'Community Scrapbook' Heralds Evergreen Park's 125th Anniversary

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- One hundred twenty-five years in the making, Evergreen Park will unveil its community scrapbook in honor of the village’s 125th anniversary this Monday, Aug. 6. The exhibit of artifacts and photos detailing the village’s storied history will run for two weeks through Aug. 18 at the Evergreen Park Senior Center.

The artifacts and photos on display were gathered from community members at various archive drives where residents were asked to bring in their old photos, home movies and newspapers. Residents and local history buffs will be able to revisit the rural farms, the legendary businesses, the schools, Aqua Park, the Martinique/Drury Lane Theater and the Plaza, along with shared memories of growing up in Evergreen Park.

On Friday, Aug. 10, the Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre community players attired in period costume will perform staged readings of some classic Evergreen Park memories, as written by some of the the village’s earliest residents. (Did you know that Evergreen Park was the scene of a train robbery by a bunch of Roaring Twenties Chicago gangsters in 1928?) The performance is free and starts at 7 p.m.

The exhibit was curated by members of the Evergreen Park Historical Commission, include acting chairman George Peso; as well as Virginia Wrobel, Karen Buikema, Therese Montgomery, Kathy Mazurek, Ellie and Gary Westefer, Evanne Kennedy, Cindy Eppely, Renee Contento, Tom Riccio, Debbie Peso and Elizabeth Lorenz.

The historical commission has also written and self-pubished a short history, "Arriving and Thriving at 125,” which will be available for purchase at the Evergreen Park Senior Center for $7 during the exhibit. The 44-page booklet was authored by historical commission members Virginia Wrobel, Therese Montgomery, Karen Buikema, Kathy Mazurek, Elsie and Gary Westefer and the late, great Ann Dykstra. After the exhibit completes its run, the commemorative book will be on sale at Evergreen Park Village Hall and the Hamilton B. Maher Community Center.

At the conclusion of the exhibit, the display will go up entirely online on the village’s website. Glenn Pniewski, the village’s public information officer, said the online exhibit will incorporate a major slideshow to go live in late September “after the vehicle sticker rush.”

Pniewski has also amassed an odd assortment of home movies and videos showing Evergreen Park’s transformation from rural village into a vibrant Chicago suburb, to be shown on an evening later this fall.

The exhibit celebrating 125 years of Evergreen Park will run for two weeks beginning Aug. 6 through Aug. 18. Viewing hours are noon to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, at the Evergreen Park Senior Center, 9547 S. Homan Ave.

~ PHOTOS: Some of the artifacts on display at Evergreen Park 125th Anniversary, including theater seats from the Martinique/Drury Lane | Glenn Pniewski and historical photos of two officers lauding the village's first traffic light and an early photo of the first village hall | Evergreen Park Historical Commission