In June we asked readers and residents to offer some of their memories of Glen Ellyn. Here are the responses that we printed in the July 2 special section. To offer your own memories or pictures, post a comment below or send an e-mail to glenellyn@mysuburbanlife.com. We'll post them as we get them!

Destiny?
Here’s a picture I took of the post office in January 1956 when I was 12 and in a YMCA-sponsored photography class. See the car in the foreground? That’s my future father-in-law driving, with my wife-to-be Merrie in the passenger seat. ... although we wouldn’t meet until high school, four years later. (The photo can be seen to the left.)

— Ted Eselgroth, Glen Ellyn resident

Glen Ellyn’s yacht club
A yacht club in Glen Ellyn? Yes, there really was one down at Lake Ellyn in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. Starting in the late spring and ending in the early fall, 10 or more intrepid sailors would launch their El Toros onto the lake. These men and sometimes the women and older children would battle their way around the triangular course — three races every afternoon on Sundays.

All of us learned to sail and race. If the weather turned foul and a boat overturned, no problem. The lake was shallow. We could stand on the bottom (almost) and shove the boat up and over and sail on again.

The El Toro was a class boat, created in San Francisco where they raced in the Bay area. The boat was just 7 1/2 feet long, a pram design, all wood with wooden mast and boom. It was equipped with a boom bang, down hull and out hull and would be flipped on top of your car roof or pushed into the back of the station wagon, and in minutes driven down to Lake Ellyn for three hours of fun and heated rivalry.

Dick Schwanke acted as official measurer and checked our boats at the beginning of the season to see that each boat conformed to all specifications. Along with the Dick Schwanke family, the other families were those of Rege McKeown, Bob Hoff, Jim Ward, Forest Salter, Paul Wolff, Jack Webster and several families from nearby Wheaton. People loved to come down just to watch the jousting boats, each painted a bright color, speeding through the water, or sometime standing dead still wallowing in irons when the wind grew stubborn and died suddenly. The El Toros were the perfect diorama sailing across the lake with the boathouse and tall maple, oaks and ash trees framing this gentle scene.

We always said those were the days, my friend, but they had to end. Ideas and desires changed, and the sailors eventually moved on to Blackwell Forest Preserve to sail that lake with their new Banshees.
— Jack and Judy Webster, residents since ‘63

Speed skating on Lake Ellyn
My experience speaks for hundreds of Midwestern speed skaters. The first time was in the late 1960s. I was 7 or 8 years old, and we traveled from Chicago. It was a positive, memorable impact even at that young age. You sensed this was a unique and ideal setting just driving up. From finding this wooded glen tucked away among blocks of distinctive homes and its own “castle” at the south end, to the boathouse holding warmth inside of the fireplace and cups of hot chocolate, it was special.

The boathouse was always packed wall to wall with skaters, including a few that were on the last Olympic team, or, a pretty sure thing to make the next one, sitting side by side with us young novices lacing skates and getting warm for the next race. Lake Ellyn was (and still is) the most beautiful and interesting place we ever skated outdoors, almost to the point where it would be distracting as you circled the track. And after your races were over, you couldn’t wait to explore the snowy banks, inlets, hills, buildings and woods you saw around the lake with your friends. Being able to still share this with friends now, and your own kids is great!
— Carl Cepuran, Glen Ellyn resident

League of Women Voters celebrates Glen Ellyn’s 175th
One of the organizations that has helped to make Glen Ellyn a vibrant community is the Glen Ellyn chapter of the League of Women Voters. Created in 1954, the Glen Ellyn League has enjoyed a vital history and has been a catalyst for a number of Glen Ellyn’s civic achievements. The LWVGE has served as a launching pad for some of Glen Ellyn’s notable leaders, including past Village Board President Phyllis Renfro and past village trustees Rinda Allison, Barb Fried, Maxine Hansen, Mary Loch, Connie Zimmerman, and the late Sara Lee. In addition, Glen Ellyn League members have served on the various village governmental bodies including the park board, the library board, and the three local school boards. The names of League members can be found on the rosters of many village commissions and volunteer organizations.

The League has a long history of being pro-active on issues that affect the well-being of the citizens of Glen Ellyn. Its format of studying issues and coming to consensus before taking action has earned the League a reputation for taking responsible positions on local issues. For example, the League was instrumental in efforts to bring curbside recycling to Glen Ellyn, long before it was fashionable to be green. As far back as the 1970s the League urged the village to explore ways to recycle solid waste.  The League has studied and taken action on issues to include home rule, the methods for nominating candidates for local office in Glen Ellyn, the feasibility of consolidating elementary school districts 41 & 89, village and school district finances, how to best meet village water needs and the park district long range plan.

The League is also known for its annual Lady Bug Giveaway to help promote natural pest management, instead of pesticide use. In the 1980s League member Mary Luginbill started the project of giving away containers of ladybugs at the local farmer’s market. These ladybugs help control the spread of aphids and other garden pests.

The League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn is proud to have played such a key role in the history of Glen Ellyn and look forward to continuing in that role for years to come.

— Tina Chivardi, publicity chairwoman of League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn