50th Anniversary Committee

ECC's 50th Anniversary Committee is responsible for planning and coordinating ECC's golden anniversary activities and events. It meets the third Monday of every month in the Stetson Conference Room on the first floor of ECC's office, 6044 North Broadway, Chicago.

For information on ECC's 50th Anniversary activities and events, visit http://www.EdgewaterCommunityCouncil.org/50.

The year was 1960 and a dynamic, new community organization was born. The Edgewater Community Council (ECC) has been lighting the way forward on important neighborhood issues for fifty years.

Through ECC's leadership, such community icons as the Edgewater Library, Broadway Armory Park, the Edgewater Historical Society, the North Lakeside Cultural Center and Berger Park mansions, the Edgewater Development Corporation, and the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce came into existence. ECC pioneered the CAPS program with the Chicago Police Department right here in Edgewater, worked to clean up crime, drug activity, and slum buildings along Winthrop and Kenmore and other areas, and preserved hundreds of units of affordable housing.

ECC's program to provide food and clothing to those in need, Care for Real, has been serving Edgewater for more than 40 years. With cooperation from religious institutions, businesses, individuals and many volunteers, Care for Real serves over 3,000 people every month.

Today, ECC also offers senior citizen, immigrant, youth, housing, and safety programs, many of which also serve low- to moderate-income residents of Edgewater. In addition, our Edgewater Beautiful Committee works to clean and beautify the neighborhood, while the Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project aims to make Edgewater the "greenest" community in Chicago.

The 50th Anniversary Committee plans to celebrate these landmark accomplishments with a series of events throughout the anniversary year. It has chosen a lighthouse as the symbol of ECC's steadfast commitment through five decades to serve the people of Edgewater. The lighthouse reflects ECC's 50th Anniversary theme, "Lighting the Way for 50 Years." ECC's 50th anniversary logo (shown above), blending together the theme, the lighthouse symbol, and our iconic wave logo, was designed for ECC by Edgewater artist Dorothy Mason.

Please mark your calendars for these major 50th Anniversary events:

Tuesday, April 20: "Sacred Seeds" - Please visit the 50th Anniversary page for details on this event, which ECC is co-sponsoring with ECRA, the Edgewater Community Religious Association.

Saturday, July 9, and Sunday, July 10: Visual and performance artists will be featured at a celebration of the arts in Edgewater, held on our glorious lakefront at Berger Park and the North Lakeside Cultural Center.

Saturday, October 2: A gala dinner will be held at Misericordia to celebrate ECC's golden anniversary. Mayor Richard M. Daley and First Lady Maggie Daley are our honorary co-chairs of the event, which will include surprise guests and special entertainment.

We will soon be announcing an innovative "street art" program which we hope will provide an exciting summer for Edgewater.

We're looking for volunteers to assist with these activities, so please contact the ECC office at (773) 334-5609 or visit the 50th Anniversary page of ECC's website for information on how you can get involved.

Reggie Griffin
ECC President
Co-Chair, ECC 50th Anniversary Committee                  

Marion Volini
Former 48th Ward Alderman and ECC President
Co-Chair, ECC 50th Anniversary Committee