A brief history of Loree’s Snack Shop and Ice Cream Parlor at 3232 West Foster Avenue in Chicago.

In the 1960s and 70s, there were a lot of places to buy ice cream. Several businesses on Chicago’s Far North Side were famous for what was called “ice cream creations.” 

I’m not sure anyone still uses that phrase, but it meant more than a scoop or two on a sugar cone. Drama and excitement were dished out with over-the-top, imaginatively named sundaes, shakes, and sodas at places like Buffalo’s on Irving Park, Lockwood Castle on Devon, Zephyr Café & Ice Cream Parlor on Wilson and Ravenswood Avenues, and, of course, Loree’s Snack Shop.

The original owners of Loree’s named the restaurant after their daughter. The Dickers kept the name and the menu but expanded the list of ice cream specialties.

Robert “Bob” Dicker behind the counter at Loree’s in 1962, the year he and his wife, Sybil Dicker, bought the snack shop and ice cream parlor.

Loree’s was a much-loved restaurant and ice cream parlor was in the North Park community, frequented by both North Park College (now University), Northeastern Illinois University, and Von Steuben High School students. 

Sybil Dicker at Loree’s, 1962.

Customer favorites include ice cream creations which were the big draw, but Loree’s was a full-service diner. Here are a few items from Loree’s menu that stood out as special for Loree's:

Pecan Roll - untoasted.

Pecan rolls (from Levinson's Bakery) -  delicious toasted, the Test Pilot Sundae had chocolate chips and two sugar wafers sticking out from the ice cream scoop's like the wings of an airplane, and their multicolored whipped cream which was made fresh, on-site, with food coloring, added to it. 

The Francheezie

Another very popular item was the Francheezie, a sliced hot dog with cheese and wrapped in bacon. 

As popular as Loree’s was, it was no gold mine. Robert "Bob" Dicker (1962 to 1972), the 2nd owner, put in long hours: breakfast through dinner added up to 15-hour days and Loree’s was open seven days a week. 

The business became even more family-run when Gayle Dicker started waitressing in eighth grade. She remembers the first time she worked a Saturday night and made $13 in tips. At the time, it seemed like a small fortune.

Despite the hardships of owning a restaurant, Bob Dicker loved his work. He enjoyed talking to students and being his own boss. Ultimately, however, the hours were too much for the family and they sold the business. The new owners tore down the wall separating the adjacent storefront to enlarge the restaurant and kept it open as Loree’s for many years. 

Today, Loree's location is Starbucks.

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

General Samuel A. Whiteside, an Illinois pioneer.

Samuel A. Whiteside fought the British in the War of 1812 and Indians through the Blackhawk War (including in the Illinois Territory before statehood and later in the Wisconsin Territory).

Whiteside was born April 12, 1783, in Rutherford County, North Carolina, the son of John and Judith (Tolley) Whiteside. Sam's father and his uncle William, head of the Whiteside clan, served heroically in the Revolutionary War and won acclaim in the Battle of King's Mountain. The Whiteside family had strong ties to kin and friends, a spirited Irish character, enormous love of the new nation they fought to free, and also had a double portion of bravery and self-sufficiency.

In 1790 the Whitesides and a following of industrious families set out into the new frontier. They settled briefly in the Kentucky wilderness, then arrived at Hull's Landing, south of Columbia, Illinois, on January 1, 1793. They built Whiteside Station on the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail and often engaged the Indians in battle. The Kaskaskia–Cahokia Trail was the first road (by foot, horseback, and stagecoaches) in Illinois.

1778 map by Thomas Hutchins of the French settlements in the Illinois Country showing the "Road from Kaskaskias to Cahokia" highlighted in yellow.

When Samuel was a boy, he was playing outside with a brother and cousin under the supervision of his mother. Indians fell upon them, killed his brother and tomahawked his cousin. He and his mother escaped by jumping through some undergrowth and running into the forest. The memory of this event stayed with Sam his entire life.

In 1802 Samuel and his brother Joel purchased land from the government and built a cabin (survey 603 Claim 1601 Collinsville Twp). They were Maryville's first settlers. Samuel married Nancy Miller May 28, 1804, in Madison County and wasted no time in starting a family: Michael M., born 1805; Judith, born 1807; Nancy, born 1808; Sarah, born 1810; Joel, born 1811; William, born 1812; Thomas, born 1815; Samuel Ray, born 1820; John Perry, born 1822; Eliza Ann, born 1825; Mary Ann, born 1830.

Samuel loved life in the wilds of the prairie. He wore buckskins and moccasins and was well known for his skill in tracking and hunting. He was often gone for many weeks and lived by his talents and the bounty of the land. It made no difference to him whether he was hunting a rabbit or a bear and when he once dispatched three panthers in a single outing, he thought nothing of his accomplishment.

Samuel served as a ranger in the War of 1812. When warring factions of Indians allied to the British attacked white settlements, Captain Sam Whiteside and his troops were often first on the scene, the first to take up the chase and the last to end the pursuit. In 1814 Samuel was put in charge of a group of fighting men based at Chilton's Fort, {{located about two miles west of the present town of St. Jacobs, Illinois. The Fort was built during the early days of the War of 1812 when British-allied Indians had begun a series of widespread brutal attacks in the region. The fort, never attacked, provided a haven for the area's pioneering families who had emigrated from Kentucky and Tennessee.}}

When a mother and her six children were killed by Indians at Wood River, Illinois, (Wood River Massacre) Captain Whiteside took up the chase immediately. Most of the natives who took part in that terrible act never lived to tell the tale.

On August 12, 1814, an expedition under the command of Major Zachary Taylor (later United States President), left St. Louis with several boats, one under the command of Captain Sam Whiteside. The British Army had built strong fortifications on the Mississippi and under fire from British artillery, Major Taylor sounded a retreat. The wind pushed their boats toward an embankment. One boat was blown to shore and almost encircled by a band of Indians allied to the British. Captain Whiteside came to the rescue. Through exhausting man-to-man combat and brave deeds in both boats, Whiteside managed to lash the embattled boat to his own and pull it from the river's edge. When recounted, this deed "contributed very greatly to Samuel Whiteside's credit for courage and good judgment in an emergency."

Samuel Whiteside rose steadily in rank during his tenure in the Illinois Militia: ensign (January 2, 1810), captain (August 22, 1812), major (February 26, 1817), colonel (May 22, 1817), and brigadier general (1819). 

In 1818 Sam became the first representative of Madison County in the state legislature. He helped choose Vandalia as the new state capital after Kaskaskia. Whiteside descendants said, "in matters of religion he sided with the Baptists, and in political affairs, he cooperated with the Democrats. He was an honest man and the only thing that he seemed to be afraid of was being in debt. He believed with all his power that what he believed was right and it was rather a hard task to convince him that the opposite side might seem to be right." In 1819, he was a member of the commission to select a new site for the Illinois State Capitol. He then served in the Illinois General Assembly from 1819 to 1821. He never sought reelection but continued to lead the Illinois Militia troops.

For a brief period of time, he resided in Galena and took part in the Winnebago War in 1827, then the Black Hawk War in 1831-32, where he served as brigadier general of the First Brigade, Illinois Militia.

During the Black Hawk War, the 'Indian fighter' commanded the Illinois militia. It was Samuel Whiteside who commissioned Abraham Lincoln into the militia, with Lincoln leading a company under Whiteside's command. When the regular U.S. Army troops arrived, General Whiteside chose to reenlist as a private in Capt. Synder's Co.

One of Sam's more colorful engagements was recounted by Senator John T. Kingston in his book Early Western Days:

"Whiteside was serving as a private in Capt. Adam Snyder's temporary company in June 1831 when a superior force of Indians attacked them in the Rock River country of northern Illinois. In a state of confusion, the Illinois Volunteers ignored the pleas of their officers and went into retreat at full gallop, heading for the nearest settlement.

"The Indians were in hot pursuit, crossing an open prairie when one of the volunteers suddenly reined in his horse and dismounted. It was the grizzled, white-haired Private Samuel Whiteside, late of the general staff and a man well into middle age. The Indians, taken aback by Whiteside's action, slowed the chase to take stock of the situation.

"They continued to ride forward. A chief wearing a feathered headdress was in the lead. He began to swerve his horse, left to right, right to left, and leaned low against the animal's withers. Private Whiteside, the leader in many successful fights again Indians, raised his one-shot rifle, took deliberate aim and killed the chief. As the leader tumbled from his horse, the Indians stopped, began milling around and uttering loud cries. The fleeing volunteers heard the commotion, took in the situation and ended the retreat. Shamed by Whiteside's stand, they raced their horses back toward the Indians and engaged them. The Indians seemed to have lost heart. They picked up the body of their chief and fled the assault. Several of the men later asked Whiteside why he had stopped to face almost certain death. "I have never yet run from an Indian," Samuel Whiteside said. "I never will."

Samuel's wife Nancy passed away July 1, 1851, and was buried in the Old Canteen Creekgrave Cemetery (now lost) near their home in Madison County. Samuel sold his Madison County farm about 1854 and moved to the northeast part of Christian County Illinois where several of his grown children were living. 

General Samuel A. Whiteside (1863)

Sam passed away on January 13, 1866, at age 83, while living with his daughter Eliza (Mrs. John Henderson). He is buried in the Hunter Cemetery in Mosquito Township, Christian County, Illinois.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Sergio Oliva; "The Myth" (1941-2012). World Cup 7x, Mr. Olympia 3x, Mr. Universe, Mr. World, and Chicago Policeman.

Sergio Oliva was born in Cuba on July 4, 1941. At 12, he worked with his father in the sugar cane fields of Guanabacoa. When Oliva was 16, his father suggested that he enlist in Fulgencio Batista's army. Without a birth certificate, the recruiting officer took the senior Oliva's word that his son was old enough to enlist in the fight against communism.

After losing the war to Fidel Castro, Oliva stayed local and hung out at the beach. He met a fellow sun worshipper there, who invited him to the local weightlifting club. After just six months of training, Oliva was doing clean and jerks with over 300 lb and totaling 1000 lb in the three Olympic lifts at a bodyweight of 195 lb, considered a middle-heavyweight.

In 1962, Alberto Rey Games Hernandez won the National Weightlifting Championship for Cuba; Sergio Oliva took second place. Because Alberto was injured, Oliva was chosen to represent Cuba at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games hosted in Kingston, Jamaica.

During his stay in Jamaica, Oliva snuck out of his quarters while the guards were distracted. He ran at top speed until he was safely inside the American consulate. Arriving breathlessly, he demanded and received political asylum. Soon, 65 other Cuban nationals followed him, including Castro's entire weightlifting team and their security guards. Soon afterward, Oliva was living in Miami, Florida, as a TV repairman.

In 1963 Oliva moved to Chicago, Illinois. There he worked at a local steel mill and began working out at the Duncan YMCA. Working 10-12 hour days at the steel mill and putting another 2.5–3 hours at the gym gave Oliva little time for anything else. Soon the bodybuilding grapevine was abuzz with gossip about a Cuban powerhouse who lifted more than any of the local Olympic champs. Oliva won his first bodybuilding competition, the Mr. Chicagoland contest 1963. Then he was successful again at Mr. Illinois in 1964, but he lost in 1965 at the AAU Jr. Mr. America won 2nd place even though he won the trophy for "Most Muscular." In 1966, he won the AAU Jr. Mr. America and again claimed the "Most Muscular" trophy. He then joined the International Federation of Body Builders IFBB, in which he won both the professional Mr. World and Mr. Universe Contests. 1967 he won the prestigious Mr. Olympia contest, making him the undisputed bodybuilding world champion.

Oliva then won the Mr. Olympia title three years in a row, at 5 feet 11 inches and at a contest weight that went from 225 lbs up to his most massive at 255 lbs. Oliva's 1968 Mr. Olympia win was uncontested. In 1969, he won his third consecutive Mr. Olympia by beating Mr. Europe, Mr. International, and four-time Mr. Universe winner Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his 1977 autobiography, 'Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder,' Arnold tells of their first encounter: "Then, for the first time, I saw Sergio Oliva in person. I understood why they called him the Myth. 

1972

It was as jarring as if I'd walked into a wall. He destroyed me. He was so huge and fantastic; there was no way I could even think of beating him. I admitted my defeat and felt some of my 'pump' disappear. I tried. But I'd been so taken aback by my first sight of Sergio Oliva that I settled for 2nd place before we walked out on the stage... I never like to admit defeat, but I thought Sergio was better. There were no two ways about it."

However, Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Olympia title by edging the Myth the following year with a score of 4-3 when Joe Weider switched judges at the last minute. Oliva was banned from competing in the 1971 IFBB Mr. Olympia because he competed in the 1971 NABBA Mr. Universe. This was highly controversial because Schwarzenegger had competed in this contest the year before, and without Sergio to challenge Arnold, many felt that the contest was fixed. "I'd coasted to my second title as Mr. Olympia in Paris in 1971. The only possible challenger had been Sergio-nobody else was in my league-and he'd been barred from the contest, along with others, because of a dispute between federations." Oliva was permitted to simply guest pose at the 1971, Mr. Olympia. After this setback, Oliva was fiercely determined to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger and prove, once and for all, that he was the world's greatest bodybuilder.

In 1972, under the High-Intensity Training (HIT) of Arthur Jones, the designer of Nautilus training equipment, Oliva challenged Schwarzenegger to the 1972 Olympia in Essen, Germany. 

By all accounts, Sergio was in his all-time greatest shape and completely confident he would regain the Mr. Olympia title showing up at his all-time best condition. "But in Essen, it seemed like all the top Bodybuilders turned up at their very best except for me. Sergio was back, even more impressive than I remembered." Once again, Weider switched the judges at the last minute, and Arnold was declared the winner in the most controversial bodybuilding contest ever. "Compared with all of the other Bodybuilders I've ever faced, Sergio was in a class by himself. I was struck by that again the minute we were onstage. It was hard to look impressive next to him with those incredible thighs, that impossibly tiny waist, those incredible triceps."

Sergio was a regular at the Chicago Bally Health Club on Ridge Avenue just north of Devon Avenue. Working part-time for the Chicago Board of Education as a presence in many of the Northside schools, he quickly became a role model to many neighborhood kids. 

After being disqualified from the 1973 IFBB Mr. International that Sergio actually won, he severed all ties with the Joe Weider controlled IFBB and continued competing for other world bodybuilding federations. He won the World Body Building Guild (WBBG) Mr. Galaxy in 1972 and 1973, the WBBG Mr. Olympus in 1975, 1976 and 1978, the WABBA Professional World Championships in 1977 and 1980, and the WABBA Professional World Cup in 1980 and 1981. After a 12-year hiatus from the IFBB, Oliva was invited back to the IFBB and came out of retirement to compete in 1984 Mr. Olympia. Finishing in a very controversial eighth place, "The Myth" still sported an extremely impressive physique and V-taper. Although he was not at his best, most bodybuilding experts and media at the time felt that he should have placed in the top five.

In 1985, at the age of 44, Oliva returned for an attempt at the famed Mr. Olympia title and would compete again in 1985. While being a favorite by many in the crowd, he could manage just an 8th-place finish in each.

"Anyone who loves the sport of bodybuilding knows the name of Sergio Oliva, known as 'The Myth.' I greatly admired him and consider him to be the all-time world's greatest physique. I saw him in competition many times, including his shows against Arnold. There is no doubt that with his wide shoulders and narrow hip structure, he was superior to any other Bodybuilder of his generation. Sergio was not only the most aesthetic bodybuilder on stage but also the biggest... Sergio Oliva is considered by most to be the world's most genetically gifted bodybuilder... He set a whole new standard for competitive bodybuilding; loved by millions, revered by many and feared by some. He was so huge and extremely proportioned that he used to bring chills to his adversaries. This is how he acquired the name of the Myth."

SERGIO OLIVA'S BODYBUILDING TITLES
1963 Mr Chicago – 1st
1964 Mr Illinois – 1st
1964 Mr America / AAU – 7th
1965 Junior Mr America / AAU – 2nd + "Most Muscular" trophy
1965 Mr America / AAU – 4th + “Most Muscular” trophy
1966 Junior Mr America / AAU – 1st + "Most Muscular" trophy
1966 Mr America / AAU – 2nd + “Most Muscular” trophy
1966 Mr World / IFBB – 1st in the “Tall” category + Overall Winner
1966 Mr Universe / IFBB – 1st
1966 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 4th
1967 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 1st
1967 Universe / IFBB – 1st overall
1968 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 1st (uncontested)
1969 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 1st
1970 Mr World / AAU (Pro) – 2nd in the "Tall" category
1970 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 2nd
1971 Universe / NABBA (Pro) – 2nd in the "Tall" category
1972 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 2nd
1972 Mr Galaxy / WBBG – 1st
1973 Mr International, Mr Azteca / IFBB (Pro) – 1st
1973 Mr Galaxy / WBBG – 1st
1974 Mr International / WBBG (Pro) – 1st
1975 Mr Olympus / WBBG – 1st
1976 Mr Olympus / WBBG – 1st
1977 Pro World Championships / WABBA – 1st
1978 Mr Olympus / WBBG – 1st
1980 Pro World Championships / WABBA – 1st
1980 Professional World Cup / WABBA – 1st
1981 Professional World Cup / WABBA – 1st
1984 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 8th
1984 Professional Mid-States Championships / WABBA – 1st
1985 Mr. Olympia / IFBB – 8th

As an Actor (4 credits), Sergio Oliva used the name 'Black Power.'
1971 O Doce Esporte do Sexo (segment "O Filminho") (as Black Power)
1971 O Capitão Bandeira Contra o Dr. Moura Brasil Servant (as Black Power)
1975 Black Power
1977 Los Temibles (as Sergio Oliva, Black Power)

Sergio Oliva died of kidney disease in 2012 at the age of 71.

 
MY STORY

I personally knew "Serg." He was a part-time employee of the Chicago Board of Education and would make an appearance at many of the Chicago Northside public High Schools. He spent a lot of time at Mather , where I attended, as the head of security. Serg always wore a big smile. He was genuinely a happy person! I ran into him many times in the summers as he patrolled Rogers Park and Edgewater Beaches. I'd run into Serg at Foster Avenue beach while biking on the path. He always remembered my name. Even years later, I'd see him driving around in his vintage-style car on Devon Avenue, or I'd see him in Bally's Health Club on Ridge and Devon. One time, I was walking my bike home with a flat tire, Serg stopped, put my bike in his tiny back seat, and drove me home. I had the utmost respect for him, and I still do!

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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Ex-Mr. Universe Turned Cop Shot In Quarrel With His Wife

Chicago Tribune, July 25, 1986.

Rogers Park District Patrol Officer Sergio Oliva, 45, an internationally recognized body-builder and former Mr. Universe, was in serious condition after being shot during an argument with his wife in their North Side home Thursday.

Investigators said preliminary reports indicated the shooting occurred after Oliva struck his wife twice. In a statement before undergoing surgery in St. Francis Hospital, Evanston, for a wound in the lower right abdomen, Oliva reportedly said the gun went off accidentally while he and his wife struggled in the bedroom.

Mrs. Oliva initially told investigators that she ran to the bedroom after Oliva struck her to get a .38 caliber revolver and that she shot him after he followed and struck her a second time. Mrs. Oliva is a body builder and operates a body-building clinic with her husband. Oliva was off duty at the time.

According to initial reports, his wife helped Oliva down the stairs from their third-floor apartment after the shooting, and they waited in the street for an ambulance, which neighbors had called.

Oliva has won every professional body-building title in the world. Because of his 23-inch biceps he was known as the "strong arm of the law."

He defected from Cuba in 1962, taking with him all 32 members of Cuba`s weight-lifting team at the Pan American Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

He came to Chicago two years later and studied English at Wells High School to qualify for citizenship.

Oliva worked as a foundry worker and meatpacker for several years before being hired as a YMCA physical education instructor. He became interested in police work while employed as a civilian physical education instructor at the Chicago Police Academy.

Because of his physical dimensions ─ 60-inch chest, 27-inch waist and 32-inch thighs ─ his police uniforms must be specially made.

The titles he has won include Mr. World at Montreal in 1966; Mr. Universe at Munich in 1967, 1968 and 1969; Mr. America in 1970; and Mr. Europe in 1981. He defeated Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1968 and 1969 in body-building competitions, and he won the World Cup seven times, three times in a row.

He also appeared in three movies produced in Mexico.