Welcome to Forgotonia

According to the McDonough County Voice, the Old Dairy, which is one of the best places in Macomb (despite its one major drawback of not being open in the evenings), is closing its doors. This news comes on the heels of the closure of 1930s-era Ford Hopkins drugstore (which had a lunch counter), as well as at least one other restaurant on the Macomb Square.

If this trend keeps going in Macomb, it’s gonna end up like my hometown, where, when I was growing up, practically the only “restaurant” was…Casey’s pizza.

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!)

It’s that time of year for the announcement of the “Most Endangered” places in Illinois. This year, Rock Island makes the list again. (And on a related note, the Quad City Times reports that the house in Moline once owned by John Deere—about which I’ve previously posted— is “still of grave concern.”

Other than the Rock Island item on this year’s roster (a building used by the Elks Club), the closest place on the 2011 list is a bridge in Sangamon County.

(More, below the image).

Screen shot of Landmarks Illinois web site

A couple of places I’d like to add to the list, (or at least to a subcategory of places that need attention):

• The Macomb Maid Rite,
• The Randolph House on the Macomb Square,
• and what remains of the former Carthage College campus, (where the Circle K organization was started, among other historical tidbits).

So, what about you?

What other local landmarks in the general western Illinois region would you be sad to see destroyed?

List them below, or drop me a line.

As I mentioned quite awhile ago, I have a fondness for this place, especially knowing that my grandparents had their first date there so many years ago. (That in addition to my general fondness for all things vintage and endangered.) It’s just off the downtown square in Macomb, and as with the Standard Oil building a few doors down, it’s one last little bit of a time gone by that you pass on your way to the Wal-Mart.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I received a comment on my post from a former Macombie Homie who says he’d like to look into buying the building to see that it gets restored. How cool would that be?

I seemed to remember, from when I first noticed that the building was for sale, that some person or company I’d never heard of was the seller–someone who’d made a handmade For Sale sign (i.e., no Remax hot air balloon here). So, to try to help, I swung by the former diner on Monday and took this (snazzy) photo with my cellphone. And I have to say, from a marketing perspective, I’m a bit concerned with the, er, presentation. I couldn’t find a web site for said realtor, either.

But hey, at least I sent this former Homie the phone number. Let’s hope he’s got some extra funds sitting around!

One day as I was walking down the hall at work, I noticed that the echo of my steps sounded funny. There was a tinny,  hollow sound whenever my right foot hit the floor. So, once I was back at my desk, I sat down and crossed my right leg over my other knee and found the culprit: the bottom had broken off the heel of my nearly brand-new boot.

Later that day my boss gave me a tip:  a local store, Brown’s Shoes, employs  Amish who will pick up broken shoes and work on them. Plus, my boss added, the repairs cost next to nothing.  There was just one catch: “I’ve dropped off shoes that took so long,” she said, “that when they finally called to tell me they were ready, I’d actually forgotten all about them.”

Still, I decided it was worth a shot.  I could be patient, I told myself.

So, one chilly fall day when I was running other errands, I stopped into Browne’s and asked the young man at the counter if it I could leave my busted boot for an Amish repairman.  “Just so you know,” he said, “it takes a long time.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” I said. “I’m not getting to wear them, anyway, just sitting there broken, so it’s no problem.”

“Okay,” he said, with a discernible note of “suit yourself.”

I left the store feeling proud of my resourcefulness. Virtuous, even, for saving one more thing from going into a landfill, for providing work for a local sustainable community. Or something like that.

Perhaps now is the time to mention that I dropped the boot off sometime before Thanksgiving.

Today, it’s March 24, and it’s almost time to swap boots and socks for sandals.

In my tiny, cluttered bedroom, the lone in-tact black boot sits atop the window air conditioner that I’ve been meaning to move down to the basement since September (guess I might as well leave it there now.)  I scurry around in the mornings, searching for the right earrings or scarf or sweater, and I’ll notice that black boot just sitting there, taunting me.

Every time I see it, I think, “I need to call the store and ask if there’s any chance they have it ready for me.” I even rationalize: “Maybe they lost my phone number.”

But just when I’ve decided that five months is plenty of time to have capped the bottom of one measly heel (let alone kill a cow and cure the leather for a new pair), I picture a bearded man in suspenders shaking his finger at me. “Ah, patience, ye worldly woman, patience.”

Sometimes I picture the broken boot lying on the Amish man’s work table, or maybe even in plain site on the middle of the dining room table, where, each time his wife walks by,  she makes a point to titter with her fellow butter-churning sisters, scoffing at my vain concerns.

Maybe I’ll get a call from Browne’s around the fourth of July. Or a year from when I dropped it off. This is all a passive-aggressive test from the Amish, you see, to make me realize how shallow is my definition of  a “long time.”

Earlier this fall, Sufjan Stevens’ record company issued a statement arguing that consumers should think twice before taking advantage of Amazon.com’s  five-dollar pricing. (See the Nov. 2010 list of multi-genre cheap albums here.)

Sufjan’s company was wise to say in the statement that it’s a plus when a low price helps fans discover new music. But, according to their argument, artists’ effort and creative product–such as Stevens’ most recent album–”is worth more than a cost of a latte.”

On one hand, I totally get where they’re coming from. To be honest, I was surprised when Amazon started doing its $5 pricing, (or at least when I first discovered it, a couple of months ag0), there wasn’t more of an uproar from the recording artists. (Where are you on this one, Lars Ulrich?!).

An Sufjan Stevens, with his creativity and originality represents the very kind of non-corporate artist I dig.

By the time his company made that fuss, I had already realized that my instant Amazon purchase of the Arcade Fire‘s The Suburbs– the week it was released, for five bucks–was the equivalent of buying something at Wal-Mart because it was easy and cheap, even if I don’t believe in the values of the Wal-Mart way. I knew that as I sat at my computer contemplating the purchase, I should probably log off, walk up the street, and pay $10 or $12 for the tangible album at The Phoenix, (which, true to its name, has arisen multiple times and endured in several different locations around Macomb, but which I fear is surely struggling.)

So the comment from the Sufjan camp did cause me to stop and think.

But then I was done thinking about it.  “Purchase with one click?” Why yes, Amazon, thank you, I believe will!

And so I basically ripped off an artist I like and respect (not to mention a local store owner). Just like I’ve done over the last couple months, when I bought the latest albums by

• Broken Bells
• Yeasayer
• The Hold Steady
• Band of Horses
• My Morning Jacket
• LCD Soundsystem
• The Avett Brothers
• The Weepies
  and others.

In other words, I’ve purchased more new music in the last few months than I have in the last couple of years–or maybe since I became an adult.

It’s like a floodgate has opened after a drought–a drought so long and severe that I had resigned myself to the idea that it was permanent.

Depressingly, my lifelong passion and devotion for pop music began to wane as soon as I had to start facing such things as,  say, an electric bill.

For the music fan, everything about adulthood slowly begins to take you away from what you love. From being able to go out and comb used-CD stores every weekend to discover that gem that’s going to change your life. From racing out to get the latest from your favorite band on the day it’s released. From going to shows, which require tanks of gas to get there, Ticketmaster fees, overnight accommodations, etc. (And btw, Sufjan, I did go to see you in St. Louis a couple years ago, and those tickets cost me at least a week’s worth of lattes.)

So does five-dollar pricing suddenly change all this and turn you into a teenager again?

Well, no. But it makes a difference.

It allows work-pants-wearing, responsible adults like me to feel like they can stay connected to their passions without worrying about whether they’re exhibiting arrested development by purchasing the new hyped Gorillas album when they’re supposed to be buying a hypoallergenic heater filter.

Somehow, even though it’s not that huge a difference, spending $5 rather than $15 or $20 seems like something I don’t have to feel financially guilty over.

But then we’re back to the ripping-off-the-artists problem.

I certainly want artists like Sufjan and The Weepies and the Avett Brothers to be able to make a living by creating, and not having to work crappy jobs to support themselves. But the company’s decision to issue a statement feels sort of akin to parents leaving for the weekend and saying to their teenagers, “Hey, that beer in the fridge? We know you want to experiment, but…it’s wrong, okay?”

I can’t pretend to have any real answer for how the music business can continue to make money, or the legitimate concern about artists not receiving what’s due to them.

But when it comes to easy-access digital music being Good for Fans vs. Bad for the Company, isn’t the horse already a long way out of the barn?

I wouldn’t have heard any of these new albums listed above if it weren’t for Amazon’s new deal–unless a friend pressed a ripped copy into my hands. Which would mean zero dollars for the artist or the company. Maybe the price of a latte is better than nothing at all.

What do you think? What’s your stance? Support artists and local stores, but go broke trying? Amazon and Wal-Mart to be the death of independent artists? Leave me a comment below, or like/share/comment on Facebook or Twitter.

1. People who live in Georgetown (or anywhere else west of the County Market and Hy-Vee on East Jackson Street) will no longer have to drive all the way through freakin’ town to grab a gallon of milk.

According to Tri States Public Radio’s story, the city has loaned close to $100,000 to the future owners of Jackson Street Market, which will be not in the former Thompson Food Basket—that’s been occupied by a megachurch for the last couple of years—but across the street in what I would call a….Morton-Building-type-mini-mall. The proposed location is 1601 W. Jackson (in what was Brenner’s Furniture).

So: are y’all psyched? Will you shop there? (And perhaps more importantly for those on the west side of town…will this place get a liquor license?)

[See items 2 and 3 below, after the Google Maps location image]

Jackson Street Market location

2. We’re part of a region suffering from a “B.A. divide”—and the separation between people who have a bachelor’s degree and people who do not is getting more dramatic, according this blog, where you can see a map tracking the increasing separation. (If you’re interested in this topic, also be sure to check out some of the entries by  Timothy Collins, who works for a center housed at WIU. Also, tell me if you agree that perhaps they shoulda used different colors for the states on the map, connotations-wise, than red and blue…)

And finally,

3. It turns out I am not the only one who feels frustrated when the sidewalks roll up at dusk. As you know from reading this blog, I like to gripe about how Macomb could do better at offering things downtown for shoppers and eater-outers, especially considering that there are thousands of students here (and they have suburban parents who visit them). According to the results of a recent survey conducted by WIU students, the majority of respondents would also like business owners on the square to acknowledge that some people actually shop and do things after, like, 10 o’clock in the morning:

Most notably… 80 percent of the respondents indicated they think businesses should stay open past 5 p.m.

Yeah! Boo-yah! That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout. (So, um….Chamber, are you on this now? Or whoever else is supposed to make that kind of stuff happen? Thanks.)

On a somewhat related note: I had the opportunity to spend some time in the lovely little town of Galena (Ill.) this past weekend with C-Nor and some of my college friends. As we were walking around on the last day of October, taking in the sunshine and the movie-set feel of that historically preserved city, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling, and finally realized what it was—I was in a small town, going in and out of businesses, on a Sunday afternoon. Not only were there businesses to go to, but they were open.

So, you ask, does everything in life have to be about consuming? Is shopping and eating out the most important thing in a community?

Well good question, you.

I thought this over after we drove back down to Macomb with our candy corn (from the old-timey candy store) in tow, with thoughts of Galena’s vintage toy store and nothing-but-socks store (um, yeah) and Abe Lincoln and U.S. Grant dancing in my head. And my answer is that no, shopping ain’t everything. But having lots of stores and restaurants, and a historic site or two—and having them open on a Sunday afternoon—leads to people (and their dogs and strollers) walking around downtown on a sunny day. And that, always, is more hope-filled and less depressing than things like this.

1. According to a story from the Western Courier, the owners of DJ’s Steakhouse (formerly the Macomb Dining Company) are hoping to up the classiness factor of Macomb by opening a new restaurant and lounge called, get ready for it, Hangovers. (Apparently this is the place to go before you head over to Detox.) According to the story, the new place will be located at 518 West Jackson St., which, according to the magic of Google Maps, could be in, or right next to, the defunct Diamond Dave’s/ Islands/Shanty Shack.
2. You will soon be able to by alcohol at Walgreens, according to the same story linked above. (Woot woot, one less reason to go to Wally World?)
3. The Macomb Square apparently has a bit of a red-light district element developing? Surely this can’t be the case. But: “Man arrested on prostitution-related charges,” according to a local radio station. Wha-huh?!?

Pinckney Benedict, a fiction writer who has published in lots of prestigious publications, will be in town to give a reading and book-signing Oct. 21 as part of his short-term writer-in-residency at WIU.

(The linked release is published by University Relations, the office which, full disclosure, I work for—although I see nothing shady about promoting this event on my own page, mind you [picture me looking down my eyeglasses at you, shaking my finger].

(More, below the photo).

Pinckney Benedict book cover

The news of Benedict’s upcoming visit is pretty cool for a regional University like WIU. Since we’re not, say, the University of Iowa with its world renowned writing program, I think it’s impressive that in the time since I’ve worked here (four+ years), Western has hosted several other literary fiction writers and journalists whose work I like and/or respect, such as:

• Chimamanda Adichie, (who was here for the International African Literature Conference in 2008, and whose short story, “The Thing around Your Neck,” I highly recommend)
• Rick Bass
• Michael Walker, (whose visit I did a small piece about here), author of Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood
• Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

(and this is not to mention that Western now has Charles Mcleod, an up-and-comer, on the faculty, teaching creative writing).

And a few years before I started here, Western hosted

• Stuart Dybek, (whose short story “We Didn’t” is one of my all-time faves),
• Ethan Canin
• Marge Piercy
• and several others whose names and work I’m not familiar with.

I’ll plan to attend Benedict’s reading or Q&A, if I can make it. (Ironically, I might have to miss an English-y thing to stay home and do another English-y thing: finish writing my master’s thesis.)

I know I have read at least one short story by this writer, because his name jumped right out at me, (though it does do that on its own, doesn’t it), but I can’t quite recall which story or where I read it. He seems like he might be something of a character. For proof, you should check out his photo here.

Are you a fan of Benedict’s fiction? Do you plan to attend? And/or, which of his do you recommend. Leave a comment below and let us know.

Once again, I’m going to have to miss it this year. But if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, and an excuse to be outdoors, you should think about attending the “open house”—(a.k.a permission to visit legally)—at the property once known as Vishnu Springs.

As loyal readers know, the legend of Vishnu Springs—a once-bustling little resort that became a ghost-town, an invisible-from-the-road spot in the remote-est of places in McDonough County—has long been an obsession of mine.

But before you go, could I please offer a[nother] piece of unsolicited advice?

I encourage you to steep yourself in the idea of the place first.

This week, a co-worker (formerly a suburbanite) asked me if she and her kids would get anything out of the event. I thought I should answer honestly that, once you find the place, there really isn’t all that much to see.

(more below, after the photos I took when I was **definitely not trespassing there** in 2007)

Vishnu Springs Capitol Hotel backside (north)

But, if, like me, you get the chills from standing in a certain spot—an almost entirely forgotten spot—and thinking about all that once took place there, you’ll get more from the experience.

In other words, think about the fact that out in the middle of nowhere, there was once a town so popular, it included a railroad stop that brought tourists from Chicago. That it was rumored to be a hideout for Al Capone. That WIU students from the counterculture era made their way out there to live communally and play music and…do other things. And that every person who spent time there, all those years ago, thought his/her own time in the world was just as important as believe ours to be.

So yes, I think anyone who has an interest in history and ghost towns and local legends can “get something out of it.”

Here are the open house details (from the Facebook event page, where one respondent—perhaps reflecting the spirit of his time there in a certain previous decade—wrote that even though he can’t be there, “Smoke one for me!”

The second opportunity for the public to visit Vishnu Springs (Ira and Reatha T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary). A short historical and educational update will take place at 1:30 pm. Take this opportunity to come visit Vishnu without the risk of having to “trespass” to do so. More information about Vishnu Springs is at www.vishnusprings.org.