Quietly famous David Foster Wallace begat ‘Jest’ here Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
“The greatest novel to finish a century yet” (The New York Times) was largely begun and finished right here in B-N, whether we knew it or not. Most Twin Citians knew it not. “Infinite Jest,” by the late David Foster Wallace, was published to dizzying international acclaim in 1996, three years into his nine-year stint as a faculty member of ISU’s Department of English. The book spills over a daunting 1,079 pages, a chunk of which are devoted to thickly annotated footnotes demanding as much concen-
For The Pantagraph
tration as the main text. The setting is a near-future North America, with the action shuttling between a junior tennis academy and a nearby substance abuse recovery center (both tied to
Wallace’s real-life obsessions). The conflict turns on a film called “the Entertainment,” which causes anyone who views it to become addicted to its content, completely zoning out of reality, and watching it over and over in a continuous loop. The film was created by an artist as a way to reach his emotionally stunted son, but eventually becomes the center of a dense espionage/conspiracy scenario. The reclusive, eccentric Wallace was internationally hailed during his time here, when he dined regularly and unnoticed at Denny’s and Cracker Barrel; and hung with his students at The Coffeehouse and Babbitt’s Books in Normal. Five years after his departure from ISU for a teaching position at a private California college, Wallace, 46, ended a 25-year battle with depression by hanging himself from the patio of his home.
New Nonstop flights to
Tampa/St. Pete From
Bloomington-Normal
Flights start November 21, 2014
Your easy, low cost way to fly! www.allegiant.com
www.cira.com
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Long before State Farm, railyards drove growth Bruce Yentes
New Nonstop flights to
byentes@pantagraph.com
While most of Bloomington’s growth in recent years has been primarily fueled by State Farm and focused eastward, it was an industry centered in a west-side neighborhood that once spurred a five-fold increase in the city’s population in the span of a mere decade. The 1850s arrival of the Illinois Central and the Chicago and Alton railroads is credited with increasing Bloomington’s population from about 1,600 to 8,000 in the late 1800s. The Illinois Central began running cars into Bloomington in May 1853, followed by the soonto-be burgeoning presence of the C & A just five months later. Bloomington would become a vital center in the latter’s efforts to provide faster transportation and shipping throughout the nation. The company built the Chicago and Alton Railroad Shops two blocks northwest of the corner of Locust and Catherine streets and the facility grew into the city’s largest employer for a span of about a half century. Workers flocked to the area for jobs at its roundhouse,
Tampa/St. Pete From
Bloomington-Normal
Flights start November 21, 2014
Steve SmedleY, The Pantagraph
The railyards in a west-side neighborhood spurred growth in Bloomington in the 1800s. locomotive repair shop, foundry, paint shop, wheel and axle shop, powerhouse and offices. The operation employed approximately 2,500 on a 50-acre tract of land. After serving as the industrial heart of Bloomington for the better part of a century, activity at the shops began to wind down in the early 1950s with the automobile becoming America’s most popular mode of transportation and the advent of mass-produced engine parts. The yards were virtually vacant by 1960.
Your easy, low cost way to fly! www.allegiant.com
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B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Murals paint history of Twin City education, labor Bruce Yentes
New Nonstop flights to
byentes@pantagraph.com
A pair of murals stand out among the finest works of public art in Bloomington-Normal. One was designed to pay tribute to the area’s labor movement. It is at Laborers Local 362 union hall, 2005 Cabintown Road, Bloomington. The other,“Development of the State Normal School,” (known today as ISU), hangs in the Normal Post Office in honor of public education and the teaching profession. The artwork at the union hall was created in the mid-1980s. The oil on canvas that’s featured at the post office was begun by New York artist Albert Pels in 1937 and unveiled in the summer of 1938. Contrary to popular belief, the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) had no hand in the Pels mural. Instead, Pels was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture to create the mural after his talent was discovered in regional and national competitions. Pels was paid $630 (equivalent to about $10,000 today)
Tampa/St. Pete From
Bloomington-Normal
Flights start November 21, 2014
The Pantagraph
The mural in the Normal Post Office honors teachers and public education. for the work that he completed at the age of 28. The 11- by 4-foot mural was one of two that Pels painted with funding from the Treasury Department. The other hangs in a post office in Wilmington, Del. The Laborers Local 362 mural was painted by local artist Kari Sandhaas between 1984 and 1986 and depicts local labor history. It spans a 1917 visit by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones in support of striking streetcar workers to the 1978 strike by Normal firefighters.
Your easy, low cost way to fly! www.allegiant.com
www.cira.com
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Wind farms have become staple on Central Illinois land Randy Kindred
rkindred@pantagraph.com
Yes, we live in farm country here in McLean County, with Bloomington-Normal surrounded by corn and soybean fields. Cattle graze on nearby pastures as well. Yet, farm country is more than bushels of grain and wellfed livestock. This also is wind farm country, and you don’t have to look far for evidence. Large white wind turbines dot the landscape to the east and west of Bloomington-Normal, producing electricity with each of Mother Nature’s exhales. The Twin Groves Wind Farm rises above open fields near Saybrook, Arrowsmith, Ellsworth and other eastern McLean County locales. Constructed from 2007 to February 2008, there are 240 turbines spread over 22,000 acres. Each is 270 feet tall with three 85-foot blades. They are easily visible from the Twin Cities day or night, their blades glistening in the midday sun and red lights flashing in the night sky. North and west of Normal we have the White Oak Wind Farm, another energy producer that has helped Illinois rank
STEVE SMEDLEY, The Pantagraph
Wind turbines are a familiar sight around BloomingtonNormal fourth nationally in installed wind capacity and in the number of utility-scale wind turbines. McLean County is ideal for wind turbines. Why? Among Illinois’ largest cities, Bloomington has the highest elevation at 797 feet above sea level. An area near Saybrook is 955.7 feet above sea level, the highest point in America in a line between Canada and New Orleans, La. So call us farm country. We embrace it. Just be sure to call us wind farm country as well.
The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! 309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Aerialists, circus folk wintered in Bloomington-Normal Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
In Bloomington-Normal, the circus came to town and never really left. As a result, the Twin Cities’ three-ring heritage is among the richest in the country, rivaling that of Baraboo, Wis. (birthplace of Ringling Bros. Circus) and Sarasota, Fla. (present-day home of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus). From the early 1920s to the 1940s, B-N was known as the “Circus Aerialist Capital of the World,” courtesy of the more than DAVID PROEBER, The Pantagraph 17 world-class trapeze acts who Illinois State University is home to the Gamma Phi Circus, wintered here. which formed at the height of the circus craze in the area. Though that heyday ended around 1950, B-N is is still home turned-trainers, whose students either came here to study to ISU’s Gamma Phi Circus, or were recruited from the local ranks. Bloomington’s YMCA was equipped with an aerial rigAmerica’s oldest collegiate cirging, and its directors recruited dozens of local youths to cus, founded in 1929 at the peak develop their talent. of local circus mania. It all began with the first local aerialist, Fred Miltmore, More training sites mushroomed, including Eddie Ward’s who joined the circus in 1871 and retired by 1900. Along Ward Barn and Circus Park, located in what is now State with Miltmore, fellow B-N residents Harry Green, Harry Farm Park on Bloomington’s south end. Foreman, Eddie Ward and Charles Waller established their Eventually, roughly 90 percent of America’s top aerialists, own acts. including the Flying Wards and the Flying Concellos, called Eventually, the Twin Cities became a hotbed of aerialists- B-N their winter home and training ground.
The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! 309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Evergreen Cemetery holds famous links to the past The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com
If Evergreen Memorial Cemetery were a book, it would hold the stories of thousands of McLean County residents dating to the early 1800s. The 87-acre cemetery on East Miller Street in Bloomington links the culture of past generations with current history. The service of veterans is recognized with the Avenue of Flags, a collection of about 200 individually mounted flags that include a plaque with the veteran’s information. The publicly owned cemetery is a resting place for people from all walks of life in the community, including several with famous resumes. The gravesites of U.S. Vice President Adlai Stevenson I, and Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson II, are located at Evergreen. Illinois Supreme Court Justice and Abraham Lincoln supporter David Davis is buried in the Bloomington cemetery. Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourne, who set a record for major league pitching that still stands, died in Bloomington in 1897 and is buried there, too.
CARLOS T. MIRANDA, The Pantagraph
Evergreen Memorial Cemetery is the final resting spot for many famous Twin City residents. Evergreen also honors a little girl who died as an infant and was the inspiration for Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy Gage was the niece of author L. Frank Baum, creator of the successful book and movie. Her death so distressed the family that he changed the name of the character to assuage their grief. Revolutionary War soldier David Haggard is among the many military burials. Renowned opera singers Marie Litta, Minnie Salzman and Grace B. Wagner also are at Evergreen.
309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Diverse acts make BCPA stand out from the crowd The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! Randy Reinhardt
rreinhardt@pantagraph.com
The outward appearance of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts was not meant to be flashy. “We don’t want the building to overpower the event or function,” facilities manager David Young said in 2006.“We want the building to stay in the background.” Yet the BCPA has stood out in other ways, mainly through the more than 500,000 patrons who have attended events there since its opening in 2006. The former Scottish Rite Temple was built in 1921 and served as home of the American Passion Play for several decades as well as hosting many concerts, plays and social functions. As the centerpiece of the City of Bloomington’s Cultural District, the Scottish Rite Temple underwent a $14.5 million renovation and was renamed the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts upon its unveiling. The BCPA is operating under an original mission of a programming schedule of 15 to 20 percent of its events geared toward minority interests or out of the mainstream art forms.
STEVE SMEDLEY, The Pantagraph
Children depart the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts after attending the Let’s Go Science Fair in 2010. Among the acts to grace the stage of the 1,200-seat venue are B.B. King, Glen Campbell, comedian Tracy Morgan, the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Golden Dragon Acrobats. The BCPA also serves as home for the Pantagraph’s Holiday Spectacular each year in early December. Bloomington’s Cultural District also features the Creativity Center, Festival Park and the McLean County Arts Center.
309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Heartland college has expanded beyond imagination The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! Randy Reinhardt
rreinhardt@pantagraph.com
From humble beginnings, Heartland Community College has blossomed into a Central Illinois educational juggernaut. Born in 1990 with its first location at Normal’s Landmark Mall, Heartland has rocketed to a student population of 5,600 while serving an area from Lincoln to Pontiac in Community College District 540. The two-year public college began classes at a location in Bloomington’s Towanda Plaza in 1992 before opening its current campus in north Normal in 2000. Jonathan Astroth was appointed the school’s first president in 1991 and served until 2010 when Allen Goben took over as president. Rob Widmer, longtime vice president of business services, succeeded Goben to become the college’s third president. Heartland has had a nursing program since 1993, opened a Workforce Development Center in 2004 and dedicated the Astroth Community Education Center and Challenger Learning Center in 2010.
DaviD PRoebeR, The Pantagraph
Heartland Community College students take a break between classes on the school campus.
Heartland’s academic departments include Health and Human Services, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Business and Technology with more than 60 available areas of study. The college launched an athletic program in 2007 and features teams in baseball, softball and men’s and women’s soccer. The Hawks’ softball team captured the Junior College Division II national championship in 2009. Heartland boasts one of the nation’s top junior college sporting venues in the Corn Crib. The Hawks share the facility with the Normal CornBelters of the independent Frontier League.
309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Illinois State University a big player after humble start The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! Randy Kindred
rkindred@pantagraph.com
Illinois State University’s 2014 football team has 91 players, 11 of whom play at any one time in a game. Nothing out of line with those numbers, but they do lend perspective regarding the school’s roots. Enrollment for Illinois State’s first term, in fall 1857, was 43 students. The first commencement ceremony, in 1860, honored a graduating class of 10. From those humble beginnings has emerged a university of more than 20,000 students that is synonymous with Bloomington-Normal. Illinois’ oldest public university, ISU has been around as long as the state’s Board of Education, which was formed in 1857 and hired an attorney you may have heard of, Abraham Lincoln, to draw up the legal documents for the school’s funding. It was founded by Jesse Fell as a training school for teachers under the name Illinois State Normal University, which changed to Illinois State University at Normal in 1964 and to Illinois State University in 1968. ISU’s enrollment ballooned from 4,469 in 1960 to 17,549
LORI ANN COOK-NEISLER, The Pantagraph
Prospective students take a tour of the Illinois State University campus.
in 1970. Last year, 20,252 students attended, including 18,207 undergraduates. With the growth came a jump to NCAA Division I status in athletics in the early 1970s and the emergence of one of ISU’s most famous alums, basketball star Doug Collins. Other well-known alumni include actor John Malkovich, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Donald McHenry and actors/actresses Laurie Metcalf, Gary Cole and Jane Lynch. They represent a university that is a big, big part of Bloomington-Normal ... no matter how small it all began.
309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
U.S. Cellular Coliseum draws headliners, headlines The Foehr Group: Making Bloomington families smile for over 30 years! Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com
Out of a dream of drawing superstar performers and winning local sports teams to downtown Bloomington grew the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The $35.8 million concrete giant that includes the Pepsi Ice Center and adjoining parking deck has created more than its share of entertainment since the 2004 vote by the Bloomington City Council to build the public arena. The 8,000-seat concert facility has hosted country shows, hockey and cheer-leading competitions, flu shot clinics and religious conventions. Along with its use for entertainment, the Coliseum has also generated its share of controversy. The city’s fiscal prudence has been questioned by some in the community who are not convinced that taxpayers reap an adequate award for the ongoing expense of maintaining the structure and paying off building bonds. Supporters of the Coliseum counter that the restaurants, hotels and other businesses benefit from the dollars that visitors spend in the community.
CARLOS T. MIRANDA, The Pantagraph
Jason Aldean performs at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Bloomington Thunder hockey, Bloomington Flex basketball and Bloomington Edge football teams have attracted thousands of fans to the downtown venue, which also has held major charitable events and high school graduations and wedding receptions. In the coming months, the Coliseum will open its doors for the Sept. 27 season opener for the Bloomington Thunder and the November shows of Cirque du Soleil. The year closes with “Shall We Dance on Ice” in December. A century ago, another building at that site also was a convention center and stage-play venue.
309.216.6816
thefoehrgroup.com 107 S. Prospect Rd. | Bloomington
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Millions of vehicles built at Twin Cities’ Mitsubishi plant Karen Hansen
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
khansen@pantagraph.com
In 1986, Normal received a $10 payment to title 636 acres of farmland on its west side. Two years later, fertile soil that once grew corn and soybeans began producing a crop of a different kind – cars – when manufacturing at DiamondStar Motors commenced. The venture was a marriage of Tokyo’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Detroit’s Chrysler Corp., the hyphenated name a nod to their two logos, Mitsubishi’s diamond and Chrysler’s star. Lured here after years of wooing by then-Gov. Jim Thompson and other bigwigs, the Twin Cities bested places including Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky to land the $700 million venture. Nearly $274 million in incentives and BloomingtonNormal’s sister city affinity with Asahikawa, Japan, helped tip the scales in our favor. “We were determined to be the best,” Thompson said at the time. It worked. Since production began in 1988, workers have built 3.2 million vehicles in the single building that’s the size of about 55 football fields. Line those vehicles up end-to-
vision consTrucTion re-Design STEVE SMEDLEY, The Pantagraph
real esTaTe
Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. vehicles come off the assembly line at the plant in Normal. end and they’d reach from Rio de Janeiro to Nome, Alaska. Mitsubishi bought Chrysler’s share of the plant in 1991; it’s now known as Mitsubishi Motors North America. Today it builds the Outlander Sport SUV, but through the years the plant has manufactured 11 other models including the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Mitsubishi Galant and Chrysler Sebring. Those vehicles have been exported to 48 countries near and far, including Argentina, Austria and Azerbaijan. Made in Normal, but used worldwide.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Needs of children are first, foremost in Twin Cities Mary Ann Ford
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
mford@pantagraph.com
Lucy Orme Morgan had a vision to help children in need 125 years ago that still is embraced in the Twin Cities today. Morgan founded the Women’s Industrial Home of McLean County, later known as the Girls’ Industrial Home, then the Lucy Orme Morgan Home. The facility at 403 S. State St., Bloomington, now is home to the Children’s Home + Aid Society of Illinois, which serves low-income McLean County families. Originally, the Girls’ Industrial Home was open to any woman or girl in need. By 1895, it was devoted mainly to girls and a few boys. When the need for a boys’ home increased, a separate facility — Victory Hall — was built at 904 Hovey Ave., Normal. The home served more than 700 boys during its heyday. When numbers started declining in the 1970s as the state shifted from institutional homes to foster homes, Victory Hall began caring for troubled boys. In 1981, the Hovey Avenue home was sold to Illinois State University for a fraternity house. The few remaining Victory Hall boys were moved to
vision consTrucTion re-Design real esTaTe For The Pantagraph
Victory Hall , at 904 Hovey Ave., Normal, served more than 700 boys during its heyday. a smaller home on East Lincoln Street, Bloomington. That home closed in June 2003. Meanwhile, in 1968, the Lucy Orme Morgan Home merged with the Booker T. Washington home, first opened in 1920 to serve black children, to form the Morgan Washington Home. The homes were under the umbrella of the John M. Scott Center, then The Children’s Foundation and now Children’s Home + Aid Society of Illinois.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Vrooman Mansion a monument to opulence, politics Roger Miller
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
rmiller@pantagraph.com
As the story goes, John F. Kennedy was told Julia Scott Vrooman, a wealthy and well-connected Bloomington widow, was willing to donate to his presidential campaign, but he had to come to her home to get the money. “I think he came to tea,” said Pam Kowalewski, who has owned the Vrooman Mansion, now a bed-and-breakfast, with her husband, Dana, since 2000. She said the story may be a legend, but it illustrates the significance of the opulent Victorian mansion at 701 E. Taylor St., Bloomington, and the family who called it home. Landowner Matthew T. Scott, who founded Chenoa, bought the then-3-year-old house in 1872, but it didn’t assume its 36-room, three-story final form until a radical expansion in the mid-1890s by Scott’s widow, Julia. Always in competition with other grande dames of Bloomington society such as Sarah Davis, she created a brick, Romanesque-style edifice once described as looking like the officers’ quarters at West Point. The home was inherited by the Scotts’ daughter, Julia, whose husband, Carl Vrooman, was assistant secretary of
vision consTrucTion re-Design real esTaTe Steve SMedley, The Pantagraph
Joe Ramholz of Normal walks the grounds of the Vrooman Mansion. agriculture for President Woodrow Wilson. She hosted such Democratic notables as William Jennings Bryan and Eleanor Roosevelt, and a monument on the wooded, 1.25-acre property marks where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas supposedly spoke. Julia Scott Vrooman died in 1981 at age 104.“We don’t consider it to be our home; it’s Julia’s, and we’re just taking care of it,” said Pam Kowalewski.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Meandering creek is the namesake to favorite festival Maria Nagle
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
mnagle@pantagraph.com
Twin City residences are filled with treasured, one-of-akind objects purchased at the Sugar Creek Arts Festival. The annual summer festival in Normal has drawn art and music enthusiasts long before downtown became uptown. Started 31 years ago, Sugar Creek is among the longestlived festivals in the Twin Cities, and it reigns supreme when it comes to local art. Sugar Creek, as its called, was the Twin Cities’ first-ever juried art fair, started by Kup Tcheng when he was president of Normal’s Downtown Business Association and well-known local artist Fred Mills, who died in 2008. Named after the stream that passes through both Normal and Bloomington, the festival has morphed from around 30 local artists exhibiting at its premiere to 140 artists and craftsmen who come from all over the country. The festival, considered a mainstay cultural events, draws out-of-towners as well as community residents. For two days each July, uptown streets are lined with booths of pottery, jewelry, sculptures,handbags, lawn deco-
vision consTrucTion re-Design real esTaTe DaviD Proeber, The Pantagraph
Thousands of people attend the Sugar Creek Arts Festival. rations, photography, paintings, ceramics and glassware. The offerings range from exquisite, finely crafted jewelry to yard decorations made from old golf clubs and other recycled items. The often unique objects frequently find a permanent home in a cherished spot of the purchaser. The hunt for that special piece is half the fun. It’s the perfect atmosphere to mingle or get lost in the crowds while deciding what to buy.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Fans fork over dough at Twin Cities’ farmers markets Pat Shaver
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
pshaver@pantagraph.com
Nothing says summer like a fresh-from-the-dirt tomato, a loaf of homemade bread or a dozen freshly laid eggs from a nearby chicken coop. With agriculture among the largest economic engines in McLean County, it is not surprising that thousands of Central Illinois residents turn up each week at farmers markets and farm stands to pick up fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs, plants, preserves, soap, dairy, crafts and jewelry produced by local farmers. Both offer shoppers the unique opportunity to directly interact with the person who grew the vegetables, farmed the land, fed the chickens or created the product. The largest, the Bloomington Farmers Market, finds its home downtown during the summer months, drawing a crowd every Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to noon. The market has more than 70 vendors and features kids activities, growing in size like Jack the Beanstalk since the first market in 1974. Normal’s Trailside Market started 10 years ago. Late
vision consTrucTion re-Design real esTaTe
DaviD Proeber, The Pantagraph
Beautiful produce is arranged artfully at Atlanta’s Prairie Earth Farm display at the downtown Bloomington Farmers Market. Tuesday afternoon from June to September, shoppers can find local food, crafts and entertainment at the corner of Constitution Boulevard and College Avenue. The Downs Village Market, with regional produce, meat, honey, baked goods, plants, flowers and quality crafts, is open late Wednesday afternoons from June through September.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Gailey Eye Clinic respects its legacy and looks ahead Paul Swiech
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
pswiech@pantagraph.com
Gailey Eye Clinic is thriving after 73 years because it doesn’t act its age. The eye care practice continues to add physicians, procedures and locations, preserving or improving vision for thousands of people throughout Central Illinois. “We are trying to live up to the standards set by Dr. Watson Gailey and the doctors who followed him,” Dr. Robert Lee once told The Pantagraph. That’s a tough act to follow. Gailey already was a leader in ophthalmology when he opened the clinic at 1008 N. Main St., Bloomington, in 1941. Several years later, he opened the Watson Gailey Eye Foundation Eye Bank to preserve tissue for corneal transplants that he performed. The eye bank, now called Illinois Eye-Bank, Watson Gailey, is at 301 S. Prospect Road. The clinic expanded several times. In 1977, it became the first downstate clinic to use an argon laser to treat certain eye conditions. Gailey opened a satellite clinic in 1983 and now has 16 locations throughout Central Illinois, staffed by 14 ophthal-
vision consTrucTion DaviD Proeber, The Pantagraph
re-Design
Cherie Funk, a certified opthalmic assistant, examines photographs made with a fundus camera at the Gailey Eye Clinic Retina Center. mologists, six optometrists and 200 full- and part-time employees. The expanded and renovated building on Main Street remains the home office. Other Bloomington locations include its outpatient surgery center, Bloomington Eye Institute, 1008 N. Center St., and Gailey Eye Clinic Retina Center, 2501 E. College Ave. Services include retinal surgery, plastic surgeries of the eye and face, cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery, laser vision correction, pediatric ophthalmology, general ophthalmology and laser cataract surgery.
real esTaTe
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
McLean County proud of its fair and the crowds prove it Paul Swiech
Trunk Bay companies... ...The TransformaTion of Design
pswiech@pantagraph.com
McLean County loves its county fair. Just ask any of the 1,200 4-Hers and their families who spend every early August at the county fairgrounds, 2301 W. Market St., Bloomington, showing 8,000 projects ranging from livestock to visual arts to robotics. Then ask the 50,000 people who attend the fair each year to do everything from watch a horse show to walk a llama around an obstacle course to listen to country music and meet the fair king and queen. Along the way, they learn a thing or two. Did you know that 97 percent of Illinois farms are family owned? And don’t forget the carnival rides and fair food. A lemon shake-up and funnel cake, anyone? McLean County has the largest 4-H fair in Illinois and claims to be the largest 4-H fair in the country. No one has disputed the assertion. Where else can a cross-section of Central Illinoisans spend a day listening to baa-ing sheep, biting into a corn dog, talking with people with whom they may not normally associate, and watching kings and queens of yesterday, to-
vision consTrucTion re-Design real esTaTe DaviD Proeber, The Pantagraph
Kea Miles, 13, LeRoy, photographs a chicken as part of her rural documentary project at the McLean County Fair. day and tomorrow? For some families, it goes even deeper. Many former 4Hers who showed their projects when the fairgrounds were off East Empire Street or even when it was off South Main Street are now 4-H volunteers who help their children or grandchildren or other kids with their cakes or sewing or rockets. The location of the fair doesn’t matter. The spirit does. For that, McLean County, here’s your blue ribbon.
www.tbayc.com | 309.661.9229
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Avenue in Normal a humped reminder of another time Karen Hansen
khansen@pantagraph.com
In 1906, a timber and metal bridge along what was then Sill Street solved a problem for the Bloomington-Normal community. Today, the Camelback Bridge on what’s now Virginia Avenue in Normal allows a peek into a bygone era at 10 mph. The barely-two-cars-wide bridge was built by the Illinois Central Railroad during a fast-paced expansion; its distinctive humped shape allowed steam engines to glide beneath without disrupting activity above. Ironically, it’s not a camelback bridge, but rather a king post pony truss bridge, the only such functioning one in Illinois. The style refers to the timber triangle that holds the bridge’s weight. Also conspicuous are supporting wrought iron columns from the Phoenix Iron Co., dating to the 1860s and likely recycled from another structure. It’s one of two bridges in the Land of Lincoln with such supports, also found on the Washington Monument. A town survey once described the bridge as a “reference point and cultural center of gravity” that was “woven into
DaviD Proeber, The Pantagraph
Maureen Plunkett of Mokena runs under Camelback Bridge over Constitution Trail. the very sensibilities of the community.” Normal bought the bridge and some right-of-way from the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad for $89,000 in 1986. After that, there were years of squabbles over whether the structure — which now canopies the Constitution Trail — should be moved, saved or demolished. Supporters nominated it for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and its acceptance in 1997 helped assure it would stay just where it was, a working reminder of a slower time.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Vacuums have storied history in Bloomington-Normal Pat Shaver
pshaver@pantagraph.com
A staple cleaning tool that is in every household, or at least should be, has a long history in the Twin Cities. The vacuum cleaner. For a period of time, Bloomington was the North American headquarters for The Eureka Co., which became the Electrolux vacuum cleaner company. From the 1940s until 2011, vacuums and other products were manufactured in Bloomington-Normal. It all started in 1909 as the Eureka Co. in Detroit. By 1927, the company sold one-third of all vacuums in the U.S. The company merged with Williams Oil-O-Matic, a Bloomington company that made heating and refrigeration equipment in 1945. It then became known as Eureka-Williams Corp. In 1974, AB Electrolux purchased the company and it became known as The Eureka Co. Over the years, the company had several locations in Bloomington-Normal, including 1201 E. Bell St., Bloomington, and its final headquarters at 807 N. Main St., Bloomington. Sadly, after decades as a major employer in the commu-
DAVID PROEBER, The Pantagraph
Electrolux’s final headquarters in Bloomington was at 807 N. Main St. nity, Electrolux made a clean sweep out of BloomingtonNormal in 2011. Today, Electrolux sells more than 50 million products to customers in more than 150 markets every year. Eureka still offers a line of vacuums, including uprights, canisters, sticks, handhelds, home built-in systems, battery-powered vacuums, steam cleaners and home cleaning systems, but the company is now based in Charlotte, N.C. Eureka is a brand of Electrolux, based in Stockholm, Sweden.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Baby Fold helping children for more than a century Maria Nagle
mnagle@pantagraph.com
In Bloomington-Normal, The Baby Fold is recognized as helping, for more than a century, many of the community’s most vulnerable children. Children orphaned, in need of foster care, with mental illness, in need of special education, with behavioral and emotional disabilities — The Baby Fold helps them all. It has grown from a faith-based orphanage started around the turn of the 20th century to serving more than 1,000 children and families with adoption, foster care, pregnancy counseling, special education and residential treatment needs. It started when Nancy Mason donated her residence in Normal in 1899 to the Methodist Episcopal Deaconess Society as a home for both active and retired deaconesses. Deaconesses were trained nurses, educators, evangelists, social workers and administrators who performed mission work. They operated Bloomington Deaconess Hospital from 1897 to 1901. By 1904, the agency changed its name to N.A. Mason Deaconess Home and School. But people were calling it the
STEVE SMEDLEY, The Pantagraph
Matt Gerber of Eureka, stands outside The Baby Fold in Normal. “baby fold,” a biblical reference to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Four years later, the name changed to Mason Deaconess Home and Baby Fold. It officially became The Baby Fold in 1941. Today, the agency has Hammitt Elementary School and Hammitt Junior-Senior High School, which offer specialized education for children with behavioral, emotional, learning and pervasive developmental disabilities. A residential treatment center provides treatment for children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. In 2001, the agency began offering international adoptions.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Powwow at Grand Village honors Kickapoo history Lenore Sobota
lsobota@pantagraph.com
Long before there was State Farm, Illinois State University, the city of Bloomington or even the state of Illinois, there was the Grand Village of the Kickapoo. The large American Indian settlement located near present-day LeRoy was home to between 2,000 and 3,000 Kickapoo when a surveyor passed through the area in 1824. But the settlement is believed to have been there since at least 1752, when a French explorer/soldier wrote home about the site. With the loss of buffalo herds on the prairie and tensions from the Black Hawk War in 1832, the village faded away and the tribe fractured, moving to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. In 1998, a Homecoming Powwow took place at the former site of the Grand Village. The powwow, which attracted about 7,000 people, was hosted by Bill and Doris Emmett, who owned the land at that time, and by Midwest SOARRING (Save Our Ancesters Remains & Resources Indigenous Network Group). The organization educates the public about American Indian cultural issues.
CARLOS T. MIRANDA, The Pantagraph
Wayne Hardwick, left, and Kim Davis, center, dance during the 12th Annual Intertribal Pow Wow at the Grand Village of the Kickapoo Park north of LeRoy. Among the Kickapoo who attended that first homecoming powwow was Margarita Salazar, then 104, who said through an interpreter,“All our grandmothers lived here. … I feel good over it, that I can be around where my ancestors once roamed.” The one-acre Grand Village of the Kickapoo Park was dedicated during the powwow and buffalo were returned to roam. Powwows took place annually after that, with the exception of 2006. The last was in 2012; no plans have been announced for another.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Davis mansion was focus of Twin City Victorian era Kevin Barlow
kbarlow@pantagraph.com
Just a few blocks east of downtown Bloomington sits a three-story, 36-room Victorian mansion made of yellow brick. If those walls could talk, oh what stories they could tell. David Davis Mansion State Historic Site was the residence of Sarah and David Davis, who were at the center of American politics and society. He rode the circuit with Abraham Lincoln, was a U.S. senator and eventually Supreme Court justice from 1862 to 1877. The house, its garden and five outbuildings remained in the Davis family until 1960, when the buildings and 4.1 acres were donated to the state of Illinois. From 1990 until April 2014, Marcia Young was the site manager. “It really takes a lot of people working together to keep this going, but we have had a lot of great people helping us out over the years,” she said. The home is open to the general public from Wednesday through Sunday and hosts several seasonal events. During the winter, the mansion is lavishly decorated for the Christmas holiday. Gaslight tours are offered during December.
Steve Smedley, The Pantagraph
The Greg and Jill Stoller family of Forrest visit the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington. Inside the mansion is a collection of mid-19th century decorative arts and technological conveniences, illustrating the life of a prosperous Victorian-era family. The mansion is located at 1000 Monroe Drive; tours are available every half hour from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Tours start with a 17-minute video; tours last about 45 minutes.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Third Sunday Market a longtime Twin City tradition Kevin Barlow
kbarlow@pantagraph.com
It’s not hard to figure out when the Third Sunday Market is. For 27 years, the monthly flea market has brought thousands of customers and vendors to the grounds of the Interstate Center in Bloomington on the third Sunday of May through October. Don and Carol Raycraft started the market in 1988 and continues as a family business. What began as a hobby with just a handful of vendors and a few hundred customers has grown to more than 450 vendors from at least 17 states who want to sell antiques, collectibles or assorted items. “Collecting is a disease, but it’s better than drinking or womanizing,” said vendor Andy Magnafici of LaSalle. General manager Mike Raycraft, son of Don and Carol, says the market continues to be a family-oriented business. “Many of our employees have been here for more than two decades,” he said.“Everyone knows their job and knows it well.” Many of the vendors have been there just as long.
Lori Ann CooK-neisLer, The Pantagraph
Mark Mills of Peru carries a fence at the Third Sunday Market in Bloomington. “We have had customers that have turned into vendors to support their collecting habit,” Raycraft said. The indoor/outdoor sale features a little bit of everything, from the finest in antique furniture to folk art, vintage advertising, sports memorabilia, antique linens and clothing. Occasional special shows are scheduled during the fall and winter months as well, Raycraft said.
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
CIRA, Bloomington-Normal have grown up together Roger Miller
rmiller@pantagraph.com
In the 1950s, an Ozark DC-3 made so many stops between Bloomington and St. Louis that an airport leader joked it was faster to drive. With a ninth nonstop destination — the Tampa Bay area — just announced, Central Illinois Regional Airport has come a long way. “CIRA is an integral part of the fabric of the Bloomington-Normal community. We actually grew up together,” said Carl Olson, the airport’s executive director. There was an airfield north of Normal in the late 1920s, but local aviation took off with the opening of Bloomington Municipal Airport in 1934. Commercial passenger service began Nov. 6, 1950, when Ozark Air Lines added the city to the MolinePeoria-Champaign-Danville-Indianapolis run. The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority was established in 1964, a year that saw 8,485 passengers (the number of fliers topped 579,265 in 2011). The 1960s and ‘70s saw a new runway, terminal, control tower and flights to Chicago. The 1980s and early 1990s added airlines and service to
DaviD PRoebeR, The Pantagraph
Passengers use kiosks to check in at Central Illinois Regional Airport. Detroit, but 1996 was the turning point. That’s when the longer Runway 2/20 opened, attracting AirTran Airways’ full-size jet service to Florida and Atlanta, Ga., and necessitating a $40 million terminal project, completed in 2001. CIRA has weathered airline changes, post-Sept. 11 rules, the Great Recession and swings in passenger numbers, but as former authority board Chairman Neale McCormick said,“It has grown from a ‘hobby’ airport into something Bloomington-Normal can be proud of.”
B-N in 50 objects: Memory game
Test your memory and relive recent“B-N in 50 objects”articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and more will be added as the series continues. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game
Beich’s sweet career started in downtown Bloomington Pantagraph Archives
Karen Hansen khansen@pantagraph.com
Paul F. Beich made Bloomington a sweeter place. Beich founded a sugar-coated dynasty that included such timeless confections as Laffy Taffy, Katydids and Golden Clusters. Sweet success started with hard work as a young immigrant at a downtown Bloomington confectionery begun in 1854 by J.L. Green, a stint as a traveling salesman for a St. Louis candy company, and a return to Bloomington to buy the candy store of his youth. Beich and a partner convinced candy czar Milton Hershey to move manufacturing for his Lancaster Caramel Co. from Chicago to a vacant buggy factory at Front and Lumber streets. By about 1905, the two partners were gone and Beich was running the Paul F. Beich Candy Co. Soon it had hundreds of employees. In the 1920s, Beich’s sold chocolate-peanut-marshmallow bars touted as “Whiz – Best nickel candy there iz-z.” Sweets and survival bars were given to soldiers and astronauts. In 1967, another factory on the city’s southwest side opened; it’s still used today. Beich’s descendants remained at the helm until the busi-
Explore 150 years of history as it originally appeared
For the Pantagraph
The Paul F. Beich Candy Co. made a variety of treats at a westside factory before it was destroyed in a 2005 fire. ness was sold to Nestle in 1984. Later, Nestle sold the Kathryn Beich fundraising arm. The west-side factory was destroyed in a 2005 fire, shortly before a planned demolition. Afterward, great-grandson David Beich wrote a letter in tribute: “The building refused to die by the wrecking ball, instead waiting for the right moment in time to display her glory and die a dignified death,” he said. But melt-in-your-mouth memories live on. This is the final installment of the B-N in 50 Objects. The complete series can be viewed online at http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/bn50.
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B-N in 50 objects: Memory game Test your memory and relive recent “B-N in 50 objects” articles with Pantagraph.com’s photo memory game. Match photos of objects that scream Twin Cities. Photos are chosen randomly — always two of each — and were added as the series continued. There are easy, medium and expert levels, all of which you can play on any device, but levels below expert will appear better on phones and tablets. Play it at www.pantagraph.com/game