Reflections on stories about my town

I attended the “La Grange Park Stories” evening at the Library last month. It was a Friday night and I had had an unusually busy week, so I thought about just staying home.

But my son had come by the night before. He lives in the city, but works out this way occasionally. He likes to don his running clothes (Mom, do I have a sweatshirt around here?) and jog through the old neighborhood, his stomping grounds since birth. When he returned, he said, “You know what I love about this village? It’s the people. I was running by all of my old buddies’ houses and so many of their parents still live here. It’s the people that make La Grange Park what it is.”

I thought yup, he is exactly right. I decided to go to the gathering.
The evening was filled with pride, emotion, history, gratitude and love. People reminisced, laughed and some even shed a tear.

A retired doctor brought his ‘house call’ doctor kit. He made house calls for $5.00. Many of the folks in the audience were young patients of his. Dr. Loren Horton was one of the original doctors on staff at La Grange Memorial Hospital, now Amita. He and his wife have lived in the village for many years.

Another presenter was G. Thomas McAtee. As a young boy during World War II, he lived at St Joseph Academy, which was located where Nazareth is now. It was a military school, he also is a retired Marine and said that his experience as a young boy of 14 was much the same as the service. He showed us photos of his classmates, told of the nuns. It was a wonderful presentation of a time long forgotten in our neighborhood. Mr. McAtee presented his experiences with pride and love.

My neighbor Eric Boyd, shared a remembrance about a colorful character on our block: Allan Calhammer. Allan was a Harvard grad and was a mail carrier in La Grange Park for many years. He also was a ‘gamer’ – he invented the game “Diplomacy.” When he died a few years ago, the Chicago Tribune ran a tribute to him and his contribution to the board game industry.

Eric spoke of Allan’s professional accomplishments and had the copy of the Chicago magazine in which Allan was featured. But what Eric brought to the evening was the essence of the man, the neighbor that he was to all of us.

And yes, I think my son is right: the people make the village the great place it is, Happy Birthday to La Grange Park!