It was like thousands of other hastily-planned World Series Game 7 parties: plenty of snacks, beer, wine and sodas to clutch while watching the action on a big screen, and fans cheering and groaning in time to the game’s high and low lights.
The small but lively gathering didn’t take place in someone’s basement rec room, however. It unfolded at the historic Kenilworth Assembly Hall, its glittering chandeliers dimmed just low enough that the game was crisp and clear on a huge screen set up just in front of the hall’s arch.
“It was kind of last minute,” Johnathan Kiwala, director of the Kenilworth Park District, said as he greeted the 20 or so people who showed up. “It was put together probably in an hour. But we figured we have this wonderful hall, and thought it would be a chance to put something on that could be a community event. That’s what this place was for originally, and what we want it to be for again. We don’t know how many people will come, but we’ll welcome them.”
Tim and Karen Miller of Kenilworth learned of the party via an email Kiwala sent to district residents, and came early. Both grew up in Northbrook; Tim Miller remembered going to his first Cubs game as a child, and Karen Miller remembered her parents having season tickets.
“We love to be doing so much in our community, things like this,” Karen Miller said. “This is so much fun.”
Susan McInerney and her husband Ken Fuchs showed up with kids, including 9-year-old Calla, in tow.
“We just moved here in January from Los Angeles,” McInerney said. “But my husband grew up in Glenview, which is why he’s an insane Cubs fan.”
Fuchs talked about summer vacations as a kid spent listening to Jack Brickhouse call Cubs games on television, and sometimes going to the games himself. He didn’t know if he could turn his children into team fans, he said, but he was going to try.
Vanessa and John Menton of Kenilworth brought their three children, ages 3, 5 and 8, to watch the game.
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“I grew up in New York,” Vanessa Menton said. “But we’ve been in Chicago since 2003, so I’ve been a Cubs fan for awhile.”
Barbara Rinella of Kenilworth, who came with her husband, Dick Rinella, said the game was “one of the most exciting things in the world, in years.”
“My husband remembers his daddy taking him to Wrigley Field in 1945 – not watching the game, but standing outside, pointing to Wrigley and telling him, ‘They’re playing the World Series in there!'” she said.
By the end of the fifth inning, things looked good for the Cubs. Menton took her brood home, and the Rinellas made their goodbyes as well.
Ahead, although none of them knew it at the time, were the heart-breaking eighth inning with its 6-6 tie, the nerve-wracking ninth, the agonizing rain delay and then finally – finally – the 8-7 10th inning win that sent the 2016 Cubs into the record books and a nation of Cubs fans into chaotic ecstasy.
On Thursday morning, Kiwala said he was still recovering. A tiny but dedicated handful of fans had stayed at the assembly hall until the end of the game, he said.
“I think there was a lot of noise when those (10th inning) runs came in,” he said. “But I also think there was a massive exhale of breath, and sighs of relief.
“Several people left here without nails,” he joked. “But I think they enjoyed themselves while they were here.”
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy