Victims of Crimes

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Homeless Story in DuPage County, Illinois USA

On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, www.villageoflombard.org, the Village of Lombard Police under Ray Byrne and Dan Cuny, including the former chief of the Fire Department headed by George Seagraves and Keith Steiskal, Lombard Department of Buildings caused criminal disaster demolition following roofing destruction and water damages and losses to the Hung Family’s Lombard Historic Brick Bungalow, www.preservehistoricestate.zoomshare.com, at 502 S. Westmore-Meyers Road and Washington Boulevard in the Village of Lombard, Du Page County, Illinois 60148-3028, in the , www.2008damagesandlossescausedbylombard.blogspot.com, United States of America. As a result of the Village of Lombard’s wrongful actions and criminal activities in Du Page County, Illinois, I, Gardenia Hung Wittler have become homeless and destitute. I am a Lombard victim of abuse and heinous hate crimes in Du Page County, Illinois USA. The Village of Lombard is denying me human rights in housing under the law by refusing to provide lawful lodging and compensation as a victim of heinous hate crimes and abuse to include the criminal disaster demolition of the Hung Family home in Du Page County, Illinois USA.

On November 14, 2008, after meeting at the Grace Lutheran Community Church, at the corner of Princeton Street and St. Charles Road in Villa Park, Henry William Hochstatter former resident in Addison, offered to provide transportation in his TOYOTA SUV SR5 in exchange for Shell Oil gasoline in the amount of $25.00US and to cover car gasoline expenses thereafter to and from homeless shelters at local churches sponsored under PADS Action in Housing based in Wheaton, Illinois. After November 5, 2008, I had to stay at the Motel 66 on Roosevelt Road, in Villa Park, Illinois, for one night only, since the Lombard Fire Department would not pay for my lodging after the criminal disaster demolition of my Lombard home at 502 S. Westmore-Meyers Road and Washington Boulevard in Du Page County, Illinois. The Village of Lombard made me homeless by their criminal activities and wrongful actions around the Hung Family real estate property. So I was advised by the Illinois Department of Human Services in Villa Park to go to Wheaton and register for Du Page PADS, Inc. located at 705 West Liberty, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, Telephone: (630) 682-3846, www.dupagepads.org , Shelter for the Homeless with local churches such as Peace Lutheran Church in Lombard, Grace Lutheran Church of Villa Park, Community Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, Downers Grove, Naperville, Carol Stream, Itasca, and other locations in Du Page County, Illinois. The Village of Lombard and David Hulseberg, Village Manager, have been refusing to provide lawful lodging and housing under the law following the criminal disaster demolition of my Lombard historic home owned by Mr. Roberto Hung and family in Du Page County, Illinois, in the United States of America.

On November 14, 2009, Henry William Hochstatter decided to rent an apartment owned by Alex King Construction, Inc. at 140 West St. Charles Road, Apartment 4B, Villa Park, Illinois 60181, USA, by referral from his cousin Charles “Chuck” Pickerill and his wife Karen Pickerill who had lived at the same building complex while leasing from Alex King, a friend of his father, former Fire Chief Charles Pickerill from the Villa Park Fire Department, Station No. 3 on Ardmore Street, near Willowbrook High School and the Islamic Foundation Center on Highridge Road in Villa Park, Illinois USA. For the last year, during December 2008 and the remainder of 2009, Henry W. Hochstatter had been sharing lodging with Gardenia C. Hung (Wittler) at the InTown Residential Suites, at the corner of Roosevelt Road and Villa Avenue in Villa Park, Illinois USA, near the Community Christian Church of Villa Park. During December 2008 and January 2009, Gardenia C. Hung (Wittler) first paid cash and credit with the VISA Chase card for the first floor lodging, Room 125, since Henry W. Hochstatter did not have any money to his name or in his pocket because his wife Joan Julia (Mueller) Hochstatter had demanded a divorce and cancelled the joint checking and savings account, while suspending his disability funds for lack of a residential address in Addison, Illinois; then, due to a traumatic brain injury disability, Henry W. Hochstatter was given Room 139 for disabled people at the InTown Residential Suites, where I, Gardenia C. Hung (Wittler) paid and shared lodging expenses to be paid by the week in cash or credit.

Since Chuck Pickerill did not provide enough cash or credit for Henry William Hochstatter to rent the apartment leased by Alex King Construction Inc., the Church of Christ on Villa Avenue in Addison, provided the cash deposit by check for Henry W. Hochstatter to rent the apartment on November 14, 2009. I, Gardenia C. Hung (Wittler) helped Henry W. Hochstatter complete the leasing form in writing in front of Alex King and Andy, his secretary at the office for Alex King Realty, Inc. at 140 West St. Charles Road, Villa Park, Illinois 60181, USA. Also, I helped to pay for the AT&T Telephone deposit for installation at the apartment since Henry W. Hochstatter did not have any money at the time. I have been helping Henry W. Hochstatter by paying expenses he had for cable installation, groceries, car gasoline, mobile telephone, VISA CHASE credit card charges, medications, personal toiletries, etc.

In addition, I, Gardenia C. Hung (Wittler) helped Henry W. Hochstatter move his personal and household belongings, hard metal tools, etc. from his Addison home at 437 Natalie Drive into two (2) units at the U-Store-It in Addison and from the InTown Residential Suites, Room 139, on the second floor to the second floor, up the stairs to Apartment 4B at 140 West St. Charles, Villa Park, Illinois 60181 USA.

During the same time, I was helping and driving trucks, cars, SUVs, at the UHAUL in Villa Park and in Addison, while his Uncle “Charlie” Pickerill was working there transporting UHAUL Truck, Trailers, and Wagons from Chicago, Forest Park, Oak Park, Iowa City, Arlington Heights, Downers Grove, Bloomingdale, DeKalb, and other locations because Chuck Pickerill was missing Andrew, Jacquie, and Casey Rae from his own family members, since neither Karen Pickerill, his wife, nor Kathy Nolet, were not driving any trucks anywhere—neither were Gary Nolet or Mike Nolet driving trucks for UHAUL. I had to pay for the UHAUL Trucks gasoline during the transportation from Iowa City to Villa Park, Illinois.

After Uncle Charlie Pickerill had a heart attack on Sunday, following his hunting mule deer in Montana, cousin Chuck Pickerill started screaming at people at the UHAUL in Villa Park, Illinois, USA.

Since UHAUL in Villa Park was short staffed, I had already driven an UHAUL Truck back from Arlington Heights along Palatine Road and Route 53, after 7:00 PM in the evening with Henry W. Hochstatter, who drove back another UHAUL truck himself.

Monday, October 18, 2010

A Question of Human Rights Under the Law

While I growing up, I never had to worry about having a roof above my head and a place to live, until I moved to the Village of Lombard, Du Page County, Illinois, in the United States of America. My great-grandparents and great-great grandparents in mainland China, Taiwan, and Cuba, all owned their own real estate property, private homes, and purchased land parcels to lease to others. All American family members living throughout the United States of America, have real estate holdings today under the same family name. As the eldest daughter of an attorney, judge, and university professor, I was fortunate to have been born with the same family name and real estate land holdings and accounts where my name was listed. Only the Village of Lombard in the York Township community has questioned my human rights in housing under the law after seventeen years (17) years of homeownership as a Lombard resident and U.S. citizen in the State of Illinois during the 21st century—after my Father and I, purchased a Lombard Historical Brick Bungalow at 502 S. Westmore Avenue, at the corner of Washington Boulevard, one block northwest from Westmore Elementary School and one block southeast from St. Pius X Catholic Church and School, only three blocks from the Illinois Secretary of State Drivers Vehicle Facility at the Eastgate Shopping Center along Westmore-Meyers Road and half a mile from the York Township Community Center. For the last seventeen (17) years, the Village of Lombard has been denying U.S. Constitutional rights in housing under the law in the State of Illinois to me as a Lombard resident homeowner and U.S. citizen in the State of Illinois. And for the same period, the Village of Lombard Town Hall, Police and Fire Department, have been using me, as a Victim of Crime while being a working Lombard resident homeowner and U.S. citizen, in Du Page County, Illinois in the United States of America. Thus, the Village of Lombard, Town Hall, Police and Fire Department, including Du Page County have been violating my human rights in housing under the law and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, in the U.S.A. today.
For the record, the Hung Family purchased the Lombard Brick Bungalow on September 2, 1993 and moved to the Village of Lombard in DuPage County, Illinois during the Autumn 1993 from the Northwest side of Chicago, Cook County. The Hung Family have been Lombard resident homeowners at the corner of 502 S. Westmore-Meyers Road and Washington Boulevard, near Saint Pius X Catholic Church and Westmore Elementary School, all victims of heinous hate crimes, criminal disaster demolition, persecution, harassment, and physical abuse, car accidents, and forced hospitalizations in DuPage County, Illinois USA. The Village of Lombard and DuPage County, have been stealing from the Hung Family personal, family belongings, household electronics, kitchen equipment, and professional company assets and resources belonging to the company Communications, Languages & Culture, Inc. without compensating or restituting the Estate of Mr. Roberto Hung and Family and/or the company Communications, Languages & Culture, Inc. in the State of Illinois, United States of America.
The Village of Lombard is denying me human rights in housing under the law as a Lombard Victim of Heinous Hate Crimes, during seventeen (17) years of living in Du Page County as resident homeowner and U.S. citizen, when David Hulseberg continues in the refusal to provide lawful lodging, compensation, and restitution for criminal disaster roofing damages and losses, considered to be violations of the Bill of Rights under the Constitution of the State of Illinois.
During 2009-2010 and the celebration of the Bicentennial of the late President Abraham Lincoln’s two hundredth anniversary, the Constitution of the State of Illinois still upholds “inherent and inalienable human rights” listed under the Bill of Rights, Section 1, Section 2, Section 6, Section 8.1, Section 12, Section 15, Section 17, Section 18, Section 20, Section 23, Section 24, as follow:
Inherent and Inalienable Rights
All men (and women) are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent
and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To
secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among
men (and women) deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Due Process and Equal Protection
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be
be denied the equal protection of the laws.
Searches, Seizures, Privacy and Interceptions
The people shall have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and other
possessions against unreasonable searches, seizures, invasions of privacy or
interceptions of communications by eavesdropping devices or other means. No warrant
shall be issued without probable cause, supported by affidavit particularly describing the
place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Crime Victims’ Rights
(a) Crime Victims, as defined by law, shall have the following rights as provided by law:
(1) The right to be treated with fairness and respect for their dignity and privacy throughout the criminal justice process.
(2) The right to notification of court proceedings.
(3) The right to communicate with the prosecution.
(4) The right to make a statement to the court at sentencing.
(5) The right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment, and release of the accused.
(6) The right to timely disposition of the case following the arrest of the accused.
(7) The right to be reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process.
(8) The right to be present at the trial and all other court proceedings on the same basis as the accused, unless the victim is to testify and the court determines that the victim’s testimony would be materially affected if the victim hears other testimony at the trial.
(9) The right to have present at all court proceedings, subject to the rules of evidence, an advocate or other support person of the victim’s choice.
(10) The right to restitution.
(b) The Illinois General Assembly may provide the law for the enforcement of this Section.
(c) The Illinois General Assembly may provide for the assessment against convicted defendants to pay for the crime victims’ rights.
(d) Nothing in this Section or in any law enacted under this Section shall be construed as creating a basis for vacating a conviction or a ground for appellate relief in any criminal case. (Section 8.1 added by the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution. Approved November 3, 1992, effective November 23, 1992).
Right to Remedy and Justice
Every person shall find a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries and wrongs which he receives to his (or her) person, privacy, property or reputation. He (or She) shall obtain justice by law, freely, completely, and promptly.
Right to Eminent Domain
Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation as provided by law. Such compensation shall be determined by a jury as provided by law.
No Discrimination in Employment or in the Sale or Rental of Property
All persons have the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national ancestry and sex in the hiring and promotion of any employer or in the sale or rental of property.
These rights are enforceable without action by the Illinois General Assembly, but the Illinois General Assembly by law may establish reasonable exemptions relating to these rights and provide additional remedies for their violation.
No Discrimination on the Basis of Sex
The equal protection of the laws shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex by the State of Illinois or its units of local government and school districts.
Individual Dignity
To promote individual dignity, communications that portray criminality, depravity or lack of virtue in, or that incite violence, hatred, abuse or hostility toward a person or group of persons by reason or by reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or regional affiliation are condemned.
Fundamental Principles
A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government is necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty. These blessings cannot endure unless the people (of the State of Illinois) recognize their corresponding individual obligations and responsibilities.
Right Retained
The enumeration in this Constitution (of the State of Illinois) of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the individual citizens of the State of Illinois.
Illinois Blue Book of Government, 2009-2010. Edited by Jesse White Secretary of State.

For the last seventeen (17) years, the Village of Lombard has been denying U.S. Constitutional rights in housing under the law in the State of Illinois to me as a Lombard resident homeowner and U.S. citizen in the State of Illinois. And for the same period, the Village of Lombard Town Hall, Police and Fire Department, have been using me, as a Victim of Crime while being a working Lombard resident homeowner and U.S. citizen, in Du Page County, Illinois in the United States of America. Thus, the Village of Lombard, Town Hall, Police and Fire Department, including Du Page County have been violating my human rights in housing under the law and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, in the U.S.A. today.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Hispanic Heritage Celebration

Hispanic Heritage Celebration: "Música Aquí!" from Gardenia Hung on Vimeo.

The Latin American Studies Committee hosted an Open House Celebrating Hispanic Heritage with Music performed by Roberto Arce and his wife, arranged by G. Hung and coordinated with Zinta Conrad, Flora Breidenbach, and other faculty members at the College of DuPage Foreign Languages and Communications Department in Glen Ellyn. G. Hung contacted the Chicago Old Town School of Folk Music who referred Roberto Arce and his wife to perform Latin American popular and vintage music in the guitar with vocal accompaniment at the College of DuPage Center in Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Community Service Learning Experience in Du Page County, Illinois USA

Community Service Learning in Du Page County for the Village of Lombard is an underlying requirement to Illinois residency and homeownership, not always publicly acknowledged nor explained to newcomers to the western suburbs “out in the boonies”, but rather implicitly, tacitly, and sometimes unwillingly assigned. However, some Lombard resident homeowners are given more community service than others without compensation for the consequences of the volunteer service in their neighborhood. Perhaps the Village of Lombard and Du Page County take advantage of gullible Chicago newcomers as resident homeowners to the western suburbs, “the farther the fools move away from the Windy City or others areas in Illinois”, just because they are “Chicagoans”, the same people become casualties, victims of crime and suffer from damages, losses, and liabilities.

Since my deceased father, Mr. Roberto Hung, J.D. purchased a Lombard historic brick bungalow built in 1927, at 502 South Westmore-Meyer s Road and Washington Boulevard, in Du Page County, Illinois, I have had to participate and volunteer in more community service learning projects than other neighbor resident homeowner and tenants in the Eastgate Center Community, along Westmore-Meyers Road, one mile north of Route 38, Roosevelt Road.

It started while I worked for the College of Du Page as faculty, I volunteered for the Latin American Committee and the European Heritage Committee in Glen Ellyn and Lombard.

It started while I worked as Faculty at the College of DuPage and added Professional Development Credit Units (CEUs) for Community Service Learning, after my father died on June 25, 1998. I was invited to participate and volunteer for the Friends of the Library at the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, who are also Friends of the Lombard Garden Club and the Lombard Service League, in Lilac Town, the home of the Lilac Festival at Lilacia Park, which was bequeathed to the Village of Lombard by Colonel William R. Plum in 1927. After the closing of the Estate of Mr. Roberto Hung Supplemental Health Care Trust in Lombard by the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Wheaton, Du Page County, the Friends of the Court program invited volunteers to participate in the court advocacy program where assigned volunteers visited court wards on-site, upon assignment by the Friends of the Court.

As a friend of the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Wheaton, I was assigned to visit court wards by car, at my own expense for mileage, gasoline, telephone calls, and U.S. postage for mailing notices for visits by the Court Advocacy program when there was no telephone number available, for those who lived at Lexington Health Care in Lombard and Elmhurst, the Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities, Iona Glos Intermediate Care for the Mentally Retarded in Addison, Marklund Children's Home for Developmental Disabilities in Bloomingdale, Deicke Home for the Retarded in Lombard, as well as other individuals with terminal disease and disabilities, granted court ward status and funding in Addison, Elmhurst, The Cove Landing in Lombard, and Bensenville, Illinois.

During the expected Community Service as a volunteer, I was paying for car mileage, gasoline, telephone calls, U.S. postage for mailing, as well as printing in black/white, and color community newsletters, flyers, posters, correspondence, and other mailings for contact in Du Page County, Illinois. The Community Service Learning experience became more expensive by the days, weeks, and months, than I could afford to absorb as a consultant—when no one in the Village of Lombard helped me to get referrals for business or freelance assignments, or even job prospects or leads. The Community Service Learning experience and lifestyle reveals that “it is meant for retired seniors with a fixed income who have to pay for their volunteer service” in York Township, Lombard, and Du Page County, Illinois. The amazing revelation is that, I am still not a retired person nor a senior citizen in Lombard, Du Page County, Illinois—I am too young to be retired and my peers for the Baby Boomer Generation are the middle working class of the nation in the 21st century.

For some reason, the Village of Lombard and York Township expect me to volunteer in community service for the rest of my life and not have any gainful income other than poverty for having purchased a Lombard historic brick bungalow, as a resident homeowner, and U.S. citizen for the last seventeen years in Du Page County, Illinois, U.S.A.


©Copyright 2010. All Reserved Rights.

Friday, September 3, 2010

18th National Assembly for Human Rights, Awakening the Dignity of Women

18th National Assembly: Human Rights, Awakening the Dignity of Women

Register Now!
Contact: Halka Herd

wfwpconference@gmail.com
office: 212-302-8837
fax: 212- 354-8978


Where:
Manhattan Center, New Yorker Hotel
311 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

Driving Directions


When:
Friday September 24, 2010
-to-
Sunday September 26, 2010
Add to my calendar

Register Now!
Price

$225 - Entire Conference
$150 - Entire Conference, Student Rate
$150 - Saturday Only, No Gala
$65 - Gala Only, on Saturday


Hotels

New Yorker Hotel
481 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10001

Standard Single rooms (1 Queen) available for $279 + taxes per room per night. Must register by September 17, 2010.

Hilton Newark Airport Hotel
1170 Spring Street
Elizabeth, NJ 07201

Standard Double rooms available for $109 + taxes per room per night. Must register by September 17, 2010.



Dear friend,

We are pleased to invite you to our 18th Anniversary Assembly of the Women's Federation for World Peace which will take place from September 24-26, 2010, in New York City entitled "Human Rights: Awakening the Dignity of Women."

This hands-on, experiential conference is designed for women who seek to better equip themselves for today's changing world. We encourage women of all ages to join us, particularly mothers and their daughters and daughters-in-law, 18 years and above. In fact, we invite all like-minded women interested in supporting the emergence of the new world culture of lasting peace.

The 18th Anniversary Assembly will reflect the new vision of WFWP under the spiritual guidance of Rev. In Jin Moon, the daughter of our Founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and National Pastor of Lovin' Life Ministries and CEO of Manhattan Center Studios Inc.

As the newly appointed national President, I offer my heartfelt gratitude for the marvelous foundation our former President, Mrs. Alexa Ward built. While WFWP will continue to pursue our
humanitarian activities on an international level as United Nations NGO, Rev. In Jin Moon has inspired us to also focus our attention and investment right here in our own back yard-our local communities in the United States, for our own young women.

Our speakers include two powerful and accomplished ladies: Rev. In Jin Moon herself, and Patricia Lalonde, a Humanitarian and International Author from Paris, France, who will speak on "Human Rights and Women's Dignity". Other sessions will include meditation, health, healing, beauty from the inside out, dealing with today's sex culture, as well as a call to service and action in our communities, concluding with a Women's Health Fair.

For your relaxation and enjoyment we invite you to dress up for an evening Gala filled with dinner, dancing, and entertainment. Ballroom dancers will be on hand to usher you onto the dance floor.

I am greatly looking forward to our time together. I guarantee this will be an opportunity for refreshment, rejuvenation, learning and fun.

With warmest wishes,

Angelika Selle
President, WFWP-USA
Vice President, WFWP International



If you have any questions about the event or how to register please contact Halka Herd at wfwpconference@gmail.com.


Thank you for your attention and response, and we look forward to seeing you in September!


Sincerely,

Jeanne Carroll
Conference Coordinator
Women's Federation for World Peace USA

Attachments:

- National Assembly Flyer.pdf
- National Assembly Registration Form.pdf
- Program Book Ad Letter.pdf
- Program Book Ad Form.pdf
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Monday, April 19, 2010

A Victorian Palace: The Sanfilippo Estate

Eden Palais: A Victorian Palace from Gardenia Hung on Vimeo.

Courtesy by G.C. Hung for Consulting Media Arts, Communications, Languages & Culture, Inc., 31-minute digital video from the Eden Palais Victorian Palace at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington, Illinois, featuring classic organist maestro Frank Pugno playing the five-keyboard antique organ and the Italian-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest with the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Chicago with members of the Groupe Professionel Francophone and the Alliance Française of Chicago.



Browsing through Sr. CONNECTION, I found the Sanfilippo Estate, once again, on the front page, for the Victorian Palace in 2010 XXI. Have you ever visited a Victorian Palace in the 21st century? Look for the European Salon Carousel and the Tiffany Dome at the Victorian mansion with crystal chandeliers in Barrington Hills, Illinois USA.

Seven years ago, the Italian American Chamber of Commerce Midwest and the French American Chamber of Commerce Midwest invited joint members with the Groupe Professionel Francophone for a Sunday afteroon soirée at the Victorian Palace for the Sanfilippo Estate Plum Tree Farm in Barrington Hills. All guests were personally greeted by Jasper Sanfillippo and his wife. We were treated to a special tour of the Victorian Palace at the Sanfilippo Estate, valet parking, hors d’oeuvres, beverages, refreshments, good-hearted hospitality and a warm personal welcome from Jasper Sanfililippo and his wife at the Plum Tree Farm in Barrington Hills.

Everyone was dazed and amazed at the objet d’art and wonderful memorabilia displayed at the Victorian Palace.

I remembered the beautiful antique organ played by classical organist Frank Pugno who entertained the guests all afternoon at the Grand Salon. During his performance, I interviewed Ray Pugno, who was kind to share his impressions with me during the visit to the Victorian Palace. I filmed a Digital Video for San Filippo Plum Tree Farm, Barrington Hills, Illinois, English in color, 2H30, 2000 for Communications, Languages & Culture, Inc.

Now on May 22, 2010, Catholic Charities is sponsoring another dinner event at the Sanfilippo Estate. Hearts for the Homeless in the Eighth Wonder of the World Tour is making a public effort to raise funds for homeless families in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. This fundraising dinner and auction offer unique auction items which include a yacht cruise, a TV news station tour and talk time with Garry Meier, WGN Radio personality, to benefit Catholic Charities Northwest Regional Services and the New Hope Apartments Program, a supportive housing initiatives program intended to help end the cycle of homelessness for local families.

The Sanfilippo Estate reminds us of Victorian Times (1837-1901), when young Victoria became Queen of Britain at age 18, on June 1837, and many changes took place along with her reign until 1901. Queen Victoria defined her time, trends, fashions, mores, world exploration, navigation, progress, thought, and places, as a turning point in the history of Europe and the world. The 19th century is also known as Victorian Times; in turn, these gave way to the Industrial Revolution. Victorian times marked a transition point between the old and the new modern era in Europe and the Americas, driven by new thoughts, ideas, and man-made machines during the 20th century.

The Victorian Palace is a private residence displaying treasured antiques which include the world’s renown theatre organs with 8,000 pipes, the 1881 Grant Steam Locomotive, featuring the 1890 European Eden Palais Carousel at the Sanfilippo Estate; Victorian memorabilia, antique music, arcade, gambling machines; original Comfort Tiffany lamps and dome; an old-fashioned ice cream parlor; 200 gramaphones used as mechanical music boxes; phonographs; 64 coin-operated pianos; automated violins; and a street clock standing 20 feet tall.

In the 21st century, the Victorian Palace is still drawing attention and recollections when we remember things from past centuries at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, Illinois USA.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Focus on Libraries--Public, University, Presidential

Focus on Libraries—Public, University, Presidential.

My first experience with a public library happened at the Freemason Lodge in Santiago de Cuba, in Cuba, where my late father, Dr. Roberto Hung, J.D. used to meet with his Freemason brethren. While my father held the general meeting with the other Freemasons, I was asked to wait in the library. One of the elder Freemasons would select a book for me to read and browse while I waited for my father’s meeting to end, in the evening. I was the only child in the Lodge and the elder Freemason was kind to me. He would check on me, now and then, and would ask me, “Are you finished reading the book yet?” Since, I was not halfway through the book he had given me, I would answer, “Not yet”. So, the elder Freemason would say then, “our meeting is not done yet, either.” I found easier to wait while I read with a book in hand, browsing and reading along the pages and photo captions.


At home, my late father would often allow me to look at his books and browse through Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain. Then, as I became older, I could open his cherry wood barrister bookcase and find Shakespeare’s leather bound volume and turn the rice paper pages, as I read through Miranda’s adventure in the play, “The Tempest”. I became an avid reader.


While my mother was studying at Loyola University, Lewis Tower, in Chicago for her Master’s degree in Spanish literature, I would also wait for her at the library, looking through her Cervantes’ copy of Don Quixote and other Spanish literature anthologies that she would often allow me to keep with me while I waited for her, during evenings graduate courses.


I began to love public libraries at an early age. When I used to live in Chicago, my parents introduced me to the Logan Square Library on the Northwest side on weekends. There I would have my reading list, which my late father had suggested for me, and then I would select the books I could borrow to take home for two weeks. The back porch was one of my favorite reading spots and hideaways in the summer, overlooking Mrs. Palmer’s garden in the backyard. Our German landlady did not mind talking to me when she passed by me to go upstairs, since I used to help her carry her groceries and with her gardening.


During my Catholic high school years at Madonna High School, I spent all my study halls hours in the school library or at the Learning Resource Center. Then at Northeastern Illinois University, the library became one of my favorite hangouts, when I was not working as a student aide at the Financial Aid office or working another part-time job for college money.


At the University of Illinois at Chicago, I practically lived at the library when I became a graduate researcher and Illinois scholar sponsored by an Abraham Lincoln Fellowship grant studying rhetoric and historical speeches by famous rhetoricians like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Clarence Darrow, John F. Kennedy, and other famous presidential speakers and political figures. I also visited often the Chicago Tribune archives on Michigan Avenue researching historical background on the speeches and the speakers within the context of their times and events. Books and archives became my best and closest friends and allies while writing rhetorical criticism and historical ethnographies. The long hours, days, nights, and weekends spent on my own visiting Chicago public libraries, the Newberry library, and other university libraries have been all part of my love for libraries experience throughout my learning life.


U.S. Presidential libraries became all the more familiar to me when my late father donated funds to the Richard Nixon Library and the Ronald Reagan Library. Dr. Roberto Hung, J.D. has been acknowledged for helping and contributing to preserve U.S. Presidential history in the making.


While reading an article about U.S. Presidential libraries last Spring 2002, I read that until 1939, these did not exist nor were presidential documents preserved after the U.S. president left office—Home & Away, AAA Chicago Motor Club, Illinois/N. Indiana, March-April 2002. The first U.S. President to donate his presidential documents to the government was the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also contributed 16 acres of his family estate in Hyde Park, New York, as a location to preserve U.S. government history.


In 1955, the U.S. Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act whereby it was established to maintain private and federally funded libraries for U.S. presidents to preserve their historical documents and memorabilia. Among current and existing U.S. Presidential libraries, we have:


The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum in West Branch, Iowa
The Truman Presidential Museum & Library in Independence, Missouri
The Eisenhower Library & Museum in Abilene, Kansas
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum at U of Texas in Austin, Texas
The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California
The Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum at the U of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Jimmy Carter Library & Museum in Atlanta, Georgia
The Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, near L.A. in Simi Valley, Calif.
The George Bush Presidential Library & Museum in College Station, Texas
The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas
The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois


Last week, Tuesday, 19 November 2002, Springfield, Illinois inaugurated the Abraham Lincoln Library to preserve and study the former president’s historical documents, Civil War records, and Lincoln era memorabilia in the Prairie State where he lived from 1837 to 1861. Local news on TV featured Lincoln’s shiny copper plate profile made from copper Lincoln pennies, as well as the former president’s personal belongings, artifacts, sculptures, and presidential heirlooms collected and compiled over the years.


The life and times of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth president, will be researched and scrutinized as a sign of the American Civil War period. The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum is still under construction in downtown Springfield, Illinois—general completion is expected to be in 2004.
Before Abraham Lincoln became the 16th U.S. President, he was elected to the Illinois state legislature, studied law, and was licensed to practice in Sangamon County, Illinois. He had been also a deputy county surveyor in Petersburg in 1836. Prior to Lincoln’s life in Washington, D.C., he practiced law in Springfield with his partner William Herndon, from 1843 to 1852. The Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices is an Illinois State Historic Site in Springfield. As a lawyer, Abraham Lincoln practiced in the Eighth Judicial Court in Illinois—at the Mount Pulaski Courthouse State Historic Site, northeast of Springfield, and at the Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site, (1845-1857), 15 miles northeast of Peoria.


The 2001-2002 Illinois Handbook of Government features and highlights the Illinois State Library’s Internet portal, Find-It! Illinois, your best source of information for State library, education, and government introduced by the Secretary of State, Jesse White at http:/www.finditillinois.org The library network system links all the Friends of the Library in Illinois and nationwide.

Editor’s Notes by Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
--2002 Friends of the Helen M. Plum Library Winter Newsletter

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Feng Shui: Lotus Touts

Feng Shui

This is without a doubt one of the nicest good luck forwards I have received. Hope it works for you -- and me!

Lotus Touts: You have 6 minutes

There's some mighty fine advice in these words, even if you're not superstitious. This Lotus Touts has been sent to you for good luck from the Anthony Robbins organization. It has been sent around the world ten times so far.

Do not keep this message..

The Lotus Touts must leave your hands in 6 MINUTES. Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN! .. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson..

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

Now, here's the FUN part!

Send this to at least 5 people and your life will improve.



1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.

5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.

9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks

15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape.


A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier hosted by Friends of the Parks

DATE: Friday, March 5, 2010
TIME: 7PM - 10PM
LOCATION: Navy Pier, Chicago Flower & Garden Show


Mark down Friday, March 5, 2010 in your calendar! We're thrilled to announce that the Chicago Flower & Garden Show organizers selected Friends of the Parks as one of the charities to benefit from the Mayor's Preview Party.

You'll enjoy a festive evening of global cuisine, cocktails and entertainment - plus a sneak peek of the 2010 Chicago Flower & Garden Show floor - at the "Evening in Bloom" preview benefit held before the show's official opening the next morning. The event always attracts a fun crowd.

The show features:

Lush theme garden displays
Garden market and home market exhibitors
New plant varieties exhibit
Super ideas for your home garden - whether you have a big backyard or a small container garden on your balcony!
When you purchase your tickets online, you will be asked to choose a charity you wish to support. Please check "Friends of the Parks" as your beneficiary! We will receive part of the proceeds from every ticket linked to a Friends of the Parks' supporter!! Log onto www.chicagoflower.com for more information.



Friends of the Parks
17 N. State Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602


Friends of the Parks | 17 N. State Street | Suite 1450 | Chicago | IL | 60602

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Avon Products Inc.

Report for Stolen Avon Products Inc. Plastic Cosmetics Bag at 140 West St. Charles Road, Apt. 4B, Villa Park, Illinois 60181 on Monday, January 25, 2010 from the Avon Products Inc. box belonging to Gardenia C. Hung, DuPage resident in Illinois.

For the record, stolen Avon Products Inc. Pink and White Cosmetics Plastic Bag, Double Sided with Zippers, containing 24K Gold Lipstick, Gold and Silver Eyeliners, Miscellaneous Cosmetics Toiletries taken from the Avon Products Inc. box at 140 West St. Charles Road, Apt. 4B, in Villa Park, Illinois 60181, from the Avon Products Inc. box belonging to Gardenia C. Hung, Acct. 08817757, District 5543, on Monday, January 25, 2010.

Avon Products Inc., 181 Progress Place, Springdale, Ohio 45246, Tel. 513-551-2866. Avon Products Inc. has been refusing to ship orders for Campaigns 23 and 24 after Customers have made payments in advance for the Christmas holiday. In spite of the Avon Credit policy, the Avon Products were not shipped in time. During previous Avon orders, products were shipped by mistake, wrong garment size, different lingerie items, missing lingerie items, wrong sizes and unaccounted by the Avon Statement and Shipping List. To date, Avon Products Inc. has placed Campaigns 23 and 24 orders on hold for paying customers who have not received anything to date, when the customers have already paid for the Avon Products.

Customers are requesting Total Cash Reimbursement and/or Refund for not shipping the Avon Products ordered for Campaigns 23 and 24. Avon Products Inc. has received more than $533.03 in cash payments from customers already paid to date.

In addition, returned items to Avon Products Inc. have not been posted as returned, but rather missing.



Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Anniversary of The Star of Chicago Wedding on June 18, 1988

While I attended a Wedding Ceremony on Sunday, January 24, 2010, at Belverdere Events Banquet in Elk Grove, Illinois, I was recollecting my own wedding ceremony on June 18, 1988, twenty-two years ago aboard the Star of Chicago yacht on Lake Michigan. The Windy City hosted my wedding party when I married Nathan Scott Wittler Patriquin, former U.S. Navy Postal Clerk aboard the USS Platte stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, following the end of his U.S. Naval service. Nathan S. Wittler's parents, Reverend Melvin A. Wittler and Mrs. Nancy Wittler Patriquin, travelled from Istanbul, Turkey to the United States, and brought Christian missionaries with them, invited as guests, to include his brothers Brian Wittler, Ken Wittler, and sister Heather Wittler, from West Dummerston, Vermont, and Boston, Massachusetts, in New England. In addition, my father, Mr. Robert Hung, invited my Uncle Filiberto Hung and wife Mireya Hung Lee with my eldest cousin, Ana Mireya Hung Lee who travelled from Flushing, New York to attend the Wedding aboard the Star of Chicago. We had more than 50 wedding guests who included U.S. Navy David Patriquin and his wife Cynthia Patriquin, as well as my former French teacher Mrs. Francis Salvato and husband Frank Salvato, U.S. Air Force. Twenty-two years have passed, while I still remember all the restaurant dinners and wedding breakfasts along the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, by the Belmont Harbour, in Illinois, for my own wedding ceremony at Chicago City Hall.

Endangered Seniors: Amber Alert Program for Senior Citizens in 2010

New Laws in Illinois for 2010

With the beginning of a new year and new legislative session underway, I intend to periodically focus attention in my e-newsletter on new laws that have gone into effect here in Illinois. You may or may not be aware of changes in the law that could have an impact on you, your family or your community, and I hope to offer an explanation as to why these laws were enacted.

Amber Alert Program for Seniors

The first new law of interest establishes an Amber Alert Program for Senior Citizens and is legislation that I worked on last year with Senator Maggie Crotty and the Illinois State Police. Senate Bill 27, now Public Act #96-0149, helps locate elderly individuals who are missing.

The new Endangered Missing Person Advisory Program, commonly referred to as a “Silver Alert”, establishes a regional system which enhances the ability of local police agencies to rapidly transmit information regarding the older adult who is often afflicted with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia and places a high priority in reporting, investigation and public notification. These new efforts are similar to Amber Alert which has been successful in locating children who are believed to have been abducted and in danger. Unfortunately, we have all read about cases of seniors wandering from home, getting disoriented or losing their way while driving. A delayed search can result in the loss of valuable time to locate a missing person.

The Illinois Department on Aging in coordination with the Illinois State Police is developing a community outreach program to promote awareness among the State’s healthcare facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other senior centers. The guidelines and procedures will ensure that specific health information about the missing person is not made public through the alert. State Police will determine whether the missing person is endangered or considered “high risk,” meaning circumstances indicate that the person may be at risk of injury or death. For more information about program services to assist older adults in Illinois and their caregivers, call the IDoA Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966.

In addition, another new law relating to the same topic is House Bill 282, now Public Act #96-0442, which adds to the definition of "missing endangered senior", a person with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias who is reported missing. It provides that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall conduct training programs for law enforcement personnel to assist in finding missing seniors as the population with this disease increases.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Making Meaningful New Year's Resolutions in 2010 by Dr. Nancy Devereux, Licensed Psychologist

Greetings for the New Year 2010 in the 21st Century! When we start a New Year, we make New Resolutions. Dr. Nancy Devereux, Licensed Psychologist, advises how to Make Meaningful New Year's Resolutions:

* Make your goal specific. Be precise. For instance, I am going to find a new job while I am looking for employment.

* Make it positive and be proactive. That is to say, I am going to set up a job network and follow up on all job leads provided, even by word-of-mouth.

* Break it into do-able steps. Start applying for every single job posting or listing you can find, anywhere.

* Visualize it. Imagine yourself performing the goal and enjoying the results. You might even tack a photo or magazine cut-out of a representation of your goal to inspire you. Picture going through the job interview and getting the job you want.

* Enhance the commitment by writing it down. Write your goals specifically. Journaling can help with perserverance. Keep a detailed list of all your job leads, telephone calls, Emails, and appointments, online-job applications.

* Round up your team or your coaches. Tell close friends or family members your plans and enlist their support. Set up a job network, job alerts, job postings, newsletters, bulletins, etc.

* Arrange your surroundings to support your goal. Plan ahead. Set up a job search resource center for yourself.

* Allow time. Research indicates that habit formation takes about three weeks to replace a less ideal habit with a healthy one.

* If you "fall off" track, don't give up or give in. Read your commitment or plan again, forgive yourself, and give yourself credit for your hard work and persistence.

* Use small, "healthy" rewards to keep you going.

--From High Hopes Brain Support Group by Dr. Nancy Devereux, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Healthcare Center in Wheaton, Illinois USA