Sharon Janko Ruhl

I’m not traveling too far since I never moved away from Naperville. My kids, like many others, have moved elsewhere. I have 6 grandchildren. Two are seniors in college, two are sophomores in college, one is a sophomore in high school, and the baby is in the 8th Grade.

I am still among the employed, working four days a week for a high end furniture store. Hopefully I will be able to cut my hours to three days a week next year. The house I grew up in is still there, but none of my relatives live in it. It is one of the few on the block that has not been torn down and replaced by a huge new house.

As for my memories of high school, I was just glad to graduate and get on with my life. Never did like school much so I went to work and haven’t had any regrets on that decision.

My favorite place to eat way back then has to be The White Fence Farm, which, by the way, is still in business and I do visit it every now and then. They still have the best fried chicken in the country, in my opinion.

My first job aside from the usual babysitting was working at the Naper theater. I was the one selling candy and making popcorn. The perks were free movies and waiting on the college guys.

Summers were the best part of growing up in Naperville. Since I lived ½ block from the Centennial Pool, most of my time was spent there, meeting friends and playing pier tag. The aquathons at the end of the summer were also fun. There were also the Thursday night band concerts at Central Park. We are on our third and best band shell. If anyone remembers the park, there was a tower in front of the bandstand which housed the spots. My father was the one who manned the tower, and I did have the opportunity one time to spend the concert in the tower with him. He was also in the color guard for the band and we went to all that parades that the band participated in, in the surrounding towns. And if you attended the concerts, you have to remember Andy’s popcorn shack. It was the only place to get fresh popcorn way back then. The shack is now part of the village by the Martin Mitchell Museum.