PUBLISHER’S PROFILE

A Time to Celebrate

The Downers Grove Tree Lighting Ceremony tradition continues

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE VILLAGE OF DOWNERS GROVE

Ever wonder how that tree just magically appears in the fountain by the Main Street Train Station? Anne Healy, Publisher, had the opportunity to speak with Elizabeth Chalberg, President of the Downers Grove Historical Society, as well as Douglas Kozlowski, Communications Director of the Village of Downers Grove, regarding the history of this longtime event in Downers Grove and the process to make the tradition come to life every year.

How did the tradition begin and how does it continue today?

Elizabeth: According to historical articles in The Downers Grove Reporter, the tradition started in 1918. The goal was to show appreciation for the many from the village who fought in the First World War. A community tree was proposed. 103 years later, this tradition continues.

Doug: For many years the event has been held the day after Thanksgiving. In keeping with this tradition the 2021 Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony will be on Friday, November 26 at the Main Street Train Station.

How is the tree transported?

Elizabeth: Originally, a tree was put up at the Congregational Church on Curtiss Street across from the library so all could view it. Walter Scott Bryan, the caretaker of the Marshall Field Estate, donated an evergreen tree worth about $30.00 the first year. The large tree was placed on two hayracks and carefully set in place. It was decided later that future trees would be erected by the train station as moving a tree was quite a feat.

Doug: Each year a tree is selected from a list comprised of local residents interested in donating a tree from their property. The Village Forester looks for a tree that is about 30 feet tall with a full canopy. While being cut the tree is secured and suspended in the air by a large crane so that it does not fall to the ground. It is then gently placed on flatbed trailer for a ride through town. The tree is typically cut on a Friday so that it can be placed at the Main Street Station bright and early Saturday morning.

How is the tree decorated?

Elizabeth: When the tradition first launched, ornaments had to be collected from the community. A committee led by Mrs. Minnie Prince requested families to provide some durable ornaments. The ornaments would be saved and used in the future. The tree was lit by 300 10-candle-power bulbs.

Doug: The tree is festooned with 10,000 lights (100 strands of 100 lights each) and hundreds of handmade ornaments from residents of all ages.

How many would gather for the tradition?

Elizabeth: During the days before Christmas, programs were planned around the tree and on Christmas night more than 1,000 people came to see singing songs as the bells of all the churches and schools rang out.

What entertainment will be provide at this year’s ceremony?

Doug: Performances by the Trojan Marching Band and the Downers Grove Choral Society will definitely add to the festive mood. And Santa Clause will be taking time out from his otherwise busy schedule to help light the tree. ■

One Tough Cookie 99-year-old Downers Grove resident, Jo Shaw, shares her experience of being an Army nurse, a mother of five, and an overall globetrotter

“She is the rock and foundation of our family,” Douglas ‘Doug’ Shaw said when asked to describe his mother,

Josephine ‘Jo’ Shaw. 99 years old, no cane, no glasses, no dentures, and no grey hairs in sight, Shaw is the epitome of a “tough cookie”. Born on August 25th, 1922, to first-generation

Italian immigrants, Shaw was a “career woman” long before it was socially acceptable for women to be such a thing.

Growing up on the East coast, Shaw lived in Connecticut and Massachusetts, where she worked as a nanny for wealthy, high-class families in the Hamptons back when the nannies would take the children in separate areas of the beach so the moms could have a combined social hour/ cocktail hour.

After high school, Shaw decided to become a registered nurse (RN) and studied at Quincy Hospital in Quincy,

MA. After completing her education on the East coast, she decided to enlist in the

Army and became a 1st LT Army Nurse during WWII. Shaw served in the Army from June 1944-February 1946.

“At 18, going to nursing school 15 miles away from home was quite a challenge because I was severely afflicted with home sickness,” Shaw said.

After nursing school, Shaw gained firsthand nursing experience at Bellevue

Hospital in NY overlooking the Hudson

River with her three classmates that soon became her best friends.

Soon after completing their field experience, the four young nurses were called to serve in the Army, as the troops needed nurses. They worked in a hospital in Lincolnshire, England that was built on a massive estate donated to the Army by a

Duke who owned four estates. The estate also included an Old English castle that was built in 1530.

“The calling in my heart was greater than the need to stay near home. It was my duty to serve my country,” Shaw said. “It was my most treasured experience of my career. I felt the gratitude in each soldier’s eyes as I served them.”

One of Shaw’s dearest memories is getting to fly in a Boeing B-17 bomber along with the pilots and other nurses during the war. According to Shaw, the pilots took the nurses along with them for joyrides during which the nurses occasionally got to steer the wheel.

Miraculously, Shaw and her friends stayed together all through the war and developed long-lasting friendships that they still have today. When the war ended in 1945, Shaw decided to move to Chicago to take acting classes under the GI Bill, an educational assistance program for veterans.

After adding “acting school” to her resume, she became a train RN stewardess on the City of New Orleans Train, which ran from Chicago to New Orleans. Back then, it was a requirement for stewardesses to be registered nurses so they could attend to any potential medical emergencies while en route.

On October 28th, 1950, Shaw married the love of her life- Elwood Shaw, who was also a WWII veteran and a POW. They met at a dance in Chicago and were married after. This began a beautiful new chapter in Shaw’s life, which consisted of marriage and motherhood.

Having five children (four sons and one daughter) pretty much back-to-back led Shaw to take a much-needed break from all her career excitement and become a stay-athome mother.

Never one to sit on the couch and do nothing, after her children were grown, Shaw decided to return back to her muchloved nursing career, but in a different way this time.

“I decided to go a different route and become a private duty nurse,” Shaw said. “This allowed me to form close-knit relationships with all my patients, which was something I had never done before. I met lots of truly great people during this.”

As a private duty nurse, Shaw assisted patients either inside their homes or inside their own private hospital rooms. This closeness inevitably led her to form the relationships that she so fondly cherishes today.

As for “fun”, Shaw no longer does the activities she used to do, as aging is inevitable. She does, however, fondly look back on the memories she has made. She was a Sweet Adeline singer, where she met many new acquaintances. Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers that was established in 1945 in Tulsa, OK.

Shaw is very much family-oriented and always remembers to appreciate where she is at this stage of her life. Being the only living sibling left as her two brothers and one sister have all passed away, Shaw never takes one day for granted.

She enjoys spending time with her five children, 11 grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. A common thought among all of Shaw’s family members is how amazing it is to see how great of shape she is in at nearly 100 years old.

“I am very thankful that I am still living in my own home after all these years,” Shaw said. “I love living here in Downers Grove for a simple reason-it means home to me.”

Driving until the age of 97, never having lived in a nursing home, and still able to read, write, and dress herself, Shaw’s toughness is one thing that has stayed with her throughout the years. A truly remarkable woman, Shaw sees the beauty in her life, which has been nothing short of monumental.

For those interested, additional information is available on the 162nd General Hospital Jo Shaw worked at as an Army nurse in Lincolnshire, England: https://www.med-dept.com/unithistories/162d-general-hospital/ ■

A PHOTO OF SHAW AT UNION STATION IN CHICAGO FROM HER DAYS AS AN RN TRAIN STEWARDESS