A little about Skokie

The next SAGA Retreat is a month away and as it is in a suburb of Chicago named Skokie, I thought I would share a little about the history of the place.

Its name comes from a Potawatomi word for "marsh". The name of the town was changed from "Niles Center" to "Skokie" by referendum in 1940. "Skokie" had previously been used as the name for the marshland on which much of the town was built;

Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, according to the 2010 census, was 64,784. Sharing a border with the city of Chicago, Skokie's streets, like that of many suburbs, are largely a continuation of the Chicago street grid, and it is served by the Chicago Transit Authority, further cementing its connection to the city.

During the night of November 27–28, 1934, after a gunfight in nearby Barrington that left two FBI agents dead, two accomplices of notorious 25-year-old bank-robber Baby Face Nelson (Lester Gillis) dumped his bullet-riddled body in a ditch along Niles Center Road adjoining the St. Peter Catholic Cemetery, a block north of Oakton Avenue in the town.

And between July 16 and 19, 2015 the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA) will be hosting a retreat at the Doubletree Hotel in Skokie!

Are you going? There are a few spaces open. Visit www.smocking.org to learn more about this retreat and the last one for 2015 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in October.