newsletter - La Grange Area Historical Society

NEWSLETTER
LaGrange Area Historical Society
444 S. LaGrange Road – 708-482-4248
www.lagrangehistory.org
June, 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CELEBRATE UNDER THE STARS
Come celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the LaGrange Area
Historical Society on Friday, June 15th from 7:00 to 9:00
p.m. There will be music by Dan Hamilton, wine, soft
drinks and hors d’ oeuvres all under the stars in the garden.
Mark your calendar we would hate for you to miss the
merriment. If you haven’t already returned your response card
for the event, please do so as soon as possible.
New Members
Small history museums throughout the
country have seen their membership roles
dwindle. We are no exception. Hoping to
attract new members, we posted our
application for membership on the Society’s
web site, with positive results. In addition,
Mr. Lee Burkey Past President of the Village
of La Grange, wrote letters to his former
neighbors and invited them to join the
Society. We are pleased to report that many
responded to Mr. Burkey’s appeal. With deep
gratitude, we welcome our newest members.
Jim and Bette Bergschneider
Janet and Paul Berley
Jean and James Berry
Kurt and Jani Bodell
Irene Cavanaugh
Blanche Collins
Mary Alice Cooke
Chris and Elizabeth Cooley
Robert and Heather Davis
Paul and Michele Freyermuth
Jane Seperich-Gill
Sarah Gottermeyer
Kris Hansen
Brad and Carol Hedrick
Peter and Lesli Hill
Vivienne Holt
Joan and Clyde Koehn
Dolores Kohout
Tom and Kim Krueger
Steven and Jody LaVoie
Ottilia Maly
Marti Tracy
William and Mary McKoewn
Steven and Ruth Metsch
Virginia Moran
Jim and Peg O’Brien
Jeff and Pam Parnell
Andrianna and Michael Peterson
Bob Poggensee
Aaron Schau
Stefanie Schodrof
William and Catherine Schump
Patricia Sholler
Vivian Thoele
Ted Tomkinson
James Vance
John and Lois Wagner
Susan Walton
Peter and Stephanie Wind
Maryann and Robert Webb
David and Marilyn Wilkinson
Noel Zethmayr
RECENT VISITORS
Garage Sale
September
15th –
Help
Needed
LaGrange Newcomers
Cub Scout Pack #14, Tiger Den 1
Cossitt School Brownie Troop 1220
Scott & Elizabeth Vial, great great grandnephew
of Samuel Vial. They were relocating from the
state of New York to the state of Washington.
Recent Donations
Cynthia Urbain – 1960 LaGrange picture postcard and
advertising item from LaGrange Federal
Our major fundraiser will be held Saturday,
September 15. If you have items you would
like to donate to the sale, please feel free to
leave them at the door of the garage. If you
need help, call 708-354-7261. We need all
the help we can get!
Mr. & Mrs. Randy McCreary – 4” x 6” colored snapshot
of their LaGrange Park Home
Nancy Bitzer Stureon – Vintage bills from LaGrange
businesses
Cynthia Jenner – 1940’s maple doll bunk beds,
mattresses and ladder
Margaret Judd – book by L.G. author: Thank You God
Memoirs and Reflections
Estate of Dolores Frohlich – 1923 wedding gown and
accessories
Helene Lockhart – 1939 photo of 706 South Ashland, 7
colored slide of 1954 LG Diamond Jubilee parade,
District 102 advertising item, and 5 vintage cookbooks
Update on past news:
Our good friend and long time board member Jeanne Hayden, whose right side is paralyzed, is in Westminster Village, in Bloomington, Illinois. We called her daughter for an update and she reported that Jeanne’s speech has improved but there has been no other measurable improvement. Jeanne’s amazing children also reported that her spirits are good and wants to return home as quickly as possible. To that we say Amen! Catherine Riebel – Vintage lady’s accessories
Jeff and Jan Frommelt – 1908 framed bird’s eye view of
LaGrange
Lyons Township High School Alumni Association –
7 reunion booklets
SHOP & SHARE
Thank you to all who shopped at Jewel during our Shop and Share fund­raising days. We were happy to receive a check from Jewel for $101.02! Thanks to all you shoppers!
Mary Forester – Photos of her great aunt who made the
crazy quilt we have on display in our living room
CLEAN UP DAY AT THE MUSEUM
Reporting on our conversations with those who
“Remember When”
We walked to Kresge’s in downtown La Grange,
the 5 and 10 cent store on the corner of La
Grange Road and Calendar. It had a food counter
along the wall and wood floors. The clerks would
write the sales slip and send it along with the
money through a vacuum system that ran across
the ceiling directly to the back room where the
main cashier sat.
I went to Junior College at Lyons Township High
School and watched the football games that were
held in the field at Cossitt and Brainard Avenues.
We shopped at a Jewel Food Store in the 1960s. It
was a small store on Calendar with a white tile
facade.
The only place in La Grange where you could get
a beer was at Nick’s on Hillgrove.
The mall on Calendar Avenue, with a fountain
near La Grange Road, was often filled with soap
suds.
In 1980s many shops in La Grange had closed
and others had ‘for rent signs’.
The basement of McAllister’s Dry Goods Store,
presently Horton’s, was the only place you could
buy Girl Scout and Brownie uniforms.
There was a drug store on every major corner of
town. In La Grange Park the place to go was Andy
Raasch’s Drug Store on Catherine Avenue.
During the big blizzard we put on our cross
country skis to get milk at what is now DeVries
Grocery Store.
President’s Comment
Last month I was invited to the YMCA Y Men’s Club annual dinner. Many of you have purchased your Christmas trees from these good men who conduct business on the back lot of the Rich Port YMCA. They stand in the cold for hours, walk us from tree to tree and do the shake, rattle and roll so that we can view a tree from every angle. They close up shop just before Christmas and distribute the profits at their annual dinner. Every dime goes back into the community.
The Historical Society was one of the many organizations who received a donation that evening. The Club concluded the awards ceremony by bringing on stage two high school students that were honored for their extraordinary service to the community. As I listened to the students I thought about all the young people who have helped us at the museum. Three weeks ago we received a call from Will Chronister, a freshman at Fenwick High School. Will asked if we needed volunteers as he was required to perform community service in preparation for receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. He had already fulfilled many hours doing yard work and household chores for senior citizens in his neighborhood but needed four hours more to complete the requirements. We quickly ascertained that Will was computer savvy and asked if he would be willing to do some scanning. We handed him a 1928 Lyons Township High School year book, fully aware that scanning the entire book would be impossible. A week later Will called and said the entire yearbook had been scanned. We know that there is no way the book could have been scanned in four hours, as anyone who has a flatbed scanner knows. Clearly he spent hours and hours extra to be sure we had a completed project. A number of high school students have appeared at our door asking if they could help. That is how I met Jake Saccameno. He said that every junior at Nazareth Academy is required to complete ten hours of community service and wondered if he might perform his hours at the museum. We put him right to work. When he heard that we were planning an open house, he volunteered to play his guitar for our guests.
Many of you were introduced to Max Hoo when we detailed his efforts to achieve the Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts of America. His project on our behalf was to record the oral histories of those who lived during the Great Depression. We are delighted to report that on May 12 Maxwell Hoo earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in scouting. Only two out of 100 scouts become Eagle Scouts, and it is quite rare that anyone under the age of 18 achieves this rank. Max did it at age 14. There are so many more young people in our community whose service and good works go unheralded. There are those who helped rebuild the ravaged areas in Mississippi under the guidance of Cathy Pierson and her associates at Community Extension Project. Cathy has referred many young people to the society. They have scrubbed and vacuumed, raked and planted, packed and hauled. They have been computer analysis, data processors, clerks, carpenters and so much more. When we gathered 35 years ago and formed the historical society, we had no idea what the future held. I had no clue that the youngest of our citizens would be part of that future. It is a delight to be able to recognize these to whom we are so grateful. Jeannine McLaughlin