Shnay: Civic pride shows in Flossmoor, Park Forest

I am sure Walter McBride and Willie Brooks never crossed paths. I am also certain they never heard each other’s name mentioned. Yet McBride, who grew up in Flossmoor, and Brooks, who spent the last years of his life in Park Forest can both be considered examples of what a person with civic pride in his hometown can do by asking a question.

When McBride, who grew up in Flossmoor, came from his home July in Morro Bay, California to visit his mother, he stepped off the Metra train, looked up at the old tower of the now defunct Flossmoor State Bank and asked one question.

“What happened to the clocks?”

From the time it was established in 1928 in the downtown area of the village, two clocks on the bank’s tower ticked off the hours and minutes of the day. Even after the bank went under during the Great Depression (although it was said no one lost a penny); the clocks kept working, day after day after day.

Then the clocks of Flossmoor stopped. Mayor Paul Braun thinks it may have been some 30 to 35 years ago, but he says no one is quite sure of when it happened. Time did not stand still in the community and soon blank discs took the place of the timepieces and life went on.

Never let it be said that Flossmoor residents don’t respond to a challenge. In a post on Facebook, McBride asked if anyone was interested in restoring the clock tower to its former status. As quick as a few ticks of a watch, a Flossmoor Clock Group was established and went to work. Braun and his wife Mib along with Karen Thomas, Jim Groves, Mike Peebles and both Dean and Carolyn Armstrong, the current owners of the old bank building, began raising money in July.

It took two fund-raisers and about $1,500 in donations to come up with the $8,000 needed to restore the two clocks. At first it was thought that an old sign for a pharmacy hanging in the Sterling Avenue downtown area could be converted into a Flossmoor Historical District logo. That, says Braun, would take another $6,000. But it will come, he insisted.

The unveiling of the two clocks will take place Sept. 9 as part of the annual Flossmoor Fest, which will run from late morning to late evening in that historical area along Sterling Avenue. There will be bands, school choir performances, variety acts and lots of food. Braun does not think McBride will attend, but his one question “what happened to the clocks?” resulted in an affirmative community response. That’s called civic pride.

Willie Brooks also asked a question.

When Brooks and his wife Linda were looking for a place to live in Park Forest they inspected a well-kept home on Monee Road. The owner of the property not only showed them the house and grounds but also a Beautification Certificate from the Village of Park Forest. That sealed the deal. A nice house honored by the community was just what he wanted.

A year went by as Brooks tended the new house and garden. He kept expecting another accolade for the house. Nothing came, so he asked Village Hall a question.

“How do I get another beautification award?” he asked.

He was told the committee that chose the houses was no longer in existence. Nobody wanted to bother traipsing around the village, looking for homes almost as nice as the one on Monee Road. In so many words, Willie Brooks volunteered. “I’ll do it,” he said in 2004. For the next decade, and despite a limp, Willie and Linda Brooks journeyed the village streets seeking and honoring the best kept homes.

Those who knew him said it was a labor of love and was his contribution to village life. About the time Brooks “retired” in 2014, Park Forest began moving toward more environmentally friendly practices and today, the best looking homes in the village are not only for general appearance and attractive flower beds, but also for the use of solar panels, rain barrels and energy efficient windows.

Some 18 homes were nominated for this year’s award.

Willie Brooks died a couple of weeks ago and at his funeral, friends recalled how he wanted to show his civic pride in the village he loved. It is ironic that the week he died, a magazine article called Park Forest the “most toxic” city in the country because some 34 percent of all comments about the community were negative, with 99 percent of those written by two people. I believe the Willie Brookses and the Walter McBrides write the real chapters in the life of a community, not two naysayers.

Jerry Shnay can be reached at [email protected].