. It’s called Greasefreak.com.
The Story: When he’s not playing the french horn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dan Gingrich raises monarch butterflies.
Behind the Story: I got to bring home a chrysalis! I gave it to my sister for her birthday.
Update: Dan is still at it every year.
More information: Dan’s CSO bio
If you want to learn Dan’s monarch husbandry method, contact us.
The story: Wolf Lake anglers raise money to stock the lake annually with walleye.
More info: The organization responsible for the fish stocking is Perch America.
The story: A Chicago woman was frustrated by the lack of social interaction across cultural and racial boundaries. She created “Across the Table” to help bridge the gap.
More Info: Across the Table website
Here’s an article that featured Lauren Grossman and Across the Table in TimeOut Chicago in 2009.
Sign-up for the next meal here
The Story: Two Chicago nuns hold a weekly vigil for detained immigrants.
Update: Sister Joann Persch and Sister Pat Murphy will be featured in an upcoming documentary called “Band of Sisters”. Read more here.
More info: Here is more information about the weekly vigil.
Illinois Entertainer writer Cara Jepsen wrote about Jay’s Chicago in her Media column this month. It includes a line which I swear was not paid for by my mother:
“Watching the show for the first time, I was riveted, and felt a deep connection to the city. I was also impressed by the respect Shefsky showed for his subjects.”
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