AMVETS Building Not Historic

The powers that be voted Tuesday night not to designate the Amvets building as a historical landmark. And I am happy with the decision and happy for the Amvets!

I think it was wrong for the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF... not Chicks I'd Like to F...) to push for this designation after 5 or 6 years the Amvets were trying to sell their building and they finally received a bid and purchase agreement. I belive that many on the city council voted it down because of the situation many of these players were in.

According to CILF, the building passed the criteria to be considered "historic." And it is probably so. But in my opinion, from what I know, I think it is just an old building with beautiful design. They just don't make buildings like that anymore. But what was historic about it? And CILF wanted the city council to stand with them and designate this building a historic landmark. And once this is done, they wanted the Amvets to make the proper improvements and refurbishments at their expense. This is what I think is really wrong.

As a property owner, you have several responsibilities. You need to ensure that your property is kept up on modern fire and saftey codes, follow any zoning laws and make sure it is clean of litter and nuisance free. But if CILF had their way, what right do they have to force the Amvets to make unneeded renovations to satisfy the historic landmark certification?

The Amvets is not made of money. Their membership is declining rapidly from older members passing away and younger veterans not signing up to join. The reason they were selling was to get a smaller, more manageable and economical facility. That is what they were going to do with the proceeds. The Amvets next door neighbor, the Riverside Community Church, was going to raze the building to make way for a youth center. Basically, shit happens and life goes on. While I hate to see a beautiful old building go down, the alternative would have been for the Amvets to stay where they are and watch the building, and their post, fester.

It would be unlikely for the Amvets to sell this building had this historic landmark been made. Who is going to buy a building that was just designated as a historical landmark and that they would have to put upwards to a $1 million of renovations? Instead, if CILF really wants to save that building, they need to buy it themselves and they can then perform whatever refurbishments are needed on their dime. As it stands now, its the Amvets building and they can do what they want with it, within reason of course. And that includes selling it to Riverside so they can begin construction of its youth center.

This Was Nothing

Warning: This post may not be safe for the squeamish.



There is a recent interview with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by a local Anchorage TV station where she is involved in preparing turkeys for Thanksgiving. In the background, you see some of the process it takes to get the bird to the store and/or dining room table. In effect, there has been some disgust and outrage.

This is nothing. I will admit, the camera operator may have picked a better backdrop, whether they were gutting a turkey or field dressing a deer. But I am guessing that those who find this disgusting are pretty much "city folk" who more or less have never seen, nor never imagined, some of the things that go on out in the country. I've seen much worse. Each winter I head down to St. Thomas, MO to partake in the annual hog butchering with my Uncle and cousins. My Uncle's neighbor does all the really hard work. We purchase the hog from him and we simply cut out the pieces we want, i.e. pork chops, ribs, bacon, sausage, etc. I like to go for the liver sausage myself, which entails a lot of "head meat." (I've got pictures and video if anyone is interested. I debated about putting them up, but decided not to.)

My mom has told me stories of her childhood living in Argyle, MO. They did not have much. So whatever meat or vegetables they grew, they tried to make the most of it. That's what everyone did after going through the Great Depression. If they decided to have chicken for dinner, my Grandma would go out to get a chicken and would swing it around to break its neck. After it was done flopping around, my Mom (or perhaps some of my aunts and uncles) would have the duty to take the feathers off of it.

My Grandma also had 2 cousins that lived on a nearby farm. They were two bachelors who never married or had kids. There was no running water on the farm and only electricity for a light and a refrigerator in the kitchen. That's all. And it stayed that way until they died in the mid-1990s. And each December, they would butcher hogs that they raised all year. And there was no mechanical process; it was all done by hand and it was hard work. I experienced it myself one year.

Food and meat just doesn't magically appear wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store. It needs to be grown, prepared and shipped there. On the farm, all this is done on a much smaller scale; the commercial operations can be gross.

So for those who live on a farm or out in the country, this is really no big deal. It's a part of everyday life. For those who live in urban areas, I can imagine this seems gross and cruel. As for the TV station that conducted the interview with Ms. Palin, to all of them in Alaska, this was probably not strange to them; only to many of us in the lower 48. But out on the farm if you're hungry, and want to eat right, you do what you have to because as a local TV newsman says, "you gotta eat!" HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Bubbles And Elliott At Play

I don't know if everyone is getting tired of seeing all these posts about the dogs, but here is some video, via YouTube, of Elliott and Bubbles at play. They get along very well as you can see.

The AMVETS Debacle

File this one under "What the hell are they thinking" folder.

I've been reading here and there about the situation between the local Amvets Post 64 and the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF). CILF wants to designate the current Amvets building on Monroe St as a historical landmark. But CILF decides to do this right before the Amvets is to close on the sale of the building.

For the past 5 or 6 years, the Amvets have been trying to sell its building so that it could move to a smaller and more manageable facility. Finally, the Riverside Church agreed to purchase the Amvets building so that it could expand its church. This would then allow the Amvets to move to the former Penguin Tap in Peoria Hts. Until now...

CILF has single handily thrown a monkey wrench into the whole works. Riverside Church has backed off from the deal siting uncertainty over what the outcome will be since they would not be able to expand the church if CILF gets their way. Why did they wait this entire time while the structure was for sale and then during the 11th hour before closing, they want to designate the building as historic? This reeks of CILF purposely wanting to derail the Amvets/Riverside deal for reasons unknown.

The Peoria Jaycees monthly membership meetings have taken place there since 1994. And since the Amvets provides a meeting place, the Jaycees have supported the Amvets and will continue to do so. As a member of the Peoria Jaycees, as well as an associate member of the Amvets, I've spent considerable time in the building and I'm familiar with it. It is costly to maintain. Considerable capital would be needed to rehab it, which the Amvets does not have. So if the building should get the historic designation, it's very unlikely it will be fixed up anyway. And that's some gall... CILF telling the Amvets that their building is historic and they have to fix the place up on their dime. It's Amvets' building; they can do what they want with it.

The Amvets have other problems. Their membership is declining as its older veterans are either dying or falling ill while younger veterans are simply not joining. They also don't have the financial strength to remain there indefinitely, let alone rehabbing it because its a historic landmark.

I don't know where CILF gets off on taking this course of action, but if they really want to designate this building as a historic landmark, they should buy it from the Amvets for the same price Riverside was going to buy it. Then the Amvets can move as planned and CILF can foot the bill (and it probably would be a 7 digit figure) to rehab the place.

... end rant...

Welcome, Elliott

We couldn't stop at just one dog. Please say "hello" to Elliott, another Old English Sheepdog. He is the latest addition to the family as of last Thursday.

We essentially adopted him from some friends of ours.  This past summer, Beth was training him.  Once he graduated from school, he was to move to Chicago to be with his owner.  To make a long story short, it just didn't work out for Elliott to move to the big city.  We idly looked for a home for Elliott.  But we brought him to the house and he and Bubbles got along very well. And coming straight from farm life, Elliott has done very well in the house. Therefore, we decided to accept him into the family.

Before getting Bubbles, we originally thought about getting two dogs so that they would keep each other company.  Since Bubbles was a handful at times, we started re-thinking that idea. But Elliott is proving us wrong and they both get along as well as any other big brother and little sister.

Did Anyone Miss The Haunted House?

Before we knew it, the Halloween season of 2008 has come and gone.  And during that time, did any of us miss the Peoria Jaycees Haunted House? I'm sure a few did... mostly dedicated patrons of the attraction.  As for Jaycees members, I doubt it. 

After 37 years of scaring citizens of Peoria and Central Illinois, the Peoria Jaycees opted not to continue on for a 38th year with its Haunted House at Exposition Gardens.  Why?  Mainly because of little interest in organizing the event amongst the chapter membership.  Declining attendance and revenues was another factor since there are many more haunted attractions to compete with in the area. Liability was another factor as more and more, we needed to hire off duty police officers to stand guard against what appeared to be gang/trouble makers who would hang out in the parking lot all night.

The project is very labor intensive.  Most people probably don't realize how much work must go into the event before we even open the doors.  First there is pre-planning of the event and design of the house.  Then there are 2 or 3 semi-trailers loaded with props and building materials that need to be delivered to Expo Gardens.  Next, we convert a completely empty barn into the Haunted House by unloading the trailers of many pre-fabricated walls (which can be heavy), props such as a mad scientist table, bottomless pit, electric chair, fake tombstones, etc.  Then construction begins. Once the walls are up and firmly braced, the electrical work is done.  Depending upon what is featured in the house, this can range from simple to complex. Room decor gets done around this time as well as the giant facade of the house would be installed. After the fire marshall inspects the house, we can open for business. Normally, the house is open for about 2-3 weeks.  In the last several years, we would be closed on Monday and Tuesday nights as those were not very strong revenue generating evenings to open.  Once November hits, it's time to tear it all down and pack it away in the trailers for next year.  This is after working at the barn in the cold almost each night for well over a month. We're pretty burned out at this time.  In 2007, all this was done for a net profit of only $5,000. By contrast, this project made easily over $10 - 12,000 in less time 10 years before.

I joined the Peoria Jaycees in very late 1994.  My first Haunted House was in 1995.  At that time we started unloading the trailers and construction around October 1.  It would be at this time we'd get all the road signs out. Our most famous one was the big billboard type sign we place at Allen Rd and War Memorial Dr.  We haven't used that sign for the last several years as it is quite some work setting it up. Two weeks later, we'd have the house built and be open for business. Had we held the Haunted House this year, the chairman was planning on beginning construction in August.  In the last few years, construction would start earlier and earlier in the year because there was not much help from chapter members for the construction of the house. Finding volunteers for the operation of the house was not as bad. Perhaps 70% of the house would be manned by Jaycee members (in the real old days, 100% of the house was manned by Jaycees members).  Tear down was problematic.  During my first year as a Haunted House volunteer, we were probably done with tear down around Nov 10 - 15. Now days it extends to the end of the month; all because no one wants to do the physical labor.  

The physical labor aspect can clearly show why the Peoria Jaycees have cancelled this project. I guess people these days do not want to do that much work. When I was in my 30's and very active with the organization, it was a labor of love among many of us; not so much with the membership these days.  At the August membership meeting, a plan was presented for the 2008 38th Annual Haunted House.  A vote yes would be to keep the Haunted House; a no vote was to cancel this year's event.  The chapter, after long discussion, voted it down.  Only 2 votes were casted to keep it. The debate to keep it had been going on for the past 3 or 4 years. However it's not to say it won't come back.

The Peoria Jaycees Haunted House got its start in 1971.  It was originally built in an actual house on Wilcox St in Peoria.  The organization thought they had permission to "redecorate" from its owners.  Once built, they discovered that the real owners was Commercial National Bank. Yikes! The Jaycees worked things out with the bank so they could continue the event. If I remember the history correctly, 14,000 people came out to the House of Terror that year.  

I barely remember it.  No, I wasn't in the Jaycees in 1971... I was only approaching my 7th birthday.  But there was a story in the paper about it. My mom showed me and one day, I think after church, we drove past the house to see it during the day.  I remember trying to look in the windows to see what was in there.  I wanted to go in really bad.  Of the stories I've been told, there was a slide you rode down into the basement to get inside.  I'm not sure how much you can do that these days since we'd make the place handicap accessible.

I've worked many Haunted Houses in the past. I was a Haunted event judge for the Illinois Jaycees in 2001. I loved working these projects.  But I have to admit, I really didn't miss the Haunted House this year.  Instead, I helped out on the Jaycees Masquerade Ball, which could replace this long running event.