McCormick--one of the 120 volunteers for the city's new Chicago Greeter service, which officially launches April 18--is touring the Loop, indicating notable sites in his "favorite" part of the city. "When it first went up there was a lot of controversy, a lot of the more conservative people didn't like it," the retired State of Illinois worker and lifetime Bridgeport resident says, indicating the Picasso with a smile. "I'm not sure I liked it, but it grows on you. It's really an amazing piece of public art."

The service, based on a similar program in New York City, allows people to schedule visits with individual Chicagoans to take a turn around a specific area--choices include more than twenty neighborhoods, from Logan Square to Pullman, and can be themed, encompassing everything from African American and gay and lesbian Chicago, to synagogues and churches. Greeters also take visitors around on public transit, offering a navigational primer. And the visits--they're less structured than official tours--are designed to be personal. One visitor is paired with a traveling group, and groups are not combined. The hope is that tourists will sign up for a visit when planning a trip, and that locals with visiting family members will turn them onto the service.

As for McCormick, even though this is his first tour, he says he's already having fun. "I just love Chicago," he says, noting the Art Deco accents as we cut through the LaSalle Bank Building. "It's great to be able to show people the city that I love."

For more information, to schedule a tour or to volunteer visit www.chicagogreeter.com or call (312)744-8000.

Also by Elaine Richardson

HOT AIR
How do 844 people die in the Chicago River--not the Lake, but the River? The idea is almost mind-boggling, but on a misty July morning in 1915, the fully overloaded passenger steamer Eastland, sitting at the Clark Street dock, tipped over.
(2002-04-11)

MR. BEAN
Doug Zell discusses coffee the way others discuss wine. "This is a coffee from New Guinea, so it should have sort of like a nice hoppy kind of nose," he says, taking a healthy drink.
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STREET TEAM
You've spent eight years making a film, and though it garnered awards at two different festivals, at the end of the day you've got a movie and no distributor. What now? If you're Gene Cajayon, you simply pick up the ball and run.
(2002-03-21)

FEEDING FRENZY
The profile of the Awards' telecast reached new highs, gaining wide recognition as the Second Biggest Show on Earth, after the Super Bowl, with an estimated worldwide audience of one billion. Unfortunately, over time it seems the Oscars have become their own worst enemy.
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POLL POSITION
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AD BUSTERS
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BAD NEWS
(2002-02-28)

HOT AIR
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HAIL TO THE CHIEF
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DOMESTIC BLITZ
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SLAV TO ART
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