Chill forced cancellation at park

By Kathy Headley

Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor

6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778

Well unfortunately, the beautiful weather and thawing of the ice on the lagoon at Marquette Park did not extend into last weekend. Saturday was the day the first Go Run Marquette Park was scheduled. With the wind chill taking the temperatures into the teens, this one was cancelled and understandably so. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear when the next walk/run is scheduled.

This week we marked the end of Catholic Sisters Week, a time to shine the spotlight on women religious, remembering and acknowledging the role they have played in history. In conjunction with that, the Sisters of St. Casimir have suggested two short videos you might enjoy. The first is available on YouTube. The five-minute video is titled Beyond the Habit: 300 Years of Sister History and was compiled by and narrated by the late journalist Cokie Roberts. The second is They Might Be Saints: Mother Maria Kaupas. This 30-minute show is from the ESPN special and is available to view at sistersofstcasimir.org/events.

Kathy Headley

As part of the Lenten focus of reconciling with Mother Earth, St. Rita of Cascia Parish and St. Clare Chapel are hoping to plant 40 trees in the neighborhood. If you would like to find out more or sponsor a tree, call the parish office at (773) 434-9600.

Last week we talked about Peter Herbert’s Barber Shop being a decades-long fixture at 3312 W. 63^rd St. Well, this weekend for the first time since 1930, another business is opening up in that location. Tony’s Chinese is holding its grand opening this Saturday, March 19, from noon to 9 p.m.

While I am a fan of Lex Chinese on 62^nd and Kedzie, located in the building Arden called home for many years, I will give Tony’s a try. If you don’t get a chance to stop in before the next column, I’ll give you my rating on the egg rolls then!

Just down the street from Tony’s, a St. Patrick’s Day pop-up vendor event is scheduled for this Saturday, March 19 in the Monarca Event Room, 3300 W. 63^rd St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Augustinian Friars of the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, 7740 S. Western, are presenting A Festival of Peace 2022 on Friday, March 25. Events run throughout the afternoon and evening beginning with a noon Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation. The SRHS Fathers’ Club will offer hospitality with a Bistro of food and drink from 5 to 11:30 p.m. For a schedule of events, which will include prayers, food, music and even Ping Pong, go to stritashrinechicago.com.

Now back to 1992. Last time, we talked about the razing of the Marquette Theatre building. I mentioned that soil samples were being taken on the corner in preparation for the business that was planned. As of this writing, no one has correctly remembered this place. I’ll give you a hint: it was a fast-food chain. It is also hard to find one of these now. Did that help?

As many of you guessed, the new development breaking ground at 87^th and Kedzie was Westport Commons. Jan L. remembered the Omni Superstore being the anchor tenant.

Thirty years ago this week, business leaders were seeking to promote Midway Airport in an effort to counteract perceptions that the bankruptcy of Midway Airlines, which we talked about recently, left Midway Airport a ghost town. Adding to that bad news, in a meeting with community leaders on noise pollution, Mayor Richard M. Daley dropped a bombshell by stating, “Midway’s going to close in five years anyway.”

Hoping to impress the people and corporations of Chicago that the airport was, and planned to continue to be, alive and well, business leaders supported Jim Vondrak, publisher of the Southwest News-Herald, in a move to run a full-page ad publicizing the names of the air carriers using Midway Airport and the cities they serve. The ad ran for 26 weeks, featured a half page picture of the country, showing flights coming out of Midway and listing airline phone numbers.

That was quite an endeavor, with businesses across the Southwest Side joining in. Among our local business leaders helping to finance the project were Bill Grice of Bill Grice Furniture, 2540 W. 63rd St; Wish Kucik of Four Way Travel, 3455½ W. 63^rd St.; Southwest Federal Savings, 3525 W. 63^rd St.; and our local Super Certified grocery store at 3307 W. 63^rd St. So, today’s new question is: Can you remember the name of that grocery store?