Walk aims to reclaim the peace in Elgin
Neighbors on Elgin's near-east side say they have had enough gang violence and are reclaiming their streets for peace with a special walk this Friday.
A Walk for Peace, organized by the Summit Park Neighborhood Association, will kick off with an escort by Elgin Police at 8 p.m. Friday at Clara Howard Park on Freemont Street between Hill Avenue and North Gifford Street.
The 14-block walk will continue south on Hill and proceed west on North Street to Dundee Avenue, where it will end near the Burger King parking lot.
Anyone is welcome, if they are a local resident or not, and should bring a small flashlight or candle and comfortable walking shoes, said Jim Vaughn, president of the Summit Park Neighborhood Association. Attendees are encouraged to walk quietly to symbolize unity, he explained.
"We want this to be a high-profile event -- something that will proclaim a message of peace to the whole neighborhood," said Vaughn. "The shooting we had in our neighborhood proved that by picking up a phone, residents can stop gang violence quickly without having it fester. The police were there in seconds and caught (the suspects) within one hour. That is powerful."
Vaughn is referring to a shooting incident the afternoon of Aug. 30, in which three Elgin teenagers were charged. Scottie T. Rasavady, 17, of 310 Hill Ave., and two 15-year-olds were taken into custody around 4:15 p.m. -- one hour after the shooting -- after witnesses said they saw them run into the Hill Avenue home after the incident.
No one was injured, but the shooting occurred within one half-block of Sheridan Elementary School at Franklin Boulevard and Hill Avenue. The school had sent most of its students home at 2:30 p.m.. However, as precaution, Principal Myrna Burgos locked the school down until the shooters were located, she said on Tuesday to nearly 80 people who crowded the Sheridan School cafeteria during an informational meeting on the incident.
"No one could come in the school and no one could leave," she told the crowd while translating in Spanish and English.
In addition to attending the walk, Vaughn encouraged residents to form neighborhood watch groups and to attend the association's meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Bethesda Community Center, 453 Freemont St. He said residents are key to working with police and other authorities, as well as helping on improvement projects. Following a $3 million project that has brought new streets and sidewalks to the area, the association is set to install decorative new street name signs etched with the neighborhood's logo.
"You're talking about the one pair of eyes of a police officer compared to the hundreds of pairs of eyes in our community," he said. "There is no match for that and it makes the people who are up to no good in our community feel uncomfortable. That is what we need."
Janithina Rivera, who also attended the informational meeting last Tuesday at Sheridan, told the audience that her neighborhood watch group has been very successful in improving neighborhood relations on Tennyson Court -- a narrow, one-way street between Division and North Streets.
"We had situations where people were playing their loud music until 2 or 3 in the morning," she explained. "I talked with the people and told them, 'Look. We are neighbors. It is better for us to work this situation out among ourselves rather than getting the police involved.' Since then, it's been amazing how much things have quieted down."
Rivera, a former 911 dispatcher, volunteered her English-Spanish translation skills to the Summit Park Neighborhood Association to help Vaughn with the huge influx of new members.
"Our group is not here to sit around and take things lightly," said Vaughn. "We want to be active. We are not going to take it while leaving our hands behind our backs."