Growing Up with Both - part 2
This post is a continuation of the previous post
I remember the year 1976 very well. This was the year I was a candidate for the delegate to the Republican Convention (don't hate and more later) and my off stage participation in this incredible annual event. I had volunteered a few years during the 1970's. I remember working the school building halls supplying the crews and staff with whatever was needed at the time of the performances. Each classroom was converted into live theatre stage with metal chairs for the audience. The space was cramped and the ventilation was dismal. The classroom productions were not too long of a performance due to the close quarters for performers and audience. There was one classroom door entrance and exist; exempt by the fire department from code violations - not sure how that could happen, but it did.
the ringmasters Millie & Ted
The performances were on two weekends
both Friday and Saturday evenings.
This photo is from the Oak Lawn Public Library newspaper section
Their son is four years old than me so when he graduated in 1965 from Linus I was in 5th grade so I would not have known him in the school unless randomly passing him in the hallways or maybe during the shows during the mid 1970's. He also attend my high school of Brother Rice, so maybe?? but I have no memory of him.
Computers in the Police Station in 1974
and the new combined police & fire building in 1977
My Romeo's Pizza Friends
and That Spring-Break Trip of 1977
As mentioned in my Romeo's Pizza Parlor segment most of friends began from this employment - most were students of St. Germain Parish, a mile away from Wick Drive. These are the guys I hung-out with most of the time during my high school & college years.
Below are photos from our 1977 Florida Spring Break trip to
Fort Lauderdale. This trip was my first time in Florida.
and a picture speaks a thousand words ...
I am the one with the beard
We were so drunk one night and we forgot about my green 1967 Plymouth Fury and the high tide. We almost lost car. After a long feverish struggle all of us managed to save it.
and below me sucking a cigar on our balcony
... with a side note about my first car
These images are from a trade pamphlet I bought from Ebay
A Political Junkie 1970's:
Bob and Alice Ihrig in 1973
a 1975 promotional flyer
I worshiped this woman and her long career as an
advocate of Oak Lawn as a village development planner.
My Brief Political Career
I thought one day after college I be a political figure of some sort. In the early 1970's I worked for what I thought was a political reformer name Dr. Tom Powell who was to end the somewhat shady political dynasty of Fred Dumke. I felt involved & included in the Powell team against the 'evil' of potential corruption - so idealistic of me. In later years I would campaign for delegate to the Republican Convention as a delegate - almost won that one as 'undeclared candidate' but would have probably voted for Gerald Ford. Years later I had a strong desire to volunteer at the Democratic Convention helping George McGovern - crossed that political line finally due to my strong friendship with a fellow employee in Romeo's Pizza Parlor who was a liberal's liberal. I felt like I was on fire with a career centric passion to finally do something on my own & my future. My parents vetoed that idea; thought it dangerous - I actually cried about their decision. My plan for a political future waned after that or was it just my ADHD??
(in green)
some dirt on him in 1991
Oak Lawn Village Voice ad 1978
I had a campaign managerial position in Worth Township area in support of Martin Russo for the third congressional district of Illinois during his first campaign - loved plotting strategy
The Home Owners Party of Worth Township
I would work for my candidates such as Jane Barnes
& Herb Husky. I felt part of something noble and transformation.
- silly me!!
Candidate for Delegate
I ran my own independent candidacy for delegate for the 1976 Republican Convention. I was undeclared but favored Gerald Ford for the president. I lost by a few votes to the surprised of the Republican establishment in Worth Township and folks like Jane Barnes & Herb Huskey who were on the ballot and won that year. When I joined their local party in Worth Township they saw me as an asset to their cause. I wish I saved a sample of my rudimentary campaign materials. I did manage to save these photos I took at a Walgreen booth for my one sheet campaign leaflets.
Mother's Freedom Finally
a personal photo of my mother during the 1980's working at executive secretary in the St. Germain's rectory. She had worked as a receptionist at St. Linus for years prior to this period.
St. Germain's Parish in 1967
After twenty-eight years of verbal, emotional, and spiritual abuse my mother declared her marriage dead. This decision was not taken lightly. She needed the financial & emotional support to make this happen. She was a devoted Irish Roman Catholic who considered divorce not the best option. Most of her friends were clergy mostly Catholic priests from St. Linus, St. Gerald, and St. Germain and all of the them support her in her decision.
Her position at Linus in the late 70's was receptionist rectory. She worked with dedication for all the priests who lived there and those who would visit. She saved her money for some years never telling my father the true amount of her earnings not even me or my sister - we had been devote advocates of a divorce. One day she told us and within months she (and us) were on our own. This was the Spring of 1980. She had a job lined up working at St. Germain's rector and placed a down-payment (divorce settlement) for the purchase a condo two blocks from the rectory on Keeler Avenue.
Her New Home
We moved in with her - I slept on the couch. Living together was a bit snug. We lived all together at the Crestline Condominiums for a few years until my sister's marriage in 1984. I was working at Merrill Lynch on the night shift and being a moma's boy stuck around until 1986. I had a brief stay recovering from an auto accident mid '86 at my father's home; our former home on Wick Drive. That was a awkward, painful (physically & emotionally), and surreal as well as socially, political transformational.
an article about it in 1980
The Condominium's History
My Mother's Mortgage Banker
My mother used their services to obtain a loan for the condo
Oak Lawn Aerial Views in 1980
I was living in California at the time
this button is part of my private collection
Those Endless College Tours:
I never initially settled on just one college
1973 - only one, the Fall semester
1974 - only one, the Spring semester
1974-75 - one year's worth
1975-1977 & 1/2
1975-1977 & 1/2
After securing a bank loan & grants I attended the university of my initial interest, De Paul University, in what was then the gritty neighborhood of Lincoln Park. My major was political science. I lived in a dormitory and got my first opportunity of urban life. The incoming freshman were advised not to roam to far from the Howard Line (Redline) and no further west then Racine. The Schmitt Academic Center building was the recent addition to the campus and always was viewed as a bomb-out shelter surrounded by a less than friendly neighborhood - and currently no longer.
1995-2000 & 2002-2004
I would graduated some twenty five years later when I return to
De Paul University earning a B.S. in Communications in 2000 and
between 2002-2004 I earned a Elementary Teacher Certificate. I earned both degree and certification at the Lincoln Park Campus.
photo below - Lincoln Park Campus
photo below - Lincoln Park Campus
That First Real Job at Merrill Lynch
I befriended this guy at the Bally's Health Club that once located on 95th Street near Oak Park Avenue who I had a hidden and most secretive crush on - I was still in the 'closet' back then. After some prodding from my mother "get a real job" I gained the nerve to ask my 'crush' for a job at the company he worked for Merrill Lynch at the Options Exchange at their new building at One Financial Place in Chicago just north of the La Salle Street Station-Rock Island RR.
The new building replaced the original La Salle Street RR station now abandoned by the late 1970's. I did not use the Oak Lawn Depot but the Rock Island on Longwood Avenue in Chicago - the Rock feed into the Board of Trade building that housed the Options Exchange. I guess I could have used the Oak Lawn/Southwest RR route to Union Station but thought it was too far to walk from Canal Street to La Salle.
I worked as operations clerk in the back-office from 1982 til my move to Key West in 1990 which included a brief time in
Culver City, California in 1984. In Chicago I worked the graveyard shift correcting 'post trade day' errors for the trade checkers/option brokers for that next morning at 6 am.
This shift allowed the three of us, mother/sister/me to live in a condo made for two on Keeler Avenue for many years.
My Brief Modeling Career
my first photo ever taken in the early 1980's
my first marketing composite below
I re-entered the profession in the mid 1990's
and like my first attempt in the 80's it was brief.
This ad appear in the Morning Star in mid 1990's
My Five Minutes of Fame
This ad appear in the Morning Star in mid 1990's
In the early 2000's I earned the right to join a nation-wide group of 'over-50' folks for an AARP magazine feature. The several paged feature was all about looking/acting your best at our age with the clothes the magazine wanted to feature. I had a super time in the Big Apple with my native born boyfriend at the time. In the late 80's I was photographed from a financial company called the Morning Star. I was featured as an CFO requesting bond investors to invest in my firm. I had that classic business look apparently.
Birkenheur Photograghy in the 2000's
Quano Photography in the 2000's
That Valley Guy/Girl Move
I followed an Oak Lawn buddy first to Hollywood and then on my own to Encino, California in 1982. My buddy and his friend would move within months with me on Moorpark Avenue just off the Ventura Boulevard just west of the 80's famous Sherman Oaks Galleria where the valley girls & boys would hung out just because.
I had earned a transfer from my job at Merrill Lynch on LaSalle Street in Chicago to a local office in Culver City miles south of the 'Valley' - the San Fernando Valley. Traveling on the parking lot called the 405 was daily nightmare but home life was the reward. Our apartment complex resemble a Roman villa with coconut trees in the center courtyard. Six o'clock was margarita time til late in the evening while sitting in a bamboo chair overlooking the trees in the courtyard from the second floor balcony in shorts & t-shirt.
mustache me and my car
I bought a car in LA in the height of a recession. I paid 22% interest on bank loan - not the smartest move. It was one of the first Nissan's Sentra. It was a box of a car but a workhorse that made it to work & back along with the constant trips to the desert near Palm Springs every other weekend. The trips in the hot & sandy desert did not phase the car. Hot Springs near PS was our 'go to place' away from city life to the warm/hot springs of its swimming pools. A margarita in hand was the always the rule!
I lived it up with my friends until my revenue did not meet my expenses - one year later I was back in Chicago working at my old job at Merrill Lynch/Options Exchange.
As a side note, I had to opportunity to 'OUT' myself at gay beachhead along the 101 in Santa Monica several times but for some reason or another failed to act on it. That time was the era of the HIV and I could have easier succumbed to the freedom of coming OUT. Would I be alive today? - I will always wonder.
Back to Oak Lawn with
... the Accident
stock photo
a red 1985 300 ZX Nissan purchased in Oak Lawn
Within a year the car was ... well ... here
a 2020 photo of Gerber Collision & Glass on Central Avenue
This story begins in Old Town, Chicago and involved a successful end of improvisation theatre practice and the need to celebrate before my group's production that following day. The theatre practice ended late Saturday afternoon. Most of the theatre group walked to our drinking haunt finally leaving the tavern by 11 pm. My south-side friend was too drunk & sleepy to be the designated driver. I felt good to drive until we got to 55th and the Dan Ryan Expressway and I fell asleep at the wheel of my relatively new ZX Nissan. Apparently I manage to hit the left embankment of the expressway and then turn west toward the right embankment while hitting five cars along the way. The only person hurt in this eventful journey was me. My friend and I wore seat-belts (not a automatic precaution by 1985). The seat-belts saved us even though I suffered bone and tissue damaged from my left foot to my left arm. My dear friend only suffered a superficial wound above his eye. On the scene of the accident the first responders could not get me out of my car. My left foot was engulfed in twisted steel and was I bleeding out. The firetruck that had the tool to remove my foot was late on arrival. Moments of foot entrapment were adding up. The decision to remove my foot from my angle down was made. Luckily, the sound of that firetruck was heard & seen and the decision for removal was reversed. I wonder what my life would have been like if not for the sound of the truck in the distance.
My first stop in the paramedic vehicle was at St. Bernard's Hospital one of the few private hospitals not to close during the 1980's in that area of the city. A brilliant surgeon happened to be stationed there at eventful night and put Humpty Dumpty back together again. The next day or so I was shipped off to Dr. Smith's hospital in Evergreen Park - Little Company of Mary a place I would call home for a couple of weeks. It would take twelve operations to put Humpty Dumpty together again over a two year period back to physical normalcy. My trials on my emotional health took awhile longer. Constant and continuous physical therapy would be the normal for three years to the point I moved to Streeterville, Chicago to be closer to my physical therapist. My personal world would be forever altered in many cases agreeably for the better.
Adopted Once Again
my second adopted parents
By the end of 1986 I was 'walking and talking while chewing gum at the same time' even after having a brief stay at a mental health ward in order to figure out the reason for my suicide attempt. I was disturbed by my idiot behavior of driving drunk and endangering a close friend in the summer of 1985. But there was an underlying issue to be resolved. My suicide attempt involved more than just that which was initially disturbing but involved who I really was as a person. What was the soul of me and what was I hiding from my family & friends since the days of playing in my backyard on Wick Drive with a next-door neighborhood I liked very much. After several session of mental and emotional therapy at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park the secret that engulfed me would be revealed for all to witness and gratefully accept in time.
my extended family in late 90's
On a sunny Sunday afternoon I courageously walked into a gay bar in Old Town. The moment I entered the door I felt all eyes on me as though dinner was served. After that feeling subsided I sat on a bar stool and sheepishly tried to ordered a beer but beer was already planned and delivered before I could utter a word. Tim & Jim signaled that it was them who ordered. There gesture was pure and honest and moved next to them for a evening of discussion and laughter. A week or so after that I was invited to dinner party with their friends who accepted me as a new arrival and someone to mentor in my new life as member of a community that was still harassed and belittled as freaks/faggots. As a note, while Jim is no longer with us Tim and I are still dear, dear friends.
random photos of folks just living & working
While I found a new life in the north-side of Chicago I was for many years in the 'closeted' in Oak Lawn
Left Town for Awhile
It was 1989 and I was bored with life in Oak Lawn. I was 34 years old and by know had my taste of experiences in visiting other US locations, mostly in California, Los Angles, San Francisco, and San Diego up & down Highway 101. Now it was time to move out west and totally on my own. I had lived in the neighborhood of Streeterville, on the north-side of Chicago for the last three years still recovering from an auto accident of 1985. I moved to the Streeterville Apartments in Streeterville for one reason and one reason only to be near my rehabilitation facility that was located in the building. Traveling from Oak Lawn to East Erie Street 2-3 days a week was not going to cut it. By the end of 1989 I graduated from the facility fully healed and ready to face a new life somewhere else than Chicago or for that matter Oak Lawn. My roommate and I decided to end our month to month lease and held to Florida. He had a job offer in Miami while I continued south to Key West where I landed a job at a gay resort called the Oasis. I had the 'looks' and the work ethic to make this work at least for awhile. I will always look back to this job and residence on the island with great fondness and strong appreciation of all the fine folks I meet.
My first foreign residence
my workplace was at 823 Fleming Street
my residence was at 1514 4th Street on the other side of the island
X marks the spot where I lived and worked
and below the X marks the spot of Oasis Guest House
Next Stop San Francisco ...
Within months of my arrival in Key West I fell in love or was it just lust?? He was one of the guests at the Oasis Guest House. It was the first time someone romantically had a interest in me. I was overwhelmed with emotions both physical and spiritual - I thought this was it the man of my dreams. He convinced me to move this his home in City of Richmond northeast of the city across the bay. His home was a pre war subdivision with the classical arching doorways and Californian red roof tiles. I was at Nirvana until it wasn't. He was my first love/lust. The relationship very soon soured due to the lack of employment and the company he kept.
After spending hours on his phone speaking to dozen of employers from the Financial District in San Francisco I was hired by a small firm called Van Kasper & Company. I did not own a car and public transportation across the bay was not idle. I had to make a decision. Do I become a house-bound wife or an independent who had more to offer. So, I moved into the city in the District of Cow Hollow on Gough Street just north of Union Street and a bus away from the Financial District. After the move I never saw love/lust again.
SF voting card with my SF address
the bold X marks the spot of my residency
while the non-bold X is the location of my workplace
with a zoomed view of Cow Hollow District & Gough at Union
I must have had ADHD because my stay in SF, like Key West and my residence in Encino, was again brief and lasted no longer then a year before my earnings did not meet my expenses. But what a grand year that was with new friends, another brief lustful relationship, camping trips to Marion County, weekend night visits to the Castro District. I had a ball!! My music habits changed to the to the sounds of Madanna and Michael Jackson. There was a gay-friendly dance club in Haight-Ashbury that was the bomb - danced for hours there with cute boys with no other desire other than to dance and drink the evening away. As mentioned I would live somewhere until my expenses exceeded my revenue but I loved to the city so much for that not to happen once again. So for the few months until reality set in I earned money as a prostitute, yes a prostitute with the hope of resetting my chances to remain. It did not work - my clients were less than what I had imagined.
the middle building was my apartment home
I fly home and briefly lived with my father in Oak Lawn in the home I was raised until in my own ADHD fashion moved once again moved to Chicago and into the Boystown area of the city - Lake View East along the lake and my home for next 21 years.
a visit back - my sister's wedding in Oak Lawn 1982
left to right - sis, mom, & me
The Return Home Sorta
(1993-2014)
These are the years that marked my first long-term relationship, my deep passion for the history of the Community of Lake View, Chicago, the neighborhood social involvement with the LGBTQ community of Boystown, moments away at Belmont Harbor sitting on park bench along the bike/jogging path watching the folks walk by while glancing at the docked boats in the harbor, feeling the cool breezes during the spring and autumn months just contemplating.
While Oak Lawn was the place of my youth Lake View was my adult home that I will always cherish with great appreciation and affection. I lived on Stratford Place, a half block street between Lake Shore Drive and Broadway. Much like Union Street in San Francisco, Broadway in Lake View East was a mix of pa&pa shops and in later years numerous ethnic restaurants. Boystown was two blocks west of my apartment - a place to meet-up with friends and find seasonal boyfriends. For several years my apartment hosted pre-Pride Parade drink parties always walking a few seconds to Broadway to view antics at midday having fun watching the floats & the folks pass by Stratford Place.
It has been six years since I moved back to Oak Lawn. I am still trying to grasp the reality of living back at a place that's now and probably for the foreseeable future surreal time in my life.
my Lake View gang during a pre-parade gathering
the core group photo
Stratford Place & Broadway was the spot to view it all
Loved Once
1992-1998
intelligent, caring person who loved me and I him
And When I was Chicago this Happened
The Rebirth of Stony Creek
(my photos 2019 & 2020)
once an eyesore now a place of natural beauty
The entire green area represents this wetland area.
- its a wonderful walk
and my version of Forest Art ...
I walk along its many paths three times a week whenever possible
walking over the creek on one of two bridges
I have seen an abundance of robins, red winged black birds, woodpeckers, and an occasional white heron & beaver
Village History Lost
the first Village of Oak Lawn public school
While living in Lake View this also happened ...
Cook School as it looked in 2000
with an article from 1996
a memory saved ....
pdf - Oak Lawn Public Library
This elementary had a newspaper called the OAK
Demolished in 2003
This elementary had a newspaper called the OAK
Demolished in 2003
The OL Mayor from Wick Drive
Neighbor, Attorney and Politician
Like myself and my family David and his parental family stemmed from Wick Drive. The Heilmann family lived next door to us and moved into Oak Lawn particularly Wick Drive at the same time we did in 1956. His parental family would reside in the same house for almost twenty years until the number of children exceed the space of the house. His elder brother Joe was my age and along with Bill Hill were my Wick Drive friends at St. Linus School. David was the third in line of kids in his family so we never hung out together. While his family moved from the initial roots they still remained in the St. Linus Parish - that newer section, south of 103rd Street near the school. As a footnote, the parish folks north of 103rd Street became somewhat disfranchised with the wealthier neighbors to the south. While living in Lake View, Chicago I learned of David's political ambitions from my father who remained on Wick. Once a political junkie myself and involved in campaigns in the 80's I was proud of his successes and sadden by his defeated in 2013, one year before my return to Oak Lawn and Wick Drive.
The Mayoral Interview
David's Last Campaign
He retired from political life after this bitter campaign
of betrayal & political dramas
Full Circle Residency 2014
started in Oak Lawn will probably end it in Oak Lawn
My father was a level 4
My father was a hoarder. For years we/the family always had known and always asked him if we could help and clean up with an always constant dismissive one liner answer, "I will take care of it". He never did. We believe at one point in time the volume of things and repairs that needed to be cleaned & repaired was just too overwhelming for someone in his 80's - to proud and stubborn.
my father on his drive on Wick Drive
One day I received a phone call from his home in Oak Lawn to me in Lake View. In a low tone and embarrassed-sounding voice my father told me he had phoned 911 - he fell in the kitchen and managed to drag is broken (hip) body to the front door to let the first responders in the house - it was locked & feared a damaged door. After that percipience phone call I quickly called my sister and her husband who was at work. My brother-in-law phoned me on route to Oak Lawn from McCormick Place and told me his was on this way knowing full well what had transpired in his home.
Marty & my sister with their grandchild
That evening my brother-in-law, a first class handyman, told me by phone that after my father was carried out by the first responders an Oak Lawn Health Department official show up with a padlock. My brother-in-law finally convinced this official that a padlock was unnecessary and promised the official to return the house to a living standard suitable for daily living. Marty can be very convincing with the weight of 250 lbs and a daunting with his long grey beard coupled with a salesman's tongue. It worked with a pledge to deliver photos of prove that the work was completed to Oak Lawn standards. The rehab project took several months with my father and me cohabiting at their house in Mt. Greenwood til the project was near completion. Oh ya, I mentioned 'and me'. Weeks after receiving the father phone call my sister and Marty convinced me to move to Mt. Greenwood and help with the dehoarding of my father's house while Marty rehabbed the it - very much a tall order. The bathroom and kitchen area was unusable. Hoarding materials of all sorts filled/stuffed in each bedroom to the point of non-entry. The unfinished basement was completely filled with useless stuff in with narrow pathways in between the useless stuff of age old stinks to empty plastic bottles and newspapers to chairs, on & on.
the house on Wick in 2017
Finally, in 2015 his house, now a home again, meet the standards set by the Oak Lawn Health Department and was he (and me) were approved to return. My father and I continue to live on Wick Drive. Our relationship had deteriorated by that time and has not improved since - a story told and retold for the family ears only.
Oak Lawn School District 123
my current workplace
These are the schools I work as a substitute teacher since 2014
Hannum School
a 1965 rendering
Kolmar School
a 1992 photo and below
Sward School
a 1952 photo
There was once more schools in this district at one time
the X indicates current schools
a 2010 map of the schools
X marks the spot
My 60th - not in Oak Lawn
My good friend in London told me the year before to get my act together and head to London for my 60th birthday. I told him I was receiving monies from my mother's estate and I had one condition. We would visit sites in England & Paris he liked very much and I never been - first trip to Europe! I one destination of all others and that was a trip to Stonehenge near Salisbury, England - a total must!
I needed the 'get out of dodge'. After my mother' death so celebrating my bday in a community of my childhood was not going to work nor was a day trip to Lake View. So, in February 2015 I was on a jet to place I never been - bloody old England for ten days and with a one day journey to Paris via the Eurostar.
The trip in Photos - just a few of mine ...
the first stop was Gary's kitchen and the cake he baked.
Gary is a renowned cook and baker of all sorts
walking along the Thames
A friend of Gary's gave me is findings - a trio of bone-carved 17th century pipes that were discarded as cigarette filters
These pipes were washed-up on the River Thames hence
'mud-larking the River Thames'
'mud-larking the River Thames'
one a several streets of Old London that contained small shops and vintage chapels along it very narrow streets of cobble stone
changing of the guard
we also view a live session of Parliament at Westminster
The Trip to Salisbury and It's Cathedral
That Must Visit!
stone vs people - size matters
The Hampton Court Tour
the home of Henry VIII - he took it as his
from a pamphlet we used
the entrance
a simple room from the Georgian Period
the chapel
one of the many grand halls of the palace with Gary in the distance
The Day Trip to Paris
My Bears from England & Paris
Each bear represents the places I visited
the one in the middle well ... he's French
My Current Nirvana in Oak Lawn
My (father's) backyard in 2017 and with each year it changes.
When I moved back to Wick Drive the landscaping was in poor shape. While the interior was rehabbed the outside needed some major work - this is not my best but it's mine & better then it was.
a enormous pine tree was removed creating a vacancy
the backyard ...
The backyard needed the most work. My father managed to kill most of the grass due to overgrowth of the trees and bushes. No sunlight, no grass. The removal of the overgrowth took as much time as redesigning and implantation of now
existing mulch, decor, pavers, and potted plants
The backyard was created to give me peace of mind,
a place I can call my own with a beer or two.
The hiatus and side trees were preexisting
the brick pavers was a gift from a neighbor who was moving
the rocks were discovered in the back of the garage
some of the decor was original my uncle's or mine
The robins, cardinals, sparrows and occasional a flyover from a hawk help fill the space that I cherish
and Buddha is my philosophy along with a bottle of Stella's
The Year of the Covid-19 Virus 2020
with articles from Oak Lawn Patch
March 17, 2020
An Open Letter from Village Manager
April 6, 2020
According to the Oak Lawn Patch, 'As of April 6, there were 3,098 reported cases and 82 deaths attributed to COVID-19 infections in suburban Cook County. Fifty-four congregate settings, such as long term care facilities and nursing homes are now reporting one of more cases. Mandated reporters, such as health care providers, hospitals and labs are required to report any suspected or confirmed cases of 68 communicable diseases to [Cook County Department of Public Health] CCDPH, ranging from measles, chicken pox and mumps to Lyme disease, West Nile and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).' - Oak Lawn Patch
April 7, 2020
April 14, 2020
Advocate Christ Hospital
photo - Oak Lawn Patch
Their Pandemic Policy
from their website
School/Church Services were Closed
my neighborhood area & former elementary school
from St. Linus Parish website - photo by me
The Scenes of Closures & Emptiness:
(photos by me)
April 14th 2020 between 3 & 5 pm
The flowers are beginning to bloom. The next day these photos were taken we had our April snowfall - typical
Stand in the Middle of the Road
This is 95th Street view east from 52nd Avenue
Oak Lawn Public Library Closed
their notice below
on the sidewalk leading to the main door of the library
emptiness inside
Parks are Closed
this one is near Village Hall & the library
A metal sign like this one was posted in every park in the village
and at Dillon Park
the park nearest Wick Drive
and another red & white metal sign posted
Village Signs of Inspiration
this one is near the library facing 95th Street
while the one below is on the corner of 52nd & 103rd streets
My Most Regular Business Visits:
These are places I visit on a more than regular basis in normal times but now either have limited access,
partial closed with social distancing or completely closed.
My Coffee Shop on 95th
very tight quarters in this one
stools are up with notice on the door window
empty empty empty
and on 103th & Cicero
I visit both locations depended upon what school I have been assigned to for that day. Covington School the 95th, Kolmar
& Hannum schools the 103rd. I also use the 95th for train trips to
Union Station on route to community of Lake View, Chicago
- my other home.
drivers were still pulling up to the speaker to no response
the drive through window is closed
message on the front door
someone must have tested positive
for this high volume outlet to close
Sward Elementary School
my favorite in the OL school district
a notification that free lunches are available to be pick up for families in need and would have received free lunches anyway
Patriot Station
my escape to the north-side
so to not gather around the station commuters were told to pay online so to limited the conductors interactions with commuters
April 29, 2020
My Bank
The lobby is closed but not the drive through
I typical use the ATM at Jewel but sometimes
I need to deposit a paper check but now I will use my mobile
My Grocery Store on 103rd Street
open but with serious caution applied
their signs tell the story
they had a security guard at the entrance
instructions upon entry
signs are everywhere
with one-way traffic
My Favorite Snack Shops:
limited access with dining area closed
and across the street ....
take out only and though a window
My Mobile Phone Outlet
completely closed until further notice
someone must have had symptoms, so closed per signage
My Garden Center
established in 1963
their message to their customers
At this time their stock was limited and did a great job of social distancing their staff from the costumers. The staff all wore masks and like Jewel had separation signs on the floor by the checkout
At this time their stock was limited and did a great job of social distancing their staff from the costumers. The staff all wore masks and like Jewel had separation signs on the floor by the checkout
My Gas Station on Cicero
Before the pandemic the price of gas
was just over three bucks in Cook County
still busy and now with cheap gas prices
My Hair Shop
Green Oaks Shopping Center
notice on the door of limited access
I did not think they were open so planned ahead sorta
I should have read first!
My Asian Take-Out
(there are three business I visit in this strip mall)
The Oak Lawn Restaurant
established in 1957
This restaurant temporary closed on the 19th of March due to the shelter-in-place decree. The owners notified the temporary closure via Facebook. And then this by mid April ....
I would like to visit in during the morning hours for the extensive breakfast menu - eggs with bone on ham was one of favorites. Most of the clientele were the over 50 crowd; a very loyal following.
a subsection of their breakfast menu
a subsection of their breakfast menu
Chicago Ridge Mall
While not in Oak Lawn this mall is used during the winter months or on rainy days to walk my 45 minutes, per doctors orders, at least three times a week along with my visits to the health club in Alsip.
My Health Club in Alsip
Luckily, April is sorta warmer so my walks at Wolfe Wildlife Refuge are more important to me then ever
still open
My Pizza Parlor
My Chiropractor
To the Citizens & Businesses of Oak Lawn
March 20, 2020
Masks are Essential
April 24, 2020
Graduation Plans for Richard High School
April 28, 2020
Donations by Richard High School
April 29, 2020
Finally a Message(s) from St. Linus Parish
and on the other side ...
not sure what to make of that message
Golf Anyone?
May 1, 2020
The Statistics in Illinois
Shelter-in-Place = a Mary Jane Increase
May 5, 2020
Oak Lawn Patch Article
The Plan to Normalcy in Illinois
images above from Southtown Newspaper
A 80 Year Old Survives
Some Activity Re-Opens Slowly
photo - Village of Oak Lawn
Reopening Readiness for OL
Most Strict Rules in the Nation
Phase 3 in Oak Lawn
Pandemic Budget Cuts or Politics
Let's Continue to My Next Post
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