Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Sheldon Teagle!!!!

Allan Mapel

Barb,  I lived just a block away from tracks of the I.C. (Illinois Central RR) on Felton Place. If you look close on the engine you can see IC RR.  I believe they ran north to south in Illinois.  Also this pic is looking east on Oakland Ave.  If you look real close in the distance you the see a Standard Oil  station operated by Mel Ewerts.

Susie Dowell (Emery)

Barbara, I don't remember seeing a train go over the viaduct either. However, we lived  near Oakland school and on humid nights, we could hear the whistle of the train, and Mom would say, "It must be going to rain, we can hear the train whistle." And it usually did rain.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

The Bath House at Miller Park which I was only in one time.at 
 

The Bear Cages.  I don't know if these are still there or not.

Ron Williams

Barb:  

Wonderful old pictures.  I lived on Indianapolis Street next to the tracks east .  You go up the railing, and it was the house looking down on the bridge.  I would scare my mom by hanging on the rail.  Saw trains daily.  My parents got me my first electric train-circa a 1953 Lionel 2018/027 gauge steamer.  I now am in deep with model  railoading.  My layout is based on the 1940s WW2 and post war- always a work in progress.  

Also,  worked at the old Beich plant in the early 70s.  I worked nights for Louie Denbow- manually worked hot Golden Crumbles for the spinners, pushed starch molds, cooked in the taffy area, and ran the swirchboard when needed.  Got layed off, and never went back.

Ron Williams 62

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Two former businesses in Bloomington, West Side Coal & Lumber, notice the brick street.

and Brown Home & Auto. This picture of Brown Home and Auto was on the corner of N. Main and Monroe, I think.  Years ago wasn't it located on the Southwest corner of Main and Front, for some reason I seem to remember that.

Bill Butler

Barb,

     Your choice of images makes me feel that I am reliving my life when you post those cool photos of B-ton’s historic places.  Incredibly, you have posted 4 or 5 that relate directly to my most vivid memories of growing up in B-ton.  So, bear with me while I try not to exaggerate and pontificate too much about several of them (I’ll go with the medium-short version).

          Mennonite Hospital, where I was born, was only one block south of my house on Main Street.  Mom graduated there in 1940 (immodestly adding, at the top of her class, Mennonite College of Nursing) and was an RN and alumni exec there for 40-years.  I had several operations there (…hey, for the record, none of which involved my brain).  Mom literally locked the front door on the hospital when the nursing program was absorbed into Illinois State University (early 1980s) and became the ISU MCN in 1999.  MCN is now rated one of the top nursing colleges in the nation.  ISU has a yearly endowed scholarship in Mom’s name.

          The next photo is Franklin Elementary School.  It was just 3-blocks east of my house, but when you’re in the first grade, that was way across town.  The principal was Ms. Buzzbee.  My recollection is that she was stern, never smiled, looked very business-like, wore long black dresses, wore her black hair in a bun, had spectacles with the croakies-type thingy that hung on her chest, and carried a sap (…well, maybe it was a ruler).  She was probably a spinster who could have doubled as a max-security warden at any first-rate gulag.  I later learned her name was Busby, and I have no idea if my scary impressions were tainted by my young age or were for real.

          As others have noted, we remember the fire escape tubes, getting the seats of our pants/dresses dirty in drills, and having fun sliding.  And if you were on “the good list”, you were asked to clean the blackboard, sharpen the pencils, clean the chalk erasers, and collect the 2-cents for everyone’s half-pint of milk.  And do you remember the Halloween parades? – we all walked single-file around the neighborhood to show off our costumes.  Mine was a white sheet with small eye holes and I kept falling down because I couldn’t see anything.  Funny how one remembers this stuff.  I also remember being chased home by the older bullies in the higher grades, but I learned how to run and use evasive tactics because of it. I was never as good as Forest Gump, but thirty-some years later I ran the world’s highest foot race at Mt. Evans, CO (all uphill ending at 14,250-ft. elev.) and got a trophy.  At that elevation, almost half the Earth’s oxygen is below you and the effort is like running with only one lung.  Actually, I did it two years in a row. See now, there is a plausible reason for everything!  My advantage was that I live at 8,000-ft. elev. and my blood chemistry and metabolism had thoroughly adapted, and all I did was imagine being chased by bullies.

          The grocery store (either called Mike’s or ? Armbruster’s) across the street from Franklin was interesting; it didn’t stock much but I do remember the $1 rhinestone yo-yo for sale that Corky Snearly mentioned previously.  Hey Cork, I didn’t buy it, but we can probably find out who did.  I bought baseball cards there and had the entire Yankee team.  Unfortunately, somebody cleaned my room when I was at the U. of Ill., otherwise I’d be a multi-zillionaire now.  I also remember in first grade when my mother gave me a quarter and said go to Mike’s and buy a loaf of bread; then she gave me a nickel and said I’d need it for tacks.  When I got to Mike’s, the lady clerk said I still owed another 2-cents. I was confused.  The lady called my mother and said I needed more money because the bread was $.25 and the box of tacks was $.05, so the total came to $.32 with tax.  Oh well, such is higher math and hard lessons in naïve attempts to avoid tax when you are six.

          My knowledge about trains and RRs is very limited, but I do remember one event that made me greatly appreciate them.  Pete Hostetler and I were going for a Boy Scout merit badge in hiking.  The conditions were that we would be dropped off somewhere in McLean County 5-miles from Pete’s house.  So, blindfolded by Pete’s dad, he put us in his car and dropped us off somewhere unbeknownst to us in rural Illinois.  We were not allowed to ask for directions.  When Pete and I took off the blindfolds, we got our compass directions, saw a railroad track, and simply walked 5-miles south on the track back to Pete’s house.  I think that Ron Williams and Allan Mapel are correct, the ICRR is mostly a N-S line.  We didn’t get run over by a train and we got our merit badges!  Remember this the next time you get kidnapped in a remote area and manage to escape – all RR tracks lead somewhere (…or is that another Yogyism?).

          Barb has also provided images of hotels in downtown B-ton; so, in another future post I will make some comments about another hotel in downtown.  My relatives owned and operated the pre-Civil War Butler House at Madison and Front Sts.  Being the oldest hotel in B-ton, it had some interesting history (per The Pantagraph, the McLean County Museum of History, and stories from my dad) involving William Cody and other well-known visitors up until about 1922.  Stay tuned.  Bill

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Judy Cowart King!!!!

Bob Knapp

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY!!!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Karen Westfall Van Hook!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

This is a picture of two buildings which were located on East Street, the first being  the Bus Station which is no more, it's a "green area" now.

The next picture is of the Consistory or Masonic Temple which is now known as the Center for Performing  Arts.  If anyone was in Rainbow Girls or the Demolay or if you were a member of the Passion Play cast you would have gone  there.

Larry Keeran

I am reading comments that are close to my home.   I grew up South of Franklin Park and would ride my bike there many times.  I was born at Mennonite Hospital like many of you.  Also, my son got on the record of being born there also. Anyway the comment of running into the mountains brought up recollections of my interest in running.

It started when my wife was blocked from going to town during a race that ran right by our house at Lake Bloomington.  We didn’t pay much attention to races previously but this one caught our attention.  So, I started trying to run the circuit around the short loop at the lake. It was beautiful and sometimes in the morning you would see a deer in the woods.

That was in 1998-9,  I started buying a number and running each first Saturday in May in that race.  It was different because now I wasn’t alone running.   That was good and bad.  Good trying to keep up.  Bad because I had a hard time talking while running… so I didn’t talk.  I wasn’t much into the speed thing.  It was just a “mountain to climb”.  Ofter one race,  warm up and do another at Lake Bloomington’s Lake Run Club.

Well, one race they called my name afterwards.   I was partaking of the free liquid refreshments but put it down and went up to the stand.  They handed me First Place in my age group.  Wow.  So, that included a ticket for the Peoria Race later that month.  Well, there were a hundred thousand more runners there and it was crowded.  I didn’t win anything nor did I try to win.

After that I came in 4th in the next years Lake Run Club race at Lake Run (2007).  The guy that I was running alongside was first through the gate and he was 3rd in my age group.  Oh, well.  Age has it’s advantages… not many old guys run.

I moved to France the next year and mapped out some roads and paths that would be the same as the 4.4 mile circuit in Illinois.  I would run the circuit on the same day as the race at the Lake was.  Then, compare my time with theirs.

The only difference was that France has hills around that are 60 feet high and what goes up must come down.  Those hills were not at the Lake Run.  I’ll admit I have to walk some of the times and really not run always.   Even going down hill uses different muscles.

I’ve been enjoying training and running these hills.  I mostly do GoPro videos of the beautiful scenes as I do the circuit.

I tabulated my times and compared them to what a guy my age in Illinois would place in the Lake Run Club race.

I was pleased that I was doing a 2nd or 3rd place run.

All good things come to stop.  I was getting too out of breath on the hills and asked the doctor what the problem was.  He said “You aren’t made to run at the age of 75.”   So, now I just walk.

Here are some numbers:

1998 first interest in running at 4 Seasons Indoor Club

YEAR DAY   BIB  AGE    PL   GROUP   TIME         PACE

2000 5/6    412   56   11 M   55-59   50:02.1    11:27/Mile

2001 5/5     366  57     7 M   55-59   43:58.2   10:04/Mile

2002 5/4     333  58    11M   55-59   42:48.8     9:48/Mile

2003 5/3     475  59    15M   55-59   49:40.5    11:22/Mile

2004 5/1     384  60      5M   60-64   45:16.4    10:22/Mile

2005 5/8     300  61      8M   60-64   44:41.2    10:14/Mile

2006 5/6     410  62      1M    60-64   44:37.4    10:26/Mile

2007 5/5     244  63      4M   60-64    41:43.9     9:33/Mile

2008 5/3

2009 5/2       virt 65    *4M   65-70    49:24.4    7:01 min/km LOG distance 7.03 km

2010  5/1       virt 66    *5M   65-70    46:43       9:00 min/Mi LOG distance 7.02 km

2011  5/7

2012 5/5       virt 68    *7M   65-70     57:37       9:19 min/km LOG distance 7.1 km

2013 5/4       virt 69    *2M   65-70    54:24       7:39 min/km LOG distance 7.1 km

2014  5/3

2015  5/2      virt 71     *2M   71-90     52:13        7:23 min/km LOG distance 7.1 km

2016  5/7      virt 72     *2M   70+        50:45        7:15 min/km LOG distance 7.0 km

2017  5/6      virt 73     *3M   70+        56:18        8:02 min/km LOG distance 7.0 km

2018  5/5      virt 74     *2M    70+       56:42        8:04 min/km LOG distance 7.0 km

All virtual times were logged by GPS on iPhone app MapMyWalk+

* at the 2009 I was between 3rd 43:18 and 4th 56:05, I was 49:24 so 4th

  In 2010 I was between 4th 45:26 and 5th 47:02, I was 46:43 so 5th

  In 2012 I was between 6th 51:57 and 7th 1:14:55, I was 57:37 so 7th

  in 2013 only 1 runner with 41:14 was in Men age 65-70, I was 54:24 so 2nd

  In 2015 top two places: 43:01 and 54:55 in 71-90, I was 52:13 so 2nd

  In 2016 top two places: 41:40 and 54:02 in 70+, I was 50:45 so 2nd.

  In 2017 top three places: 37:10, 43:18 and 1:11:31.  I would be 3rd with 56:14

  In 2018 top two places: 56:19 and 1:09:40. I would be 2nd with 56:42. (23 seconds)

2018 note = {http://results.itsracetime.com/Results.aspx?CId=17095&RId=387&EId=1}

I know several of our class that run.  My question is: How are you doing?

Larry Keeran

Once upon a time I thought I could.

Then, I knew I would.

Only then would it seem

Forever to accomplish a dream.

So much that grandfather showed me

And corrections from my parents were to be.

Not wanting to follow the learning path

Meant that I had to do a lot of math.

All that wasn't much fun

Because I wanted to run.

Many had hills up and down

Paths that made me frown.

It wasn't the walk.

It was the talk.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Went to the club meeting about ski

and what did I see?

The time was to be

that I would notice she

who was sitting by me.

Clearly cold I could see.

An offer of a cover from me

wasn’t a possibility.

My coat on the back of her chair

would stop the cold air.

After, I made the offer with trust

I heard her say “If you must”.

The rest of the evening was a daze.

Our friendship increased in the ensuing days.

She liked the same song as me.

The melody of “Beyond the Sea”.

How would we know that after 

forty years there would still be laughter.

All of our friends can see

we are now “Beyond the Sea”.

Marie-Antoinette and me.

We danced today to The Platters - Only You (1955) “You are the only one” for me.

Larry Keeran

Phil Hershey (Hershey)

My dad was a member of the Scottish Rite and I was a Demolay. Each year he would take me to the Christmas Carol play during the holiday season. Living in Dallas since 1986 we began a tradition of attending local productions of the play taking our children and then our grandchildren. 

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Lynda Guy Cox!!!! L

Allan Mapel

Phil, Barb,  Both of my parents had acting roles in the Christmas Carol, and Passion Play.  In fact I still have a original script from the Christmas Carol.  I aways thought George Morrow was the best Ebenezer Scrooge. As a youngster I remember receiving a Beichs candy Santa Claus at end of program.  My father occasionally was able to get us premium seats along the mezzanine of the side walls.

Also a play there at the Consistory, I along with a few other BHS band members were ask to come playing down the ailse at beginning of program.. It was either SHOWBOAT, or MUSIC MAN not sure which.

Phil Hershey (Hershey)

I agree George Morrow was the best Scrooge of all the ones I have seen in movies or other plays. I remember how he moved across the stage on his knees following one of the ghosts. Never saw another Scrooge do that.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

One of  Bloomington's Treasures, the David Davis Mansion.

How about the Camelback Bridge in Normal.  It always gave me the creeps driving over it but they have improved it over the years.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Miss Selk is going to celebrate her 100th Birthday the 29th of April and they are going to have a Card Shower for her.  If you'd like to participate, her address is Mary Selk, 2025 East Lincoln Street, Apartment 211, Bloomington, Illinois, 61701.  I know she'll be thrilled if you remember her.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

The class of 1963 had this on their website and I noticed some of our classmates in it.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Connie Figg Winslow!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday David Todd!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Everyone have a wonderful Easter!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

This a picture of the Chapel of the Trees in Funks Grove.

And here's the Church.  You can't help but feel at peace when your there.