Lorraine (Ginie) Basile

Lorraine (Ginie) Basile, 95, of Savanna, Illinois, died peacefully in her sleep on Thursday September 18, 2014, at Mercy North Living Center in Clinton, Iowa. A Funeral Mass will held be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 26, 2014 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, with Father Dennis Atto as Celebrant. A visitation will be held one hour prior to the mass at Antl Hall. Burial of Ashes will follow at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, Savanna. Lorraine was born on Thanksgiving Thursday Nov. 28, 1918, in Savanna, Illinois to Fred and Ida (Martinelli) Ginie. She graduated from Savanna Township High School in 1936. She worked as a head bookkeeper at “Peanut Specialty Company” in Chicago from 1937 to 1940. Lorraine married Tony Basile on February 8, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois. After moving to Savanna in 1950, Lorraine operated a family shoe store, “The Savanna Shoe Box,” with her husband from 1950 until their retirement in 1980. Lorraine and Tony also started Savanna’s first pizza business in 1953 with Tony’s nephew, James Ballas, and worked there part time until 1960. She also worked as an aid at the local high school which she enjoyed very much.
Lorraine enjoyed camping with her husband for many years in Janesville, Wisconsin. She also loved writing short stories, and submitted several of her works to the Two Rivers Art Council for seniors where she won an award for her short story “When TV Arrived”. Lorraine liked crocheting and made over 150 afghans. She also loved to play Pinochle and Rummikub with her friends. Lorraine is survived by her daughter Karen (Douglas) Dollard of Pleasanton, California; two grandchildren, Ryan and Christian Dollard; her daughter-in-law Terrill (Ron) Basile of Bettendorf, Iowa; four step-grandchildren, Jeff (Lesia) Pittman, Mike (Laurie) Pittman, Kristi (Daniel) DeMarr, and Cindy (Jerry) Railey; and eight step-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Anthony Basile; son, Ronald Basile; two sisters, Josephine Nicoletti and Ilene Ginie; two brothers, Martin and Geno Ginie; and both parents.
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A Local Hangout of Years Ago
ByLorraine Ginie Basile
On the corner of Main and Madison streets stood an old ice cream parlor called Ginie’s Confectionary. It was owned and operated by my parents, Fred and Ida Ginie who came from Morrison, Illinois in 1906 where my grandfather also ran an ice cream parlor. The building,when purchased, was a general store with law offices on the second floor and a tavern in the basement.
Ginie Confectionary - or Ginie’s for short - turned out to be a favorite meeting place foryoung and old alike, especially for teenagers. My parents felt at home in the store since they enjoyed having young people around. They said it kept them young at heart.
After football and basketball games, teenagers would like to congregate in our store and hash over the results of the game. If they got a little too boisterous they would go outside and continue their discussions while sitting on the railing that was connected to the building. After they settled down, the teenagers would wander back in and order their favorite treats, usually a chocolate-marshmallow peanut sundae for a whole dime.
Everything in the store was homemade: from the syrups that went on the sundaes, to the roasted Spanish peanuts made by yours truly, to about ten varieties of candy. We made it all: from pink and white taffy thrown and stretched on a hook on the wall, to chop-suey candy and English toffee. I still have the recipes but only in quantities of 100 pounds each.
I sometimes had the job of stirring the candy with a large wooden paddle in a gigantic copper kettle. The kettle had to be stirred constantly in order to keep the hot candy from bubbling over; and I always had to stir it in figure eights.
When the fresh hot roasted peanuts made with pure butter were ready, a couple of boys from town would sneak behind the soda fountain and quickly scoop up a handful to eat. My dad would just turn his head and smile. No wonder the boys loved to come to the store; they were treated so well - too well, perhaps.
Then came Saturday night, the biggest and best day of the week. There would be a band concert on one corner of Main Street where people would congregate. The crowds were so closely packed that you had to elbow your way through to get around. After the concert, it seemed like everyone tried to see who could get to Ginie’s first to get a booth or table and enjoy their treat. Be it a sundae or soda or just visiting with friends, Ginie’s was their favorite place for relaxing and enjoying a refreshment.
I had four older brothers and sisters: Josephine, Ilene, Martin, and Eugene. They also had many friends that came in the store. On slow nights, a few of them would sit in the booths and play bridge or pinochle.
When my parents were busy in the store, we had to take turns helping out. Since I was the youngest, my turn came later - much to the dismay of my future husband Tony. I was just thirteen at the time and learning to wait on tables. Tony ordered a malted milkshake and when I went to serve him, I spilled the whole thing on his lap. I was so embarrassed that I just ran away and left him sitting there dripping all over. I avoided him the next two weeks as I couldn’t face him. He teases me yet, sixty years later, that it was the only way I could get his attention.
One other thing that stands out in my mind was a regular customer, Mr. Bruce Machen. He was the president of the Commercial State Bank across the street from our store. Like clockwork, he came in every morning at 8:30 AM for his breakfast. It was the same thing every morning, a chocolate malt with a raw egg and a banana whipped together and a side dish of salted spanish peanuts, all for 25 cents. It was very nourishing and he said that it satisfied him all day until dinner time.
The best thing of all was our ice cream, freshly made, and just out of the ice creammaker. Anyone that dropped by to watch my dad and brother Eugene make it was offered afull bowl to eat. The ice cream was my favorite of all the confections. It was pure ambrosia and nothing could surpass it.
In order to make and keep all of that ice cream, we needed ice - and a lot of it. At that time the only place to get ice was from the Mississippi river, since there was no refrigeration. I vaguely remember men with large saws cutting through the river ice and lifting out huge ice blocks up to eighteen inches thick. The ice was then placed on a wagon with a team of horses to haul it away. The river used to freeze so solid that you were able to drive your car over to the Iowa side, if you were brave enough. But I never did hear of anyone not making it across.
The ice had to be stored for the hot summer months, so we placed the ice in a small icehouse behind the store. There, the ice was stacked with sawdust to keep it from melting until we needed it.
My parents operated the confectionary store until they died; then my brother-in-law, my brother Eugene, and my sisters took over until World War Two started. During the war when ingredients - mainly sugar - were scarce and had to be rationed, my brother-in-law decided to turn the confectionary store into a tavern.
To this day, I still have people that were young then say how much they missed Ginie’s. They said they missed all the good times they had there, and especially the chocolate peanut sundaes. And that they have never tasted anything to compare with it since.
It was truly a pleasurable meeting place for everyone. Many fond memories were made there, especially for me.
The End