Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Thanks Larry and Jane on the imput on the Piggly  Wiggly. I used to take piano lessons from a Mrs. Campbell who lived on the corner of Clinton and Chestnut Streets and my Mom would sometimes stop at that store on the way home and yes Jane, it seemed huge.  And Larry, I just knew you'd have some knowledge of something different about it!

Tom Chambers

Barb, again I could not resist to reply to the question about the grocery store. She is correct it was originally

a Piggly Wiggly Store. In facr, my father was the manager of the store in the early to mid 1940's.

Tom Chambers (Chili)

Larry Keeran

The mention of Grove Street does wake me up.  My grandpa would take me up on the derrick that lifted coal from the coal railroad cars into the lumberyard hoppers.  It was 50 feet tall a scary experience for a 6 year old.  Later that lumberyard had the name of Sakemillers Lumber whom I knew one of the family. Pappy Sakemiller who besides being an Amateur Radio operator, running audio for WJBC Sunday services and working at the store he would draw cartoons for fun. Pappy bought our washing machine before we moved to France. The operator of the derrick was Mr Alvey senior.  Later, I worked about 7 years at Eureka Williams for Mr Alvey's son Louis (father of our classmate). Louis Alvey was an Amateur Radio operator also and served as Radio Code Operator (OIS?) in North Africa.  One time he hitched a ride as a plain grunt soldier in the desert.  That jeep had a telegraph key and Louis tapped on it. The drivers eyes opened up... the rhythm of the code sending matched his secret contact person. So, he tapped a bit and Louis confirmed this driver was whom he had sent and received messages with. The Grove street region next to the tracks has another connection.  The Cement Company (forgot name) that replaced the lumberyard had Motorola Radios that I serviced for 7 years from the next block 1000 E Grove St. In my responsibility I serviced the radio in the Crows Nest (top of a Derrick that funneled gravel and/or sand into the huge cement mixer which had the cement in it already.  The operator would mix the batch and radio to the waiting trucks where the specific batch would be delivered at.  Those days State Farm Center was being built and nearly constant Cement Trucks would come for more cement.  But, as construction goes, not everything is on time and cement hardens and needs to be used.  Where would the firming mix go if they couldn't use it at State Farm Center?  They tried home contractors which had a special price that they couldn't refuse. That worked but many days about 5 truck fulls had to dump.  Well if you look at the area from McClunn to the railroad tracks on the South side of Grove behind the front building you will find 10 foot deep concrete that was dumped on the ground and now (probably) is a raised platform.  I had to repair a lot of construction truck radios because of rough use and dust in many cases.  I was 24/7 Manager of Bloomington Communications for about 7 years before working at the Pontiac Illinois State Police office 8/6.  I haven't driven by that block in Grove Street in 18 years.  I'll have to use Google Street View and see what is happening there.  Of the recent visits last year I am amazed at the changed widened streets. Bloomington has grown out of my wildest proportions.  Even my 300 block of East Locust home has changed.  Well, I still repair radios and TV's in France and put up antennas. So many stories of past work tasks in America are different than the residential farming tasks in our neighborhood so much it is impossible to describe to the locals. Repair is a strange word.  Replace is used. But I try. Steve Brienen told me his favorite phrase was "I TRIED".  Have a great day and better tomorrows.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Carroll  Funk McCormick!!!!

Ron Williams

Any motorcycle  rider who did the Lake Bloomington circuit had  to stop at Ross's Green Gables for cold beer and a Cheesburger, which was always "best" burger  in the county survey.  It was an institution.  Many memories of listening to the purr of my Gold Wing and stopping at the corner for adult beverages.  A cycle is now a death wish.  I would forget to put my feet down at a stop.

Ron

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

I had to show these pictures so those of you who haven't been to Bloomington in years will see some of the changes.  This is the block on North Main which housed the Army Surplus Store, Sterns and Leaths Furniture Store to mention a few.

This is what it looks like today!  I know you have to have change but I think our City Fathers have ruined downtown Bloomington.

Larry Shoup

When brother Terry and I were born we lived in a small apatmen tin the wwhite corner buiding in the first photo. Parents moved to 710 East Walnut a few months later. Old times  too far back to really remember.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Two pictures for the people who grew up on the West side.  Ralston Purina used to have a smell all its own, especially at night when you were sleeping with the windows open!

This is the Root Beer Stand which was located on the Southeast corner of Morris Avenue and Elm Street.  They used to have the coldest Root Beer around.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Sue Foley Noe!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Want to remind the Breakfast Group and anyone else who wants to join us  it's Wednesday  the 13th at Shannon's at nine, hope to see you then!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

We have lost another classmate, Larry Tallons obituary is in  The In Memory Section.

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Matt Matsuoka!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Sheryl Hulva Punke!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

I can relate to this, can you?

My mum used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread butter on bread on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e. Coli 

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake or at the beach instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

We all took PE ..... And risked permanent injury with a pair of Dunlop sandshoes instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors that cost as much as a small car. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.

We got the cane for doing something wrong at school, they used to call it discipline yet we all grew up to accept the rules and to honour & respect those older than us. 

We had 50 kids in our class and we all learned to read and write, do maths and spell almost all the words needed to write a grammatically correct letter......., FUNNY THAT!!

We all said prayers in school irrespective of our religion, sang the national anthem and no one got upset.

Staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention we wish we hadn't got.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. 

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. We weren't!!

Oh yeah .... And where was the antibiotics and sterilisation kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played "King of the Hill" on piles of gravel left on vacant building sites and when we got hurt, mum pulled out the 2/6p bottle of iodine and then we got our backside spanked. Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10 day dose of antibiotics and then mum calls the lawyer to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that?

We never needed to get into group therapy and/or anger management classes. We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!

How did we ever survive? 

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA. AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED.

Ron Williams

My sister and I grew  up  across from Ralston Purina on W.Olive in Sunnyside Court in the center of Bloomington's culture and society.  Now I am living with all the rich on the east side.  So, always remember where you came from , and appreciate what you have.

I remember the Ralston perfume.  Ralston also had a plant discharage of industral, foamy waste that went to Sugar Creek.  That was our playground along the tracks.  Fish at a rain storm would hit the creek and die. Fortunately, I believe EPA Cleaned it up.

Ron

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday John Schwulst!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Jane Wallace Isenburg!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Edd Marks!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Sandra Cox Thompson!!!!

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Are you older than dirt?

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Remember the 15 cent Hamburger from Mr. Quick which was located on the Northeast corner of Washington and Clinton Streets?

How about the Admiral Corporation on  Morrissey  Drive, did anyone work there who was in our class?

Larry Shoup

Where the Shoups lived on Front St. We could smell the burgers from Quick's, the peaanuts from Beer Nuts, the  onion rings from whatever the ginmill was over on rove St and the bacon from South East St. When The wind was out ofthe south we could smell ADM and Staleys in Decatur.  Good memories.

Phil Hershey (Hershey)

My parents loved to go there once a week for lunch. Ia lways enjoyed being able to occassionally take them there when I could.

Ron Williams

I worked at Admiral in the late 60's between college semesters during summer break. I was on the TV old tube line.  We would receive large shipments of tubes and pack them in individual boxes, put on shipping labels, put them on pallets,and take them to shipping.  I was working with fellow college kids, and I enjoyed the work and money.

Ron

Barbara Kincaid (Menken)

Happy Birthday Byron Tucci!!!!