As Tinley Park’s Holiday Happenings kept Oak Park Avenue bustling over the weekend, Ed and Pat Siemsen had a busy time of their own just a couple blocks down 174th Street.
In conjunction with the Holiday Happenings, the Tinley Park Historical Society offered tours, videos, refreshments and entertainment Saturday and Sunday. The chapel and schoolhouse buildings maintained by the society were open to visitors, as horse and carriage rides passed by the front door.
Visitor Susan Wille Pasquarella, of Tinley Park, stopped by for what proved to be a trip down memory lane. A former teacher at Fulton Elementary School, she used to come to the museum regularly on field trips with her second graders.
“They liked sitting in the church, and they liked the desks,” Pasquarella recalled. “They just laughed at a lot of the things.”
Pasquarella and her sister, Lynne Wille Beeler, flipped through books of historical images in the museum Sunday afternoon. They hoped to track down a picture of their mother before they left.
On the other side of the main museum room, Nikki Durrant, of Tinley Park, and her son Lucas listened as volunteer and board member Bruce Haffner recounted the history of particular artifacts. Durrant said they like to ask the volunteers from the society about certain places around town — building foundations in particular — when they visit.
“We love this museum,” she said. “We live nearby and love to come and see all of the artifacts.”
Haffner enjoys showing off those artifacts and talking history with guests. A military history buff, Haffner has lived in Tinley Park since 1990, which makes him one of the “new people.” He got involved with the society after he retired and helped with a military room they put together a few years ago. He also helped inventory the museum’s collection on a spreadsheet, so volunteers can search for artifacts when needed.
Ed and Pat Siemsen, retirees who have spent most of their lives in Tinley Park, have been running the society for close to 20 years. Ed is president, while Pat is secretary of the society’s board of directors.
“We just enjoy the history,” Pat Siemsen explained. “We grew up in Tinley Park. We know just about everybody in town, especially the old-timers.”
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Just a few years into their tenure with the society, they started offering tours of the chapel at 6727 174th St. that houses Tinley Park’s history, along with the neighboring schoolhouse. Those tours started with local school field trips but expanded to events such as this past weekend’s, during which Ed was personally greeting visitors at the door.
“It works out well,” Pat said. “There’s a lot to see here. It’s easier if you have a tour. Otherwise, you walk through and you don’t get the whole gist of everything.”
She emphasized the building is a wedding chapel, not a church, despite the stained glass windows and Christmas decorations. It still hosts “quite a few” weddings throughout the year, she added.
“It’s a beautiful little chapel,” she said. “It really is.”
Throughout the weekend, the society played a video about the history of Tinley Park that was created by a late former member. They also showed “Little Rascals” to mix things up. Mr. D’s Magic & Illusion Show was presented on Saturday. And Sunday offered musical entertainment with Glennsvibes, a first for the society.
Pat Siemsen said they love it when events like this attract new people to the museum.
“We’ve had so many people come in and say, ‘I’ve lived here for 20 years and never knew this was here,'” she said. “We hear that all the time.”
Volunteers from Andrew High School helped keep things going. And children also had an opportunity to leave the event with free books provided to the historical society by Half-Price Books.
The society also sends packages to members of the armed forces. Visitors to the museum could help put those packages together, sign a letter and write their own messages to those serving the country.
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.