The Village of Faith has a long rich history spanning over 130 years. This group is for Lemonters old and new that share in our unique history and know why our village is such a great place to grow up and call home.
Accept no substitutes:
You know you are a Long Time Lemonter if...
-You lived through the 1976 tornado;
-You went to school in the "Old" Building, and you know where the Old Building is, and you know the lame excuse of why they closed the old Building;
-You rode your bike through the corn field to get to the new park district pool on 127th;
-You know what is buried underneath the Bowl;
-You think the Big Bridge ruined downtown Lemont;
-Before 'Save the Last Dance' you remember Steve McQueen filming a scene from his last movie "The Hunter" in downtown Lemont, and you ditched school to go watch;
-You had art for 4 years with Mr. Vandershoot (aka Mr. V or VanderDude);
-You called Toturas, Stanleys;
-You remember Budnik's having every kind of candy you could imagine and went there weekly to buy some;
-You got your communion attire from Aldona's, your gym uniform from Forzley's, and bought your funny birthday cards from The Strand;
-You remember when the library used to be behind the police station;
-You partied at the airstrip and/or the far side bank of the river;
-You know that the true test of your driving acumen was found on Bluff Road;
-You remember people coming for miles to get the natural spring water;
-You remember the unsolved murder that rocked the village nearly 40 years ago;
-You remember when there was only one stop light in town;
-You did cartwheels in the center of State Street at 9 o'clock on a Saturday because there were no cars on the road;
-You remember when there were 3 squad cars in town and it took all 3 of them to pull you over because you failed to use your turn signal;
-You ate at Dog 'n' Suds, aka Arf 'n' Barf or Mutt 'n' Slush (home of the original garlic fries), Fritz's, and of course Nick's Tavern;
-You were cussed out by the owner of Fritz's in chinese;
-You were there when Gonz played a tribute to John Lennon in class after Lennon had been murdered;
-You know what teachers married former students within a year of their graduation;
-You know that there really is a tunnel underneath the Central School stage that leads out to the castle;
-Some of your teachers had your parents in their class;
-Keepataw Days was the highlight of your social calendar;
-Before Chipain's you remember it was Ordman's;
-You remember how State Street went straight down to Main Street, and that there were 2 small bridges going out of town past the post office;
-You remember some of the creepy characters (and thats what you called them) that walked around town talking to themselves;
-You got busted by Officer Weigand (before he became chief) for truancy;
-You or a family member help paint the mural;
-You think the parking garage behind the HS is an ugly eyesore, and miss the high school hill for sledding in winter and just rolling down it in summer;
-You know how to play volley-tennis and miss the tennis courts, in fact, you've seen so many changes to the high school that you can't find your way around it anymore (did you know the cafeteria used to be the locker rooms? Disgusting!);
-You remember when the McDonalds opened in 1980 and you didn't have to drive to Darien anymore for McDs;
-You remember when frontage road led you to Zayre's in Bolingbrook;
-You still refer to Romeoville as Hooterville, although they did have some cute boys back in the day;
-You know that there really are some town scandals;
-You waited behind the Carousel for someone old enough to buy you beer so you and your friends could drink it on the playground equipment at Oakwood;
-You miss Twins Pizza and Feebs, and know that The Turnabout needs to stay in business until Armaggedon;
-You remember Bittles, Norskog, Smollen, Giancola, Grossman, Witt, Frank, McCabe, and Gonz when they wore polyester;
-You went to school with Michaelson;
-You were a frequent guest at Smokers Corner (my old home, no really, I lived there);
-You didn't know Bromberek school existed until you got to high school or you went there because you lived across the bridges;
-You are annoyed by people who complain about Lemont not having 'this or that' and how small it is, when clearly they should have stayed in Cicero, Evergreen Park, Berywn, or anywhere else they came from and left Lemont an even smaller town;
-You remember when Tony Danza's (Taxi) ex-wife and son lived in town;
-You worked at Mother Theresa Home and the statues in the basement followed your every move;
-You know as of the mid 1990s' there were 2 or 3 homes down on New Avenue that did not have indoor plumbing, and you drove on New Avenue as fast as you could because it looks a little like scenes from 'Deliverance';
-You explored every inch of Mother Theresa home before they added on so much, and that included the boiler room, the garden with grotto, and underneath the altar;
-You are related to one of the old men that sit at McDonalds every morning;
-You know that the 'bad' part of town used to be 3 shacks that stood where General Frye's Landing now stands;
-You sometimes wish you could go back to a simplier sweeter time like it was when you grew up in Lemont.
-You drove across the smallest bridges in the world for drivers ed, usually with another car coming your way, and were scared to death. (contributed by Kathy M.)
-You know what it means when someone says "Elsie's has everything!" (contributed by Susan West Strol G.)
-Remember sitting on the cemetery wall watching custom vans parade on "Van Nights". (contributed by CeeAnne E.)
-Know that the volunter firemen would take beer for the nuns at Mt. Assisi Academy on inspection days. (contributed by CeeAnne E.)
If there is anything to add... let me know