Our Mayor

	Mayor John Mahoney jmahoney@palospark.org


As we enter into the Holiday Season, I’d like to remind folks about the Palos Park Tree Lighting and Holiday Bazaar, which will be held on Friday, December 2nd, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Our Palos Park Business Association, in conjunction with the Village Administration and Recreation Department, has planned an old-fashioned Holiday Celebration to kick off the season. There will be a tree lighting including six trees decorated by local community organizations, horse-drawn hayrack ride through the Village, many other festive activities and shopping. It is a wonderful way to stay connected with friends in the Village and to meet new ones. Many of our local businesses will be showcasing holiday and other items at our Village Recreation Center and food and spirits will be available. On behalf of the Village Council and staff, we would like to wish everyone a joyous Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year! Also in this issue of the newsletter, we have included a Community Service Survey. We would like to hear from our residents and their opinions about the service the Village offers. This survey can be found in the middle section of the newsletter. This survey will be a tool for the Village to increase it’s communication and knowledge about our residents. Please take a few moments to answer questions about your experiences as a resident of the Village of Palos Park. The survey will also be available on the Village website. Please return your completed survey by January 30, 2012. Your feedback is confidential and will provide some valuable information on Village Services. Surveys can be mailed in, dropped off at the Kaptur Center or be placed in one of the Village’s drop boxes located at the east side of the Kaptur Center’s parking lot or at the Metra station on the east side of the building’s main entrance. In the last issue of the newsletter, the front page featured an article about the history of the McCord House and the various art programs and community events they offer . Another great community organization located in our Village is The Center which was established in 1932. The Center is set on 78 beautiful acres in Palos Park of which 60 of those acres host the Children's Farm. The Center also is the home of the Wayside Chapel , an interfaith center formed more than 75 years ago, The Center has branched out into many community services including the Log Cabin Center for the Arts, the Farm & Nature Discovery Preschool, the Lodge which hosts a number of different kinds of events, three season camps, and a substance abuse rehabilitation program. People of any faith, or of no particular faith, are always more than welcome. Dave Sanders, the Executive Director since 2000 represents the third generation of the Sanders family to serve in this capacity. Dave has graciously agreed to share with us the following history of The Center. After serving his country in World War I, a young Paul Sanders returned stateside bewildered and obsessed by the ills of war. He had served his country cleaning up battle fields, burying the dead and moving prisoners of war. His experience fueled a burning desire to be of service -- to help humanity in some way. He studied medicine briefly but gave it up, and went on to the University of Illinois graduating from the Agricultural School. A mentor of his convinced “Sandy” (as he became to be known) that he would make a good minister, and that path might best serve his desire to help people. He turned to Theology at Garrett Bible Institute, following with courses in psychology and sociology at Northwestern. Sandy became a Methodist minister in 1926 with his first assignment being a small church in Worth, Illinois. From there he was transferred to the Twin Towers Church of Orland Park. Sandy became frustrated by the denominational inclusiveness of the church. He dreamed of a place that would serve all mankind, people of all faiths (and people with no faith) who desperately needed a place to begin. For Sandy, the “real deal” was a relationship with God, and all paths to develop that relationship were acceptable. It was at the Twin Towers Church he met a man named Ernest Warner, a farmer, who lived and farmed the area just north of 131st Street along the Wabash Railroad. Ernest and Sandy had many mutual interests, and through the church at first, and later by frequent visits to the farmhouse they became good friends. Sandy shared his dream of a “House by the side of the road -- a friend to all mankind.” Ernest Warner, though reluctant at first, came to like this idea. In 1932 he donated nine acres of his cow pasture to the young minister with a dream. The Chicago Southwest Suburban Community Parish and Community Center Foundation was created around a campfire ring on a small hill above Southwest Highway. 1932 was early in the Great Depression -- money and resources were scarce. The Forest Preserve of Cook County had acquired property with an abandoned girl scout cabin on a hill above Mill Creek in the Palos Woods. “If you can move it, you can have it,” they told Sandy . . . and so he and a group of youth tore the old cabin down board by board, saving and straightening the nails, to rebuild on The Center’s new found home. It was completed in November of 1932. Sandy, with his wife Elizabeth and two young children, Paul and Frank, moved into the primitive cabin with no plumbing or electricity, heated only by a fireplace, to spend their first winter in the woods of Palos. This original structure is still part of the main lodge today. It took a tremendous amount of work and faith in those early years to get started. In the first five years of The Center one might have never bothered to take notice of what was beginning there. If you did take notice, you might have thought What a crazy idea. But for people who really dropped by to see what was going on -- they were heartened. Those who were seeking help and a place to belong found much comfort and healing there. All were welcome . . . and the word got out. After ten years many people and many of the local churches believed this little “house by the side of the road” was a valuable and unique resource to the community and worthy of their support. There was significant expansion of the facility in the 1940’s with the camping program and lodging. It took six years, however, to complete the Great Hall due to lack of funds. It was completely a community effort funded only by contributions and volunteers. A surgeon of the Little Company of Mary staying at The Center carved the Great Hall balcony beams. Sandy asked him to do it. At first he replied he couldn’t carve wood. Sandy said, “If you can carve on people -- surely you can carve on wood.” Carve he did, doing a beautiful job. By 1946 the Lodge was complete. Also, The Center now had electricity which came down Southwest Highway in 1945. In the late 1940’s there became a need for a larger chapel. Plans were drawn up by architect Jim Pomeroy, and Elizabeth picked the highest point on The Center’s ground to build this new chapel. The site was right were the animal barn stood and so these had to be moved across Southwest Highway to their present day location. The plans called for the chapel to be constructed of wood. One day a couple drove up to The Center thinking it was a restaurant. Elizabeth said, “No we’re not a restaurant, but you are welcome to join us for lunch,” which they did. Conversation naturally turned to the new chapel, and the guests asked if they might see a copy of the plans. After looking at them the gentleman said, “This chapel needs to be built of stone, not wood, and I will do it for you.” It turned out this couple was Carl Zimmerman and his wife. They owned one of the largest cut stone companies on the south side of Chicago, and Mr. Zimmerman donated all the stone and masons to complete the chapel. The Wayside Chapel was dedicated and brought into service in 1950. Expansion of the art and farm programs took place in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the 40’s and 50’s Sandy let Chicago Public Schools come to The Center for a day in the country. The children would pile off the bus and run through the fields and woods of The Center . . . always taking particular interest in the animal barns. In the early 60’s Frank Sanders, who had just become Executive Director, decided it would be a good educational experience for these young city children to see a real working farm through an organized tour. Hence, the Children’s Farm began and eventually schools all around south Chicagoland embraced the experience. Today The Center hosts a wide array of programs for people of all ages. They have religious and spiritual services and offerings, a long-standing drug and alcohol rehabilitative program, a summer camping program for youth, the Children’s Farm program, the Log Cabin Center for the Arts, the Farm and Nature Discovery Preschool, daytime and overnight retreats, and a diverse collection of luncheon programs. Most of the services offered at The Center have their roots early on. For example, the camping program is celebrating its 75th year this 2011 with 3rd generation campers now coming to camp. Rehabilitative services have been ongoing since 1934. The Easter Sunrise Service on the hill also began in 1934, and the art program began in 1936. For more information on The Center, visit their website at www.thecenterpalos.org