40 years ago
Nothing doesn’t have a beginning. That would include Jackie Schulz’s first column on April 8, 1970. Originally titled “People Around Town,” it showed no photo but displayed her telephone number prominently in a two-column by six-inch rectangle. It was mostly a plea for neighborhood news in the form of engagements, marriages, new babies or grandchildren. (Always a class, sensitive woman of impeccable taste, Jackie never reported divorces or break-ups.) Also vacations, promotions, news of the troops in Viet Nam – and implied gossip.
Among specific mentions in her maiden column: Bob Krieger made his family proud by winning a college scholarship. Sue Lentini and Becky Foster had a return flight from Mexico that was delayed by a huge Midwestern rainstorm. Result – a free night in a hotel in Tulsa. Reminds me of a sign (true) in the rear window of a “pick-up truck” (of all things) at the Roosevelt-Circle stoplight in the ’80s. “Attention ladies. Win a free night in a hotel. See driver for details.” (Perhaps a career as an advertising copywriter ….)
Forty years is a long time to meet nearly every deadline. So read Jackie. She’s a nice lady, and nobody doesn’t like her.
From the Apr. 8, 1970 Forest Park Review
30 years ago
Ten years later and it’s still the Jackie Show! Only the column is now called “Talk of the Town.” In 1980 it carried a request from a Sauk City, Wisconsin woman to “Please help me find a dear old friend who may still live in Forest Park.” Within a month, Hazel Timmons of the “dairy state” and Tillie Goldstein, here, were back in touch. In a follow-up letter Ms. Timmons thanked our columnist for finding her friend. “We’ve exchanged a few letters, and we’ll visit up here this summer. Thanks for your help in finding Tillie. You made an old lady very happy.”
From the April 2, 1980 Forest Park Review
20 years ago
Nearly every town with any luck at all has its movers and shakers; people who care about where they live and what goes on. One such civic-minded person was Larry Kaercher who took over as editor of this paper in 1970 for five years when publisher Bob Haeger was over-extended with other projects.
Kaercher would begin his day the old-fashioned way, walking the streets of the village looking for stories. He’d visit local clubs like the Kiwanis and Lions, Madison Street merchants and neighbors, then head back to the office typewriter. When Haeger returned to his dual role of publisher-editor in 1975 Kaercher landed nicely on his feet as editor of the Westchester News – a somewhat odd post for one born, raised and always employed in Forest Park.
Larry had a long interest in and involvement with the causes of elderly people here, and helped resurrect our “Meals on Wheels” program. He served as president of the Park District for four years, and worked a dozen years in the village health department. Though not a mountain of a man, he was indeed a mover and shaker – and a great gatherer of news while writing and editing the Review.
From the Mar. 14, 1990 Forest Park Review
10 years ago
What? With a cast of Ben Affleck, Gary Senise and Charlize Therson, and a director like John Frankenheimer – you haven’t seen the 2000 movie, “Reindeer Game?” Get thee to the library or a video store for this action, suspense thriller in which a recently released prisoner (Affleck) tries to start a new life with Therson. But her brother and a gang of criminals think he has inside info on an Indian reservation casino they plan to rob.
Ten years have gone by and you still haven’t caught Kevin Spacey’s performance in “American Beauty?” He plays a 42 year-old man tired of job, wife and daughters, and out to make big time changes in his life. His family, and he, are in for some major disruptions.
From the Mar 15, 2000 Forest Park Review
