AHHH... LA GRANGE!

I wish I had that doctored Photoshop picture in my hands right now: the one of the front entrance and upstairs windows of La Grange Village Hall -- made to look like a bottle in all those smart Absolut Vodka advertisements.

When the photo was suspiciously circulated around town, I believe on a parade day around the time the so-called Triangle redevelopment project was getting underway earlier this decade, there were folks around town willing and ready to express their usually pointed opinions.

It was a typical response from the people who populate this great community which we consider our home away from home, where we eat, entertain friends and enjoy the nightlife -- where public banter, debate and discussion on just about everything is commonplace, a way of life you might say. It's probably your favorite place, cause it's where you come home at night.

Just this week, a standing-room-only crowd of 80 residents and downtown business and property owners crammed into the Village Hall to listen as trustees vociferously debated whether it was legal and appropriate for La Grange to help fund $1.725 million of an estimated $3.13 million proposed renovation of the 83-year-old La Grange Theatre.

And despite nearly three hours of discussion, the nay-sayers failed to overwhelmingly convince others that making the investment was not a good use of tax increment financing funds.

Theater owners John Rot and avid Rizner, arguing the movie house, long ago coverted into four separate auditoriums, has become rundown and less attractive in recent years. They bought it in May of 2004 in hopes of revitalizing it and have already invested $350,000 in upgrades.

The La Grange Business Association had pledged to raise $50,000 to fix the marquee and they say they will invest another $1 million if the village can come up with the rest.

Take the last time the La Grange Theatre hit the headlines. It had new suitors hoping to turn the longtime family establishment into a brew-and-view where moviegoers could quaff a beer while watching the latest second-run flick (that, too failed, but only because financing fell through).

We also remember not that long ago when the ice cream shop on Catherine started allowing its young clientel to push the tables and chairs aside and dance to swing music (Remember the newspaper letter writer proclaiming, 'What's next? Bendable straws?!').

We also recall when the cigar store was denied its civic right to have its customers actually smoke out on the sidewalk.

Now everybody's out there puffin' away, not just there but everywhere (another issue, another time).

Some lifelong East Siders I know recall the days when things like the lunch counter sit-in at the Fifth Avenue Walgreens ruffled local feathers, and the hullabaloo when -- yes, EVERYBODY! -- was able to don their swimsuits and take a dip at the new, albeit short-lived Cossitt School natatorium or when houses were actually moved east of Bluff Road from what some there playfully call La Grange's West Side.

That was then and this is now, but then and now and many times in between, the people of La Grange have spoken out and let their voices be heard and as a result many good things have happened over the years.

Not only when one proposes new development, but during elections when caucuses think they rule the roost do residents provide their input. They do it quietly when that guy recites Bible verses outside McDonalds at rush hour and they did it loudly when the Democrats seized control of Lyons Township and sold the Town Hall to La Grange more than 20 years ago.

For years, the forum for those kinds of opinions, stands and platforms has been newspapers and, thankfully, that still is the case. But the online community has spurned all kinds of debate, from writers calling themselves journalists and real journalists like us at www.OnLaGrange.com.

We really look forward to continuing to give you an objective, unbiased interpretation of the news and occasionally, as always, let you know what's on our mind. But mostly, we are hoping to hear from you.

With a combined experience in the field of more than 60 years, we believe we have a lot of integrity and a good rep. We know a lot of folks in town and they know our past work.

We plan to first and foremost be an accurate and dependable source of fresh news affecting your community. And we hope we will help frame the discussion and debate that surrounds many an issue in La Grange.

That's what makes me so excited about this new endeavor. It's my hope and that of my colleagues that www.OnLaGrange.com will be a new presence in the village on the tracks, a catalyst for lively, fair and frank discussion of the issues that affect and impact La Grange residents, workers, bartenders, business and property owners, movers and shakers and commoners like you and I.

If you agree, we want to hear from you. if you don't, we expect many of your repeated and threatening calls and emails (we're kidding, of course!). If you just don't care, waste your time and contact us anyway.

Most of our stories and entries on the web page will invite reaction and response. We just ask that you be fair and truthful and not use much profanity.

Whether I'm telling you about the La Grange Road entrepreneur's century-old residence with the jacuzzis and an elevator; sharing what people used to say about 'those' YMCA residents and what some of them have to say about you; how accessible downtown sidewalks really are to the disabled or whether a certain downtown store just needs to relocate once and for all, to somewhere else other than here, I expect to hear from you.

Sometimes, I may simply have good news to share, like the fact that a longtime Historic District homeowner, former La Grange Area Historical Society volunteer archivist Jeanne Hayden celebrated her 80th birthday with family and friends last week at her La Grange Road home.

If you know or knew Jeanne, drop her a line. Or, let us know how she's touched your life or benefited the community through her years of volunteerism.

She was one of the first women to work at the Community Nurse thrift shop under the tutelage of former Township Supervisor Ann Painter of the La Grange Highlands. And, I understand, one heck of bridge player and Pet Parade party hostess. Happy Birthday, Jeanne!

I look forward to this hopefully as much as you do. If you're not as involved in the community or neighborhood as you'd like, try us out. In a way, we're a new kind of newspaper in a new kinda town.

Ahhh, La Grange! We just can't wait for today's mail.