32.4 F
Naperville
Friday, March 29, 2024

June Editor’s notes

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In the early 1990s when we first began considering our move from Chatham, NJ, to the Midwest to be closer to family in Indiana, folks we knew employed by then-AT&T Bell Laboratories supported our choice. Time after time, folks told us this charming community had plenty of small-town appeal, much like Chatham, even though Naperville was growing rapidly.

Former Naperville residents in NJ also suggested this city is “great as long as you live north of 75th Street.”
With advice in hand, we arrived to explore the housing market in the city with a 1993 posted population of 89,000. We quickly recognized on our first visit that those words of wisdom were way out of date. Naperville was happening all over the place south of 75th Street. White Eagle, Aero Estates and Ashbury were attractive subdivisions and new neighborhoods were being developed all around.

Yet, when it came time to make a choice, the importance we place on walking outdoors as much as possible every season of the year, and mindful of the close proximity of homes to the Riverwalk, we did end up settling in a home just north of 75th Street.

Not long afterward, a job in the PR department at Naper Settlement (also within walking distance) led us to NCTV17, the city’s public access TV station. Back then local folks could take production classes to become camera operators and editors who could produce original TV shows that some said were right out of Wayne’s World. That’s where we met a production editor and student from Naperville North who claimed in her 17 years she’d never been south of 75th Street! Small world.

We found joy enlightening the talented teen about places such as Knoch Knolls Park, Keller’s Farmstand and a place where homes have hangars for small aircraft with their very own runway located near Springbrook Golf Club and the Springbrook Forest Preserve.

Time marches on and today this hometown for nearly 150,000 residents offers more choices of things to do than the Man in the Moon can imagine.

Summertime is the best time of all to head outdoors and explore the city north, east, west and south for all the news about what’s new—and delightfully well established.

Little did we consider 25 years ago that places that attracted us such as historic downtown, the Riverwalk, North Central College, Municipal Band Concerts in Central Park and Naper Settlement would remain prominently on our beaten path. Or that Ribfest would grow to become a significant community fundraiser to benefit the quality of life residents expect in support of social services.

Nor did we think that May Watts Park where our kids used to fish in the pond would provide such a natural habitat for Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorants, Mallard ducks, Canada geese, red-winged black birds and their mother!

Simply enjoy the changing season and all the summer traditions that welcome you. Perhaps create some new traditions of your own.

And in the words of Crime Stoppers everywhere, “Keeping the community safe is everyone’s responsibility.”

Celebrate safely.

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PN Editor
PN Editor
An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.

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