This week, in a measure of extending my own personal Thanksgiving a little longer, I’m sharing my series of columns that I wrote in 2003 for The Daily Times in Ottawa, Ill., about the remarkable tale of Mark Wiebe. Mark’s story, which I also published in my 2004 book “Northern IlliNOISE: Tales of a Territory,” remains the most meaningful that I’ve ever been blessed with the opportunity to tell during my career. I can’t imagine that will ever change …

Leaving his Mark

The WISCH LIST

June 17, 2003

Eight days ago, this “Friendly City” of ours became a little less so. Not because of anything Ottawa did, mind you. But, rather, because of what it lost:

My pal, Mark Wiebe.

This past March, I had the honor of introducing the effervescent Mark – then a junior at Ottawa Township High School – to the people of La Salle County. Today, I’m back. But, unfortunately, Mark’s not with me.

On the morning of Monday, June 9 – just 16 days after his 17th birthday – he passed away at his home on the East Side.
Since birth, Mark had been suffering from a form of muscular dystrophy known as Type I Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The disease, which paralyzes and deteriorates nearly all of the body’s voluntary muscles, is terminal and in most cases leads to death by age 2.

Mark, however, wasn’t most cases.

For 17 years, he bucked the odds like a bronco. And did it in so many ways. Despite being wheelchair-bound, weighing only 40 pounds and being able to move little more than his fingers, Mark was intimately involved in poetry, marble collecting the National Honor Society, the OTHS Student Council, the Chess Club, the choir and the hearts of everyone who knew him.

A group, which I’m proud to say, included me.

In the months after I met Mark, he and I became buddies. We’d email. We’d instant message. I’d even go over to his house t have a chat with him every now and then – when I could pull him away from his computer, that is.

Smart as a whip, Mark ran his own website and knew more about computers than Bill Gates.

Seriously.

Just a few weeks ago, Mark was trying to explain to me how to post something on his site. I was more clueless than Inspector Clouseau but Mark, in his typical manner, was patient and thorough as I muddled through the lesson.

With his endlessly optimistic attitude, it was lessons in life that Mark provided to so many others. Even if he didn’t realize it or try to. In the days after my column about Mark ran, I received several emails from people throughout the area who were moved by his story.

“Thank you for the article about Mark Wiebe,” wrote one woman from Earlville. “Our whole family, including our teenagers, read it and each of us was inspired. We especially appreciate that you made it plain that Mark gives God the glory for his life, abilities and thoughtfulness of others.”

“(Mark) has ben a good friend of mine for a couple years now,” wrote a teenager named Todd from Ottawa. “It really seemed to make his day that he was in the paper. Thank you for bringing joy into his life. He always seems to find it, but he needs as much as he can get. So again, thank you for doing that for him.”

Actually, Todd. I’d like to thank Mark what he did for me.

Today, I can just imagine what he’s up to. My guess is that Mark already has Heaven wired, and is currently working on getting God’s home page up and running.

Pretty soon, all the angels will have their own screen names. Then, they’ll be the ones getting instant messages from the latest guy to get his wings.

Those lucky devils.

This week, in a measure of extending my own personal Thanksgiving a little longer, I’m sharing my series of columns that I wrote in 2003 for The Daily Times in Ottawa, Ill., about the remarkable tale of Mark Wiebe. Mark’s story, which I also published in my 2004 book “Northern IlliNOISE: Tales of a Territory,” remains the most meaningful that I’ve ever been blessed with the opportunity to tell during my career. I can’t imagine that will ever change …

SMA: See Mark Amaze

The WISCH LIST

March 11, 2003

When some kids dream, it’s visions of sugarplums they see dancing in their heads. When Mark Wiebe dreams, it’s something entirely different that he sees dancing in his.

Himself.

“When I dream, I’m never in a wheelchair,” said Mark, a 16-year-old junior at Ottawa Township High School. “I’m walking, or floating or flying …”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a dream where I’m in a wheelchair.”

That’s in spite of the fact that he’s hardly spent a day outside of one. Just months after is birth, Mark – the son of mom, Terry, and stepdad, Brian Scanlon, of Ottawa, and father, Jeff Wiebe, of Florida – was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy now known as Type I Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) or Werdning-Hoffman Disease.

An incurable affliction of the spinal cord, SMA affects the body’s voluntary muscles used for simple activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control and swallowing. In Type I – the most severe case – those affected are, for the most part, paralyzed.

“The cells don’t build up in your muscles, they just die off, and no one knows why,” Mark explained about SMA, a fairly common by largely unknown terminal disease that affects one in every 6,000 live births, and in most cases leads to death by age 2. “You need those cells to grown, so you get weaker as you get older.”

Such a dickens of a disease is SMA that it has left Mark’s body weighing only 40 pounds and with just enough motor skills to double click a computer mouse. It also has forced him to spend each day wearing braces on his torso and feet, and each night wearing ones on his hands and arms. After 16 years of that drill, Mark is a bigger expert on braces than any orthodontist you’ll find.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I told my mom one night, the next thing you know, I’ll need braces for my eyes … Actually the only things (SMA) doesn’t affect are your eyesight and brain.”

Or, apparently, your sense of humor. Or your optimism. Or your friendliness.

Or maybe that’s just Mark, whose engaging personality has allowed a young man who can’t even move his arms to reach out and touch more people than AT&T.

“He’s an inspiration,” OTHS English teacher Jim Gayan said. “With having been dealt a terrible deck, Mark still always comes up a winner. He gets joy out of life under the most extreme physical restrictions. “If and when I ever grow up, I hope to be like Mark.”

Join the club – if you can get in.

“Mark’s spirit is an amazing thing,” said Sue Williamson, a theater and speech teacher at OTHS. “Most teacher at the high school who have come into contact with him feel that he’s teacher and we’ve been the students.”

For many of the instructors at OTHS, Mark – exceedingly bright and ever bubbly – was a true treasure among Ottawa’s Pirates. And that’s why it was such a downer for everyone when, on New Year’s Eve in 2001, Mark was rushed to the hospital with bowl blockage and learned the next morning that his days at his beloved OTHS were over.

“They said I couldn’t go to school anymore and that I wouldn’t be able to drive my electric wheelchair any longer,” recalledMark, who had become too frail for those exertions. “It was a big, big change.”

In typical fashion, however, Mark simply took what appears to be a bummer of a situation and turned it into a boomer of one.

“A lot of good has come from me not going to school,” he said. “I think God had it happen for a reason.”

And it isn’t as if Mark doesn’t still reason on a daily basis. He continues to study at OTHS, same as ever, only now classes are held in the cozy confines of his bedroom. Each morning and afternoon during the school year, OTHS teacher’s aide Debbie Damron delivers Mark’s classwork, writes out his answer and tries to any questions he might have.

Ask Damron, though, and she’ll tell you that she’s the one doing most of the learning.

“Mark has taught me more about living and life than I could ever teach him,” she said. “For a young man of 16, he has such a grasp on what life is all about … He’s a young man who never once asked me to do anything without saying please and thank you …

“And when I’m down about something, Mark will say, ‘Debbie, let’s pray for you,’ and he’ll say a prayer. Then, I’m sobbing because I know he cares about me, and that I’m not just a teaching assistant.”

That’s the kind of effect Mark has on people. His optimism is infectious and his pull downright gravitational, which is why he counts the likes of well-known muralists Byron Peck and Colin Williams, world-renowned marble collector Gino Biffany and Christian rock superstar Michael W. Smith among his friends and acquaintances.

In spite of his limitations, Mark is living a life that’s richer than Donald Trump and more diversified than his stock portfolio. He’s a poet, a former chorus singer, a devout Christian, a marble collector and a self-taught Web page designer, who has his own site (shplooky.com) and one day hopes to run his own computer business.

“Sometimes,” Jim Gayan said about Mark, “he makes me feel like I’m slow and lazy.”

Mark is also a giver. While on Ottawa’s student council, he served as the head of the school’s Hospitality Team, providing care packages for new students. Among his many other good deeds, Mark once spent a day downtown collecting business cards for a dying boy who was trying to get his name in the Guiness Book of World Records.

“Mark is not just wanting people to help Mark,” Damron explained. “That’s not Mark’s purpose in this world. He reaches out to others. And that’s where the inspiration comes from.”

“I can’t say I’m perfect and that I help everyone,” Mark said. “But I try and help when I can. It makes me feel good, I guess. Sometimes, if I’m having a bad day it makes me feel good to a point where I can say, ‘This is a pretty good day.’ ”

Seems like there are a lot of those with Mark Wiebe around.

“I can’t say that I never get down, because I do,” he said. “One thing I know, though, is that God is always there for me. And I have great friends and family to remind me to look at the good stuff and see what I really have.”

And now Ottawa knows what it really has, as well.

Coming Tuesday, Part II of Mark’s life story …

Today’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Carving up Illinois’ post-Thanksgiving sports scene

The WISCH LIST

Nov. 26, 2011

Thanksgiving is gone.

And your leftovers might be, too.

But, fear not, my friends. With a full menu of football and hockey on tap this weekend, followed by college basketball on Tuesday and Major League Baseball’s Hot Stove League warming up soon after, there’s still plenty of sports for you to feast on in the coming days.

That said, there’s been a lot of famine plaguing the Land of Lincoln’s sports teams lately, too. And I’m not just referring to the AWOL status of the Chicago Bulls.

Remember them?

So, as you sit back and enjoy the remainder of your holiday weekend, allow me to slice into the meat of the local sports scene and examine what’s inside …

BEARS

Feast: Last season, the Bears were only 4-3 after seven games (like this year), enjoyed an unexpected five-game win streak midyear (ditto) and went on to finish 11-5 and reach the NFC Championship Game. With the 2011 Bears’ remaining opponents – not counting undefeated Green Bay – boasting a combined record of just 21-29, why can’t they do it again?

Famine: Well, with Jay Cutler out with a Bennett’s fracture of his thumb – named after Edward Hallaran Bennett, Professor of Surgery at the University of Dublin from 1873-1906, in case you were wondering – we’re stuck with Caleb Hanie for the next several weeks. And no one really knows how good Hanie is … or isn’t.

CUBS

Feast: With a new four-star (and two-ring) chef assuming control of the Cubs’ kitchen, fans are expecting Theo Epstein to swing a slew of sweet deals in the coming seasons.

Famine: Epstein hasn’t swung any sweet ones yet. And at last glance, for 2012, the Cubs have no first baseman, no third baseman, no right fielder and at least two-and-a-half question marks (if you count Carlos Zambrano as half a pitcher) in their starting rotation. With the Winter Meetings scheduled for Dec. 5-8, Theo has a full plate.

WHITE SOX

Feast: Earlier this week, a 51-year-old homeless man broke into White Sox general manager Ken Williams’ Chicago townhouse and made himself right at home, guzzling Williams’ beer, eating his frozen pizzas and even defrosting a lobster. Quite the feast – and quite the tale. But, what the story had me wondering most is what kind of frozen pizza does Williams prefer? DiGiorno’s … or Home Run Inn?

Famine: With a startlingly inexperienced manager in Robin Ventura, a roster that still features the twin albatrosses of Adam Dunn’s and Alex Rios and a pitching staff that looks like it will lose ace Mark Buehrle, Williams could be in jeopardy of finding himself on the soup line next winter.

FIGHTING ILLINI

Feast: Seven-foot sophomore Meyers Leonard is looking like a future NBA lottery pick, Illinois is playing with some grit and fifth-year senior transfer Sam Maniscalco is filling a major leadership void. As a result, heading into a road test at mediocre Maryland on Tuesday night, the Illini basketball team is off to 5-0 start …

Famine: … But so was the Illini football team. So, with this inexperienced hoops squad, it’s wise to keep your expectations at a simmer right now, Illini fans.

BLACKHAWKS

Feast: With the Blackhawks currently perched atop the Central division standings, former star Jeremy Roenick unleashed this whopper on Wednesday: “I actually think their team now is stronger then the team that won the Cup two years ago.” Bold words.

Famine: Just two years removed from a title, Hawks fans are hardly starved for success. But with the Bulls season on hold, the United Center is certainly starved for crowds. Perhaps by Christmas, the stadium will get a gift – an unwrapped NBA season.

From the Saturday, Nov. 19, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Embarking upon Chicago’s ‘Tiniest Bar Crawl’

The WISCH LIST

Nov. 19, 2011

It’s nicknamed “The City of Big Shoulders,” but Chicago has a lot of tiny joints nestled throughout its sprawling streetscapes, too.

And this past weekend, on the suggestion of my girlfriend – who happens to be pretty tiny herself – we decided to explore a few of them in the nooks and crannies on the city’s North and West Sides.

You can call our adventure the “Tiniest Bar Crawl in Chicago,” partly because it took us to only three places, but mostly because it featured some of the city’s smallest bars, including the smallest of them all.

By a pretty large margin.

Tiny Lounge

Early on Sunday afternoon, our little journey began with brunch at Tiny Lounge, located about at 4352 N. Leavitt St. in the city’s North Center neighborhood.

Once upon a time – 1999 to 2006, to be exact – Tiny Lounge existed at a different location about one mile south of its current one until the Chicago Transit Authority leveled the place to build a new Addison Brown Line station.

Fans of that nightspot, known for its dimly lit and heavily padded booths, as well as its robust drink list, were heartbroken. But, in 2009, their wounds were salved when Tiny Lounge reopened in its new location, which features the same booths, same lighting and same impressive drink menu – surrounded by a sleek new decor.

On Sunday, I passed on the Tiny Stacks and the Tiny Burgers in favor the Tiny Omelet, which wasn’t small, but was quite delicious. And after paying the tab, we hopped a cab and headed three miles southwest to Logan Square, home of our second small destination.

Small Bar

Located at 2956 N. Albany Ave. on a block so residential that it even left our cabbie confused – “You said there’s a bar down here?” – Small Bar is actually part of a family of watering holes all under the same name.

The other incarnations exist on West Division and West Fullerton, but North Albany’s Small Bar, nestled in the hipster haven that is Logan Square, offers the “smallest” feel, if you will.

From the outside, it looks like a brick neighborhood joint you’d find in Anytown, USA. But inside, behind a bar boasting fantastically intricate woodwork and a warm, cozy atmosphere, there’s a drink list that offers up the exotic likes of New Belgium Lips of Faith Clutch and a powerful cinnamon beer called Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11.

After watching the first half of the Bears game at Small Bar and wondering why the littlest places always seem to have the best beer lists, we were off to our final tiny stop.

The Matchbox

By billing itself as “Chicago’s Most Intimate Bar,” the Matchbox isn’t trying to be romantic. It’s just telling you that it’s small.

Really small.

Located at 770 N. Milwaukee Ave. in River West, the Matchbox features a long bar with a single row of stools. In front, t its widest in the front, it’s about 10 feet. In the back, at its narrowest, a mere three feet, which can make the trip from the front door to the restroom quite the challenge.

The triangular building is actually the shape of a book of matches on its side. But when its original Israeli owner opened it during the 1940s, current owner David Gevercer explained, “I think … his English was not very good and that’s why he called it the Matchbox, not knowing the difference between a matchbox and a book of matches.”

No matter its name, the bar might be a claustrophobic nightmare for some people. But, for anyone who loves Chicago’s quirks and curiosities, it’s a huge treat.

Today’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

On Paterno, Penn State and the folly of sports worship

The WISCH LIST

November 12, 2011

Each morning in classrooms across America, schoolchildren stand up, place their right hand over their heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, during which they declare that we are “One Nation Under God.”

But in State College, Pa. – where this week legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno crashed in a staggering fall from grace – it’s unclear whether the locals long ago added another line to the pledge in order to explain that they’re also “One Town Beneath a Deity.”

Throughout the Keystone State, and particularly within the isolated confines of PSU’s Happy Valley, Paterno has often been called “Saint Joe.” And for decades, thousands of blue-and-white-clad acolytes have made pilgrimages to Beaver Stadium each Saturday afternoon in order to watch the bespectacled coach’s Nittany Lions teams compete.

And to also worship at the altar of JoePa.

But, while Paterno may be major college football’s all-time winningest coach with 409 victories in addition to a pair of national championships, he of course isn’t a god. Or a saint, for that matter. He’s just a man. And men, as we all should remember, are simply men, while sports gods are nothing but myths.

This past Wednesday night, Paterno – the man and the myth – was officially (and appropriately) ousted by the Penn State Board of Trustees in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal involving former PSU defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky that has rocked both Penn State and all of college sports to their cores.

Because of Paterno’s negligence (or his complicity) in properly reporting to authorities what university officials knew about Sandusky’s alleged sexual assault of a young child in 2002, a despicable situation was covered up and allowed to grow into the worst scandal the sporting world has ever seen.

Here in the Land of Lincoln, our state’s flagship university has never won a single national championship in football or basketball, let alone multiple ones like the Penn State football program has achieved.

And, you know what? This week, I thank goodness for that.

Because, on Wednesday night, as I watched the TV coverage of students having tipped over a news van and toppled streetlights on the Penn State campus in the name of JoePa and debated Paterno’s ouster via Facebook and Twitter with die-hard Penn State fans wearing blinders, I cringed at the levels of devotion that Paterno commanded.

And I also shuddered at the thought of how I’d feel if this sad, sordid saga was instead playing out here in our state at the University of Illinois.

Unlike PSU, as well as similar championship-laden and scandal-ridden Big Ten institutions Ohio State and Indiana where the likes of Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Bob Knight have loomed so large, Illinois has never resided under the rule of an almighty coaching king.

Or, some might call it, a dictator.

However, if U. of I. did have a coach of that enormous stature, I wonder if the school’s students and the state’s citizens would blindly defend him in the face of a scandal such as the one that’s now infested Penn State? Or would most of us demand his firing and then applaud the ones who ordered it?

I’d like to believe it’s the latter. But I suppose we really don’t know. Thankfully, in this instance.

This, however, I do know: It’s fine to cheer on athletes and celebrate coaches, but when you begin to deify them, you have a serious problem.

After all, Jim Tressel lied. Tiger Woods philandered. Roger Clemens cheated. And, now, Joe Paterno ignored. So, going forward let’s try to remember that sportsmen are just men, not gods.

We could even make a pledge about it.

From the Saturday, Nov. 5, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Hold the holidays, Chicago still has November in store

The WISCH LIST

Nov. 5, 2011

Earlier this week, a friend of mine posted on his Facebook page that while watching TV he had seen his first Christmas commercial pop up on the screen.

On Halloween.

Boo!

And so it begins again, the annual stampede to start celebrating December’s holidays before October’s has even expired – or perhaps in some cases (and stores), September’s.

Pre-Labor Day Christmas Sales, anyone?

As for myself, I prefer to honor the holidays in their proper succession. And so, now that trick-or-treating is done, it’ll be on to turkey – in a few weeks. Until then, though, there’s plenty going on in Chicago during the month of November. And, remarkably enough, not all of it has a holiday theme.

Here are a few of the more interesting events on tap for the Windy City this month …

Nov. 6: Battle of the Bhut

In the United States, it’s most commonly called the Ghost Pepper. But you can just call the Bhut Jolokia (pronounced “boot”) hot.

Really, really hot.

At 1 p.m. this Sunday, Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, 41 E. Superior St. in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, will play host to the third annual “Battle of the Bhut.” During the event, competitive eaters will gather to devour hot wings made with Bhut Jolokia, named in 2007 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s hottest chili pepper, 401.5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

In 2010, the Bhut Jolokia was bumped from the record books by the Naga Viper pepper, which apparently scores more than 300,000 points higher than the average Bhut on something called the Scoville scale, which measures the spicy heat (or piquance) of a chili pepper.

Nevertheless, it’s safe to say that the Bhut is ridiculously hot. And, on Sunday, 2010 Battle of the Bhut champ, Erik “the Red” Denmark of Seattle, will attempt to defend his title of 35 hot wings and again beat last year’s runners-up, Chicagoans Pat Bertole (34 wings) and Gravy Brown (33).

Flame on.

Nov. 11: Found Footage Festival

The Found Footage Festival, created in 2004 by comedians Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, bills itself as a “one-of-a-kind event that showcases footage from videos that were found at garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and Dumpsters across the country.”

Think of it as a traveling roadshow of nonsense, and at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, it rolls into the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave.) in Lakeview for a showdown with the oddball notes, lists and photographs collected by its cousins at Found Magazine.

According to Pickett and Prueher, they began collecting quirky videotapes in 1991 after stumbling across a training video entitled, “Inside and Outside Custodial Duties,” inside a McDonald’s break room. Thirteen years later, the duo said they “distilled a thousand hours of footage into just the most sublime spectacles, intriguing characters, and beguiling, if not insightful, looks into those who lived during the golden days of the VHS dynasty.

“We had found 90 minutes of needles in a thousand haystacks. We called it Found Footage Festival.”
Tickets cost $13 and can be purchased online at musicboxtheatre.com/events.

Nov. 19: Magnificent Mile Lights Festival

Five days before Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov. 19, Chicago gets its first official celebration of the Christmas season (this timing I’m OK with) as the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, billed as the nation’s largest evening holiday event, takes place.

Beginning at 11 a.m. with music and other events for kids, the event culminates with Mickey and Minnie Mouse leading a street-lighting procession featuring more than 1 million bulbs down North Michigan Avenue followed by a fireworks show over the Chicago River at 6:55 p.m.

For more information, visit magnificentmilelightsfestival.com.

From the Saturday, Oct. 29, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

In Chicago, it’s tricky finding Halloween treats

The WISCH LIST

Oct. 29, 2011

It’s been more than 20 years since I went trick-or-treating.

Which is probably a good thing. You know, considering that I’m 35 years old.

Nevertheless, the fact that I haven’t donned a costume to ring doorbells and demand Butterfingers since my early teens did get me thinking once again this week: you just don’t see trick-or-treaters in Chicago.

Not where I live in Wrigleyville, at least. Certainly not in the way I was accustomed to while growing up in Bourbonnais. Back in those days, packs of trick-or-treaters – some with parents, some without – would pretty much roam the neighborhood at will.

It wasn’t particularly structured event, nor did we want it to be. Halloween was an adventure – which is exactly what you should have when you’re dressed up as a superhero or a flesh-eating zombie.

These days, though, what does pass for trick-or-treating in my neighborhood is a much more choreographed production that takes place in the daylight (boo). On Sunday afternoon, businesses along a 12-block stretch of Southport Avenue between Belmont and Irving Park will open their doors from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. as tiny costumed kids stop by to satiate their sweet tooth.

Or, just as likely, their parents’.

I know, however, that traditional trick-or-treating does take place in the Windy City – somewhere. So this week, I sent a text to my buddy, Harvey, who grew up on Chicago’s North Side farther west from where I live.

“Yeah, for sure,” he wrote back when asked if he trick-or-treated around his family home. “It was a very family-oriented neighborhood.” Although Harvey added the radius to roam was only, “About two blocks. Couldn’t go past Addison, Ashland or Ravenswood … Good times for sure.

“Though the worst was when old ladies gave you an apple or loose change. What the heck were you supposed to do with those?!”

Looking to trick myself into feeling the Halloween rush I felt as a kid, I set out on Tuesday evening to seek a treat at Margie’s Candies. Located at 1960 N. Western Ave., Margie’s celebrates its 80th anniversary this year – but this was my first ever visit to the Chicago institution.

Originally, it was known as the Security Sweet Shop when it founded in 1921 by a Greek immigrant named Peter George Poulos, who handed over the business to his son George not long after. During the shop’s early years, Al Capone allegedly patronized the confectionery – as he seemed to allegedly patronize every place in Chicago during that time.

In 1933, George renamed the sweet shop Margie’s Candies in honor of his wife, whom he had met there. And by the 1940s, with her husband at war, Margie herself was running the business before taking over full control in 1954 when George died of an ulcer.

Twelve years later, Margie’s cemented its place in Chicago lore when after their 1965 concert at Comiskey Park, the Beatles swung by with five girls and ordered several six-scoop “Atomic Sundaes” to share with them.

When I arrived at Margie’s this week, I felt as if I had just walked in to the home of one of those of old ladies that used to give Harvey loose change. Much of the cozy décor – including Tiffany lamps, old-fashioned leather booths and miniature jukeboxes – has remained unchanged since the shop’s early days.

And making like the Fab Four, I ordered myself an Atomic Sundae, albeit with just two scoops. The treat didn’t come in a plastic pumpkin and it wasn’t Halloween candy, but I made it suffice.

After all, finding a place to trick-or-treat in Chicago can make for one Hard Day’s Night.

From the Saturday, Oct. 22, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Just because it’s famous, doesn’t mean it’s a landmark

The WISCH LIST

Oct. 25, 2011

Earlier this month, city of Chicago officials announced their desire to assign official landmark status to eight former Schlitz taverns that opened throughout the city more than a century ago.

The buildings – each adorned with distinctive Schlitz globes –includes Schuba’s, the popular Lakeview nightspot and concert venue, and they are among just 10 of the original 57 saloons that once both brewed and served Schlitz beer throughout the Windy City.

In Chicago, many property owners tend to resist landmarking measures because of their constraints, but Thomas Magee, who owns a former Schlitz pub at 1801 W. Division St., told Crain’s Chicago Business that he’s not one of them.

“Obviously, there’s concern because any time I’d want to make a change, I’d have to get (city) approval,” said Magee, who has run Mac’s American Pub at that location for a dozen years. But “it’s a beautiful old building, and I want to keep it that way. I’m not opposed to it.”

Whether other property owners are, or the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has merely overlooked some buildings, you might be surprised to know some of the iconic Chicago structures that are plenty famous, but aren’t among its 250-plus official landmarks.

The Wrigley Building

With its white terra cotta walls and soaring clock tower, the Wrigley Building is one of Chicago’s most beloved icons. But unlike the Tribune Tower, its Magnificent Mile neighbor, it isn’t an official landmark.

In July, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. announced that it’s moving out of its namesake skyscraper, and architecture buffs immediately urged the city to take action and make clear to prospective new owners that major changes to the building’s historic exterior won’t be tolerated.

A city spokesman told Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin this summer via e-mail that: “City staff have met with Wrigley officials to discuss the move and the Wrigley Building itself, including what preservation incentives are available to address its long-term needs.”

Interesting Fact: When ground was broken for the Wrigley Building in 1920, there were no major office buildings north of the Chicago River and the Michigan Avenue Bridge, which spans the river just to the south, was still under construction.

The Field Museum

The Field Museum was originally incorporated in 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago. Twelve years later, it was renamed after its first major benefactor, Marshall Field, and in 1921 its sprawling, neoclassical home was built, anchoring the city’s Museum Campus.

Interesting Fact: The Field’s collections contain more than 21 million specimens, but only a fraction of them are ever put on display.

The Merchandise Mart

Nicknamed the Merch Mart, when the titanic structure opened along the Chicago River in 1930, it was the largest building in the world with 4 million square feet of floor space. The Mart was built to centralize Chicago’s wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors and trade under a single roof.

Interesting Fact: Once owned by the Marshall Field family (that guy had his hands in everything), the Mart later was owned for more than 50 years by the Kennedy family (they did, too).

Marina City

Also known as the “Corncob Towers,” the mixed-use residential/commercial complex occupies an entire block of State Street on the north bank of the Chicago River, directly across from the Loop. Constructed in 1965, the 65-story towers have since been widely credited with sparking the residential renaissance of American inner cities.

Interesting Fact: Marina City is perhaps most famous for a scene in the 1980 Steve McQueen movie “The Hunter” in which a car drives off the tower’s parking garage and splashes into the river below.

Today’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Unbeaten Illini ready to feast on Buckeyes

The WISCH LIST

Oct. 15, 2011

I’m headed down to Champaign this afternoon.

I hope to do some tailgating before Illinois and Ohio State knock helmets at Memorial Stadium (2:30 p.m., ABC). But, no matter where on campus I go, no matter how cold the beer is or how hot the brats might be, there’s one thing that I know I won’t need to digest.

That’s the fact that it’ll pale in comparison to the scene I saw last Saturday.

Because, until you’ve tailgated at Louisiana State University, you simply haven’t tailgated.

Last weekend, I traveled to New Orleans to visit my old college roommate and catch Saturday’s Florida-LSU football game in Baton Rouge. The No. 1-ranked Tigers, who crushed the Gators 41-11, were plenty impressive. And the crowd – at 93,022, the third largest ever to pack at Death Valley – was, too.

But most eye-popping of all was the way those crazy Cajuns tailgate.

As I wandered through the football wonderland that is LSU’s Magnolia tree-covered campus, I encountered buses with 40-inch HDTVs popping out of the side, discovered what a “Cajun Microwave” is (a wooden cabinet with a steel charcoal pit on top), and feasted like a Creole King on jambalaya, crawfish gumbo and “Gator Bites” –  bacon-wrapped alligator sausage stuffed with jalapenos and cheese.

I also learned that if I’d been born on the Bayou, I’d weigh 300 pounds.

Let’s go streaking

This afternoon, 16^th-ranked Illinois (6-0) will try to beat Ohio State (3-3) in Champaign for the first time since a narrow 10-7 victory way back in 1992.

Since then, the Illini have lost seven straight to the Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium. Yet, oddly enough, they’ve also won four games in Columbus during that span (1994, ’99, ’01 and ’07).

The OSU-Illinois rivalry is one of the more curious in college football, and also includes a stretch from 1988 to 1992 when the Illini actually won five consecutive games vs. the Buckeyes.

No wonder they fired John Cooper.

Whitney, merciless

Today’s game is big for Illinois. But it might be even bigger for Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus.

“This is my bowl game,” said Mercilus, an Akron native who was not offered a scholarship by Ohio State and now leads the nation with 8.5 sacks. “I get lot of [stuff] from people from back home. They tell me Ohio State is this, Ohio State is that every single year, every single year.”

Mercilus went on to guarantee victory, saying, “When we do win, I’m going to try to rub it in their faces and tell them we are good.” His promise evoked shades of Illini great Dana Howard, who in 1994 famously predicted an Illinois win in Columbus. It came true as the eventual Butkus Award winner powered the 2-2 Illini to a 24-10 victory over 4-1 OSU.

Bring on the Buckeyes

As an Illinois fan, I dislike Michigan more than any other school. But Ohio State is probably my favorite to play against – and evokes the best memories.

In 2001, I was in Columbus when Illinois beat Ohio State 34-22 on its path to the Big Ten title. That day, Ohio Stadium set a record crowd with 104,407 fans, and nothing was more beautiful then watching all that red stream down the stairs in the fourth quarter.

A year later, I was in Champaign when Coal City’s John Gockman booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired to send Illinois (4-6) and No. 2 Ohio State (11-0) into overtime. The Illini ultimately lost 23-16 to the eventual national champs, but that kick generated the loudest roar I’ve ever heard at Memorial Stadium.

The stadium should be ready to roar again today.

From the Saturday, Oct. 8, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Knocking along ‘The Street of 40 Doors’

The WISCH LIST

Oct. 8, 2011

In the Windy City, River North is known for its popular restaurants, the Loop for its soaring skyscrapers and the Gold Coast for its luxurious nightspots.

And Wrigleyville? Well, besides bad baseball, it’s also known in large part for its streets.

Most famously, Clark, Addison, Waveland and Sheffield.

But just a couple of blocks north of those legendary avenues that border Wrigleyville’s namesake ballpark, sits a much lesser known thoroughfare that’s nevertheless one of the most unique in all of Chicago – and perhaps my favorite of them all.

Welcome to Alta Vista Terrace, nicknamed “The Street of 40 Doors” and known as the only stroll in Chicago that instead feels like a walk through London – and the lookingglass.

(Don’t worry, I’ll explain.)

Running vertically on one city block due north of Wrigley Field between Byron and Grace streets, Alta Vista Terrace is described by the Chicago Architecture Foundation as a “landmark block unlike any other in Chicago.”

Created in 1904 by prolific Chicago developer Samuel Eberly Gross, who built more than 10,000 homes in and around the city during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the genesis behind Alta Vista Terrace came about when Gross, during a trip to Europe, fell in love with the series of row houses that he encountered in London’s Mayfair district.

The charismatic developer, who once went to court claiming that Edmund Rostand stole the idea for Cyrano de Bergerac from his comedy, The Merchant of Cornville (Gross won the lawsuit), was struck with the unique idea of recreating a bit of merry old England back across the pond.

Gross was reportedly worth as much as $5 million at the time, and after returning home to Chicago, he decided to sink a chunk of his fortune into an empty block of property that he owned on the city’s North Side.

By paving an unusually narrow thoroughfare – reportedly the first in Chicago to feature asphalt – down the middle of the block, Gross created a skinny street he named Alta Vista Terrace. He then commenced with the construction of 40 small, single-family row houses – 20 on each side – that were situated on lots measuring just 34 feet wide and 40 feet deep, considerably smaller than the city average.

The exteriors of Alta Vista Terrace’s homes were then designed in 20 different styles based on elaborate architectural adaptations, including Doric and Ionic wood pilasters, Gothic arches, Palladian windows, stained and leaded glass fanlights, bay and bow windows and various decorative woodwork.

The end result was a striking streetscape that today boasts a series of tiny, garden-filled front yards and minimal automobile traffic. But none of that is what makes the Alta Vista Terrace so unique.

Rather, what truly sets the street apart is that each row house duplicates the one sitting diagonally opposite it on the other end of the block, with only minor variations.

In other words, walking down Alta Vista Terrace is literally like walking through a mirror where every home has an identical sister living down the street. A historical marker on the street corner notes that, “The distinctly human scale creates a unity and harmony rarely found elsewhere in the city.”

Since 1971, the Alta Vista Terrace District has been a designated Chicago landmark. And, in my opinion, it’s a designated must-see, as well.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, the Chicago Architecture Foundation will be holding its final hour-long walking tour of Alta Vista Terrace of the year. Tickets, which cost $13 online or $10 in person (if available), can be purchased at caf.architecure.org.