SOUTH SHORE GARDENS
(aka Calumet Heights)
 

WARREN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

HOYNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
 
 

I lived at 8940 Essex and my house was about 100' from the Skyway.

~~~ Don Ransenberg

I lived at 9025 Paxton and attended Joseph Warren elementary school. I have wonderful memories of the JCC on Jeffery Blvd., Markons restaurant, & 87th street.  I did not attend Bowen for high school but entered Morgan Park Academy in 1967.

~~~ Barbara Gore Rudkin

My twin sister Rosalind & I lived at 9000 Crandon. I remember: Siting at Burger King on 87th. & Crandon watching this "weird black guy," running around CVS! That was a big block to run around... The Black man was Muhammed Ali! I remember "Rib Hill," before "Markons," took over, and "Mike the Bum" that lived behind there... The JCC's "Coffee House," and the "68 Democratic Convention!" Bill Lazo, Billy Tracy, the Millers, Marks brothers, and a million others who were responsible for the best time one of the best times in my life. I keep in touch with with a lot of "South-Sider's."

~~~Henry Ziesler

I lived at 93rd and Yates, right next to South Chicago Hospital. Whenever any of our family friends or relatives went to the hospital, they would stop by our house afterward for coffee and pastries. We had a constant parade of visitors.

Remember Kozy Korner? It was a big thrill for me to eat lunch there on a school day when my mother was out for the day. There was another mom and pop grocery store across the street, and another one two blocks farther west on 93rd and Paxton. I'd love to have a store like those within walking distance now.

~~~Bob Lalich

I lived at 9040 South Phillips Ave. (We had the biggest tree in the area in our front yard) back in the late 60's and I attended Hoyne Elementary School.  I still remember the name of my first grade teacher, Mrs. Hixon.  She helped me out when I was swinging around a metal support pole of the school just before class, and I fell and busted my mouth wide open! Did anyone witness that???

Buckingham school was just south of my house and my older brother attended Warren. I can remember riding my Sears "Screamer" bicycle down to "Kozy Korner" almost everyday. I always had to keep updated on the latest "Famous Monsters" and "Creepy" magazines!

I can also remember listening to "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" on my transistor radio and pestering my mom and dad to take me to "Bargain Town" so I could get a toy.

I remember several old friends...John Hanson who lived right behind me on Yates Ave., John Phillips, so on and so on.  Does anyone remember the first "Block Party" we had on Phillips street?  I believe it was around 1968 or 1969.

We moved to Arkansas in 1971 but I sure miss those innocent days of my childhood that unfortunetly, I'll never get back.  I would love to hear from anyone who lived on my block or attended Hoyne school.

 ~~~John Serrette

I lived at 8923 S. Clyde & attended Hoyne, Warren, & Bowen.  After starting Bowen, our family moved to California in 1963.  I now live in El Paso, TX.  I tell my kids how the world was different then.  As a kid, I played outside all day unattended.  All you had to do was come home to dinner.  Can you imagine that for your kids?  I remember walking behind the mosquito fogger breathing all that poison for blocks.  Those were fun days.

~~~Fred Price

We lived at 9012 Crandon and moved to Skokie in 1968 when I was in 4th grade at Hoyne.  We went up the hill to a place we called Hill Top to eat hamburgers and buy baseball cards (there was a regular there who had had throat surgery and had one of those prosthetic voice boxes).

I played baseball in the South East Little League and ate my first Mr. Freeze Pops and Frosty Bananas at the concession stand there.  I remember being with Bonnie Harris and her mom at Bell's Clothing on 95th and hearing that JFK had been shot over the piped in radio.

I can still remember a picture of Bonnie, Pat Sherry and my sister Nora pretending we were the Beetles.

We ice skated at Stony Island Park and went out for lunch at Thomas' on 87th street.  I have a client at 92nd and Commercial and have driven by Hoyne and thought of stopping in - but I haven't yet.

Those days sure did feel like our "Wonder Years"

 ~~~Harry Steindler

I worked as a delivery boy from 1963-65 at Rib Hill restaurant on Jeffrey (later Markon's). The 2 owners were real characters, Vickers and Myers, but lots of fun as my first bosses. It was great to get free meals in the kitchen, and I could have all I wanted to eat out of any deliveries when no one showed up at the delivery site. Of course, as a teenager with acne, I soon had my fill of french fries. One memorable delivery resulted in an undressed babysitter running past the large picture window (near Hoyne School). At 16, I was so thrilled to see my first naked woman, that I left before getting a tip. My other favorite delivery was a screaming married couple where the woman was throwing plates at the man , even as he paid me. When he finished paying, he said, "Here's your tip!" and proceeded to advise, "Never get
married; that's better than money." I didn't follow that advice.

My biggest advantage in working at Rib Hill was befriending 2 large brothers from CVS (local tech school), who harassed and occasionally set fire to kids walking home west from Bowen on 90th St. Once they knew me, anyone in my group was protected, and the size of my entourage grew rapidly in the mid-60's.

I noticed Don Ransenberg from my class (Hoyne, Warren and Bowen)sent in a memory. He and Dan were the sole twins of our year; I wanted to tell him I currently have 7-year-old twins, and that I respect his  mother more than ever.

My younger brother never got to Bowen. He was constantly chased home from Warren Elementary by a new, rougher element in 1969, so my parents moved to Skokie. Immediately that winter, my brother was beaten senseless with his own hockey stick by 2 wealthy brothers whose father owned a pharmacy chain. It was nice that the family moved so that he could be assaulted by a higher class of kids.

~~~Joel Rubenstein Bowen '65

Hey what a surprise!  Danny and Donny twins. Pardon me Dan and Don. I attended Hoyne and Warren too. I lived at 8843 Clyde. Barry Cohn lived at the other end of the block a great collector/ trader of baseball cards. then I recall Bernie Price, Scott Silver, and Larry ( forgive me) neighbors from 89th St.  We played sand lot in the dirt across from my house. Bernie always called the foul balls fairly.   I too had to run home from Warren once or twice in my time.

Does anyone recall the Olympics weight lifting competition held at CVS?

I ice skated in the park before and after Stony Island became an "official" park. My finger still stings from when it was frost bitten because I just couldn't leave the ice. For one summer I was what was called a counselor for 8 yrs olds in the Stony Island Park Day Camp.

I worked for "candy" in the Hill Top school store.  It was a real treat to have lunch at the Hill Top.  Are there any yoyo champs from the weekly contests held at the store? Ah, yes the Duncan butterfly yoyo the one designed especially for the flying trapeze trick.

~~~Bob Guberman

 I lived in a modest A-frame house on the corner of 90th and Kingston. 9001 to be exact. Used to see many Bowen students pass by on their way home after the school day. Before I entered Bowen (1968), my brother, a neighbor, and I used to sell Jewel chocolate chip cookies and Pillsbury Funny Face drinks from a cardboard stand to all that passed by. Quite a lucrative business during the summer months. Location, location, location. After expenses we made about $20.00 a week.....Not too shabby for a kid at that time. I was the neighborhood paper delivery person also...(I hate using the word BOY).

Delivered the American, later the Chicago Today, and the Daily Calumet. Back then the weekly fee was around $.40. I had to deliver around 275 papers a day with some people receiving both. 65 or so on Sunday. 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Every customer's paper went in the mailbox or door and collection day was Tuesday. Man, I worked my butt off but my take home with tips was around $20.00.
I really enjoyed talking to the people who lived in the neighborhood. Knew everyone by name too. The added plus was I got to read the daily paper for free and had a great knowledge of current events. My friends, those days are gone forever.....

~~~Jack Peller '72

How nice to see that so many feel as I do about our old neighborhood! We lived at 9039 S. Crandon and I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything. We moved away from the neighborhood in 1966 and after a while just lost touch with most of you. I would love to catch up. E-mail me at GSHUMAN @PARADISEROOMS.COM  Regards,

~~~Gary Shuman

We lived at 8825 Clyde, and I went to Warren and, for a short time, Hoyne.  I was enrolled at Bowen, where my mother went, but got sent in the summer to Aquinas Dominican.  I heard the name "Bob Guberman" recently from my next door neighbor on Clyde, Dennis Majerski.  He lived next to Bobby
Miller, and down the street was Neal Walter and his brother Roger.  Judy Levin lived in the 89 block of Clyde, as did Susan Jaffe.  I'm blanking on some other names.  We walked up the hill to Warren, usually stopping at Hill Top for candy.  On the other side of Warren was another candy store, but I'm blanking on its name, too.

When we first moved to Clyde in 1952, the 87th and 88th blocks between Jeffery and Clyde were three separate blocks, all prairies.  Then they got rid of the streets and turned it into one large park.  The paths were asphalt and perfect for roller skating.  There were 2 or 3 water fountains which could be made to spray magnificently.

They flooded the section immediately in front of my house in the winter and I would skate there.  For Dennis, I put up photographs from our childhood, and several show the skating rink.   http://www.iment.com/maida/friends/dennis

I also remember a club house where we played table tennis, and a playground opposite the Walters house.

I still have the photographs of the Warren graduating class of 1958, though I've never put it up.  What I don't have are any photographs of the old 3 story brick building, which seems to no longer exist.  I remember they kept us waiting for the bell to ring in freezing cold weather, and we'd line up and chant, "Bell, bell, please ring!"

We also played games throwing balls against the brick wall.  The girls and boys playground were separated, though we met in the middle of the back sometimes.  In wet weather we'd
have recess in a large area that had a long bench that would open for storage.  The Lost and Found box was on the floor in front of the office, which was up a half floor in the center of the building.

Teachers: Mrs. King (KG), Mrs. Stegmiller (2nd), Mrs. Wright (5th), Mrs.
Hansen, ... I'm blanking again.

~~~Mary Van Deusen

I was the oldest of 4 Gzesh kids (me - Bowen 68; David - Bowen 71; Barb - Metro 74; Deb - Metro 77).  Our parents
sold our house at 9023 S. Clyde in 1971.  I think my siblings and I spent half our lives at the JCC - between
plays directed by Sonya Burns and Eddie Goldberg, Tween dances, BBG/AZA meetings, the pool, volleyball, basketball.

A lot of kids who did theatre at the "J" went on to have real careers in the arts or the film industry; Sonny Burns
was a lot of people's "stage mom."  We live in Hyde Park, now - back on the south side after many years - so I've had
a chance to drive around the old 'hood. Last winter, my son Max Rothstein (who's at the Lab School) took drivers ed at CVS, driving around that same parking lot we did - and on snow and ice, too.

What I remember about Bowen was how great some of the teachers were (Alba Biagini, Lou Stanek, Jack McLaughlin) and how really incompetent some of them were (Mr. Engel for chemistry was probably certifiably
mentally ill and shouldn't have been teaching; Charlene Wison was so neglectful of her math classes, while being
attentive to the football staff and team...).  Remember my mom taught at Bowen!
 

~~~Susan Gzesh
 

I lived at 8834 S. Crandon! I went to Hoyne in the 60'S! I also attended Warren. Kozy Korner by the hospital was a great place to go by my bike.  I ice skated at Stoney Island and played ball in the playground at Hoyne School all the time! I remember people like Bruce Cohen, Greg Scapper, Andrew Geller, Laurie Sims, Patricia Robinson and many more.  I love this neighborhood!  My uncle Ed lived at the corner of 88th and Oglesby.  I worked at the Burger King when it first opened, across from CVS.  Would love emails from the past.

~~~Allan Mazany [badabing4a at comcast.net]
 

We moved from 9720 Chappel to 8942 Chappel in 1955.  Warren, Bowen, Carls, The Hot Dog Pit, AZA, Hill Top, Phil Schmidt's and the rib place at 119th and Vincennes. The J, The Youth Center, working summers at
U.S. Steel South Works. The Point, Rainbow Beach and the whale fights and submarine races. So many amazing memories and friends, and even a pretty decent education and only one shooting in all 4 years. It was
amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

~~~Bob Tucker '68

 

My brother Gerard an I came to Warren school straight from Paris, France without being able to speak one word of English.  On the first day I hit the cafeteria that later became my classroom with Mr. Hammerman and immediately proceeded to grab all the food i could put my hands on.  Of course not knowing that you had to pay. I left and still owe for that meal and many other meals.   I also remember getting into fights in an attempt to communicate being called Frenchie and never successfully throwing a ball on the roof .  I of course was always there when mar Snipp would get on the roof and toss the dozens of balls that everyone else could throw on the roof to the waiting masses on the ground.  Finally I thank Mrs. Feeley for having some compassion and patience with two French kids who in 1957 didn't have a clue.   I did survive in spite of or because of Warren  and Bowen high school and practice law in Chicago.

 

 ~~~Alain Leval

 

We lived at 8949 S. Yates. Hoyne , Warren and Bowen. Still running around with the same guys from 50 yrs ago but now we're staying out of trouble.

~~~Alan Lantz

 

Aloha Bowenites,

 

(7/31/06) I just spent a wonderful month in Chicago visiting family, friends, museums and restaurants. I even drove around the south side taking pictures of  "the old houses"   8936 Yates  and 9116 Crandon.  Could not recognize Warren.. What happened to it???  Bowen had an addition with an electric sign, saying "Bowen High School".  I came across this web site today and it has been a walk down memory lane for me.  Does anyone remember the factory in South Chicago where they made chocolate donuts?  The smells were delicious.  We would go there and buy donuts to go.

 

My family moved to Skokie in my senior year,  we were the first family "to make the move north"   As an adult I visited Chicago in 1987 from my home in Delmar, California  for my 20 year reunion (great fun) where I danced the night away.  At that time I had the opportunity to take a tour of Bowen.  Let's have a 40 year reunion!  In 1988 I moved to Kauai, Hawaii until Hurricane Iniki hit the island  in 1992  and I moved to Honolulu.  It is paradise in Hawaii, come visit.  

 

I have made many attempts at getting "hooked up" but have really enjoyed the single life.  Being a teacher I have had the opportunities of lots of summer and Christmas travel.  Some interesting and challenging experiences were teaching English in Japan and trekking through New Zealand.  Fiji, is a beautiful island and Mexico and all of Central America is fun traveling and very inexpensive.  

 

High lights of this past trip to Chicago were  having dinner with Dr Arnie Chernoff and his wife Libby, and Ira Myerson and his wife Carmen.  Another high point of my trip was having pupu's (Hawaiian for light snack) on Ira Myerson's sailboat with his wife Carmen, Marty Walker and his wife Sally, Stuart Hayman and my dear friend Suzie Kaufman.  Remember Suzie and Marty were "class cutest !!"  Bowen: 1967...............   

 

When school starts in late August I will have wonderful stories to tell my student about "My Summer Vacation"   Hawaii is Paradise but memories of the South Side will always make me feel so good!   Thank you everyone for sharing all your great memories. By the way ladies Marty Walker is still as cute as ever.   If you want to know more about living in paradise contact me at 

shayna51 @hotmail.com      aloha hui hou,  

~~~Barbara Shane

 

 

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