As life returns to normal — at least for now — in Burr Ridge, citizens and visitors are again spending their time lounging and strolling along the Village Center sidewalks.
When they do, they might notice a few Easter eggs — namely quick poetry bites painted into the sidewalk.
It’s the work of English poet James McIerney, the founder of The Poetry Project. The project seeks to put poetry in unusual public locations as a way of inspiring passersby and adding a bit of surprise to otherwise usual spaces.
Ramzi Hassan, the president of Edwards Realty Company, the group that owns the Village Center, said he felt the project would be a natural fit for their properties. Besides the Burr Ridge Village Center, Edward Realty owns properties in Michigan and Missouri.
Hassan said he got on board after he saw the Poetry Project’s work online and the Edwards Realty folks got in touch. He pointed out that the Village Center has long been a focus for community and culture. In years past — and again this year — the Center is home to a farmers’ market, live music, parades and other events, so the partnership with McIerney seemed like a natural fit.
“Basically, they’re doing what we like to do, which is bring arts culture and community for our tenants and the customers in the communities we do business in,” Hassan said.
It helps that Hassan has a background in the arts. He’s a musician and a songwriter, so he appreciates wordplay.
“I have a close connection to the arts. I played in bands and wrote songs,” he said. “And we do a lot on the real estate side with marketing, so stuff like that does interest us as well as getting to be creative.”
The effort kicked off a few weeks ago and it’ll run all summer long, with the Easter egg poems changing every so often. Hassan said he’s heard only good things so far.
“It’s showed us there’s a pent-up demand for art and community in the post pandemic world,” he said. “We’ve gotten lots of messages, whether it’s random shoppers and they might mention something to one of the tenants, we’ve had a good response.”
Besides the poetry, weekly Thursday concerts return to the Village Center this week and the Sunday farmer’s market is already in full swing.
After a year without most of the public events — including the popular Halloween and Christmas events — Hassan said Burr Ridge residents seem eager to return to some form of normalcy.
Residents agree.
On Sunday Ruthann McCarty was out with her granddaughter at the farmer’s market. McCarty lives in Burr Ridge but her granddaughter, Meghan, was visiting from Hinsdale.
“She loves the music and she’s happy the concerts will begin again on Thursday,” McCarty said.
She said the last year was “kind of dead,” so McCarty said she’s excited this year is picking up and returning to normal.
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“I feel very fortunate I can continue to do my activities,” McCarty said.
Of all the folks who are happy life is returning to pre-pandemic normal, the musicians are thrilled. Pat Williams, a guitarist and singer with the band Vision in the Rhythm was playing with his partner Sunday. He said last year was slow, very, very slow.
“As a musician, (live music) is such a source of energy and therapy, it was hard to let it go,” he said.
Hassan said he’s gotten nothing but rave reviews from this year’s programming.
“It seems like the demand is there, so we’ve gotten a lot of messages about the concerts,” Hassan said.
And there’s more to come.
“We’ll be announcing a couple of other things toward the end of the year,” he said. This includes news of new stores opening as well as new events. But, in the meantime — and at least with the current COVID-19 guidelines, Hassan said residents can expect the usual slate of programming for the remainder of the year.
“Check our social media and follow us,” he said. “We’re going to be announcing a lot of new things. We hope to get the crowds back for that and build off of that and stay tuned for new tenant openings. We have a lot of activity in Burr Ridge and there will be a lot of new business coming.”
Jesse Wright is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.