Woodridge Hawks fans commits her garage to the Indian
How much does Lee Ann Stawczyk love the Blackhawks? Let her count the ways:
The Woodridge woman has been enamored with ice hockey for 50 years, since Elmer Vasko of the 1961 Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks moved three doors down from her childhood home.
She saw 10 games live last season and never, ever misses one on TV.
Her car sports two signs of devotion - a Blackhawks license plate rim and spare tire cover.
And when her beloved Hawks secured their trip to the Stanley Cup Finals last Sunday, Stawczyk and her best friend Jill Ferree were inspired to create their ultimate team tribute.
"We jumped up screaming and hugging at their win and it was like we just knew what we had to do," Stawczyk said.
And so the roommates spent three days this week painting a nearly four-foot-tall mural of the Blackhawks logo on the garage of their home on the 8100 block of Paddington Road. It's a way to tell the world, Stawczyk says, how much she cares.
The undertaking was no small task. Stawczyk made a photocopy of the logo from her Hawks jersey, turned the copy into a transparency, and then projected it onto her garage for tracing. After three hours, she had created a makeshift paint-by-numbers outline on the garage door.
The women then took turns painting details over three days this week, spending about 20 hours on the project.
"This is definitely the craziest, most outrageous thing I've ever done for the Hawks," Stawczyk said.
But it won't be the last. If the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup - or "when they win," as Stawczyk insists - the women plan to paint an image of the Stanley Cup on one side of the Hawks logo, and the year "2010" on the other side.
"I'll stay up all night to do it if I have to," Stawczyk said.
Then again, she might get a little help. Neighbors and even some strangers have shown nothing but support for the initial mural, Stawczyk said.
A 5-year-old neighbor came to help on the first day of painting, strangers honk their horns to cheer, and neighbor Diane Bosman periodically stops by to check on the project that she says is "just amazing." Even the Woodridge police drove by, complimented Stawczyk on her work, and made a suggestion: Get a floodlight to train on the mural so the world can see it at night.
Not that Hawks will lose, mind you, but Stawczyk and Ferree say their artwork is here to stay, regardless of the outcome of the Cup.
"Why would we want to paint over this?" Ferree said. "In fact, I'm looking into whether or not we need to seal this to protect it."
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