Thanksgiving was fun, and delicious

By Kathy Headley

Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor

6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778

Hope your Thanksgiving was as fun and happy as ours. As always, the aroma and taste of home cooking and holiday desserts were a big part of the day. I feel comfortable telling you where we picked up our holiday treats, because the bakery began 55 years ago on 63^rd Street in Chicago Lawn.

You probably guessed that I am talking about La Petite. Everyone raved about the pastries. (The requests are already in for Christmas.) Thanks to Bill and Kim!

Thanks also to Peter Fasano for the delicious pumpkin pies. I know a lot of us remember stopping by Fasano’s on 65^th Street to pick up whole pies and pie slices. I wonder how many of us still have an original, heavy pie tin from those days. We exchanged them every visit, remember? Or we were supposed to exchange them, at any rate.

Beginning this week, Lauds prayer, the morning prayer of the Church, will be held at St. Adrian Church, 7000 S. Washtenaw. Join in Monday through Friday during Advent at 6 a.m.

Kathy Headley

This week’s Family Film Screening at the Chicago Lawn Branch Library, 6120 S. Kedzie, is the 1990 20^th Century Fox film Home Alone. Stop in the library on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m. to watch the movie.

This Saturday, Dec. 3, is the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Carroll School, 2929 W. 83^rd St. It is hosted by 18^th Ward Ald. Derrick Curtis and will take place from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. After that, check out the 18^th Ward’s Christmas tree at 79^th and Kedzie.

Coming up on Sunday, Dec. 4, the St. Thomas More Mission, 2825 W. 81^st St., will host its annual St. Nicholas Pancake Breakfast in Donlan Hall (lower church) after the 10 a.m. Mass. Sponsored by the Altar Guild, this tradition goes back well over 40 years. There will be a toy raffle, and St. Nick will be there to greet the kids. Photos are welcome. Santa is a longtime parishioner and went to school at St. Thomas More. A free will offering is appreciated. See you there!

The annual meeting of the American-Lithuanian Community Marquette Park Chapter will take place at noon Sunday, Dec. 4 in the Nativity BVM Parish hall, 6812 S. Washtenaw.

Also at Nativity, reservations are now being accepted for the Traditional Kucios (fish) dinner, which will be held this year on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 12:30 p.m. in the parish hall. To make a reservation, call Audra at (773) 776-4600.

Now back to 1978. Last week we were headed over to Grunwald Savings to empty out our Christmas Club account so we could start our holiday shopping. Miami Joe was the first to remember the location at 84^th and Kedzie. He tells us that when he bought a new home and wanted to build a garage, a banker there named Rich Little was a big help. Joe also recalls a Grunwald branch on Archer Avenue, just east of Kedzie. He says they were both great places to do business.

Brad O. recalled, as a little guy, going to Grunwald on 84^th and Kedzie with his mom to pay the mortgage. At the time they lived in West Elsdon, and he says it always seemed like they were going so far away.

OK, now that we have emptied out our Christmas Club account, we had better start our shopping. The first item on our list is a clock – a decorative clock like a cuckoo clock. Upon checking the sales 44 years ago in the Southwest News-Herald supplement, we find a sale on all sorts of clocks at what seems like a surprising place. Luckily the store is on 63^rd Street, just off Kedzie. It has been in business since 1930 and they have three other locations: one in Brighton Park, another in Scottsdale and one out in Brementowne Mall.

Of course, we will go to the store in Chicago Lawn. These are not cheap clocks by any means, but their quality is guaranteed. They will make a nice gift. The musical cuckoo clocks sell for $160 and the hand-carved cuckoo with a gong is $85.They have some very nice weight-driven wall clocks too, running from $275 to $150. (To put those prices in perspective, a gallon of gas was about 65 cents; a postage stamp 15 cents, and the SWNH a quarter.) They are advertising a sale on Seiko an Bulova watches too. If we hurry, we can check them out and take advantage of their one-week sale. Remember the name of the store? I’ll give you a hint, which is the detail that would have solidified the answer for me. In the store name, they use a sketch of a diamond instead of an apostrophe.