Fox Lake follows its own current

In PC world, village takes road few travel

By Courtney Flynn
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 11, 2007

After a century of catering to boaters, vacationers and folks who simply enjoy an ice-cold beer with a cigarette chaser, Fox Lake doesn't want to mess with a good thing.

A smoking ban like Highland Park? No way. Shorter tavern hours like Lake Villa? Not in Fox Lake. The town even revived its original Indian head logo at a time when other institutions have removed them in the name of sensitivity.

"That's what this town is all about--drinking and smoking and pizza and hamburgers," said longtime barbershop owner Ron Swanson. "I'm happy with the way it is, and I think it should stay this way."

Like it or not, as Fox Lake kicks off its yearlong centennial celebration, billed as a tribute to its past, present and future, the far north suburban village on the Chain O' Lakes in many ways seems to have embraced its past.

Fox Lake was known in its heyday as a resort destination for Chicago city dwellers looking for a weekend getaway. Once boasting more than 30 hotels along its lakefront shores and even more taverns to complement them, legend has it that the community also served as a place for Al Capone to conduct "family business."

After the 1950s, however, when air travel became easier and vacationers moved on to more exotic locales, Fox Lake's glory days dwindled as businesses closed and permanent homes replaced summer cabins.

Through it all, the community's collective small-town feel and laid-back attitude have remained, officials and locals say.

"It's been like this forever," said Gladys Ratliff, 78, who has run a tavern in downtown Fox Lake for nearly 30 years. "We just keep our way."

So when 11 other Lake County communities, from Lake Forest to Lindenhurst, banned smoking in public places, it came as no surprise that officials in Fox Lake declined to follow suit. Instead, Mayor Cindy Irwin, who said a smoking ban could kill local businesses, arranged for a clinic at Village Hall so residents could quit with the help of laser therapy.

When nearby Lindenhurst and Lake Villa cut back tavern hours in recent years, Fox Lake kept its closing times at 2 a.m. weekdays and 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Fox Lake even made the controversial decision to resurrect its old Indian head logo in celebration of the centennial while many communities and sports teams have fled from such a symbol.

The village replaced the Indian head with a sailboat logo several years ago to evoke a more professional image for the community.

Now, the Indian head logo is on police uniforms, village stationery, business cards and two plaques hanging at Village Hall. Local leaders say the logo honors American Indians who lived in the area and celebrates the village's past.



Some object to logo

Some local American Indians, though, have chastised Fox Lake because the logo depicts a Plains Indian in full headdress, not a Fox Indian, who settled in the community.

"There's no honor in this," said Jim DeNomie, a Hainesville resident and Chippewa Indian. "People just take it upon themselves to do these things."

Local officials stand by the logo and other links to the past.

"I really have never thought that we should be patterned off of any other community," Irwin said. "My whole theory is I want Fox Lake to be the best Fox Lake can be."

Irwin said that change is inevitable in some ways, such as development and growth, but she wants to make sure her community keeps its identity.

It's not uncommon on a summer afternoon to see someone pull a Jet Ski up to a dock and belly up to a bar at one of the restaurants or taverns on the water. Others might spend a lazy afternoon relaxing under the sun on a small boat.

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