Sheli Lulkin can get things done. Just as she can persuade her 10-year-old rescued Chihuahua, Shein, to harmonize with her in a round of “Oklahoma!,” she has managed to quadruple the membership of the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce in nearly two decades as executive director.

On Thursday night, more than 200 guests are expected at the Breakers at Edgewater Beach to honor Lulkin’s 19 years at the neighborhood’s Chamber of Commerce. Edgewater is between Uptown and Rogers Park on Chicago's North Side.

“She has really shown a level of commitment that I think is pretty inspiring to all of us,” said Jay Delany the chamber’s current executive director who succeeded Lulkin in October.

Despite her lengthy tenure, the Chamber of Commerce was not where Lulkin, 72, thought she would end up.

Born in Israel and raised in Chicago, she spent the first half of her career immersed in education, teaching mentally handicapped children. Lulkin left education after 27 years to earn her masters and then her doctoral degrees in public policy from Loyola University.

It was Lake Michigan that derailed that career track and got Lulkin working in the community.

“[Lake Michigan] was flooding the whole area," she said. "It was a serious problem.”

Encouraged by her Ph.D supervisor, Lulkin decided to get involved in the neighborhood where she has lived for 40 years. In the early '80s, Lulkin left her doctoral program and tended to the overflowing lake full time.
She was asked to convene a lakefront task force that eventually addressed the rising water levels by building rock jetties along the shore. With that project over, Lulkin was on the lookout for a job.

Meanwhile, Edgewater was organizing its first chamber of commerce, and Lulkin joined the board as a consumer representative. By 1989 the chamber's then-executive director had brought the nascent organization's membership down from 75 to four.

Without any fanfare, Lulkin was offered the job. “They said, ‘There’s no money, they’re broke, but it’s a job,’” she said. The only requirement was that Lulkin bring membership back up to former levels. In her 19 years, she increased the membership to 400.

“It took a lot of footwork and a lot of service,” Lulkin said. The Edgewater neighborhood has only 900 businesses, she said, compared with Lincoln Park’s nearly 9,000.

Lulkin hit the streets and got to know her neighbors and the owners of local shops. She found success in her natural inclination to support local businesses. “For 19 years," she said, "I bought everything in this neighborhood, except for underwear.”

In the early '90s Lulkin was inspired to start the neighborhood’s first farmer’s market so that residents to buy local – both farm-fresh food and goods.

“The city didn’t want to give it to me," she said, "and the farmers didn’t want to come up here…but I convinced them." And so, at 7 a.m. every Saturday during the four warmest months of the year, Lulkin opened Edgewater's farmers market. The market operates at the intersection of Thorndale and Broadway.

Though some other chamber of commerce directors dedicate themselves to fund-raising, Lulkin said her focus was building local businesses to strengthen the community.

“When you have a viable business you are creating jobs in the neighborhood,” Lulkin said. Active businesses also help to increase a sense of safety in a dense urban neighborhood like Edgewater, which has four elevated el stations. The chamber used city-allocated money to install lights at the el stations' dark underpasses.

Lulkin also worked to beautify the neighborhood by adding 50 flower planters, which are re-planted three times a year. With the help of neighborhood institutions, Lulkin was able reduce the number of liquor stores from14 to two, which helped keep street loitering to a minimum.

Not one to shirk responsibilities, Lulkin admits that her job description expanded at times to include such tasks as heading off public disturbances.

“We had a problem with a few exhibitionists,” she said. Recalling one incident, Lulkin found herself confronting a panhandler whose pants tended to fall around his ankles. She told him to “pull up your pants or I’ll cut it off.”

A self-labeled bionic woman, Lulkin clocked 18-hour days, fought breast cancer and worked through numerous operations on her shoulder and hips. “I’m tired,” she said of her decision to leave the chamber. Though Thursday’s festivities celebrate Lulkin’s retirement, she is not slowing down just yet.

In addition to her post as president of the Association of Sheridan Condominium/Co-op Owners, Lulkin is a frequent contributor to Condo Lifestyles magazine. She also will campaign for Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th) in the upcoming 5th congressional district elections. In her spare time, should she find any, Lulkin belongs to a knitting group that makes scarves and other accessories for the homeless.

“She is a non-stop individual,” said Tim Czarnecki, O’Connor’s aldermanic aide. “She doesn’t mince words. If she felt you were moving in the wrong direction she would let you know it…so that you could make an educated choice.”

Lulkin’s influence in her neighborhood, both personal and professional, is evident in her close relationships with the local business owners she calls friends.

Sisay Abebe, owner of the African Harambee Restaurant, said Lulkin knows every corner of every business in the neighborhood.

“She has done a lot to the neighborhood, and she’s really gone out of her way to help business owners to be successful,” Abebe said.

Lulkin’s newly polished pink finger nails (they will match her dress) popped against her black laptop's keyboard as she checked the RSVP list for her party. Noting the long list of attendees, she said, "That makes me feel very proud that the people who worked for me would come back."