Forty Years Ago

Now here’s what I call a great letter to the editor. Couldn’t help noticing it was written by me-B.C. (Before this column.)

“Like most of us at one time or another I heard, or thought I heard, a noise from the empty house of a neighbor away on vacation. So I called 911 and was asked to be outside the house with a key my neighbor had left with me. Within minutes, two officers arrived and searched inside and out. The result was a false alarm, but another result was my own peace of mind and a renewed sense of confidence in our local law enforcement.”

Meanwhile, back to the present, with continuing messed up department affairs, we can remind ourselves that there are still good men and women serving on the force today; that when we need them, they’ll be there.

From the August 25, 1966, issue of the Forest Park Review

Thirty Years Ago

What’s with August and September of 1976 in Forest Park? It’s becoming regular news that there was no news. The plain facts show that practically nobody showed up anywhere or did anything once they got there. So you’re supposed to read next to nothing and learn a lot about the real meaning of journalism dog days. Here, then, are the war headlines of late summer, 1976:

Does teenage marriage make any difference?? Bicentennial parade in Broadview? League needs funds? Walther gridders? Swimming instruction offered at West? Two teachers to be installed at St. John? Groezzer und besser wie zuvor (Oktoberfest, ’76), Diessen, Frietag, Sonnabend und Sonntag.

From the Aug./Sept. 1976 issues of the Forest Park Review

Twenty Years Ago

There was a bad fire in the six-story apartment building at 7428 Washington St. About 100 tenants had to be taken down from their balconies by snorkel because the blaze spawned so much dense black smoke. The fire began in–and was confined to–the elevator shafts. The smoke rose so quickly and grew so dense that it soon filled every floor of the 40-unit building. Tenants had to huddle on their balconies as aerial rigs from Oak Park and River Forest joined local firefighters. At press time a score of survivors were hospitalized, none in serious condition.

There was a choice of pictures for today’s column. There was one showing the rescue of a woman from the fire described above. Yet, it wasn’t a particularly dramatic shot. We decided instead to go with the photo shown because it is so joyfully infectious. It features Robinson’s Racing Pigs, at Six Flags Great America-swinedome’s swiftest. See the ear-flapping enthusiasm of these porkers, their eager and spirited hell-and-back joy in the pursuit of what-Oreo cookies? Note their dainty, built-for-speed, neat, little feet. And check out the crowd in the background; all smiles of delight as they watch the intensely dedicated contestants. Altogether, these porcine pace-setters knew how to run a race and put on a show.

From the Sept. 3, 1986, Forest Park Review

Ten Years Ago

If you didn’t know, Commissioner Patrick Doolin plays the bagpipes. Even if you did know, the commish still plays bagpipes. And not all that badly. The occasion was a tribute to the late U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, and recognizing a nationwide youth program he initiated. The event, which took place in Austin, saw Doolin on hand with the Irish Rovers as the welcoming band. A bonus was meeting JFK Jr. and having a photo taken with him.

Who Remembers? actor John Payne? song and dance man Dennis Morgan? tenor Mario Lanza? Maria Ouspenskaya (typecast as a gypsy lady)? Rasil Bathbone? Oops-Basil Rathbone? Flip Wilson? Godfrey Cambridge? Jack Eigan? Marty Faye? Will Perdue? Judy Tenuto.

From the Sept. 4, 1996, Forest Park Review