The Twenty-first Star Chapter, NSDAR, serves the Park Ridge community, along with northwest Chicago and other suburban communities. Our members live in Park Ridge, Glendale Heights, Chicago, Lake Forest, Arlington Heights, Grayslake, Des Plaines, Wilmette, Niles, Mount Prospect, McHenry, Downers Grove, Northbrook,Villa Park, Palatine, Buffalo Grove, Franklin Park, and as far as California and Florida.
Park Ridge, Illinois, is a Chicago suburb of 37,775 residents. It is located fifteen miles northwest of downtown Chicago; it is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways, and rail transportation.
As its name suggests, Park Ridge lies on a ridge. The soil is abundant with clay deposits, which made it a brick-making center for the developing city of Chicago. Park Ridge was originally called Pennyville to honor George Penny, the businessman who owned the local brickyard along with Robert Meacham. Later it was named Brickton. The Des Plaines River divides Park Ridge from neighboring Des Plaines, which is west of Park Ridge. Chicago is both south and east of Park Ridge, and Niles and Unincorporated Maine Township to its north.
Park Ridge is the hometown of former United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton. When she visited Park Ridge on the occasion of her fiftieth birthday in 1997, the city renamed the southeast corner of the intersection of Elm and Wisner Streets, next to her girlhood home, “Rodham Corner.”
Park Ridge's most recognizable landmark is the Pickwick Theatre, an art deco building dating back to 1928. In addition to being a movie theater, it is also a venue for plays and concerts. In 1975, the theater was named to the National Register of Historic Places. Although smaller theaters have been added to the rear of the building, the main auditorium theater remains intact in its original large five-aisle state. The main auditorium can seat up to 1,450 people. In the 1980s, the Pickwick's facade was one of many used as the backdrop for the opening credits of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's “At the Movies.”