Sempre avanti!

The title is of this column is what March is all about, as we head into spring always looking forward to what’s to come now that we are entering into a new season. “Sempre avanti!” is a catch phrase that is used to spur people into action despite the odds. It is a simple way of saying “Don’t let anything stand in your way! Move forward!”

I could go on and on about the new things coming up in Roseland and Pullman, but we’re waiting for these projects to move forward. The Red Line Extension is going to have its official groundbreaking sometime in 2025. The expected completion date will be sometime in 2029.

Then there’s the final phase of the Pullman Crossings Project, a 50-acre industrial park. The last of the buildings will be completed in August of 2025, after which tenants will be found to fill the space. With the viability of Pullman well-established through the efforts of the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, led by David Doig, finding tenants for the newly built properties will not be a problem.

This is the first opportunity I’ve had to talk about the fun volunteer appreciation dinner that took place on New Year’s Eve at St. Anthony’s. This year’s event had a “western” theme as you will see in the photos. Fr. Mark is always conscious of the fact that the volunteers are responsible for making things happen, whether it be in running programs or performing a host of maintenance tasks.

This year’s celebration was a lot of fun and our usual DJ/musician kept the dance floor moving. The young people that served the food were a bonus with their smiling and vivacious personalities. The attendees did their best to support the western theme of the night. I, Bev Carli, Ana Magnabosco and, of course, Fr. Mark totally put forth the effort to comply with the theme. A bonus event of the New Year’s night was when everyone was safely home and the clock struck midnight, at which point Denis Magnabosco retired. Three cheers for Denis and a really good new year and new life as a retiree!

Thanks to Fr. Mark and his eighteen-year tenure, the parish has had another year of successful festivals, events, classes, religious meetings and committee meetings. The number of volunteers that carry on the work there is a big reason for that success.

Recently, I happened upon St. Peter Claver Church in Robbins, Illinois, and realized there may be a connection with St. Anthony’s Knights of Peter Claver and their Ladies Auxiliary. Through their association with Fr. Mark, they have become a part of St. Anthony’s and I recently found the connection.

When I visited the church, I was reminded by Sr. Mary Kay Schreier, pastoral minister, that Fr. Mark grew up as a member of St. Benedict’s Parish in Blue Island. The Mission is part of the combined parishes of St. Benedict, St. Walter, and St. Peter Claver and was renamed St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Parish. Interestingly, Mass is said at the mission on the last Sunday of each month at 10 a.m. on each Saturday at 4 p.m. at St. Walter and at 9:30 a.m. at St. Benedict. I am sure there are former Roselandites who moved to Blue Island, as did Fr. Mark’s family, who still attend Mass at one of those congregations.

It is time to commend the great job Fr. Mark has done in keeping St. Anthony’s a vibrant and active parish. As the home parish for all the other Catholic parishes that were in Roseland, St. Anthony’s is in a remarkable position. Fr. Mark has done a great job of keeping the church current and welcoming to all from the surrounding former parishes of Roseland. I am often asked if people still attend St. Anthony’s and I have to laugh because we are a very vibrant parish. Our numbers may not be as high as they were in the ’60s when the new church opened, however, we still have a very strong parish. I urge former parishioners to come and visit at our 9 a.m. English Mass. Afterward, all are welcome to join our coffee klatch that meets in the church hall to talk over current events and growing up in Roseland.

With “Sempre Avanti” as our motto, we should all be moving forward, but as former Roselandites, many of us can’t help but look back at the great times we had while growing up in Roseland. One of the most common topics that has recently come up in conversation are some of the businesses that were in Roseland. We recall many of them because of the buildings that they occupied on “The Ave” (Michigan Avenue) because the buildings are still there.

On 115th Street heading east to Pullman from St. Anthony’s on Indiana Avenue, we passed by what we knew as George’s Sweet Shop. I recall stopping in there as a big kid and buying myself a piece of cherry pie to go along with my garbage coke. As you went further down 115th Street we’d pass by Frigo Brothers Grocery Store, which was a favorite because of its being in walking distance. As we went a little further on the south side of the street, we ended up at “Italian Cheese,” which was the Bernardi Brothers store that moved from their original Kensington Street location. This new store placed them right across the street from the Panozzo Brothers, St. Anthony parishioner’s favorite funeral home. Once the neighborhood changed and people moved out of the community, people thought that would be the end of Panozzo Brothers. However, they built a new funeral home in nearby Chicago Heights, which is still the last stop on the way to a final resting place for many former Roseland residents, regardless of how far south or west they have moved. The next set of buildings to take note of is the Vendetti Furniture Store, which still has an advertisement from the 1960s visible on the wall.

If we were to head west on 115th Street after leaving St. Anthony’s, one of the first things I can recall is the Doty-Panozzo Funeral Home. A disagreement among the original Panozzo family led to a combining of forces with the Doty Funeral Home.  There is still a Doty family funeral home, and it is now the Doty Nash Funeral Home at 86th and Stony Island.

Continuing west on 115th toward The Ave, we recall the Eiche Turner German Athletic Club, where a number of Roseland schools without their own gym facilities would hold their PT classes. As my small Catholic St. Willibrord  School had “zero” facilities, all and any athletic activities for the school took place at Eiche Turner. Many years ago, when I first began writing this column, I was invited to speak at an Eiche Turner member meeting about Roseland.

The first thing to take note of was that the original 115th Street building had been closed for several years and the meeting was taking place at their facility in Tinley Park. When I arrived at the building, my first question concerned the framed butterflies that had previously been on display at the original building. I noticed they still displayed about four of the framed butterfly collections, however, there had been at least 10 of these framed collections on display. I was told that a few were presented to long-standing members and, except for the four on display, the others were all donated to Chicago’s Field Museum.

At the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue stands one more outstanding memory due to the design of the building. Looking like a castle with white tiles and a roof line bordered with castle turrets, the former Rexall Drug Store building sits. I recall it because it is where I used to buy my Classics Illustrated Comics book. I just had a flashback to my 5th grade class at St. Anthony’s where I tried to pass off my having read a Classics Illustrated as a book for a book report, I put off doing until the last minute. The nuns had a good laugh at that one and, of course, I got in trouble for it.

Others, more than likely remember the building as Selan’s System of Beauty Culture, simply called Selan’s. Many of Roseland’s young ladies attended beauty school at Selan’s. They found their place in life by opening their own beauty shops or beginning shops in their own homes. A number of beauty shops were set up in the basements, or even living rooms, of several Pullman houses. This brought in extra income and provided a reliable place for the women of Pullman to have their hair done, not only by someone they trusted, but by someone they personally knew from the neighborhood.

That was one of the things that made Pullman a great neighborhood and still does to this day. That is something we Pullmanites can count on whenever the need arises. There may be new residents in Pullman but, interestingly, it hasn’t changed the fact that, when the need arises, I’ve seen it time and time again in my 12 years in Pullman, where just being a resident of Pullman puts you in a group that is more than willing to step up to help each other when a crisis or need of any sort arises. Sempre avanti, just like the good old days.

“Petals from Roseland: Fond Memories of Chicago’s Roseland, Pullman and Kensington Neighborhoods” is available from me for anyone interested in sharing or revisiting their life in Roseland at $20 + $5 s&h. Contact me at petalsfromroseland@gmail.com or 11403 S. St. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60628; 773-710-3559. My book is also available at D & D Foods, 1023 S. Halsted, Chicago Heights, at Bookie’s New and Used Books, 10324 S. Western Ave, Chicago and at Miles Books,2819 Jewett Ave., Highland, Indiana.