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Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

I was driving around the north side today, including the old stomping grounds at Six Corners.

So long Junior Bazaar, Toughskins Jeans, Kenmore Appliances and Craftsman tools. Sears is now officially Target and LOTS of swanky condos including a rooftop garden.

I could walk through Sears blindfolded in the 70s and find what I needed. Bought my first renter's insurance after college at an Allstate kiosk that was right next to the holiday incense burner kiosk... at the end of the vacuum cleaner department. And the little key-cutter hut out in the parking lot!

Sigh.

Also... thanks to everyone who donated to Greg's GoFundMe page and for all your well-wishes. You did good.  MW

Robert Cole

Cruised my old neighborhood with my wife last summer. Juneway Terrace (7800 north, at Sheridan Road). Used to be a middle-aged, middle-class, blue-collar street, with the lake on one side and the high-rise tenements on the other. I think my parents sold our house for under $100K, after living there for over 35 years. 4-bedroom, 1.5 baths. Very average. 

Now my wife couldn't believe I was ever rich enough to live there! Totally gentrified. Yuppified. My old house last sold for $650K! Gourmet kitchen. Landscaped backyard. The tenements are gone. Replaced by the CTA El repair yards. High-end bougie little cafes where there use to be the Arthur Treacher's Fisn n' Chips and the Burger King I used to work at. The head shops and seedy bars are all gone (where does one go to get a pack of EZ-Widers nowadays? I lament the passing of all the neighborhood head shops.). And, with all the seedy neighborhood bars now replaced by bougie cafes, where do the neighborhood drunks go to hang out all day?At least my initials are still scratched in the concrete in front of my house. I think I was 6-7 when they replaced that. Proves I actually DID live there.

All the neighborhood 2-flat and 3-flat apartments have been reno'ed and converted to upscale single-family. Gale Elementary School is now Gale Academy. And, you might actually feel safe around the Howard El station now. At least until dark. Maybe.

At least the Jonquil Hotel is still a dive. You could always count on finding the neighborhood "working girls" right across the street from the elementary school, and in the same building as the coffee shop where all the moms had coffee every morning. My mom was friends with the woman who ran the switchboard there (yup.. an old-fashioned telephone switchboard with wires and plugs. She used to let me run the switchboard and talk to the neighborhood lowlife while she and my mom had coffee. I think I was 7 or 8 at the tme.

And my mom used to tend bar at "St. George and the Dragon" during the day. When all the unemployed bums were drinking. That way she could make sure she was home when I left and off work and home by the time I got home from elementary school. Before cafeterias I would run to the bar every day at lunchtime, sit at the bar with a tuna fish sandwich (Wonder bread, of course) and a glass of milk, watch Bozo on the bar TV and talk to the neighborhood drunks.  

The apartment buildings on Eastlake that used to house the hare krishna temple and all the pushers are all gone. You could always count on scoring a bag of whatever there. That's what the hare krishnas did... sell incense and pot.

Sigh... I miss the old 'hood. What do kids do around there for fun anymore?

Per C Pearson

I hung up my apron and packed up my tools last Friday.

I am officially retired.

It was 51 years since I first made chips in Room 124, Jim Ewens machine shop.

Jim sparked an interest I had and showed me how the shops worked in the real world. I have never regretted becoming a Tool and Die maker. I made my own precision tools at Lane that I used to my last working day. Thanks Jim, you were more than a high school teacher, you were a real mentor.

Many emotions came across at my retirement luncheon, what I really missed was not being able to pass along my knowledge to any new apprentices. Sad to say there are not many out there.

When I was young people would ask what I do. “I’m a Tool and Die maker” I would say. “Oh, my uncle was one.” was the usual response. Now the response is a blank stare or “You make ink and wrenches?”

We are all familiar with the shops in High school debate so I won’t pontificate. What started at Lane became a fulfilling career. Only you guys would understand Lane’s impact on a person’s life.

Peter Hong

Per,

Congratulations on this milestone!  I remember you from our sophomore-year PE classes.

Peter

Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

Congratulations Per!  Now that you're footloose and fancy-free, come visit me at the alumni office. Maybe we should resurrect the "Craftsmen Club" but instead of just confining the group to printers, we could open it up to all tradesmen and women. You're not alone!

And in the meantime Bicentennials... we're looking for golfers! How about all you football players? Come on out and support teacher grants at Lane and meet some cool grads. Last year our youngest golfers were from 2013 and the oldest from 1956. Guess who won the tournament? That's right... retired architect Ray Urick, class of '56!

Andrew Flor

Wish I could make it but duty calls that week as I'm not retired yet nor am I planning to!!!! I've been doing what I love to do and have been screwing off whenever possible since graduating from Lane so why should I stop now?   

John Kownacki

Michael Bentley

Arabella Birkenbilt tells me on Facebook that we lost John Bliss yesterday. He had a vascular event while visiting the ER in Chicago. He was posting stuff as usual, and then today other people are filling his timeline with the news. He studied theatre at the U of Iowa and taught at Northeastern Illinois University.

Andrew Flor

Really sorry to hear about Mr. Bliss. We always referred to one another by our surname as one of our teachers(the name eludes me at the moment) always would do so to all of the students in class so carried it on outside the class anytime we'd cross paths. Funny guy and a memorable classmate from our time at Lane. Incredibly smart, articulate and made his point with a singular wit. RIP and may God bless you Mr. Bliss. One of a kind. Remember that time is promised to no one so make the most of every day. 

Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

John Bliss Memorial and Celebration of Life Tickets, Sun, Jul 28, 2024 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite

Terri (Therese) Bresnahan (Reid)

So sorry to hear about John. May he rest in peace. Thank you, Michael and Michelle, for posting his information. 

Gregory Groeper

I'm Stunned... John Bliss gone? Who let this happen? Say it ain't so!

John was a major part of our revolutionary District 5 Gifted Center (under Mssrs. Smith & Conway) where it became apparent that his natural talent for singing and acting were plenary. Later we continued our friendship at Lane, especially in music and theatre. John is beloved by so many that he befriended and influenced that I can only imagine the scope of outpouring of loss and sympathy that must be unfolding. There is a hole in the universe that cannot be filled.

I will be there at his memorial on July 28. A "mouse" never leaves his brother to face challenges alone.

Heartfelt regards,

greg groeper

Edward Mc Carthy

God Speed to anyone and everyone impacted by John's passing.  Would be there the 28th however that is the same day and afternoon we attend a memorial life celebration for my uncle in Wisconsin.  I will be with you all in heart as we celebrate John's life.   

This brings home a mantra we all should be embracing.  Life is short, life is precious.  Be nice to people,  Be kind.  Smile.  Say hello to people you pass.   As we baby boomers continue to age, the statistics are increasiningly against us.  Let that be your reason for being the best version of your self and the kindest version of youirself.   

Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

I promise my next post will have nothing to do with anyone dying. News of Ted Szalinski's death reached the alumni office this week.  He passed away on Saturday at the age of 96.

Mr. Szalinski elicited a range of emotions from his students.. some extreme...  but as as art major, I can attest to the level of preparation I had entering design school because of his rigor.

You may recall he and Mr. Monteleone and Mr. Sims all attended our 40th reunion. Sims is now the last guy standing.

His obituary and arrangements can be found at this link:Tadeusz Alexander Szalinski Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information (pedersenryberg.com)

Robert Cole

Although I didn't have Mr. Szalinski for drafting, his obit sounds amazing. I can attest to how much Lane's drafting and shop classes have helped in the rest of my life... even though I work in IT!

Long live the industrial arts!

I did have Mr. Sims, though. He was by far the youngest of the group.

Grace Tanaka (Danziger)

I didn't know John Bliss, but reading his obit I can see how he will be missed by all who knew him. Regarding the other sad news, Mr. Szalinski's obituary brought me to tears. Glad he lived a good long life, and that he is now reunited with his dear wife Grace (I had no idea we had the same name) and his parents, especially the father who passed at such a young age. It is something that single parents (whether by loss or inattention) can take to heart that such a remarkable life is possible even when nurtured by only one parent. 

Andrew Flor

The news of Mr. Szalinski's death saddens me very much. It's taken a few days to get around to writing something. I can say that Ted was not only an incredibly underrated teacher(In hindsight, he was actuality our Design Director) to me and countless other Art Major students(aka Junior Staff Designers) during his tenure at Lane but in the years to follow we kept in touch and I considered him a friend who cheered me on at every success in my career that I shared with him. I could tell that he was proud that this dopey Commercial Art student of his was somehow able to transform what had been drilled into his noggin into making something out of his life.  I think about all I can say right now is that IMO it was my destiny to be one of  Ted's students(aka Junior Staff Designers). A Twilight Zone moment in time, if you will, where a seemingly insignificant job opportunity was presented to Ted by a couple of Lane Alumni design students of his from a fledgling trade show exhibit  design firm("WTH is that?" most might ask). The opportunity was offerred to and passed over by another art student of Ted's which in turn became the lucky break that this dopey kid needed. That seized moment had a profound impact that changed the direction of my life forever and set a whole domino effect in motion from that point forward to this day. For that I am eternally grateful to Mr. Tadeusz Szalinski (in Polish correctly pronounced as Sha-leen-skee) The discipline, hard work, attention to detail and the pragmatic design sense he instilled in me, has and will be a part of my being forever. It was great that Ted was able to join us in relatively good health for our our 2016 40th Class reunion and be remembered for all he did for Lane, it's Commercial Art students and the production of the Tech Prep and Lane Yearbook projects year after year, after year. You had a good long run, my friend. Do wydzenia i do zobaczenia, Pan Dyrektor. Część pamięci.  

Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

Hey everybody!  Tune in to ABC7's Morning Show tomorrow between 5 and 7am for the Friday Flyover. Besides the actual stadium flyover, there will be interviews and demos of all kinds of stuff inside the school. Go Lane Go!

James Anton

Michelle, saw some of the clips regarding the different classes and activities available to the students. The 3D printing was cool but I remember we had computer programming with card readers. The world has come a long way since then. It was great to see everyone in the stadium.

Andrew Flor

Campus looks better than ever. If only we aged the same way!!! 

Marion B Bastle

Hey Michelle and all you fellow Lanites of mine,
Sorry I missed this post about the Lane fly over. I often work late  and don't check emails nor record that channel's morning news so missed it. If anyone has taped the footage, would love to see it. Go Lane Go!!!  Would be fun to include it on the 50 year class reunion too lol

John Simmers

For Marion and anyone else wanting to see the ABC Friday Flyover and clips about classes and activities, here is the link. The initial video is of the actual flyover and then you scroll down thru the posted article to see each of the other clips [And - Marion, there's even a video of the current Chess Team, for - you know who]:

https://abc7chicago.com/post/friday-flyover-lane-tech-high-school/15324632/

Robert Cole

Edward Mc Carthy

Thanks John for the link.  I watched all of the many clips with great pride.  It is nice to see that the school still maintains that cutting edge forward thinking approach and position just as it did 50 years ago.  In our day, Lane was the benchmark, the hallmark of a super ;learning institution.  And it carries on that proud position and tradition of greatness today.  Todays students and teachers are the stewards of what Lane will be in the future just as we were the keepers of the traditions long ago.  Looks to me that the promise of greatness is in very capable hands.   Just imagine what another 50 years will look like........ Go Lane!

Michelle Milkovic (Weiner)

Okay guys... now it's time to vote for Lane for the ABC7 Friday Flyover and the old Chicago method of early and often doesn't work here so we need everybody to log on and show Lane some love.  Go to ABC7 Friday Flyover vote - ABC7 Chicago and tell 'em who's best!

ABC7 Friday Flyover vote - ABC7 Chicago