Readers can learn more about Lemont’s Smoky Row, quarry history and some historic people that helped shape the village in the zine celebrating the village’s 150th anniversary.
“It highlights everything. It highlights the beauty and nature of Lemont, it highlights the history and people of Lemont,” said Lemont Artists Guild President Liz Connelly. “It’s a testament to how a town and a community can bring people together.”
The Lemont Writers Guild and the Lemont Artists Guild worked for nearly a year to put together a 16-page zine called “150th Anniversary: Stories of Lemont,” which contains seven stories and seven pieces of art, Connelly said.
Nancy Uznanski, a member of the Lemont Writers Guild, said she spoke in April with Jason Berry, the village’s economic & community development director, for a story she was writing. Shortly after their discussion, Uznanski said the zine project was set into motion.
“Evidently, from something we said, he thought that the zine idea would be a good idea,” Uznanski said. “The writers guild was asked if we would consider working with the artists guild on something like that. After we discussed it, it sounded like a good idea.”
Uznanski said she reached out to members and seven writers expressed interest. Each story is about 500 words, Uznanski said.
Three of the stories are about the writer’s decision to move to Lemont, and two stories are fictional: one a mystery involving a treasure hunt around Lemont’s downtown area and quarry and the other a memoir-style piece, Uznanski said.
Another piece is written as letters from children to Virginia Reed, whose namesake was used to name the first park in Lemont, Uznanski said. A final story is about a Lemont resident born and raised in the 1920s, who would give artists guild members tours of the village, Uznanski said.
Connelly received the stories in July and asked artists guild members to illustrate the stories. Four guild members, including Connelly, worked to bring them to life.
Connelly said the work provided a creative challenge, as the artists pulled from elements of each story to illustrate to draw people in. The artistic pieces vary, she said, from a collage piece for the treasure hunt story to a pictorial landscape of a girl and a boat floating down the water for the memoir piece.
Connelly said she created the artwork for the story about fictional letters to Reed, and she drew past and current elements of the park.
“As an artist, you follow the feeling the story gives. That’s where I think the magic happens,” Connelly said. “The beauty of the zine is the beauty of this collaboration and us all working together.”
The zine was designed by All Together and features:
- “The Paper Boat” written by Josh Kratovil with artwork by Mary Fronczak Grochocinski
- “The Treasures of the Quarry” written by Charmaine Drafke with artwork by Michael Preski
- “The Quarry Tour” written by Jacquelyn Uznanski with artwork by Lynn Rozycki
- “A Glimpse of Historic Charm” written by Nancy L. Uznanski with photograph by William (Bill) E. Uznanski
- “Fictional Letters to Mrs. Virginia Reed” written by Mary Inman with artwork by Liz Connelly
- “I & M Canal Gifts” written by Kay Norfleet with artwork by Ryan Hennebry
- “Where Shall We Move?” written by Jacqueline Bienias with photograph by Jason Walk
Uznanski said her story, which includes a photograph of Lemont taken by her late husband, focuses on her first impression of seeing the village on Old Lemont Road. Then it looked like it “came right out of the Western movies,” Uznanski said, with a big hill dotted with steeples and homes.
What was interesting, Uznanski said, was each writer had to look up the town’s history to complete their stories. For her story, Uznanski said she researched water levels in the canal.
The author who wrote the story about Virginia Reed had to research the park to capture its characteristics over the years, Uznanski said. Another author had to research the names of quarries.
Connelly said she enjoyed learning about Virginia Reed. They both said they liked reading the time in Lemont’s history of Smoky Row, which consisted of brothels and bars on Canal Street from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.
Lemont’s history shows its residents, mostly immigrants, aimed to provide a better opportunity for their children, Connelly said.
“From the rough and tumble and the people that moved here from all over and worked hard to create a community and keep it a community, that’s the whole package deal,” Connelly said.
The village will hold a zine release party from 6-8 p.m. on Friday at The Table Church, 102 Stephen St. With a $5 cash donation, attendees will receive a copy of the zine, and the first 10 people to donate will receive a copy signed by all the writers and artists.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
