The New CPR

Take a moment and view this CNN video which gives a two-minute demonstration of the new CPR.



Here is a link to the Chicago Red Cross You will be able to find a local class on CPR and/or many other health-related concerns. Check it Out!

Join us on October 13th for "100 Years of Oak Lawn!"

Oak Lawn Centennial Program - October 13th 7:00 PM: Join us as we look back on one hundred years of Oak Lawn history through an engaging multimedia presentation. View historic photos and video of 95th Street, Round-Up, the 1967 Tornado, Kiddieland and much more! Don’t miss the fascinating story of Oak Lawn’s growth and development from a rural farming community to a bustling suburb of nearly 60,000 people!

Memories of Oak Lawn Lake

On October 1st, Pat Flanigan said...

i've lived in oak lawn for over 40 years. my fondest memories center around the creek and oak lawn lake..we would start following the creek behind the village hall, then along the trailer park to behind the bible school.turtles, fish whatever, we never caught them but were it was an adventure just the same.next we would pass by georges tavern and then the strip down to the lake.summer you could fish and then in the winter you could skate.. hot chocolate right there.. sometimes you would have to wait for the jeep(plow) to clear the ice. hopefully he wouldn't put a tire through and you could skate for hours. you could wander up to prince castle or knies food store across 95th st. looking for turtles behind the dam in the culvert was always a challenge.. once past central the creek didn't offer alot. but, back at the lake we did have one interesting experience. after years and years of bragging who would make it to the island first. one of our friends did.. we kinda borrowed a concrete form from a new house being built across the street.boy that thing really floated good, for awhile, but the return trip was only completed when we met our first oak lawn policeman.talk about being at the right place at the right time!thanks again.
Thursday, October 01, 2009

Thanks Pat. You describe scenes worthy of a Norman Rockwell painting! Wouldn't it be great to have just one day to go back and experience Oak Lawn Lake as you did as a child? I would love to go back to my childhood for a day. I wonder if our grown-up brains could handle all that innocence!

Oak Lawn Theater - an Actor's Memories

Here is an email we received from a former Oak Lawn resident who has high praise for and happy memories of our community's theatrical heritage.

Back in the early 1960s, theatre in Oak Lawn was called “The Oak Lawn Theatre Guild.” Thrilling plays like “The Caine Mutiny” were sell-out theatre works. Somehow, I got a bit part as one of the wacky sailors who testify in this great courtroom drama. I actually auditioned for the role and got it! We performed a sold out high school, and what a great stage it was! I was young and dreaming of Hollywood. We lived in a ranch on 104th and Laramie Ave. I filmed skits with my sisters and brother Louis Noto with my Super 8mmm camera, but this was live theatre… I was on my way! Skip to the 1980s and I’m at the famous Second City Theatre, a dream come true, in a hilarious children’s theatre production of “Critters and Creatures.” As an actor, I did well living in Oak Lawn and doing commercials and Indie films – Hollywood by the Lake! (Wolfe Wildlife) My first commercial for Ford was filmed on 111th and Pulaski at Fallon Ford. But for me, the “stardust” all started on the stage of Oak Lawn High School. I studied my lines at the old Oak Lawn Library and read “The Caine Mutiny” book over and over again. The Oak Lawn Theatre Guild is part of Oak Lawn’s great theatre past. --- Peter D. Noto, Jr.

Thank You Mr. Noto! Isn't it great that theater is still flourishing in Oak Lawn?

Just click on the word "Comment" below to share your thoughts with us!

Tornado Moments

I recently received the following comment from Anonymous...

I also remember the 1967 tornado. We lived on Lynwood Drive between Menard and Monitor. I attended UIC at the time. I took the bus from the El station at 63rd & Halsted home. On the bus we felt the tornado go through when we stopped at about 95th & Cicero. When the bus stopped at the terminal on 95th the devastation was so shocking. I recall walking home through the debris and seeing buses upside down or nose down (sticking up out of the dirt) in the field, a friend's house totally destroyed along with many other homes along Menard. I was in shock and had no idea what to expect when I arrived home, thinking I would find it completely destroyed as well. To this day I am utterly astonished that not even one petal was off the tulips in our front yard. My mother was waiting for me, not knowing if I was even alive. We had a family who lost everything stay with us for several weeks until they could regroup and find temporary housing.

(Friday, Aug 21, 2009).

Anonymous paints a poignant picture of the aftermath of the Oak Lawn Tornado. The remark about the undisturbed tulips in front of the house compels us to think about things like providence and the inscrutability of moments which define our lives. Thanks to Anonymous for sharing such a personal moment.

Back in January, this blog asked you to discuss "Oak Lawn's Best Moment." Perhaps the word 'best" was not the best word for the topic. If one were to talk about Oak Lawn's defining moments, surely the tornado would rank toward the top of the list for the current generation of Oak Lawn residents. As we move into the last half of our 100th Anniversary Year, do you have a recollection of the tornado and its aftermath which you would like to share? Did the tornado change your life or your outlook on life?

__________________________

On September 2nd, Anonymous wrote...

When the tornado struck, I was in third grade and my aunt and uncle lived near the bus barn on 95th St. Their home was destroyed. I remember walking down their street several weeks after the tornado and being able to see into most of the homes because the windows were blown out and the roofs had been ripped off. One little girl's room had walls painted in four different colors. It really struck me how much our lives can change in an instant and no matter how safe we think we are, bad things can still happen.

You are sooo right. What a lesson to learn at such a young age. It strikes me that the prior writer's memory of the untouched tulips is similar to your memory of the little girl's room painted in four different colors. Both of you have retained such sharp recollections of what were minute but thought-provoking details of the tragedy. Thank you so much for sharing this.

___________________________

On September 16, another "Anonymous" wrote...

Tornado remnants: I was about 13 yrs old and watched the tornado heading across the prairie, which was from Natoma Ave. to Parkside Ave. and from 111th Street to 95th from our upstairs bedroom at 97th & Parkside. My older sister had been dismissed from the high school swim team early due to the weather. If the team had not been sent home early, many more would have perished. My father's business was at the Pat Harvey Clothing store, where Freshline Foods is now. He watched the big "T" head straight at his office. He got everyone to the back of the building, under the desks, just as the plate glass windows imploded. The atmosphere was literally green. Later, my dad drove us past the National Tea Grocery Store and Shoot's Tavern. That whole corner was leveled. At the cemetery on 89th & Pulaski, a Chevy Belair car was resting upside down on one of the chain link fence posts.

Isnt the eerie green of a tornado sky one of the worst colors to "experience"? There are so many things to think about in this email ... a great expanse of prairie in Oak Lawn; stores literally blown away; and of course, a car upside down on a fence post! I wonder how many hundreds of crystal clear images were stamped on the minds of people on that terrible day. Thanks to Anonymous for sharing this with us.

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Oak Lawn Recipes of Old!

The Oak Lawn Centennial Exhibit, housed in our Local History Room on the second floor of the library, features many fascinating items from our community's past. Among the items on display are several cook books produced by church groups. These books typically included "favorite" recipes of the great cooks among the congregation. Since a new recipe is always of interest to the "chefs" in a household, these cookbooks were very popular.

Fortunately, through the wonders of technology and the devotion of our staff, nineteen cookbooks from different Oak Lawn community groups have been scanned into our online local history collections. Why don't you try some of these "tried and true" home style recipes? You may find a cookbook which was produced by your own church or community group! Just visit the Local History "Documents" page of our library's website and select the subject of "cookery."

Then it's up to you - pick a cookbook and click. Each book is fully browsable and searchable!

If you try one of these "Oak Lawn Recipes of Old" let us know how you like it!

More Names for Oak Lawn

Citizens of Oak Lawn, be on your guard! I think that one of the Simpsons has visited our blog. I think it must be Bart because Homer could never navigate a keyboard, Marge is at the hairdresser and Lisa spends most of her time on nuclear physics blogs. Maggie is now enrolled at the University of Pacification in Springfield.

But I digress. I believe that Bart has posed as "Joe Lunchbox" and has left these Oak Lawn name suggestions on our blog:

Sunday, June 21, 2009
Ogdenville or North Haverbrook-Joe Lunchbox

You're not fooling us Bart, but it would be fun to live in a Simpson's city!

On July 9th, Anonymous suggested another new name for Oak Lawn ... Wolfe Point.

I like this name! The change from the tree motif to the animal motif is interesting.