PORTAGE PARK — Ches and Alex Perry are huge Blackhawks fans.
And now everyone on the far Northwest Side will know it.
Co-owners of Right Way Signs in Jefferson Park, the father and son spent most of Tuesday transforming a 20-foot by 30-foot brick wall at 4251 N. Milwaukee Ave. into a giant mural rooting on the Chicago Blackhawks as they prepare to take the ice against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday night.
"Once they beat [the Los Angeles Kings], we knew we had to do something special," Ches Perry said, gulping Powerade while on a break from painting the mural on one of the hottest days of the year.
Calling the Hawks' double-overtime victory over the Kings on a Patrick Kane hat trick "nerve-wracking," Ches Perry said he's confident the Hawks will win the series against the Bruins in six games.
Alex Perry called his dad the biggest hockey fan in Chicago — someone who will watch hockey no matter who is playing, or how terrible the players are.
“We had ‘Beat Detroit’ signs in our windows during that series, but we knew we needed to do more,” Alex Perry said.
Ches Perry, who coached his son's hockey team in middle school, said he’s been playing hockey for 60 years, and loves every minute of the Hawks’ games.
The red, black and white mural that features the Blackhawks' Indianhead logo drew cheers and honks from passers-by as Ches Perry perched in the basket of a cherry-picker truck to paint in the logo.
"I think it's great," said Chris Hubbard, as he snapped a picture of the mural with his cell phone. "I live right here. It is pretty exciting."
The most difficult part of painting the mural was getting the 12-foot wide and 4-foot tall pattern in place to recreate the Blackhawks logo, Ches Perry said.
Once it’s done, the mural will proclaim “Let’s go Hawks!” and “We want the cup!”
Although the mural only needed about $100 worth of paint, it would have cost between $4,000 and $6,000 if it wasn't a labor of love, Alex Perry said.
“My dad loves this,” Alex Perry said. “He lives to paint signs, and for hockey.”
Ches Perry began working on the mural Sunday, painting over a green-and-blue sign advertising his sign painting business, which moved to 4651 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Jefferson Park eight months ago after 40 years in Evanston.
“It’s been great,” said Ches Perry, who moved to nearby Portage Park around the same time. “We do a lot of work in the West Loop, and it’s much easier to get there from here.”
In fact, the sign the duo painted over for the Hawks mural was unfinished because they got so busy after a Kickstarter project was funded almost a year ago.
“We’ve found that people want a custom look, and that’s what we do best,” Alex Perry said.
