Welcome to Forgotonia

Thanks to Ziggy and HerGLX3 for the reports of the Vishnu Tour!

Oh, how I wish I could’ve gone. Especially to see the inside of the hotel, to view those photo albums HerGLX3 mentioned, and to hear those“extras” that Marla Vizdal shared.

As I’ve blogged about before, I first heard about Vishnu when I was 15 years old, and I was so fascinated by what I learned back then that I felt as if I was being told about something truly magical.

An old hotel deep down in a ravine that you “can’t see from the road” was in itself—after having lived my life on this flat, flat prairie—exciting enough, not to mention the idea of the place turning into a counterculture commune (right outside my little ol’ homogeneous hometown).

Since having actually seen the place (ok, I admit it, I trespassed), I admit that it seems at first like not much more than a dilapidated building out in the woods. Big whoop.

But if you know the story, and the fact that you’re standing at the spot of a ghost town, and when you think about such a bustling area once having existed there… it still fascinates me.

This article about the tour from the McDonough County Voice does a nice job of summarizing the history and the current status of the place.

Also, there’s a brief mention of a former tenant from the commune days.

“It had its wild phase before I got here,” he said about the hotel’s student-rental era. Fortuna also recalled the harsh winter he spent there, being snowed in for days at a time and shoveling his way up the road leading out the hotel’s valley. …. “It’s a beautiful place.”

a report about Sunday’s Vishnu tour from one of my esteemed readers:

IT WAS PACKED! I have no idea how many people would have been there – would love to hear a head count. Traffic backed up, lines waiting to get in, steady stream of walkers in/out the whole time we were there.

Now come on, that means there are some people out there who need to send me some details. Had you been before?
Learn anything new?
Find any evidence of Al Capone’s ghost?

C’mon, peeps, I want to hear from ya.

WIU Archives and Special Collections will be starting a cool new blog, “Forgotten Western,” highlighting then-and-now photos from around the area.

Check out this entry on the old WIU Wishing Well here.

Thanks to the my local shopper/ “McDonough County This Week,” I learned that a kid originally from Rushville and has penned a comic book that’s apparently making a bit of a splash, (at least in part because its “superhero” is not a wolf-man but the guy who happens to be that fella that’s runnin’ the country.

I went a Googlin’ for more info on the local boy-done-good, Chris Ward, and his Obama comic.

Here’s a May 22 entry from the blog splashpage.mtv.com:

Bluewater Productions will publish “Political Power: Barack Obama,” one of several comics featuring notable figures from recent US elections. Along with the Obama comic, Bluewater also has comics in the works featuring Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and, well… even the Obama’s dog, Bo.

And it’s that last comic, “Puppy Power: Bo Obama,” that prompted one of the funnier exchanges I’ve ever had with an interview subject — in this case, “Barack Obama” author Chris Ward.

“This ‘Bo Obama’ comic book really burns my ass,” laughed Ward. “Now I have to work twice as hard to make sure my Barack Obama comic sells more copies, or I’ll instantly shame my entire family. I’m not kidding. My grandmother’s dying words were, ‘Chris… outsell that godd—ed puppy comic.’”

The local pub mentions that Chris grew up in Schuyler County and graduated from WIU.

The MTV blog gives a sneak preview of the comic, which hints at a funny, smartly-written narrative style.

(But I would also like to hint that that claim of the horseshoe sandwich originating in Springfield might be a bone of contention with some people, who seem to think it belongs solely to Macomb’s Jackson Street Pub.)

(Here are the deets on MTV Splash Page from which I copied the above info:

I misspoke the other day when I mentioned that the Bernadotte Bridge is on the list of endangered places in Illinois. I might have made it sound like the bridge was just added to 2009 list (which was released just this week). But it turns out that’s OLD news, yo. The Bernie Dot bridge is endangered, but it’s on the “archived” list.  The new addition for this region is in fact an old-fashioned, family-owned pharmacy in Canton. After reading about it (see an excerpt below), I hope both it and the Bernie Dot Bridge can be saved!

2009 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places

Lewis Pharmacy

“The interior of the historic pharmacy remains virtually unchanged from its opening in 1915, when it was termed the finest drug store in Illinois. The shop retains its original cabinetry, booths, soda fountain, checkerboard floor and decorative art glass. The pharmacy was operated by the Gustine family until 1937, when it was sold to the Lewis family who operated it for an additional 72 years. An elderly Edward Lewis, Jr. finally retired and closed the pharmacy in February. The hope is to find a new owner that would like to preserve this historic institution, but if an appropriate buyer can not be found, the furniture and fixtures will soon be sold at auction. While Canton is an Illinois Main Street community, it does not currently have a local landmark program to protect historic buildings from demolition.”

For a detailed list of all 155 sites, visit the “Ten Most” Archives.

(P.S. This makes me wonder about the old soda fountain in Macomb’s Ford Hopkins drug store on the square. Anyone know how much of the soda fountain counter in there is original?)

(P.P.S. Sadly, here is a list of places already lost.)

(from today’s Macomb Journal)

Richard R. Kline, 19, of Bloomington, was arrested Thursday about 12:50 p.m. and charged with criminal damage to state-supported property. He is accused of damaging property at Vishnu Springs, west of Argyle Lake State Park.

Now THIS news item might make you think twice about the grizzled-looking dude sitting next to you at The Boot or the Cafe!

The writer and actor Sam Shepard got busted for DUI in central Illinois, where he’d been hanging out at a local bar.

I learned this from Entertainment Weekly as I was reading for my thank-God-it’s-not-Cat-Fancy volunteer slot. I was intrigued, so I went to the Bloomington Pantagraph for more. Here’s the scoop: The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (and hubby of Jessica Lange) was …”busted in Normal for allegedly driving under the influence and speeding after visiting a downtown Bloomington tavern, police said.”

Shepard, 65, of Midway, Ky., was northbound in the 700 block of North Main Street around 2 a.m. when officers clocked him on radar going 46 mph in a 30 mph zone and pulled him over, said Normal police Lt. Mark Kotte.

Sam Shepard

…

Shepard was arrested on preliminary charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding 15-20 mph above the limit and improper lane usage. His blood-alcohol level was reportedly twice the 0.08 legal limit for driving. …

Shepard told police he was passing through Bloomington-Normal on his way from Minnesota to Kentucky….

Shepard told police he had been at Fat Jack’s, 511 N. Main St., Bloomington, and was driving to the Best Western, 6 Traders Circle, in north Normal to spend the night. …

Tyler Holloway, owner of Fat Jack’s, told The Pantagraph that Shepard has visited his tavern at least four or five times before this weekend after initially hitting it off with a bartender who recognized him.

Holloway said the Kentucky-based Shepard drives through the area on visits to Minnesota and Montana.

“He doesn’t like to fly, from what I hear,” Holloway said. “He likes our place.”

Shepard autographed a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon — reportedly his favorite drink — for Fat Jack’s, Holloway said. The actor is friendly when he stops in, he added. “He chit-chats with the regulars,” he said

.

I used to go to rock shows. What does it say about me that I wish I could asking off work in order to attend THIS??????

Latter-day Saints to commemorate ‘Mormon Exodus’

(from the Deseret News)
NAUVOO, Ill. – The public is invited to a commemoration of the famous river crossing known as the “Mormon Exodus.”

On Feb. 4, 1846, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began crossing the icy waters of the Mississippi, eventually to complete their well-known trek to the Rocky Mountains.

In honor of those pioneers, modern Latter-day Saints, along with their friends, will re-enact the march down Parley Street* on Wednesday, Feb. 4. They will wear nametags for those who made the actual historic crossing. At the water’s edge, in a short ceremony, the marchers will pay tribute to those who were part of the exodus and to the thousands who died along the Mormon Trail.
.
Missionaries from the Illinois Nauvoo Mission will portray or relate the stories of some of those individuals who survived the river crossing and made the trek west.

Shirley Land, one of the organizers of the event, expressed her hope for the commemoration.

“Most years Feb. 4 turns out to be a really cold day, and to be honest, I hope it is this year, too,” she said. “I’m not sure we get the full sense of what those people suffered if we don’t feel a little uncomfortable ourselves.”

Lest we forget, that aforementioned exodus was started because of the kicking-out of the Mormons from Hancock County, which commenced with the murder of a certain leader in a certain person’s hometown.
Now, just for the record. I’m not saying I’m all in with Mormon goings-on (or that I’m the most open-minded person in the world when it comes to religion in general.)

BUT, I do find it absolutely fascinating that this major chapter in American history started right here in Forgotonia.

And it feels me with a sense of awe to stop and think about what it would have been like to live in those pre-Carhardt times and trek across the frozen Mississippi–and everything that journey entailed (and led to afterward).

And I guess getting interested in history when you get older is nothing to really feel bad about.

[But, you know. I still wanna rock!]

* I wonder if Parley Street in Nauvoo is named after the guy my dad was addressing when he got a one-line speaking part in the Mormon movie “Exodus.” The line, which I like to repeat at family gatherings as often as possible, was “Confound it, Parley!”

Things continue to improve in Carthage!

Workers are refurbishing the old Carthage College buildings.

But according to this week’s Journal-Pilot, ["Former college campus continues on revitalization path"], the gymnasium building is definitely going to have to be torn down.

“Unfortunately, there was too much damage from years of neglect,” said Groth. “It will have to come down at some point.”

More demolition is already underway on the northwest corner of the campus where the former boiler building is being taken down. Next to it is the former dining hall, which is being demolished in the future.

Bummer.

Thankfully they are able to save the old auditorium building, where I was lucky enough to spend some time as a youngster (like going there to watch “Dumbo,” and then getting to do my tap-dance routines onstage during Anita Allen dance recitals, and as a teenager when I was in the school play [on years when the roof hadn't leaked too much.])

Does anyone out there have photos of the old campus they’d be willing to share, from when it was either Carthage College or Robert Morris (or just sitting there collecting raccoon droppings?)