Old vs. New - Richmond: Village offers residents rural setting
By DIANA SROKA – dsroka@nwherald.com
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| Howard "Sonny" Katzenberg has lived in Richmond for 75 years and still works as a real estate agent. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com) |
RICHMOND – Recall the village of Richmond’s history over the past 70 years, and Howard “Sonny” Katzenberg is all over it.
Katzenberg was born in, and during his childhood lived in, a building on Main Street, where antique stores are located today. He played high school basketball in Memorial Hall. His graduation ceremony took place there.
After graduating from Beloit College and marrying his wife, Ann, he returned to Richmond to start one of the town’s first insurance and real estate businesses in 1960. He knew then he’d probably spend the rest of his life in Richmond.
“Richmond was a wholesome community with a good school system,” Katzenberg said. “Real clean-cut.”
In the years that followed, he thrived as a businessman in town, with one venture to the next.
Like the bowling alley he opened in 1963, where the Ace Hardware is today. It had eight lanes and a billiard hall.
“It was a very popular place in town,” said Katzenberg, 76.
But right around the time Katzenberg sold the bowling alley, another Richmond resident was getting her first tastes of the town.
Donna Maravelias was in her early teens, and her family would pass through Richmond on their way to visit her aunt and uncle in Genoa City, Wis.
“It was just a pass-through,” Donna said. “I always thought it was a cute little town.”
She didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s where Donna and her future husband, Stan, would decide to move after Stan’s retirement.
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| Richmond residents since Sept. of 2006, Donna and Stan Maravelias pose for a portrait in their home in Richmond, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. (Justin Edmonds - jedmonds@nwherald.com) |
After the Maravelias’ kids were grown, they looked for a change from the bustling atmosphere of Mundelein. They were tired of the traffic, the commotion. They wanted to relax.
So they considered a new home in Antioch, until they learned identical homes were being built by the same developer in Richmond. Then Donna’s childhood memories returned.
“I might not have chosen Richmond had I not been through here before,” Donna said.
They moved into their home in September 2006, and ever since the Maraveliases have wasted no time getting involved in activities.
Donna has participated in the Richmond Citizens Police Academy and volunteered with Round Up Days and Christmas of Yesteryear. Stan, a retired American Airlines crew chief, has worked light hours as a community service officer crossing guard. Both have become active in numerous organizations at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Main Street.
While they admit it took some time to adjust to Richmond’s small-town atmosphere, the Maraveliases are glad they made the move.
“I have no plans on moving anywhere else,” Stan said. “And what’s made my decision is the community.”
There aren’t any major chain stores in Richmond, and there’s no major grocery store. But even though Richmond isn’t as commercially developed as many residents would like, residents like Stan and Donna said they can’t get enough of the rural atmosphere.
“One thing we do like is the locality of farms,” Stan said. “When the time’s right ... for fresh produce, you can’t beat it.”
The Katzenbergs have spent their whole lives in Richmond and don’t see it as the same small town newcomers do. They’ve watched it evolve from a budding antique business town to a highly residential area with notably successful schools.
But what the Maraveliases agree on is that no matter how the town evolves over the next generation, they don’t want its sense of community to change.
“There’s not anyone here that wouldn’t give you a hand,” Stan said. “It’s really something.”
