Wacky Wilmette Park Board Questions "Mallinckrodt" Name for Park

What kind of wackiness has infected the Wilmette Park District Board members? The Wilmette Life is reporting that only three Board members are voting to keep Mallinckrodt as the name of the Park at--how shall I describe it?--Mallinckrodt. Thumbs up to Diana Cohen, Jim Brault and Richard Crowley for their pragmatic vote. Goofy Richard Marcus fretted that the name would be a conflict of separation of church and state. The entire board begged the issue, voting unanimously to seek legal advice whether this name would be a problem.

C'mon guys. Separation of church and state? Let's get real. Both Winnetka and Evanston have streets named Asbury after the founder of American Methodism. No one has ever questioned the naming of Martin Luther King Drive, and he was a minister. Wilmette has Yale Avenue, and Yale was a Puritan minister. These are names that come to mind with no reflection whatsoever.

Everyone who has lived in Wilmette for more than five minutes knows precisely where Mallinckrodt is located, making the choice a pragmatic one.

Pauline von Mallinckrodt founded the Catholic Sisters of Charity, who owned the Mallinckrodt property for many long years. This aristocratic young lady, who dedicated herself in the 1800's to such activities as day care centers for the poor and hospice care for the elderly, remains as a shining example that the priviledged and well-to-do can focus on something more useful to society than expanding the size of their houses and buying ever-larger SUV's.