Opening Night! June 13, 2014 is the official reopening of the old ITC Theater. A completely new…read morecompany and format. Tonight they gave a sample of the type of performances to be presented and provided details about the other offerings of the Speakers, Publishers & Authors Association. The event was free to the public. In general, the acting was fair with an exceptional light (name to be inserted once I recall it). They sound needs work, to be expected when you're new to a building. Hopefully it will be fine tuned sooner than later. Poor sound can ruin the entire production. The band was AMAZING! I would pay to hear them. I was not impressed by some of the singing. Missed notes and flat chords were noted here and there. The event felt more like a recital but I expect productions to be more professional and tuned. Tonight's event was laid back and conducive to mingling and discovering this new gem in Park Forest. Big shoes to fill for sure. The old ITC had variety and a host of great performers, many who are working in Hollywood today (Michael Shannon, to name one). SPAA Theater had a decent start tonight.

From the owner: We are a small not for profit 180-seat, community theatre. We provide quality live theatre in the…read moreSouth Suburbs, everyone is welcome our foal is to Invoke the imagination, Provoke the senses and Stimulate the emotions of everyone that comes to our theatre.

Our CEO Joseph C. Dunmore Sr…read more We tried to give a event at Freedom Hall April 12, 2014 Where we were treat badly as a theater company of artist as we came under the name of Dunmore Music for our concert event. Our CEO rented the theater for our showcases of great artist that came from the community. He paid in full 1,600.00 for the full rental in two parts 800.00 deposit and the Friday before the event he paid 800.00. The CEO brought our own sound system in which the house engineer didn't approval of a JBL, EV, Crewin-Vega,Tascam 3500 System this was one of our best sound system. He acted as if we trying to hurt him in our goal to save money. As far as management of the theater they sided with him but took our money for the event. We had a great outstanding showcase it was our first major event as a theater company of artist. We had great people at our event from Ford Motor Co Assembly Plant and The Isley Bros Family Members. We had about 160 patrons to our event as we had plan to have many more events there. There was no trouble at our event and we had a great Powerhousevideo of Oak Lawn IL. filming our concert event. Now we also was a part of the community as renter of a recording studio Dunmore Music sound reinforcement company in Park Forest IL. on 25 Main Street for 8 to 9 years and we would do about 3-4 concert on the area called Greens in Park Forest IL. The manager was not to bad st all Ms.N.Fells she gave us that true break we needed as Mr. Chuck Sabey was good to us until his sound engineer wanted run our showcase which made it a problem. Now that when everything came falling down on us in our rental event of the theater for more than one event that we planned to do at least 10-20 concerts there at Freedom Hall in Park Forest IL. Freedom Hall responded by saying no by Mr. Chuck Sabey and Ms. N. Fells. This all came about because of the sound tech wanted control of our concert event showcase. This was not a fair in business at all to us as a team of great artist for our first event there. We have our event on youtube.com at Dunmore Music. They need to give us a total apologize as we did paid honest money for our concert event. This concert was organized by people,church members and sponsors who live in the surrounding communities and supported business in Park Forest IL area. Oh by the way this was a clean music event that was always order by our CEO Mr. Joseph C. Dunmore Sr. A very decent christian person that would give his best for our team at all cost. A linkedin member Public Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-c-dunmore-sr-3a630719

A great intimate venue to enjoy music, plays and lectures. Best kept secret in the southland.read more

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park is a great hidden gem on Governors State University's campus…read more I can't even remember how I found out about it, but I was probably looking for outdoor activities that I wasn't already sick of. Either way, I'm glad I made my way here. We still haven't covered the full grounds because of the size, but we'll come back when we have more time to fully explore all of the sculptures and nature areas. The layout can be a little tricky, but if you're up for an afternoon of wandering, it's perfect. We even did our 2020 holiday card photo here.

I read about this park in the Tribune and couldn't believe it existed. I'm pretty well informed…read moreabout outdoor activities and things to see and do..but this one flew under the radar. Until today. Beautiful day to roam around a fairly large expanse of land. The Governor's State website says the grounds here measure 100 acres. It's a big place. The only bummer that I found with the website is that there isn't a map that guides you to the various sculptures. You have to find them all yourself, which, it's hard to track down some of them. We spent a few hours here and maybe found close to 25 of the supposed 29 sculptures. The sculptures themselves greatly range in size, form, composition and design. You know what they say about art..it's all in the eye of the beholder. Sculpture is no different, but usually sculptures are a little bit easier to enjoy give the size and difficulty to build them. I think our fav was the Paul Bunyan. Hard not to dote on the big fella. There was a white twisty orb thing too that I thought was pretty cool. In all honesty there wasn't a sculpture that I didn't enjoy. Whether you're a fan of art, looking to get outdoors, enjoy walking, or just like a little eye candy in your day..this is a good place to check out. And..it's free. Open 365 days a year. Enjoy!

I played a member for a day event and was so impressed I joined the country club two years ago. A…read moregreat golf course, nice clubhouse, and friendly people at a price lower than anything in the area. We even had my son's wedding reception at the club and it was a great night at a reasonable price. I couldn't be happier!

Amazing innovative art venue that i wish i was closer to! So many talented artists and exhibits…read morealong w other programs in technology or sound meditations in the gallery space that i fondly remember. Flutes & crystal bowls was one!

Union Street is a very cozy comfortable gallery and always has an array of unique art. You can also…read morevisit the artists workshops. I've been going there for years and really enjoy it, I even became a member.JoJo

PADS is a homelessness services charity/organization with 30+ emergency shelters and a myriad of…read moresocial services and resources for the underserved homeless population in the Southland. I've been a volunteer with this org for many years and I can easily say that I have had some AMAZING times working with PADS in the past. I have learned important lessons about life,and this kind of work blesses you with being able to be a part of helping someone when they need it most. But, like most things in life, the intention is good,but flawed execution can truly take things so far off path that the result is unrecognizable. I've always admired the hard work, dedication, and pure intentions of some of the staff I know. (Most are no longer associated with the org).However, the organization is going downhill rapidly. You can never get the same answer for a simple question if you are made to ask more than one person. In fact you often get exact opposite answers. You can't get in touch with anyone without leaving half a dozen messages. The annual "Gala"fundraiser is a huge, unfortunate, antiquated mess run by out of touch or undereducated volunteers who tend to feed off ego and self-righteousness. There are truly altruistic people involved, but they are overworked, underappreciated, and quite honestly, often treated abusively by the volunteer managers/staff and some of the homeless guests as well. It's a huge commitment for a volunteer and those individuals are, more often than not, taken completely for granted. The biggest criticism I have is that this system of emergency shelters is meant to be a temporary shelter for critical need, yet there are a large percentage of the guest population who are all allowed to use the sites instead as permanent rotating rent free housing. They simply travel to the different church shelter sites each night, every week, every month, every season, every year for years and years. I mean it's not uncommon for guests to have been coming for 8+ years or longer. They are fed hot meals, often elaborate buffet or catering style dinners and breakfasts, and take full lunches to go when they leave in the morning. That is a beautiful way to serve people who've hit a rough patch, however it's a sign to allow SO MANY to abuse the resources by taking continuously without end in sight. Twice as many people could be fed if resources were more responsibly managed. It's a classic example of the proverb Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he will eat forever. So many people are giving giving giving,without thought for the consequences of creating dependency or an environment too readily taken advantage of. You don't know what "entitled" sounds like until you are serving someone a lovely, volunteer donated, homemade, hot, french toast casserole for breakfast just to hear people complain that it needs more cinnamon or how it's otherwise flawed. A restaurant dropped off an amazing full spiral ham with all the trimmings for dinner at one site I was at and some guests claimed they were treated horribly and "fed slop". I site these examples not to defame the homeless population but to illustrate the harsh shelter culture of no accountability or graciousness that's been allowed to grow unchecked throughout the shelter system. This only serves to taint and darken the original, honorable mission that PADS began with so many years ago. What I've learned through PADS is to give time, not money or donations until they have improved their responsibility with those gifts. But, not they are phasing out many sites and shutting down shelters throughout the system because churches are closing left and right and grant money isn't their anymore for temporary shelters, the government is supporting providing people with permanent housing. So, in the end perhaps look elsewhere to volunteer.

While there are many organizational and process problems at many non-profit organizations, the…read morethrust and genuineness of SSP is prevalent and shown through their care for the plight of the homeless. The many volunteers and volunteer church shelters are a refreshing beacon when compared to the overall nonchalant and uncaring sentiments that appear to be coming from our government. I volunteer because I am starkly aware that their plight could be my own. I volunteer because I want those truly in need to know that society understands and cares about them and even more importantly want to help. I volunteer because there is nothing like seeing someone transformed from a desolate countenance to being hopeful and confident for their future. PADS is a wonderful, caring organization despite its need for an improvement in strategic management.

I grew up going to this neighborhood theater as a kid/young adult, but I have not set foot inside…read morein over 15 years. I was in town and decided to got to the movies on a slow Wednesday night. It was nice to see all the changes in this place, the games in the front lobby, the large concession stand with a menu of snacks and a few hot items. I ordered the fried pickles (medallions, not spears) which were great. The seats were comfortable, and had a nice amount of recline to them. Overall, outside of having to leave the theater to get my food (spoiled by the Texas theaters I frequent who serve you at the seat), I had a great time and I'll be sure to check out this theater again when I'm back in town.

Everything worst movie theater location in the franchise place should be replaced…read more Teenagers steady blocking view running in and out of movie theater very annoying