7 original members of Des Plaines Chamber to be feted at 75th
Seven of the initial business members of the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce are still around, something the group will celebrate next month at its 75th anniversary annual dinner dance and installation of officers.
Oehler Funeral Home, Pesche's Flowers, Meyer Material, Square Deal Shoes, Journal and Topics Newspapers, ComEd and Nicor Gas will be honored at the Feb. 13 event at Café La Cave, 2777 Mannheim Rd., Des Plaines. Several hundred people attend the Winter Garden Ball, said Barbara Ryan, executive director of the chamber.
Founded in 1934 in the depths of the Depression, the chamber, which was originally known as the Des Plaines Businessmen's Association, was begun for a very practical purpose, according to Ryan.
"They needed to establish credit among the businesspeople here in Des Plaines," she explained. "From what I have read, the coal company which supplied people here wanted to know that the businesses they were doing business with were good credit risks. I'm not sure how it worked, but the businesses here banded together to establish credit for themselves with the coal company."
Des Plaines businesspeople also used the association to "improve commerce in Des Plaines and to foster a sense of camaraderie among the local businesses and community," according to old newspaper clippings on file at the Des Plaines Historical Society.
The organization immediately began holding carnivals (including an ice carnival on the river), talent shows and Christmas programs to raise money for the improvement of Des Plaines. They purchased fire trucks, parking meters and elm trees. During World War II, they sent checks to each Des Plaines serviceman, as well.
In 1946, with the war over and growth skyrocketing, the group converted into a chamber of commerce.
In its early years, the chamber devoted itself to advocating for downtown parking lots for shoppers. During the 1960s, it lobbied for a new post office, which opened in 1976.
Much of its work in the 1970s involved the so-called "Superblock" downtown, which included an indoor mall and the four-story Behrel Parking Plaza. Considered highly innovative at the time, designers didn't realize that the parking deck would hamper foot traffic and hurt the businesses it was meant to serve.
Both the mall and the parking deck were demolished approximately 20 years later when the experiment was deemed a failure. They were replaced with the much more successful Library Plaza project.
Through the years, the chamber also ran community events like the annual Fourth of July parade, the Pioneer Days festival at Lake Park and a weekly farmer's market, all of which they eventually abandoned or turned over to the city.
"Things have evolved," said Ryan, the chamber's seventh executive director. "We have a city manager and a community development department that are recruiting businesses to come to town and making the kinds of changes that the chamber was involved in years ago.
"Today our mission is to offer networking opportunities to our members; offer educational seminars for little or no cost; and to keep our members informed about upcoming national, state and local legislation that might adversely affect businesses here," she said.
The chamber, which currently boasts 605 members, was an ardent supporter of the successful effort to bring a casino to Des Plaines. "We expect the casino to draw people who are visiting here for conventions in the area," Ryan said.
The chamber also runs several annual events, including a Consumer Expo each June, the Touch a Truck program each May, a golf outing and the arrival of Santa Claus at the park district's "Lake Wonderland" event.
"We are also trying to bring a farmer's market back to Des Plaines and are working on various recycling programs with the city," Ryan added.