The Blues on the River music festival location is going back to its original site on the Evansville Riverfront after flood waters receded this week.
While flood waters
had necessitated a plank bridge to reach the Water Sttreet Bar & Grill
as late as this past weekend, the Kaskaksia Lock & Dam was reopened this
week and the ban on all pleasure and recreational boating on the Kaskaskia
River from the lock and dam south of Modoc to mile marker 21 near Baldwin
was lifted Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The ban was put in place June 20 following a request by Evansville Mayor Erwin "Red" Becker, who was concerned about potential damage from wave action cause by boats due to high water on the Kaskaskia. When waters were high, it was decided to move the festival to the ball diamonds in Evansville. Now festival organizers are preprarting the original riverfront site for the event.
The blues festival had been held in Sparta prior to this year. When Sparta city officials told Bluesfest representatives that the previous level of funding for the event could not be sustained, festival organizers met with Evansville officials to move the program to the riverfront.
Owners of the Water Street Bar & Grill have also been working with the Bluesfest Committee.
Billy Peek headlining Bluesfest
Billy Peek, a St. Louis-based guitarist with a national reputation, will be headlining the 2008 Sparta Bluesfest July 19 in Evansville.
Peek has toured
with Chuck Berry and Rod Stewart. In his five years with the Stewart band,
Peek appeared on four albums. He was guitarist on Stewart hits such as "Hot
Legs," "Blondes Have More Fun," "Passion," "Do You Think I'm Sexy" and "Born
Loose."
Returning to his base in St. Louis, Peek performs with a trio that features more blues and classic rock songs. His first solo album, "Can a White Boy Play the Blues?" included such guests as Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson. Peek's career dates back to the Gaslight Square era in St. Louis and his live shows draw a large following of swing and imperial-style dancers.
In addition to his recordings, Peek has been featured on PBS. He performed at the Big Muddy Blues Festival in St. Louis last year.
Also new to the Bluesfest line-up will be the Los Carnales Blues Band.
Returning performers include Lew Jetton & 61 South and the Melissa Neels Band.
Jetton's band performs a cross of blues and southern rock and has been featured on recordings such as "Tales from a 2 Lane" and "State Line Blues."
Neels has appeared at the Big Muddy Blues Festival, Blues on the Mississippi and the Whitaker Music Festival and opened for Chuck Berry at Blueberry Hill.
The program will open with the Homegrown Blues Review.
Bluesfest Chairman Debi Klausing said performers committed to the opening segment include Brent Koeneman, Bill Kennedy and Tom Pigford. Jim Fischer is organizing the review.
The Bluesfest will be held on the Kaskaskia riverfront in Evansville under the title of the Sparta Bluesfest Blues on the River on the Kaskaskia River in Evansville.
Under the new format, bands will perform on the barge located at the Water Street Bar & Grill. They will face towards Liberty Street, with audience members sitting in an open area.
Canned beer will be sold on the grounds and mixed drinks will available at Water Street. She said the Bluesfest will be selling commemorative cups for mixed drink sales.
Coolers will not be allowed on the grounds this year, but those attending can bring tents for shade. Those bringing tents are asked to set up towards the back so as not to block views.
She said Water Street will not be operating its restaurant on the day of the Bluesfest. Vendors will be invited to sell food on the grounds. The vendor fee is $75.
Vendors who have committee to the Bluesfest so far include St. Boniface, Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School and the Kaskaskia River Sportsmen.
Budweiser is again a major sponsor of the event. Klausing said sponsorships are again being solicited for the event.
Corporate tent sponsorships are $500, with other packages also available.
Admission to the event is $10. Water Street is also booking boat slips for $35 each.
The schedule for the Bluesfest is:
2 p.m., Homegrown Blues Review
3:15 p.m., Los Carnales Blues Band
5:40 p.m., Melissa Neels Band
7:30 p.m., Lew Jetton and 61 South
9:30 p.m., Billy Peek
For more information on vendor spaces or sponsorships, contact Klausing at 443-4616.
County fair runs through July 20
The 2008 Randolph County Fair will be held through Sunday, July 20, at the fairgrounds in Sparta.
This year's line up includes:
Thursday, July 17: TT/Flat Track Race Motor Cross Event - Gates open at 4:30, Time Trials begin at 5 p.m., Race begins at 7 p.m.
Friday, July 18: 4 Wheeler Mud Races 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 19: Demolition Derby 7 p.m., followed by a band at Sparta Lions Club Pavilion.
Sunday, July 20: Antique Tractor Pull 11 a.m.
The Sparta Lions Club will also have a beer stand at the fair.
Final Lefthanded Pen column runs*
The greatest newspaper story the Lefthanded Pen ever read was in the pages of the Sparta News-Plaindealer.
There was no byline, but undoubtedly Howe Morgan wrote the story of the night four inmates were executed in the Menard electric chair.
I always shared Howe's disdain for bylines. They seem self-indulgent when a small staff is writing so many of the stories, or taking so many photos, that appear in a newspaper.
But I'd have given Howe a byline on that story. It was magazine length, covering several pages of the newspaper. Last words, backgrounds. He even described the potter's field where two of the executed killers were buried, the final stop for the inmates who had outlived or been forgotten by their families. Outstanding journalism.
The Lefthanded Pen met the late Paul Simon twice, once when he was a senator and the second time after he launched his political institute at SIUC. Simon was speaking at a Southern Illinois Editorial Association function and saw on my name tag that I was from the Sparta News-Plaindealer.
It was an informal affair, so he sat with me at lunch. Howe Morgan was his hero. Before entering politics, Simon was a young editor-publisher in the Metro East. He said Howe Morgan was a mentor who generously shared advice to the young journalist.
After 18 1/2 years in the News-Plaindealer editor's chair, the Lefthanded Pen is leaving with the third longest tenure in the 143-year history of this newspaper behind Howe and Bill Morgan. Given the turmoil in the newspaper industry and the migratory nature of most journalists, I'll probably not be bounced to No. 4.
In this case third is not part of the pantheon. We are not the Holy Trinity or even the Three Stooges. I'm more like Charlie Chan's No. 3 Son, appearing in every fifth film of the series.
But I have always respected the lineage. Bill Morgan's son, Jim, is a friend and the family has always been represented at the Paw Print banquet where the Sparta News-Plaindealer awards the Howe & Bill Morgan Scholarship. We have always tried to pass along a bit of their legacy to the high school staffers who were not even born when the Morgans owned the newspaper.
This past year Morgan Upschulte, Bill Morgan's granddaughter, started writing sports for the Sparta News-Plaindealer. She noted she was the fourth generation of her family to work for the newspaper.
The last reporter the Lefthanded Pen ever fired was a sportswriter who just was not working out. He was surprised at his dismissal and I stayed in the room while he cleared out his desk. He pulled out a couple of skin magazines, looked at his box of personal effects, then decided not to take them home to a wife who would already be shell shocked by the news he had just been canned.
He handed the magazines to me.
"Gee, I didn't get you anything," was my reply.
We never replaced that sportswriter, so the Lefthanded Pen started taking sports pictures and writing football stories. It wasn't in my job description. It was another-damn-thing-to-do.
It was the best part of this job. So many in our industry criticize parents who focus so much on their children's achievements, athletic and extra-curricular. That is our bread-and-butter, the soul of a small-town newspaper. I used to work in my office Tuesday after the paper came out and thrill as the people stopped by to use the vending machine, paying 50 cents to see what we had in the newspaper this week.
I cannot recall any parent who went overboard over the coverage his or her child ever received. I also cannot count the number of parents who provided news tips, photos and updates through our contacts on sporting fields.
This is a happy ending. No more meetings and I can still attend all of the games. Only once did a football referee threaten to throw me out of a game over a comment about errant officiating, but now I don't have to worry how it might reflect on the newspaper. I'll probably hang with Jimmy Richards at all the home football games.
Randolph County has seen its share of job loss. Spartan Printing, Inter-City Products, the coal mines. Given the devastation of those events where people had choices forced on them, you really can't get too teary-eyed over the departure of a guy who voluntarily took a buy-out package because it was really, really attractive.
No one is indispensable. Otherwise they would have stopped making westerns after John Wayne died. Sure, Abraham Lincoln should have overseen the Reconstruction and Bobby Kennedy should have been president. But the rest of us leave more modest footprints when it comes to our "What ifs...?"
The Sparta News-Plaindealer was more important to me than I will ever be to it. The newspaper only had two other editors with longer tenures. The other perspective is that I will never work at a job longer than the time I spent in this one.
Unless I spend another ten years, 54 days as recycling coordinator. Forgot about that gig. Part-time, but still... I had been working up to that powerful "long time at a job" finish and just remembered Wal-Mart gave some grant money for a computer recycling drive.
Heck, this probably isn't even the last Lefthanded Pen column. When is he going to leave? Go home, it's over. Does this columnist even know how to shut this down?
What would Howe Morgan do?
-30-
*The Lefthanded Pen still appears on the internet at www.egyptian.net/~leftypen
ATA taking applications for Grand
The Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) is seeking 250 workers per day for the Grand American on Aug. 4-16.
Applications for scorers and loaders are available at the Sparta City Hall and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources office at the World Shooting & Recreational Complex (WSRC).
They are also available online at www.atasparta.com
Gary Ebers, recently retired Sparta teacher, was hired by the ATA to serve as personnel manager for the Grand.
In addition to individuals, Ebers said groups are invited to commit workers for the 12-day event.
Employees will need to be available to work every day from Aug. 4-16.
Anyone who has not worked an ATA-sanctioned event will also need to attend training on Aug. 3.
Ebers said workers who have received training for ATA-sanctioned shoots, such as the U.S. Open or Grand American, do not need to attend Aug. 3. He said if they want to brush up on skills, they can attend the training.
All workers must be at least 16 years old.
Ebers said workers who commit to work every day during the Grand will be given first priority in hiring. He said if groups want to provide workers, they also need to commit to a daily number of workers through the entire event.
Ebers said workers will be expected to be at the WSRC from 8:30 a.m. until events end that evening.
Bands to play at Grand
The line-up of entertainment has been announced for the 2008 Grand American.
Last year tickets were sold for a Charlie Daniels concert at the event. This year four bands will play free shows.
The line-up is:
Aug. 9: Jackson Junction
Aug. 11: Cruisin'
Aug. 13: Overboard
Aug. 15: Hobbs on Vacation
Sparta Mayor Rob Link said the City of Sparta, Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) and 17th Street Bar & Grill are underwriting the shows.
The city will hire the bands. 17th Street will provide hors d'oeuvres and the ATA will offer drink refreshments.
Link stressed that the shows are open to the public and are not being held just for shooters.
"We want to stress this is a community gathering. It's not just for the shooters," Link said. "The public is invited."
The shows are scheduled from 6:30-10:30 p.m. in the area to the north of the Events Center.
"Charlie Daniels was great, but they had to charge $30 for a ticket," Link said. "We wanted to hire more local entertainment that everyone could afford."
Chamber unveils coin design
The design for the 2008 Grand American coin was unveiled at the July 2 meeting of the Sparta Chamber of Commerce.
The 50th anniversary of the Hunter Field airport in Sparta will be commemorated on one side of the coin by the depiction of the City of Chicago airplane. The Hunter Brothers flew the airplane when they set a flight endurance record in 1930. The Sparta Community Airport is named after the flyers.
John and Kenneth Hunter kept the airplane aloft 553 hours, while their brothers Albert and Walter flew the support plane.
The 2008 Grand American logo will be on the flip side.
Chamber Director Ralph Clendenin said the chamber will order 404 silver coins. In addition, 1,000 bronze coins will be ordered. The coins will cost $40 for a numbered silver coin and $7 for a bronze coin.
Executive Director Molly Hamilton said the airport authority will also hold an event to mark Hunter Field's 50th anniversary.
Through the Years columns
FIFTY YEARS AGO
(issue of July 10, 1958)
Anna W. Brown, Sparta philanthropist and civic leader, was found dead in the basement of her home on West Main at age 88.
Burglars broke into Mike Duvardo's Furniture and Appliance Store and the Nick Culp Grocery Store in Willisville.
Harry W. Bradbury of Sparta was named president of the Glen Allen Corp., the largest producer of anthracite coal in the world.
Sparta's four financial institutions had combined assets of $16,461,783.10.
A dynamite bomb exploded alongside the north wall of the George Thomas Tavern in the Coulterville business district.
The Marissa Dairy Products Co. merged with Diehl Bros., inc., of Defiance, Ohio, to become the Marissa Milk Co., Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Uchtmann of Sparta became the parents of a daughter, Rebecca Sue.
The "Liberty Bell of the West" on Kaskaskia Island rang out on the Fourth of July to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the capture of Kaskaskia by George Rogers Clark and his men.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
(issue of July 6, 1983)
Three of the four Menard Correctional Center inmates who escaped the prison by sawing through the bars over a window had been recaptured. The three had been recaptured the next day within the Chester vicinity, but authorities were still seeking Donald Groth, who had been convicted of murder and robbery.
Toni Pautler, Trudy Wittenborn, Sara Kohrs, Pat Laramore, Jim Robert and Barry Jackson were spearheading K.O.A.P. (Keep Our Athletic Programs). K.O.A.P. was formed through the Booster Club to raise $15,000 the school board sought to avoid eliminating baseball, softball, cross country and tennis.
Frank Beckley was installed as president of the Sparta Lions Club.
Award winners at the summer basketball camp conducted by coach Mike Reeves at the Evansville Attendance Center were Blake Carter, Barry Heuman, Dietrich Karnuth, Steve Morrison and David Wesbecher.
Carol Lynn Wetherington, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Wetherington of Metropolis, wed Dr. Robert W. Holloway, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Holloway of Sparta.
Bob Koenegstein of Chester was the winner in a new event at the Steeleville Fourth of July Picnic, a 3,000-meter race sponsored by Bockhorn Motors. Lindy Rushing of Pinckneyville won the women's division.
Writer Grover Brinkman had a story in the News-Plaindealer on the Kaskaskia Island community of Pujol. Most of the 20-odd houses in Pujol were still occupied, but Brinkman wrote flooding had taken its toll on the community.
---
FIFTY YEARS AGO
(issue of July 17, 1958)
A bomb blasted a hole in the Bird's Nest tavern on Sparta's south city limits and damaged several neighboring buildings. Officials said a juke box-pinball war was the motive in recent bombings in the county.
The Egyptian Colt Stakes Circuit brought night racing to the Randolph County Fair. There were 111 horses entered in the ten races.
University of Illinois trustees deeded ten acres of land at the east end of the former U. of I. experimental field for the use of Sparta High School.
Jackie Seele of Tilden was crowned Miss WHCO.
Huldah Patton of Sparta resigned as a teacher at the Sparta Community Consolidated School.
William H. Morgan was elected chairman of the Sparta Community Hospital board, succeeding E.C. Secor. Other officers elected were Bert Riechman, vice president; A.J. Hoeflinger, secretary; and W. John Brown, treasurer.
Sharon Bropart of Du Quoin was hired to teach English at Sparta Township High School.
Mrs. Larry Partington of Belleville, formerly of Sparta, was employed to teach in the Belleville school district.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
(issue of July 13, 1983)
Conn and Clendenin, founded in 1945, became the law firm of Conn, Clendenin and Norton. William C. Norton was the new partner with D. McMeekin Conn and John Clendenin. Alan Farris was an associate member of the firm.
The fourth inmate who escaped from Menard Correctional Center was captured near Coles City Park in Chester after eluding authorities for four days. The other three escapees had been captured the next day.
Shoplifters took approximately $1,000 in merchandise from five Sparta stores. Wal-Mart, the TV and Appliance Center, P.N. Hirsch, Dollar General and Fashion Express were all victimized.
Temporary seating was being used at the Randolph County Fair after a structural engineer found deterioration in the 75-year-old grandstand.
Janet Lee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hauton Lee of Portland, Ore., wed Bob Hargis, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Hargis of Sparta.
A full-time National Guard recruiter was working out of the Sparta firehouse. SFC Bill Davis moved to Sparta to recruit for the new unit being organized locally.
Dr. Russell Coulter was opening a medical practice in the Margaret Dickey Building in Sparta.
Fishing underway at WSRC lakes
