Tales of the South Side: I Really Do Not Know How to Respond to This

There I was, in my cubicle at Leo, waiting for the One o'clock meeting with the boys from J Walter Thompson. I twas going to be a good meeting. I like good meeting and really dislike when meetings go bad. I'm a Catholic school Development guy, I should know that things get dicey.

Dicier than a souse chef on bennies and ignored at Charlie Trotter's wake and a thiry year mortgage on three flat in the gold Coast.

The clock would not move. It stood still like the dame I asked to the Little Flower Homecoming Dance in 1968, when I was home from the seminary for weekend and didn't really go to Little Flower High School yet , because I was still in the seminary up in Holland Michigan.  Well, that skirt just looked at me like a clock standing still.  Then she moved real fast.  She was what we used to call a fast girl.  I can't run a lick,

So there I was loading data into the Excel Spreadsheets, when I decided to check my e-mails. The clock had moved.

There were nine, from Leo High School Alumni and twenty six ED ads that I deleted - not the Alumni, the Droopy Johnson ads.  I was all set to return messages about how I would get to them, like Mike '69 in Downers Grove who still had not received the thank you from me for the dough he sent in in December.  Missed that one.  And the other eight.  I missed them like a fat man misses Thanksgiving dinner at the cousins.

I was in the middle of my response to Mike '69 when another E-mail popped up.

Dear Hickey, I suppose you'll call this a confession when you hear it... Well, I don't like the word confession, I just want to set you right about something you couldn't see because it was smack up against your nose. You think you're such a hot potato as a claims manager; such a wolf on a phony claim... Maybe y'are. But let's take a look at that Dietrichson claim... accident and double indemnity. You were pretty good in there for awhile Hickey... you said it wasn't an accident, check. You said it wasn't suicide, check. You said it was murder... check.

Fred MacMurray

I went colder than that twist I asked out from Kenilworth - who went all haughty at Beni Hana's in the hibachi room when my big toe popped through my calf-length socks after I kicked off my wing-tip brogans.  I went cold.

 Something just was not right.

Fred MacMurray had three sons as I recall and like me was a widow man.  He lived in Kankakee,as did I.  MacMurray was a musician and I play guitar and 5-string banjo (C tuning).  Fred had been a nutty professor and I am in education yet.

My boss, Dan McGrath, hollered that we had a meeting.  I sat rigid at my desk.  Fred MacMurray.

He was not happy.  Fred MacMurray, not Dan McGrath. Dan is getting used to how I am.  Fred MacMurray obviously is not, or does not.   Man, it's cold. Colder than Fred MacMurray.

Martin Marty's Fedora “How can Catholic education be saved?” - Play Small Ball

I read an interesting article by University of Chicago scholar Martin E. Marty. The article rather whimsically treats Catholic Schools as reified artifacts - a fedora e.g.  things that fade out of fashion and necessity.   I'm no scholar, but I have taught and worked in Catholic high schools since 1975.  So, since we are doing metaphors, Catholic schools remain the Cadillac of American education; back in 1975 more Americans could afford a Caddy.

I taught at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Illinois. The Clerics of St. Viator(CSVs) operated this co-educational high school under aegis of the Joliet Diocese.  There were five Viatorian priests in the Administration and teaching staff and there were also nine Sisters of Notre Dame(CNDs)  in teaching and clerical positions.The balance of the faculty were lay persons.  Together we served the 400 young men and women from diverse backgrounds.  The school was mirror of Kankakee County - heavily French with African Americans and Dutch Protestants filling out the demographic.  The students were the sons and daughters of farmers, factory workers, tradesmen, white collar workers, doctors, lawyers and a couple of bankers.

1975 saw the fall of Saigon and my baby steps in teaching.  The American economy began to tip due to OPEC and Jimmy Carter responded by manfully donning a sweater.  Kankakee had been home to many big sized businesses, Roper, AO Smith, Armstrong Tiles & Pharmeceuticals.  These operations as well as the foundries, metal fabrication and pallet operations provided a robust employment.  Tuition, which would be considered invisible by today's Catholic school prices, was set at $ 787 per year, sans fees and books.

I was paid a salary of $ 6, 800, with medical and allowed to pay into a retirement plan.  My salary every two  weeks amounted about $ 264.00 every two weeks.  I paid $ 225 a month for an apartment near the school, as I did not own a car.  I walked for two years.  Things were good. I received a modest raise each year according to the Levels and Steps Salary Scale of the Joliet Catholic Schools.

The economy broke bad. The Shah was bounced, America held Hostage, OPEC kicked sand in our eyes and Jimmy Carter paddled away from a rabbit.  Malaise.



AO Smith and Roper went to Mexico and so did the secondary industries.  Our parents were laid off.  One gentleman, Mr. W, had three kids in Catholic schools and was a shift manager at Roper in 1977.  In 1979, he was bagging groceries at Grocery World and Mrs. W. babysat. The kids all graduated, but they had moved from four bedroom bi level home in the  the very upper middle class west  side  Kankakee Parish of St. Martin of Tours to rental slab home in Bradley, IL. The W Family were heroic.

Other families just could not hack it and parted for the Kankakee, Bourbonnais, Momence, St. Anne and Herscher School districts.  The enrollment and the tuition revenue plunged. The faculty went without raises, but kept the school operation first rate. The athletic and academic programs blew away the competition from the tax-fueled public schools all over the county and beyond.

In 1981, due to declining vocations, the CSVs ended their operational ties to the school.  Shortly thereafter the CNDs did the same.  More lay persons swelled the salary slot in the budget ledgers.  That same year the school and the parents initiated the Negotiated Tuition program to keep as many of the students in the school.  Parents agreed to bring in their W-2 forms and negotiate tuition, or opt to meet the $1,400 tuition.

Regardless of the struggle, Catholic families sent their sons and daughters to Bishop McNamara.  The school held on.  After three years, the negotiations ended and tuition was set once again.  No miracles.  This was small ball*.

The faculty was an immensely talented body of teachers who sent Kankakee kids to Yale, Brown, Rutgers, University of Chicago, West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy, as well as Illinois, Purdue, DePaul, Loyola, ISU, EIU and Olivet.

Graduates stood out - Lori Hoekstra became a producer for Saturday Night Live, Letterman and now manages Norm McDonald, Kara Zediker is a movie star, America's first Casualty in the Operation Iraqi Freedom was Capt. Ryan Beaupre USMC (dec.) and there are so many more like  Napoleon Harris and Ron Young in civil and public service. There is also a thick handful of Catholic priests brothers and nuns who graduated from Bishop McNamara at the end of the last millennium.

No miracles.  This was small ball played out with huge sacrifices.  In piece linked to Marty Marty which uses the metaphor of Fedoras for Catholic schools misses a point. I continue to work in Catholic schools; did I mention I work at Leo High School?

Fedoras can still be purchased at vintage boutiques and they tend to cost a hell of lot more than the original price.  Fedoras might not be worn by a huge male demographic anymore.  Some folks worry that a Catholic education might become available only to the elite, the affluent and label conscious - like Notre Dame University. Catholic schools exist because of Catholics.  Catholics who take of precious things - faith, family, and freedom are not fads.

Fashion - even grown men wearing bow-ties- fades.  Fads even faster.  Catholic education is no fad; no matter how much public school educators try ape the school traditions - a Cadillac is no Prius. Catholic schools like the Dodo bird?  Like the Fedora, Marty?

I don't believe that to be the case at all.  I work at a school that 'smart' people insisted would close 'next year' with the same passion and precision that a Cubs fan sees a Cub World Series trophy.  The Cubs won one in 1908; Leo has been closing since 1967.

Here's your Fedora; see you next year Marty!.

* Catholic League football is remarkable for slugging it out yard for yard and eating the clock as well pounding to the goals.  However, small ball is more of a  baseball term:"When Paul Richards took over as the manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1951, his team had few power hitters, so he decided that he needed to manufacture runs by emphasizing speed as well as a strong defense.^[6] The White Sox became a contender and eventually, the team known as the Go-Go Sox won the American League championship in 1959 by relying on speed and defence."

CLASS 2A SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS HERSCHER, IL - Leo 65, Bishop McNamara 57, OT

Leo Varsity # 13 -Sophomore Martez Hampton played last night like legendary Leo coaches Jimmy Arneberg, Tom O' Malley and Jack Fitzgerald were on his butt.

The Leo Lions

1 James Shields G Jr. 5-6
3 Tybias Scott G Sr. 5-8
4 Sean Moore Jr. G Jr. 6-3
5 Blake Wilson F Sr. 6-3
10 Marshon Tucker (C) F Jr. 5-9
11 Lantz Roberts G Sr. 5-9
13 Martez Hampton G So. 6-3
15 Luther Woods F Sr. 6-6
20 Jarrod Cooper G Sr. 6-1
33 Russell Woods PF Jr. 6-8 215
34 Karon Braggs (C) F Jr. 6-3
42 Kaylon Rimpson F Jr. 6-2
55 Lazarick Johnson F Jr. 6-4

Head Coach - Mr. Noah Cannon

Bishop McNamara Fighting Irish
2 Delano Samuels Senior G 5'10 155
3 Keyon Thomas Senior PG 5'8 155
10 Jonnie Evans Junior PG 5'9 165
12 Mitch O'Brien Junior G 6'0 165
14 Rashad Springer Junior F 6'5 175
20 Te'Andre Watson Junior G 6'2 155
22 Erron Hall II Senior G 6'2 170
24 Jamar Rivera Senior G 6'3 165
25 Luke Jarvis Senior F 6'5 175
32 Jay Slone Junior F 6'3 180
55 Michael Hoekstra Junior C 6'7 205

Head Coach: Justin LaReau


I picked up the Southtown Star a few minutes ago to see if they had a story on the great game played in Herscher, IL for IHSA 2-A Sectional between Chicago's Leo High School Lions and the Fighting Irish of Bishop McNamara Kankakee, IL.

Nope. Swell coverage of New Trier, which was located north of Madison Ave. last time I looked. New Trier, as I recall is in Winnetka, with a campus Northfield.

The Leo Scores were available.

I witnessed a great game in Herscher, Illinois last night. I taught at Bishop Mac from 1975-1988 and know many of the parents of kids on the Fighting Irish roster, having had the poor kids in my English classes. I saw the once beefy Kyle Turro, an outstanding football player, know lithe of frame due to parenting five bairns himself. I saw Julie Mowrey, now a teacher at MAC and the stunning Donna Douglas who continues to look like a prom queen/volleyball stand-out. Dave Hoekstra, who suffered my American and British Lit torments salved by my late wife Mary's art instruction in the 1980's, is the proud father of Mac's Center Mike Hoekstra who dominated the boards all night long. There was Scott O'Brien and his mom watching hot shooting Guard Mitch O'Brien. Scott was a great Mac player himself.

Bishop McNamara controlled the game under the boards and from the free-throw line, as well as outside shooting. Leo was plagued by the invisible cover over the hoops all night it seemed and our free throw shots were colder than a mother-in-law's kiss. Leo President and hardwood veteran of our three-floor gym, Dan McGrath kept the stats - " We are 2-10 in free throws."

Leo brought a Fan bus packed with kids and Leo Alumni and their spirited joyful noise got our guys to dig deeper and close the deficit with the fiery will of LION!

With two minutes to go, led by the outstandingly aggressive play of Kieron Bragg(34), Jarrod Cooper (20), Martez Hampton (13) and the star of the comeback Tybias Scott (3) Leo tied the Irish at the buzzer.

I missed most of the Leo dominated OT 4minutes, because one of our most loyal Alums lost a valuable item that fell under the Herscher bleachers. As Director of Development, yours truly crawled under the stands in a futile search and was joined by decorated Vietnam Veteran and Leo Hall of Fame-er Jack Farnan. Herscher High School football coach John Wakey and I shared remembrances of days past amid the gum, pop, popcorn and snot rags, " Hickey, you ever learn anything about football?"

Not a whit, John, but thanks for asking. Always a sound and healthful thing to be reminded of one's less than formidable gifts. John Wakey is a man and a half and credit to the teaching professional. We climbed out from under the stands without finding a very precious item lost. With prayers to St. Anthony it will turn up.

Leo controlled the OT. Bishop McNamara is a magnificent team and a great school. I spent some of the happiest years of my very happy life there. The Lions managed to score more baskets in the Over Time.

The Lions were tested by the Fighting Irish. The Finals are Friday in Herscher.

Bank Robber Returns to Finish His Beer -Had to be Stiegl Pils!

PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a Tampa Bay area man ordered a beer at a bar, left to rob a nearby bank then came back to finish his beer.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says 52-year-old John Robin Whittle was arrested at the Hayloft Bar in Port Richey on Thursday afternoon. Deputies say he's the man who robbed a Wells-Fargo bank branch earlier, but not before stopping off at the Hayloft for a brew.
A bartender there says Whittle ordered a beer, disappeared for about 30 minutes and then returned to his beer. Deputies say they arrested him at the bar about 10 minutes after he left the bank.
Whittle remained in jail early Friday on $10,000 bond. No attorney was listed for him.

The Hayloft Bar - population: Bartender and a thirsty armed robber of the Wells Fargo Bank -recently returned.

Bartender, " Took you long enough . . .I put a coaster over it and placed in the cooler."


Robber, "Thanks pal. Here's an Abe Lincoln for your troubles and professional attention to hospitality ethics. I had a little bit of business that needed attending. Thanks for keeping an eye on my Stiegl Pils*. This is some beer my friend. Several years ago, I was fishing a creek off of the Kankakee River and ran into two teachers from Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee. They were named Olson and Hickey. We caught a couple of stringers full of smallies and spent the next two hours cutting fillets and putting them in plastic bags. Olson said, "Let's drive over to Gardener (Illinois) and get a couple of Stiegl Pils. I was hooked by the way the two them talked about that beer.

Well, I followed them right into the Gardener House Inn - a restaurant and bar owned by Joe and his wife Waldetrou from Austria. You know What? They had a hammer-head shark on the wall that Joe caught right here in Port Richey. Well, sir that was my first taste of Stiegl.

When I saw you had it here I had to order one. Stiegl -his has become my beer. I'll sip this tasty beer as I imagine myself in Vienna or Salzburg or some rustic village in the Alps. It pours a nice straw colour with a nice foamy head. It tastes of bread like sweetness with a nice hoppy finish. It's not bitter at all, kind of sour at the finish and the bready sweetness stays with you. It's incredibly good and I think a fine example of a really good German pils."

The doors of Hayloft Bar simultaneously burst open front back and side and into the afternoon dimness and welcome crowded heavily armed Port Richey Swat Officers and Pasco County Sheriff's Police.

Port Richey Police Officer - "Put the beer down! Place your hands on the Bar!"

Pasco County Sheriff - " Hold on, Office! The man is drinking a Stiegl Pils. Show some respect. Let this man finish a wonderful Pils! You, sir, are under arrest for the armed robbery of Wells Fargo Bank and are . . . are quite obviously a very discerning pintsman. My compliments, Sir! Take your time"

*Stiegl Pils - It is that important!

An elegant, refined beer with a pleasant hoppy bitterness.

The lighter, gently kiln-dried malt gives Stiegl Pils its light golden colour. The marvellous bouquet of the finest Saaz hops, a characteristic bitterness and liveliness make it a favourite of beer connoisseurs that love a delicate hoppy note and a fine, aromatic flavour.

Actress Kara Zediker - A Great Talent from Kankakee, Illinois

One of the great rewards of a teaching career is seeing the lives developed by students who endured your time with them.

Kara Zediker and her brother John were two wonderful youngsters and are now very successful and splendid young adults. Kara is an actress and John is a CEO for a private company and works on the Du Page County Board. Their folks are Carol, "Cookie," and Phil Zediker one of the great husband and wife teams - Phil is a psychiatrist and Cookie taught with my wife Mary and me at Bishop McNamara High School.

Kara was a member of the Paula Aubrey Dance Studio while a student and acted in every play and sang at every opportunity. Kara is a very pretty kid happy in her own skin - her best role was as Mammy Yokum in the musical Li'l Abner, though she could just as easily filled the role of Daisy May.

Kara and my wife Mary, an art teacher, were great pals. Mary was always the invited guest and I got dragged along to dinners and outings. More so, like the dusty twerp in James Hilton's novel, my wife made me look better and kept the students from hiring a retired Scout Sniper. I was and continue to be a huge pain in the ass. Imagine being a 14-18 year old kid stuck in a desk with me for 50 minutes, or more. I do not know how they did it.

Kara and John were both superb students and very popular kids as well. Kara studied at Columbia College here in Chicago and was selected to act with Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf and bravely acted with John Malkovich in a perfectly horrible play -A Slip of the Tongue*. She also had roles in The Babe with John Goodman and Uncle Buck with John Candy.

Kara plays the lead in a short film to be released in 2012 and plays an Italian woman in a period piece called No God, No Masters about the 1919 Palmer Raids against Italian immigrants.

Here is a trailer for Wedensday's Child The story of a young girl who discovers that her entire nine year existence has been a series of experiments for books written by her parents, and the drastic action she takes to force them into admitting the truth.

Wednesday's Child from Mike Kwielford on Vimeo.

here is Kara as a nurse from a recent episode of Without a Trace-



Phil and Cookie raised two great kids. Kara is an especially talented young lady. Houli! Remember Kara for your next film!


John Zediker - http://www.dupageco.org/CountyBoard/Members/12024/

Kara Zediker-http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954150/


*

Past Threatens Nation`s Freedom In `Slip`
February 07, 1992|By Lawrence Bommer.
It was inevitable: A play has emerged depicting Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Opening Sunday at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company,

``A Slip of the Tongue`` is a world premiere by Dusty Hughes that takes place in an Eastern European country both before and after the revolution of 1989. Its hero, Dominic Tantra, is a leading dissident writer who has spent years in exile in a rural area.After the fall of his repressive government, he returns to the capital city, where he`s given all the privileges he`d been denied. Conflict arises when Tantra, who wants to forget about the past, discovers that the movement that he was a part of and suffered for has become preoccupied with retributive justice. The story focuses on Tantra`s relationships with four university students.

Playing the lead role in Simons Stokes` staging is Steppenwolf stage and screen star John Malkovich. Other cast members are French actress Clotilde Courau, British actress Lizzy McInnerny, Chicagoan Kara Zediker and Lithuanian actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite.

``A Slip of the Tongue`` runs through March 22 at 1650 N. Halsted St.;

312-335-1888.

The Compleat Anglers - on the Mighty Kankakee River

Piscator And upon all that are lovers of virtue; and dare trust in his providence; and be quiet; and go a Angling. "Study to be quiet." Sir Issac Walton

The hours that I spent with my rod parallel to the green waters of pond and roiling torrents of the mighty Kankakee. Often waist deep in the bubble and flow, with my Converse Chuck Tailors protecting my heels, soles and toes from shards of beer bottle and pop-tops atop the shifting limestone home of catfish and river clam. I saw sunrise and sundown bookending my hours transifixed upon the lessons of Heraclitus and wall-eyed quarry below. Bass-Yanker, I!

The magnetic pull of God's own torpedoes with my Twister Tails hooked through their lips and gills darted my soul with them and meditations on my hours on earth as so much plastic line to be pulled in vain from God's Will. Vanitas, Vanitatum ominia vanitas!I drank a lot of beer too.

One Day while casting and reeling with colleague and boon chum Charlie Olson a Compleat Angler and River Ranger, just west of Momence we listened to two rough sons of the spillway and millrace - not far from our places in the flow. A funeral procession snaked along the banks of Kankakee River toward St. Patrick's Cemetery. One of the men stands up, takes off his hat, and bows.

"That was a very nice thing to do," says the second man.

"Well," sniffles the first, "we were married for 25 years."

Charlie and I were moved to toast his gallantry with a couple of stout swallows of Rhinelander.

Fish On!

Now for the Art of catching fish, that is to say, How to make a man that was none to be an Angler by a book, he that undertakes it shall undertake a harder task than Mr. Hales, a most valiant and excellent fencer, who in a printed book called A Private School of Defence undertook to teach that art or science, and was laughed at for his labour. Not but that many useful things might be learned by that book, but he was laughed at because that art was not to be taught by words, but practice: and so must Angling. And note also, that in this Discourse I do not undertake to say all that is known, or may be said of it, but I undertake to acquaint the Reader with many things that are not usually known to every Angler; and I shall leave gleanings and observations enough to be made out of the experience of all that love and practice this recreation, to which I shall encourage them. For Angling may be said to be so like the Mathematicks, that it can never be fully learnt; at least not so fully, but that there will still be more new experiments left for the trial of other men that succeed us.

But I think all that love this game may here learn something that may be worth their money, if they be not poor and needy men: and in case they be, I then wish them to forbear to buy it; for I write not to get money, but for pleasure, and this Discourse boasts of no more, for I hate to promise much, and deceive the Reader.

BEST AREAS TO FISH: In town of Momence, below Kankakee Dam and Wilmington Dam are best spots - whole river system is experiencing slightly higher than normal but falling water levels. Fishing conditions are fair and improving with and moderate water clarity. The spring rains are here...check water levels. Remember...April showers brings big fish in May and June! Go Fishing!

WATER CONDITION: Water levels are higher than normal for this time of the year. Water levels are falling and with low to moderate clarity, 50 degrees.

FISH: Walleye ... rated fair, post-spawning most anglers who are catching fish are below dams and along rocking shorelines. Spawning activities should begin the first 2 weeks of April. Best success with drifting and casting floating jigs and minnows and lead heads with twister tails tipped with minnows, boat/bank, below dam in tailwaters, rocky shorelines, and woody structure along banks are best areas. Fish caught range from 3 to 8 pounds.

FISH: Crappie .... fair, spawn conditions, some anglers are catching small fish. Best fishing with casting to cover and structure with lead heads tipped with twister tails and or minnows, casting twister tails, minnows with a slip bobber are also producing, both boat and bank anglers are finding crappie

FISH: Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass .... rated fair, spawn conditions, most anglers are catching fish. Best fishing with casting to cover and structure with inline rooster tails and safety pin type spinner baits, lead heads tipped with twister tails and or minnows, casting twister tails, minnows with a slip bobber are also producing, both boat and bank anglers are finding some largemouth and smallmouth bass. Fish caught range from 1 to 3.5 pounds.

FISH: Northern Pike ... spotty, post-spawning activities have begun, most anglers who are catching fish are below dams and along rocking shorelines. Best success with drifting and casting lead head with twister tails tipped with large minnows (golden roaches, suckers), in backwaters, boat/bank, below dam in tailwaters, rocky shorelines, and woody structure along banks

FISH: Rock Bass .... spotty, spawn conditions, anglers are catching fish. Best fishing with casting to cover and structure with lead heads tipped with twister tails and or medium sized minnows, casting twister tails, minnows with a slip bobber are also producing rock bass
Carp, suckers, buffalo, and catfish have started to wake-up to spring.



Information provided by Franks Bait Shop in Momence and The Dam Bait Shop in Wilmington

Swashbuckler and Aviator Pat O'Brien's Adventures After Escaping the Hun

Momence Illinois's pioneer aviator and WWI hero whose exploits rival any script for an Errol Flynn movie was introduced to King George V in a private audience and gazetted to the Order of the Military Cross, but he was only getting warmed up.

Pat O'Brien learned to fly somewhere outside of Chicago and his license to fly was signed by the Wright Brothers in 1912. When Pancho Villa made war on the United States in 1917, O'Brien offered his services but was consigned to training duties and he had the itch to fight as well as fly. The Kankakee County native was released from the S.S. Army and traveled to Canada where he joined the Royal Canadian Flying Corps and shortly sailed to France. O'Brien was credited with one sure kill and one probable, before he too was wounded and shot down, captured and sent by train to Germany. O'Brien leaped from a window on the train and began a flight to freedom that covered 370 miles over 70 days from Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and finally neutral Holland. O'Brien's fighting and flying in combat were over.

Here is some valuable chronology on Pat O'Brien's post-war celebrity. I found several old Chicago Daily News prints of Pat O'Brien in Chicago selling War Bonds. He was a much sought after speaker and writer of the best selling war memoir Outwitting the Hun.

His wanderlust took the hero all over America, Cuba, France and also an auto-trek through Mongolia's Gobi Desert.

Homecoming
Pat was presented to King George V (1910-36) on the 7 December 1917 at Buckingham Palace and talked to the King for nearly an hour. Then Pat returned to the USA and his family in Momence. He departed Liverpool on 23 December 1917, on board was a comrade from that fateful flight when he was shot down, Lt Evelyn H Lascelles. They travelled via Dublin, St. John, New Brunswick, New York and Chicago where he caught the train to Momence arriving on 11 January 1918.

A large crowd of people turned out to greet their hero, including his “Mom” Margaret. The town of Momence closed down, stores and schools were shut, the streets decked with flags and bunting and a brass band met him as he stepped off the train. The town had a parade through the streets and a community dinner in the City Hall. Speeches were given by various dignitaries including one given by a nervous Pat.

On his return home he quickly undertook promotional series of talks about his experiences around the country and many newspapers serialized his book. He made the headlines again on the 14 June 1918 when he crashed from about 2000ft, breaking his nose flying a training machine at Kelly Field, San Antonio Texas.

Return to France
There are reports that he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and that he flew over the lines on or just after the armistice which was signed on 11 November. This is all rather confusing although his British passport has a stamp from the French Consul in Chicago dated 16 October giving permission to leave for France. On 22 October he cleared the British Military Control Office in New York with the object of “joining the French Foreign Legion” and the same day he cleared U.S. Customs. Pat disembarked in Bordeaux on the 3 November, and was in Paris on 28 November staying at the Hôtel Édouard VII in early December when he visited the British Consul, where his passport was stamped for travel to New York possibly via the U.K., he actually departed for home from Bordeaux on 2 December 1918 aboard the SS La Lorraine. Further to the above, Pat also obtained an American passport in August 1919 for his trip to China and on the application form he states that he was in the French army and that he used his British passport and his pilots certificate as proof of his identity.

After the War
On the 29 December 1918 a short note in The Decatur Review confirmed that Pat had announced his intention to be the first man to attempt a non stop transatlantic flight in an aeroplane. Work on a suitable aeroplane was due to start in six weeks with the flight attempt to take place in April of 1919. He was aligned with two associates Capt. I. F. Fuller and Lt. C C Robinson, the same man who had been aboard the S.S. Magantic back in May 1917 and who had also served in 66 Squadron. In 1919 a British newspaper, the Daily Mail offered a £10,000. First prize to the first aviator to cross the Atlantic from any point in the United States, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland or the other way in 72 consecutive hours, entrants had to hold an Aviators certificate issued by the International Aeronautical Federation. Ultimately the prize was won by Alcock and Brown in a Vickers Vimy.

During 1919 Pat also undertook a 700 mile trip across the Gobi Desert in an Allen car, travelling from Seattle in the Empress of Russia via. Victoria B.C. Vancouver, Shanghai, Vladivostok, Minsk, Moscow, Caigan, China to Urga, Mongolia, he later said how was delighted with the way the car had performed during the arduous journey. Later in June 1920 an announcement in the Los Angeles Times brought to the attention of the California public the formation of a new company, the Hedding-O’Brien Motor Company, who were selling Allen cars. They were trading from a lot at 512 West Twelfth Street. Interestingly the article notes that Pat had served under eight flags and fought in six wars.

Shadows of the West
The film Shadows of the West was probably shot in the USA during 1918 or early 1919, and was released in 1920 not long after his death. His wife-to-be, Virginia Elizabeth Livingston Allen, using her stage name of Virginia Dale co-stared in the film. One commentator describes the film as “A bizarre mix of yellow peril sensationalism and the ordinary wild west shenanigans”. As you might deduce the film was quite controversial in its day and was withdrawn shortly after release in October 1920 and re-edited and released again in 1921. The background to the film was the “Asiatic Question”; it was released as the U.S. Federal government was in negotiations with the Imperial Japanese government about the number of Japanese émigrés to California where a ballot was due on the anti-alien land-owning measure bill on 2 November 1920

This energetic and larger than life man witnessed a powerful will to live and an unlimited capacity for danger. His book reveals a strong Catholic faith and devotion to prayer in this soldier of fortune.

O'Brien was introduced to a beautiful woman and they married in Cuba. After making a silent film together, they separated. O'Brien attempted a reconciliation, but the woman who introduced the married pair, the mysterious Mrs. Ottis is cited as the cause of the breakup. In December 1920, O'Brien was found dead of a gunshot in his hotel room with a suicide note. Seems strange.

Tomorrow the death of a hero.

http://international.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?cdn:1:./temp/~ammem_gWNP::

Kankakee Water Treatment Blast - Chief Ron Young, Chicago's Fallen Firefighters and All 1st Responders -God Bless You!

Today at St. Rita of Cascia High School at 77th & Western Ave. Chicago will send Firefighter Edward Stringer home to Christ. Last night hundreds of Firefighters from across the Midwest attended the wake at Blake and Lamb Funeral Home, in Oak Lawn and paid tribute to Firefighter Stringer. On Wednesday and Thursday, Corey Ankum will be honored back to Christ. Visitation for Corey Ankum is Wednesday at Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. Funeral services are the following morning at the church. God Bless these heroes.

Firefighter Stringer spent his off hours at a campground in Wilmington, Illinois along the Kankakee River. Only yesterday, an explosion at one of the sewage digestion plants of the Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency (KRMA) sent sludge and sewage into that beautiful river that flows north toward Joliet. One of my students at Bishop McNamara High School, Ron Young is the Fire Chief for the Kankakee City Fire Department. Ronnie is married to Deanna ( Dupuis) Young. Ron was a 145 Lb. Illinois State Wrestling Champion, whose sons became outstanding wrestlers and Christian gentlemen.

Like Firefighters Stringer and Ankum, Ron Young and his band of 50 brothers and sisters put their lives on the line every day. My nephew, Patrick Cleary, is a Romeoville Firefighter.

God Bless our first responders - Police, Fire, Emergency Medics at every level of government.


From the Kankakee Daily Journal

Kankakee Fire Chief Ron Young said it is unknown just how much untreated sewage has flowed into the river.

"I don't know if we'll ever have that," he said.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.

No one was working inside the digester building when it exploded, Young said. KRMA treats wastewater from Aroma Park, Chebanse, Bradley, Bourbonnais, Kankakee and Manteno. Young said service hasn't been interrupted.

The Kankakee Fire Department has 50 personnel working a 52.5-hour weekly shift (24 hours on-48 hours off) with 5 officers and 2 firefighters working a 40-hour week day shift. There is a Chief, 2 Assistant Chiefs, 5 Captains, 9 Lieutenants and 40 firefighters. 38 members are paramedics, 12 are certified fire investigators and 6 are certified arson investigators. We are supported by two full-time administrative assistants.

Kankakee Water Treatment Center Blast - No Injuries Thank God!

About and hour ago there was an explosion at the Kankakee River Water Treatment Plant - Bishop McNamara Alumnus and State of Illinois Wrestling Champion Ron Young is the Kankakee Fire Department Chief. No injuries were sustained in the blast, thanks be to God!

I spent some of the best years of my life in this wonderful City and county.

Blast destroys Kankakee water plant building
December 27, 2010 10:03 AM | 1 Comment
An explosion destroyed a building this morning at a water treatment plant in Kankakee.

But no one was hurt and all 13 people who work on the property at 1600 W. Brookmont Blvd. are accounted for, a fire official said.

The explosion occurred a little before 9 a.m. at a building that produces methane gas used for energy, said Kankakee Fire Department Chief Ron Young. He said the plant was still operational, though.

The explosion, Young said, sent debris into the surrounding neighborhood. The treatment plant, he added, serves several communities besides Kankakee, but there were no reports of any households experiencing problems as a result of the explosion.

Nicor Gas, ComEd and the Illinois Environment Protection Agency personnel were notified about the explosion, Young said.

Kankakee is about 60 miles south of Chicago.

The Bronte Press of Bourbonnais, IL - A Thing of Beauty

I have always been uncomfortable around things of beauty - I tended to break them, get my soiled mitts and finger prints all over them and await the fell swoop of hand to the back of my noggin.

Thus my aestheic point of view was rudely - albeit prudently - stamped at an early age. Hence, my aesthic appreciations found safe ground on the less tangible arts - words, ideas and music. The plastic arts had a much more Pavlovian impact upon me. Touch it and get whacked. Things of beauty are meant to be touched - but by graceless boy, or clumsly adult.

Books are beautiful in themselves. Hand printed minature books are a treasure.

In my salad days as a baby teacher, I had the great good fortune to meet Suzanne Granzow-Pruchnicki and her husband Paul. Suzanne was my late wife Mary's Art Teacher at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee and later her professional mentor. Mary followed Suzanne as Art teacher for that great Catholic high school. Paul taught Theology, Philosophy and English and served as link to Catholic aestheics. Paul and Suzanne married.

Suzanne's family were Manteno, Illinois gentry and Suzanne and her sister Elmira were steeped in culture and the arts. They founded the Bronte Press, which produced minature books -not for the filthy fingers of young Paddy Hickey, but for a carved black walnut tri-pod stand which would adorn a mantel.

Take a slide down I-57 to Kankakee County and visit the Bronte Press in Bourbonnais* - which I continue to prounce like a Townie - Burr-Bonus.

Bronte Press:
Phone: 815-932-5192
County: Kankakee
Manufacturing Firm: Are you looking for Bronte Press offers and services?
Year Established: 1977
Exec: Paul Pruchnicki

* I arrived in Kankakee County in the fall of 1975, just before the great "Say Bour -Bo-Nay" Campaign by the Franco-phone Fascists. Townies always say BURR-BONus. Even my wife's Frog-eating side of the family.

Click my post title for more on the Bronte Press of Bournonnais

God Welcomes Home Marietta Frogge - Martinton, Illinois

Calvin Frogge was a WWII Naval Aviator and after the War he wooed Marietta McCue - Marietta took to Calvin's wooing. These two young Martinton, Illinois kids married and raised two boys on a small farm in Iroquois County, Illinois.

Calvin raised acres of popcorn for Popeye Brand Popcorn and worked as a machinist. Marietta raised the boys, took the piglets into the home in winter, worked the fields, detasseled, cooked for, washed and fed the three men. Everyone went to Mass and everyone prayed on their knees. This was French French Catholic Illinois and only a hectare or two from the Dutch Calvinists in Wichert,IL and the Dutch could break an anvil with prayer.

Marietta and Calvin raised Jim and Tom. Jim and Tom became Catholic High School school teachers and coaches. Both Jim and Tom were standout athletes at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Illinois. Jim went on to Yale and played football with Brian Dowling and Dick Jauron and was coached by ABC Sportscaster Tim Weigel and then returned to coach and teach Physics and Chemistry at Bishop Mac. Tom went to John Carroll and taught English and coached at Bishop McNicholas High School in Cincinnati, OH.

Calvin and Marietta operated a small farm near the Indiana State line and went to dances at the Knights of Columbus and they acted like the teenagers who fell in love with one another for sixty years. This, I witnessed.

Calvin and Marietta always held hands; always hugged; there was always a tactile recognition of the power and force of the love between them. At weddings and baptisms Calvin was never more than a hand span away from his girl Marietta - Marietta McCue.

At my wedding, in the Knights of Columbus Hall in Kankakee, attended by three hundred members of my family and more than two hundred folks from Kankakee and Iroquois Counties, Calvin and Marietta were about the very last to leave and helped me and Charlie Olson and my brother Kevin load up the gifts and arrange rides for the over served.

Calvin and Marietta were devoted to one another and they were best pals.

Marietta went home to Christ on Monday night in a skilled care facility in Danforth, IL. Calvin is having a very tough time. I lost my best pal in 1998 and it is tough, but God never gives us more than we can handle. Calvin is a tough, wiry Illinois Dirt Farmer, but Calvin managed to woo Marietta McCue.

God grant Calvin Peace. Marietta, as with all women, is way ahead of you, Calvin!

Sauger Fishing the Illinois River - Beer Drinking with Patriots

Waters of the Illinois River are colder than a mother in law's kiss and with this year's snap from God's Freon Lines (aka -Global Warming) YEOW! I read a scrotum shrivelling saga in this morning's Tribune. God be praised a gent knocked from his barge after a collision with a bridge was pulled from waters near Coal City* - a town I love so well. The Illinois River is formed by the mighty north flowing Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers and pushes west through Morris and Ottawa where it picks up the Mazon and Fox Rivers and later the Vermillion and eventually spikes southwest to the Mississippi River. That's a hell of a lot of water to all you hydrology fans.

The waters are damn cold. Colder than the reception too many south side gents will receive, following the their decisions to cap off the office Christmas Party with a nightcap and a nightgown at Franklin Tap before boarding the Metra (Rock Islands). Frigid, Bridget!

The Illinois River is the Sauger Capital of the World. The Sauger is a Pericidae ( Perch family and great eating) and the smaller more athletic cousin of the Noble Walleye. There have been some instances where Sauger and Walleye mate and a spawn hybrid freak -Dysfunctional Walleye - the Saugeye appears. I believe that to be more agrarian legend, like the Yellowhammers of Custer Park - folks said to be so in-bred that they live along the banks of the Kankakee River along Route 113. Oh, they be there, Meryl.

Sauger fishing, in late November and early December, requires a genuine Illinois River Scout - a man steeped in River Traditions, Folkways and a River Piety toward the piscene quarry and also a man thoroughly marinated in Peach Schapps and Pabst Blue Ribbon - or, if unavailable, Blatz. I like Drewrys.

I had the honor of teaching with such an Illinois Voyageurcoureurs des bois - Jacques Martain**! Clam! Jack was known by that apellation following his capture of an Illinois Clam the size of a hubcap - Baby Moon Buick Sized.

Jack lived in Streator and drove to Kankakee Bishop McNamara High School ( distance of about sixty-five miles each way) and never was late nor missed a day of teaching History.

Voyageur Martain introduced me, Charlie Olson and Dead-eye Brett Fraser to the delights and dangers of Sauger fishing. The Key- don't get so brain-boiled on beer that you end up the main course for Mr. Gar under the river bed.

The absolute best time to take Sauger is in February prior to the spawning run near Starved Rock, IL. The next best is November and December when the shad take to depths of eight to twelve feet. To quote River Reporter Dan Vinovich:

" As late November and December arrive, water temperatures drop into the 50 degree range. This drop in water temperature seems to merge the smaller schools of fish into large wolf packs interested in one thing, eating! Fall, in my judgment, is one of the best times to catch full stringers of big fish. Locating these packs of hungry walleye and sauger is fairly simple. When you find the food, you find the fish. Shad is the main forage base in many of our midwest lakes and rivers. In the fall, millions of shad move onto shallow mud flats to feed on the remaining invertebrates in the water column. As the invertebrates in the water column start to deplete, the shad start sifting through the silt on these flats for the remaining food, much like the American Indians followed the buffalo across the plains. The walleye and sauger follow the shad, stopping to gorge themselves on the plentiful food supply before moving into deeper holes to hold up during winter. So for fantastic fall river fishing, look for shallow flats in the 10 to 12 foot depth range. "

This is all too true and Dan's simile is dead-on! Saugers form wolfpacks like the Nazi Subs off the Atlantic Coast in hunt of shad rather than Allied shipping.

In 1984, at about this time of year, Jacques "Clam" Martain lured Charlie, Brett and me out to Streator and off to the Illinois River in pursuit of of these Sauger wolfpacks. We took off from Triple K in Brett's tan Chevy van armed with Zebco's, Illinois Fish & Game Licenses, Peach Schapps and a case of Blatz cans ( 'Outta Pabst Boys! No More 'til Monday. Hickey - You gotta be Some Kind of Mutant - Drewrys!') from Box & Norm's Liquors on Station Street.

The Kankakee Trio ( Olson,Fraser & Hickey) picked up Clam in Streator at 5:30 A.M. and drove to Starved Rock - the site of the Illinwek Masada - the Illinwek tribe murdered a great number of Potowatommi and their Chief Pontiac in 1760': a bit of Advocacy History painted over by Ward Churchills. Genocide has nothing to do with honkies - this was Injun on Injun****. Starved Rock is an Illinois Treasure - get thee there!

We did and there was a beautiful blanket of snow - the temperatures were 25 Degrees. The swift waters of the Illinois River confluence and wet-confederation fired coal black swirls and ripples that caressed rock and bridge pilings, as we wadded, very carefully, in spots that Clam Martain had scouted and was sure that no shifts in the river bedding of limestone would snag his three colleagues.

Jacques (Jack) "Clam" Martain was a riverman - any and every River. Clam waded and so did we. With good rubber waders and thick thermals grabbing our butts, nuts and uppers. Clam was our coureur des bois! There are many of my generation and younger who learn to steep themselves in the better nature of man by respecting and tussleing with Nature. No WIs or Nintendos for such Patriots! Clam was no armchair historian either - he waded into history!

In the classroom he never once raised his voice which had a four generation Illini French tang of Gascony yet. Mr. Martain taught Illinois History and made it come to life -especially the French Heritage. Parts of Northern Illinois are remarkable for the Gallic magic that inflects the speech of people in Papinueau, rural Kankakee, Martinon, St. Anne, L'Rable, Hennepin, Minooka, Peru, and Ottawa. Clam liked nothing better than teaching history and then popping open beers while he fished and his three pals were devout communicants of this church as well.

Clam is convinced that somewhere in his French lineage is some Pontiac blood. He ordered each of us to sacrifice a lure of some value by tossing it into the Illinois river. "Before we take from the waters we must give to the waters!" Brett Fraser was passing some steaming used Blatz and Peach Schapps into the Illinois from the bank, but Clam said that was not a fitting gift.

Into the River we tossed, twister tails, hulu poppers and silly shads.

Charlie, Brett and I were told what crank baits to use and where to toss and how to play them -" Take 2 & 1/2" dull color shads -pop them out about fifteen past your target beyond the flow and play it fast -Sauger get pissed when shad dart by. Shad are bony cousins of the Atlantic or the river herring. Saugers love them.

My take for the day was four two and two and half pound Saugers. All were under the "14" limit and I had to let them go. As I mentioned, I like Drewrys and therefore was skunked. Blatz lovers Charlie, Brett, and Clam had stringers full of wiggling and pissed off Saugers. We cleaned, cooked and ate the fish and wrapped some for our wives when we made room in the coolers as good husbands by draining them of cans of Blatz.

I took a pass on the Peach Schnapps as did Charlie and we took turns driving back to Clam's house in Streator.

When we hit Route 113, we noticed a rainbow behind us in the side door rear view mirrors. Charlie Olson, 6'4" Black Haired Viking who taught Business and coached Tennis, took this as an omen. I concurred and we pulled into Custers Last Stand for Drafts, Darts and demitasse du jour
. We took much from the Illinois River. It was cold and warm at the same time.

The barge men pulled a fellow crewman from the icy Illinois River waters. I hope the rescued bargeman returns to that bridge and tosses in something of value. Jacques "Clam" Martain would demand no less .



*

December 12, 2009 6:07 AM | No Comments | BREAKING STORY
An unidentified man was rescued from the icy waters of the Illinois River near Coal City Friday night.

At about 9:30 p.m., a barge traveling on the Illinois River struck a Canadian National Railway bridge pier about a half mile from the Dresdon Lock and Dam. The collision caused a man working on the barge to fall overboard into the river, according to Coal City Fire Chief Harold Holsinger.

The barge crew lost contact with him in the darkness for approximately 45 minutes until he was found about a half mile downstream, Holsinger said. After about a 15 minute rescue operation he was pulled from the water by personnel from the Dresdon Lock and Dam.

The man was transported to Morris Hospital, his condition is unknown. Chief Holsinger indicated that the man was alert, conscious but very, very cold. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.



John Loboda, WGN-TV

**

Voyageur strength hauled more than goods; it also allowed explorer Louis Joliet and missionary Father Jacques Marquette to search for a route to the Gulf of Mexico. These men became the first Europeans to see and map the Mississippi River along with many other natural landmarks. As they returned northward through the Illinois Territory, news reached them of a faster route back to the Great Lakes: the Illinois River. Joliet and Marquette would continue to the current site of Chicago, and Father Marquette would return to start the first Christian Mission in Illinois near Starved Rock. Today you can follow the strokes of Father Marquette when you paddle into the Illinois River at Starved Rock State Park.


The Illinois River retains the trade value and adventurous spirit from the Voyageur days. If you get the opportunity to travel this river or the byway that follows its shores, consider how the work and sweat of the Voyageurs helped shape Illinois history.

***
T

he Illinois Natural History Survey Mollusk Collection contains over 105,400 catalogued specimens, most of which were collected in Illinois and the southeastern United States. The collection is 90% freshwater species (mussels, fingernail clams, and snails) and 10% terrestrial species (snails). Most of the specimens were collected as a result of various faunal surveys conducted by INHS biologists from the late 1800's until the present. The early collections were made by such naturalists as John W. Powell, Robert Kennicott, Richard E. Call, William A. Nason, Frank C. Baker, Robert E. Richardson, and Charles A. Hart.

The snails are divided between terrestrial (13%) and freshwater (5%) species, most of which were collected more than 50 years ago. The largest and best documented collection of snails at the Survey was compiled by Thural D. Foster and organized by Frank C. Baker as part of his study on the "Landsnails of Illinois" published in 1939. The Baker snail collection numbers 1632 lots containing 11,970 specimens.

**** From a paper written by a high school teacher -

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" . . . and made the first contact with the "Indians." For Native Americans, the world after 1492 would never be the same. This date marked the beginning of the long road of persecution and genocide of Native Americans, our indigenous people. Genocide was an important cause of the decline for many tribes.

Romy Hammes - 1900-1981: Illinois Business Genius, Philanthropist and Good Guy -The Man from Kankakee

I taught a good many Hammes kids while at Bishop McNamara from 1975 until 1987 and the Hammes legend was very familiar to me.

However, I tripped over a story about Romy Hammes that really put the hook through my gills -it has every thing! well, aside from the Communist onslaught moving south in Vietnam no violence - yet - and no sex - though I am quite postive that procreation and adultery took place circa 1956.

Refugees, Persecution, Vietnam in the 1950's, 1950-51 Fords and Trucks, International Law, Catholic Charities, Notre Dame University, South Bend, and . . . more to come.


Romy Hammes

If there was ever one person from Kankakee, Illinois, who had it all and did it all it was a businessman with a seemingly inexhaustible Midas touch.

In September 1946, Kankakeeans who knew Romy Hammes were not surprised to discover he had received nation-wide recognition in a seven page article, "U.S. Success Story 1938-1946," that appeared in Life magazine. (This was Hammes' second appearance in Life, the first had been in a 1938 story on the automobile industry.) In 1974 the photographer that had taken the pictures of Hammes for Life, Bernard Hoffman, published a biography about "The amazing, meteoric like rise of a grass-roots American from small-town Ford salesman to international businessman" and titled it "The Man from Kankakee: The Story of Romy Hammes, Twentieth-Century Pioneer."

Born in 1900 to Anton N. and Mary Hammes, Romy Hammes grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
...
At the age of seven, Romy began helping out at his father's shoe store.At sixteen, having completed courses in bookkeeping, shorthand and typing at the University of Wisconsin Business School, he went to work for the local Ford dealer, Harry Dahl.

By 1926, Hammes had married Dorothy Hofweber and had won a nationwide Ford sales contest by selling 107 Model T's . He was then offered a dealership management position by the Ford Company.Given the choice of Atoma, Iowa, or Kankakee, Illinois, Hammes chose Kankakee in partnership with Dahl.
...
Hammes soon opened dealerships in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; DeKalb, Illinois; South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago.He also became a distributor for Ford-Ferguson tractors in fifty-two counties.

At the time Hoffman had contacted Hammes for the 1946 Life article, he learned Hammes, besides being a very successful Ford distributor owned an investment trust company, was a director of Kankakee's City National Bank; had opened Marycrest Business College.He also was dealing in real estate and building homes.When Hoffman returned in 1961 to take some pictures for Life's twenty-fifth anniversary issue, he found Hammes and his wife Dorothy, because of their generous philanthropic and charitable activities, had received the highest homage the Catholic Church can give to laymen.Anarticle in the January 1951 Kankakee Journal told the story:

"The honor of Knight of St. Gregory, conferred last week upon Romy Hammes of Kankakee by Pope Pius XII, is greater than many laymen appreciate.Not more than 100 men in the entire world may be accorded this knighthood, established in 1821 by Pope Gregory XVI. . . . "Mrs.Romy Hammes has been accorded the medal, "Pro Esslesia et Pontiface," in recognition of her services to the Roman Catholic church.The awardswere announced by the most Rev. Martin D. McNamara, bishop of Joliet diocese. . . ."

By 1970 The Hammes family had spent over 2 million dollars "in worldwide church and school construction."

Hammes expressed his credo in a 1970 Kankakee Sunday Journal interview:

"'About 20 years ago I decided to take the Blessed Virgin in as a partner,' said Romy, 'I decided to give her 25 percent of whatever I earned.After all, where do you get your good health and good fortune but from the Lord, and you must do something in return.'"Hammes's philanthropic and business projects embraced countries around the world as well several cities in the United States.They ranged from erecting a high school, church and bank building in Las Vegas and a resort hotel in Honolulu, to contributing to the establishment "of schools, orphanages, hospitals, living quarters and missions from Hong Kong to Africa."

In 1955, Hammes bought the Singer manufacturing company property in South Bend and Chicago. He planned a shopping center on the South Bend property and donated the 10-story Singer office building in Chicago to Chicago's First Church of the Nazarene.

On a local level Hammes built Marycrest Shopping Center and St. Teresa's school and church in the Marycrest subdivision of Kankakee; donated an outdoor statue of the Blessed Virgin to St. Joseph's Church in Bradley and opened branches of Peoples Bank of Marycrest in Bradley and Bourbonnais.

Romy Hammes died in December 1981 at the age of 81.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Hammes_Romy_258514659.aspx

Kankakee River Rescue! Well Done, Derek Mullady and the Mullady Family!

First "Ed Mullady's Kankakee River Fisherman's Atlas" for Illinois published. Mullady helps organize "Save Our Streams" to fight building two new dams along the Kankakee River. Campaigned against building a reservoir lake near Wilmington.

The Mullady Family has watched over the Kankakee River for as long as I can remember.
River Scouts Pat and Matt Mullady were pals of my late wife Mary and dedicated naturalists like father, Mr. Ed Mullady. I fished the Kankakee River for fourteen years and often with their guidance and sound criticism.

Their father Ed Mullady is the dominant sportsman/activist/conservationist and Father of the Kankakee waterways for all of his life. He is the publisher of Kankakee River Report. Ed Mullady's sons and grandsons have protected the beauty and the majesty of what most argue to be the cleanest river in Illinois. The Mullady family dedicated their spirits to the waters of the Kankakee. It is a generational vocation.

Today, I read that Derek Mullady heroically saved the life of a man who crashed his plane into the Kankakee River.

Mullady and four friends rode a harbor boat out to the overturned plane and dragged it to shallow water where they flipped it over and cut the victim out of the cockpit.

"We cut him loose and...he coughed up blood and started breathing," Mullady said.

Mullady said the victim, a man who appeared to be in his 40s, was underwater for about six minutes before being rescued. The unidentified pilot was taken to an area hospital, where he was listed in fair condition, Kankakee County Sheriff's police spokesman Tim McCabe said.

Officials remained on the scene and were investigating, McCabe said.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified but further details were unavailable, said agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.

Mullady downplayed any notion that he was a hero. "I don't know if I'd say that," Mullady said. "Just at the right place at the right time, I guess."

--William Lee

I can safely say that the only bad thing to ever come out of Kankakee was the nine inch Alligator Gar that I caught near Custer Park and a few Mud Puppies.

Governor George Ryan - The Man I Know is a Very Good Man.

I first met George Ryan, in 1975 when I was a baby teacher/coach at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee - a Chicago 18th Ward Democrat in Republican Land. In Fact Mimi Shapiro asked me to run for City Clerk as a Democrat - I figured what the hell -good way to learn the town. George’s brother Tom was the Mayor. The GOP slated Gene Glenzinski for City Clerk and the Dad of one my wrestlers and a better man never pulled on socks.

The Race was a blast and we had frequent ‘debates’ and run-ins with the Machine. George Ryan was a lovely guy. One day while walking to work, up Brookmont from my apartment in White City near Washington Park. I saw guys replacing Democratic signs that had been knocked down. I asked one of the guys ‘What gives?’ He said, ‘ George said to get them back up. You guys are gonna get waxed anyway.’ Laughed my butt off.

The Democratic slate was slaughtered, in fact I got the most votes -novelty votes for the kid, I imagine.

George Ryan was present wherever anyone from Kankakee, especially his political opponents, were in a jam or suffering. I saw George Ryan at St. Mary's Hospital visiting dying relatives of people who hated him politically. George Ryan had time for everyone. He was the reason why the Kankakee GOP was so successful and it was because he genuinely cared for people. The only person nicer than George Ryan is his bride Lura Lynn. That woman was everywhere!

I never once voted for George Ryan. Oh Hell, I'm a Party Democrat . . . I was anyway. I backed candidates who wouldn't give a penny to starving blind man . . .they would enact Programs for Hungry Blind and Indigent . . .once elected.

I have met George Ryan at many wakes and weddings, in Kankakee and Joliet. He is a very nice man. I’d buy the man a steak any day, at Ken’s in my neighborhood, or Krapil’s, or Franconello’s or some such homey place reminiscent of Kings Court and Town and Country in Kankakee, if he’d allow me. George Ryan did not seem to match Gibson’s or Tavern on Rush or the other news-ghoul & hustler eateries. These other fore mentioned places are where George Ryan’s people eat.

The type of people who go to Ken’s and other neighborhood dining spots are the people George Ryan connected to - not political allies, hangers-on or opportunists, but people like Ryan himself. I witnessed quite a few of George Ryan’s many acts of kindness to people who could never do any political boon for anyone - let alone George Ryan - too numerous to catalog. He treated Joe Blow from the docks at Tenney Sales on 5th Ave. in Kankakee like he was a Sam Zell with an ink wet contribution check.

Conversely, I have followed the words of many familiar voices in print that have universally called for a mighty punishment on George Ryan - most of the people writing those words seem like people that I can do without. John Kass and Tom Roeser are the only two valid voices of anti-Ryan sentiment in my opinion - there are others to be sure, mostly regular folks and I respect their feelings.

However, there are many more, mostly media creatures. who are stone hypocrites -DuPage GOP ‘almost weres and fatuous Polka Partners like Judy Topinka who could not get snug enough in George’s back pockets when he was flush with clout and now stomp on his crippled limbs.

It seemed to me that Ryan’s Judge and Federal Prosecutors were going to get George Ryan come Hell, Highwater, or the lady with the blindfold. and they did - the voices in print ( paper and electronic) - sock-puppets or anonymous back-shooters for the most part - howl in genuine agony that George Ryan has the same rights as other citizens. ‘The quicker he is in jail the happier I’ll be’ read one such post, or ‘Ryan can rot in Hell’. Must be a lovely people . . . to avoid.

Alaister McLean Studge - The Kankakee Naturalist

Alaister McLean Studge of Custer Park, Illinois could Texas Rig his line for Smallies on the Kankakee River within eight seconds, unless, as a matter of course, he had spent the morning at Park Package Liquors in Altorf, the 102 Tap ( Now T.J. Doolins in Bourbonnais), or had Peach Schappsed his breakfast.

This Kankakee River fisherman served as a River Guru for my pal Charlie Olson, cousin Willie Winters and me on our many forays to hook 'em in the mouth on the Mighty Kankakee. From the 102 Bridge and Warner Road to the Wilmington Dam we waded and night lined our way into gilled ecstasies with Zebcos, Shimanos and Shakespeares depending upon the landscape.

Alaister never changed with the times and practiced his drunk driving with an outlaw's disdain for the passing of ages, morals, Laws and sensibilities and finally had his license to drive in the State of Illinois Revoked.

That did not stop the plucky outdoors man from harrowing Nature's treasure trove. He continues to fish and hunt and trap along the North flowing Kankakee.

Recently Alaistar bagged a buck and brought his trophy home, strapped across the front of his vehicle. The Photo above shows the triumphant pioneer making his way home from the fields and forests around Papineau, Illinois wheeling the many miles to Custer Park with meat for his rustic locker on the west bank of the Kankakee River.

God speed Alaister and Happy Holidays! Do not Drive! Never Drive under the influence of Alcohol or any other Substance! All of Us! Road Loading has gone the way of the carburetor

You may see this River Ranger in and out about Kankakee County and if you are lucky he may impart the words so often related to Charlie Olson, Willie Winters and me as we learned the sylvan rites:

'Stay on the right; the water's wetter, but don't let them dang bugs up much for air'll the smallies will 'spect something. Wonder Bread's good alot , but Lord Clavert's better - Here Boy! - May The Lord ( Canadian Lord Calvert)be With You! Tug it up! What's your problem? Huh, You Better'n me? Smart Ass College Not Know Doodly? Huh? I love you Man. Think I wet myself.'


Photo of Alaister McLean Studge courtsey of Mike McQuade - California Naturalist, Tobbaconist, Jeweler's Eyed Judge of Toothsome Wenches and Hops Aficionado.