Naperville welcomes newcomers

On Sept. 10, women from Naperville and beyond are invited to gather at the 95th Street Library to get to know each other, make friends and join activities.

The drop-in, no-reservation event welcomes all ages, from young moms through empty-nesters. Sponsored by Naperville Newcomers and Neighbors Club, the Kick-Off Welcome Coffee attracts newcomers as well as longtime residents. Children are welcome.

"If you'd like to meet friendly people and have a multitude of activities to choose from, that would be the club to join," says Marilyn Bloom, who's been a continuous member since 1966 when she and husband Seymour moved here from New Jersey with his Bell Labs job transfer.

"The people are very friendly," Bloom said. "Even if there are people I don't know, we end up talking."

Upon first moving to the Maplebrook II neighborhood in Naperville, Bloom remembers remarking to her husband one evening that "someone that I didn't even know greeted me on the street."

The Blooms still live in that house they purchased new in '66, when the development had only six families.

"We were at the end of town," Bloom said of their neighborhood, just south of 75th Street and west of Washington Street. "Now we're in the center of town."

Naperville's population was 18,000. There was a movie theater downtown, but on the whole, downtown was much as it is now, only smaller, Marilyn remembers.

"When you walked into the shops, you really got good service," she said. "Still to this day, when I have something to buy, I go to downtown Naperville first. Of course the restaurants now are fantastic downtown. The people here are real friendly. That's one of the things we really liked and still like."

The newcomers club was called Welcome Wagon, and Bloom joined its bowling group.

"(The) Feldotts owned the bowling alley in downtown Naperville," Bloom said, invoking a name most know only as the name of a street where a new post office is. "It was on the corner of Chicago (Avenue) and Washington (Street). I think it was called The Sports Bowl."

Today, Naperville Newcomers and Neighbors Club offers 35 activity groups, ranging from toddler playgroups, to cycling, photography, movie, crafts, bunco and others. Also, with club structure and communication in place, it's easy for members to start new activities and find other participants. One recent club addition is an evening wine-tasting group.

"I've been in (the club) the whole time because I enjoy it," said Bloom, the club's longest active member. Her current favorite club activity is the lunch group.

Outside of club activities, Bloom and her husband go to the municipal band concerts on Thursday evenings throughout summer, as well as city events such as Ribfest and Last Fling.

"We're not afraid of crowds," she said. "My husband and I love music."

She still has the 78 rpm records Seymour gave her when they were in high school in New York City.

"My husband thinks I'm crazy for keeping them, but no way am I going to give them away."

When Marilyn and Seymour were growing up, their families knew each other.

"My husband took me out on my first date when I was 12," she said. "We've been married 58 years."

Bloom is glad much of her family has stayed in Naperville, she said. Both her son and daughter live in town, with two of her grandchildren still local as well. A granddaughter in Vermont is expecting her first baby.

"One thing I'm proud of is that my children and grandchildren went to the same schools in Naperville," she said. "They all graduated from Naperville Central."

Bloom fondly recalls Naperville Central choir director John Pearce, now deceased, and the musicals he produced in the '70s at the high school.

"He brought in original costumes from Broadway shows," Bloom said. "The parents performed in the chorus, and the students were the actors. It was the best time of my life. It was fabulous. I couldn't wait from one year to the next."

Fabulous high school musicals - at all Naperville high schools - are one thing that hasn't changed since Bloom was a newcomer to town. Another is the long-standing Midwestern tradition of a friendly welcome, which will be in full force at the Naperville Newcomers and Neighbors Club Kick-Off Welcome Coffee.

• Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy writes about Naperville in Neighbor. E-mail her at otbfence@hotmail.com.