The DEBS

What would we do without friends? They make us laugh…they bring us tears. They are the rocks upon which we lean…they are the needles that prod us to take risks. They complement us…they contradict us.  Because of them we are forever enriched…because of them we have grown in ways we never could have or would have.  The journey of friendship continues.  Its magic continues to nourish us.  Those who have gone remain in our thoughts and hearts… continuing their journey…continuing to flourish with us. What better gift than friends who resurrect blissful memories of times that forever remain tender on our minds.

The Taylor Street Archives (TSA) is filled with the names and stories of the boys who grew up on Taylor Street and the clubs to which they belonged.  The DEBS were one of the rare groups of girls that formalized their bond with each other by also identifying themselves as a club.

The DEBS, blossoming teenagers during their Camelot days of the 1950s, were all products of the east end of Taylor Street’s Little Italy.  They resided, for the most part, in what Jane Addams had labeled, the Hull House Neighborhood.  Hull House formalized their identity as the DEBS when the world famous settlement house became their meeting place.  Other girls from St. Mary’s H.S. began joining the DEBS once they began to utilize the Jane Addams Hull House. The stated purpose of the Debs was: -- friendship, fellowship, social, deeds to benefit the underprivileged, charity fund raising, etc.

Most of the DEBS were campers at the Bowen Country Club (BCC).  Many of the debs became employed by BCC during the summer in positions such as counselors, Counselor in Training (CITs), CDAs (we never knew what that meant), etc.  The core members during those 1950s summer camp years were Annette Scala, Francine Tarsitano, Tomasine Garippo and Jackie Bagnolo. Their mentors, at that time, were Lu Caruso, Lois McConnell, Rosie Ranieri and MaryAnn Altier.

Bowen Country Club, the Hull House Summer Camp, nurtured and ultimately cemented their growing friendships between and among the DEB members.  That friendship endured beyond their college days… beyond the displacement of the neighborhood by the expressways in 1957…beyond the virtual destruction of the neighborhood by UIC in 1963… beyond their marriages and motherhood…and continues into their retirement years when grandchildren and the sharing of pictures began to take center stage in their conversations.

The Debs remained as a group until 1954…after which came marriage and children.  It wasn’t until the 1960’s, a decade later, when they began seeking each other out again.  It was at this time that three (3) more members were added: Marge Bakowy who married Mike Vitallo in 1959, Katherine Avent who married Frank Ragucci in 1956 and Leonilda DiOrio who married Don Romano in 1955.  They gathered at each other’s homes on a monthly basis…revisited the BCC with their combined families…and, on occasion, socialized as married couples.

Beginning in 1984, they renewed their friendships with a vigor:--dinner the 2nd Tuesday of each month and week-ends to Galena, Lake Delevan, and Fontana.  It was during one of their trips to North Carolina or Santa Barbara that they became inspired to create their “over–the-hill” calendar.   The hi-light of each meeting, besides the reminiscing about old times, is the non-stop conversations sharing experiences such as:-- raising children, illnesses, deaths, divorces, and a host of subjects that could only have relevance to friends sharing a common genesis…friends who can identify with and share each other’s peak moments.   All of the above was seasoned with a healthy dose of laughter…before, during and after eating.

Their famous Christmas parties were a sharing of the ugliest and/or funniest gifts you can imagine.  Their children and grandchildren (nephews and nieces included), both grown and those who are not yet fully grown, eagerly looked forward to the retelling of the stories of their escapades.  Stories that are, more often than not, identified with having grown up “Taylor made.”  The relevance of those stories were amplified because of their neighborhood roots in Taylor Street’s Little Italy, the port-of-call for Chicago’s Italian American immigrants, which Jane Addams herself had labeled “The Hull House Neighborhood.”  (Editor’s note:  The members of the Debs, with one exception, Marge Bakowy, grew up on Taylor Street.  However, she had the good fortune to marry an Italian boy from Taylor Street.  One could truthfully surmise that the Debs were wop-sided.)