Issue 8 · Week of October 26, 2026
Alison Hartline on the commitment to laughing through all of it
For months, a couple drove from Libertyville to Lake Bluff in their convertible to read a joke on a dry erase board outside a home on Ravine Ave. Then the husband died suddenly. When his wife returned with a friend, the board happened to feature a Tweety Bird joke - a character that held a very personal connection to her husband, Alison Hartline recalled. What had begun as a lighthearted distraction during COVID had become part of a couple’s life together and a source of comfort after loss. That encounter remains one of the most meaningful responses to a neighborhood tradition that has now included roughly 1,500 jokes.
Hartline has called Lake Bluff home for 21 years, with three and a half years spent living in Singapore along the way. After returning, she and her husband, John, eventually moved into their current home on Ravine, where the joke board began. “I was an avid WGN morning news watcher,” she said. On a broadcast during COVID, she saw a man in Chicago who had started sharing a Dad’s Joke of the Day on a sign. “He was making so many people happy with his sign,” she said. “So, I thought I would use one of the dry erase boards we had lying around.” In mid-April, during the height of COVID, the family chose a simple joke and put it outside. Then they went back into the house to watch. “We went inside and looked out the window to see people’s reactions,” she said. “It was very entertaining.” The next day, they put out another joke and jokes followed. Finding material has become a community effort. Friends text suggestions, and passersby leave jokes in the mailbox. Joke books and online searches help fill the supply. “I get the jokes from so many places,” she said. “I used to spend hours finding a joke I liked.” Even with plenty of suggestions, she is selective. “I don’t put out just any joke,” she said. “I often run it by my husband to see what he thinks before I put it on the board.” Most responses have been positive, although she admits criticism once stung. “I used to be sensitive if someone told me they didn’t like the joke,” she said. But the board has given her far more encouraging encounters, including the visit from the grieving widow. She also knows that its audience reaches well beyond Ravine. “So many people take photos of the board and send them around the world,” she said. “It is amazing!”
In August 2025, the board took on a different meaning for the woman who had spent years giving others a reason to smile. That month, Hartline was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. It was also the month her youngest child left for college. “It was hard to start treatment and have your last kiddo go off to college at the same time,” she said. She underwent extensive chemotherapy, lost all her hair, and had a double mastectomy. Keeping the board updated became more difficult. “It was hard to do a joke board during that time,” she said. Yet a good joke could still give her a lift. She described finding one she liked and feeling excited about putting it outside. “It helped me feel better during a hard time,” she said. The routine she had started to brighten other people’s days had become a source of encouragement for herself.
For the first two years, she changed the joke every day. Now, she generally posts a new one once or twice a week. Asked what keeps her doing it, her answer is straightforward. “I just can’t stop.” She tried once. But watching the familiar cars, runners, walkers, and cyclists go by without a joke on display made her sad. She felt they missed it, too. At home, humor has always been part of family life. She and her husband John have three children: Jack, 24, an engineer in Seattle; Charlotte, 23, a University of Wisconsin graduate preparing to move to Milwaukee for a job; and their youngest, a sophomore at Indiana University, her alma mater.
“I love to have fun and laugh,” she said. “My daughter and I have a special knack for entertaining the family.” The men in the household might describe it differently. “I think the guys in our house would say we are annoying,” she said, “but I know they secretly love our schtick.” With so many jokes behind her, choosing a favorite is difficult. Halloween is a particular pleasure, especially when she can draw pictures alongside the words. Holiday jokes and husband-and-wife humor are favorites, too. John, however, has a clear choice: one of the first jokes they put outside. “What is red and bad for your teeth?” “A brick.” She drew a picture of a brick to go with it.
