Fall Colors Tour

By Ken Bounds

Sunday, October 9, started out rainy.  After a period of unseasonably warm and sunny early fall weather, it looked like our luck had run out; but soon after we began gathering at the Town & Country Mall in Arlington Heights the rain tapered off to scattered sprinkles.  For most of the day it was sunny, if a little chilly.

Ron & Arlene Blum had arranged a super tour to view the fall colors and several local attractions.  There were still some nice colors even though the rain and wind of the previous day had brought a lot of the leaves down.  Meeting at the mall were our hosts Ron & Arlene, 40 Fordor, Ben & Ginny Ashley, 53 F-100 Pickup, Ken Bounds, 50 Crestliner, Tom & Judy Buscaglia, 51 Tudor, Joe & Marie Dispensa, 50 Tudor, Dan & Diane Pudelek, 53 Victoria, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell, 40 Mercury, and Stan & JoAnne Stack, 53 Tudor.  Driving modern iron were Earl & Gene Heintz, John Judge, Joe & Delice Seritella, and John & Barbara Slobodnik. This was a milestone for Joe & Marie as this was their first driving tour in their recently acquired Early Ford.  We took a nice, leisurely drive over some scenic roads to our first stop, Wright Woods Forest Preserve.  There we took some time to enjoy the nature; most took a walk around the lake.

Next we drove over to the historic University of Saint Mary of the Lake, also known as Mundelein Seminary.  Ron had arranged for us to drive our cars throughout the incredible 600-acre campus.  The drive over winding roads and scenic bridges was spectacular and the photo opportunities were endless.  After spending some time at the boathouse on St. Mary’s Lake, we drove to the center of the campus where we had a captivating presentation about the history of Mundelein Seminary by Provost Father Thomas Franzman.  The time to leave came all too soon and many vowed to return for a longer visit in the future.  Next we motored over to the nearby Grandma V’s for a delicious, filling lunch.  The service was super – our entire group was served our meals within minutes of each other.

After lunch, we drove a few blocks to the Fort Hill Heritage Museum, an old train depot which is packed with historic photos and artifacts from Mundelein.  Exhibits featured railroad memorabilia, Mundelein's first fire truck, a model of a 1900s school house, pioneer tools, quilts, antique Lake County maps, a 1774 flint-lock gun, war uniforms, Diamond Lake artifacts and much more.  Our docent Dottie Watson, who was dressed in period attire, was thoroughly knowledgeable and quite enthusiastic about the museum and her community.  Dottie even baked delicious cookies for our group!

After an enjoyable visit to the museum, our day was coming to an end.  We broke into groups for our drive home.  Everyone’s Early V-8 performed flawlessly (they seem to like the cool weather!) and drew many smiles and “thumbs-up” all day.  We thank Ron and Arlene for setting up a super tour on a fall day that turned out very nice.