Plenty of notable Northbrook anniversaries in 2021 - including Sunset's 60th

Every year has its share of milestone historic dates. As the end of this year approaches, a quick look shows that 2021 featured a number of significant national anniversaries.

A few of those included 245 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted (July 4, 1776); 160 years since the start of the Civil War (April 12, 1861); 150 years since the Great Chicago Fire (Oct. 8, 1871); 125 years since the first modern Olympics began in Athens (April 6, 1896); 110 years since the first Indy 500 (May 30, 1911); 80 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), and 20 years since the Sept. 11 World Trade Center tragedy in 2001.

Northbrook history had its own notable anniversaries in 2021:

• 120 years since the formation of the Shermerville volunteer fire department (June 11, 1901), incorporation of Shermerville (Nov. 18, 1901), and the first Village board meeting (Dec. 23, 1901);

• 100 years since construction of the first paved road in Shermerville (Waukegan Road in 1921);

• 70 years since passage (by six votes) of a referendum to establish a municipal library (May 29, 1951), and the official opening of Edens Expressway (Dec. 20, 1951), which changed Northbrook forever;

• 60 years since Meadowhill Park swimming pool opened (Aug. 3, 1961);

• 55 years since Glenbrook North won its first team state championship (baseball, 1966);

• 45 years since the Northbrook History Museum (July 4, 1976) and Northbrook Court officially opened;

• 40 years since Lucinda Kasperson became the first woman elected as Northbrook Village President (1981);

• 35 years since the 1986 release of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," much of which was filmed in Northbrook;

• 20 years since Northbrook celebrated its centennial in 2001.

Many more milestone dates could be mentioned, but one local anniversary deserves a closer look - the 60-year mark reached by Sunset Foods in Northbrook.

The Cortesi family opened its first Sunset store in downtown Highland Park (adjacent to Sunset Park) in 1937. By fall 1961, a second Sunset Foods was ready to open in downtown Northbrook.

Local residents today are familiar with the many grocery stores in other parts of Northbrook and in nearby suburbs. But food shopping in downtown Northbrook was limited until the fall of 1954 when Northbrook Shopping Plaza opened.

Downtown shoppers in Shermerville and the early days after the Village name change in 1923 basically chose from two small grocery stores - Melzer's and Happ's. The only chain food store in town, A&P, opened a little later. When A&P moved into a new location on Shermer Road just west of Meadow Road (where Eataco is today) in 1951, it was billed as the "Store of Tomorrow" complete with a "fleet of full chrome gliders," according to "Northbrook, Illinois: The Fabric of Our History."

In 1954 the new Northbrook Shopping Plaza featured a Jewel Food Store where the present Sunset Foods is today. When Meadow Shopping Center opened in late 1959, it had two food stores - A&P, which moved there from its previous location, and Kroger, located where Chase Bank was until recently (next to Marcello's).

Suddenly, downtown Northbrook had three modern food stores.

The Kroger store was replaced by Sunset Foods in 1961. In advertising for its grand opening, Sunset said it specialized in fresh baked goods, a delicatessen, fresh fish, free coffee, and the "world's fastest check out system with number pick up." That original Sunset location explains the covered grocery pickup area that still exists alongside the now vacant former Chase site.

The A&P eventually was replaced by Walgreens (where Advance Auto Parts is today), and the Jewel store remained longer. But Jewel also had closed by the time the Northbrook Public Library was looking for a temporary home during its extensive renovation in the late 1990s. The result: The Library transformed the empty Jewel into its own space until the remodeled library reopened in September 1999.

Meanwhile, according to "The Fabric of Our History," after more than two years of study, "Sunset Foods announced in March 2000 that it intended to build a new store in central Northbrook. The Village played an active role in brokering the agreement between the owners of the Northbrook Shopping Plaza and Sunset Foods. Included in the agreement was the construction of an access drive connecting the new store with Shermer Road."

The new (and current) Sunset opened in 2002.

Sunset Foods says its five stores support "nearly 300 local organizations each year by participating in fundraising activities, sponsoring a variety of events, and making monetary donations."

Nowhere is that more evident than in Northbrook. The store's role in community gatherings is evident - especially with one or more of the familiar Sunset vehicles (popcorn wagon, vintage Model A produce truck, historic panel truck, classic calliope truck) often on the scene at many events. Former longtime Northbrook Sunset manager Ron Bernardi usually is in the driver's seat of one of those vehicles.

Customer and community service - that has been the Sunset focus in Northbrook for 60 years ... and counting.