Forty Years Ago
Re: Last week’s rant against winter, courtesy of poet Ezra Pound: for any purists out there, the correct spelling of the viper is “gaboon”, not Gabon. Not only are correct spellings encouraged but “gaboon” has a whole lot more visceral impact?”especially if it’s your gaboon that gets bitten, as it does?”every winter.
Not to beat it to death, but since nearly everyone secretly likes poetry and since April is National Poetry Month we’re honored to have Robert Frost speak a few words on the eccentricities of springtime weather. From “Two Tramps in Mud Time:”
“The sun was warm but the wind was chill,/You know how it is on an April day/When the sun is out and the wind is still,/You’re one month on in the middle of May./ But if you so much as dare to speak,/A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,/A wind comes off a frozen peak,/And you’re two months back in the middle of March.”
From no particular issue of the Forest Park Review.
Thirty Years Ago
An outside opinion in the form of a letter from River Forest in 1974:
“Congratulations to Mayor Mohr, the Village Board Members and your Chamber of Commerce for the numerous improvements in your village. The appearance of your Madison Street business district has improved tremendously. The merchants have changed their store fronts, the vast improvement of your bank facilities, the attractive corner at Circle and Madison?”all these features indicate a progressive village. The resurfacing of your streets and the future new lights will be an added plus. Now you have completed your Community Center and are in the midst of constructing a new Village Hall. All of these projects are a mark of progress. Your community is to be commended for its foresight and aggressiveness. Sincerely, E. Edward Schmidtke”
Steve Olderr, in his “curio” column, asked and answered the following question: Why are navel cadets called midshipmen? Answer: When the American navy was organized the British model was followed. Seamen had been assigned quarters amidships on one of the lower decks. Though quartering cadets amidships went out with sailing vessels, the name has persisted and is still used at the Naval Academy and elsewhere.
From the Feb. 1975 issues of the Forest Park Review.
Twenty Years Ago
Water Tower South is, at best, an occasionally traveled part of town. Located hard by Waldheim cemetery at 16th and Hannah, it proved to be an ideal location for a late night killing.
Officer Robert Kowalski came by the area shortly after midnight in February. He spotted and approached a parked taxi. Inside was a figure slumped across the front seat. Driver Jerrold Yott, 43, of Cicero, who had been driving for Morton Cab about seven months, had taken several bullets to the back of his head.
Robbery wasn’t the motive, since all the fare money recorded by the meter was accounted for. Investigation of the victim’s background produced no information pointing toward a motive. It was discovered that Yott had picked up a fare at Euclid Bowl in Berwyn at 11:45 p.m. There was no response when dispatchers tried calling him at 11:55 p.m.
From the Feb, 1985 issues of the Forest Park Review.
Ten Years Ago
Candidates for the village commissioner primaries ten years ago were Richard Barger, Terrance Collins, Nick Lambros, Laureen Thornton, Gerald Jacknow, Frederick Broecker, Tim Gilliam, Philip Clark, Stephen Day, Debra Scott, Timothy Mellin and Anthony Calderone.
It was a hard time digging out of
trouble at Forest Home Cemetery. It had
been more than two months since the
owner had filed for Chapter 11, and nothing was forthcoming on how he would pay off his debts.
Carl Hunking, with residences in Chicago and California, had not returned phone calls.
Who Remembers? Elmo Tanner … Robert Capa … Debra Paget … the Children’s Fountain, a charming, sprinkling bijou on Wacker drive just west of Michigan Avenue?”lost to expansion … WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle … Ingrid Bergman … outfielder Guy Curtright, who lead the 1945 White Sox in homers with four?”for the season. (Three years later another Sox outfielder, Pat Seerey, hit four in one game!)
From the Mar. 1995 issues of the Forest Park Review.
