“This one time in Kankakee... I went to jail for hunting.”

In 1959, Lou Perakis was a seventeen-year-old Greek immigrant living on the South Side of Chicago. When his older brother, John, decided to head south for the opening day of pheasant hunting season, Lou tagged along for what he thought would be a simple Saturday morning in the country.

Instead, a series of events near Aroma Park led to a wrestling match with a game warden, a $150 fine, and one of the most unique legal proceedings in Kankakee County history.

In this episode of This One Time in Kankakee, Lou shares a detailed look at:

• The "Old Country" Defense: How a billboard and a language barrier nearly worked in his brother’s favor.
• The Aroma Park Dance Hall: A visit to the building that now houses the American Legion on Sandbar Road (we think?), where the line between bartender and judge was remarkably thin.
• Kitchen Table Justice: Lou’s firsthand account of a legal hearing held in a private kitchen.

Lou’s story is more than just a brush with the law; it’s a fond look back at the competitive nature of his brother John and a snapshot of Illinois life in the late 1950s.

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