40 years ago

Larry Kaercher, along with editors of several thousand other newspapers, was mailed an open letter from Glen R. Fischer of the Solo Cup Foundation. It concerned an image of women versus women themselves, and read in part:

“I am a woman. I am your wife, your sweetheart, your mother, daughter, sister and friend. I need your help. I was created to give gentleness, understanding, serenity, beauty and love. And I’m finding it increasingly difficult to fulfill my purpose. Advertisers, movie makers, the media and whole businesses have distorted my inner qualities, repeatedly using me as a symbol of sex. This degrades me and destroys my dignity. It prevents me from being what you want me to be – an example of beauty, inspiration and love. I need your help to restore me to my true place – letting me fulfill the purpose for which I was created.”

From the July 29, 1970 Forest Park Review

30 years ago

“Zaniest Insurance Claims” was the topic of a syndicated article that appeared in a 1980 issue. It went:

During a disagreement a butcher hit a fellow employee with a frozen duck. The worker retaliated with a rock-hard turkey leg to the shoulder. Within minutes the air was alive with a flurry of freeze-dried body parts until one contestant pulled a muscle when he stepped on a tenderloin.

A Florida boat owner with a skier in tow was knocked unconscious at the helm by a flying fish. The boat crashed into a shoreline tree. He survived but the boat was wrecked. Something like that could put a damper on the whole day.

A jailed drunk slipped on the tongue of his shoe while making a nocturnal visit to the john. He lost his front gold tooth after hitting it on the bowl rim. An hour earlier a police officer had removed the drunk’s laces for security reasons. How would you handle it if you were a judge and this became a law suit?

A man was being besieged by mosquitoes. He got up in the middle of the night and sprayed … and sprayed …and sprayed. Then he returned to bed and some sleep – only to wake at daybreak and find everything in the room coated with red enamel paint.”

– Source: Aetna Life & Casualty Company

From the July 9, 1980 Forest Park Review

20 years ago

How about a little change-of-pace reading – like a sincere word of thanks from a constituent to a politician who acted swiftly and effectively on behalf of his petitioner.

The letter writer was Rose Kaphart of Melrose Park, and the angel was Rep. Ted Leverenz. Following is the essence of her note to the Review:

“I am on disability and receive a circuit breaker check every year. This year a problem came up, and instead of getting the check I got the runaround. I didn’t know where to turn. Eventually, I decided to call my representative (Leverenz) who went to work helping me. Today he stopped by and personally delivered the check to me. He is one great guy.” These days (months, years) we just don’t read, hear or see much from politicians and mean-spirited business moguls except for self-seeking peccadilloes and brazen acts of corruption.

From the June 20, 1990 Forest Park Review

10 years ago

If pressed for an opinion – and no one has pressed me lately – I’d say that one of the most read and readable columnists this sheet has ever carried was Ms. Chris Broquet (c. 1995 to 2000). A good writer, therefore a close observer, she once chose as her subject our elaborate middle school graduation and dance and related hoo-ha that only Forest Park seems capable of. Her own 8th grade “celebration” she wrote, was marked with little more than a popsicle, a pat on the head, a push out the door and a reminder to clean out her locker.

But today the dance plans begin in January and the “secret” theme is known to all by Groundhog Day. Broquet, who had a daughter enrolled in the eighth grade, felt the folderol not worth it – yet admitted it was kick when her girl’s face lit up.

From the June 14, 2000 Forest Park Review