Editor’s Note: Lifelong Flossmoor resident Tom Dobrez has authored a new history of the village, “A More Perfect Place: The Story of Flossmoor.” In conjunction with Flossmoor’s Future, the Foundation for the Preservation of Flossmoor History and Vicki Stephenson of HF Homes, Dobrez sponsored a short film to accompany the book. The book can be ordered at flossmoorhistorybook.com or purchased at Gypsy Fix in Flossmoor.
In honor of Flossmoor’s 11th annual MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 19, The Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle is sharing a segment from Chapter 11: Superpower, which focuses on the village’s long history of volunteerism.
As the Great Depression cast a shadow across America, the Flossmoor Garden Club created an oasis of beauty.
The volunteers of the club, started in 1930, transformed the recently constructed Flossmoor Community House into an indoor garden, with each corner of the hall enhanced by carefully arranged vignettes of shrubs, flowers, and ornamental accessories. Nature lovers from all over the Chicago area made their way through the flowery displays each August.
Birdbaths caught the afternoon light streaming through the tall windows, their basins reflecting tiny fragments of sky. The stage itself was transformed into a Japanese-inspired tableau, with paper lanterns casting a warm glow over tea tables arranged in contemplative settings. Shadow boxes, populated with miniature arrangements that rewarded close inspection, created depth and mystery in the background. Booths with striped canopies reminiscent of European flower markets dotted the aisles.
After three years, the show grew to such a size that it moved from the Community House to the larger Civic Center, where an estimated crowd of four thousand attended the show in 1934. A sense of community permeated the event.
The Depression had stripped away pretenses and luxuries, leaving behind the essential bonds between neighbors. Here, in this celebration of what could be coaxed from the earth with patience and care, was a testament to resilience — the ability to create beauty even when resources were scarce and the future uncertain.
The Flossmoor Garden Club’s Flower Show was more than a display of horticultural achievement; it was evidence that even in the darkest of times, communities could come together to cultivate and celebrate life’s persistent beauty.
Around the same time, a group of intellectually curious women gathered in the living room of Mrs. J. H. Buell. The fifteen women formed the Flossmoor Bookshelf. Drawing inspiration from the Chicago South Side’s “Book of the Hour” club, these founding members laid the cornerstone of the community’s literary future.
The Bookshelf’s etiquette rules reflected both the seriousness of their intellectual pursuits and the spirit of their times. Each member was granted equal opportunity to present book reviews, with presentations strictly limited to one hour, followed by fifteen minutes of discussion. The group explicitly prohibited both sewing and refreshments during meetings. The time was devoted purely to literary discourse.
As the 1930s rolled into the 1940s, the Flossmoor Bookshelf evolved from a private reading circle into something far more ambitious. The group began collecting books, and its literary repository became a wandering library housed wherever space could be found. From the warming house in Flossmoor Park to the Morgan Building at 2610 Flossmoor Road and then to Leavitt Avenue School, the collection was a literary caravan, growing stronger with each relocation.
Despite, or perhaps because of, its nomadic nature, the Bookshelf flourished. What began as a modest collection of 450 volumes swelled to an impressive three thousand books. The library was circulating more than two books for every Flossmoor resident, with 3,164 volumes making their way through the community. On July 20, 1947, when the group arranged for the Bookmobile of Illinois to visit Flossmoor, the response from the residents was extraordinary. In that single day, 575 books were checked out.
By September 1949, the Bookshelf had become a victim of its own success, forcing it to close due to space constraints at Leavitt Avenue School. Yet this closure was ultimately a chrysalis stage in the library’s evolution. The true transformation came on June 30, 1953, when Flossmoor residents voted 203 to 126 to establish a tax-supported public library. The library board, displaying prudent financial management, waited a year to accumulate tax revenue before proceeding. After considering various locations, including the historic Illinois Central train station, they settled on a space in the Civic Center at 1042 Sterling.
On December 5, 1954, the Flossmoor Public Library opened its doors, staffed with professional librarians, including head librarian Marie Gaskill. The institution quickly proved its worth, maintaining the highest circulation of any library in South Cook County from 1954 to 1958. What began in Mrs. Buell’s living room with a group of dedicated and principled volunteers had grown into a vital community institution, demonstrating how grassroots initiatives can blossom into enduring public service.
Curtain Call
What makes Flossmoor’s volunteer spirit extraordinary is not just its persistence but its evolution over time. Nothing symbolizes this more than “Curtain Call,” a cabaret-style event that attracted thousands from Chicagoland to the small hamlet while showcasing the local talent from 1973 to 1996. It began as a fundraiser for the Catholic parish in town—Infant Jesus of Prague.
In the fall of 1970, Joan and John Dobrez planned a night out in their old neighborhood. That evening, St. Damian in Oak Forest was hosting a fundraiser called “Cabaret.” As part of this unique event, the school’s classrooms were transformed into showrooms, where local talent showcased their singing and dancing skills to the broader community — all for a few dollars from the patrons.
Joan was inspired by what she saw. She felt the event that had brought together various groups of friends to perform in Oak Forest that evening might work even better in Flossmoor.
She went right to work, planning an event to surpass the festive night she had witnessed at her old parish. That night, she conceived of Curtain Call.
Within twenty months, hundreds of volunteers had been mobilized, thousands of dollars had been donated. The parish had taken the idea to a whole new level.
When asked how she got four hundred people to volunteer for the event, Joan said, “I would go up to all of the baseball games up at the park, and I would say, ‘Would you like to get involved?’”
Curtain Call was an extravaganza and people came from miles around to enjoy it over back-to-back weekends. Each room was managed by a small group of friends or a social organization. The performances highlighted local talent in dance, tap, comedy, and rock and roll. Numerous individuals from the community performed, making Curtain Call a vibrant event.
The nights of Curtain Call were audacious examples of a united community. Each room brought the volunteers closer, fostering blossoming connections.
Lifelong resident Dick King remembers the impact of volunteering at the event, “I was not the entertainer; I was doing the detailed work. Building sets and seeing people share their talents. If you couldn’t sing or dance, you could hammer a nail. You worked with people you might not spend a lot of time with socially, but you knew each other. It was a great opportunity to connect. Then, weeks or months later, when you encountered that person somewhere else, like at the grocery store, there was an immediate connection.”
Curtain Call was an annual event for its first two years, and then a biannual schedule was introduced. A highlight of Flossmoor’s social calendar during the summers it ran, it ultimately fell victim to changing mores. Years later, in 2019, the Hidden Gem Half Marathon revived the spirit of Curtain Call, as the next generation of community volunteers developed a new impactful event
