Peoria Illinoisan

I finally found the time to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time which is explore Springdale Cemetery. I have driven around Springdale a few times before and even though usually I just get lost and frustrated, I always come away thinking what an amazing and fascinating place it is. But this time I had a goal. I wanted to find two people’s gravesites: Lydia Moss Bradley and Octave Chanute, the father of aviation.

I printed off a map, made some notes and off I went. This is what I found; a virtual Who’s Who of Peoria History (click thumbnails to enlarge):

Detweiller: Ballance:

McClugage: Szold:

Greenhut: Woolner:

Kellogg: Woodruff:

Jobst: Zeller:

Lightner: Buehler:

Avery: McClure:

Lydia Moss Bradley:

I never did find Octave Chanute’s grave. Guess I’ll have to go back!

Let me start off by saying that in no way do I mean to disparage the employees and volunteers who have worked countless hours trying to restore Springdale. I applaud their efforts. I know it had been neglected for many years and only until relatively recently have there been serious efforts to bring it back to it’s former grandeur. With that being said, I had no idea that I would find the disarray that I did. These are just a few photos to give you a feel; believe me, I could’ve taken a lot more. (click to enlarge)

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From The Journal Star report on the Peoria Men’s City Golf Qualifying:

Darel Hubbert got a rude awakening during his introduction to tournament golf. Hubbert, a Cat retiree, entered the Men’s City for the first time. By the fifth hole of Wednesday’s qualifying round, he probably wished he hadn’t.

“I just lost it,” said Earl Martin, playing in the same group. “The guy didn’t know anything about golf.”

According to Martin, Hubbert (who shot 89) was unsure of rules and procedures, though Martin cited few examples. He said he was upset when the group fell behind, even though it was the last foursome on the course.

My first question is how does one shoot an 89 in tournament conditions and not “know anything about golf.”? Qualifying day can be a bit unnerving, especially if it’s your first time. Uncertainty about “rules” probably means he lost a ball out of bounds or in the water and just wanted some confirmation from the group as to exactly what he should do. No-one likes to do the walk of shame back to the tee box after spending the allotted 5 minutes searching for a lost ball and it will undoubtedly cause a group to fall behind, but it is hypocritical for the man who likes to give on-the-course lessons to complain about slow play.

Earl mentions “procedures” and I know exactly what he is referring to. Darel undoubtedly stood behind Earl while he was teeing off; probably more than once. Earl will bitch and moan that he can see you in his peripheral vision and he’ll go on and on about how he doesn’t understand why people think the proper place to stand is behind the player who is hitting. Do it once and he’ll ask you nicely to move. Do it twice and he’ll start to get aggravated. Do it a third time at your own risk.

According to witnesses on an adjacent green, Martin screamed an obscenity at Hubbert as they left the fifth tee. The irony of the situation is that “Coach” lost it right in front of the bench dedicated to him by the Illinois Golf Coaches Hall of Fame following his induction in 2004.

“You have to understand how much I regret losing my cool,” Martin said. “But you also have to understand how bad he must have been to push me over the edge. When the perpetrator becomes the indictor, that’s an injustice.”

“How bad he must have been to push me over the edge?” Probably as bad as the 8 year old I saw brought to tears after complimenting Earl on a good shot.

I am speculating on what happened as I wasn’t a witness to this scene, nor do I know Darel Hubbert, but Earl is a fixture on the local golf scene and has a long history of this sort of behavior. I’m certain that reports of him losing it came as no surprise to anyone in the clubhouse. My advice to Darel is to shake this off, try again next year and be sure to write “do not pair with Earl Martin” on next years application.

My wife and kids have been out of town since Friday and aren’t coming back until Monday, so it’s the perfect time to get some things done around that house that I’ve been neglecting, not to mention a few honey-dos. Problem is my motivation level is zilch. So far I’ve only managed to do a load of dishes and… well, that’s it.

So I figured I’d post my to do list for all to see in the hopes that the fear of public humiliation might spur me on.

In no particular order:

• Clean up the “catch all” back porch.
• Carry all dirty laundry down to the basement and do at least a couple of loads.
• Make a simple frame and hang up that cool old United States map in the upstairs hallway that’s been sitting in a corner for longer than I care to admit.
• Replenish the water in the kids’ fish tanks.
• Fix a nagging computer issue.
• Pick a room and clean it. Any room. They all need it.
• Fix my turntable that’s been on the blink.
• Mow the lawn.

Well, enough typing, time to crank up the tunes and get busy! I’ll let you know how far I get. Anyone care to speculate on what the Vegas line might be?

Update 1: Back Porch finished, but the burning smell coming out of my vacuum cleaner can’t be good. Crap!

Update 2: All of the dirty laundry is in the basement and the washer is on, the green water from the “spongebob” pool is cleaned up (an addition to the original list which required a shower afterwards) and my Johnsonville Brats are just about to come off the grill.

Update 3: Mowed the lawn and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Springdale Cemetery. I’m thinking my list is going to have to be scaled back. Whose idea was this, anyway?

Final Update: 3 out of 8 is better than 0 out of 8.

Art Garfunkel’s concert isn’t selling as expected… the Journal Star reports that “hundreds” of tickets are available for a show with of only 2,200 seats and the price has nose-dived to $25 from $61.50, $46.50 and $36.50.

I actually saw him in concert a few years back in SLC with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He put on a good show, mostly singing Simon & Garfunkel tunes with some of his solo sections mixed in. His young son joined him on the stage for a duet, curly white hair and all, just like Dad.

My parents scored front row tickets for the Peoria show. How much did they pay? Yep. $25.00

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“I’m calling from the National Geographic Society and I just want to let you know that we’ll be sending you a video of the Best of National Geographic for only $9.99 plus delivery for you to preview for 90 days. If you don’t like it you can simply send it back to us. O.K.?”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Caller ID said it was an 800 number and I was secretly hoping to get into a fun argument with a telemarketer since I had nothing better to do tonight, but this guy actually spoke English and was considerate when I said no thank you. I love my National Geographic Magazine, but I’m not thrilled about them calling me. At least they’re considerate.

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No more Punkin Chunkin’ in Morton. I’ve never been to either the Morton Pumpkin Festival or the to Punkin Chunkin’ event because during our “craft show days” we were always burned out after Spoon River Drive, not to mention sold out. Still, I’ve always heard it was well attended and a good money maker for the crafters. Without the Punkin Chunkin’ I figure this will turn into just another small town festival.

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The State of Illinois, after banning cigarette smoking inside building and within 15t of any entryway, is now working on taxing a pack of smokes an additional $.75, on top of the states current $.98 tax. Rod the Bod’s spokeswoman, in trying to justify a sales tax increase of which Blagojevich said he would veto “any sales tax increases” said: “It is not a general sales tax increase.”

Whatever.

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I didn’t get my Journal Star delivered on Thursday, but I didn’t call since my annual subscription wasn’t paid yet and I didn’t want to be told the same over the phone. I got my Friday paper though, so I think they delivered the previous day’s paper to the house next door -again- as they do a couple of times a week. How many times do I have to complain about this? I usually just walk over and grab it; I’ve called about it and they always want to deliver a new one to me. I try to explain that I got the newspaper, it was just at the wrong house, but they insist on having some overweight middle-aged guy drive up in a buick station wagon and give me another paper. Thanks for the 2nd copy of the paper, but I’d rather they just deliver it to the correct house in the first place.

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We adopted another cat. This from the guy who said he’d never have a pet beyond tropical fish, if fish even qualify as a pet. I’d take a picture and share but the cute little thing has been hiding out and I haven’t seen her in 24 hours. The water bowl was empty when I got home so I know she’s alive… somewhere…

Here kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty…

Update: Found her.

Cat #1 doesn’t look too thrilled with his new friend.

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This is regarding the recent death of a 3 year old child who died in a crash downtown on I74. Initial reports stated that the driver (mother) was arrested on a charge of DUI, but some comments on the PJStar’s website beg to differ:

I heard that this woman just picked up her van from the shop and that the rear tire came off and that led to the accident. Does anyone know if this is true?

Posted by Kristina on 07/23 at 02:37 PM

I just talked to the family and for everyone who is so quick to pass on judgement are all wrong. The mother’s test results all came back negative for alcohol and the mother in NOT being charged with anything at this time. The ACCIDENT is still under investigation. She wasn’t under the influence. A witness to the accident reported that he saw the front tire come off of the van and it rolled onder the vehicle and caused her to lose control of the van. Quinton and the mother were both restrained, the child had bruise marks on his chest from the restraints. They hit a concrete wall. So quuit passing on judgement when you don’t know the facts. What if this was your family. Possibly your mother, sister aunt, etc.

Posted by Stella on 07/23 at 03:27 PM

just stating with some of the comments—no-one here knows what happen - but i can say she was not drunk or had been drinking - and the child was secure - before people jump to conclusions - need to know the facts first - this is a hard time for her and the family - be respectful and thoughtful before you judge people….

Posted by family of 4 on 07/23 at 06:43 PM

Before the comment by “Stella” appeared, the usual Journal Star commenters seemingly wanted to burn Amy Reed (the driver) at the stake. They’ve toned down their rhetoric since, but there has been no correction made to the article on the Journal Star’s web site.

At this point I have no idea if Amy Reed was under the influence or not, nor do I know if her front tire came off and caused her to lose control of her van.

What I do know is that there is a dead child who was only three years old, and this tragedy is horribly sad beyond comprehension. The only question, in my mind, is how much sorrow can I feel for this mother?

Update: As reported in today’s Journal Star, although still waiting for toxicology reports, the State’s Attorney’s office is considering a charge of Aggravated DUI.

I am wondering if the family and friends who are commenting on the Journal Star’s website, in struggling to understand this tragedy, have latched on to their own version of the truth. I hope they’re right, but how many times have you heard parents rise up to the defense of villains and murderers… “He’s such a sweet kid, I just know he couldn’t have done, it.”

By request, my slide-show set to the music of The Police’s Demolition Man. The only changes I made to the original video were removing the fade in and out of the photos to better fit the mood of the song and stretching out the final photo for both dramatic effect and to allow Andy Summers’ jam to continue to the end.

I kinda like it.

I was reading the the Journal Star’s account of the history of the Civic Center and about busted a gut when I read this:

1982: Kenny Rogers performs the first concert in the arena before 11,712 fans.

I turned to my wife: “Hey, guess what the first concert at the Civic Center was?”

“Who?”

“Kenny Rogers.”

“HA! That’s really funny!”

Apparently we have the same sense of humor, albeit an odd one, since I’m not even sure why that’s funny. Probably a combination of Air-Show heat stroke and that we both think Kenny Rogers is kind-of a goofball.

Rice Krispies (granted this is from ‘63 and they probably needed the money):

Amstel Light (they didn’t need the money at this point):

Schlitz (Schlitz Rocks America, sponsor of the 1982 tour):

…from the band with an album entitled “The Who Sell Out”

iPod:

All proceeds from this ad will be forwarded to the World Bank [/sarcasm]

VolksWagon:

Of all the bands, this is the last one I ever expected to sell out. I was shocked and disappointed when I saw this. I thought they were above this. As they say, money talks. At least it’s tasteful and maybe it will introduce their music to people who aren’t familiar with them.

Victoria’s Secret:

1965 News Conference:

Reporter: “If you were going to sell out to a commercial interest, which one would you choose?”

Bob: “Ladies garments”

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