Life & Style Fall 2020

FALL 2020

Legends & LORE The people and stories that shape Southern Illinois

WE LIVE HERE Cairo’s Riverlore Mansion is getting a much-needed face-lift

PROFILE

Paulette Curkin is the ‘heroine’ of the local LGBTQ community

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FALL 2020 Publisher Terra Kerkemeyer Executive Editor Tom English Art Director/Editor Alee Quick Design April Burford Contributors Nellie Baril Niki Davis Brian Munoz Les O’Dell Molly Parker Rosslind Rice Angela Rowe Isaac Smith Les Winkeler Photography Byron Hetzler Advertising Sales Emily Blakely Susan Eubanks Tina Moon Lisa Morgan Kathi Odum

Life & Style in Southern Illinois is a publication of The Southern Illinoisan. Contact us at 710 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale, IL 62901, or at P.O. Box 2108, Carbondale, IL 62902. Reach us on the Internet at www.

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

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CONTENTS

Fall 2020

24 Legends & Lore

From stone forts to John A. Logan, these tales define ‘Little Egypt’

FALL 2020

Legends &LORE The people and stories that shape Southern Illinois

10

Good Eats

Fall is the time for wurstmarts in Southern Illinois

18

Living

How George Harrison’s sister inspired local songwriters

features

8 BUSINESS BUZZ

46 OUT AND ABOUT

22

52

Giant City Lodge is way more than its fried chicken

21 QUESTIONS

Get to know SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane

6 Life & Style : Fall 2020

Cave-In-Rock’s evolution from hideout to picnic spot

WE LIVE HERE

New owners work to preserve Cairo’s Riverlore Mansion

36

WE LIVE HERE Cairo’s Riverlore Mansion is getting a much-needed facelift

PROFILE

Paulette Curkin is the ‘heroine’ of the local LGBTQ community

Profile

How Paulette Curkin has advocated for the LGBTQ community

more inside 14 at home 32 self 44 medical profile 60 in our backyard 66 parting shot

cover photos

In this issue, we’re diving into folklore and legends. On the cover, you’ll see photos of the Ohio River as seen from CaveIn-Rock, Giant City Lodge, Gen. John A. Logan and the Big Muddy Monster. Photos by Byron Hetzler, Isaac Smith, Les Winkeler and provided.

Read the cover story on page 24.

FROM THE EDITOR

True stories and tall tales

A

ll the time I’ve spent at home in the last six months has been filled with a variety of little distractions: new hobbies (mine have been roller skating and crossword puzzling), movie nights at home (I’ve been enjoying horror flicks), baking (blueberry pound cake, anyone?). I spent one empty Sunday afternoon recently cleaning and reorganizing my home office.

That meant going through the boxes in the closet filled with little mementos I’ve collected in my 31 years: Letters from friends I’ve lost touch with, funeral cards for various family members and friends who’ve passed over the years, photo prints and negatives, mix CDs, valentines and anniversary cards from my husband (and some exes) — essentially, the little things that tell the legend and lore of my life.

One such memento, a newspaper clipping I had found perfectly preserved after it spent nearly a century tucked into my great-grandmother’s Bible, recounts the harrowing tale of the time my great-great-grandfather — a sheep farmer in County Donegal, Ireland — fell down a mountain

and was then rescued by his son, who carried his unconscious father for 3 miles (!) until a horse and cart could be procured to take him to a hospital. None of his living relatives knew the story, seeing as none of us had found any reason to crack open Julia’s Bible, apparently, but since my discovery, the story of John McCafferty’s epic tumble is now a fact-checked chapter in Quick family lore.

In this issue, we’ve taken the proverbial shoe box down from the closet shelf and rifled through it to explore the legends and lore of Southern Illinois.

Some of the stories you’ll find here will certainly be familiar to you if you’ve been around Southern Illinois for any amount of time: Giant City Lodge as a product of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Cave-In-Rock’s infamous past as a den for gangsters, the Big Muddy Monster as Southern Illinois’ very own Sasquatch.

And, I hope some of the stories will be new discoveries for you, a newspaper clipping tucked inside a 100-year-old Bible waiting to be discovered: Paulette Curkin’s living legend status

as an advocate for LGBTQ people in Southern Illinois, how Louise Harrison Caldwell (sister of George Harrison) inspired local songwriters, and an inside peek at the stately Riverlore Mansion in Cairo.

And, there are a lot more true stories and tall tales within these pages. Of course, the rich and diverse history of Southern Illinois offers an endless supply of stories and historical curiosities. We know there are many fascinating legendary figures and moments we had to leave on the cutting room floor. But, we hope that as you flip through these pages, you learn something new.

Finally, a pandemic-related note: Many big gatherings that we typically would have photographed for our popular “Social Seen” feature are still on hold this year as we all chip in to fight COVID-19. So, you won’t see any “Social Seen” images in this issue. The feature will be back as soon as it’s safe to gather.

Alee Quick Magazine editor

Life & Style : Fall 2020

7

BUSINESS BUZZ

‘LIKE GOING BACK IN TIME’ History meets hospitality at Giant City Lodge

Behind the Giant City Lodge is a statue dedicated to the workers of Civilian Conservation Corps who served in Southern Illinois from 1933 to 1942. The lodge is one of many projects the CCC constructed.

T

by LES O’DELL

here is just something special about Giant City Lodge. On second thought, there is a lot that is special about the lodge — trying to pinpoint one or two aspects is difficult, or maybe even impossible.

“I guess first and foremost, it is just the location itself inside Giant City State Park,” explains Mike Kelley, whose family has operated the lodge for 40 years. “It’s possibly the prettiest park in all of Illinois and with 4,000 acres, you have a lot going on.”

For some, it’s the great food that has made Giant City Lodge legendary. For others, it’s been the celebrations held over family-style dinners and the observances of special occasions. The atmosphere probably has something to do with fondness for the lodge, too. After all, Giant City Lodge doesn’t look like most restaurants.

Originally constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the building’s construction of multi-hued sandstone and white oak timber gives the lodge a unique look. The interior, which features spectacular views, is also unique.

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8 Life & Style : Fall 2020

Giant City Lodge in Giant City State Park was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

GIANT CITY LODGE

PHOTO BY BYRON HETZLER

460 Giant City Lodge Road, Makanda 618-457-4921 giantcitylodge.com facebook.com/giantcitylodge

“You are welcome into nature and when you walk in, you have this big, impressive, historic landmark of a building. Plus, there’s lots of room to wait, to look around and there’s some history. It’s somewhere special; it’s a little more of a vacation experience,” he says.

Kelley says he tries not to take the setting for granted, despite the fact that his family has operated the lodge for four decades. His father, Richard, signed the family’s first lease for the lodge in 1981, when Mike was still a teen.

A misconception is that the Kelleys own the lodge. They do not. They are, in fact, officially “concessionaires,” operating the lodge under contract with the State of Illinois.

Still, it is what Kelley calls a “family-operated, family-friendly” business. He says it is a blessing to work alongside his father as well as his own 27-year-old son, Mike, making three generations caring for customers and the lodge.

“We try to be good stewards of the property,” he says. “We treat it like it is ours, even though we know it is not. We have been blessed to operate the lodge.”

The Kelley family also welcomes visitors, both

Giant City Lodge was opened in 1936. The Kelley family took over operation of the lodge in 1981.

local and distant, accommodating those who drive in from local communities as well as those touring the region’s orchards and vineyards, and, of course, its parks. He says the staff tries to share a high level of hospitality with everyone who visits, but he has a special affinity for children.

“There is no stronger advocate for the lodge than kids,” he suggests. “Now that we’ve been here 40 years, there are some people who come in as adults who used to run around the lodge as children.”

He says the lodge also has a following with seniors who have been enjoying the food and atmosphere their entire lives.

“It’s a family place for people to come for special occasions. They come for graduations and after all

sorts of events,” he adds. “It’s full of memories.”

Over the years, the lodge has grown. A sizable expansion in the mid-1980s grew the restaurant and added rental cabins. The reputation for quality and hospitality has grown, as well.

“We’ve always strived to have great food and service,” Kelley explains. “Of course, we have stubbed our toe occasionally like everybody else, but I think for the most part, we’ve been pretty dependable.”

He adds that the goal of Giant City Lodge is to simply make people feel good.

“We’re certainly, not a ‘cold’ operation. In some ways, it’s like going back in time. We want people to feel the hospitality. That has never changed.”

Life & Style : Fall 2020

9

GOOD EATS

IT’S THE

WURST! German heritage lives on in Southern Illinois wurstmarts

by NIKI DAVIS

10 Life & Style : Fall 2020

Homemade pork sausage in the centerpiece of the local wurstmart dinner.

Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes are often served alongside.

T

he first Germans arrived in Illinois in the 18th century, but it wasn’t until around 1830 that German emigration helped build settlements in Southern Illinois. • They brought with them their way of life, their way of cooking, and their way of celebrating. The journey was arduous, with most coming through New Orleans and up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. From there, a stage coach traveled to various settlements in Southern Illinois three times each week. Belleville, Lebanon and Maysville were among these stops by 1831. • St. Clair County was an early settlement because of its proximity to St. Louis. Many of our German ancestors who settled there were farmers, thus reliance on a commercial port like St. Louis was necessary. The land was fertile and the opportunities plenty — many were interested in growing grapes for wine-making. By the 1830s, German settlements were being built all along southwestern Illinois.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

THE GERMAN WURSTMARKT TRADITION

In rural German communities, people would gather at the local wurstmarkt to share their homemade sausage.

These wurstmarkts were traditionally similar to our fairs and included folk music and dancing. One such wurstmarkt grew into the world’s largest wine festival.

The Durkheimer Wurstmarkt has been celebrated for nearly 600 years. It began as a way for farmers and wine growers to sell their harvest to pilgrims traveling to St. Michael’s Chapel on the Michaelsberg mountain near Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It gained its “Wurstmarkt” name in 1832 because of the massive amount of sausages being sold and consumed at the then-three-day festival. Today, the festival happens over two weekends at the end of September.

WURSTMARTS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

The wurstmarkt tradition was brought to this country by our early settlers and continues today in many of our own rural German-American communities, often as fundraisers for the community or churches and organizations therein. Somewhere along the way, we dropped the “k” and the “wurstmart” became an annual event across the region.

Homemade pork sausage is the center of the local wurstmart dinner. Sauerkraut, green beans, mashed potatoes, and applesauce round out the meal along with dessert. In some cases, homemade pork sausage and leberwurst (liver sausage) or blutwurst (blood sausage) are sold for folks to take home. Music and dancing, crafts and kids’ activities are often part of the celebration.

Breese, Illinois, a community built by early German

You can make your own sauerkraut, or you can find quality sauerkraut at many grocery stores and markets in the area.

Life & Style : Fall 2020

11

GOOD EATS

Yield: 4 to 6 servings Time: About 40 minutes Note: Yield and cooking time will vary based on the size and density of your head of cabbage Ingredients 3 tablespoons bacon drippings or butter 1 cup diced onion 8 cups shredded cabbage (about 1 medium cabbage) 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup water ¼ cup cider vinegar 3 tablespoon sugar

Directions Melt the bacon dripping or butter in a deep skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until just tender — about 2 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the pan in an even layer, then sprinkle the cabbage with salt. Pour the water over the cabbage, cover the pan and let cook for about 15 minutes. The cabbage will reduce in bulk as it cooks.

While the cabbage is cooking, whisk together the cider vinegar and sugar, then add it to the cabbage, stirring to combine. Cook the cabbage for another 15 to 20 minutes or until it is done to your liking. Stir the cabbage one last time before serving.

— Niki Davis

12

Life & Style : Fall 2020

immigrants, is home to one of the earliest wurstmarts in the region. It began in 1912 in the St. Augustine Parish. In the century since, many churches and organizations in our rural communities have held wurstmarts in the fall and winter. Even during World Wars I and II, communities gathered to eat their beloved homemade sausage and sauerkraut despite antiGerman sentiment spreading across the country.

Officially celebrating 61 years in 2019, the Christ Lutheran Church and School in Jacob hosts one of the oldest continuing wurstmarts in the area. The Jacob Wurstmart actually began a few decades before as a way to celebrate German heritage and later to raise funds for community improvements. Festival-goers experience an afternoon of eating pork sausage made from a recipe handed down through several generations along with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and applesauce. The meal and recipes have remained the same for over six decades. Craft vendors, a silent auction and music add to the festivities.

THE YEAR 2020 MAY BRING CHANGE

While the wurstmart tradition is well over a century old in Southern Illinois, 2020 may cause us to hit pause on holding these events this fall.

We are living in somewhat unprecedented times, certainly for modern America, and events across the region are being postponed or reshaped to keep residents in our communities safe.

Attending a wurstmart festival definitely makes for a fun day, and eating traditional

German food makes the day even better.

However, if we are unable to partake this fall, take solace in knowing you can create your own wurstmart meal at home. You might even try your hand at making homemade pork sausage or sauerkraut!

To mimic wurstmart food, a good German bratwurst accompanied by mashed potatoes, Bavarian sauerkraut and homemade applesauce are all you need. If you’re more adventurous, you might try making the Bavarian-style German potato salad. We have several local meat markets where you can purchase wursts of all kinds, including the iconic bratwurst as well as leberwurst or blutwurst. Applewurst is a local favorite offered by several meat suppliers, often made with local apples.

A small batch of sauerkraut can be done using mason jars — and the small batch won’t smell up your basement nearly as much as the large batches our german grandmothers used to make! If you wish to try something simpler, gedämpftes kraut (steamed cabbage) is a good substitute. However, you can find quality sauerkraut in a jar or bag at most local grocery markets.

If you have the opportunity to attend an area wurstmart this fall, please do. You won’t regret it.

If we are forced to wait a while longer, take time to sharpen your culinary skills and treat yourself, your family, or your friends to a good, oldfashioned German dinner at home.

Niki Davis is the creator of Rooted in Foods food heritage blog and a regular contributor to The Southern Illinoisan’s weekly Taste section.

You can find her at www.rootedinfoods.com.

PHOTOSO BY NIKI DAVIS

GEDÄMPFTES KRAUT (STEAMED CABBAGE)

KARTOFFELSALAT (POTATO SALAD) ‌ ield: 8 to 12 servings Y Time: About 50 minutes Ingredients‌ 12 medium potatoes 6 slices bacon, chopped 1 cup diced onion ½ cup cider vinegar ½ cup water ½ cup sugar 1 tablespoon flour ¼ cup parsley leaves (optional)

Directions‌ Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring these to a boil over medium-high heat and let boil for about 20 minutes or until they are done. Drain the potatoes and set them aside to cool.

When cooled, peel the potatoes if desired, then slice them into ¼-inch thick slices and place in a large mixing bowl.

Fry the bacon in a skillet until it is crisp then remove to a plate to cool. Saute the onions in the bacon drippings until soft (2 to 3 minutes).

To make the dressing: in a small bowl, combine the cider vinegar, water, and sugar

and set aside. Whisk the flour into the onion and bacon dripping then add the vinegar mixture, whisking to combine.

Pour the dressing over the potatoes, add the crisp bacon and parsley then toss to coat the potatoes. Serve warm.

Note: While not necessary, boiling potatoes in their jacket keeps nutrients in and results in better texture when the potato is cooked.

— Niki Davis

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Life & Style : Fall 2020 13

AT HOME

Different rugs from room to room are more interesting, they just need to flow with each other.

Area W

FOR EVERY ROOM The sky is the limit with area rugs 14

Life & Style : Fall 2020

ith the popularity of hardwood and laminate floors, area rugs are being used more than ever in interior design.

There is more to selecting an area rug than the color and pattern.

First, let’s discuss the construction of the rug.

This is one of the primary factors of the cost of a rug. Looking at lowest to highest, we will start with machine-woven. These are manufactured much like broadloom carpet on a large loom machine. They are typically lower in price than handmade rugs, have very little variation from piece to piece, usually will not shed, and are suitable for high traffic areas since they’re easy to clean. Machine-woven rugs usually won’t last as long as hand-woven.

Next is hand-woven and hand-loomed. As the name implies, these are woven on a large hand-operated loom or peddle loom. These can

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DECORATING DEN INTERIORS

rugs

by ANGELA ROWE of DECORATING DEN INTERIORS

Notice the front legs of the furniture are all resting on the area rug.

be cut pile, loop pile, or cut and loop pile; often a solid color base is hand-carved to create a subtle Angela Rowe design. Hand-woven can also be over-tufted or printed to create a textural and colorful design.

Hand-tufted and hand-hooked are made using a hand tool to punch the yard through a canvas.

Many textures and patterns are easily achieved with this method. Size, design and color may vary slightly because of the handmade nature, and more shedding than other constructions may occur.

The most luxurious and usually most expensive are hand-knotted rugs. These are made completely by hand, tying each individual knot across the row and beating the knots close before proceeding to the next row. An artisan product, hand-knotted rugs have the highest perceived value and are very durable (except in delicate

For a bedroom rug, the rug needs to be large enough to give ample room to walk around the bed while remaining on the rug.

Area rugs are not just for indoors. Made from highly durable fibers, they can withstand outdoor weather and grime.

Life & Style : Fall 2020

15

AT HOME

This dining room rug offers plenty of room for the chairs to move in and out from the table.

materials) and can achieve intricate details.

Many fibers are used in today’s area rug manufacturing. One of the most luxurious is New Zealand wool. The fibers from New Zealand sheep’s fleece is spun into yarn. This wool is higher quality than normal wool and has more softness, natural sheen and less shedding.

All wool sheds; however, this varies depending on the quality and will reduce over time. All wool yarn is sustainable, biodegradable, highly durable, and highly resilient with natural oils that provide softness.

Synthetic (man-made) fibers are made by extruding polymers or petrochemicals and solution-dyed in a liquid state before they are formed into yarn. They are highly durable, moisture-, fade- and stain-resistant, with minimal shedding or color variation. Synthetic fibers are typically found in machine-made rugs.

Viscose is a hybrid of natural cellulose pulp and synthetic fibers and should not be used in high-traffic areas due to the matting that can make stains more difficult to clean. Viscose does give a lovely sheen to the yarn in imitation of silk. For high-traffic areas, keep viscose below 20%.

So, now you know about construction and fibers. Let’s talk size and style. One of the things I see repeatedly is a rug that is too small. In a dining room, the rug should be 2 feet larger in each direction than the table. This allows the dining chairs room to move in and out without falling off the edge of the rug. In a living room or family room, ideally the front legs of all the furniture in a grouping should be on the rug. It gives a more cohesive feel to the area.

Area rugs can define a space, especially in open floor plans. A rug can distinguish a seating area from the dining area, and of course 16

Life & Style : Fall 2020

Ultra-feminine, this office rug has long shaggy fibers.

This entry is stunning with a modern area rug.

give color and/or texture to the design. When planning the size of rug, think about the edge of it near walkways. You never want one foot on the rug and the other foot off of it. I like to start the design of a room with the selection of the area rug first, then add the upholstery pieces and drapery, and lastly the wall color.

Area rugs can anchor a room, define it, add warmth, and help layer a room’s decor. But, like any investment, a rug must be properly taken care of if it is to last. Most manufacturers recommend vacuuming an area rug with the beater bar turned off.

From bold and bright to neutral, the sky is the limit with area rugs.

ANGELA ROWE, DDCD is owner and interior designer of Decorating Den Interiors.

EDITOR’S NOTE: AT HOME is a series of articles including current trends in interior decorating and design. All content is provided courtesy of Angela Rowe, DDCD, owner and interior designer of Decorating Den Interiors.

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LIVING

Beatle George Harrison in concert at Busch Stadium on Aug. 21, 1966.

THE

Harrison CONNECTION 18

Life & Style : Fall 2020

• Three delicious meals every day • Weekly laundry & linen service • Weekly housekeeping service • Full-size apartments • 24/7 staff availability • Local transportation • Beauty & barber shop • 28 seat movie theater • Pet Friendly!

George Harrison’s 1963 Benton visit inspired father-son duo to pen song

R

by NELLIE BARIL

Life & Style : Fall 2020

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esidents of Southern Illinois, especially those of the original Beatles-loving Baby Boomer generation, are well aware of the fact that George Harrison visited Benton in September of 1963. The first Beatle to come to America, George traveled across the pond to visit his sister Louise, who had recently purchased a home at 113 McCann St. in Benton with her husband, Gordon Caldwell, who had found work as a mining engineer in Franklin County.

Louise, the eldest of the Harrison children — George being the youngest — promoted her brother’s band on the radio waves of Southern Illinois and to anyone who would listen on the street. When George visited just four months before the Beatles’ big debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, he and the Beatles were still unknown in the United States and he was able to enjoy a carefree excursion in the region, playing on stage with a local band, purchasing a Rickenbacker guitar in Mount Vernon, visiting Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest, and hitting up the local root beer stand and drive-in movie theater. In 2017, a mural was even constructed near the Benton exit on Interstate 57 commemorating George’s visit in early fall of 1963.

What is less known are some of the personal connections that Louise formed during her time in the Midwest. One such experience that provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a local musician stemmed from Louise’s memories of her brother, George. Robby Clark-Stokes, who resides in Herrin and is the principal of Thomas School in Carbondale, wrote a song commemorating George Harrison, with the help of his father, Robbie Stokes, of Carbondale.

The tune, “Believer”, which Clark-Stokes and his father recorded in the basement studio of Clark-Stokes’ childhood home, began with a trip to Louise’s former residence on McCann Street in Benton, which had become a bed and breakfast called The Beatle House.

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Robbie Stokes, left, and his son, Robby Clark-Stokes, are pictured in 2017. Stokes helped Clark-Stokes write a song inspired by George Harrison’s visit to Southern Illinois, which Clark-Stokes performed in Chicago at Beatlefest.

20 Life & Style : Fall 2020

the vernacular of the Beatles.

Clark-Stokes’ mother heard that a The father-son duo played all candlelight vigil, given the recent passing instrumentals for the recording and of George, was planned at The Beatle Clark-Stokes provided all vocals. During House and she was able to book two his freshmen year of high school, Clarkrooms for the event.

Stokes and his father released the song, “I brought my guitar. Louise was there “Believer,” and sent a copy to Louise. and someone asked me to go up on “We sent it to Louise and she really stage and play a song. I think I played liked it. She was attending the Beatles ‘Twist and Shout,’ something really convention up in Chicago and said we simple. I played that and got to talk to should come play the song during the Louise quite a bit. Afterwards she said intermission of the Beatles tribute band,” she would like to stay in touch,” Clarksaid Clark-Stokes.

Stokes said.

The performance was held at the And keep in touch she did. Louise Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, just and Clark-Stokes spoke on the phone outside of Chicago. Clark-Stokes and his regularly, chatting every few months, father were also able to spend time at the and during those conversations, he George Harrison (from left) is pictured in in 1963 in Benton holding convention, which was known would pick up small tidbits about George his niece, Leslie, with sister, Louise, and his brother, Peter. as Beatlefest at the time, to experience and eventually began writing “Believer” the fascinating world of Beatlemania as a tribute to the man known as The while perusing and observing the hundreds of vendors and impersonators at Quiet Beatle. Clark-Stokes remembers watching the The Beatles Anthology, the convention. recorded from ABC in 1995, several times as a child. Through later research “She gave me a really cool opportunity,” said Clark-Stokes. he gathered details and began forming the lyrics in the small black book he Thanks to her connection to Southern Illinois, Louise happened upon used for writing.

Clark-Stokes as a young musician and was so touched by his lyrical tribute “As a Christian, I was really intrigued by his thoughts on religion. So to her brother, that she invited him to perform his original song for a live lyrically that’s where it went. My whole take on it was that he was a believer. audience in Chicago, an opportunity any budding artist would delight Not necessarily a believer in God, but a believer in something much bigger in. Instilled with a love for the Beatles thanks to his mother and borne than him. So there’s a lot of play on words in the song,” Clark-Stokes said. with a natural talent from his father, Clark-Stokes is one Beatles fan who He and his father worked together to complete the lyrics of the tune, with gained a rich experience thanks to George and Louise Harrison’s ties to Stokes adding suggestions like changing the line, “walking in your English Southern Illinois. garden” to “puttering in your English garden” for a more authentic take on

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21 QUESTIONS

Getting to know

Austin Lane

THE QUESTIONS

1. What is your current state of mind? My mind is laser focused on SIU Carbondale and our students, faculty and staff.

2. What is your favorite avocation/ hobby? Golf.

3. If you could go back in time 1,000 years, what year would you visit and why? I’m always looking forward, so it’s hard to go backward.

4. What is your most treasured possession? My wedding ring.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU MARCEL PROUST was a French writer who believed that people must know and understand themselves before they could know or understand others. He developed a list of subjective questions he felt would help reveal to people their true selves. We fashioned our questions after his.

7. Which words or phrases do you over-use most? “Does that make sense?”

8. If you were to die and come back as a person or animal, what do you think it would be? An eagle.

9. What is one thing you refuse to share? Golf clubs.

10. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? Mind reading or seeing into the future.

11. What song would you sing for your American Idol audition? “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” by McFadden and Whitehead.

5. If you could rid the world of one disease what would it be? Cancer.

12. If you could start a collection of one kind of item, what would it be?

A Saluki.

6. What is your most obvious characteristic? Humbleness.

13. If you were given the chance to run for mayor of your city, would you

22 Life & Style : Fall 2020

take it? It would take lots of convincing

by Carbondale Mayor Mike Henry and that still wouldn’t be enough!

14. What is your favorite smell?

The smell of fresh-baked cookies.

15. What is the last book you read?

“Reframing Organizations” by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal.

16. What was your favorite color of Crayola crayon growing up? Red. 17. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? “Driven.”

18. What bad habit do you have that you know you need to break, but don’t really want to? Eating my Dilly Bar at the Dairy Queen on the Carbondale strip!

19. If you had to choose to live without one of your five senses, which one would you give up? Smell.

20. What skills do you possess that could help you survive the zombie apocalypse? Ability to adapt and become a Zombie.

21. What is your personal motto? I have two: 1. Speed wins. 2. A quote from Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

PHOTO BY BYRON HETZLER, THE SOUTHERN

Austin Lane officially took the helm as chancellor of Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale campus on July 1.

Before he came to SIU, Lane was president of Texas Southern University in Houston from 2016 to earlier this year.

Before that, he served in 2015 and 2016 as executive vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the Lone Star College System in Texas. He also was president of Lone Star College-Montgomery from 2009 to 2015, and was executive vice president for student affairs for Tyler Junior College in Texas from 2005 to 2009. Before that, he served for about a decade in various roles at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Lane has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Langston University in Oklahoma, a master’s in human relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctor of education administration from the University of Alabama.

SIU Carbondale Chancellor Austin Lane

Life & Style : Fall 2020 23

ON THE COVER

Stonefort in Giant City State Park is actually a stone wall stretching 256 feet along a bluff. Archaeologists don’t believe the site was an actual fortress as no evidence of fighting has been discovered. The wall is estimated to have been built between 600-900 A.D.

&

LORE

These 5 figures and folktales define Southern Illinois

by NELLIE BARIL

Local legends and lore abound in Southern Illinois, through natural wonders, famous historical figures, centuries-old traditions, and mysterious monikers. The following five topics are just a few of the fascinating talking points to be uncovered in the chronicles of our region.

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Stone Fort Nature Trail in Giant City State Park is a 1/3 of a mile trail that leads to the fort.

PHOTOS BY BYRON HETZLER

STONE FORTS

Throughout the Shawnee National Forest and in a portion of Giant City State Park, clusters of fallen stones dot the landscape in 11 different locations. While to the untrained eye these groups of stones may look like part of the natural landscape, they are actually remnants of stone forts constructed by Native Americans during the Late Woodland period of A.D. 400-900. The actual purpose of these forts is widely discussed among scholars, archaeologists and nature enthusiasts, but several identical factors pertain to all 11 sites as to the construction of these forts.

Each of the forts was originally built on a bluff and contained thousands of stones, each weighing anywhere between 50 to 100 pounds, dry stacked together, without mortar. Stonefort Bluff in the town of Stonefort, the first to be discovered in 1807 by a surveyor from the federal government, was estimated to be 6 feet wide and 6 feet tall.

“That discovery is important because the New Madrid earthquakes happened in 1811 and 1812 and my personal opinion is that’s

The stone fort in Giant City State Park is actually a stone wall stretching 256 feet along a bluff. The wall is estimated to have been built between 600-900 A.D.

probably what shook most of the forts down,” said Mark Motsinger, a local expert on stone forts and the legends surrounding them. Motsinger, who initially began researching the forts while devising the curriculum for his Illinois history class at Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School, has immersed himself in the world of stone forts and is currently compiling his studies into a book on the subject.

Motsinger also discovered the 11th stone fort, Murray Bluff, in 2011, and has theories as to the purpose of the forts. Although ideas range from fortifications built by Prince Madoc of Wales, the Sun Kingdom of King Juba and Roman legionnaire fortresses, and archaeological evidence tied to the Book of Mormon, Motsinger believes the forts were used for ceremonial purposes.

Jennifer Randolph-Bollinger, a natural resources coordinator at Giant City State Park, says that the stone fort in the park is the most accessible of all 11 in the region and has a lovely waterfall right next to the third of a mile trail leading to the fort.

“One of the coolest things about that particular spot is it’s been utilized for centuries. In the 1880s, especially during Fourth of July, hundreds to maybe thousands of people would pick that particular spot to have a big picnic. So it’s always been kind of a big social gathering, meeting place,” Randolph said.

For those adventurous hikers and history buffs in the region, all 11 sites have much to offer in regards to exploration of the mysterious fortifications.

Life & Style : Fall 2020

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ON THE COVER

On April 19, 1928, Charles Birger was hanged in Benton. He was a notorious bootlegger and gang leader, who profited from gambling operations and alcohol sales. During his time in Southern Illinois, he feuded with the Ku Klux Klan and the rival Shelton gang, bringing violence to the streets of Williamson and Franklin counties.

A famous outlaw and topic of local lore in Southern Illinois, Charlie Birger has a fascinating history in the area beyond his final moments on the scaffolding in Franklin County as the last man publicly hanged in Illinois.

“Probably one of the least understood aspects of Charlie Birger is the fact that he was an Eastern European and he was born in Russia. His parents came to the U.S. when he was about eight,” said Mark Motsinger, who is also a researcher on the topic of Birger and his gang.

Born Shachna Itzik Birger, in his early 20s Birger spent a short time in the United States Army and eventually settled in Harrisburg around 1912, choosing Saline County because it was an area where many other Russian, Czech, Hungarian and Romanian families settled to work in the booming coal mining industry. Also the biggest town in Southern Illinois at that time, Harrisburg became the location for Birger’s first business venture, an ice cream shop in Ledford that was conveniently located on the street car line between Carrier Mills and Eldorado to serve the hundreds

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

of coal miners traveling to and from work.

To avoid causing mayhem in the community where he was accepted, Birger later moved his business and built a speakeasy named Shady Rest in Williamson County, where his bootlegging operation became wildly successful.

“Harrisburg was his adopted hometown so he didn’t want to commit any crimes there.

So he moved right across the county line,” said Motsinger.

During this time, a gruesome turf war took place over bootlegging rights between the Birger

gang and the Shelton Gang, with the Ku Klux Klan later becoming involved. At the time, the Klan was anti-alcohol, anti-immigrant, and antibootlegger, and imbibing was viewed as a wholly un-American vice. Together, Birger and the Shelton crew eventually defeated the Klan, but the disagreements between the two bands of criminals eventually lead to the killing of then-West City Mayor Joe Adams, the murder Birger would hang for.

Throughout those bloody times, Birger still remained a charismatic and poised member

HISTORICAL PHOTOS PROVIDED

CHARLIE BIRGER

MAIN PHOTO THE SOUTHERN FILE

Shady Rest, the compound of the infamous gangster Charlie Birger, was located here along the abandoned old Highway 13, half way between Harrisburg and Marion. At this spot was a small barbecue stand just off the highway that served as the guard shack.

of the Eastern European community in Harrisburg. To retain his image as a Robin Hood of sorts, Birger even had postcards made and aired advertisements on the local radio station assuring listeners that the violence of gangsters would remain only between the gangsters.

“He was such a good self-promoter, that in Harrisburg he was always pretty much viewed as a hero and a good guy,” Motsinger said.

As he stood on the gallows prior to his

(Charlie Birger) was such a good selfpromoter, that in Harrisburg he was always pretty much viewed as a hero and a good guy.”

— Mark Motsinger, local educator The Charlie Birger Gang in the early 1920s. Birger is indicated with a red arrow.

and historian

execution, wearing the smile so well-known in his last photographs, Birger remained an advocate of Eastern European settlers to the end, requesting a black hood rather than a white one, to avoid affiliation with the KKK.

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There has been a renewed interest in town with some of the young, local families who come to the ball. It’s become more of a family event.

I think it’s great because the younger kids will have to be the ones interested in it to carry it on.”

— Jeremy Volknar, president of the La Guiannee Societe in Prairie du Rocher

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

TWELFTH NIGHT BALL PHOTO COURTESY OF LINDA FRANKLIN; PRAIRIE DU ROCHER BY BYRON HETZLER TWELFTH NIGHT CELEBRATION THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

ON THE COVER

PRAIRIE DU ROCHER

The village of Prairie du Rocher, settled in 1722 and situated near the bluffs of the Mississippi River, is a community steeped in the traditions of the French Colonial period. The townspeople hold events throughout the year that date back to the settlement period of Prairie du Rocher, most notably La Guiannee and The Twelfth Night Ball.

The La Guiannee Societe oversees both events and Jeremy Volknar, present of the Societe for nearly 10 years, is proud to continue traditions older than the country itself.

La Guiannee is held on New Year’s Eve each holiday season, and is the longest continually running La Guiannee in the United States, preparing to ring in its 300th celebration in 2022.

The French tradition involves a procession of the Societe members, dressed in period clothing and playing instruments, to various homes and businesses on the evening of Dec. 31, to sing the song of La Guiannee to each group, who then provide refreshments to the performers.

“It’s a sort of beggars procession type spinoff that has medieval roots. We go around to various homes and businesses, and sing the song on New Year’s Eve. It’s a hold over from the old French tradition,” said Volknar.

The event originally included just young male participants, only changing to include women in

Participants gather for tea and sweet treats at the Pierre Menard Home for a Twelfth Night Celebration in Chester in 1985.

Both events of the French Colonial village the 20th century, and served as a way for male of Prairie du Rocher are whimsical, cherished suitors to visit the homes of female love interests. events open to members of the public interested As the song states, if homeowners have nothing to in taking a step back in time to the early give as a monetary donation or even the company 18th century. of the family’s eldest daughter, “a chine of meat or so will do.” Legend has it that households who warmly welcome La Guiannee into their JOHN A. LOGAN AND home will experience good fortune for the new MEMORIAL DAY year ahead.

The idea of who implemented the first Another charming tradition in Prairie du Memorial Day celebration is a topic that may Rocher is The Twelfth Night Ball, held on the never be completely settled to everyone’s last day of the 12 days of Christmas, known as satisfaction, but General Order Number 11, issued Epiphany or Three King’s

by Gen. John A. Logan on Day. At the ball, each male March 3, 1868, put into attendee is given a cake, four place the national holiday of which have a bean inside. to remember and honor the The first to find a bean soldiers who have perished is deemed the king of the in the defense of our nation.

Twelfth Night Ball, who then Following the Civil War, a chooses his queen. The three group of women in Georgia other lucky recipients become put out a call for all states in members of the court. Once the Confederacy to honor all members of the court are the fallen soldiers from April in place, a procession takes 26 to June 1 of 1866. The place where the retiring king event was widespread that and queen relinquish the first year, and occurred again throne. Traditional French in the same time period Colonial dress is worn by in 1867. In 1868, during a many of the Ball’s guests fateful trip to Petersburg, during the event where jovial Virginia, Mary Logan, the waltzes, reels and square wife of John A. Logan, dances takes place throughout observed the small flags and Gen. John A. Logan the evening. dried flowers laying atop the “There has been a renewed graves of Civil War soldiers interest in town with some of the young, local from the previous year’s observance. families who come to the ball. It’s become more “She was so touched by the sight of these of a family event. I think it’s great because the flowers that when she went back to Washington, younger kids will have to be the ones interested in D.C., she told her husband he needs to do this. it to carry it on,” shared Volknar.

We don’t know anything about the conversation Life & Style : Fall 2020

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ON THE COVER

— Michael Jones, director of the General John A. Logan Museum

Brian Ellis portrays Gen. John A. Logan as he reads General Order No. 11 during the 2018 Memorial Day Service at Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale. The order established Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, in 1868.

that ensued, but I know about husbands and wives. And I know that Mary was a very persuasive woman, a very powerful woman,” said Michael Jones, director of the General John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro since its inception in 1989.

While John A. Logan was likely hesitant to follow the traditions of the Confederacy, given the resentment the North still held for the persons viewed as traitors to the national government, he signed into effect General Order Number 11 later that spring at the behest of his wife, who knew that the constituents of her husband’s district would be supportive of such a memorial.

A lesser discussed aspect of John A. Logan’s legacy is the drastic change the congressman experienced in his long-held beliefs toward slavery, which he learned at an early age, shifting dramatically from his long-held views supporting anti-Black immigration laws to being a staunch supporter of civil rights legislation. While it is not easy to judge someone from the past on today’s standards, it is fascinating to consider that John A. Logan completely changed his beliefs when confronted with the horrific treatment of African Americans.

“Logan, who reflected the racist attitudes of Southern Illinois when he was a young man, became so involved with what was basically Black civil rights after the war. If Logan were alive today, I think he would be out marching with Black Lives Matter,” Jones said.

A vastly important man in the creation of our Memorial Day remembrance each year, as well as a pivotal figure in the history of Southern Illinois, John A. Logan’s legacy is one to consider, especially in today’s turbulent social climate.

The plaque at Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale commemorating a memorial observance for fallen soldiers of the Civil War on April 29, 1866, at the cemetery and a speech given by Gen. John A. Logan that day. Two years later, Logan would call for a ‘decoration day’ to remember those who lost their lives defending their county.

30 Life & Style : Fall 2020

A statue of Gen. John A. Logan is shown at John A. Logan College in 2013.

PHOTOS THIS PAGE BY BYRON HETZLER

Logan, who reflected the racist attitudes of Southern Illinois when he was a young man, became so involved with what was basically Black civil rights after the war. If Logan were alive today, I think he would be out marching with Black Lives Matter.”

The Thebes Courthouse is pictured from the Mississippi River in January 2013. Thebes is one of several Southern Illinois communities — along with Cairo and Karnak — to draw inspiration for their name from the region’s ties to the wider name Egypt.

PHOTO THIS PAGE THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

EGYPT

If you are one of the many residents of Southern Illinois who uses the term Little Egypt to describe the region, historian Michael Jones will tell you that the correct nomenclature for the area containing the southernmost 29 counties of Illinois is actually just Egypt.

“Where Little Egypt came from, I don’t know. If you Google, ‘Why is Southern Illinois called Little Egypt?’ it only tells you why it is called Egypt. In 1950, you could buy a postcard that said, ‘Greetings from Egypt — Southern Illinois’ and ‘Greetings from Little Egypt — Southern Illinois.’ They were both out at the same time in 1950,” Jones said.

Similarly, the reason Southern Illinois received the title of Egypt is a widely debated subject. One theory is the geography of the area, which religious immigrants thought resembled the fertile soils, landmarks and rivers of the country Egypt as compared to verses in the Bible. The Mississippi River

can be compared to the Nile River and the mounds of Cahokia could be smaller representations of the Great Pyramids.

Another idea for the title of Egypt is the names of several small towns in Southern Illinois, such as Cairo, Thebes, Dongola, and Karnak.

A third theory relates to biblical allusion again, specifically Genesis 42:2-3, “And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live not die. And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.”

This verse from the Old Testament has been likened to the harsh winter of late 1831 into early 1832, dubbed the Winter of Deep Snow, when Northern Illinois corn crops were destroyed and settlers were forced to travel to Egypt to purchase corn from Southern Illinoisans. It is also said that Levi Day, a settler who lived in St. Clair County, told fellow residents of that region that he would “travel down to Egypt for corn” given the desperate state of food shortages that year.

“I think probably that the story of coming down for corn is perhaps true. That people were coming down for Egypt, the biblical reason there. I think that’s how it started,” Jones said.

Whatever opinion as to the roots of the Egypt namesake is actually true, the legends of the origin are quite interesting to explore.

Whether searching for secrets of Native American structures, Tommy gun-wielding gangsters of the Prohibition era, the French Colonial traditions of the 18th century, or the origins of Memorial Day and Egypt’s namesake, the study of the legends and lore within the annals of Southern Illinois history are sure to provide an endless amount of enjoyment.

Life & Style : Fall 2020

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SELF

Bertha Seavers (seated) waves to well-wishers as her daughter, Karla Patton, looks on during a parade to celebrate Seavers’ 100th birthday on Friday, July 10 in Cairo. Seavers was the first Black librarian in Cairo.

Celebrating a

CENTURY Cairo’s first Black librarian turns 100

ertha Seavers quietly inspired countless Cairo children to develop a love of reading and learning during her decades-long career as a librarian. At 100 years old, she continues to exude a spirit of love and kindness as a living testimony to the faith she so devoutly practices.

“You know, you find some people who are always going to say something negative about somebody. I’ve never, never heard her say anything bad about anybody. She always finds something good,” said Charlotte Mallory, a neighbor

32 Life & Style : Fall 2020

and longtime friend who considers Seavers a second mother.

Cairo residents spent the week of July 5 honoring Seavers.

They posted pictures and memories to Facebook, held a special virtual Bible study night in her honor titled “99 and a ½ won’t do,” and on Friday, July 10 — Seavers’ 100th birthday — showered her with appreciation in a drive-by parade while she soaked it in from the safety of her front porch with a few close family members by her side.

Seavers said it’s hard to fathom where the time has gone.

“I feel surprised to say I’m 100 years old,” she said. “I can’t believe it. So that’s what I’m feeling.”

PHOTOS BY BYRON HETZLER

B

story by MOLLY PARKER

Bertha Seavers waves to well-wishers as they pass her house during a parade to celebrate her 100th birthday on Friday, July 10 in Cairo.

Seavers started working for the Cairo Public Library in the 1940s, when Black children were not welcome inside its stately building on Washington Avenue. She was assigned to a branch office at Pyramid Courts, a brand new public housing complex for Black families built in the early part of the decade.

“They didn’t have a library at all for the Black kids at that moment, so the library was started out at Pyramid Courts,” Seavers recalled in an interview with The Southern in July. “And they were very nice. The kids came in to get the different books they wanted to read, and get ideas and things they chose to come and talk about.”

“We helped them to do whatever they needed as best as we could right then.”

After nearly 20 years of working at the branch office, Seavers was asked to move to the library’s main office, the A.B. Safford Memorial Building. Cairo’s library is not some ordinary benevolent building. It is one of the region’s architectural crown jewels, gifted to the city in 1884 by Anna Eliza Safford who had it built in memory of her husband, who had passed away seven years prior.

The Saffords were among the wealthiest families to ever live in Cairo, and the broken-hearted widow spared no expense. Resting in niches that flank the entryway are two statues — on one side Clio, the Greek muse of history, and the other Concordia, a Roman goddess of peace. The building, which houses more than 50,000 volumes, features stained glass windows, a wide, ornate staircase connecting floors and a rare Tiffany’s grandfather clock.

But for many years, the library — and all its assets — was an exclusionary club, available only to the town’s white people. When Seavers transitioned there in 1969, she became its first Black employee.

Seavers said she enjoyed her job at the branch office and main office. She especially enjoyed the children. And though the era was one in which many Black people in Cairo faced discrimination and violence in numerous facets of life, Seavers said her supervisor was kind and welcoming when she made the move. “Mrs. Walker, she was wonderful,” Seavers recalled. “Just really nice and ready for me to start right then.”

Asked what she liked most about her job, Seavers said, “I enjoyed it all.”

Seavers retired from her job in 1985 after 35 years of faithful service to the Cairo Public Library system. “I don’t think my mother missed a day — maybe one when she had tonsillitis,” said her daughter, Karla Patton.

Seavers and her husband, Norman Seavers Sr., had three Life & Style : Fall 2020

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SELF

Bertha Seavers (seated) waves to well-wishers as they pass her house during a parade to celebrate her 100th birthday on Friday, July 10 in Cairo.

children: twin girls Karla and Karen, and one boy, Norman Jr. The couple had been married for 65 years when her husband passed away in 2007. Her beloved daughter Karen Adkinson passed away in 2001.

One does not become a centenarian without suffering some of life’s greatest losses. But it also is a rare achievement, especially considering that Seavers still lives at home and faithfully attends First Missionary Baptist Church.

Though more people are living longer, in the U.S. there are still only about 90,000 people over the age of 100, according to a PBS report on population changes, citing U.S. Census Bureau demographers. That’s about 0.03% of the total U.S. population.

Seavers’ long and fruitful life has offered Cairo a great gift, said Pastor Jimmy Ellis, leading Wednesday’s First Missionary Baptist Church Bible study class via Zoom. Ellis noted that there is an African proverb that teaches that seniors are actually Encyclopedias, and said he was humbled to get to sit down with Seavers the day prior in her home to ask her about her life.

Seavers has been a member of the church for about 90 years, and rarely misses a service. She was baptized in 1934 and has since held numerous positions within the church, including most lately that of “Mother.”

34 Life & Style : Fall 2020

“I was just so captivated by her commitment to God and to the church,” Ellis said. “Mother Seavers is so rare — this is the God’s honest truth — she is the only person that I’ve ever met that nobody has anything bad to say about. I’ve never met anybody like that.”

Ellis structured lessons around Seavers’ advice for a good, long life, rooted in biblical teachings.

Her advice for young people, as relayed by Ellis: honor your parents, study the word of God, learn how to follow direction, especially the direction of God, and respect one another. Through Ellis, she also offered these keys to her longevity: find a church home, take relationships with God and each other seriously and learn to pray and “truly give it to the Lord.”

Ellis said that one of the things about Seavers that has impressed him so much is her ability to keep harmony in her life. Not only was she a trailblazer as Cairo’s first Black librarian, she is “a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, a wife and so many other things she seems to balance flawlessly.” Through Ellis, Seavers offered this advice for achieving balance: Teach principles and precepts to your children, make sure your family is always surrounded in love, be generous and have integrity.

During the virtual church service, participants were given time to deliver a message to Seavers.

Gloria Wiggins wished her a “happy birthday” and thanked her for her service as a librarian.

“You were so patient with me when I was a little bitty kid running up in that library with you,” Wiggins said. “And as a grown-up, you’re still that same patient person.”

Tyrone Coleman, a former mayor of Cairo and president of the Alexander/Pulaski counties branch of the NAACP, said Seavers has blessed Cairo and everyone lucky enough to be in her life.

“She’s just always been a beautiful person with a beautiful spirit. She always has a smile on her face.

She’s been an inspiration,” he said, adding, “I call her the queen.”

She also received birthday wishes from state Sen. Dale Fowler and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth. “Individuals such as yourself provide an invaluable opportunity for others to learn of the history and richness of our nation,” Duckworth told her in a letter.

Mallory, her friend and neighbor, said that she knows few people who are as giving as Seavers, or as worthy of a town celebration. “She loves everybody,” she said. “She will give you the shirt off her back. Everyone is welcome in her home.”

Mallory said there’s no question that when Seavers’ time comes, she will see her reward.

“If anybody’s going to Heaven,” she said, “I truly believe she’s going.”

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PROFILE Paulette Curkin, former director of the SIU LGBTQ Resource Center, poses for a portrait alongside her 11-year-old chocolate lab, Sadie, on Monday, July 13, 2020, at her home in Murphysboro. Curkin has become a local legend for her work advocating for minority groups in Carbondale.

Living legend Paulette Curkin: The ‘heroine’ of Carbondale’s LGBTQ community aulette Curkin has been called a “champion” of the LGBTQ community in Southern Illinois.

While she may be retired, the impact she has made throughout the region has been longlasting.

Curkin, who is a lesbian, said she knew about her sexuality early in her life and despite “hating sports,” she went on to receive her undergraduate degree in physical education. “At that time I thought, well I knew I was lesbian, so I thought I had to be a gym teacher,” she said.

When looking at attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale for graduate school, Curkin said she didn’t think “there was going to be” much of a gay and lesbian community because the rural school seemed more “Southern-oriented” than where she grew up on the East Coast.

Shortly after arriving in Carbondale in the early ‘70s, Curkin pulled a professor aside and told him: ”I’m gay, but that’s not a problem. My problem is — where do I find my people?” Her assumptions about a thin lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning community were quickly broken. She found there “was a very strong community” and activism amid the women’s

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

liberation movement — a social movement that sought equal rights, opportunities and greater personal freedom for women.

After being put in touch with another lesbian woman, she was invited to a house party with members of the LGBTQ community. At the time, there wasn’t a gay bar or other local way to socialize with the queer community aside from those social gatherings. “That’s where I first met other gay people in Southern Illinois,” she said.

SIU approved the first gay and lesbian student organization in April 1971 — the Gay Liberation Organization — and while the group has evolved through the years, it remains one of the oldest gay and lesbian student groups in the country.

After graduating with her master’s degree in higher education, Curkin went back to Connecticut, but had a difficult time finding a job. She knew she wanted to come back to Carbondale as quickly as she could. “Who would’ve thought coming from New England that I would fall in love with Southern Illinois,” she said in a July 2020 interview.

Curkin was hired by her mentor in New Haven as the associate director of housing at Southern Connecticut State University, but picked up some experience working at new lesbian bar in New Haven. “I started out as a bouncer and I was good because

PHOTO BY BRIAN MUNOZ

P

by BRIAN MUNOZ

“When you create familiarity, it’s harder for them to hate you.”

— Paulette Curkin

Life & Style : Fall 2020

37

PROFILE

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

The Mainstreet East Bar staff pose for a portrait at the venue in 1982 in Carbondale.

The Mainstreet East Bar’s exterior is pictured in Carbondale in 1982.

The dance floor at the Mainstreet East Bar is pictured in 1982. Curkin ran the gay bar before taking a job in student programming at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

couldn’t be gay because it was looked down upon. I always said that’s the thing now that I like, because they’re going to be teaching that in schools. You’re treated better now than you were years ago.”

Navigating the landscape of the times wasn’t always an easy task, but Curkin said they did so through building relationships with the city and police department. She said she remembers a time when there was a problem with cars being broken into. Curkin allowed the police to use the

bar’s second floor for surveillance.

“I would bring them sodas and stuff like that so we created a nice relationship,” Curkin said.” When you create familiarity, it’s harder for them to hate you.”

Curkin said there was a lack of understanding in Southern Illinois about the gay community.

In response to the gruesome murder of a gay man from Murphysboro in the late ‘80s, local law enforcement questioned Curkin, and while looking for suspects in the gay community, asked if there “could’ve been some kind of satanic ritual” associated with the death.

The bar occasionally saw protestors picketing outside around the time of the “rise of the Christian right,” Curkin said, but she said her tactic in combating their rhetoric was “sending the drag queens out” to talk to them. “Blanche (DuBois) went out there and said ‘girl, you’re

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PAULETTE CURKIN

I’m Jewish and I’m really good at guilt,” she said.

During her stint at the bar, Curkin learned how to serve and bartend. She eventually decided to return to Carbondale. While pursuing a doctoral degree at SIU, she decided to drop out of the program and start a new chapter. “I couldn’t find a job, so I created my own — I opened a gay bar,” she said.

In 1982, Curkin and her business partner, Paul, bought a bar in town that had fallen on tough times and turned it into Mainstreet East.

She admits they didn’t know what they were doing when they opened it, but were lucky there was an abundance of community support.

Billy Rogers worked as a bartender at Mainstreet East and said he remembers the day the bar opened, they didn’t have their liquor license, which could’ve caused delays. He said he jumped in Curkin’s yellow Datsun station wagon and drove to Springfield to get the license, then drove to Belleville to be able to buy the alcohol for the bar.

“I remember loading the back of that little station wagon and just going pedal to the metal, getting to the bar, unloading and getting dressed — it was just amazing,” he said. “That night was just purely magical.”

Despite the time crunch, Mainstreet East opened as planned and hundreds packed into the bar on East Main Street in Carbondale. “Once we got the liquor and we opened the doors, everything just became magic from that moment on,” Rogers said.

Curkin added that when they opened the bar, she and Paul “had about $800 left” in their bank account and “found it cost $3,500 a week to operate,” but the pair was successful. “It was a good bar, I think people felt comfortable there — people felt welcome,” she said.

The work at the bar came naturally to Curkin — especially through her background in working with students in the world of higher education.

“What it seemed to me ... was that I was doing student personnel work with a liquor license,” she said.

While Carbondale boasted a robust activist community, the gay community has trekked a tumultuous road — both in Southern Illinois and throughout the country — as the LGBTQ community searched for equality and acceptance.

Curkin said during the 1980s “you could be fired for being gay” and “the police would cruise the parking lot (of the bar) and write down people’s licenses. People were afraid that they would contact their employers and get them fired.” She added there were a number of her customers who were local business professionals and would call her to be let in through the back door to avoid the possibility of being identified going into the bar.

Reminiscing on the times, Blanche DuBois, who has been a female impersonator for over 30 years and who performed at Mainstreet East, said she remembered similar scenarios. “I can remember people parking in the main parking lot and hiding in the bushes until traffic stopped so they could run in (to the bar) because it was a taboo thing — you hid,” she said. “You

“I couldn’t find a job, so I created my own — I opened a gay bar.”

— Paulette Curkin

working my corner’ and they got so scared, they left,” she said.

DuBois said Curkin has always been a leader within the community. “She was always there for us and the gay bar gave us a place to be ourselves when years ago we weren’t accepted,” she said.

“Being a leader and opening a gay establishment was a great feeling — we had a place to do our art and our craft.”

Rogers said it is hard to sum up Curkin’s contributions, career and character in one word other than being a “heroine,” and while she is well-known for running Mainstreet East, she is more than a bar owner. “It was about community, in every sense of the word,” he said.

“It was for the LGBTQ community and anyone that supported it.”

Curkin’s bar branched out to serve more than just the LGBTQ community through events like their “new wave” music night and through their

Paulette Curkin and her business partner, Paul Amato, smile for a portrait at their Mainstreet East Bar in 1982.

drag shows, which brought people of all genders and sexual orientations to the venue. Curkin then co-sponsored drag shows on campus alongside the SIU Student Center, and said the event grew to be “the largest program on campus other than a sporting event.”

After five and a half years at the bar, in 1987, Curkin decided to step away because “the cost of the bar against the income was getting really bad” due to increasing costs, she said. An opportunity to work in housing opened up at SIU, and she went for it. While at the university,

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PROFILE

The view of the bar at Mainstreet East Bar in Carbondale is pictured in 1982.

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she was an advocate for solutions for LGBTQ disparities and increased education.

“Paulette was the ... most influential LGBTQ early leader who, up until retirement and beyond, helped the university and the Carbondale community,” said Carmen Suarez, former coordinator of diversity and equity at SIU. She said Curkin embodies the characteristics of a “servant leader” and “saw the need to work through and make sure services were provided to the LGBTQ community.”

Curkin became the adviser for the gay student group — which later became the Saluki Rainbow Network — and became a mentor to countless students on campus, helping them with advice and support when it was needed. Through the student group, a faculty and community group — the Triangle Coalition — was formed to recruit diverse staff to SIU and give additional support to LGBTQ faculty and staff at the university.

Rogers said hospitality was regularly extended to those within the community, whether through introductory picnics or happy hour events at The Grotto in Carbondale. “She just has a way of bringing everybody together and anybody that supported the community,” he said.

The faculty and staff group fought for improved work benefits for the LGBTQ

HISTORIC PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PAULETTE CURKIN; MAIN PHOTO BRIAN MUNOZ

Paulette Curkin, former director of the SIU LGBTQ Resource center, smiles for a portrait on Monday, July 13, 2020, at her home in Murphysboro.

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• Local, organic and fair trade Paulette Curkin performs as Diana Ross during a fundraiser at the Mainstreet East Bar in 2000.

Curkin had her makeup done by Blanche DuBois, a local female impersonator, for the act, and two backup dancers accompanied her during the performance.

community, such as improved health care and recognition of domestic partners. The group was able to secure the recognition of domestic partners in the early ‘90s, but attempts to obtain health insurance for same-sex couples clashed with the ideologies of former SIU Carbondale Chancellor Walter Wendler.

In 2004, Wendler publicly criticized a decision by the SIU Board of Trustees to extend partial health benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees working for SIU. Wendler, quoted in a July 2004 article of The Southern Illinoisan, said he opposed the policy because it was “encouraging sinful behavior.”

The university launched a campus climate survey following the incident with Wendler and eventually created the first-ever LGBTQ Resource Center in 2007 — nearly 20 years after Curkin started working at the university.

She was named director of the center after its opening, but retired shortly after, having served the university for 21 years.

The impact Curkin has made for the LGBTQ community has been resounding, but she said she is “standing on the shoulders of the people that came before” her. Her career did not come without recognition. Curkin received the 2002 Lindell W. Sturgis Memorial Public Service Award, given annually by the SIU Board of Trustees. The award recognizes university employees for public service outside of their jobs.

Curkin also received SIU’s Administrative/ Professional Staff Outstanding Service Award for 2005-2006 and earned a Gold Award designation within the diversity category from the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators for her student leadership program “What I Want You to Know About Me.” Life & Style : Fall 2020 41

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PROFILE Paulette Curkin, former director of the SIU LGBTQ Resource Center, poses for a portrait on Monday, July 13, 2020, at her home in Murphysboro.

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PHOTO THIS PAGE COURTESY OF THE SOUTHERN ARCHIVE, OPPOSITE PAGE PHOTO‌BY BRIAN MUNOZ‌

In the nomination for the AP staff recognition, Suarez wrote that Curkin has served the university in many key capacities beyond her assigned duties through the years. She also noted Curkin’s work in the community through her service with the Carbondale Women’s Center Board, the Carbondale Liquor Advisory Board and the local American Cancer Society Regional Board of Directors. To this day, Curkin continues to serve the community — she currently is on the Jackson County Board of Review, which oversees the review of local property taxes.

Throughout her career, Curkin has had a robust interest in the community and has had a “significant and substantial” impact within Carbondale while making change in very “tangible ways,” Suarez said. “She really is a legend and (just) a really nice and kind person.”

When reflecting on her career, Curkin said she has always taken pride in working toward goals in her career, but the thing she is proudest of is her work with students. “The thing I’m the proudest of are the students that I worked with, and those were gay students and straight students,” she said. “Just being open and out and hopefully impacting their lives in a positive way.”

Many have described Curkin as a “bridgebuilder” and have commended the seeds of progress she has sown at the university and in the community. She said she wouldn’t have been able to succeed in her endeavors without the support of the community and countless friends.

Since her time at university, the landscape of the LGBTQ community has changed drastically

Curkin is pictured in a 2004 edition of The Southern Illinoisan. At the time, she had been the faculty adviser for the Saluki Rainbow Network for 17 years.

throughout the state and country — a new Illinois law requires schools to teach about the contributions of LGBTQ+ pioneers, gay marriage was legalized across the country in 2015, and national discrimination protections now include gay and transgender people. The progress throughout the country has made Curkin feel “hopeful” for the future, and the overarching effort to “(break) through biases

(and) stereotypes.”

In retirement, Curkin continues living life to the fullest at her lakefront home in Murphysboro alongside her 11-year-old chocolate lab, Sadie. She continues to host her weekly poker night with friends, which has been running for over 30 years, but the “greasy food and alcohol has turned into water and fresh fruit.”

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Life & Style : Fall 2020 43

MEDICAL PROFILE

THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN TEAM

W

by ROSSLIND RICE of SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HEALTHCARE

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

hen it comes to talking about himself, Dr. Andy Hossler is a man of few words. One immediately notices a humble, quiet strength and something else: repeated references to “we” instead of “me.” It befits his early career as a storied swim coach and eventual family practice physician. Indeed, when it comes to coaching or patient care, there’s no “I” in team.

PHOTO BY ROSSLIND RICE

Dr. Andy Hossler brings coaching experience to his medical practice

JUST KEEP SWIMMING‌

Dr. Hossler’s career path was not traditional when it came to the field of medicine, although the mindset was ingrained at an early age. Born and raised in Madison, Indiana, Dr. Hossler’s father was a family practice physician and source of inspiration behind his son’s eventual leap into the profession. While deep down the younger Hossler knew that’s where he wanted to land — he had goals involving a first love: swimming.

“Growing up, I was always doing some activity.

I played baseball, football, basketball, even wrestled a little. I started swimming competitively in high school after a friend encouraged me to try it out,” said Dr. Hossler. “I enjoyed it; it had a tremendous impact on me.”

After earning a degree in environmental biology at Bethel University in Mishawaka, Indiana, Dr. Hossler invested the next decade around water in various roles at a local YMCA. Medical school was still on his mind, but he wasn’t quite ready. That’s where his future wife, Chris, a youth pastor at the time, “rescued” him.

“I applied to be a lifeguard and had to go through a sort of try-out to prove I knew what I was doing,” said Chris. “Andy was my victim.”

They worked together about eight months before their first date.

Dr. Hossler lights up when he reminisces about that season in his life, especially seeing his students’ progress from toddlers to teens in competitive swim. He had quite an impact. His initial team of 30 children grew to 130. He led them to several state championships and a few individual national competitions.

TO THE ISLANDS‌

Early in their marriage, with an eye toward starting their family, the Hosslers agreed it was time for medical school. With longer wait times for traditional programs in the United States, they took a somewhat different route to the Caribbean island of Grenada, where Dr. Hossler attended St. George’s University.

“I completed a Foundations of Medicine semester where you got to take some core classes to get back in the mode of being a student, which was helpful since I had been out of school for 10 years,” explained Dr. Hossler.

Grenada proved to be a special time in their lives. It’s where their first daughter, Eden, was born, and the Midwesterners dove into island culture. Clinical rotations took the family to yet another island, albeit stateside: Staten Island, New York, the birthplace of their second daughter, Mercy.

For residency, the family wanted to be back in the Midwest, someplace east of the Mississippi.

Carbondale proved to be a good fit.

“I feel like I work with him instead of for him. He’ll sanitize rooms with me, he even cleans up accidents. He’s really hands-on.”

— Tammy Harshbarger, nurse and co-worker Dr. Hossler was initially with SIU Family Practice — a “great experience,” he said — and joined Southern Illinois Healthcare three summers ago. Today, his practice is housed in the historic Oldenhage Hughes building in downtown Carbondale. His nurse, Tammy Harshbarger, characterizes him as a true servant leader.

“He is a doctor who treats me as an equal,” Harshbarger said. “I feel like I work with him instead of for him. He’ll sanitize rooms with me, he even cleans up accidents. He’s really hands-on.

He’ll even restock medications and step in to help any way he can if I’m busy with something else.”

When it comes to patient care, he’s still somewhat of a coach as he guides his patients, which range from newborns to 100 years old, through the many stages of their lives.

“The biggest impression I’ve gotten overall is the trust they put in you … I’ll say something to a patient and they’ll come back three or six months later to share how they’ve really tried to make some of the changes we talked about,” said Dr. Hossler.

He takes the doctor/patient relationship to heart. In feedback from many of his patients, he’s characterized as a “good listener” and a compassionate, thorough practitioner.

“He drinks Dr. Pepper like it’s his job,” Chris laughed.

In fact, his staff buys him a case of the stuff every Christmas.

And then, there’s the card tricks. Magic.

It’s when the otherwise stoic physician turns showman and wows family and friends with intricate feats and sleights of hand.

A love of movies of all genres, the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary halt on trips to the local cinema. However, the family pivoted on Father’s Day and treated dad to a drive-in flick in Belleville. Movie theater popcorn might run a close second to the doctor’s Dr. Pepper fix, Chris confessed.

A “girl dad” all the way, he doesn’t shy away from letting them paint his fingernails or even put makeup on his face.

“It washes off,” he said.

The family recently moved into a new home out in the country, complete with a pond and workshop, where mom and dad (both lefthanders, in fact) tinker with various projects.

Eden, now 10, and Mercy, now 6, are enjoying the new home and their go-kart. While the doctor doesn’t swim as much as he used to, he plays church league softball whenever he can.

While the path took a few different channels over these last several years, Dr. Hossler is pleased to have landed in Southern Illinois.

“We’re really happy to be in this community,” he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: MEDICAL PROFILE is a series of articles highlighting the medical staff at Southern Illinois Healthcare.

All content is provided courtesy of SIH.

A BIT OF WHIMSY‌

What’s a fun, little-known fact about Dr. Hossler? There are a few. For starters, he’s an apparent Dr. Pepper addict. He’s allegedly working on that.

Life & Style : Fall 2020 45

OUT AND ABOUT

STATE PARK

Cave-In-Rock has evolved from pirates hideout to movie set to picnic spot

by LES WINKELER

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

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hat a difference a couple centuries can make.

Today, several hundred thousand tourists a year flock to the tiny Ohio River village of Cave-In-Rock to visit the massive cave carved out of the limestone bluffs by the river. Even the most claustrophobic person would have little difficulty stepping inside the 55-foot-wide opening.

The cave is located in a state park that bears its name in Hardin County.

Its history wasn’t always so inviting.

A 2015 article in Atlas Obscura, headlined “A Cave of Villainy on the Ohio River,” paints a dark picture of the cave that was “discovered” by French explorer M. De Lery in 1739. He called the cave “caverne dans Le Roc.” The article makes it clear that the cave wasn’t a tourist attraction for pioneers and settlers heading west in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

“Almost immediately after the cave was discovered it became a wretched hive of scum and villainy,” the article states. “From around 1790, Cave In Rock was base camp for a group of river pirates who would ambush flatboats carrying cargo down the Ohio River. Pirates, bandits, fugitives and murderers used the cave as a sort of hideout and handout where they could scheme, gamble, drink and even kill.”

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Cliff swallows nest near the opening of Cave-In-Rock from April through mid-August.

Les’ wife and granddaughters climb on the rocks in Cave-In-Rock.

Samuel Mason, a notorious river pirate, established a tavern in the cave that lured in travelers as they passed by. Other “notable” outlaws who operated out of the cave were murderers Micajah and Wiley Harpe, known as “Big” and “Little” Harpe.

A 2011 article in The Southern Illinoisan said, “The Harpe brothers spread killing and despair wherever they went.”

Legend also says the Sturdivant Gang, a group of counterfeiters, used the cave. And, local legend has it that Jesse James once took refuge there.

The Atlas Obscura article said a group of local vigilantes known as “The Exterminators” cleaned up the cave and surrounding area in 48

Life & Style : Fall 2020

1799. Occasionally, the cave was used again for nefarious purposes, but by the mid-1800s the cave was being used for church services, and the town of Cave-In-Rock was formed.

In 1929, the State of Illinois purchased 64.5 acres of land that included the cave, which now serves as the centerpiece for the state park. Currently, the state owns about 235 acres surrounding the cave.

In 1962, part of the epic Hollywood production “How The West Was Won” was shot at Cave-In-Rock. It portrayed the piracy and thievery conducted at the cave. The movie cast reads like a who’s who of 1960s Hollywood — Debbie Reynolds, George Peppard, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Carolyn Jones, Gregory

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The famous Cave-In-Rock Ferry is seen behind the famous rocks of Cave-In-Rock.

Andrew

wilson CirCuit Clerk

www.keepandrewwilson.com Above: Tourists make the trip to Hardin County to check out the infamous Cave-In-Rock. Left: The author’s wife and granddaughters walk along the Ohio River at Cave-In-Rock.

Life & Style : Fall 2020 49

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OUT AND ABOUT

Graffiti proves the presence the people who have stopped at Cave-In-Rock.

The cave at Cave-In-Rock has hosted river pirates, bootleggers, Hollywood filmmakers and tourists.

Peck, Robert Preston, Eli Wallach, Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Walter Brennan, Richard Widmark, Andy Devine, Harry Morgan and Raymond Massey all appeared in the film.

The scene is much different today, as families leisurely stroll through the cave and enjoy picnic lunches atop the 60-foot bluffs that overlook the river.

The mouth of the cave is “guarded” by the nests of cliff swallows, who dart above the river collecting insects to feed their young. The swallows are usually in the area from about April through mid-August.

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Above: The Cave-In-Rock Ferry shuttles automobiles between Illinois and Kentucky on the Ohio River.

Right: Cars wait in line to catch the Cave-In-Rock Ferry from Illinois to Kentucky.

The Cave-In-Rock Ferry is another feature that draws in tourists.

The ferry is vital to area residents, running from early in the morning until about 10 p.m., taking cars, trucks and motorcycles to the Kentucky side and back. The nearest Kentucky town is Marion.

There is no fee for riding the ferry. Many visitors to Cave-In-Rock ride the ferry simply for the experience of crossing the Ohio River by boat.

The state park at Cave-In-Rock includes picnic areas, playgrounds, a campground, a restaurant and several cabins, located on the bluffs above the river.

For more information about the park, call 618-289-4325.

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WE LIVE HERE

The stately Riverlore Mansion is seen behind its front gate.

MAJOR RESTORATION

New owners restore Riverlore, preserving past and forming future

52 Life & Style : Fall 2020

S

by NELLIE BARIL ituated in many small communities in Southern Illinois are undiscovered areas of historical importance, nestled in amongst the modern buildings and homes, locations yet to be discovered by locals and travelers alike.

Once dubbed Millionaire’s Row, Washington Street in Cairo is one such spot full of historically significant homes, which leaves tourists and visitors in awe of the stunning Italianate and Victorian displays of architecture. The largest and most impressive structure on this avenue is Riverlore Mansion.

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It is said that the Riverlore’s original inhabitant, William Halliday, enjoyed crouching through the sliding door of the glass rooftop pilot house to remember his days aboard a steamboat.

A stunning example of Second Empire architecture, with a mansard roof, ornate dormer windows, and a tower of sorts atop the third floor, Riverlore was built by William Parker Halliday in 1865. The mansion, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, boasts 11 rooms, three floors, a basement that spans the entirety of the home, and majestic magnolia, ginkgo and cedar trees on the property, which takes up an entire block.

Halliday, an enormously successful member of the Cairo community and the man responsible for much of the city’s development in the 19th century, was a hotel owner, banker, businessman in the industries of mining, railroads and lumber yards, as well as a steamboat captain. On the flat rooftop of the mansion, the chimneys were built to resemble

a steamboat’s towers and an ornate iron railing encloses the entire area. It is said that the entrepreneur enjoyed crouching through the sliding door of the glass rooftop pilot house to remember his days aboard a steamboat, traveling the vast riverways on which he lived and worked.

“Cairo was built on a sandbar. They dredged and filled in low areas so there was nothing here. There was not a tree around and there were no factories. He built the highest home in Cairo and could see both rivers and the confluence,” said Matthew Endrizzi, who now owns Riverlore Mansion with his wife, Amanda.

The couple, who reside in rural Union County, purchased the property from the City of Cairo and have been working tirelessly over the past year to rehabilitate the historic home with plans to open a bed and breakfast and lavish Life & Style : Fall 2020 53

Let Les Winkeler, the outdoors writer at The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, be your guide to the region’s wildlife wonders. He has been exploring the region’s lakes, parks and backroads for the past 31 years. Les is a member of the Illinois Outdoors Hall of Fame.

He has received numerous awards for written and photographic coverage of the outdoors.

Tours: • Sahara Woods and Glen O. Jones Lake • Crab Orchard and Mermet Lake • Horseshoe Lake Contact Us www.winkelerswingsandwildlife.com or Winkeler’s Wings and Wildlife on Facebook. To reach us directly call 618-841-8762 or email Les@winkelerswingsandwildlife.com

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“The architecture and the history. I just fell in love with it. It was going to go to waste.

Someone had to do something.”

-- Amanda Endrizzi, co-owner of Riverlore Mansion wedding venue.

The Rendleman family purchased the home after Halliday’s passing in 1899, and in 1999 the City of Cairo purchased Riverlore with plans to open a bed and breakfast of its own. As the fourth owners of the sprawling property, the Endrizzis are excited to be a part of history while also creating a boon for the economy of Cairo.

“The architecture and the history. I just fell in love with it. It was going to go to waste. Someone had to do something,” Amanda said.

While the inside of Riverlore Mansion is in excellent condition for a home built over 150 years ago, the outside of the structure was nearing permanent damage. The Endrizzis were ready for a challenge with the renovation, and have made fantastic improvements to the facade with plans to make minor improvements inside Riverlore to transform the home into a more suitable lodging place.

The pair, with the help of their construction

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54 Life & Style : Fall 2020

manager, Jason Wyatt, and his team, have strived to keep as much of the original construction intact, only replacing wood and bricks when absolutely necessary. Pedestals from the front porch were sent to a company in Fargo, North Dakota, matched in style, and reproduced as the original pieces were beyond saving. The wooden porch railings, floorboards, and pedestals had not been painted in over 10 years, so Wyatt’s crew has worked to replace rotten pieces in an effort to save the overall structure.

“Jason (Wyatt) rehabbed basically all the wood and made it match perfectly. He took pieces that were bad and fixed those instead of replacing everything,” Amanda said.

Luckily, the bricks that make up the majority of the structure have stood the test of time more so than some of the wooden elements. A major undertaking in a home of this age, the minor repairs and a fresh coat of white paint will be all that are needed.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATIE WHITE

• Big Blue Que

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Above: Eagles are carved into the top sections of the pillars in the doorways. Right: A bedroom on the second floor of the Riverlore is pictured with a fourposter bed.

“The bricks are in really good shape. The house is so well-built that very minimal tuck pointing will be needed,” Matthew said.

Installed by Riverlore’s second owners, the Rendlemans, are the iron fences and brick walkways surrounding the property. The iron fences and gates, held in place by white brick pillars at the corners and entryways, are still standing strong and only need a good cleaning and fresh coat of paint. An arch above the main iron gate displays the Riverlore moniker, while the iron fencing is ornate and detailed in its design. The red brick sidewalk surrounding Riverlore Mansion, as well as the walkway

around the yard, the rear patio and the outdoor stairway, are laid in a remarkable herringbone pattern and remain in near-perfect condition, each marked with the production year of 1908. During renovations of the landscaping, Matthew said the team plan on lifting the bricks surrounding the home, renewing the sod, and placing the bricks back in their original positions.

Inside Riverlore Mansion, the true delights reveal themselves upon touring the wellappointed common areas and luxurious bedrooms. The only major renovation inside Riverlore has been the kitchen, which is getting a complete update of the cabinetry, appliances, flooring and decor. The crown moldings, ceiling medallions, mirrors, fireplaces, doorknobs and tile are mostly original to the home and are exquisitely unique.

The home is built sturdily, with 18-inch-thick cement interior and perimeter walls, creating

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WE LIVE HERE

Above: This stained glass door off the library won a prize at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Left: This fireplace and tile floor are original to the home.

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Life & Style : Fall 2020

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATIE WHITE

The ceiling medallion in the library is an intricate carving of pineapples and other fruits.

The wine cellar is large enough to hold several hundred bottles of wine.

A view of one of the Riverlore’s dormers is seen from the house’s rooftop.

a well-insulated home in the winter and a cool retreat in the summer. Ten-foot windows adorn most of the first floor, which has a stately sitting room, parlor, kitchen, dining room and a sun room that was added at a later date. With such spacious and opulent accommodations, it is no wonder that Riverlore Mansion was the premier

spot for entertaining in the latter part of the 19th century and later, during the Rendleman family’s ownership.

“Everything I’ve read, this was the house to go to in the 1800s,” Matthew said.

The detail in the decor and fixtures is not to be overlooked as those pieces show the

craftsmanship involved in the construction of Riverlore Mansion. Majestic eagles are carved into the top sections of the pillars in the doorways. The ceiling medallion and light fixture in what was originally the dining room came from Europe and are of exquisitely elegant design. The stained glass door off the library was a prize winner at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The ceiling medallion in the library is an intricate carving of pineapples and various other fruits.

The bottom of the cherry balustrade, which winds in an oval spiral to the very top of the house, is a carved lighthouse original to the home and keeps with the steamboat theme originally devised by Halliday. Wall niches dot the winding wall of the stairway, creating perfect spots for seasonal flower arrangements and delicate pieces of sculpture.

On the second floor are three bedrooms, which all boast cedar-lined closets, plentiful natural light and fourposter beds. A large bathroom on this level, which has a hidden stairway previously used for in-home staff to access the kitchen and basement, will be remodeled and turned into two separate private bathrooms for guests of the bed and breakfast. The primary suite also resides on the second floor and is the epitome of luxury with a spacious dressing room, a sunken bathtub and marble tiled floors off the spacious sleeping quarters.

The third floor of Riverlore was originally Life & Style : Fall 2020 57

WE LIVE HERE

the entertainment area, with an entire room housing an 18-seat theater complete with raised stage, vaulted ceiling, and smaller windows for optimal acoustics and lighting during the theater productions of the early 20th century residents of Riverlore. This room will be transformed into a large suite, but will keep with the theater theme.

While the basement of such a home may not seem like the most interesting area, the vast space under the first floor tells several stories of Riverlore’s past.

The rear of the basement has a florid white iron double door, adorned with grape leaves and vines that upon opening boasts an impressive wine cellar large enough to store several hundred bottles of wine. The kitchenette and storage area in the basement indicate the space may have been the epicenter of hospitality efforts during lavish events of the Hallidays and Rendlemans.

A peculiar pass through has a window accessing two adjoining rooms of the basement, presumably used to hand over items from one room of the basement to the other.

The most interesting discovery in the basement is the unknown storage area under the stairwell leading down from the kitchen.

While repairing the plumbing in Riverlore, Wyatt 58

Life & Style : Fall 2020

discovered tools and implements used in the original construction of the home that had been undisturbed since 1865.

“We found templates for the leaves of the crown molding, six of the flat stalks for the molding, and all the knives that were used to make the crown molding. They hadn’t been touched. There was an inch of dust on them,” Wyatt said.

Besides the practical value of this discovery, in aiding with future repairs, the historical significance of the find is quite magical. To think that upon completion of this grand residence, the tradesman placed the tools neatly under the stairwell and the door was not opened again until nearly 155 years later.

“When they finished the last piece of trim in the living room, they put them up there. It’s a time capsule,” Matthew said.

With the goal of preserving this historically significant piece of architecture, while also working to put Cairo back on the map as a tourist destination, the Endrizzis are the ideal owners to bring Riverlore back to its original beauty. Hopefully a new generation of visitors can experience the splendor of the grand mansion that the prominent William Halliday so loved.

A large cedar tree on the Riverlore property in Cairo.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATIE WHITE

William Halliday in 1865 built the highest house in Cairo and could see both rivers and the confluence. This is the view as it appears today, with the Cairo bridge visible behind the trees.

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IN OUR BACKYARD

A drawing of the Big Muddy Monster from June 1988.

PROVIDED BY BOB REIMAN

OUR OWN PERSONAL

Bigfoot 60 Life & Style : Fall 2020

All kinds of cryptids inhabit our local folklore

A

by ISAAC SMITH

nge Dixon doesn’t know what she saw, but she knows she’s not crazy.

“I can’t tell you what exactly what it was,” she said, recalling a time nearly 20 years ago she, her daughter and now-ex-husband were driving near Makanda in the small hours of one February morning.

It was around 2 a.m. Snow was falling. Dixon said she was driving with her then-10-year-old daughter to pick up her husband from his brother’s house. On the way back, she was driving near Makanda when she saw what she thought were mailbox reflectors. She got closer, and thought it was a mountain lion. At about 25 feet away, she realized she was wrong, again.

“I realized that it wasn’t a cougar, that it was actually crouched down in the middle of the road holding something,” Dixon remembered. “We just sat there and was watching it and it just stood up and it was huge.”

Dixon described it as completely black with defined muscles.

“All I could focus on was his eyes,” she said. “red, yellow glowing eyes.”

Then, Dixon said, it took off and was gone. Dixon’s daughter was among the first to speak up.

“She was like, ‘Was that a Bigfoot, mom?’” Dixon recalled.

Dixon admitted her sighting doesn’t always make her popular.

“I get laughed at all the time,” Dixon said.

“It’s like, I’m not fibbing. I’m not lying. I’m not saying what it is because I don’t know what it was, I have no clue. But that’s what I seen,” she said.

She’s not alone. Far from it. Monster sightings are woven into the fabric of Southern Illinois. The Tuttle Bottoms Monster in Saline County, the Big Muddy Monster in Jackson County, big black cats, giant snakes and little red men are all familiar folktales. For some, they are more than folklore.

“We are knee-deep in it,” Zach Starrick said. He is the chief member of the Southern Illinois Monster Hunter group. He investigates reports of unexplained sightings, in Southern Illinois and throughout the U.S.

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IN OUR BACKYARD

Above: A person wearing a Big Muddy Monster costume is seen during the 2019 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Murphysboro. Right: This Big Muddy Monster costume is often seen at Murphysboro festivals.

Starrick, a Williamson County native, said he feels like Illinois is a particularly special place when it comes to cryptozoology, which is the study of mysterious beasts and entities from folklore.

“Illinois is a creepy place and it’s also a very haunted place,” he recalled. In fact, he said, in 2017, Illinois ranked second out of all 50 states for Bigfoot sightings.

CREATURES OF OUR OWN

Southern Illinois in particular has its own vivid collection of folktales and mysterious creatures, the most famous likely being the Big Muddy Monster — the region’s version of Bigfoot.

Sightings of the monster peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, even garnering attention from the New York Times. Carbondale attorney Christian Baril’s anecdote of seeing the beast made it into that report.

Baril in an interview last year recalled that incident from 1973. He said he was 3 years old, playing in a sandbox with his neighbor.

It was getting toward dusk in his Westwood Hills neighborhood. After his buddy went home, Baril said he stayed outside.

“As I was out there I saw something. I don’t really remember the actual seeing of it,” Baril said.

He said he turned around and looked up at his house. The lights were all on as night set in, and the windows glowed. Baril said he had one thought.

“Mommy.”

While the monster itself isn’t clear in his head, some parts of the memory are.

“To this day I have a really clear picture of being really afraid and turning around and looking at that house,” Baril said.

When he went inside to tell his parents what he had seen, they weren’t too concerned. His dad, still dressed from work, was on the kitchen floor replacing a hinge on the refrigerator.

“OK, that’s fine. It’s time to go to bed,” is what Baril remembers being told when he announced his encounter.

It wasn’t until later that evening that his

MAIN PHOTO BY ISAAC SMITH; INSET PHOTO THE SOUTHERN FILE PHOTO

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parents took it a bit more seriously. He said a neighbor called his mother to say that one of her children had seen something in the neighborhood. The neighbor who called, Baril said, was a very conservative woman and not prone to exaggeration. Baril’s mother told the neighbor to call the police.

IN OUR BACKYARD

“The police came out and they brought tracking dogs,” Baril said — though he admitted he was in bed at the time. The neighborhood was out “listening to something crashing through the bushes back there.”

Baril said the story goes that the police chased “it” all the way to a barn in the woods.

But, Baril said, the dogs were too scared to go in. Eventually, the dogs were tossed, but found nothing.

“And it gets away,” Baril said.

Looking back, Baril knows he felt fear and believes something had to be out there. But the certainty stops there.

“In my mind, I don’t know what it was,” he said.

The monster cropped up again about 15 years later in Murphysboro, according to stories published in The Southern at the time.

Bob Reiman told reporters that he encountered the beast, which he said smelled terrible, at his

64

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salvage yard in 1988. Reiman described it as 10 feet tall, with red eyes and yellow teeth. His mother told The Southern it smelled like “a skunk that fell in a sewer.”

At the time, he provided sketches to the newspaper.

When investigating these types of claims, embracing certainty of the uncertain is part of it.

“I try to give people the benefit of the doubt,” Starrick said.

Virgil Smith has spent a considerable amount of time — and money — looking into strange sightings and weird happenings for people in Southern Illinois. He’s been at it for more than two decades, and estimates he’s spent about a quarter of a million dollars.

He said there is one rule when talking with witnesses.

“Don’t ever discredit anyone when you talk to them for any reason. Because the first

time you do it, your research is over,” Smith said. There is intense stigma attached to these sightings and stories for the witnesses, he said, and someone willing to come forward with an experience should be listened to.

JUST THE FACTS

Loren Coleman, one of the country’s most noted and respected cryptozoologists, approaches everything with a scientific mind.

In fact, Coleman studied science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

“I had a very scientific and critical thinking approach and would not come out with crazy theories,” Coleman said. He has never ventured so far as to surmise that Bigfoot had been dropped to earth by a UFO, he said.

“I try to keep in the middle, I just want the data, I just want the information,” Coleman said.

Smith said he is of a similar mind.

SKETCH PROVIDED BY BOB REIMAN; PHOTO BY ISAAC SMITH

Above: Bob Reiman provided this sketch to The Southern in 1988, showing what he claimed to have seen in his salvage yard in Murphysboro.

Right: Virgil Smith is pictured during an interview in 2019. Smith is an investigator of monsters and other strange sightings in the region.

“I’ve gotta be able to pinch it, smell it, feel it,” he said, noting that he tries to steer away from the paranormal and stays with things that could be rooted in science.

Take for example his work investigating Saline County’s Tuttle Bottoms Monster. Sightings of the hairy, long-snouted creature began in the 1960s. Smith said he was asked to look into the matter about eight to 10 years ago. What he found was not a creature out of mythology, but was, he believes, to be a known animal seen out of context.

Smith said in his research he discovered that a zoo in Mount Vernon had been forced to shut down around the time of the sightings of the Tuttle Bottoms Monster.

“The guy that owned the zoo did not maintain his animals,” Smith said.

Through his investigation, Smith said, he learned that the man had been visited by federal investigators, who gave him 48 hours to find new homes for the animals or they would come and take them.

“His family and friends said he took them down through, scattered them throughout Southern Illinois, and released them,” he said. One of the animals he released was a giant anteater from Africa, Smith said. The description of the anteater lined up quite well with the description witnesses provided of the Tuttle Bottoms Monster.

Smith said the other animals the zoo owner allegedly released match descriptions of other beasts reported in the southeastern part of the state around the same time, including a hairy primate seen in Massac County. He said an old orangutan was among the animals he set loose, which likely explained this sighting.

Not everything lines up that neatly, though. Coleman said there is always room for the unknown in this type of research, but he said he tends to try to offer concrete explanations when he can.

“If I know it’s something that’s explainable and I’m not going to hurt somebody’s feelings, I think it helps the science,” he said.

Coleman said the science of cryptozoology is something he finds particularly satisfying.

“I think a lot of new science comes from there,” he said, pointing to what he called the “classic animals of discovery.”

The giant squid is an example of this, he said. Until about 2006, the creature existed only in sailors’ tales.

But, there’s a conundrum here, too.

Coleman admitted that cryptozoology

is always left holding on to a list of unknown, potentially unbelievable hypotheses. The giant squid rested firmly in cryptozoology until it was confirmed and taken away from that field, and brought into conventional science. That might fuel some of the intense skepticism crypto-researchers experience, Coleman said.

The search for the new can be all-consuming for some. But this is something Starrick said needs to be tempered. Not finding Bigfoot shouldn’t always be seen as a failure.

He said finding a new waterfall or other geographic landmark shouldn’t be discounted.

He said part of the search should be about being out in the wild and letting what happens, happen.

“Don’t go in the woods looking for Bigfoot. Bigfoot will find you,” he said.

QUESTIONS

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Science aside, Coleman, Starrick and Smith all agreed that these stories can build part of the fabric of a culture, from Southern Illinois to the mountains of Nepal.

“It is remarkable to me how these stories can kind of take hold and decades later become extremely important,” Coleman said.

Thinking back on his time in Southern Illinois, Coleman said there is a lot that makes the region unique for his research.

“Little Egypt is a very distinctive biological space,” Coleman said. He also said the lower half of the state has a lot in common culturally with the South.

“Its Southern nature lends itself to believing and sharing the stories,” he said, adding that “there’s more sharing in the South.”

Smith said this is changing, though.

With the internet, research has shifted.

There are fewer and fewer mom-and-pop places to go and ask about local lore as the conversation shifts online.

Baril said he has seen a welcome shift in the way people view these monsters and their stories. Growing up, he said it was not cool to talk about seeing Bigfoot.

“People don’t want there to be something unexplained, and they ridicule you,” Baril said. However, now the Big Muddy Monster and other cryptids have been embraced as lovable mascots.

As for their veracity, Baril, who has his own very real experience with the unknown, asked what’s the harm in wondering, in having an open mind.

“It’s OK to not know,” he said.

Life & Style : Fall 2020

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PARTING SHOT

p.s.

PHOTO BY BYRON HETZLER

Comet NEOWISE appears in the night sky over Crab Orchard Lake on July 16. The comet was closest to earth on July 23. It was expected to dim in August as it made its way back toward deep space. Scientists say it’ll be at least 6,000 years before earthlings can see it again.

Photographers, we want to see Southern Illinois through your eyes Do you have a color photo that you’d like to share with us? Please email it to lifeandstyle@thesouthern.com. Use the subject: PARTING SHOT. Include your name, where the photo was taken and a brief caption for the photo. Please submit only one shot.

You may see it here in print in the next issue. Don’t worry if you aren’t chosen. We’ll publish your photo online at lifeandstylesi.com.

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