As a pre-teen, Mark hunted from Menetre Drive to Samantha Drive in River Forest. He shot his first squirrel on 15th Avenue near Menetre Drive. He and his friends fished both rivers and the golf course ponds in River Forest.

For Mark’s 11th birthday party, his friends all brought their mini-bikes, Honda Trail 50s and Trail 70s to River Forest. It was a motor-cross before there was motor-cross. Pictured in front of Mark’s home at 13 Kathleen Drive, River Forest.

In seventh grade, despite being one of the smaller players, Coaches Leonard Willette and Sweet Cutrer named Mark “Lineman of the Year.”