UPDATE: So just yesterday I posted about the Macomb Square losing another long-time business (or possibly two). Just minutes after hitting “save,” I learned from a Facebook friend’s posting that the independently owned Ford Hopkins drug store (on the west side of the Square, known for offering “real” Cokes and having a lunch counter) has closed its doors.
Does anyone have a teenager or other petty criminal in need of some sort of creative punishment?
Or: do you have any advice for me on how to clean my window blinds?
It occurred to me on Saturday as I was struggling to wipe them down, post-installation of window air unit, that trying to get them clean is truly some sort of psychological torture.
It’s like some sort of filth is absolutely caked onto the plastic. Swiffers don’t pick it up. Soap and water on a soft cloth just seem to smear the filth around. And what is this stuff? Where does it come from? You’d think I’m cooking up meth in my bedroom. I don’t even smoke cigarettes any more. Jeesh.
Thing is, even if any of you do give me a helpful household hint on how to tackle this task, I won’t want to use it. As I scrubbed away last Saturday, seemingly only smearing wet dirt around, I decided that I wouldn’t even subject a paid worker to do this job, for any amount of money. It’s beneath all of us. Lower than dirt, indeed.
DRS says: As much as I like to re-use what I have and conserve my monetary resources (and I hate loading landfills with more plastics that don’t break down), I’ve come to the realization that the best way to clean these plastic blinds is to replace with new ones. I’ve tried all cleaning methods – soaking in bathtub and then scrubbing; putting an old sock on my hand and spraying it heavily w/ some kind of greasecutting spray and running over blinds; diluted ammonia and a sponge; etc. I ended up grimy and the blinds still gummy and dirt-smeared. So in the trash they went on clean-up day (they might have been picked up by someone more resourceful than I) and I bought drapes for two rooms (take down and wash!) and new ($7) blinds for two other rooms.
Krista says: I do wash them by hand. I use a mixture of dish soap, a degreaser (orange) and vinegar in hot water and lay the blinds flat on the deck. Scrub one side of each slat with a dish scrubber, then turn the slats over and do it again. Rinse them off well. I took a picture and posted it on FB while the project was ongoing, but can’t find it now. It makes an impressive difference. It is A LOT of work, though.
After doing a quick walk-through of the latest display at the West Central Illinois Arts Center (that would be the old Maurices, to some of you) on Saturday and then taking a quick walk, C-Nor and I happened to pass Pagliai’s Pizza and noticed that it appeared to be kaput.
I have to admit, I’d only patronized the place maybe twice in my life. But still, it was kind of a bummer to see another spot in the Square stand open (and therefore subject to more insurance/lawyer/tax offices setting up camp).
This new gap is on the same side of the Square on which the former Magic Dragon toy store used to be located. And the side where the historic Randolph House appears to be suffering from neglect. Then, on the same walk, we passed long-standing Gumbardt’s, which had a “closed” sign taped to the window and appeared to have some sort of metal framework-y thing inside, almost like a pull-down gate you might see at the mall (if there was a mall to be seen. HA!) Closed for good, or closed for remodeling? The sign didn’t say.
SO: are/were you a fan of Pagliai’s? Got any idea if there’s something new coming into the space? (OR, even better, got enough money to start up a coffee shop that stays open past noon? Do it!)
JT says: And unless I’m mistaken, that “Pepperoni’s Pizza” place is already closed (what was that open for – 6 months?), and Ford Hopkins closed its doors yesterday (http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/x1355383416/A-historical-loss)
Someone with a proper business plan and understanding of the needs of Macomb citizens (both us homies and WIU students) needs to start plugging these holes in the square!
Craig says: I took a girl on my very first date there. What could be considered a date. Lunch, really, but it was with a real live girl, nonetheless. Eating a meal. With me. On goddamned purpose. Summer of 2002. It was also the summer I first kissed a girl, this same girl. On the couch at Sullivan Taylor, which is still there, thankfully. The couch, too, now that I think of it.
I split my time that summer between the Western Courier and hanging out on the Porch at Chandler Boulevard. And, eating three dollar bowls of spaghetti at Pag’s. G’bye, Pags.
Jeff says: Hey Craig,
A real live girl, huh? On goddamnded purpose even. LOL You, sir, are hilarious. Thanks for sharing that memory with such wit.
I remember only one visit to Pagliai’s. Nothing special, just me, my parents and two younger sisters, my aunt and step uncle and two younger cousins. I had the spaghetti. It was good. Boring as hell compared to your first date memory.
I do have a lot of memories of the square though, JC Penny, Newberry’s, Farmers and Merchants Bank, and the Illinois theater. And of course, the court house. It was, during my childhood, painted all gray on the outside. Glad it has since had that aweful paint removed.
When I was a young kid, 5 or 6 years old in 1968 or so, there were public restrooms at the court house accessible from the outside, you didn’t have to go into the court house proper to get to them. That was where mom would take me and my younger sister for potty breaks while shopping on the square. Given my age, mom didn’t want me going to the men’s room by myself so she’d take me into the ladies room with her and my sister. I could tell she wasn’t really comfortable with it, getting looks from other women who were using the facilities, but hey, sometimes a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.
Jeff says: Hey JT
I’m a former Forgotonian living in DC. As much as I love living in nation’s capital I’m sick to death of how damn expensive it is to live here. On more than one occasion I’ve given serious thought to trying to get a small business loan and seeing if I could make a go of it with something back home in McDonough or Fulton County. What type of place do you think might meet the needs of Macomb homies and WIU students?
Personally, I’d love to open a coffe shop or tea room type place with poetry readings and small scale theater and musical performances. I’d also like it to be geared toward a progressive/liberal-minded customer base. What are your thoughts?
Thanks to a couple of tips today, I learned that the history of the so-called Forgottonia movement was featured on HBO last night as part of the series How States Got Their Shapes.
I haven’t tried to play this video myself yet, so forgive me if I’m wrong, but it looks like you can watch the full episode on the show’s web site.
If you’re like me, it’s always a bit exciting to see this little place we call home being discussed from the outsider’s point of view. As one friend put it, (a friend who, like me, is a lifelong resident of the region) :
“I still cant believe this was actually on tv. Fandon freakin IL was on the History Channel!”
Jeff Rankin says: I remember Neal Gamm and the movement very well from back in my high school days. I think I even drew a political cartoon about it for the school paper. Interestingly, a key complaint at the time–that the Chicago to Kansas City expressway bill passing through the region was defeated twice–has finally become a reality. Most people aren’t even aware that the new “CKC” road signs on 67 and 34 designate Illinois 110, the Illinois portion of the expressway.
Dave D says: Here’s a link to the Peoria Journal Star story about this….
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1290144368/Gone-but-not-Forgottonia
Jeremy says: Just watched this. It was on the History channel – the episode was entitled “The Great Plains, Trains and Automobiles” and the segment on Forgottonia was during the last 5 minutes. They are reairing the episode quite often if you missed it.
Jeff says: I just caught this on How the States Got Their Shapes on the History Channel yesterday afternoon and here I am googling for more info. I was born in Macomb in 62 and lived in both Fulton and McDonough Counties as a kid. I currently live in DC. I didn’t know about this until seeing the show yesterday, but I do have a vague recollection of having heard the name “Forgotonia” mentioned by my father, uncle, and grandparent. Very interesting.
I used to live in Table Grove, went to church in Ipava, two little towns that saw their best times during the worst of times, WWII when Camp Ellis was in operation.
As a kid living in Table Grove in the mid and late 60s, it was fun to make those once a week trips to the “big city” of Macomb and have mom buy me either a Disneyland record, [remember 45s?] or a Matchbox car, items that were not available for purchase in our little village.
An occasional childhood treat was piling in the cars with parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents and caravanning from Table Grove to the almost state capital of Bernadotte on the Spoon River for soft-serve ice cream.
I remember mom driving us to the nearby tiny town of Industry for visits to see Dr Andronovicks, our family physician. He had a big sail fish he had caught mounted on the wall in his waiting room. [Doctors were among the few people in Fulton county to have experienced the world outside of Forgottonia.]
Sigh, so many memories of life in Forgottonia.
I’ll be book marking this site and check back to see nostalgia of other current and former denizens of the area.
Alison says: @Jeff from Fulton & McDonough counties, thank you for your wonderful comment. I enjoyed hearing about your life in those tiny towns. Amazing to think about how many little places there are like Table Grove and Ipava, which, as you pointed out so well, saw their best of times during the worst of times.
That’s the first I’ve heard of soft-serve in Bernadotte. I’ve been there to see the bridge, but that’s it. A fascinating little place on several levels.
Jeff says: Hey Allison, thanks to you for providing this forum. On several occasions I’ve wondered what someone might be able to do to reinvigorate a little town like Table Grove whether it be a Camp Ellis museum or some kind of small or midsized manufacturing or other business.
It’s been years since I’ve been there, but the last time I drove through TG I was impressed with how well kept most of the homes along the highway running through town were. That, to me anyway, seems to indicate a community spirit that could be rallied around the right projects and breathe a little renewal into the place.
And I LOVE the layout of the town square. So many possibilities. If I were independently wealthy I’d offer to take that on even at a loss just to see the town square restored to it’s former glory.
I grew up on a farm in west central Illinois, where there was one stoplight in the entire county. As a newspaper reporter and award-winning columnist ("Six Degrees from Galesburg"), public-radio commentator and blogger, I've uncovered the truth behind local legends (remind me to tell you the one involving Ringo Starr's tonsils), visited ghost towns and forgotten haunts, and interviewed marginally famous celebrities who happened to be stopping through town ("Corky" from "Life Goes On," anyone?). Now, after 12 years in journalism and PR, I've moved to Davenport, Iowa, to start life with my husband and to embark on a new gig as an English instructor. I'm also working on a batch of essays about life in small-town, murderous-to-latter-day-prophet America, (see "Joseph Smith" tag below). I love to hear from people who land here. Please leave comments at the bottom of posts, or drop me a line at alison dot sixdegrees at gmail.com.
I was there that fateful day, and actually managed to talk my way inside. It was a weird scene.