Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
We can spend countless hours talking about our memories of Roseland because our youth there was wonderful. We can read about someone else’s life and experiences and immediately recall similar events in our lives. That’s what life in an ideal community is all about: the shared experiences. For us Roselandites, those experiences centered on the “The Ave.”
The Michigan Avenue shopping area, otherwise known as “The Ave,” ran from about 110th Street south to 115th Street. All of us Roselandites remember going into the stores on “The Ave” as children when we were shopping with our parents. Another part of our teenage years in Roseland was when the “The Ave” became the main strip for cruising when “wheels” were available: guys looking for girls and girls hoping guys would find them!
There are enough fond shopping memories of “The Ave” to fill a book., but this column is going to be about two of the businesses that mattered, one through all the stages of a Roselandite life, and the other primarily through the Beatles’ time of our lives.
Gately’s Peoples Store was a mainstay of life in Roseland and I’ve written about it many times. As a matter of fact, I mentioned Gately’s in my June column and received a letter from a longtime reader Annette Duchatellier, now living in Utah with a niece and her husband. I wrote about her childhood in Chicago, when her family lived at 76th and Halsted.
Her mother would take her and her two sisters to shop in Roseland and especially to Gately’s for school uniforms. They went to Gately’s throughout their time at St. Leo Grammar School and, when they moved to Beverly, uniforms for Academy of Our Lady on Longwood.
An interesting unknown connection between Annette’s family and Gately’s was that store President James Gately had moved his family to Beverly from Roseland in the 1930s. As the years went by, other Gately family members bought homes in Beverly. To this day, there are Gately family members residing in Beverly.
I’ve heard from Gately’s employees that, as James Gately walked through the store talking to them, he would make it a point to clear his throat as a warning of his arrival when heading them.
There is a plaque on the Palmer Park fieldhouse which has James Gately listed as the President of the Chicago Park District. Mr. Gately served in that position for more than 20 years. As a thanks for his many years of service to the citizens of Chicago, Gately Park at 103rd and Cottage Grove and the adjacent Gately Stadium were named for him.
Another reader of my column, Paula Zordan Banks, kindly helped me out with some history of her family’s business, which was located at 114th Street and Michigan Avenue. When talk turns to the Roseland music scene, Styx or TW4, it doesn’t take long before there’s mention of Zordan’s Music House at the south end of “The Ave.”
It was the right time for Paula to ask questions of her 93-year-old Uncle Aldo, who passed away in February of this year. When Paula’s grandfather, Antonio, who had founded the business, passed away, his son Aldo managed the instrument department and Paula’s father, Bruno, managed the music and records.
Zordan’s sold instruments, music and records. It also a recording studio on the second floor along with teaching and practice spaces. For a time, Zordan’s had the largest accordion school in Chicago. There were also classes for guitar, piano,and drums. You know there were a lot of guitar classes once the Beatles gained popularity.
The store was where MH Royals band members Ernie and Danny LeBeau, as well as Artie Baldacci, worked. Paula was fortunate enough to be working there through her high school years. She got to listen to the musicians who came in to try out instruments, usually guitars. They included Guitar Red; the MH Royals; Artie, who was later with Heartsfield; Tradewinds; and the original Styx. The MH Royals played at many Mendel dances and played at the Martinique Supper Club.
Zordan’s Music House made significant contributions to the Roseland music scene for many years. Thanks to Paula for sharing this history of such a memorable part of Roseland.
Spaghetti-Os
Bonny Sandona has stayed connected with many Spaghetti-Os members and has found a place to get together. The Tuscan Gardens in suburban Glenwood has scheduled a public event on the first Sunday of each month featuring a pizza-and-salad special or menu offerings. From 2 to 5 p.m. the Frank Rossi trio will provide entertainment with a mix of music that we are all familiar with. Come out and enjoy sharing fond memories of Roseland, its neighborhoods, and “cruising the Ave.”
My Latest Book Petals from Roseland: Fond Memories of Chicago’s Roseland, Pullman and Kensington Neighborhoods is available for anyone interested in sharing or revisiting their life in Roseland. Contact me at 11403 S. St. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60628; 773-701-6756; or email: petalsfromroseland@gmail.com.
