Laura Giampino

Meet Laura Giampino

"Every day [my dad] would drive down Gilbert Avenue to get to his job, and he said 'Someday I’m gonna want to live in Western Springs.'”

Watch the Conversation Here

Biography

In the late 1960s, Ms. Giampino moved to Western Springs when she was eight years old. Her family moved because of her father’s job at General Motors. Her father got the job in the 1950s, and would drive down Gilbert Avenue to get to work. While driving to work, he would often think “Someday I’m gonna want to live in Western Springs.”

Finally, Ms. Giampino’s dad heard that the neighbor of a work friend was selling his Western Springs house. Mr. and Mrs. Giampino jumped at the chance to buy that house for only $30,000. Ms. Giampino grew up in that house and her parents still live there today! The only change to the house has been a new kitchen in 1984 (her parents still call it “the new kitchen”). One detail she added was about the backyards in Western Springs and how vast residents’ backyards can be.

Ms. Giampino’s family home is in a part of the village known as Ridge Acres. This area used to be pear and apple tree farms. Ridge Acres land was first bought by Marshall Field around the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. But, Field died in 1906 and his land was sold to Ellsworth T. Martin. Martin wanted to build a “high-grade residence section,” but he needed to name the subdivision. The two portions of the subdivision were named “Ridge” (Western Springs is on a ridge) and “Acres” (the property was first offered for sale in one-acre lots).

While growing up in Western Springs, one of Ms. Giampino’s closest friends was Linda Johnson, who is now the owner of the hardware store in town. In 1954, the hardware store was named “Village Hardware” and was operated by Tony Longo and Ed Johnson, Linda Johnson’s father.

During her time in Western Springs, Ms. Giampino attended Franklin Avenue School—which doesn’t exist anymore after being torn down—and after that, she went to McClure Junior High School. Back then, McClure only had 7th and 8th grade, but now it includes 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. In 8th grade, Ms. Giampino and her friends did lots of fundraising to help pay for their Washington D.C. trip; only 45 students attended the trip at that time. Then, Ms. Giampino attended Lyons Township High School. Once she graduated from LT, she attended Iowa State University and earned a degree in teaching.

After Ms. Giampino earned her degree in teaching, she was a part-time coach of volleyball and softball and a part-time teacher for 7th grade through high school. Along with her teaching job, she also worked at a DVD store and sold movies over the phone. Some of the most popular movies back then were action movies, and even some children’s movies, like Lady and the Tramp. Later, Ms. Giampino took a job selling independent feature films which are usually made on a smaller budget. She told us she really enjoys independent movies because they seem more “free-spirited.”

Ms. Giampino now lives in Chicago, north of Wrigley Field, in a neighborhood named Andersonville. She lives with her wife and her dog, Charlie. Fun fact: Ms. Giampino rescued her dog in 2014 when he was already two years old. He will turn 14 in July and has great energy still! He was living on the streets in Oklahoma until he was rescued by Felines & Canines Chicago. Charlie is a small dog about the size of a cat weighing 13 pounds. Ms. Giampino and her wife still don’t know for sure what mix he is; they suspect he’s part Chihuahua and part Italian Greyhound or even Husky.

In Ms. Giampino’s free time, she has attended the Bike the Drive multiple times in Chicago, which is an annual fundraising event and allows cyclists to bike along DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Ms. Giampino also travels back to Western Springs to visit her parents every week. Her parents are now retired and are great grandparents, so Ms. Giampino is also a great aunt. Ms. Giampino also loves to travel and has been to 49 out of all of the 50 states (missing Idaho) plus 30 countries!

Food for Thought

Corky’s was a fast food, diner-type restaurant owned by Walgreens. The Western Springs Corky’s was where Mariano’s is now on the northwest corner of Garden Market. By the end of the 1960s, Walgreens had 14 Corky’s throughout the Chicago area. The “Corker,” a big deluxe hamburger, was the store’s trademark. It was named after Charles R. “Cork” Walgreens III.

Ms. Giampino remembers going to Corky’s in high school. She distinctly remembers the burgers coming down an assembly line and being put together. This popular place was a key part of life for LTHS students who graduated in the 70s. Another restaurant Ms. Giampino misses is The Spaghetti Bowl. They sold super thin crust pizza that her family enjoyed. Both of Ms. Giampino's brothers worked at The Spaghetti Bowl in the 70s and 80s!

Girl Power

Title IX is a government mandate that requires federally funded schools to give equal opportunity to girls and boys. This was enacted on June 23, 1972. It was signed by President Nixon. This law was inteneded to also close gaps from the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Ms. Giampino was part of McClure's first girls basketball team in 1975. With Title IX helping them, Ms. Giampino and her McClure friends petitioned the district to sponsor a girls basketball team for the very first time in McClure history. This team had the support of most McClure students, however, it was controversial in the community. Along with the students, Ms. Giampino’s parents were very supportive of what their daughter was doing.

School Daze

Ms. Giampino attended an elementary school named Franklin/Clark School. Franklin Avenue School was built in 1929. The school was located south of the tracks on 46th and Franklin Ave. This building had grades kindergarten through sixth. In 1931, they changed the name from Franklin Avenue School to honor the superintendent, Marice P. Clark. The school mascot, the Clark Colts, was chosen by the students. However, this school is no longer standing. They turned it into a recreation center in 1983 that included a Montessori school. In 1998, the recreation center was torn down, sold to the Western Springs Park District and three other private bidders, and then turned into three houses and Clark Park.

Western Springs Story

When Ms. Giampino was growing up, McClure did not originally have a girls basketball team. Ms. Giampino and her friends thought this was unfair. Because of this, they wanted to make a change. To make this happen, Ms. Giampino and her friends started a petition when they were in 7th grade.

At the time that this was happening Title IX became a federal law. This law meant that if a school offered something for boys, they must offer it for girls. When Ms. Giampino and her friends were trying to get McClure to start a girls basketball team, they used this as a reason. They also had to get signatures on a petition from parents and then go to the PTA. Finally, Ms. Giampino and her friends had done everything they could and it all worked out for them. When she was in 8th grade, her class was the first to have a girls basketball team at McClure.

After the creation of the girls basketball team at McClure, Ms. Giampino decided she was going to be on the team. Although she remembers it to be very fun, they have no photos of the team. The girls also did not have team uniforms. Ms. Giampino and her teammates had to make their own uniforms by adding white tape for numbers on the back of their gym uniforms (which is the red romper pictured here to the right). Through it all, she remembers having fun with her friends. This team will always be important due to the fact that she was on the first girl’s team at McClure.

Ms. Giampino grew up in the neighborhood of Ridge Acres. When she was a child, she attended Franklin Avenue School. What’s interesting about this is that the school no longer exists. Not long after she left elementary school, Franklin Avenue School was renamed the Maurice P. Clark School. Soon, it was torn down altogether. Ms. Giampino noted that the place where the school once was is now just houses and a small park named Clark Park. Later, she attended McClure. She remembers that when she went to McClure, it was only 7th and 8th grade, but there were around 215 students per grade.

When Ms. Giampino was growing up, her other classmates enjoyed going to downtown Western Springs, but instead of calling it that, they called it “Uptown.” Some things they had there were pharmacies called Schluter’s Pharmacy and Kiel’s Drug Store. They also had a garden center called Vaughn’s Garden Center. Finally, they had Corky’s which was a fast food grill. Corky’s was a popular food place where you could watch your burger being cooked from start to finish. Just as how many people now go to Starbucks or Oberweis, Ms. Giampino enjoyed going to Uptown with her friends.

Right around the time Ms. Giampino was born, there was a referendum held to increase park space in the town. This led to the creation of Spring Rock, Sereda, and Northeast parks. She recalls that during her childhood, Spring Rock held many summer and winter events that she participated in. These include baseball, softball, tennis, hockey, and ice skating. Along with these sports, she also rode her bike everywhere around town. This has stuck with her because in her adulthood, she participated in the Bike the Drive event in Chicago. Finally, she remembers going to the pool with her entire family because it was cheaper that way.

Changes Seen in Western Springs

Ever since Ms. Giampino moved to Western Springs, Western Springs has constantly been changing and transforming.

Changes in Opportunity

For example, in the education system of Western Springs, gender roles of students and teachers have dramatically shifted. When Ms. Giampino was at McClure Junior High, she was the first class to have the opportunity to choose between the Home Economics or Wood Shop electives. Previously, Home Economics was strictly for girls, and the curriculum of the class was focused around teaching young girls how to dress, act around company, cook, and sew. Wood Shop was for boys, teaching them how to work with various tools. Also, when Ms. Giampino was in seventh grade at McClure, she and some of her friends successfully petitioned for the district to start the first McClure girls’ basketball team.

Ms. Giampino stated that during her time in school, most of her teachers were women. Some male teachers taught math and science classes, while women typically taught subjects such as social studies and English. Now at McClure, men and women are typically mixed between subjects and grade levels.

Changes in Local Businesses

On top of the changes in opportunity for men and women, Western Springs businesses have adapted as well. Many businesses have closed since Ms. Giampino first arrived in Western Springs. Some examples include the Corky’s hamburger place in the Garden Market Center, Spaghetti Bowl in the building now known as The Ekdahl House, Odegaard’s Laundry and Cleaners, and the grocery store that is now condominiums by the train track and Wolf Road. That said, some of Ms. Giampino’s favorite businesses from growing up are still treasured spots in Western Springs, including Kirschbaum’s Bakery and True Value Hardware.

Changes in Transportation

In addition to the changes in business in Western Springs, the way that people get around has changed drastically as well. As Western Springs has been developed, Ms. Giampino said that Western Springs has made more sidewalks here than most other towns that she has seen. Also, Ms. Giampino added bikes have become extremely common to get from place to place within town. In addition to the railroad that goes straight through the heart of Western Springs, Ms. Giampino remarked that new underpasses have been really helpful by the train tracks for kids and adults to get from one side of town to the other.

Present and Future

Ms. Giampino notes that she would love Western Springs to be a more diverse. That’s part of the reason she loves her neighborhood in the city so much because she can hear all different languages just walking down the street.

When talking about the school district she says she wants to keep it strong.

Advice to Current Bulldogs:

Ms. Giampino wishes she got into politics when she was still in school. She thinks Western Springs does a great job at communicating what the people in the town want.
Ms. Giampino says it’s important to know the history of where you live. She wishes she had this type of class when she was at McClure. She told us: “When I was your age, I had no idea about the rich history of Western Springs. I love that you are adding to the rich history of Western Springs.”

Describe Western Springs in 3 Words

Safe - Ms. Giampino used the word safe to showcase the low crime rate of Western Springs. She feels comfort being in the town where she can hang out with friends feeling safe and know that her parents home is protected.
Walkable - She described Western Springs as a small enclosed town where everything is walkable and it’s easy to get to schools and stores. This builds a sense of community. For example, Ms Giampino felt like when she was younger she could go to any where she wanted with no problem like going to hang out with her friends. And even though Western Springs has changed a lot, it still has the same safe walkable charm as it always has.
Charming - Ms. Giampino described Western Springs as a cute town and a safe community. Ms Giampino stated that she is still in touch with the people that she played basketball with. She’s always felt like part of a good community in the school with all of her friends and outside of the school with her family.

Artist's Sketch

Sketch by Mick W. - "I was born in Chicago, Illinois. When I was 6, my family and I moved to Western Springs. Here at McClure, I have been learning so much about this town and its people who lived there. I'm glad to be a part of the Western Springs stories."

Citation

Giampino, Laura. Personal Interview. 19 Feb. 2026.

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