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Friday, March 29, 2024

Growing up in Naperville – NCHS Class of ’57 Reunion

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Happy New Year 2021! I thought these memories from the 60th Class Reunion of Naperville Central High School in 2017 would be a great way to begin the New Year. Here you go…

It all began in 1939 when most of us came on the scene. We were Pre-war babies and the Great Depression was waning. Rumors of war in Europe were on our parents’ minds. We entered kindergarten in 1944 and the war ended before we entered first grade.

Some of us attended Ellsworth School, others attended Naper School and Ss. Peter and Paul. Several country schools still operated, also. The new Naperville High School opened in 1950 and the “old” high school became Washington Jr. High School as 6th grade classes were moved to join the 7th and 8th grades. In 1946, Naperville experienced a great train wreck as the Exposition Flyer plowed into the rear of the Advanced Flyer at the Loomis Street crossing.

We all entered high school in 1953 while the additions of two wings were being added to the school. We spent most of those two years on buses going between North Central’s field house for P.E. and the old high school (Washington) for art, band, orchestra, chorus and shop classes.

Stores in the downtown were mostly locally-owned, ie., Broeker’s, Oswald’s, Soukups, Sherer’s, Reiches, Haidus, Nelson’s, etc.

Downtown boasted three bakeries, three drug stores and one bank.

We had more taverns than churches and the population when we graduated in 1957 was 7,000. Three small grocery stores along with National Tea and A&P super markets also were located downtown.

There was Naper Theater and Spinner’s Liquor Store. Clark’s Corner became Bob’s Corner, then Fidlers’, and they had the best hamburgers in town. The old Midway Café eventually became Washington Square and was THE eating place in downtown for many years.

Today there are more than 40 restaurants in the downtown area. Other downtown or close-to-downtown businesses, now closed, were Grush Oil, Enck & Drendel, Moore Lumber, Dale’s Record Shop, Netzley’s and Burmmel Motors. Then there was Kroehler’s, Brown’s Toy Factory, Moser Lumber, Raymond Lumber, the Boilerworks, Boecher Coal & Grain, Zaininger Coal & Fuel, the Bag Factory (by the Cow Tunnel) and Reidy’s.

Who could forget two steakburgers, fries and malt for 93 cents or square ice cream scoops? A triple dip orange, grape and lime sherbet cone was 10 cents at Prince Castle.

Hangouts were the “Y” after football and basketball games and The Beach all summer long. Pioneer Park was “way out of town” and Naperville Cemetery was at the end of town! Edward Sanitarium became Edward Hospital, one of the best in the Midwest.

Farms owned by Keller, Modaff, Book, Meissinger, Bannister, Hageman, Castle, Weisbrook, Fry, Kocher, Shoger, Gregory and Clow, just to name a few, now all grow houses instead of corn.

Naperville’s population is now 145,000, has two school districts, boasting five high schools, 13 middle schools and 26 grade schools. There are three Catholic schools and one Lutheran school in town.

In our lifetime, we have had three band shells in Central Park. Summer band concerts continue to be a local tradition, attracting crowds of over 2,500 weekly. Naperville Century Walk used the arts to depict many of the historic successes of our city’s rich history.

In 1996, “Naperville’s Own” by artist S. Michael Re, located on the bank building along Washington Street at Jefferson Avenue, was installed as the first work of art for Century Walk.

Those of us who took Driver’s Ed with Mr. Welzel learned on a stick shift car when there were only two stop lights in town. As much as there has been change over the past 60 years, there are still things that make Naperville special.

Centennial Beach has had a complete makeover. We have a new band shell with new benches in Central Park. Naper Settlement and the concerned citizens have made a real effort to preserve the past and our history.

We built a six-million dollar carillon for the millennium at Rotary Hill along the Riverwalk, a venue that serves a multitude of events. We know how to party and have fun with Jazz Fest, Ribfest and Last Fling.

Our American Legion and VFW are very active in supporting our troops and remembering all who served, especially on Memorial Day, Sept. 11 and Veterans Day.

The Riverwalk was a tremendous undertaking, built, in part, with private donations of money and labor in a public/private partnership. The Riverwalk really beautified downtown.

Naperville really is a great place to live and grow up.

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Ron Keller
Ron Keller
Ron Keller is a lifelong Naperville resident, tuba enthusiast and has been conducting the Naperville Municipal Band for over 50 years.

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