The LATE Ride is Coming!

How about a party on a bike?  Imagine a 25-mile leisure ride (no hills, just a little bit on the bridges) through the city we love, Chinatown, Greek Town, the north side, grassy parks, and the incredible lakefront paths (never open at night except at our event).  Cap it off with a sunrise over Lake Michigan.

It's Chicago's L.A.T.E. ride (Long After Twilight Ends!)  Make sure to sign up, we usually have 9,000 participants at this fundraiser for Friends of the Parks.  Thanks to CBS2 Chicago for their sponsorship.

Here's the plan.  Come out Saturday night, June 30, to Buckingham Fountain for fun starting before midnight...then technically the ride starts on Sunday, July 1 at 1 a.m.

Forget the bike lanes, you'll be riding right down the middle of Chicago streets for the tour of a lifetime.  Sign up at www.lateride.org.  Your money goes to a great cause and the goody bag is awesome.   See you after dark!

Back2School Supplies Campaign

Back to school can mean peer pressure and stress for kids who don't have school supplies to be able to function within the classroom.  Kudos to the Illinois Currency Exchange Foundation and also many thanks to NBC 5 morning team Daniella Guzman and Stefan Holt for being the honored emcees at the upcoming fundraiser/lunch at Maggiano's on June 19.  This year, ICECF's Back2School program will provide school supplies to nearly 20,000 underserved children in Chicagoland and Illinois.  What a great thing.  Not only does this help families tremendously if they simply cannot afford the supplies, it also helps the teachers who always try to help kids as much as they can by personally buying supplies.  Isn't it amazing what people can achieve working together?  Personally, I'd like to find my 5th grade teacher Bob Sakchewsky...I went to a small private school in NY... maybe 30 kids in my class and I owe my tremendous math and spelling skills to him.  In fact, I wouldn't be in PR today were it not for him as he entered an essay I wrote into a statewide contest (unbeknownst to me) and I won.  And, seriously, that is why I decided to get a journalism degree many years later.  So thanks to teachers who give their all, and people who contribute to kids well-being and school supplies!  Visit www.icecf.org or call 847.268.3550 or email info@icecf.org to reserve tickets to the luncheon ($85 each prior to    June 5).  Or, if you'd simply like to donate a few dollars into a canister, visit any of the 400 local Currency Exchanges after June 1 and you can do that.  THANK YOU!

Tune in Saturday...!

Reality Weight Loss TV

Tune in this weekend for Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, the premiere of a new reality weight loss show airing on NBC Nonstop.

Fitness guru Andrea Metcalf is the host, with 8 contestants with compelling stories and 8 incredible trainers ready to make their weight loss goals a reality.

Contestants are PAID $10 for every pound they lose and can win $5,000 upon reaching goal weight in 12 weeks.

Airs on 5.2 on NBC CHicago Nonstop, or in cable households on Comcast 341, RCN 50 and WOW 130.

Runs every Saturday, and again on Sunday, at 1 pm starting this weekend for 12 weeks.

Life Time Chicago Triathlon

The 2011 Life Time Chicago Triathlon topped the list. Congrats to female pro triathlete Sarah Haskins on her three-peat (3 consecutive wins at the Chicago Triathlon 2009 - 2011, first-time in triathlon history!) and for being such a great gal. And to first-time winner Matt Chrabot, who has Chicago roots. It's always great to see Mike Adamle broadcasting from the finish line for NBC5 and always a great day when you can smile at the end of the day and know that every single media outlet covered this great event in spite of Hurricane Irene. The press in this city is amazing and we have an outstanding Mayor who came out and raced the event as a private citizen and had a lot of fun. Who could ask for a more glorious day?

100th Anniversary of East Lake Shore Drive!

Working with the Benjamin Marshall Society to produce the 100th Anniversary of East Lake Shore Drive celebration at The Drake definitely made me a fan of this historic architect.

Many thanks to Walter Jacobson, legendary Jimmy Damon, Christie Hefner and William Marovitz, Blair Kamin, Bill Zwecker, and all the other folks who lent me their valued support.

Greenbuild

Greenbuild comes to McCormick Place next week and local Sloan Valve Company is the Platinum sponsor. What an unsung hero with solar panels and wind turbines on the rooftop of their Franklin Park plant and national headquarters, they definitely are green giants. The champions of water-saving, energy-saving products, just wait til you see their Corn Cob sinks, solar faucets and sooooo... much more. Plus a very green announcement for Chicago schools.

If you aren't attending that mega-tradeshow...then you can read all about it and check it out on the news.

By the way, my new office is on the 5th floor of Greenview in Lakeview, and sports a gigantic green roof!

It's cool to be green...