Wanda at her bar working on her lotto numbers (Joe Bryl photo.)
As you get older the world moves faster.
And you look for things to hold on to.
That was the case with Wanda Kurek. She was the beloved owner-operator of Stanley’s, 43rd and Ashland on the south side of Chicago.
Stanley’s was the last tavern of the infamous Whiskey Row near the Union Stock Yards. Wanda died on Tuesday at the age of 95. She had been in declining health after suffering a fall last autumn.
During the 1920s more than 45,000 people worked on the 350-acre stockyards site. My Dad was one of them. So was blues-folk musician [...]
Hank Aaron’s childhood home, Mobile, Ala: This image shows the reverence coaches and players from four historically African-American high schools have for Hank Aaron. Grassroots photographer Jean Fruth left Hank’s rocking chair on the porch empty, out of respect. The home is now located next to the Mobile BayBears Ball Park and has become a museum. (Courtesy of Jean Fruth)
The road is always a good place to change gears.
When I need to refocus I take my camper van to the Driftless Region of southwest Wisconsin. The summer after covering the 1990-91 NBA champion Bulls for the Chicago [...]
All photos by D. Hoekstra
When spring opened its renewing arms for the first time last Saturday, I went to the liquidation sale at the Cascade Drive-In on old Route 64 in West Chicago, Ill.
I spent several summer nights at the Cascade while growing up in Naperville. And, as an adult a road trip from Chicago to the Cascade followed by a visit to John’s Buffet in Winfield made for a perfect Saturday night date.
As I wandered down Route 64 (North Avenue) I thought about the live Dixieland jazz behind the bar at John’s Buffet. John’s closed in 2017 after a 96-year run leaving nothing but ghosts. I [...]
WHITING, IN.—-Life is like a mascot.
You have to look beneath the surface.
The new Mascot Hall of Fame, 1851 Front St, in Whiting is ripe with punchlines. Right off the bat, it’s a mascot museum for North American professional and collegiate sports, with more than a hundred items.
And it is on the industrial shores of Lake Michigan in Whiting (pop. 4, 900), two miles from the south side of Chicago. Whiting hosts an annual Pierogi Fest at the end of July. Local ladies parade around in babushkas and housecoats and there are mascots Mr. Pierogi and Miss Paczki.
The museum’s executive director is Orestes Hernandez. His parents fled [...]
