Building the Green Machine book

[uncle z]

Were they ever from Des Plaines or am I remembering it wrongly?

No.....John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was from Des Plaines.

[Michael Boo]

No.....John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was from Des Plaines.

They might be thinking of the DesPlaines Vanguard, a DCI finalist in 1972. For those who don't know, DesPlaines and Park Ridge are adjacent.

Edited November 28, 2007 by Michael Boo

[mobrien]

No.....John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was from Des Plaines.

Nah, Gacy's house was in an unincorporated part of Norwood Township (though he was busted by Des Plaines cops from across the city line.)

[ColtFoutz]

My invitation for an interview must have gotten lost in the mail. So much for being "The Pen of Pageantry." Well, at least I'm still mentioned in the book for the 1975 finals comment.

Colt, I'm assuming you're saving me for book two? :)

Mike! The Pen of Pageantry lives! And, no I never received your interview request.

But rest assured, your presence very much runs through this book, perhaps in a way you and I can appreciate as journalists. A lot of the work that you've done in the last several years laid the foundation for my research. I kept your Cavaliers article in the Drum Corps World encyclopedia by my side for reference throughout the revision process, and the passion with which you approach your writing was a constant reminder to me to raise the bar high on this project, that drum corps history deserves all the verve and thoroughness I could bring to it as a writer. I made a decision early on that even though I would incorporate and learn from as many sources as I could find -- people, books, the Internet, videos, music, newspapers, yearbooks and other corps keepsakes -- I'd try to make a departure from the "usual" sources. Don Warren, as you might imagine, was quite the gateway to information -- from his own memories, and in the stream of alumni he invited to his house on several Saturdays to reminisce and be interviewed by yours truly. That we didn't talk is more a function of my having a mound of notes (2,000 or so pages) to sift through when it was finally time to GET WRITING, and that I already was benefitting from your assistance with the groundwork you laid and the reference material I could turn to. Check the Acknowledgments/Bibliography -- you are there, my friend, and loom large.

I'd guess you were part joking in your comments, and hope you enjoy the book. I hope that folks I didn't get the chance to talk to don't feel too slighted. I would have loved to talk to hundreds more guys (I know Don Warren wouldn't have gotten tired of entertaining them), but hopefully, I still can: we can talk about how the book captures their era, and the stories they were a part of or always wondered about. THAT'S the reward in doing this project: that you all can enjoy it now.

Edited November 28, 2007 by ColtFoutz

[ColtFoutz]

My invitation for an interview must have gotten lost in the mail. So much for being "The Pen of Pageantry." Well, at least I'm still mentioned in the book for the 1975 finals comment.

Colt, I'm assuming you're saving me for book two? :)

All that said, if there's a book two, you're the first I interview! What shall we call it? Stripping the Green Machine Down to the Axles: A Search for the Magic Championship Mojo

Edited November 28, 2007 by ColtFoutz

[ColtFoutz]

just a few blocks from my house

*Attention stalkers, come and get me, I'll make some tea*

is the 2511 still there, I think that would be about Argyle and Kedzie

Logan sq did have the highest homicide rate2 years running, also had the most drive bys – the Trib did a big feature on it and freaked out my parents, that was around 2003ish – odd neighborhood, lived they about 15 years and parts of it are now very nice and expensive and other parts are not

I think the Cavies were from Des Plaines when I became aware…that was prior to Park Ridge, correct?

Were they ever from Des Plaines or am I remembering it wrongly?

The location evolution went something like this:

1946-47ish: Logan Square (as Boy Scouts) -- basement of Church of the Advent

1948-54: Logan Square -- in American Legion Kosciuszko Post

1954-67: Logan Square -- at Cavalier Hall #1

1968-73: Logan Square -- at Cavalier Hall #2

Here's where it gets a bit murky. In the 1970s, the corps started out in an office building in Park Ridge, but after the building's owner threatened a lawsuit, the corps moved to a storefront on Oliphant Avenue in Edison Park. That's where they were in spring 1981 when the Cavaliers board voted to close the corps. Good thing, then, that Rosemont emerged as savior later that summer.

The corps did host its Illinois home show in Des Plaines for many years. (The other "home" show being in Michigan City, Indiana.) The Illinois home show has been hosted by Naperville since 2004.

[cowtown]

I used to work for the railroad and I ran trains between Toledo and Chicago . Cowtown you should know where I'm

talking about ? We yard our trains at the 55th street or the 51st street yards . 55th & 51st street run north and south

and Kedzie runs east and west so would 2511 Kedzie be closer to 39th street or what ? What major intersection ?

That’s on the south side of the city so different area. In Logan sq Kedzie is a north south, 2400 is fullerton and 2600 is Logan blvd. I checked on it – 2511 is now Advocate Health Centers - 2537 is an amazing café, Café Lula. I’m around that area all the time as its also right next to Logan Square auditorium – up and coming venue for independent bookers mostly world music /alt/punk stuff – picking up the slack since the fireside bowl (of fallout boy fame) stopped booking so many shows. It kind of freaks me out, I've walked by there thousands of time

That’s hot real estate now worth millions

here is the cloest on line picture I could find - on the other side of the bike shop is a bank, post office and then the old hall

[ColtFoutz]

That’s hot real estate now worth millions

here is the cloest on line picture I could find - on the other side of the bike shop is a bank, post office and then the old hall

Some other pics related to the Hall. Some are in the book, some are on the book web site at www.cavaliersbook.com, but a few were sitting in the files... here ya go:

1. Exterior of the neighborhood, 1960. The neon sign says: Ferrera's Lounge. The hall's above that.

2. Interior: the bar at Cavalier Hall. Served the adults well during social functions, fund-raisers, etc. Gave the kids chips and stuff like that. There's a funny story about Don Warren entertaining Madison Scouts chief Clarence Beebe, and C.H. having to take off his Boy Scout shirt before having a drink -- he didn't want to drink in uniform.

3. Interior of the hall following the fire, July 1967. You can see their trophies -- several hundred by that point -- are destroyed. Many melted through the floor to the first story below.

4. Exterior of the hall a few months later. There's nothing there! Ferrera would rebuild the tavern, but the Cavaliers would move around the corner, above Eddie's Barbecue.

[Michael Boo]

Mike! The Pen of Pageantry lives! And, no I never received your interview request...

I'll give you credit for a nice save. :)

Frankly, I made no interview request because I never knew anything about it. But if you ever do something on how the corps relates into the overall DCI scheme, I'm there for you.

But keep pouring on the superlatives. I dig those. :)

[ColtFoutz]

I'll give you credit for a nice save. :)

Frankly, I made no interview request because I never knew anything about it. But if you ever do something on how the corps relates into the overall DCI scheme, I'm there for you.

But keep pouring on the superlatives. I dig those. :)

Don't we all, my good man. Don't we all...