Singer brightens lives at Long Grove restaurant
It's open mic night at the Village Tavern in Long Grove, and Erna Colum is center stage.
Three small spotlights bath her in warm, amber light. Tapping a toe in her brown flats, she shuffles left, then right, then left again. The microphone is close to her lips.
"I'm a fool to care when you treat me this way," croons the 76-year-old from Gurnee. "I know I love you, but what can I do? I'm a fool to care …"
That's Lillian Gildenstern on the keyboard. She and Erna are two-thirds of the Jim Campbell Trio. The ensemble plays gigs at nursing homes, senior centers and some local clubs.
A bunch of friends -- her "groupies" as she calls them -- showed up tonight.
Sharlene, Connie, Babe and Bootie are here. Nancy, Mary, Sparky, Pat and Jack occupy a couple of tables close to the stage. A few martinis and a couple of chardonnays warm up a frigid January night.
Erna holds a pink sticky-note with her song list for tonight. "I'll be Seeing You, Birth of the Blues, Someday Sweetheart."
The old stuff is best, she says.
Earl would be proud. Her husband was the one that pushed her onto the stage years ago. "We'd hang out at the piano bars and he would tell the owners, 'Hey, my wife can sing.' So I took him up on it."
Sweethearts at Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, they graduated in 1950 and were married three years later. He became a chiropractor; she stayed home and raised two sons.
They lived for 40 years on a "nice big lot" in Northbrook. Avid beekeepers, they had some productive hives. A good season would net 4,000 pounds of honey, most of which they gave away to friends and family. Colon cancer took Earl in 1998.
Erna's a quilter and a seamstress -- and she loves football.
A rabid Green Bay Packer fan and it's no wonder why. Her dad played for the Packers in 1921. scoring the first-ever touchdown for the new franchise. Art Schmaehl's four-yard run beat the Minneapolis Marines 7-6.
A request gets shouted from the audience.
"How about 'Chances Are?' a woman says.
Erna obliges and finishes her routine with the Johnny Mathis hit.
"I'm a pretty good singer," she says.