Taking A Tour of Morton Grove - Then and Now (Part Three of Three)

Merchandise is not all that you’ll find in Morton Grove’s commercial areas.  Professional services such as banks, lawyers, investment brokers, doctors, optometrists, real estate agents, dentists and insurance companies are all represented too. There is even an art and antique restoration shop staffed by experienced conservators who worked restoring treasures at the Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg, Russia!

Want to shop for flowers, get decorating ideas or pick up a little something for a gift in unique boutiques, maybe while your car is getting repaired or maybe after getting pampered at a nail or hair salon? You can do all that too. Looking for a little recreation or to get fit, then Harrer Park or the private and public health clubs are waiting for you. Stop at the Historical Museum for a tour into Morton Grove’s past (did you know there was an airport behind where the museum is now back in the 1930’s)?

A new exhibit that opened late in September features the women in Morton Grove’s history (including one lady who piloted bi-planes out of that little airfield).  A presentation about the Civil War, complete with costumed re-enactors and a full-sized cannon connected us with our past by sharing information about local families who served in the war and how to do genealogical research at the Museum Educational Center.

If you need a venue to host a big event or a small gathering, the historic American
Legion Civic  Center offers a variety of rooms suited to formal weddings or celebrations, business meetings, or other get-togethers (and it includes an outdoor patio and grassy grounds for outdoor fun). This site also hosts the many activities provided by the North Shore  Senior Center during the day.  A very successful Winter Market was held there in December and look for a Spring Market  next year, heralding the opening of the Farmers’ Market in its new location on Dempster Street in June, 2012 for their third year.

Take some brisk walk on bright day and renew your adventuresome spirit. Walk down Dempster or Waukegan and drop by a couple of businesses that you may not have visited before. Introduce yourself and get to know the owners (like our parents and grandparents did when they shopped, dined, and looked for professionals, goods and services).

While we can’t travel back into the past, we can all embrace what is available today in Morton   Grove. In a half-century from now, these stores and shops will be the treasured memories of our descendants when they talk about the “good old days”!

This concludes our guided tour, but I hope you will get out there with your family and friends to explore more of Morton Grove for yourself in the near future.
Bon voyage!