Special guests Kendra G, Raven Smith join Val and Ryan on Windy City Weekend

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Friday morning on "Windy City Weekend," Val Warner and Ryan Chiaverini welcomed an audience into their studios at 190 North State Street to see the show.

Host Chat with Kendra G

In their "Host Chat" segment, they were joined by media personality Kendra G. Back in the "Windy City Live" days, Kendra was a frequent visitor to the show, when she was a local radio personality on WGCI-FM.

Now, Kendra is an entrepreneur in Southern California, best known for her dating app, Kendra G Singles, which is available on a variety of platforms.



Kendra G is back in Chicago to promote the Kendra G Singles Live Tour on Monday at The Promontory in Hyde Park. At this event, she'll choose the top 12 singles in Chicago and connect them with a potential love match. The event starts at 7 p.m. at The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are available at www.promontorychicago.com.



In addition to talking about her event and app, Kendra also played the Kendra G Singles Live card game with Chiaverini and Warner, where they were both quizzed about their love matches.

They also talked about a new poll which says that the happiest shift workers are employed at marijuana dispensaries, with 92% of weed and vape store employees feeling good about their jobs.

Raven Smith

Warner and Chiaverini then welcome clothes designer and entrepreneur Raven Smith to the show.

Smith first appeared on the show ten years during its incarnation as "Windy City Live." She was a student at Morgan Park Academy, where she launched a clothing brand called "Straight From The Go," where proceeds from all sales go to victims of gun violence in Chicago.

Since then, she's become one of the youngest changemakers in the city and one of the youngest recipients of the Norman Bobins Award. She is also a two-time cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri and will return this August to pursue her master's and possibly a PhD.



Smith talked to Chiaverini and Warner about her fashion show that she is curating on Saturday at the Epiphany Center for the Arts, 200 S. Ashland Ave. The show, called the Retrograde Fashion Show, will feature a celebrity signed "Straight From the Go" t-shirt. That shirt was signed by local celebrities, including Val Warner, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Doors open for the Retrograde Fashion Show at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and at the Epiphany Center for the Arts website.

Road to 'The Bud'

Warner and Chiaverini then introduced a new limited series on "Windy City Weekend," called "Road to 'The Bud.'"

For the next few weeks, we'll feature segments on some of the groups performing at the historic Bud Billiken Parade, a Chicago tradition since 1929.

This week, we profiled Dance Force Elite, a South Side dance school that's been a staple at the parade since 2008.



The Bud Billiken Pared will be broadcast live on ABC7 Chicago from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 9.

Roeper's reviews

Warner and Chiaverini were then joined by film critic Richard Roeper, who launched his segment with a review of the highly anticipated reboot of "Superman," which Roeper liked, although he wasn't overly enthusiastic about the film.

Roeper also gave a "spend" to "Dexter: Resurrection," a streaming series which is a sequel to the popular "Dexter" TV series.

And he also gave a spend to "One Night in Idaho - The College Murders," a streaming documentary about the 2022 University of Idaho murders.

Windy City Smokeout

Warner and Chiaverini then gave out two pairs of tickets to the Windy City Smokeout, the four-day festival of country music and barbecue held at the United Center.

Tickets and a daily schedule of events at the Windy City Smokeout can be found on their website, www.windycitysmokeout.com.

Val honored by Happiness Club

Chiaverini then closed the show by congratulating Warner for receiving the Legacy Award from The Happiness Club, a nonprofit organization that provides a free performing arts education program for Chicago youth, largely from the South and West sides, who otherwise have limited access to the arts.

The award honors Warner's contributions as a role model and beacon of hope to young creatives in Chicago.



Warner will receive the award in person at The Happiness Club's annual benefit in Chicago on Sunday at the Park West Theater.