by Robert Flynn, August 31, 2002
It has been a long time since I lived in Park Forest (1952 - 1967), but I try to make visits to the place I grew up every two to three years. I reminisce about the old times. I was told that in 1946, Matthew Manilow acquired a large number of acres for a future residential development. In 1947, he broke ground on the development and sold his first home in the later part of 1948. I was also told that the first 600 tenants of the original townhouses chose the name "Park Forest" for their town and in 1949, the Village of Park Forest was incorporated. Maybe someone can verify that information for me.
Originally, my parents were going to move to Park Forest in 1951 and rent a townhouse in one of the early development areas near the firehouse and shopping center. They changed their minds as they decided to purchase a new house under construction on Niagara Street.
I was seven years old when we moved to Park Forest in 1952. My sister and I attended St. Irenaeus elementary school. I remember my early days in cub scouts and boy scouts with my mom as a den mother and father as a scouting leader. We used to take camping trips to Starved Rock Campgrounds and the winter sledding events of the Klondike Derby at the local forest preserves. And then there were the Saturday trips to Riverview Amusement Park in Chicago and the "Cubbies" baseball games to watch Ernie Banks hit a home run. I remember playing little league baseball for the Chattanooga baseball team and hitting a home run on Saturday afternoon and even getting a small write-up about my home run in the Park Forest Star newspaper. I also remember the only pony league game that I every pitched. I only gave up six hits to the other team, but lost the game by two runs. Luckily, that event was NOT printed in the Star newspaper. When I visit Park Forest, I still go to the baseball fields in Central Park where I used to play little league.
In 1956, we moved to a brand new, larger house on Wilson Court in Park Forest. It was a beautiful split-level house in the middle of the court. When I was in sixth grade at St. Irenaeus, I used to sneak away at lunchtime with some friends and go to the Park Forest Shopping Center right across the street from the school. We would have hot dogs and "cherry cokes" at Kresge's Dime Store, and finish off with a caramel apple at the Karmelkorn store, a local hangout for kids who desired penny candies. I remember going to a hobby shop at the shopping center every Saturday morning for a drawing of names for toys. I remember winning a small toy -- a "Dinky" army truck, and also a shiny white "Hopalong" rifle.
On Sundays my parents would take the family bowling at the Park Forest Lanes where we would bowl for fifteen cents a game. Or we would go to a matinee show at the Holiday Theater. In 1957, signer and actor Pat Boone attended the premiere of one of his films at the Holiday Theater, and I got my very first celebrity autograph. I also remember my dad taking the family to Sun Drugs after Sunday church services for a triple-decker ice cream cone. When I was in eighth grade, I remember working as an ice cream vendor peddling a three wheel bike with a front end ice cooler all around the streets of Park Forest selling ice cream bars and "Dreamsicles."
In 1957, my parents purchased an old Wurlitzer jukebox and we would have weekend dance parties for the neighborhood kids. The boys would wear pink shirts with string ties and white buck shoes, and the girls would wear petticoats and fluffy dresses as we danced to rock-n-roll music...such great times. My sister and I played games like "kick-the-can" and "spud" with the neighborhood kids belonging to the families of Navid, Pizzamenti, Star, Weiss, O'Brien, and Brandt.
In 1958, I went to Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights. I was in the very first graduation class (1962). Our class chose the colors of the school (black and white) although I voted for navy blue and gold, and chose the name "Spartans" for the school. In high school, I met a beautiful blonde named "Pam" who I think still lives in Park Forest today. We met at a Fourth of July celebration at Central Park and we danced to the song, "Wipe Out." During the summer we would meet at the Aquacenter, and during the school year, I would pick her up after school at her school (Rich East) in my mom's "Monza" convertible car and we would drive to Dandy's Restaurant.
I went to Southern Illinois University where I got my bachelor's degree, but would still spend my summer months in Park Forest until 1967. I dreamed of surfing along the coasts of California and enjoying the Beach Boys music, and so in 1967 I moved to southern California where I have lived ever since. I have been a pretty lucky guy...getting my Master's degree in business administration and Doctorate degree in law while living in California and becoming an attorney and judge. I also had some great jobs working for Disney Studios and Warner Brothers in Burbank, California. I even worked as the "Winnie the Pooh" character at Disneyland while going to law school, and worked as a hotel manager for a resort hotel at Disney World in Florida. I really enjoy living in sunny southern California, but I also miss the innocent, peaceful and happy times of my youth living in Park Forest. I probably have bored you long enough.
Thank you for the opportunity to let me drift back in time and remember the good old days, a "BLAST TO THE PAST". If anyone wants to write to me, I can be reached by e-mail at
Robert Flynn
