Austin community leader Zerlina Smith, right, dances with a neighbor on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for Elijah Sims at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Kerry Carter, of Oak Park, cooks hotdogs and hamburgers on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for Elijah Sims at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Cory Thomas, of Chicago, plays music on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for Elijah Sims at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
A cross with birthday balloons and a photo of Elijah Sims sits at the corner on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for Sims at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
From left, Anthony Clark, Terri Svehla, Shelly Jamison and Sharita Galloway, all of Oak Park, gather on the corner on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for Elijah Sims at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Sharita Galloway, left, of Oak Park, shows State Rep. La Shawn Ford, of the 8th legislative district, exactly where her son, Elijah Sims was murdered last year on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for him at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Keeping him alive: Sharita Galloway, left, of Oak Park, and state representative for the 78th District Camille Lilly, admire a cross for Galloway’s son, Elijah Sims, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for him at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Austin. | ALEA ROGALS/Staff Photographer
Sharita Galloway, of Oak Park, puts up a photo of her son, Elijah Sims on a cross on Wednesday, Aug. 30, during a remembrance celebration and barbecue for him at the corner of Lotus Avenue and Quincy Street in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Sims was murdered last year in the same area as the celebration. Every Wednesday from 4-6 p.m., the community gets together and has a celebration on different corners in the area. The next cook out and block gathering will be at the corner of Congress Parkway and Lotus Avenue on Sept. 6.
