
Mary Stanek
Peck playlot taking shape
By Mary Stanek
Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon
3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394
“It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that makes a great difference in our lives” – Fred Rogers.
Who remembers the play lots of the 60s and 70s? Can you recall how we got hit in the head with the wooden seesaws or spinning on the merry-go-round to get physically sick? The best memory I believe was on the hottest summer day, sliding down that metal slide!
Sure enough, it is a playlot being built at Peck School. The amusements are already installed, and the ground is still being worked on. This playground looks a lot different from my childhood. It is being built with safety and accessibility in mind. I don’t know the rules yet, as if it will be open to the public or just at school time. I will try to find out.

Mary Stanek
I attended a meet and greet with mayoral candidate and 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez at the Rhine VFW Post on Saturday, June 18. He answered questions from the community honestly and openly. I wish I could have stayed longer, but our dog, Oliver, had to march in the Dogs of Scotland Parade in Itasca. I would have loved to shake his hand and have a picture taken with him.
If you are in police Beats 822 or 824, there will be a beat meeting via Zoom. The webinar will occur on July 5 at 7:00 p.m. There are several ways to join this meeting via computer or mobile phone. If you are interested, please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the links.
How many of us have the privilege of maintaining close relationships with high school friends from over 40 years ago? I am fortunate that I do keep close contact with a group of gals from Lourdes High School. In fact, they are my traveling buddies taking in such sights as Coloma (Michigan), San Antonio (Texas), Key West and Bonita Springs (Florida).
So it is with a heavy heart that I mention one of our group, Sharon Kelly Loye, passed away on June 14. Sharon grew up in the West Elsdon community, attending St. Gall School. She then went on to Lourdes. She was married at St. Gall parish. At the time of her passing, Sharon lived in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood with her husband, Mike, and son, Joe. Sharon, you will be missed.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July and please be considerate of our pets with the use of fireworks.
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