(618) MAGAZINE HOMETOWN OCTOBER 2021
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from the
EDITOR
EDITOR Andrea Howe ahowe@mtcarmelregister.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Maegan Saalwaechter
CONTRIBUTORS Kim Bayless
October, ah! It’s the month of crisp mornings, sunny Saturdays and sweaters in the evening. Our monthly calendar opens with activities across the (618) Hometown neighborhoods, ranging from the still kicking’ 100th Enfield Mule Day celebration to chili cook-off action at Beall Woods and a city-wide yard sale in Albion. It just gets better, as the month progresses. Mona Warrick details all the activities in this year’s Carmi Kiwanis Corn Days celebration, and I’ve got the low-down on the very popular White County Farm To Table event. Corey Woolsey checks in with the folks at Wabash County’s version of “Rock Ridge,” where plans are in the works for a haunted hayride and more. Erin Zinzilietta-Pennington’s column takes a look into the American Girl doll craze, and how much fun it can be for families. Kim Bayless offers up some wonderful Oktoberfest-themed recipes that make my German genes happy. Who wouldn’t love a blueberry kuchen, German skillet and potato pancakes? And then, we have an extra special treat. Years ago, I dreamed of working on a magazine that could feature the work of some of my favorite writers in the area. In this issue, one of them — retired journalist Barry Cleveland — shares the story of how his grandpa turned a worn-out ornery $55 auction horse into the continent’s fastest double-gaited trotter. Be sure to check out the story of Guy Cleveland and Ouster Volo! A special note of thanks is in order to each reader who offers up a story idea, or shares a word of encouragement for our work. We love sharing the stories of our communities! Be sure to thank the advertisers which make it possible for us to bring these stories to your mailbox every month! Until November, happy reading — and thank you for allowing us to share your stories!
Andrea Howe Editor
Barry Cleveland Tim Martin Mona Warrick Corey Woolsey Erin Zinzilieta-Pennington
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Carmi Kiwanis Corn Days (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021 1
STRAIGHT OUTTA
Corn-antine
Carmi Corn Days to be held Oct. 6-9
concert, they remembered, and told me they were going to be back for this year’s Corn Days. Such great memories!” Corn Days events begin Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. with “Carmi’s Got Talent,” to be held at the First United Methodist Church. On Thursday, Oct. 7 at 6:30, White County Farm to Table will be held. (Please see Andrea Howe’s related story for more information on this event.) The 12th annual Cor n Days cor nhole tournament will be on Friday, October 8, in the First Mid Bank drive through parking
WRITER: MONA L. WARRICK
lot. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. The first games will begin at 6 p.m. Entr y fee is $20
“Someone’s always saying that there ain’t
travel back to the 1970s and sing “Never Been
per team, with cash prizes going to the top
no place like home.” Oft used, there are no
Any Reason,” with one of the region’s favorite
three teams and to the consolation champions.
truer words. The legendar y, midwest band,
rock bands. They will headline, on the main
The tournament will be limited to the first 32
Head East, even opens a 1976 song with this
stage, Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
teams to sign up. Call or text Clint Taylor, 618-
Most locals, of a cer tain age, remember
sentiment.
383-4206, to sign up.
If the global pandemic has taught us any-
Head East’s first Carmi gig. Rare is the con-
Saturday’s events kick off with the Candy
thing, it’s that family, friends, and home are
versation, about the late, great Carmi Teen
Corn Run. Sponsored by the Guardian Center,
among life’s greatest treasures.
Town, without mention of their memorable
proceeds benefit the organization. Registra-
visit in the 1970s.
tion is open until 8 a.m. Oct. 7. For more
Since the late 1920s, Corn Day has been the perfect opportunity for Carmians and fel-
Former Grayville resident, Mike Swee-
information, contact the Guardian Center at
low White Countians to come home. However,
ney, hasn’t lived in this area for decades,
618-382-8247. A pageant, pet parade, cake
in 2020, the pandemic prevented the sojourn
but plans to come “home” for Corn Days. “I
walk, chili cook-off, and more are slated for
as the celebration was canceled.
wouldn’t miss the Head East concert,” he said.
Saturday.
That was then… “Corn-antine 2021” is on!
Sweeney saw them when they performed at
A highlight of Corn Days is the coronation
If you haven’t already, mark your calendars
Carmi Teen Town. “I remember standing in
of the Corn Days Queen and King. This will
for October 6-9; you don’t want to miss this
the balcony area, looking down at the stage
take place at noon Saturday, Oct. 9 on the
year’s event! Hosted by the Carmi Kiwanis
and watching everyone go nuts on the dance
main stage.
Club, Kiwanis President Justin Dartt said the
floor. The band members were always friendly
A wide variety of musical acts are sched-
organization is excited to be able to host Corn
and visited with ever yone when they were
uled throughout the day on Saturday. (See
Days this year.
on break.” Sweeney, who now lives in New
schedule of events).
A jam-packed schedule of events of fers
Baden, recently attended a Head East Con-
Lovers of countr y music won’t be disap-
something for everyone, including an encore
cert. “I held up a sign that said ‘Remember
pointed with this year’s lineup. Clayton Mann
performance by Head East! It will be fun to
Carmi Teen Town?’ I talked to them after the
performs at 7 p.m. on the main stage. Mann,
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128 Tenth Street Carmi, IL 62821 618-384-5400
an entertainer/singer/songwriter from Chi-
Women,” “Queen of Memphis,” and many
Days and they do a great job. Everyone comes
cago, now lives in Nashville. He is known
more.
home for Corn Days. It’s always been a week-
for his hard-charging, rock-inspired music.
The band, formed in the mid-1980s, has
He injects rock-n-roll into countr y music by
released six studio albums. Eighteen of their
blending traditional and contemporar y coun-
singles have entered the Billboard Hot Coun-
try, all while adding the melodic riffs and fills
try Songs charts.
of guitar-charging rock.
end set aside for getting together with family and friends.” Pollard hopes ever yone has a chance to check out the city’s newest park. Located
Kiwanians and city officials are thrilled to
where the theater once stood, the park fea-
Countr y fans won’t want to miss Confed-
welcome ever yone back to Carmi this year.
tures a playground, picnic areas, and you’ll
erate Railroad’s per formance on the main
Mayor Jeff Pollard said, “Last year, it was sad
notice a very familiar piece of neon displayed
stage at 8 p.m. Saturday. Fans will enjoy their
not being able to celebrate. The Kiwanis Club
on the brick wall. He said, “We can’t wait to
hits including “Jesus and Mama,” “Trashy
works so hard preparing and hosting Corn
see everyone again!”
TENTATIVE CORN DAY 2021 SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6 6 p.m.
Carmi’s Got Talent (First United Methodist Church)
THURSDAY, OCT. 7 6:30 p.m. White County Farm to Table
FRIDAY, OCT. 8 5:30 p.m. Pageant (Car Show Stage) 5:30 p.m. Corn Hole Tournament (First Mid Bank Parking Lot) 7 p.m.
Head East (Main Stage)
7 p.m.
High School Football Game @ Eldorado
SATURDAY, OCT. 9 8 a.m. Guardian Center Candy Corn Run – Starts at First Christian Church (Registration: 7 a.m.) 10 a.m. Pet Parade (Downtown) – Line up at First Mid Bank & Trust 10:30 a.m. The Appetizers (Car Show Stage) 11 a.m. Cake Walk (Main Stage) 11a.m. Chili Cook-off – Veteran’s Park Noon King and Queen Coronation (Main Stage) 1 p.m. Luke Simon (Main Stage) 2 p.m. Bringing Home – Christian Band (Main Stage) 3 p.m. Carmi’s Got Talent Winners (Main Stage) 4 p.m. 2021 Corn Day Parade 7 p.m. Clayton Mann (Main Stage) 8 p.m. Confederate Railroad (Main Stage)
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(618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021 3
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4 (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021
Try these Oktoberfest favorites WRITER: KIM BAYLESS
PHOTOS: TIM MARTIN
** CORRECTION ** Our September issue inadvertently included photos from a previous month’s recipe. We apologize for the oversight.
Oktoberfest is usually a 16-18 day folk festival held annually in Munich, Germany. More than 6 million people from all over the world attend the festival. It began in 1810 as a celebration of the marriage of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. There are many traditional foods that Oktoberfest is celebrated with.
BLUEBERRY KUCHEN 1 ½ cups flour
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups blueberries
Roast chicken, roast pork, roasted ham hock, sausages, pretzels, and pota-
1 ½ tsp lemon zest
to dumplings to name a few.
½ tsp nutmeg
TOPPING:
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
½ cup flour
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup butter, melted
Whether you are of German heritage or not, please give the German Skillet, German Potato Pancakes and Blueberry Kuchen a try. They are super simple and will give you a taste of German festival foods.
GERMAN SKILLET 16 oz. pkg Kielbasa, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
2 onions, quartered
2 Tbsp butter
2 tart apples, sliced
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, nutmeg and salt; stir in milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with blueberries and topping. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Makes about 24 servings. Combine ingredients in a small bowl; toss with a fork until crumbly.
Place sausage in skillet sprayed with non-stick spray; heat until browned around edges. Add onion, apples and pepper; heat until tender. Add butter and brown sugar; stir until mixture coats sausage and vegetables. Makes 4 servings.
POTATO PANCAKES 2 eggs
6 potatoes, peeled & shredded
2 Tbsp flour
½ cup onion, finely chopped
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ cup oil
½ tsp salt
Garnish with applesauce or sour cream
¼ tsp pepper
Blend together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in potatoes and onion; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. In batches, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of potato mixture into the skillet. Press to flatten and cook about 3 minutes on each side until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels. Makes 6 servings.
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(618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021 5
CONTINENT’S
FASTEST TROTTER DOUBLE-GATED
Guy Cleveland and Ouster Volo own a piece of harness racing history WRITER: BARRY CLEVELAND
The consensus was that the horse was washed up. The consensus was wrong. It was the late 1930s, and Guy Cleveland of Carmi “was in Indianapolis monkeying around at an auction sale of worn-out harness horses,” wrote correspondent Frances S. King for an article in the Aug. 24, 1946 edition of The Evansville Courier. “He was there because he loved horses and had been doing harness racing all his life.” Guy — my grandfather — didn’t come home to Carmi empty-hand-
“No matter how fast he is, if he won’t mind you, he won’t win very often,” the veteran horseman said.
ed. He bought a 7-year-old gelding — Ouster Volo--for $55 and hauled him home to Carmi. Ouster (sired by Outsider, out of Dot Volo) had
Teaching Ouster to mind was a big job, for the horse was, as Guy said, “on the contrary side, all right.”
done well as a 3-year-old in Ohio, but his success was apparently all
But whatever Guy did worked. Aaron detailed his training regimen
in the past. Guy was convinced that Ouster wasn’t “worn out,” but he
in a 1958 column, noting that the horseman arose well before dawn,
didn’t race him right away. Instead, he put Ouster and another race
even in the dead of winter, to jog his horses, and took them to the
horse (Scott Lincoln) to work, helping plant corn and do other “light
Fairgrounds in nearby Carmi a couple of days a week to train at the
farm work” on his farm near McHenry Church, east of Carmi, newspa-
half-mile oval there. (I remember riding along on the jog cart along the
per accounts said.
east-west dirt lane dividing Guy’s 160-acre farm in half, and I’m sure my
Another Courier writer, Joe Aaron, said Guy told him that Ouster
sister Cathy rode along, as well, there and at the track.)
spent “many a weary day pulling a corn planter in the field” after he was
And then, after the crops were planted and cultivated, Guy and his
brought to White County. In itself, that wasn’t enough to turn a “worn-
horses went on the county fair circuit, starting in July. He raced not only
out” horse into a star. But Guy told him, Aaron added, that he succeed-
in Illinois but also in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas in those
ed due to patience, experience and horse sense. And he tried to teach
days. And sometimes a season was capped by racing at Nashville, Ten-
the horse “good manners,” meaning that he must be taught to mind.
nessee or Lexington, Kentucky.
6 (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021
The latter venue proved to be the springboard to Ouster’s eventual fame in 1945, when he raced well at the Lexington Trots.
by March 30, when Guy wrote to his daughter, Dorothy, and her husband, Loy Barbre.
As the industr y weekly newsmagazine “The Horseman and Fair
“We are getting along all right, not much work to do,” he wrote. ”The
World” reported in September 1945, “Horse of the Meeting without a
horses are getting along good. It has been raining here for two days and
doubt was the veteran double-gaited gelding Ouster Volo. Starting three
two nights and is still raining but we don’t have to get out in the rain.
times as a trotter and once as a pacer, he won all four of his starts.
We have nice rooms to stay in, we have electric heat, hot and cold water
But his claim to fame came in a race that he didn’t win outright — but then again, no one did. “Then he started as a trotter again and narrowly missed a complete
and good lights and plenty of oranges to eat, and the race track never gets muddy. We sure have good neighbors and I know a lot of people out here.
victory but in doing so turned in a world’s championship performance
“We had a nice trip coming out here with the horses,” Guy added,
as the dead heat is the best on record,” the magazine said. Ouster and
speaking of the drive of more than 2,000 miles. “[I] done most all the
Earl’s Moody Guy finished the mile in 2:05, best ever at the time in a tie
driving in day time so could see the country. The mountains was lovely
on the trot.
to look at, a little up grade for a Ford but we made it OK. Some time we
And Ouster did it at the age of 14, when many other race horses
would go up from 10 to 20 miles, lots of it in low gear and then down the
were long since retired. He was believed to be the oldest trotter at the
same way in second gear and shut off the motor. Some times we would
meeting.
have to go through tunnels but our breaks [brakes] was good when we
The triumphs at Lexington could have capped a career in which Ouster had won 44 races over the course of six years for Guy, with a record of 2:03 ¾ on the trot. But he wasn’t finished.
wanted to use them. The motor run fine all the way. Didn’t add any oil, changed oil two or three times. “Mr. Dixon (?) and I drove up on the mountain one afternoon; it
The Red Mile performance may have convinced Guy to set his sights
seems too high to be (?). Journey (?) made my head and ears hurt for
even higher, for in the winter of 1946, he and Ouster (accompanied
a while, then as we came back I stopped and picked some oranges and
by an aide and perhaps one other horse) set out for California and the
then one evening before he took me over to see the ocean, it looked like
Grand Circuit tracks of Santa Anita and Bay Meadows.
a lot of water to me. I would like to go fishing if I get time. They tell me
The group had settled in at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California
that anyone that knows how to fish with hooks and line can catch 75 to
(618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021 7
100 lbs. of fish in one evening.
he did win eight of nine heats in July and August at Rockport, Indiana,
“Dorothy, you must take good care of yourself and get well so you
Benton and Carmi.
can go home soon,” he wrote, referring to her recent spell in the hospi-
Guy and Ouster showed up, as promised, on Sept. 25, 1946 (the 24th
tal. “And tell Mom not to work too hard in the garden and potato patch.
birthday of his newly-married son, Charles, who had been left in charge
Write when you feel like it. Love to all from Dad.”
of the farm during his father’s prolonged absence on the West Coast).
Not all Ouster’s 18 California starts were auspicious (in fact, he won only four heats).
It took three heats, but Guy drove Ouster to victor y in the trotting portion of the challenge. A week later, however, “Ouster got a fit of
In a letter dated Sunday, April 28, 1946, Guy’s wife, Vera, wrote to
temperament” and gave less than his all in the pacing challenge “and
him. “Got your letter yesterday…awfully sorry you are having such bad
lost resoundingly to the Canadian cayuse,” Aaron wrote 12 years later.
luck. But your time will come — just you wait and see!”
(I was not familiar with the word “cayuse,” but Wikipedia defines it as
On Friday, May 3, 1946, Vera wrote that Guy had just one more week to get Ouster ready for the big race. “Tell him if he don’t do better it’s back to corn planting for him!” she wrote.
an archaic term used in the American West, originally referring to a small landrace horse, often noted for unruly temperament.”) I don’t know the particulars, but it was well known that an irritated
Well, he “did better.” On May 4, he started from the 6-hole in the
Ouster wouldn’t cooperate with his driver. So in the days before the
3-year-old and up trot at Santa Anita, took the lead before the quarter
starting gate was mounted on an automobile that gradually acceler-
and led the rest of the way to win in 2:04 ½ on a fast track, tops in a
ated as it moved from the top of the stretch to the starting line, other
field of eight. The race summary said Ouster “was sent into the lead going to the first turn, set all the pace and, under a well rated drive in the final furlong,” held on for the win, earning $450 for his owner. Vera had written earlier, “Sorry old Ouster hasn’t forgotten his old tricks! He may be sorr y this winter–but I guess he is wanting to come home and put in crop.” But on May 8, having learned the “good news” from Santa Anita, she responded with good news of her own: another of Guy’s successful reclamation projects, a mare named B.B., had given bir th to B.B.’s Baby, in Guy’s absence. By May 19, she was writing to ask when Guy and the horses would move on to the Bay Meadows track near San Francisco. He did move north to race at the San Mateo track, winning one race (June 12, a trot, in 2:08) before eventually heading home. Meanwhile, Guy had received an official invitation
drivers would occasionally cause false star ts to
The triumphs at Lexington could have capped a career in which Ouster had won 44 races over the course of six years for Guy, with a record of 2:03 ¾ on the trot. But he wasn’t finished.
to take par t in an extraordinar y event. In a letter
aggravate Ouster and gain an advantage. Maybe that’s what happened at Lexington that September day; maybe not. But the two horses took part in just one heat on the pace, with Tracey Hanover winning in what the yearbook described as “declared finished.” In any event, Guy brought home some cash and a trophy symbolic of Ouster’s title as the continent’s fastest double-gaited trotter. I gave the trophy (a silver platter) a much-needed cleaning and polish just the other day. By 1960, Guy (who was now 70 and hampered by broken bones suf fered in two harness racing accidents) was winding down his career, though not quite done. I was privileged to watch him and Charles (my dad) compete with Scotty Truax and Rosegay on a number of area tracks in the late ‘50s and 1960. And while their performances never approached those of B.B. and Ouster Volo, there were enough victories to thrill me and enough
dated April 16, 1946, the Lexington Trots Breeders Association invited
praise from the spectators for my grandfather and father to warm my
him to bring Ouster back to the Red Mile that fall to race against Trac-
heart as I watched from the sidelines.
ey Hanover, the 14-year-old, double-gaited champion of Canada, in the
I believe Grandpa Guy gave up the sport that he loved when the
International Double-Gaited Match Race. The challenge was issued
woman he loved — Grandma Vera — died in April 1963. He lived for
on behalf of the Harness Horsemen of Canada, Nova Scotia and the
four years, four months and three days longer, dying just after the
Maritime Provinces (which were separately governed at the time). The
birth of his first grandson, Woodie L ynn Puntney. And while I got to
match races were set for Sept. 25 (on the trot) and Oct. 2 (on the pace),
spend a lot of quality time with him (I was 16 when he died), my heart
with $600 to go to the winner and $400 to the runner-up. Trophies were
is sad when I realize that I didn’t ask enough questions or listen close-
also to be presented to the winner(s).
ly enough when he talked about his racing experiences or the other
In order to win, a horse had to capture two heats. The first heat was to be a mile, the second 1 1/8 miles and the third (if needed) 1 1/16 miles. Guy formally accepted the challenge on May 3 — the day before Ouster’s big win at Santa Anita. I don’t know when Guy and his entourage returned to White County from the West Coast, or how he prepared Ouster for the big race. But
8 (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021
facets of his life. In retrospect, however, he probably didn’t talk much about his exploits. As Aaron wrote in that 1958 column, Guy was “quiet, almost shy, and unassuming. And most of all, he doesn’t want to sound like he’s bragging. “Sure, he’s proud of his luck with horses,” Aaron added, “but he’d rather die than brag about it.”
American Girl Doll Mania WRITER AND PHOTOS: ERIN ZINZILIETTA-PENNINGTON If you have a little girl, she might have fallen
both wonderful and maddening.
prey to the American Girl Doll epidemic. My daugh-
Taylor read most of the books, which taught
ter caught the American Girl bug when she was
her a lot about history. She would sit and play with
eight. She received her first doll, named Kit, and a
her dolls for hours. She talked to them, fed them,
love affair/addiction started.
brushed their hair and changed their clothes.
“American Girl is an American line of 18-inch
Wherever we went, a doll was sure to tag along.
dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The
Usually Bitty Baby, also known as “Baby Kather-
dolls portray eight– to eleven–year–old girls of a
ine,” with her one eye that stuck shut, went with
variety of ethnicities. They are sold with accompa-
us. We had her carrier, car seat, receiving blanket,
nying books told from the viewpoint of the girls.
baby powder, rattle, and even birthday cake. It was
Originally the stories focused on various periods
like dragging around another child.
of American history, but were expanded in 1995 to
I have to admit, that the contagion rubbed off.
include characters and stories from contemporary
When a catalog came out, I sat in awe of the market-
life. Pleasant Company was founded in 1986 by
ing genius that went into making these dolls. The
Pleasant Rowland, and its products were originally
play food and small scale furniture was historically
purchasable by mail order only. In 1998, Pleasant
accurate. I found myself in a make believe wonder-
Company became a subsidiary of Mattel.” (www.
land, where I never wanted to leave. Who wouldn’t
wikipedia.com) Hence, a phenomena was born.
like to have a picture perfect life?
Once an American Girl Doll is purchased, so is
The American Girl Doll spell broke when Taylor
the desire to obtain more. You are not just buying
was 12. She was ready to move on to other things
a doll, but a collector’s addiction. My Taylor is the
and I was sad to see it all go. While having these
only child, of an only child, on her father’s side, so
dolls was costly, it was so wonderful seeing a child
Grandma Dorothy came to the rescue. Between my
learn and play and use their imagination. I was
Mom and her paternal grandmother, Taylor ended
happy that she was happy. I missed sitting for hours
up owning all of the original set of American Girl’s
making her clothes for her dolls. I missed her little
including: Kit, Molly, Felicity, Samantha, Kirsten,
friends coming over for doll day. I missed Bitty
Addy, Josefina, and Kaya. Then she received special
Babies birthday parties that happened on a regular
dolls like Lindsey and three Bitty Babies. Basically,
basis. Most of all, I missed my little Taylor.
she owned over $1,500 worth of dolls, not including
I’ve been told that having a little boy is equally
all the extras that you have to buy separately. I’m
as expensive with die cast tractors, video games,
not saying this to brag, I’m saying this to show how
super hero figurines, and matchbox cars. While
out of hand it can get. With each birthday and each
that may be true, nothing can compare to American
Christmas a doll was sure to arrive, as well as the
Girl mania. It’s a wild wonderful ride that ends all
doll’s pet and favorite articles of clothing. It was
too soon.
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Farm-to-table dining under the stars Oct. 7 WRITER: ANDREA HOWE Our neighbors in the 618 area know a
Scates. Money raised from the dinner will
at the grocer y store or gas station, maybe
thing or two about farm to table dining. Our
benefit White County Future Farmers of
they’re no longer a stranger.
gardens and our produce stands dot the
America clubs.
countr yside, and the fruits of our labor come
“A number of people asked why we were
to our dinner table regularly during growing
doing the event, or what it was for,” Scates
season.
“Our hope is that this dinner helps narrow that divide that’s going on in the world right now,” he said.
said of the first dinner. “Of course, we are
Tickets for the Oct. 7 event can be pur-
And yet, few farm-to-table dining experi-
raising money for dif ferent organizations
chased by phoning Scates Valley Irrigation
ences in this area can compare to the White
like 4-H and FFA, but it’s more to celebrate
at 618-968-2471 or stopping by the People’s
County Farm To Table Dinner. The 5:30 p.m.
agriculture in our communities and county —
National Bank Carmi branch. Sponsorships
Oct. 7 meal takes place right in the middle
while also hopefully bringing our community
are also available at those locations, and
of the 100 block of South Main Cross Street,
closer,” he explained.
sponsor names will be on banners displayed
under the lights, with a view of the historic
“We are all guilty of staying in our own
Webb Hay House and Carmi’s oldest home,
circles, at work, churches, clubs, etc. Maybe
at the event. The organizing committee for the White
the Robinson Stewart House Museum.
this helps join some of those circles,” he
County Farm To Table meal includes Patrick
This year’s event follows the inaugural
suggested. “With one table set up down the
H. and Tim Scates of Scates Valley Irrigation,
2019 Farm to Table dinner that drew great
middle of the street, you never know who
Carmi-White County school teacher Bethany
feedback, with par ticipants asking organiz-
you might be seated across from, or next to.
Scates, and Malinda Nelson and Jill Fowler of
ers to make it an annual event, said Patrick
Then, the next time you run into that person
Peoples National Bank.
10 (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021
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Community Events GET ON THE CALENDAR Want to see your event on the (618) Hometown Magazine Event Calendar? Send us an email at:
news@mtcarmelregister.com * Event listings are on a first-come, first-served basis
OCT. 7
Farm to Table Carmi
OCT. 8-9
Carmi Kiwanis Corn Days Carmi
OCT. 9
Albion City-wide Yard Sale Harvestfest 2021
Berryville Vineyards – Claremont – 12 p.m.
OCT. 2
100th Mule Days Celebration
Candy Corn 5K
Enfield
Carmi – 1 p.m.
Second Annual Oktoberfest Rotary Park – Olney
OCT. 30
Brawl in the Fall (Pickleball)
Market St., Mount Carmel – 1 p.m.
Riverview Ramble Half Marathon
Olney Tennis Courts – 8 a.m.
Chili Cook Off
OCT. 31
Hogwarts Halloween
Beall Woods – Mount Carmel – 8 a.m.
Olney Public Library – 5 p.m.
(618) GET TO KNOW YOUR HOMETOWN Follow us on Facebook @618HometownMagazine 12 (618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021
Halloween fun and scares in Southern Illinois WRITER: COREY WOOLSEY The Christmas season is a time where people can drive down local streets and see the decorations placed by their neighbors. But some locals celebrate and decorate for other holidays as well, including Halloween. Jay Hillyard built a his version of “Rock Ridge,” a small area in rural Wabash County named for the fictional village made famous in the Mel Brook’s classic ‘Blazing Saddles.” “We do outdoor movies in the summer, but our main thing is Halloween,” Hillyard said. “We cook chili, we do a haunted hayride, we have a lot of decorations including animated stuff on the hayride. One of the big things we do is we have a collection of power wheels so the kids can sit in front of the movies screen like they are at the drive-in.” The tradition at Rock Ridge started in 2014 for Hillyard, and they have hosted around 60 people at the site at one time. “We don’t collect any money for anything, it’s just something to do that isn’t like anything else in the area,” Hillyard said. According to Hillyard’s girlfriend, Tracy Moler, Rock Ridge star ted in a fairly small area, but expanded over the years. As for the hayride, the first year the vehicle was a four-wheeler and a two-wheeled trailer. Now, Hillyard uses a tractor and found an old trailer that looks similar to an old stagecoach. Events at Rock Ridge are sometimes a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, but typically a plan is in place.
patch,” he said. “We did a plant your own
“We tr y to plan it out and do it a little
pumpkin patch a couple of years ago. I went
before dark for people who haven’t been out
out and plowed part of the field and we had
there,” said Moler. Hillyard said that he does
150 pumpkins planted, but the boll weevils got
invitations to the event nights, and tells those
them.”
invited to bring their friends — but sometimes
However, in the process, over $300 was
random people just show up because they are
collected and donated to the Wabash County
curious.
Lunch Wagon.
“We tell people that if they don’t know the
Hillyard said that they usually get things
place, to invite some friends so they kind of
together around late September to celebrate
have their own group to mingle with,” Hillyard
the Halloween season.
said.
Rock Ridge has its own page of Facebook
Of all the things to see and do at Rock
where interested residents can check out pic-
Ridge, one thing Hillyard said was a work in
tures of the area and contact Hillyard about all
progress was a pumpkin patch.
the events they host. The venue is located at
“We kind of flopped on the pumpkin
17639 East 700 RD, Wabash County.
(618) HOMETOWN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2021 13