On April 25 a small group of “old timers” gathered at the Naperville Train Station, just east of Fourth Avenue, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a train wreck, the worst tragedy in the history of the Burlington Railroad.
I was in first grade at the time. My dad had come to Ellsworth School to pick me up as he didn’t want me to be walking home that day. We lived north of the tracks on Ellsworth Street, and I would have had to walk right by the wreck. It happened a little after 1PM and it was horrible.
The Exposition Flyer stopped just short of the depot because an emergency light went on in the cab of the diesel; however, the Advance Flyer was running the yellow light. It was on the same track as the Exposition. Forty-five people were killed. None was from Naperville. Back then, Naperville didn’t have a hospital for the injured. The result was a change in scheduling the trains and the signal system.
Since beginning this series of stories about growing up in Naperville, several readers have asked what it was like here for activities back in the late ‘40s and ‘50s. Well, Little League started when I was in 5th grade. Up to that time, most of our baseball was played on open lots around town or in the street. We played “first bounce or fly,” “work up” and “500.” We made up rules and hardly ever argued. We just played ball and had fun.
In the early evenings, we played kick the can, hide-and-seek, red light halt and any other game we could imagine.
Sometimes we’d take an old blanket, hang it over a clothesline and make a tent. There were times we even slept in it all night.
In the summer, we headed to Centennial Beach. Many of us had bicycles and we rode all over town.
Fishing was pretty good in the DuPage River and on a good day you could catch bass, bluegills and chubs.
We were lucky to have about 15 kids in my neighborhood, ranging in age from 5 to 13. We always found things to do or games to play.
I loved fishing, but my mother told me I had to take swimming lessons before she would let me go to the river on my own. First I took lessons at the Y. Then I took them at Centennial Beach. The teacher at The Beach was Calista Wehrli, a World War II Marine.
I recall Calista lined us up at the deep end of Centennial Beach. She came over to me, picked me up and threw me into the water! I slashed and splashed and made it back to the ladder. Her response was, “See, Keller. You can swim!”
During 1947, five of my cousins were born. I recall Grandma Keller made a quilt for each one that year! That was her quiet time. Every chance she got she would be at her quilting rack.
Grandma Keller’s life on the farm was a hard life. In between cooking all the meals, Monday was washday; Tuesday, ironing; Wednesday, mending; Thursday, housecleaning; Friday, baking; Saturday, canning in summer and fall; and Sunday, church.
For Grandpa Keller, it was milking twice a day, then field work – planting, cultivating, haying, picking corn and working the huge garden. Work was never finished on the farm.
I spent many summers with Grandpa Keller. And I always had chores to do.
Great memories!
Editor’s Note / Yes. The writer of this monthly column is the same Ron Keller who leads the Naperville Municipal Band. Keller reminds us the NMB is set to play in the Memorial Day Parade, that begins at 9AM Mon., May 31, along Jackson Avenue to the Dandelion Fountain at Webster Street. What’s more, rehearsals are now in progress for the 11-week summer concert season in Central Park that begins June 10, playing weekly at 7PM Thursdays.
