Magical trail leads to fairy house

By Kathy Headley

Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor

6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778

No matter the season, Marquette Park always holds unique opportunities not found in most parks. Usually when Kayla comes over, we go to the park to explore or feed the ducks. She likes to run up and down the hills. But last week, we had a special mission. We were in search of the Fairy House.

This year the Chicago Park District is celebrating 20 years of Natural Areas and the Volunteer Community Stewardship Program. Marquette is one of 20 parks with Natural Areas throughout the city. To celebrate, the CPD has put together a Fairy Village with one house in each of the 20 parks. The trick is to follow a trail to find it; and as you know, there are many trails throughout Marquette Park.

We entered from Marquette and Francisco and proceeded toward the lagoon, as we always do. Looking down, we discovered blue arrows on the ground labeled Route Arrows. They pointed east. We followed for a bit but then decided against that route. We retraced our steps and headed west, following the lagoon. The sun shining on the water made it kind of magical, a wonderful backdrop when searching for a Fairy House.

It took us quite a while–turning south over a bridge, then back north over the same bridge, but we found it. The Fairy House at Marquette was created by the Barbara Vick Early Childhood & Family Center. It is made of wood, very well done and really cute. It has four rooms with handmade furniture and decorations and even has a little rope ladder hanging off the side from the roof. If you feel adventurous and would like to check it out, the Fairy House is by the Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary.

This Sunday, Sept 19, Santa Teresa de Avila Episcopal Church, 6201 S. St. Louis, will hold their second free vaccine event from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They will again be offering Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson vaccines. While this will be the last vaccine event at the church, if you choose to receive the first Pfizer dose, you will receive a list of nearby locations to receive your second dose. Walk-ins are welcome, but pre-registration is encouraged. For more information or to register, call the parish office at (773) 434-9783.

While our Southwest Regional Senior Center is still not back to its regular busy schedule due to the pandemic, the Wellness Team is available for phone consultations. This is personalized help from a team of professionals. A nurse can help answer your most pressing health questions. Also available are a social worker, pharmacist and dietitian. To make an appointment for a phone consultation, call (773) 271-9001. Appointments are available on a first come, first serve basis and last for approximately 15 minutes.

As always, I encourage everyone in Chicago Lawn to read the Greater Southwest News-Herald—the paper that has faithfully served the Southwest Side since 1924. In years past, that meant either buying a copy of the paper on the newsstand or calling (708) 496-0265 and ordering a one-year subscription by mail.

Now there is a third option. Go to the company’s sharp-looking new website, southwestregionalpublishing.com, click on the “Subscribe Today” option at the top menu bar, and you’ll find three options (online, print, online and print).

Not only can you subscribe quickly and easily to the Greater Southwest News-Herald, you’ll see how you can subscribe to the company’s four other publications (the Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound, Desplaines Valley News, the Regional News, and the Reporter).

These papers cover other parts of the city, as well as a wide range of southwest suburbs. Please check it out today!

Finally, looking back on the 1950s -1970s, Pat P. wondered if anyone remembered Kairis Grill. It was on Marquette Road between California and Mozart, right across from the Darius-Girenas monument.

Pat remembers stopping there to bring coffee to school when she was going to Maria. Arlene recollected the owner’s names, George and his wife Anne, saying they were really nice people.

Miami Joe seconded that. “A nice man, nice family,” Joe said. “I ate lunch there sometimes when working at Marquette Park–good burgers, good chili.”

Joe also tells us George’s dad owned the grocery store next to the grill. Then going west was Poor George’s–a nice tavern.

Paul F. said when he was growing up, the owners of Spot-Lite Grocery Store lived on 66^th and Richmond, across the street from him.

Nancy B says she and her friends used to stop there for cherry Cokes after school at Maria.

Marge S. recalls a 7-Up sign on the front of the building. She also said there was a gas station on the other side of the grill, which would be the northwest corner of Marquette and California.

Tom S. said he remembers when he was a boy going with his dad to buy a pint of ice cream at the drug store on the corner of Mozart, just west of the grill.

Nice little shopping strip, wasn’t it?

Here’s a good one for next week: Remember the name of the fish restaurant at 65^th and Kedzie?