Greetings fellow travelers. 2024 is about in the books with no shortage of meaningful work jammed with adventure, faithful clients and new friends along the way.

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois took us to Peoria, Illinois to record a lovely story about Intact Family Services.  We also told the story of Marni Jamison, a woman who has fostered nearly 100 children in her amazing career. 

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago  had a busy year living into their new digs in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and we were there to record much of it including their new asynchronous learning program, Baccalaureate, a Hymn festival in St. Louis, a reunion of the faithful Semiex alumni, the retirement of James Nieman and much more. 

Chicago Theological Seminary had us back to record a pastors retreat and the Chicago Rehab Network asked us to livestream a series of one day workshops focusing on non-profit housing development.  The Christian Fellowship Community had us back in Texas and their National gathering at Milwaukee’s Summerfest outdoor pavilion. 

In the medical space, we produced a series of training videos for the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists in Chicago. 

And Cedar Interactive hired us along with a team of talented actors, to produce quality assurance videos at Berwyn’s MacNeil Hospital.

The Rural Community Assistance Partnership had us all over the place, from West Virginia to Illinois to Nebraska to Montana telling and recording stories about their support of America’s rural communities.  My old employer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America hired me to record Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.

Hephizbah Children’s Association, Oak Park’s oldest social service agency, hired us again to tell stories about their work helping children thrive and families flourish through innovative, community-based programs.

New clients included All Chicago and their efforts to address the housing crisis in our city,  A history of Bonnhomme Presbyterian Church in Chesterfield, Missouri. Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all girls school on Chicago’s north side, Pacific Garden Mission, Chicago’s oldest homeless shelter, and the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois.

Much of our work this year included the help of my freelance colleague, Stacey Adams.  I’m deeply appreciative of his help and shared appreciation for our many clients. 

And finally, we were able to finish our latest documentary, the Secrets of Hidden Lake, the story of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s Hidden Lake.  Thanks to the Butterfield Park District for hosting the premier and the Lombard Historical Society encouragement and help with research along the way. 

Our hearts are full as we reflect on all that has transpired and then look forward to the new year ahead.

The post Tim Frakes Productions 2024 Year in Review appeared first on Tim Frakes Productions.

Premier Promo Secrets of Hidden Lake from Tim Frakes on Vimeo.Hi, I’m Tim Frakes. For 30 years, my family and I have lived across the road from the DuPage County Forest Preserve’s Hidden Lake. I’ve trekked nearly every square inch. And on my walks, I became curious about the people who lived here in the past, the indigenous people, the homesteaders, the wheat king, and a gambling czar. The more I learned about their stories, the more I began to appreciate this sacred public trust, and I hope you will too.

Join us under the Stars for the outdoor premiere of the Secrets of Hidden Lake, the story of the DuPage County’s Hidden Lake Forest Preserve.

Friday, September 6, 7:30 p.m.
Glen Briar Park at the Butterfield Park District.
Registration is free, seating is limited.
Go to lombardhistory.org to register.

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Happy December!

Travel, I’ve had my share, man. 2023 was perhaps our busiest. I’m thinking the post-pandemic reality prompted our non-profit, faith-based, broadcast and corporate clients to make up for lost ground. 22 different clients and more individual videos than I can count.

Here’s a brief rundown.
The Rural Community Assistance Partnership led the way with stories and events in New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Ohio New Hampshire, Boston, Mass, and Washington D.C.

Father Bob Miller, my spouse Julie and I did a deep Civil War dive with Faith of the Fathers, a new Documentary with the Kenosha, Wisconsin Civil War Museum that took us back in time to Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.

The Christian Fellowship Community had me back in Rural Texas, Louisville, Kentucky and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Here at home, The Islamic Foundation of Villa Park, Illinois honored me with a commission to tell the story of their 50th anniversary in what has become one of the largest and most influential Muslim American organizations in the United States.

Lombard, Illinois brand new Helen Plum Library opened this year and I was asked to document it all.

The Chicago Bible Society, Pure Processing, The Chicago Rehab Network, Hephzibah Children’s Association, The Law Center for Better Housing, Chicago Theological Seminary, Catholic Theological Union, McCormick Theological Seminary and All Chicago, a new client that seeks to end homelessness, all asked me to tell their stories.

And then it was Lutheran, Lutheran Lutheran! Lutheran Social Services of Illinois kept me really busy with a wide variety of stories and events as they serve Illinois’ most vulnerable populations. Lutheran Services in America asked us to cover a large Gathering at Bethel New Life in Chicago, and last but not least, the Lutheran School of Theology made their big move into new digs and I was there to cover it all.

Thank you to each and every one of my clients. It is an honor and privilege to serve alongside you as you do justice, love mercy and walk humbly.

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The Bread Shed feeds the hungry, both spiritually and physically, in Southeast Missouri. The Bread Shed is a volunteer organization made up of churches and community members, local and regional social service organizations all working together to help to ensure that the needs of children and families are met.

The Bread Shed does this through Sunday community meals, a regular food, clothing diaper and Bible distributions, and ABC, A Better Childhood food distribution.

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Proud to work with and support the Lombard Historical Society. Check out our new video which introduces Lombard to the LHS Carriage House Expansion Project.

In 2020, LHS received a $750,000 Illinois Public Museum Capital Grant to be used to expand and upgrade the Carriage House at 23 West Maple Street. The funds will be used to update the archive, provide more storage for the collections as well as new offices for staff and volunteers, a new gift shop space, modifications for ADA accessibility.

While the grant covers much of the cost, LHS needs your help to cover a ($100,000) shortfall. The additional funds will allow LSH to add a new fully functioning kitchen for events, new technology for presentations, and specialized storage structures needed to protect the artifacts that tell our community’s story.

Please help make history by making a donation in any amount that you can afford. Thank you! Go to: https://www.lombardhistory.org/donatecarriagehouse

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Recently I treated myself to a present. It’s a framed map by Albert F. Scarf titled Indian Trails and Villages of Chicago and of Cook Counties (1804).

It’s part of a new documentary we are producing with the Lombard Historical Society on the history of the DuPage County Forest Preserve Hidden Lake.

This beautiful piece of land and the adjacent Morton Arboretum today, are lovingly protected from the ravages of indiscriminate development. Once, it was home to a Potawatomi village. Imagine Potawatomi braves, hunting plentiful deer and buffalo and Potawatomi women cultivating corn and other crops along the fertile banks of the East Branch of the DuPage River.

Following the 1821 and 1833 treaties of Chicago, the Potawatomi people were forcibly removed to Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and later Oklahoma. Today, their descendants thrive in places like Shawnee, Oklahoma and Crandon, Wisconsin.

After rapid agricultural development in the mid 19th century, much of what is now Hidden Lake was purchased in 1912 by Arthur W. Cutten, once the second richest man in America. Cutten was known as the Wheat King at the Chicago Board of Trade and built an amazing country estate known as Sunny Acres on the property.

After the crash of 1929, Cutten was the target of Federal investigations surrounding the practice of short selling. He defended himself and avoided conviction on technicalities.

As America plunged into the Great Depression, Cutten and his wife Maud were attacked by a band of robbers who raided a dinner party at Sunny Acres, robbed them and left them and their servants for dead in an air-tight vault in the basement of the estate. After a staff member freed himself from his bonds and pried open the vault’s door, Cutten tapped into his vast resources and launched a campaign using private detectives to bring the gang to justice.

After Cutten’s death in 1936, the property was sold to an associate of infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. The gambler, William R. (Big Bill) Johnson, went to jail after being convicted of tax evasion in the 1940’s.

The property remained in his family until the late 1970’s when the DuPage County Forest Preserve purchased the land, demolished Sunny Acres and discovered two giant stone goddesses depicting commerce and labor, buried in the overgrown woods. The goddesses reside today in front of the Chicago Board of Trade at LaSalle and Jackson.

It’s a story of conquest, greed, and sacred commitment to the land. It’s an American story that has been largely lost to history, needs to be understood and appreciated, and then passed onto future generations.

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This Wednesday evening we will show a portion of our documentary, Common Good, followed by Q&A.

Elmhurst Art Museum
150 Cottage Hill Ave.
Elmhurst, Illinois 60126

Wednesday, September 22, 2021
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Free. No registration required

In partnership with the Backyard Caucus, video producer Tim Frakes presents his newest documentary about the York Center Co-operative, based in suburban DuPage County, which aimed to provide fair housing, community, and opportunity in an era of white flight, redlining, and restrictive covenants that effectively prevented non-white Americans from fully participating in the American dream. Discussion will follow.

The full film will be premiered on YouTube October 1, 2021.

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Lombard Cycling Classic 2021 from Tim Frakes on Vimeo.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021, we were out recording as the DuPage Sports Commission brought competitive cycling to Lombard with the Lombard Cycling Classic.

As part of the Intelligentsia Cup Series, the Lombard Cycling Classic was a one-day, all-day, event that welcomed amateur and professional cyclists, and their guests, from around the world creating a racing circuit that included St. Charles Road, Main St. Michael McGuire Drive and South Elizabeth Streets.

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