Petals From Roseland

Recently, as often happens among Roselandites from the Pullman/Kensington neighborhoods, the topic of Sherwin Williams came up. Everyone recognizes first that SW was a major employer of neighborhood residents and second that it had specific impact upon the community. One visual impact SW had was in the testing of exterior paints in the SW lot east of 115th and Cottage Grove. There were rows and rows of slanted metal sheets on stands, all facing southeast to catch the sun’s rays at their highest point. These exposed paint samples provided data for SW and helped them determine the right chemical composure …

St. Anthony’s is still my parish, and on Sunday mornings, you’ll find me at the 9 o’clock mass, just like when I was a good St. Anthony’s School student. One major difference is that the disciplinary Sisters of St. Joseph aren’t there to make sure I followed their laws. For the boys, that meant no hands in pockets and taking your hats off. For the girls, it meant making sure you had a head covering scarf or hat. Those were the good old days when, if you broke their laws, you could get a surprising smack on the head to …

Here we are with a new year and a new opportunity to create an exciting life or a sedate life. The choice is ours! Looking back on our lives in the larger Roseland community, we can find plenty of examples of both lifestyles. When I was a child back in the 1950s, my mom would have us kids tag along whenever she went shopping or visiting her friends. From that perspective, I got to know a lot of sedate people! Of course, you must keep in mind that I was my mother’s last child and was born when she was …

When talking with other Roselandites, the topic of “The Ave” (Michigan Avenue) is never far away. If the conversation continues for a while, talk always turns seasonal. Typically, we chat about cruising The Ave to check out who was hanging out; then about shopping at the different stores; then about dining at the pizza places and restaurants. July Sidewalk Sale would then come up, inevitably followed by Christmas on The Ave. The Ninth Ward Aldermanic Office, run by either Alderman Lupo or Alderman Adducci, would send workers up and down The Ave hanging huge red-and-white candy canes with lines of …

Here we are once again, with thanks on our mind, and we have plenty to be thankful for. Having grown up or lived in the Roseland-Kensington-Pullman neighborhoods, many of us have certainly had occasion to pay our last respects at the Panozzo Brothers Funeral Home. The business began on 115th Street and moved further east to Calumet Avenue until they eventually left Roseland for Chicago Heights. Throughout the years, our ability to have a steadfast reliance on Panozzo’s in their time of need was always reassuring. I recall as a child having to accompany my parents whenever a close friend …

It’s taken a long time to get here, but you are now reading the 205th Petals from Roseland column that I’ve written! I took over writing this column from Mario Avignone when Fra Noi was still a tabloid-sized newspaper. That was when you were able to read all the publication’s content in print. But when the switch was made to a more manageable magazine format, the community columns appeared in whole on Fra Noi’s website, with teaser articles and e-blast links driving traffic to the online version. The transition ended up being a blessing in disguise. With the full-length version …

As summer draws to a close, we can look back and see just what has been happening in Pullman. This has been a very busy summer for Pullman, and there will be no letting up as we head for the highlight of the events season.  Of course, I’m talking about 52nd annual Pullman House Tour, slated as always for the second weekend in October. As always there will be several houses on the tour and four or five Pullman public buildings for visitors to admire. The Pullman Historical National Park will also be open for visitors. Pullman has long been …

Recently I was driving through the Beverly community when I saw this sign “CAUTION STAIRS AHEAD” on a light post over a sidewalk heading to Longwood Drive. The sidewalk heading downhill turned into steps to ease the downhill walk. My mind immediately wandered back to when I was 7 years old. I recall walking down the sidewalk steps from Michigan Avenue to Edbrooke Avenue holding hands with my mother and grandmother. We were heading to the auditorium at St. Willibrord School for my kindergarten graduation because our St. Anthony School never had an auditorium or gymnasium. As we were walking …

Welcome to the July Petals from Roseland. After reading through my book, “Petals from Roseland. Fond memories of Chicago’s Roseland, Pullman, and Kensington neighborhoods,” I’ve decided to revisit one of my columns because it got so much attention from my readers. Published in July 2011, “Roseland wasn’t just Italian” was written in response to the many non-Italian residents of Kensington, Pullman and Roseland who weren’t happy about being left out of my columns. They had so much to do with growing up in Roseland. I decided to go ahead and include them in the column, which I present to you …

Do you remember the lyrics, “Summertime and the living is easy?” When we were young, we didn’t realize just how easy we had it. We didn’t have to worry about jobs bills or mortgage payments. Summers in were spent going to the show at the State or Roseland theaters free passes from the merchants. Or playing ball on the Little League diamonds or in the school yards. Or going to the beach where the guys and gals would have a great time swimming together. And who could forget swimming at the parks? There was Palmer Park, with its 3-foot depth …