Reflections Anderson grows with the community By BILL TUCKER btucker@edwpub.net It’s a chicken and egg thing. Did east-central Madison County grow up around Anderson Hospital, or did Anderson Hospital grow up inside eastcentral Madison County. The answer, which has evolved over the last 35 years, is, of course, yes on both counts. Carved pit of farmland off Route 162 in Maryville, Anderson has emerged as one of the county’s leading health care facilities, providing services to more than 118,000 patients annually. And while the hospital first opened its doors on Jan. 5, 1977, its roots go back more than 50 years when, in 1920, Anna Forberg Cook offered to give the city of Collinsville a site on which to build a hospital. The city was unable to finance the project, but the idea was very much alive. In fact, the city of Edwardsville also attempted to construct a hospital only to find no available financial support. In the ‘40s, both cities tried again. Collinsville entertained a proposal for a township hospital which would be funded through tax dollars, but city leaders voted the idea down. In Edwardsville, a non-profit corporation was formed and a 10-acre site donated. A $300,000 fund drive was launched in 1945, but three years later, only onequarter of the needed funds had been raised and the idea was abandoned.
Collinsville leaders, meanwhile, talked about the possibility of of building J.F.K. Hospital, a satellite of St. Mary’s Hospital in East St. Louis. A site was purchased and funds were raised, but the idea fell
Both cities made unsuccessful stabs at the project again in the 1960s. Edwardsville attempted a referendum for a tax-supported hospital that failed to get off the ground.
flat again. But those who wanted a hospital in the east-central portion of the county would try again. In 1968, Collinsville and Edwardsville
Anderson Hospital in Maryville, above, as it appears today and, below, a sign erected in the '60s on the site informing the public of the realization of a dream. joined forces to form a steering committee, the Central Madison County Hospital Association. The CMCHA was made up of residents of Collinsville, Edwardsville, Maryville, Troy, Hamel, Glen Carbon and Caseyville. After meetings with many hospital operating agencies, the CMCHA unanimously voted to merge with the St. Clair Hospital Association under the name of the Southwestern Illinois Health Facilities, Inc. in 1969. The proposed hospital would be an affiliate of Christian Welfare Hospital in East St. Louis, which was also operated by the St. Claire Hospital Association. Haney Associates was hired by Southwestern Illinois Health Facilities in 1971 to conduct a fund-raising campaign. The move paid off as the hired guns were able to raise $1 million. Key volunteers in the fundraising campaign were: Frank Flanigan, who served as chairman for Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Hamel, Marine and Troy; William Jokerst of Collinsville, who served as campaign chairman for Collinsville, Caseyville and Maryville; Earle Jukes of Collinsville, who served as the vice chairman of the Collinsville area campaign and Vivian Kraft, who served as general drive chair. By March 1972, $1,774,436.15 had been raised. Work began on the hospital when ground was broken on April 21, 1974. Two-and-a-half years later, the hospital opened its doors and a dream that had been kept alive for more than 50 years had been realized.
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••• Today, Anderson Hospital is the centerpiece of a campus that also includes Physicians Buildings I and II, the Warren Billhartz Cancer Center and other facilities. The hospital itself is a 151-bed acute care medical facility with more than 200 physicians serving on its staff. Keith Page, Anderson’s President and Chief Executive Officers, said he inherited a solid foundation when he arrived 16 years ago. “The hospital was started because there seemed to be a lack of health care in the area. The goal at the beginning, even though the hospital started out small, was that the board of trustees saw that someday the hospital would expand and get larger and continue to add more comprehensive services to better meet the needs of our community.” That vision has served Anderson well over the years and, fortunately, some of the original visionaries are still able to monitor the growth of their project. “We actually still have members on our board that were here when this hospital opened 35 years ago,” Page said. “They do tell me that the people who were involved couldn’t imagine what Anderson Hospital has become. It’s really exceeded their expectations in terms of growth and the array of services that we provide now.” Then, like now, a variety of circumstances are shaping the direction Anderson and other hospitals will take in the future. “There are two forces that are driving health care into the next 10 years,”
Page said. Those forces are the baby boomers, Americans born between 1946 and 1964, and, not surprisingly, the economy. Page said the baby boomers will, like they did with their births, keep hospitals busy for the next several decades. “There’s going to be an increased demand for services and that is going to push the need for health care services even more. That’s one of the forces,” Page said. As demand for serves goes up, so will the amount of money spent on them. “On the other side of the equation. . . our economy has pushed the amount of dollars we are spending on health care services. The word that keeps being said by the federal government is it is a not-sustainable trajectory of growth and expenditures,” Page said. It’s not an ideal combination, but one the health care field will have to work through. “So at the same time we are going to be peaking in terms of the demand for health care services, the payment for health care services, the amount of money the federal government and the country as a whole can spend, has got to be slowed down and reduced.” Page is optimistic solutions will be found because the need will be unavoidable. “Those two things are going to cause some drastic changes in health are and how we manage effective care,” Page said. “The future of health care is positive, but lots of changes are going to occur in the next five to 10 years.” Anderson is a leader in changes, particularly when it comes to employing state-of -the-art technology in improving its health care services. Page rattles off a list of accomplishments the hospital has witnessed over the last 10-plus years including: use of the Da Vinci robotic surgical system, an affiliation with Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, the development of a fourth Urgent Care facility – the newest to open this summer in Bethalto, the Warren Billhartz Cancer Center, two expansions of the obstetrics department, two expansions of the emergency room, an Acute Rehab unit, an expanded surgery unit, expanded cardiology services and the development of the Chest Pain Center. Doctors are quick to credit Page for the way he supports these developments and keeps Anderson at the leading edge of health care. “I am a person that recognizes being able to bring cutting edge technology to our community and that’s what the community expects from a community hospital,” he said. ••• “Integration’ is the buzz word these days in health care and Page said the staff at Anderson is keeping pace with the changes it involves. See "ANDERSON" on Page 2
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Page 2 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
Ernst epitomizes the family business
By CAROL KOHLER Of the Intelligencer
Like father like son, Ernst Heating & Cooling, Inc., has been serving the metroeast for decades. Al Ernst and son Roger worked together for many years until Al’s retirement in 1990. Roger has been at the helm ever since and his son, Dustin, is following in dad’s footsteps. Al Ernst tried his hand at several business ventures before deciding to focus on one: heating and cooling. While opening the doors to his hardware store in 1951, Al would take on extra work such as selling bottled gas and lawnmowers, to make ends meet. In an Intelligencer article from 1996, Al commented, “I got tired of struggling with so many things, I got into heating and cooling and that did it.” Roger started going to work with his dad at a very young age, taking trips with him to St. Louis to pick up supplies. At the age of 14, Roger was helping his dad regularly. Roger then became a teacher in New York. A few years passed, then Roger came to the area in 1977 and joined his dad in the business. “It would have been all over if it wasn’t for him,” Al said back in 1996, referring to Roger. Roger shares a classic story about how his dad officially “bought into” the business relationship with Charlie Zahn, Williamson furnace representative. Al had been selling 40 percent of the heat pumps Williamson made. Determined to get Al to go into business for himself, Charlie took Al to lunch. After a lengthy discussion in the car, and Al falling asleep, waking to hearing Charlie asking, “So what do you think?” Al replied, “Let’s do it.” Both Williamson and Ernst Heating & Cooling grew because of that partnership. Any business owner will tell you, change is inevitable. Companies must educate themselves and must be aware of products and services coming and going in their particular industry. Even though insulation in no longer one of their services, Roger has learned from over 20 years of insulating homes, “We look at the whole package of a home. What does the homeowner really need?” Today it’s called an “energy audit.” Roger said Ernst Heating & Cooling has been performing this service for years. “Today, with the use of the Internet, homeowners are a lot more educated because of the research they have been doing on their own,” said Roger. Roger applauds Dustin for his ability to not only learn the heating and cooling business, but is also the advertising expert when it comes to developing the website
and online business communications. Dustin started working at the family business while he was in high school, starting with installations. “The plan is for me to take over when dad retires,” said Dustin. For the past three years, Dustin has been working in the office, right along side his dad, learning every aspect of the heating and cooling business. Ernst Heating & Cooling is a Dave Lennox Premium dealer. That means Ernst can offer you rebates on Lennox home comfort that other dealers cannot. Ernst must also retain their 95 percent or above customer service and satisfaction rate in order to offer those rebates. Geothermal systems are the biggest change in the industry. “For the past 27 years we have been working with geothermal, the business is moving rapidly technology-wise,” Roger said. These units replace the furnace and air conditioner and have proven to be much more effi-
Anderson Continued from Page 1
Hospitals won’t be places patients just enter and leave, but rather role players in a patient’s overall health care approach. “Right now, people get admitted to the hospital. They may get discharged and go to a skilled nursing facility. Then they may get discharged and go home. Then they may have a follow up visit with their physician’s office,” he said. “While all these things work, the integration of how that patient’s care flows from one of those entities to another probably can be improved.” The role of the hospital will grow as integration becomes more commonplace. “The next piece of that, hospitals and other organizations are going to be more responsible for how that patient’s care continues to be positive when they leave. What happens to them when they go home.”
cient in operational costs. “We can show our customers, by comparing various systems to one another, the cost savings. Our customers are concerned with the savings of one system versus another,” said Roger. Ernst Heating & Cooling is located at 202 W. State Street in Hamel. Office telephone number is 633-2244
Above, Roger and Dustin Ernst outside their business in Hamel. At right, Al Ernst after installing a new furnace.
Hospitals will be asked to have the answers. “One of the ways that we are responsive to that is that we have a project we are working on this year for diabetes management,” Page said. “The whole purpose of that is to help diabetic patients manage their disease better, because if you don’t manage it well, you go through a cycle with the hospital. We get you better, then you go back home, then you get worse and then you come back to the hospital. It’s a cycle and it’s not the best for anyone.” So integrated health care becomes the next step, ending the cycle with care both at the hospital and at home. “With that diabetes management center, we’re going to be working with patients to make sure they do the right things at home, the right things with their lifestyle and try to get them from going through that cycle,” Page said. With health care facing a financial crunch, it will be more and more important for patients, doctors and hospitals to get things right the first time. “I think what you’ll see with Anderson and a lot of other hospitals is that we’re going to work
harder to keep patients from coming back to the hospital,” he said. “That’s one of the big changes you’re going to see in health care.” No longer will hospital care end at the exit. Page has no problem with that. “Some people say we’ve become our brothers’ keepers,” he said. “We’re going to try to get them (patients) to eat healthy and exercise and maybe we’ll find ways we can check them at home. That’s one of the big changes. You’ll see more involvement of hospitals, physicians and other health organizations taking care of patients away from the hospital.” ••• Anderson is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year and while it is well-established in the community, Page won’t let staff members forget its roots. ”I tell our new employees that how we came to this location is very simple. We had a group from Edwardsville, Collinsville, Glen Carbon, Troy and Maryville that all worked so hard to get this hospital started and when it came time to pick a location, they each wanted it in their community.”
The solution was simple. “What’s right in the middle? Well, Maryville and this location in particular,” Page said. Just outside Anderson’s front entrance, the same farmland the hospital sprouted from still exits. Beyond that field – in all directions – things have changed in 35 years. “It has been a fantastic location for this hospital,” Page said. “Collinsville to the south has grown toward us. Edwardsville from the north has grown toward us. Maryville and Troy have all flourished. That’s the reason our hospital has grown.” Page is quick to point out that because of those communities, Anderson delivers more babies each year than any hospital in southwestern Illinois. “These communities are strong and vibrant and that’s helped our hospital remain strong and vibrant,” Page said. Again, the chick and the egg with the answer being both. NOTE – Anderson Hospital Communications Director Natalie Head provided the hospital’s history.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 3
Page 4 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
First Clover Leaf changes with times
By KRISTA WILKINSON-MIDGLEY kmidgley@edwpub.net Back in 1889, a little office opened up in the back of a dry goods store on Main Street in Edwardsville. Its purpose was to provide loans to early settlers looking to set up home in the Edwardsville area. Fast forward 123 years and First Clover Leaf Bank has grown to become an almost $600 million full-service community bank with locations in Edwardsville, Wood River and Highland. When the bank first opened, it was known as Clover Leaf Loan. Eventually it outgrew its space in the dry goods store and occupied a number of locations in Edwardsville including an office on the sixth floor of the Edwardsville National Bank building next to the Madison County Courthouse during the 1920s and the building now occupied by Bigelo’s Bistro on North Main Street. In 1973, Clover Leaf built a free-standing building at the corner of Park and Kansas Streets across from the Edwardsville Public Library. It remained in that location for more than 30 years until 2006 when the bank sold the building to the city of Edwardsville and built a new state-of-theart headquarters at the corner of Goshen and Troy Roads in Edwardsville. The former location now serves as the offices for the Edwardsville Public Works Department. The bank also opened a sec-
First Federal Savings and Loan, located on St. Louis St. in Edwardsville, to form
it opened its fourth branch location in Wood River. In 2009, First Clover Leaf Bank
ond branch on State Route 157 in Edwardsville in 1999. Clover Leaf merged with
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Above, First Clover Leaf Bank's main branch in Edwardsville. Below, President and CEO Dennis Terry blows out the candles on the bank's 120th birthday cake. office in Highland. Dennis Terry, CEO and president of the bank, said that while the bank has enjoyed “tremendous growth” over the past decade, its commitment to the local residents of the communities it serves has remained. “We had always felt that while there might have been a proliferation of financial institutions in Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, the board and management being native to the area, felt there was great opportunity for a community bank that was focused on customer service, technology and financial products,” said Terry. “Over the years, Clover Leaf has grown from the small loan company designed to serve the needs of the early settlers to an almost $600 million bank with roots still deeply entrenched in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area. It is a locally-owned, locally-managed financial institution guided by local folks who serve on our board of directors and a management team of area natives.” Terry, who grew up in Edwardsville and joined First Clover Leaf in 2000, said the key to the bank’s success throughout its long history has come down to its employees. “They never cease to amaze me with the level of service that they extend to customers and strangers alike. They are a large measure of why Clover
Since 1962
Leaf has enjoyed the success that it has. We have the unique combination of people who live in the market that we serve. Therefore, the people who come through the front door are their friends, neighbors, fellow churchgoers and relatives.” Terry cited former Clover Leaf President Charles “Chuck” Schmidt, who served the bank for nearly 30 years, as an example of the dedication and high level of service that staff members continue to give. He said that many members of staff are also involved in multiple civic and charitable causes outside of their jobs at the bank, which First Clover Leaf encourages and financially supports. Additionally, many staff members are involved with the bank’s own service group called the Green Team. Each year this group of employees support 25 to 30 charitable events throughout the area by donating thousands of dollars and manhours. Last year, the group collected hundreds of needed items for tornado victims in Joplin, Mo., and made several relief trips to the area. First Clover Leaf has also showed its support to the Edwardsville YMCA, the SIUE Foundation, the EGHM Foundation, Relay for Life and the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce. Terry added that another ele-
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ment of the bank’s continued success comes from its commitment to provide its customers with quality products and the latest technology in the banking industry. However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Terry said the savings and loan crisis in the 1980s took its toll when prime interest rates were north of 17 percent. “It created huge problems for any savings and loan in the United States. It was pretty ugly,” said Terry. More recently, he said the recession of 2007 has had a “less than favorable impact” on the local area, which First Clover Leaf has felt the effects of. Despite this, Terry said that First Clover Leaf remains one of the more heavily capitalized banks in the area. Through it all First Clover Leaf Bank has managed to weather these storms and come out stronger than ever. Something Terry again emphasises is the result of its staff. “It is because of our people, coupled with our 123 years of being in the market place. We have customers that are third generation families that go back to when Clover Leaf was up on Main Street,” he said. First Clover Leaf Bank has four locations: Goshen Road, 300 St. Louis St. and 2143 South State Route 157 in Edwardsville and 1046 E. Madison St. in Wood River. For more information, visit www.firstcloverleafbank.com.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 5
Page 6 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
The J.F. Electric family still growing
By JULIA BIGGS jbiggs@edwpub.net
James “Greg” Fowler knew by the time he entered college exactly what his career path would be. His sights were set on becoming an engineer and following in his father ’s, grandfather ’s and great-grandfather ’s footsteps. Today he and his brother, Charles, own J.F. Electric, a fourth generation, family-owned business with a rich history of service to the St. Louis metro area. The company’s roots begin back in 1925 when James E. Fowler, Greg’s great-grandfather, established The Fowler Company in St. Louis, Mo. The company relocated in 1937 when James’ sons Charles, Fenton and Fred Fowler moved the family business to Centralia. “We weren’t just an electrical contractor when we started,” Greg said. “We started as a mechanical contractor. Then when my grandfather opened a branch office in Centralia during the Depression, he started getting into more areas besides just plumbing and mechanical. He expanded into heating and air conditioning, sheet metal, temperature control and then became involved in electrical work.” It was Charles’ son and Greg’s father, Jim, who actually expanded the company into the electrical field. “I don’t know if they would have done that otherwise because my dad was the one who was really interested in electrical work,” Greg said. Jim Fowler purchased the electrical division of The Fowler Company in 1969 founding J.F. Electric. Jim subsequently established its headquarters in Edwardsville. “When things slowed down in Centralia, he wanted to get back in the St. Louis metro east area,” Greg said about his father, Jim. “And SIU always had projects going. I think
that SIU was probably one reason we ended up in Edwardsville.” Greg explained that J.F. Electric built its first office in 1969 on a piece of property that had previously been home to Club Flame, a restaurant and lounge, which met its demise from a fire. The property was originally located on Route 143, but after the construction of the SIU Northern Access Road just north of Old Poag Rd, the J.F. Electric building became a Red Bud Lane address. That would be the home to J.F. Electric until the summer of 2005, when the company moved into a new office complex it built at 100 Lakefront Parkway in Edwardsville. The complex is located near the intersection of New Poag Rd and Route 111. The move of J.F. Electric into the new, larger complex would prove to mark a milestone for the company’s considerable growth that would follow in the following years. “By making a big investment into a much larger facility, it allowed us the opportunity to expand our business. We had additional space to hire additional people and managers, and we had a better shop to work on our equipment,” Greg said. After moving into the complex, the company also began looking for opportunities outside of just the St. Louis and metro-east areas. Instead of focusing on opportunities within a 100 mile radius, it broadened that circle to a 500 mile radius. Greg also attributed a lot of J.F. Electric’s recent growth to the opportunities it has had to work with utility companies. “The utility side of our business was where we really reached outside the area and tried to expand that presence,” Greg noted. “We actually started expanding more into Missouri and a wider area within Illinois. We expanded out into Kansas, parts of Ohio, and even some work in Wisconsin.” That strategy paid off as the compa-
Above, a crew from J.F. Electric looks to restore power during an ice storm. Below, the original Fowler family service truck. ny has grown over the past five years to serve customers in over 20 states and is a major player in the industry. According to a St. Louis Business Journal annual ranking, J.F. Electric was ranked as the sixth largest electrical contractor in the St. Louis metro area in 2006. It moved up to fourth in 2007 and has remained the third larg-
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same customers. We’ve been around a long time, and have a great reputation,” he said. “We provide quality work and we just have good relationships with our customers so we’re fortunate.” He’ll also be the first to note that the last two years have been a bit of struggle with the state of the economy. “I’ve probably been involved - working for my dad and involved with the company - for 30 years, so I’ve been in the business a long time,” Greg said. “I remember things getting slow and very competitive, but not as bad as it’s been the last two years.” Greg pointed out that with the poor economy there are a lot of contractors in the industry who are all seeking work right now which has made the industry extremely competitive. But he’s also a true optimist and sees light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. “Hopefully things will get better. They usually do,” he said. J.F. Electric provides a diverse array of services of electrical design and construction services to utility, commercial, industrial and communications customers. Proven strengths include transmission and distribution line construction, substations, plans and specifications bid work, design and build, negotiated, and special systems installations, meter reading, utility engineering, industrial instrumentation, telecommunications and fiber optics systems. Service repairs and roundthe-clock emergency on-call service are available. The Fowler family tradition continues under a strong leadership of James’ sons, President James G. (Greg) Fowler and his brother Charles H. Fowler, Vice President. Learn more about the J.F. Electric by visiting its website at www.jfelectric. com.
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est in the years 2008 through 2010. Today J.F. Electric is primarily an electrical contractor. “When we started here in 1969, we were a mechanical and an electrical contractor, but probably somewhere around the mid-'70s, we started concentrating more in the electrical field,” Greg said. “We’re basically now an electrical contractor. We do some residential work, some service work, and a lot of commercial work.” J.F. Electric also provides services for industrial clients and is extensively involved in renewable energy. “We really try to diversify in all areas of electrical work now,” Greg said. “We put a 70 kW solar system consisting of 405 solar panels on our office building here which was completed in 2010.” In addition, J.F. Electric installed a 25 kW solar energy system on four different District 7 school buildings last year. J.F. Electric is positioned to continue as a family-owned business for generations to come. Greg’s oldest son, Jonathan, graduated from SIUE with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in the summer of 2010 and works full time for the family business. His daughter, Mandy, currently attends SIUE where she is majoring in business – an education she can apply at J.F. Electric. Greg’s youngest son, James, is also preparing to join his siblings in the family business. James began his quest to earn an electrical engineering degree at SIUE this past fall. “We do have the fifth generation involved. Both boys have worked for the business since they were 16 - all are following in my footsteps,” Greg said. Greg felt that the much of the company’s success was due in part to the quality of work it provides and the reputation the company has in the industry. “We work with a lot of the
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Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 7
Page 8 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
McKendree changes name, retains vision
By STEVE HORRELL stevehorrell@hotmail.com When Pat Folk catches sight of Peter Cartwright’s hat, behind a glass case on the second floor of Holman Library, it reminds him of a story. That kind of thing happens a lot when you have spent 34 years teaching history and giving tours at McKendree University. Cartwright, he recalls, was a colorful character. After a wild and rowdy youth, he converted to the Christian faith during a campfire revival, and went on to “receive 10,000 members into the Methodist Church, personally baptize 12,000 . . . and preach more than 15,000 sermons,” according to a biography of Cartwright on Believersweb.org. “Toughs used to come in when the circuit riders were preaching and get drunk and harass him,” Folk says, “and he would go out and kick the hell out of them and then go back in and preach.” While Cartwright didn’t attend McKendree, he is still a towering figure in McKendree lore. A veteran of the War of 1812, he went on to help found McKendree as well as MacMurray College, in Jacksonville, and Illinois Wesleyan University, in Bloomington. He got into politics as a Democrat and served in the Illinois legislature before losing to Abraham Lincoln. Before that, Lincoln’s only federal stint was one term, Folk said. “So we feel that since we provided the guy that he beat, we sort of gave Lincoln to the nation,” he said. Folk is a large, garrulous man with white hair and a beard and a passion for early American history. Before he came to McKendree, in 1978, Folk taught history at small colleges around the Midwest which is why it took him a decade to finish his doctoral dissertation at University of Toledo. Today he has the title of Samuel Hedding Deneen and Charles Samuel Deneen Memorial Chair in Early American History. “Sounds impressive,” he says. “That title and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee right here on campus.” On the wall of his office, on the first floor of Carnegie Hall, hangs a photo of Charles Samuel Deneen, whose father, Samuel Hedding Deneen, was an adjutant for the 117th regiment at McKendree during the Civil War. From the corner of the room, Folk pulls out a replica of the 117th’s battle flag. It was made a few years ago. Recently, Folk has been giving lectures and readings and discussions on the Civil War. The regiment, he says, was actually known as the 117th Illinois Volunteer, Company C. It formed out on the sprawling lawn that borders the university on College Road and leads up to the main campus. Their distinction was to be in the last infantry charge in the Civil War, he says. At Nashville, possibly the biggest Union victory of the war, the 117th was the point regiment. “They were the one that broke through the line first,” he says. Casualties were high, but they received a Medal of Honor for their efforts, he says.
McKendree's Bothwell Chapel, above, and Old Main, below. Years ago, hosting Civil War re-enactments was much more common. In fact, shortly after town officials bricked Main Street, re-enactors would frequently battle it out in downtown Lebanon. Most years the battle flag replica is carried in McKendree graduations. From the window of his office, Folk can look out and see another historical oddity: the site, now covered with ivy, where a 1,000-year-old Native American man is buried. The property where McKendree University now sits was once part of the sprawling Cahokia Mounds burial grounds. There were large Native American settlements in Lebanon, and large burial grounds around town. The pioneers who settled Lebanon were unaware of their significance, and simply plowed the burial sites under, Folk says.
Around 1913, children who were digging in the area discovered the remains of the 1,000-year-old man; for a while they were kept in a store downtown, after which they came to McKendree. When Folk arrived on campus, they were still there. “They were in this box with the original dirt and everything under it, and a glass covering,” he said. While it struck him that the best place for the remains would be a museum, he wasn’t particularly upset about it. Finally, in 1993, some students learned of the situation and demanded that the remains be given a proper burial. “They said, ‘This is somebody’s body. This is very disrespectful,’” Folk recalled. But when state officials learned of the controversy they wanted the remains. The students eventually won out, and the remains were re-buried, topped by a small mound. “We even brought in an Indian shaman, a Camanche woman, who put tobacco on it and everything and did all these rituals,” he said. “So now we have the youngest mound and the oldest resident in it.” Nobody pays much attention to it today, he added. ••• McKendree was founded in 1828. They called it Lebanon Seminary, then McKendrean College, and finally McKendree College. Not long ago it became McKendree University. It took about nine years to build the first building, a large ramshackle structure. “One of the quotes was it looked like a superannuated distillery,” Folk says. But that burned down, and the school built Old Main and Bothwell Chapel. Atop the chapel is the oldest bell in Illinois. On a recent morning, as Folk bent forward to read the inscription at the front door of the chapel, the bell rang out. “Talk about timing, huh?” The bell was cast in 7th century Spain, carried to the Spanish colonies in Florida, and then made its way to the Spanish colonies in New Mexico. From there they came to St. Louis where it was recast and taken up to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. The president of McKendree was visiting the fairgrounds, and when he heard it he decided to bring it back to McKendree. On the second floor is an old pipe organ. When the university’s organist, Nancy Ypma, plays it, the sound
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is simply angelic, he says. Folk leaves the chapel and walks ahead to Old Main, recognized as an Illinois Historic Site in 1976. During his tours, Folk likes to quiz students about the building. When it was first built, what did they call it? Young Main? Years later was it Medium Main and only recently Old Main? In the 1910s, three more buildings sprang up, each with the campus’s distinctive red brick. Several dormitories and buildings were built in the mid 20th century. Pearsons Hall was once the dining hall, where students had to dress up for meals. Students worked their way through school cooking meals and waiting tables. Today the building is home to a trendy cafe known as “1828.” Folk enters the building and points to a spot above the cafe. “That’s where the band used to play,” he says. “That would open up, and a small orchestra would play.” Caves that run beneath the building house steam pipes. Folk has a reputation as a storyteller who likes to tell scary stories, so recently he been including the disclaimer that he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts. Thus disarmed, the students can hear the stories and use their own imagination. “Their own minds make it much better,” he says. ••• Folk hates ties. “I dress like what I am: an educated factory worker,” he says. Folk considers himself a generalist who particularly enjoys American history. This semester he is teaching American Economic History, Revolutionary America, and two sections of U.S. History to 1865. But his expertise also includes Russian history, and in 20072008 he was a Fullbright lecturer at Ege University, in Izmir, Turkey. He has “a teacher’s historian’s mind,” which requires him to concentrate solely on whatever it is he’s teaching that semester “and close all the other doors.” “I think of my mind as a long hallway with all these small rooms filled with all sorts of information,” he says. “And if you leave ‘em all open, you’re gonna have the Romans invading during the Civil War.” What you have to do when you are teaching, he says, is shut all the doors except the one you’re teaching. “The mind’s a wonderful thing,” he says. “It can do that.”
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47 Years Experience
Through the years...
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 9
Page 10 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
TheBANK of Edwardsville's name says it all
By BILL YARBROUGH For the Intelligencer Founded in 1868, TheBANK of Edwardsville is one of the oldest and most successful businesses in the Edwardsville area. From its early days to its formative and innovative years to the present, TheBANK has built its reputation around three key concepts – tradition, innovation and customer service – to become the leading, locally-owned community bank in the metro-east. “Our history is very important to us,” said Thomas Holloway, President and CEO of TheBANK. “We have generations of customers who have trusted us to be their bank. We think of our customers as members of our family, and a part of our history and our future. That will never change.” The Early Years (1868-1899) TheBANK of Edwardsville’s legacy of tradition, innovation and community service isn’t a new concept. It was born nearly a century-and-a-half ago when Edward M. West and his son-inlaw, Civil War veteran Major William R. Pricket, founded “West & Prickett” – which would soon be renamed TheBANK of Edwardsville. The year was 1868 and Andrew Johnson (Abraham Lincoln’s successor) was President. The telephone wouldn’t be invented for another eight years and the invention of the electric light bulb was still 11 years away. But despite economic depressions in 1873 and 1893, TheBANK continued to grow and prosper, consolidating with Madison County State Bank to close out the century in 1899. The Formative Years (1900-1960) At the turn of the century, TheBANK of Edwardsville was already the third largest bank in Madison County. And just like the Wright brothers and their flying machine of a few years later, TheBANK was about to take off. According to a newspaper story on June 15, 1914, “TheBANK of Edwardsville, one of Madison County’s oldest and soundest financial institutions, today opened for business in its handsome five-story building. The area’s first ‘skyscraper,’ it is impressive.” While that first skyscraper is now gone, its symbol of growth was evident at the time as TheBANK absorbed First National Bank in 1917 and added a fivestory addition in 1925. Even through the greatest financial
TheBANK of Edwardsville's former location – at North Main and Purcell – was the city's first skyscraper. collapse in U.S. history – the Great Depression – and three wars, TheBANK of Edwardsville not only survived, but thrived by continuing to follow its pillars of success … tradition, innovation and customer service.
The Innovative Years (1961-1989) Cassette tapes, eight-track tapes, compact discs, calculators, word processors, personal computers and push-button phones all evolved from the '60s to the '80s, and all were extremely innova-
tive in their time. So was TheBANK of Edwardsville. TheBANK took its first step toward the age of innovation by installing a new fully-automated time and temperature sign in 1960. Considered groundbreak-
ing for its time, TheBANK soon became known as the bank “at the time and temperature corner.” The sign was soon followed by a sidewalk teller window in 1961 before five drive-up lanes were introduced at its new Main Office in 1972. The innovations continued when TheBANK was one of the first in the area to introduce an ATM and ATM cards in 1977. Its first 24-hour drive-up ATM, installed in 1981, was one of the first of its kind in Illinois while offering postage stamps for purchase at its ATMs was one of the firsts in the Midwest. Finally, in 1988 TheBANK took it a step further with the introduction of telephone banking. A totally unique service in the region at the time, the still popular Magic Phone service gives customers 24-hour access to their accounts through any touchtone phone. While these innovations are commonplace today, each played a key role in the development of the many convenient products and services TheBANK offers today like debit cards, Internet banking, online bill pay and mobile banking. The Growth Years (1990-Present) How much has TheBANK of Edwardsville grown in its 144-year history? For the first 108 years, it had one location in downtown Edwardsville. In the next 14 years that grew to two locations in Edwardsville. Today, TheBANK has locations in 13 communities throughout Madison and St. Clair counties. From Alton to Belleville and from Granite City to Highland, TheBANK employs roughly 400 people, many of whom live and are active in the communities where they work. TheBANK takes pride in the tireless efforts of its employees who offer support and service to the many charitable, civic and educational organizations in their communities. Meanwhile, from personal retail banking and loans to commercial banking through it Commercial Banking Group to its financial management team The Investor Group at TheBANK, customers of TheBANK are offered a full range of innovative financial products and services to meet any need – at any time. “As we forge ahead, we’ll continue to remain true to what has made TheBANK successful for more than 144 years,” said Holloway, “exceeding our customers’ expectations, continuing our commitment to community service and offering the most innovative, competitive products and services available.”
Intelligencer marking 150th anniversary Changes and challenges – the Edwardsville Intelligencer has seen thousands in its 150-year existence. As the city’s oldest, continuously-operated business, the “I” has grown and prospered in a world where newspapers have evolved from hot-lead type to computer-generated pages. And while a number of supposed “threats” would undoubtedly be the demise of the newspaper business, the Intelligencer has withstood the emergence of radio, television and the Internet, joining the latter to provide the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Community with the area’s most informative website. The first publication of the Intelligencer, then a four-page weekly called the Madison Intelligencer, came off the press Nov. 13, 1862. Over the years, the “I” has called a handful of locations home – 213 North Main St., 108 St. Louis St., and, since 1921, 117 North Second St. The newspaper has been passed on from several owners – James R. Brown in its infancy to the Hearst Corporation, the parent company today, in 1979. And while the changes in the world – and in the newspaper business – have been constant, the Intelligencer has been committed to providing its readers with the best local coverage possible. As part of our recent changes, the Intelligencer launched the e-Edition early in 2009. e-Edition, a scanned page-by-page edition that readers can subscribe to and access via the website, www.theintelligencer.com, allows a new generation of newspaper readers freedom to peruse the Intelligencer wherever they find a computer, and it avoids printing and delivery costs, thus
lending itself to a cheaper rate than home delivery. However, the old-fashioned newspaper print is still a great favorite among many of its subscribers, both young and old. The Intelligencer’s core product is the Edwardsville Intelligencer, which is published Monday through Saturday. The Intelligencer is also a proud provider of Newspapers in Education, a non-profit program that delivers newspapers and curriculum to teachers at no charge to them or the schools. Other Intelligencer products include a weekly entertainment magazine, On the Edge of the Weekend, Madison County Homes Magazine and extra publications to help serve the community. The Intelligencer serves residents of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Worden, Hamel and Collinsville. It also serves surrounding communities through numerous media sponsorships and by participating in a variety of community events and charitable efforts. The Intelligencer joined the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce in 1954. A quote by Thomas Jefferson from Jan. 16, 1787, sums up the Intelligencer’s philosophy: “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right: and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” The Intelligencer is located at 117 North Second St. in Edwardsville and can be reached at 656-4700.
Newspaper carriers stand outside the Intelligencer office during the newspaper's first century.
Celebrating 34 Years of Serving the Edwardsville Community! University Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
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Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 11
Page 12 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
Castelli family caters to other families
By OLIVER WIEST owiest@edwpub.net
Tracy Castelli came from San Diego and her brother, Matt Castelli, from Florida to take over the family business, Castelli's Restaurant at 255 in Alton. But it was their great-grandfather, Alfonso, who made the most memorable journey. He left his home in Gaggio Montano, Italy, about 40 miles southwest of Bologna, for the United States in 1920. By 1937, after working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and the oil patch in Oklahoma, and after buying his own one-shaft mine in Macoupin County, Alfonso Castelli and his wife Teresa opened a bar on what was then known as the Old Springfield Road, outside Fosterburg, which was a dry town Teresa Castelli, remembered in family lore as the driving force behind the business, did the cooking and kept an eye on the clientele. If she suspected her husband had overserved someone, she would make him walk a straight line. It is to that tradition that the Castellis returned in 2008 to join their father, Phil, in the business. While customers may no longer knock at the door in the middle of the night to order a meal, as they did in the restaurant's formative years, they do get the family recipes handed down from Teresa to the generations that have followed. The restaurant history, written by St. Louis radio personality Johnny Rabbitt and posted on Castelli's website, http://www.castellis255.com, tells of people walking up to the home business after hours and rousing the proprietors. Alfonso and Teresa would grab chickens from the coop, slaughter and butcher them, and serve a chicken dinner for 50 cents a person, about $7.50 in today's dollars. Prices during regular hours were 25 cents for a hamburger, 35 cents for a quarter-chicken with fries and a salad; and 50 cents for a large platter of spaghetti. The fourth-generation Castellis don't answer middle-of-the-night dinner demands, but they do serve chicken deep-fried in batter made from a family recipe. The sauces served at Castelli's Moonlight Restaurant at 255 and the Roman salad dressing created by Tracy's grandfather, Pete Castelli, are made from closely held, secret family recipes. Tracy, 44, started working in the family restaurant making pasta by hand, a tradition carried on today. She also bused tables and worked as a hostess. After graduating from Alton High School, she went to Eastern Illinois University to get a bachelor's degree in hotel and restaurant management. She worked in sales for hotel chains in Alaska and Denver, then sold medical equipment. Matt Castelli, 43, was director of operations for a Florida construction company when the family business beckoned him home. Their father, Phil, and his brother, Mike, took over the restaurant in 1978 following the retirement of Pete Castelli. Pietro "Pete" Castelli came to America with his mother, Teresa, seven years after his father emigrated. By then, Alfonso had established himself well enough to send for his family. Pete Castelli, who died in 1985, is remembered as a character who frequented the restaurant after his retirement. The year he retired, 1977, new drapes were installed in the restaurant. A sport jacket that he wore often was made from the drapery material. Pete got into farming with his father after World War II and raised top-quality registered Hereford cattle. The Castellis' high-grade beef was served in the restaurant, an early version of the farm-to-table operation. Pete presided over expansions of the eatery, which
now seats about 350, and created the Talk-N-Chic brand, when he considered franchising the business back in the 1950s. He wrote a jingle that played inside a papier mache rooster, the company's symbol, which has since been lost. When Tracy and Matt Castelli returned in 2008, "We started a whole new business, basically," to succeed one that had been run by their relatives. Adherence to the original family recipes and values is paramount with the fourth-generation Castellis. "We pride ourselves on great food, great service, and great value," said Tracy who runs the front of the house, while Matt is in charge of kitchen operations. Tracy remains mindful that the business was established through personal contacts and great service. "Coal miners would ride up and say, 'We're hungry,' " she recalled. She expects her customers to receive attentive service and food prepared with the reliable consistency that distinguishes top restaurants. While they maintain the 75-year-old traditions established by their great-grandparents, the Castellis focus on the future. Tracy is proud that the restaurant recycles 90 percent of its waste. "We have three huge recycling bins and one small trash bin," she said. Tracy was caught up in the organic, sustainable food movement on the West Coast. She and her brother would like to revive that thread of the business. "This place started organically," she said. The Castellis are looking for ways to revive some
of the farm-to-table practices that her grandfather used to bring today's customers fresh ingredients raised using sustainable agriculture practices. One impediment is volume. Castelli's serves only fresh chicken — it's never frozen — delivered twice a week, 2,000 pounds total. Twelve to 15 cooks manning 19 fryers prepare food for about 800 customers, three-fourths of whom order fried chicken, on a typical weekend. Castelli's has a separate carryout entrance and service counter. Carryout accounts for about one-quarter of the restaurant's business. Back-door costs, the price of food and supplies, are the highest they've ever been in the restaurant business. Controlling costs, while maintaining quality and the generous portions for which Castelli's is known, poses a daily challenge to the owners. "This has been the most demanding experience, the hardest career, I've ever had," Tracy said, "both professionally and personally." Plans call for expanding and remodeling the bar. More live music and entertainment is coming, too, such as the Mo' Pleasure Band on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. A wine tasting will be offered that night, part of a plan to let customers shape the restaurant's new wine list. Bar trivia will be featured in March. Jack Twesten will perform in April. Details will be available on Castelli's website. Tracy wants to start serving smaller plates, tapas style, in the bar. If that is well received, those offerings would be expanded to the main dining rooms. Just as Castelli's serves customers who first came to the Moonlight as children, and now bring their children and grandchildren, the restaurant's staff shows unusual loyalty. "I started on my 16th birthday," said Lana Weber, a server at the Moonlight for 32 years. "It's the best place. It's my home. All the Castellis have been like family to me." Weber sees a lot of familiar faces each day. "Some people, still to this day, come in here in the afternoon the same as they did 20 years ago," Weber said. "This place never changed through the changes." Other long-tenured workers among the 60 people employed at Castelli's are Debbie Thyer, who has 33 years of service. Her mother, Betty Bishop, worked at the Moonlight for more than 38 years. Keri Blevins has 14 years and Marlene Weller 13 at the Moonlight. "We want to send a sincere thank you to all of our customers, staff, and their families for supporting us all of these years," Tracy Castelli said. "We are looking forward to a great future." The front of the restaurant encompasses what was the front porch of the original Castelli house, where Alfonso and Teresa served their first customers. Hanging on the wall of the dining room next to the porch are photos of pastoral scenes from Italy. Tracy Castelli scans the photos and mentions that she'll be visiting her great-grandparents' town this summer. There she will meet cousins still living there, and perhaps bring back another family tradition or two.
At top, the exterior of Castelli's Restaurant at 255 and, center, one of the facility's dining rooms. At left, the restaurant's famous Talk-NChic.
Photos in this section were provided by Marci Winters-McLaughlin and Mark Polege of the Intelligencer and the businesses represented.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS – Page 13
Page 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2012 - REFLECTIONS
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