Memories Announcements

facebookWe are on Facebook!  Become a fan of  "Park Forest Historical Society" and of "1950s Park Forest House Museum!" We have joined Facebook (like us!) and have a Facebook page for the museum (like our museum page!). (Active links are further down the page.) There is a Facebook group, "Grew up in Park Forest".  It formerly had some wonderful memory streams going, but that changed with Facebook's new format.  It is still a place to reconnect with people who grew up here. We still accept memoirs sent to us via email.  We hope to get a "Park Forest Memories " group started sometime to capture those entries, but are looking at other social networking sites.  If you are interested in helping with that, contact us. We have joined Facebook (like us!) and have a Facebook page for the museum (like our museum page!). 

Remember to make a copy of your memory and submit it to us, too.  And, you will notice, you can write a much longer memoir to be put on our website to share with people.

If you see a topic there and want to expand on it, please share it with us!  Remember, many people are not on Facebook and don't read memories, there.  We may know something about your question.

I think the absence of emails to us is a result of the Facebook page, BUT if you have tried and we have not answered your email, please try again and put something in the subject line to draw attention to the fact. I have gotten some legitimate messages but a fraction of what I formerly received. I receive a lot of spam messages. I worry that I am missing some that don't come through as legitimate.

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I will be adding the memoirs and sending you emails to let you know that yours is online. Hopefully this will go smoothly. When you get your email, please be sure to notify friends and relatives to come look at our site.

Let us hear from YOU!!

If you are reading and enjoying these memories, (and I can tell that you are by the web statistics) send yours along. You do not need to add your contact information for the website. Please let us know what information you want to include. Your memory can be a few sentences or an essay.  Our Memories stay up for years to come.

 

Be sure to read our story on this year-long project with South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society.  Our program on September 20 will be on this. Read more in News and Programs. Be sure to contact SSGHS or PFHS if you have any information on farms in the Park Forest area.

Do you have photos of St. Irenaeus School or your class photos from your time there? Please contact us through our link. The Class of 1959 recenetly had a reunion in Chicago and we discovered St. Irenaeus School history files at the church had inadvertently been thrown out. Please help us and St. I's reconstruct the files.

Did you or your family attend St. Anne's Catholic Church before St. Irenaeus was built? We have people looking for history and photographs of the church. Do you know what happened to the original building? The museum has a lovely painting of the church hanging in the bedroom, donated by Terry Ruehl who moved to PF in October 1948 and attended the church. Terry has since moved and passed on. If any of you can help reconstruct the history of St. Anne's please contact us.

On June 13, 2009 thirty-nine or more people came through the museum on a special tour arranged by Jack and Becky Black. The reunion first went on a tour of Rich East High School, then came to the museum on a bus provided by the high school. Everyone enjoyed sharing memories of their years growing up in Park Forest.
We have since had tours for the Classes of 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, and 1967.
Having a reunion?  Be sure to book your tour of the museum as part of your activities!
Class of 1964 Reunion 

The 1950s Museum is in GroupTour eMagazine, Spring 2013 issue, page 26.  You can download the issue here.

The 1950s Museum was in the Chicago Tribune Metro section on Sunday February 3, 2008. We had a color photo and text on the front page and more photos and text on page 5. If you go to chicagotribune.com, put "1950s Museum" in the search box, and you can go to the article, but now you have to pay to read it there. If you Search the internet for "1950s Museum" the article should come up in another site where you can read it for free.

Read more ...

Bonnie Feldgreber Remembers 1967-1980, Posted July 8, 2007

Hi my name is Bonnie Feldgreber currently living in Indianapolis. I grew up in Park Forest from 1967 to 1980, we then moved to California. Park Forest has always had a special place in my heart and I am happy that I had the opportunity to grow up in such a wonderful community.

We first lived in the co-ops on Birch street and I attended Dogwood school for kindergarten and first grade. Then we moved in the Lincolnwood section of the village on Early St. The Benaroya's and the Beckman's were our neighbors and they still live there even after 25 years. That shows you what a wonderful place Park Forest is.

My memories include going to Illinois School and the wonderful teachers there, Miss Mattucci, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Mandell, Mrs. Donnelly, and Mrs West. Also Mrs. Davis who taught art, and who instilled in me how much fun it is to do art and how important it is to have art in our lives. Mrs. West taught us to raise chicks, ducks, and monarch butterflies. She has showed us how to make a plastic bubble, that we would go inside and present programs. In the wintertime, there was an indentation in the ground behind the school that they would freeze over and that would be our skating rink. Cold and fun, half for hockey the other half for free skating. Sometimes it never did get cold enough to freeze over the "pond" and sometimes we would make our own in our backyard. These was also a field back there (I think bordering Thomas st.) that we would romp around in and catch tadpoles.

The Park Forest Plaza with it's charity days, sidewalk sales, the annual art festival, animated Christmas pixies, Holiday Theatre all held special memories. The library, Aquacenter, ITC (where I took drama classes) pancake breakfast, parades all these wonderful family events. I remember when Freedom hall was built and taking art classes there, and seeing a production of Hair. Park Forest always had a lot of culture, which I still thrive on today. The 4th of July became a favorite holiday of mine, our family always had a barbeque then later that evening we would go to Central Park and the carnival. It was funny that the same carnival was there every year so you knew what rides to expect. We would then find a place in the grass to sit and watch the fireworks. The show was always amazing, and sort of romantic to my young eyes, it always ended with the American Eagle lite up. That is why still today after all these years the 4th of July is my favorite holiday.

I have not been back to Park Forest for about 10 years and know there is a new downtown, which I would like to see. Although I know they took down the failing Plaza to build it, the history of my time there will always be remembered. I have many more memories, but this could go on forever! Growing up in Park Forest was my "wonder years", and I will always feel connected and cherish those memories.

Bonnie Feldgreber