The Oak Park Farmers’ Market opens this Saturday, May 23, continuing its tradition of providing fresh, local food and a hub for social connection for more than five decades. The Market takes place from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday of the season in the Pilgrim Congregational Church parking lot at 460 Lake St., one block west of Ridgeland Avenue. Patrons will have the opportunity to enjoy the Market for an additional two weeks this year, as the Village has opted to keep the Market open for 26 weekends, extending the season until Saturday, Nov. 14. More than two dozen local independent farmers and producers will participate in the 2026 Market, offering seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, meat, fish, cheese, eggs, flowers, bread, grains and honey. The Market hosts special events throughout the season, including Go Green Days this Saturday and May 30, featuring sustainability organizations and initiatives in Oak Park. The Village’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience will be giving away 200 one-gallon tree saplings this Saturday as part of its Climate Ready Canopy program on a first-come, first-served basis. The latest episode of the Village’s Inside Oak Park podcast features a preview of the 2026 Farmers’ Market season with Farmers’ Market Manager Jack Carmody along with a separate discussion of the state’s Lead Service Line Replacement requirement. For more information about the Farmers’ Market, visit www.oak-park.us/farmersmarket.

Oak Park joined communities around the country to celebrate the American Public Works Association’s (APWA) National Public Works Week from May 17-23. On Tuesday, staff opened the doors to the Public Works Center for a Touch a Truck event and open house. Hundreds of residents stopped by to interact with staff and get up close to some of the equipment and vehicles used to keep Oak Park running every day. Click here for a photo gallery of the event. Earlier in the day, employees gathered for the annual staff celebration. Attendees enjoyed pizza and barbeque for lunch from a local food truck before Administrative Assistant Anita Bahena and ABM contract engineer Brendan Martin teamed up to win the bags tournament.

Four-time United States Olympian and Oak Park native Emery Lehman was celebrated on Tuesday evening at the Village Board meeting. Lehman, an accomplished speedskater, concluded his Olympic run earlier this year in Italy by winning a silver medal in team pursuit. He made his Olympic debut as a 17-year-old at the Sochi Games in 2014, the same year he graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School. In addition to a Proclamation read in his honor, Lehman was presented with a Key to the Village, a new honor reserved for those who have brought exceptional distinction to Oak Park. Click here to read more about the recognition.

Village Manager Kevin Jackson will be speaking at the Triton College School of Continuing Education’s Business & Industry Executive Roundtable at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 4. Manager Jackson will join a panel discussion entitled "Building a Skilled Workforce: Funding, Training, and Retention Strategies for Employers." Panelists will explore practical solutions for employers, including workforce funding, training opportunities and strategies to retain and strengthen their workforce. Click here to register to attend the event. A continental breakfast will be provided for attendees.

Economic Vitality staff attended the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Convention this week in Las Vegas. The ICSC Convention is the largest commercial real estate convention in the world. This year approximately 25,000 real estate professionals attended the event. Staff scheduled approximately 30 meetings with retailers, restaurants, brokers and developers regarding the benefits of locations in Oak Park. The meetings focused on vacant storefronts, available sites and development and redevelopment opportunities in Oak Park. Attending the ICSC convention is one of many of the business attraction objectives in the Village’s Economic Vitality Strategy.

The Village was recently selected as one of 10 municipalities across the country to participate in the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Legacy Forward initiative. This program, with support from the Nasdaq Foundation, is designed to help participating communities retain and grow legacy businesses that have been in operation for over 20 years, as well as second-stage businesses that have moved past the start-up phase and are seeking to better scale their operations. Representatives from the Village’s Office of Economic Vitality and the Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce will attend training sessions, webinars and peer-to-peer learning over the next nine months of the Legacy Forward program. Click here to learn more.

The Public Health Department held a successful blood drive this past Tuesday, May 19. Throughout the day, 28 community members, including several Village employees, donated via the American Red Cross in Room 101 at Village Hall. Twenty-three of the donors were first-time donors! These donations will be added to the local blood supply and help address the national blood shortage, as the U.S. is facing the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years. 

Mary Naughton, Maxie Moses and Vanessa Matheny from the Village’s E.C.H.O. team hosted the second E.C.H.O. Exchange community engagement event today at Wise Cup. The team was joined by members of the Police and Public Health Departments as Police Officers Christine Simkus, Mike Kelly and Eric Locke and Pawfficer Howie stopped by along with Public Health Nurse Betty Arguezo-González and Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner Chris Simpkins. The event was well attended by more than 40 residents and provided an opportunity for community members to learn more about the role of E.C.H.O. in addressing community-based support services throughout Oak Park. Staff highlighted how the strong collaboration between E.C.H.O. and the Police, Fire and Public Health Departments ensure residents are connected to appropriate resources and support systems through a coordinated, compassionate response model. Referrals can be submitted to the E.C.H.O. team through the Village’s referral database.

The Village is developing a Community Engagement Playbook to help guide how the organization communicates and gathers community input on projects, programs, policy decisions and other initiatives that impact Oak Park residents. As part of this process, Village officials want to hear directly from the community about what is working well, where improvements are needed and how residents prefer to receive information and participate in Village initiatives. Community feedback will help inform the design of the Playbook and future engagement practices across Village government. Take the survey and share your input via the Village's Engage Oak Park website.

This week is National Emergency Medical Services Week, celebrating the EMS professionals that perform the essential roles in our communities. Every Oak Park firefighter is crossed trained as a paramedic. EMS services are an integral part of Fire Department, accounting for more than 60% of call for service.

Village Hall will be closed on Monday, May 25 in observance of Memorial Day. Oak Park’s annual community Memorial Day ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the Peace Triumphant Monument in Scoville Park. Refuse and recycling collection will be delayed by one day next week as a result of the holiday. Should an incident that doesn't quite rise to the level of a 911 emergency occur when Village Hall is closed, residents may call the Police Department non-emergency number 708.386.3800 for assistance. For more information about Village Hall hours, visit www.oak-park.us/villagehall. Click to edit this placeholder text.

Several new employees arrived this week, including three new Parking Compliance Specialists within the Development Services Department. Robert Murillo, Kinita Seals and Alisia Lewis are the three newcomers to the Parking and Mobility Services Division team. Meanwhile, the Public Works Department welcomed new Forestry Technician Will Nash and new Water & Sewer Worker Nic Motter. Anika Gupta and Samuel Rivera also started as summer engineering interns with the Public Works Department.

Renew the Avenue update – The electrical contractor continues removal of the existing lighting infrastructure and installation of temporary lighting as crews prepare for new lighting between Pleasant Street and Lake Street in the coming weeks. The water utility crew continues to install the remaining drainage structures and complete water service valve adjustments in preparation for water service transfers next week pending approval of the new water main system by the Illinois EPA. The concrete crew is busy this week wrapping up the pavement patching and curb work on the outer blocks between Lake and Ontario Street and Randolph Street to Pleasant. The paving crew will be onsite next week milling these two blocks and paving the leveling course, weather permitting.  Lastly, Union Pacific has mobilized on site to perform structural steel repairs to the bridge overpass between South Boulevard and North Boulevard on Oak Park Avenue.

Alley improvement project – To date, three alleys have been fully completed and reopened to vehicular access (the alleys between the 300 blocks of N. Humphrey Ave. and N. Austin Blvd., the alley between the 900 blocks of Hayes Ave. and N. Taylor Ave., and the alley on the 300 block of S. Lombard Ave. and S. Taylor Ave.). Sewer Improvements were recently completed in the alley on the 1150 block of S. Grove Ave. and S. Oak Park Ave. Sewer crews will began work in the alley at the 200 block of S. Kenilworth Ave. and S. Grove Ave. this week. Pavement removals began in the alley between the 300 block of S. Euclid Ave. and S. Oak Park Avenue this week, beginning the 21-day closure period.

Rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) installations – The contractor continued the installation of the underground conduit for the bike push buttons this week, which included completing the Ridgeland Avenue/Thomas Street, Ridgeland/Le Moyne Parkway and Augusta Street/Fair Oaks Avenue intersections. The contractor will continue the installations into next week. Parkways will be restored following the completion of the conduit installations.

Oak Park is being featured as a premier Chicagoland travel destination by several national media platforms. Travel + Leisure recently published an article touting Oak Park as a must-visit suburb for its abundance of Frank Lloyd Wright homes – click here to read the article. Travel + Leisure’s website attracts a monthly audience of more than 11.1 million unique visitors. Meanwhile, Modern Luxury published The Ultimate Guide to Oak Park on its website, where it is expected to attract more than 170,000 views. Explore Oak Park and Beyond assisted in facilitating the media coverage.

Stories From The 78, a local storytelling website dedicated to celebrating Chicago’s culture, neighborhoods and hidden gems, recently featured Oak Park’s Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum. Click here to view the video and written story. Explore Oak Park and Beyond assisted in facilitating the coverage of the popular Oak Park attraction.