Personal Accounts

By Liz Mika, Office Manager

Much of Mount Prospect’s Polish community gathers for worship and fellowship at the St. Thomas Becket Catholic Church in the northeastern corner of the Village.

The word came from the Archdiocese to close all churches due to COVID-19 on Friday, March 13, 2020. The last Mass celebrated that day was at 7 p.m. in Polish. This was a huge shock, especially to the faithful of Polish descent. They remember World War II, Communism and other persecutions to our faith, but the church had never before fully closed. 

We announced the sad news via our email blasts, Facebook, parish website, signs on the door and the media was blasting this, as well. Yet, there were many people who still stopped by and called to ask if it was really true. Our current pastor, Fr. Chris Kulig, started livestreams of Masses via our Facebook: on Saturday in English and on Sunday in Polish. Easter was only four weeks into the pandemic closure. The inability to be at church as a community during the three most Holy Days in our faith was especially tough on parishioners. 

When parishes first reopened on June 6, 2020, under strict Covid-19 guidelines, St. Thomas Becket was one of the first parishes in the Diocese to receive needed certification to safely reopen with limited capacity and with trained volunteers. Marks in church were set to show where parishioners could sit and stand. Since that first Sunday, reservations were taken to attend Mass to ensure everyone’s safety and limit attendance. Our volunteers wore construction vests when checking people in at the door. They sprayed guest’s hands with sanitizer, sat parishioners at least six feet apart, followed strict guidelines for receiving Holy Communion and enforced face masks. 

Each week, when the reservation link was opened, there was an incredible rush to register, especially for the Polish Masses. Our pre-pandemic attendance was 800+ per Mass, and the limit went down to 50, and then to 150! Christmas of 2020 was also interesting, as a very limited number of parishioners were allowed in the church under a strict reservation and safety system. 

Easter of 2021 was still under limited capacity of worshippers in the church. Holy Saturday is extremely big in the Polish tradition with the blessing of food baskets. We realized that the need would be great and to accommodate all, we held the blessing on the parking lot for over three hours straight! The cars just kept coming. We were told that the streets in the neighborhood were grid-locked with traffic. Our estimate is that we had over 1,000 cars, plus probably over 2,000 people on foot who stopped by to have their baskets and families blessed. 

To accommodate the rising needs for live Mass streams, in spring of 2021, St. Thomas Becket installed a state-of-the-art projection system in our overflow hall space and at the same time a connection to our Facebook Mass transmission. Before then, Fr. Chris used his cell phone to transmit Masses. 

With complete opening on June 11, 2021, the church is once again full to the brim. 

As a parish, we continued to collect food and share it with the Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Des Plaines and the St. Alphonsus Liguori Food Pantry in Prospect Heights. We continued to teach religious education to our youngsters via Zoom sessions. 

As for the staff, all but a few worked from home. Only the office manager and Fr. Kulig were always in to follow the frequent updates from the state and the Archdiocese. We did our very best to keep parishioners updated and current on all events. Mass at our parish was said and streamed every day, be it only with Fr. Kulig present when the pandemic began. 

This has been a tremendous trial for us all, but we are very happy to see most parishioners return to church, with smiling faces not hidden under masks. 

We are looking forward to resuming our regular activities, fundraisers and just being together as a family — a community of faith.

St. Thomas Becket parish was founded in the fall of 1969, more than 50 years ago. The first Sunday Masses were said on September 28, 1969, in the gymnasium of Maryville Academy. During the following week, arrangements were made with the local public school district to use Indian Grove Elementary School, which is directly across from where the parish now stands, for services. 

So, starting on October 5, 1969, and for more than nine years thereafter, Indian Grove was the “church” for weekend and some Holy Day Masses. Folding chairs, a portable podium and a collapsible altar were stored in the garage of a parishioner who lived next to the school. Each week, the church would be set up on Saturday afternoon and taken down on Sunday afternoon. During the first month, 247 families registered as members of the parish. 

With time, the neighborhood’s demographics changed. The English-speaking families had grown children who have moved away from home, and more Polish immigrants were moving to Mount Prospect and the surrounding suburbs. There was no Mass offered in Polish close by, so a group of parishioners approached then-pastor Fr. John Roller to ask if they could start one at St. Thomas Becket. The first Polish-language Mass was celebrated on December 1, 1996, with a couple hundred in that first Polish congregation. The present number is pushing the 1,000 mark!

Since 2004, the assigned pastors to this parish have been required to be fluent in Polish to accommodate the needs of the parish community. 

In August of 2019, renovations to the church were completed to adapt to growing membership, especially the Polish-speaking community. The long-standing circular church model  was restored to St. Thomas Becker’s original all-facing the altar and a new tile floor and new pews were installed. This allows for 245 more seats. Two new projection screens were also added. This proved to be especially helpful during the pandemic when we could not have any worship aides in the pews. 

Presently, there are two Polish Masses held each Sunday. Many celebrations, sacraments and liturgies are also celebrated in Polish.

When the Pandemic closed everything down on a Friday in March of 2020, the leadership team at St. Paul Lutheran Church sprang into immediate action. Just two days later, the church broadcast its first on-line service via Facebook Live. 

As the Pandemic wore on, the technology was upgraded from simply using an iPad to ‘point and shoot’ to volunteer congregational members who are professional videographers. 

Services were filled with all of the things people loved, sometimes including music ensembles brought together via Zoom.

No matter the tech being used, congregational members would greet each other in the comment section each week, allowing for a sense of fellowship even though they couldn’t gather in person. Yard signs were given out to show unity and to remind people that although they might be separated physically, as part of the congregation, they are never truly alone. 

Within a week of the shut down, the church started sending out nightly devotions to its members. These were led by pastors, DCE, music leaders, the school principal and later, teachers and students. Some were videos and some were written, but all provided Bible-based words of encouragement for the difficult and unprecedented time.

On-line Sunday School and VBS (Volunteers packed hundreds of bags with supplies for pick up.) were offered, as well as Parking Lot Communion and individual, in-person communion scheduled in ten minute slots on an evening and weekday morning. 

The sixth graders’ First Communion service was held outside on a gorgeous evening.

In November of 2020, after almost a year as Interim, leading the congregation through unprecedented change in the church and the world, Pastor Bo Graham was officially installed as Senior Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church. (He had previously served as Associate Pastor.)

The church’s Bethlehem Walk took on a new look for Christmas in 2020 with a drive-by Nativity. And the 2021 Easter Egg Hunt took to the road, visiting neighborhood houses of congregational members in ‘trick-or-treat’ style to deliver plastic eggs filled with goodies using a contactless ladder chute.

One of St. Paul’s most noteworthy community ministries, Breakfast with Baby, took on a new format as well. The ministry, which Pastor Bo received the Shining Star Open Arms Award for in 2019, provides diapers, clothing, fellowship, Bible study, and breakfast for those in need. Prior to the Pandemic, families were welcomed into the church for breakfast, Bible study, and children’s activities the second Saturday of each month. When the Pandemic struck, the volunteers who oversee this ministry quickly adapted the procedures. Through all seasons and weather conditions, they continued to pass out needed items and groceries in a well-organized, drive-through system, while fostering a sense of connection and community with those who visited. The ministry continues to thrive.

 Eventually things started to slowly open up again, and Pastor Bo and Vicar Valencia put together a fun video to show people what to expect when they returned to church in person: entrances and exits, temperature checks, masks, sanitizing, limited numbers, and assigned pews.

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Through everything the Pandemic brought, the leadership and congregation of St. Paul Lutheran Church stood strong together: Apart but Not Alone.

Serving Korean immigrants . . . and others

The Hanul Family Alliance has been a part of the Mount Prospect community since 1999. Located at 1166 S. Elmhurst Rd., it serves the needs of the immigrant – primarily Korean – population through congregate dining and home-delivered meals for those over 60, public benefits application assistance, assistance in applying for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, home care services for those over 60, citizenship applications, mental health counseling, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and other cultural and educational programs.

Hanul (which means “one large family” in Korean) Family Alliance was founded in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood in 1987 as a Korean American Senior Center to meet the needs of primarily limited-English-speaking Korean elderly. It opened a suburban location in Mount Prospect in 2004 and further expanded to Lake County in 2012.

Today, the agency annually serves over 10,000 individuals and families of all ages (1,000 from Mount Prospect alone) by providing a broad range of community services to meet the diverse needs of community members. Since 2006, Hanul also serves as a resource center for a wide variety of other nearby ethnic populations. 

“Our three different offices conveniently serve our Korean American community spread throughout the Metropolitan Chicago area,” explained Yihyun Kim, manager of the Mount Prospect office of Hanul. “We serve a large population of Low English Proficient Korean American older adults and also low-income immigrant families and primarily focus on promoting healthy aging, family wellness and community engagement.”

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21 created challenges and barriers for Hanul staff and patrons, just as it did for everyone else – in the world! 

“Our staff had to resort to working from home and congregate dining for older adults was no longer allowed,” Kim related. “Instead of the daily congregate dining, we provided lunch pick-up services two days a week. Staff provided public benefits application assistance virtually and allowed clients to drop off necessary documents through a mail drop-in box at the office. Our in-person classes moved to Zoom and YouTube livestream. We knew these programs were essential to our most vulnerable community members and it was our mission to find innovative, yet safe, ways to deliver the programs to our clients.”

Hanul staff members dealt with increased call volumes. They also attended training to appropriately provide clients with additional services like applying for unemployment insurance, filing COVID-19 emergency cash fund applications, applying for rental and mortgage assistance and more. 

“There has been increased demand for assistance with these COVID-19-related programs and services and the number of clients we can serve has decreased since each case management takes longer when done virtually,” Kim said, so this had put added pressure on Hanul’s staff. 

Annual events like Hanul’s Purple Ball fundraiser, Korean Seniors Day and Youth Science Day were postponed, but they held their first-ever virtual fundraising gala which was very successful.

For more information about Hanual, visit their website at https://hanulusa.org/.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many people who lived in urban apartments and condominiums to search for a suburban home that had space for them to work from home without sitting on their bed and space for their children to attend school online.

But it also prompted many who had a comfortable suburban home to stay put in a familiar space. So, housing stock during the health crisis was tight, prompting many offers on available homes . . . and even bidding wars.

“Personally, I had my best year ever after 20 years in the business,” said Marilyn Munton, Broker/REALTOR with RE/MAX Suburban. “I usually sell more on the buyer’s side and during the pandemic, my primary buyers were first time home buyers and Baby Boomers who were downsizing. I had a number of clients who were fearful of losing their jobs, so they wanted to move while they could still qualify for a mortgage.”

Jim Regan, another REALTOR with RE/MAX Suburban, is generally a seller’s agent, getting homeowners to list and sell their homes.

“The seller profile really didn’t change much in 2020 except for the fact that there were a lot fewer sellers who were willing to put their homes on the market during the pandemic,” he explained. “I would say there were a great number of sellers who were worried about getting Covid-19 and wanted no part of having strangers come through their home, whether that was a prospective buyer or a realtor discussing putting their house on the market.”

“I believe that has been one of the key reasons why we have had such low inventory,” Regan continued. “It was a lot easier to sell a vacant house during the pandemic than it was one that was occupied by a young or even older family. Until people feel totally safe, I think we’re going to be in a very low inventory situation.”

“I think the pandemic motivated people to stay put. Prospective sellers were fearful of making any major changes and felt extremely nervous about making that kind of decision. In my opinion, many people simply put off the decision to sell, waiting until they feel comfortable about life returning to normal, whatever that may look like.”

The housing inventory shortage and the number of buyers interested in moving into larger residences and getting a low interest rate prompted numerous bidding wars during 2020 and early 2021.

“Buyers have been frustrated by the experience,” said Munton. “They have been writing offers for properties, over and over again, and still not buying a home.  I represented one buyer who had the seller ask if he could rent back the home from them for a period of time because they had bought so quickly and then the seller kept writing offers and not getting any of the homes.”

“There have been more bidding wars than in years previous, primarily due to low inventory and increased buyer demand due to low interest rates and just simply more buyers in the prime demographic for house buying age which is 25 to 35 years of age,” Regan said. “I have had three or four multiple offer situations on listings of mine. The most that I experienced was eight offers on a property that sold for $15,000 higher than the asking price.”

“Some sellers accepted an offer that was not the highest because it was from buyers who they felt more simpatico with because they had written a nice personal letter and submitted it with the offer,” he continued. “Not all the offers were cash offers. It was a mix of cash and financed offers, and some offers that were accepted were contingent upon a house closing, but none where the contingency was based upon the sale of a house.”

“In addition, none of my sellers had to move to temporary housing because their house had sold. The sellers that I represented had already found a new property first and knew where they were going. Buying first was the only way to be successful in getting a property in this kind of market where you’re competing against other buyers that don’t have a property to sell. Generally speaking, it’s been great to be a seller in this market and hell to be a buyer,” Regan stated.

But even though it was difficult to find a home, buyers were rather choosey. Munton said that shenoticed a trend away from fixer-uppers.  Most buyers don’t really want to do any work anymore, she explained.  That has seemed true for the last three to five years and it wasn’t changed by the pandemic.

In addition, Regan noted that the number of condominiums and townhomes that closed during the pandemic was about the same as it was in 2019 and this was also true of single-family homes. So, the pandemic did not seem to affect the desirability of one type of property over the other. 

Younger buyers selected single-family homes over townhomes and condos for all the reasons that they have in the past — wanting to have a home of their own versus living in more of a communal setting. Then, older buyers who were tired of owning a single-family house chose to move to a townhome or condominium to eliminate maintenance and reduce taxes.

Munton agreed. “Baby Boomers are downsizing because they want less to take care of.  In addition, the cost to downsize from one single family home to another single-family home have become a bit prohibitive. I have also had a few single women as buyers and they haven’t wanted to worry about maintenance, so they like attached living options.”

During 2020, Regan said that he closed 25 house sales which was actually five more than in 2019 and the average sale price was approximately $293,000 per transaction versus 2019 when his average sale was $376,225. 

“I can’t explain that, but my sales volume in 2019 was $7,524,500 and in 2020 it was $7,308,448. In the last 10 years I have fluctuated between approximately 25 homes sold on the low side to as many as 45 on the high side in a very good, active, year.

Here are some other interesting highlights from Mount Prospect’s real estate market profile in 2019, 2020 and in the first five months of 2021:

“If we were to compare the first five months of the year for all three of those years, we would find that the number of new listings in 2019 was 520, in 2020 it was 369 and in 2021 it was 314. This is for Mount Prospect single-family homes, although condominiums and such are following along trend-wise.” Regan stated. 

“So, this market in 2021 is being driven by very low inventory, historically-low interest rates and increased buyer demand from first time buyers and those buyers seeking to get more space than they have in their current home, especially during a pandemic when many people are working from home and need that additional private space to conduct business free from the distractions of life at home,” he added.

“Overall, from 2019 to 2020 there was a decrease of 30% in inventory in the first five months of the year and in 2021 there was another decrease of 15% for new listings. The reason that I only mention the first five months is because it really sets up what happens in the real estate market in Mount Prospect and elsewhere for the rest of the year,” Regan explained. “If there is very low inventory during those key months of the year, it’s going to be more of a sellers’ market. And with an overall decline of somewhere around 45% of available inventory, it is easy to see why properties are selling quickly, for more money and in many cases, with multiple offers and prices over “asking.” 

Also, at this time in 2021, on average, homes are selling for less than 1 percent below list price whereas in 2019 and 2020 it was 3% less than list price. In addition, the average selling time has gone from approximately 85 days to approximately 35 days.

“Speaking personally,” Regan added, “I can remember the beginning of 2020 and thinking that it would be a really good year for the real estate market and for me, personally. But as more and more information came to the fore regarding COVID-19, it became very unsettling. On March 12 when everything was shut down, I wondered how I could possibly make a living under these circumstances, as well as just get through the day.”

“Although real estate was declared a “essential” service, I was very hesitant to meet with people — both buyers and sellers,” he continued. “But I masked up, wore gloves, had hand sanitizer and muddled along like everybody else, wondering what was going to happen from day to day.”

“Needless to say, when my wife and I finally got vaccinated with our second shot on March 20, it made a tremendous difference and gave us a sense of relief. Most of all, it was wonderful getting back to hugging family members and getting together in person without masks since everybody was getting vaccinated,” Regan concluded.

By Ray Limbach 
VFW Post 1337 Historian 
and
Bill Starr
Commander, American Legion Post 525

When the virus hit, little was known. When it came out that the most vulnerable were the older adults, and the number of people dying in retirement and elderly care environments, Mount Prospect’s veterans groups had to take precautions. For instance, many members were scheduled for an Honor Flight to Washington D.C., which was cancelled. Many other events were cancelled, as well, as the veterans took all the precautions that were advised.

Most began a self-quarantine program beginning in March. Getting masks and cleaning wipes (not to mention tissue and toilet paper) was next to impossible. We began to video contact our loved ones. We only went out when necessary and learned to keep distance between individuals. All stores that were open required masks and social distancing, with well-placed markers on where to stand and how to travel between aisles. 

With all the uncertainties that each of our members went through, the leadership of both VFW Post 1337 and American Legion Post 525 continued to move forward. Virtual meetings via Zoom were set up to inform and advise on the current situation. Many members met virtually, by computer or over the phone. 

May is always a busy time for both posts. Poppy Day for both posts (May 14th) was held via two separate GoFundMe sites. Members also solicited donations at the Mount Prospect Farmer’s Market several weeks during the summer and the public was very generous. So, the Poppy coffers were replenished. 

Grave Decoration Day was held in May, as usual. Members of both posts met to decorate approximately 300 graves at 20 separate cemeteries. The Posts also honored all the service workers who were actively protecting them during the COVID crisis with a banner in front of the downtown police and fire station. Masks were worn and all safety precautions were observed. 

The Memorial Day parade and ceremony of May 2020 was cancelled, but some members quietly met at the Veteran Memorial without members of the public to honor fallen comrades. 

For members of the public, a video was made of previous parades and posted online. In addition, Legion Commander Starr, who annually serves as the Master of Ceremonies for Memorial Day, filmed a short message which was broadcast via the Mt. Prospect Park District website, along with Memorial Day thoughts from VFW member and American Legionnaire Kyle Brooks who had been scheduled to speak at the 2020 ceremony. 

The traditional “What Memorial Day means to me” essay contest was hosted by the VFW, despite COVID. Other years the winner had ridden in a convertible and be invited to read his/her entry at the Memorial Day ceremony itself. Instead, the 2020 winner Stephanie Bennet’s winning paper was posted on the VFW website. 

Per usual, the American Legion gave awards to Junior High School students at six different graduations – virtually. The awards included boy/girl Citizenship, Academic and All School Medallions along with an official Certificate of Appreciation to all deserving students at all schools as normal but, of course, virtually. 

The VFW also gave out Patriots Pen awards to grade school students, “Voice of Democracy” awards to high school students and other honors to first responders (fireman and police), one Eagle Scout and two teachers who progressed through the process to be made State VFW Teacher Award recipients. 

Both groups were also quite active with charitable events during the COVID year. For instance, both VFW and American Legion members chose to help fund the acquisition of flat screens for the LaSalle Veterans Home so that residents there could also keep in contact with their loved ones during the COVID crisis. 

The American Legion was unable to continue its tradition of hosting a monthly BINGO game at the Lovell VA Hospital in Lake County, so instead they voted to send $300 per month to the veterans so they could purchase items like snacks from the canteen. 

The American Legion did manage to hold their traditional golf outing at the Mt. Prospect Golf Course which exclusively benefits TLS Veterans of Crystal Lake. TLS is a nonprofit exclusively devoted to supporting homeless veterans. It would have been easy to cancel this event as the virus was still running high but bravely and in the open air, 72 golfers attended the event and were given a unique face mask for the day. No meal was served in the clubhouse, however. Thanks to the event, the TLS Veterans group was presented with a check for $7,752.56. 

The Legion and VFW also continued to hold “Wake Ceremonies” for deceased members, but we had to make adjustments. We could not, of course, meet at the funeral home as we normally would, but instead provided a very well received (by the families) presence at the cemetery where up to 20 uniformed veterans from both the American Legion and VFW lined the roadway (properly distanced and masked) to come to attention, salute, play TAPS and pay final respect to our comrade as the hearse paused on the way to the gravesite. we attended approximately eight of these ceremonies during the COVID pandemic. 

In November Veterans Day was marked with a unique ceremony at Village Hall which was televised with the help of the Mount Prospect TV personnel.

The virtual ceremony contained the same ingredients as it had in years past, but it was necessary to pre-record parts of the ceremony which could not be done in person due to the pandemic. Those that were pre-recorded were the 21-gun salute, The National Anthem music, keynote speaker address, TAPS played by Prospect High band member and greetings and songs from schoolchildren. Live portions of the program included: beginning and ending prayers, patriotic songs played and sung live, and the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. All segments – both live and recorded — were expertly melded together for the ceremony by Steve Martini and Howard Kleinstein of MPTV. It is estimated that thousands of students watched the ceremony live or viewed it via YouTube later that day. 

The local VFW and American Legion Post leadership had also been planning to host an inaugural Thanksgiving meal for sailors from the Great Lakes Training Center, but that did not happen in 2020, due to the pandemic. 

Early in 2021 both the VFW and the American Legion moved their meetings from the Arlington Heights Post 208 to the VFW’s original home at the Mount Prospect Moose Lodge 660 on Main Street. The VFW constructed it with volunteer labor and had met there from 1950 until 1983 when they could no longer afford to maintain it and sold it to Moose Lodge 660.

During the pandemic, VFW representatives met with Moose Lodge representatives and worked out an agreement for the Post to once again hold their meetings back at their former home.  American Legion Post 525 did the same.

In early 2021, many members were able to get their Pfizer COVID shots at Hines VA Hospital. Service officer Dutch DeGroot sent out the information as soon as it was available. Nevertheless, their meetings still practiced social distancing and masks. 

We also began planning for 2021 events like the annual Mount Prospect Veterans picnic in August; an outing up to Milwaukee for a Cubs game; their annual Christmas Dinner; and an inaugural effort to host Naval training boots for a Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner. We hope our Honor Flight will eventually take place as well. Time will tell. We are also looking to resume our various state and national conventions.  

As the Covid crisis eases, we are and must be still on our guard. In April 2021, we held an open house with the Lions, Moose and American Legion and VFW Posts. It was attended by many in the community with their children (they loved the balloons). A member of both Posts, VFW Post 1337 Junior Vice Commander Tony Cuellar even brought down an armored vehicle and all were interested.

For Memorial Day 2021 the usual ceremony was held – but without the parade. The Park District painted white circles in the grass to assist the 1200-strong crowd maintain social distancing. The Mt. Prospect Community Band could not attend, as they normally would have, so they were very ably replaced by a lovely soloist, Debbie Schreiner, from Saint Paul Lutheran Church who led the crowd in singing “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” and the “Star Spangled Banner.” Major Paul Knudtson, an Illinois Veteran, gave a moving speech. After the ceremony, a luncheon was held at the Moose Hall for members of both organizations.

VFW Post 1337 and American Legion Post 525 are known for being some of the most active veterans organizations in the area – no matter the challenges — because Mount Prospect veterans are proud of their community.  Incidentally, it bears noting that John “Dutch” DeGroot was nominated for VFW Member of the Year in 2021 and Les Durov will become the VFW State Safety Director as of July 1, 2021.