A very nice pamphlet came in the mail recently from the Riverside Township, and being one who reads almost everything that comes to the house, I read this one with interest.
Kudos to whoever put it together, though I’ll credit township Supervisor Vera Wilt. It contained the names of all members of the township board and a brief bio of each one; nice to know them. There was also a complete listing of all services provided by the township and how to use them. Nice to know.
Going back a number of years, I tend to think about George Glaser, who was supervisor for many, many years. George loved that building and working for the people. I credit him with teaching me that the building is actually called the “township hall” and not the “town hall.”
Although he was a funeral director — his establishment was on Harlem Avenue — he seemed to be at his second home on Riverside Road all the time. He was very possessive of the township hall, and some people may not know it, but there was a bit of animosity between George and the village, a problem since resolved.
George had a very talented son, Darel, who brought theater to Riverside in the form of musicals and plays. With the help of his dad, Darel brought to the township stage such musicals as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and others. Today the great stage still showcases talent in many forms.
George also was very generous to many groups and organizations within the township. You wanted to use any of the rooms, just talk to George. He had scrapbooks that he loved to share, particularly the ones with his son’s press releases and photos from his performances.
There were the stories he told about the “swinging bridge” and how it came to be. The bicycle rodeo, fortnightly dances in the great hall, lunches, dinners, meetings, whatever went on; George helped make them possible.
Well, times change. There have been subsequent supervisors and now we are glad to have Vera Wilt, who learned from her predecessors, including her late husband, Gary.
The pamphlet is a good idea, I will keep it as a reference so I will know what’s what. However, I think the spirit of George Glaser will always be in the building, er, Riverside Township Hall.
My computer still on the bum, and this column comes from the North Riverside Library and their computer room. Thanks a lot. Great facility; I will stop by again. Thanks also to the nice man, a patron, who took time from his computer to get me started. I think I need a teenager at my disposal at all times for computer help.
