Janet Mueller Channell
I think I should get an award for living the closest, just across the DuPage from the VFW, at Riverplace. I just have to walk over the bridge to attend the Friday night festivities. I won’t know until the end of September if I will be there. That same weekend is my daughter’s 30th at Naperville North. She and her family will be coming in from Scottsdale for just a few days, so I want to spend as much time with my grandchildren as I can. I have a son and daughter and 7 grandchildren, three in Scottsdale and 4 here in Naperville. My son played professional hockey for 3 years after college before coming into our family business, Sound,Inc. My daughter graduated from ASU and stayed out west to marry a Michigan State grad, with both vowing never to return to Midwest winters.
My two biggest accomplishments are a hole in one on the 16th par three at Naperville Country Club ( I’m the only woman to have done so), and becoming a Life Master in bridge. Both of these happened after I was 45 so I guess I was saving myself. Getting older isn’t always a downer.
My favorite travel destination was Kenya and remembering the monkeys jumping up on the tables to steal sugar packets and then running off to rip open and eat. The sights and sounds of the country were unforgettable. I would love to return.
I’ve always lived in Naperville except for my senior year. I graduated from Glendale High School in CA. It’s funny, because no one remembers me not being here except that there is no picture of me in the yearbook. During the year in CA I met Diane McBain who was in my class. The only movie star I ever knew. My reunion there will be at San Diego in October. I went from our total high school count of 800 here in Naperville to a senior class in CA with 800 – quite an adjustment!
Pranks in high school would always have to include the light bulbs disappearing during our gym class and the whole class being walked down to the office, with the last light bulb being put into a locker along the way. I’m sure Barb can fill you in with more details. I never liked the way Miss Smith looked at us when she passed out the towels as we exited the showers – something to think about. I also remember putting all my leftovers from dissections in biology into Miss Smith’s desk so they could ferment there before she would ever find them…she never knew who did that. My parents would have been so proud!!!
I’ve loved spending my life in Naperville! I still go to the beach and also watch my grandson’s Little League games there where my classmates and brothers also played. The shopping has improved but I still miss the Mother and Daughter shops, and most of all, the soda fountain at Oswalds…cherry cokes, green rivers, chocolate cokes,etc. Mr. Morgan’s junior high dance lessons at the “Y” were a blast, and the Youth Center dances after the band concerts were fun to practice our “jitter-bugging.” Bob DePaw was always the best at that.
Detasseling corn was my first big job. I did that for three summers and became a crew boss my second year, only to discover I couldn’t always drive those machines in a straight line. When I turned a corner, I brought down a fence one day. The “big” check at the end of the few weeks of work was all spent in Aurora at Ginsbergs, Jacksons, and Sensabaughs. We took the Bluebird bus to Aurora, 25 cents.
I remember “Pickles” walking around downtown with his bottle of booze in a paper bag. He was a character, always talking to himself, but never scary.
We wore long skirts and high sox with angora cuffs…scatter pins…virgin pins…neck scarves…white wool crested blazers…our first Bermuda shorts…white bucks…saddle shoes that were called bubbles…sweater sets…and summer skirts with loads of crinolines. Naperville wasn’t the cosmopolitan town it is today, but my memories of the small farm community are still there. The house where my mother was born on West Franklin holds a young family today, and the last farm my grandparents had is still standing vacant on Plainfield Road, waiting for the next development to consume it.
Having been on the committee, I know all the hard work you’re putting in. The events sound great and hope to see you all. Thanks!