Organizations,  Events,  Milestones,

Good Neighbors,  Fund-raisers,  A Day in the Life...,

Diaspora,  Reunions,  Reminiscence

September 2001

Wednesday, Sept. 5
SPONSOR: Pete's Hardware
WHO: Public
WHAT: American Red Cross blood drive
WHERE: Lincoln Sports Complex
WHEN: noon - 6 pm

Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 6-8
WHO: Public
WHAT: Mount Pulaski Fall Festival
WHERE: Mount Pulaski

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8 and 9
SPONSOR: Cedar Creek Shows
WHO: Public
WHAT: Cedar Creek Antique & Crafts Festival
WHERE: Logan County Fairgrounds
WHEN: 9 am - 5 pm Saturday; 9 am - 4 pm Sunday

Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 13-15
WHO: Public
WHAT: Atlanta Fall Festival
WHERE: Atlanta

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 15 and 16
WHO: Public
WHAT: Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Contest and Crafts Festival
WHERE: Logan County Fairgrounds
WHEN: 9:30 am - 4 pm Saturday; 10 am - 3 pm Sunday

SPONSOR: Clark's Greenhouse Herbal and Country Garden
WHO: Public
WHAT: Herb Fest and Fall Harvest Market; (309) 247-3679
WHERE: San Jose

Tuesday, Sept. 18
SPONSOR: U of I Extension
WHO: Public
WHAT: "Selection, Planting and Care of Hardy Bulbs," presented by David Robson, horticulture educator at the Springfield center
WHERE: Extension office, 980 N. Postville Drive
WHEN: 10 am - noon

Wednesday, Sept. 19
SPONSOR: Pete's Hardware
WHO: Public
WHAT: American Red Cross blood drive
WHERE: Lincoln Sports Complex
WHEN: noon - 5 pm

September TBA
WHO: Public
WHAT: Harvest Festival
WHERE: Scully Park, downtown Lincoln

REGULAR POSTINGS FOR ORGANIZATIONS:  American Red Cross,  Girl Scouts,  Oasis,  U of I Extension,  Vineyard Cafe

[Click here for information on the next blood drive in Logan County.]

Chiggerfest 6, an ABATE of Illinois East Central Region party, will be Sept. 7, 8 and 9 at Ray’s place in Funks Grove. Gates open at noon. No one under 21 except ABATE Illinois members will be  admitted. (Non-members can join at the gate.)

Live music Friday and Saturday nights will feature the Robin Crowe band, Exit, Easy Money and various other artists. There will be food and assorted vendors, a poker run, bike show, and field events. Primitive camping and limited camper spots are available.

The hosts say, "No kids, no pets, no golf carts or ATVs (three- or four-wheelers). Absolutely no one allowed without proper ID (if the cops won’t accept it, then neither will we)."

The event is hosted by Heart of Illinois ABATE and co-sponsored by Salt Creek ABATE

Directions: Take Interstate 55 south of Bloomington to the Shirley exit. Go south on Old Route 66 about a mile. Watch for signs.

There is an admission fee at the gate. For additional information or advance tickets, contact your local East Central Region chapter; a Heart of Illinois ABATE officer; or Debbie Carr, (217) 935-4253 or (217) 972-6186.

The Lincoln College Museum is presenting a temporary exhibit called "Edward R. Madigan: From the Halls of Lincoln College to the Halls of the White House." The exhibit, which is currently on display, pays honor to one of Lincoln College’s most successful alumni, the late Edward Madigan.

Madigan graduated from Lincoln College in 1955, entered the Illinois Legislature in 1966, was elected to Congress in 1972, and was appointed by President Bush in 1991 to be secretary of agriculture. In 1974, the Lincoln College Alumni Association presented Madigan with its award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Public Services. In 1975 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Lincoln College. He died in 1994.

Lincoln College Museum curator Ron Keller says the display tells the story of Madigan’s career in public service. "The display reflects his experiences and service through many photographs, and letters from every president from Carter to Clinton. There are also various artifacts from his works in Congress and in the White House." The exhibit will run through November of 2001. The public is invited to stop by the Lincoln College Museum to view this exhibit and tour the rest of the historic exhibits.

The Lincoln College Museum is located in the McKinstry Library on the campus of Lincoln College. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

[Evelyn and Agriculture Secretary Ed Madigan at the White House with President and Mrs. Bush in 1991.]

Pete’s Hardware will sponsor two blood drives in September at the Lincoln Sports Complex. The drive on Sept. 5 will be from noon until 6 p.m. On Sept. 19, the hours will be noon until 5 p.m.

People who reached goals recently in their blood donations were Karl "Fig" Newton, 11 gallons; Ken Robison, five; Arlene DeWilde, four; Lisa Fuller, four; Pat Mueller, four; Carol Mills, three; Sue Benedict, three; Larry J. Brandt, two; Stacie Treakle, two; Dean Benedict, one; Nancy Haak, one; Margaret Chrisman, one; and Wayne Ebelherr, one gallon.

Girl Scouts announcements

• Girl Scout leader meetings:  the first Thursday of each month, at the usual time and place.

• Girl Scout Jamboree Railsplitter event:  weekend of Logan County Railsplitter Festival; Janice Greer, event coordinator.

Websites with lots of ideas that Girl Scout leaders, families or kids can use:

makingfriends.com

crayola.com

elmers.com 

See the website for Girl Scouts, Land of Lincoln Council, at http://www.girlscoutsllc.org/.

You can send questions and suggestions to the council by clicking here: gsllc@girlscoutsllc.org.

Also, see the national Girl Scouts site at http://www.girlscouts.org/.

Oasis update

The Oasis, Logan County’s senior citizen center, at 501 Pulaski St. in Lincoln, is open weekdays (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center also is open on Friday and Sunday nights for table games. Dominic Dalpoas is the executive director. Activities are open to all Logan County senior citizens,  regardless of membership.

Think Tank session

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, John Sutton will present a program on woodworking. Please join us for a lively discussion on this topic and others that may be of interest to you.

The Sept. 12 meeting, also at 9 a.m. will be led by Doug DeMay and will address finance issues.

Maple Ridge is the sponsor for bingo games on Thursday, Sept. 6. Please join us at 1 p.m. for an afternoon of fun. This month’s luncheon drawing will be for a free meal at Al’s Main Event Restaurant.

We have a trip planned to see the dress rehearsal of "Rockballet" at UIS, Sangamon Auditorium, in Springfield. The cost is $5. The van will leave the Oasis at 5 p.m. and will not stop for dinner. Due to the close deadline, your reservations are needed right away.

The Alzheimer support group will meet at the Oasis at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 10. Please join us or bring a friend who might just need encouragement to get started with this very supportive group.

A representative from the state’s rehabilitation services office is at the Oasis each Monday from 9 to 11 a.m. to address concerns about current and new employment.

Please call the Oasis and sign up as a "Root" volunteer in order to mentor a "Shoot," a Jefferson School third-grade student. A training meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. at the Oasis. Participants will meet at the school from 1 to 2 p.m. on five consecutive Fridays to learn, grow, plant and harvest. We really need your help with this short-term project.

The Senior Legal Assistance Project will not be accepting appointments for September. If you would like to make an appointment for October, please call the Oasis. If you need service before Oct. 25, call 1 (877) 342-7891 toll free.

Winners of daytime pinochle games were Mable Hoagland on Friday, Aug. 24, and Marie Spaits on Tuesday, Aug. 28. Winners on Friday evening were Joan Morgan for pinochle and Betty Burger, Louis Wiebers and Tom Garrison for 5-in-1. Sunday night rummy winner was Ann Greger, and Harley Heath won the pool game.

Friends of the Oasis members receive bimonthly newsletters by mail. For more information, people can call the Oasis at 732-6132 or 732-5844.

The Vineyard Cafe will feature the alternative folk duo WalkingLimbs on Saturday, Sept. 15.  WalkingLimbs presents thought-provoking songs of life, love, hope and faith, using acoustic guitar and violin.  Doors open at 7 p.m. There is an admission fee for ages 13 and up.  The Vineyard Cafe is at Vineyard Christian Fellowship, located on Route 51, one-half mile south of Interstate 74 at Bloomington. For further information call (309) 663-4943, or visit the website at communities.msn.com/TheVineyardCafe.

Milestones

Fund-raisers

[AUG. 22, 2001]  It isn’t often that the Lincoln Public Library has opportunity to celebrate 30 years of service from one of its employees. That is just how long Deb DeJarnette has been working there.

DeJarnette was surprised by the celebration in her honor in the library annex Tuesday afternoon. She pointed to the large display of flowers and gifts that came in yesterday, saying how surprised she was by the gestures of appreciation.

When asked if she was planning to retire she said, "Oh, no, I'm not planning to leave or retire yet." Then the good-natured librarian chuckled saying, "People just don't stay around here (working in the library) that long." So they decided to celebrate it.

The Lincoln library and the people of Lincoln are just lucky enough that DeJarnette has stayed that long at a job she obviously loves.

[LDN]

[AUG. 9, 2001]  When Stuart Wyneken was a boy, his father, an administrative assistant for Lincoln College, would allow Stuart to accompany him as he oversaw the construction of a number of new campus buildings. P.B. Johnston and his wife, friends of Stuart’s grandparents, had donated the funds for the construction of one of those buildings, a new center for the performing arts on the college’s campus. Little did Stuart know that the very site of that new construction where he idled away his summer vacation in 1970 would be the place where he would spend his summers for the next 30 years.

The summer of 2001 marks not only the 30th anniversary of Lincoln Community Theatre, but also the 30th consecutive year for Wyneken’s service as the lighting designer and technician for LCT productions. Announcing his retirement from both the LCT board and the LCT light booth at the end of the summer, Wyneken looks forward to having future summers available for family and other interests.

The first 19 years with LCT, he was a bachelor and had to answer only to himself. Things changed in 1989 with his marriage. For the next 11 years, when June rolled around, Wyneken’s wife, Kim, would say, "See you in August!"

Wyneken had just graduated from high school when Lincoln Community Theatre was formed. He had been the student lighting chairman at Lincoln Community High School when a group of students were recruited to get involved with the first LCT performance.

His knowledge of lighting was self-taught, primarily from observing upperclassmen operate an old resistance dimmer board for school productions. The dimmers were operated using large wooden levers, and Wyneken remembers when electricity would arc and spark when the levers were pulled. It took three students to operate the board during a show, and blown fuses would have to be changed "on the fly" while the production continued.

The "new" 16-dimmer light board available at the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts was more sophisticated than that at the high school, but in today’s view would be considered quite simple. In those earlier years, Lincoln College’s technical director Mickey Benson would provide training when newer equipment was added.

Serving as lighting designer and technician can be a time-consuming and demanding job. The preparation begins with reading the script to get a general idea of the lighting requirements of a show. After meeting with the director and set designer to discuss their views of lighting needs, the lighting technician must attend early rehearsals to understand how the actors and set pieces will be blocked on the stage.

A light plot is then created, which serves as a blueprint of electric strips that the lighting instruments will hang from. Different colored gels are cut to fit each lighting device to help create different lighting effects.

Next, whatever lighting system is currently hung in the theater must be entirely stripped, and the newly designed lights must be rehung and plugged into the appropriate circuits. All of this is accomplished by lowering light bars or crawling across a catwalk hung from the ceiling of the theater. After being circuited, the lighting instruments are plugged into the dimmer board.

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About eight years ago, Lincoln College purchased a new, computerized light board, which allows the storage of up to 130 light cues. The original board Wyneken used required every lighting effect to be done by hand during each production for each scene. With the computerized system, the settings for the desired effect can be predetermined and programmed into the computer. The lighting technician then needs to merely push a button for the complex lighting direction to be achieved.

The job of lighting technician has traditionally also included any special effects necessary for a production. Wyneken says, "Over the years, I have been privileged to be allowed to use various special effects. The 1987 production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ was probably the first of these. For that show we constructed our own flash pots, used CO2 fire extinguishers and various other ‘homemade’ items for the wizard. It was also the first time the trap door to the lower level was used for melting the witch." How appropriate that his current and final production, "The Wiz," an updated version of that same play, with its robotics lighting system, is probably the most technically advanced show he has ever attempted.

Getting to work in the Lincoln Theatre building in the 1980s was one of Wyneken’s career highlights. "This is a marvelous old building and the epitome of vaudevillian theater," he says. "Being able to use their fly system and the footlights was indeed a real treat."

Though he is leaving the LCT board, he is assuming new duties as a board member of the newly formed Logan County Arts Council. One of his goals is to see the complete restoration of the Lincoln Theater building in downtown Lincoln to its original 1923 condition, with the exception of the installation of modern lighting, sound and stage equipment. Talks are already underway with the GKC Cinema Corporation in hopes of acquiring the facility when their new complex is completed. This building, in turn, he hopes will become a future home of Lincoln Community Theatre and other area art organizations.

Though Wyneken states that he certainly won’t miss the long hours at the theater, climbing ladders and catwalks, and cantankerous directors, he wouldn’t trade his years with Lincoln Community Theatre for a thing. He says that he will miss the people he has met over the last 30 years, as well as the luxury of watching a good production every night. With the time to relax and enjoy summer activities without having to rush back for a show, Wyneken states that he still "loves being able to create a mood for a show." He adds, "I will miss what I know I can do."

Lincoln Community Theatre recognized Wyneken this week by awarding him a life membership in the organization. LCT, too, will certainly miss what they know he can do!

[Judy Rader]

People all across this country and, in fact, around the world, claim roots in Logan County. They have very interesting stories to tell, and some of them like to connect with those of us who stayed at home. Logan County Diaspora publishes the stories of former Logan County residents. With their permission, we also include their e-mail addresses so that old friends might be reunited.  If you wish to be part of the Logan County Diaspora, e-mail ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com.  

Diaspora correspondents

Click on names to see letters and stories.

v Indicates LDN sponsors

• Wanda Whitson Aue

• Brad Boss

• Charles Brainard

• James 'Doc' Chandler

• Brad Dye

• Wayne and Nancy (Hatfield) Eichelberger

• Wayne Franz

• Philip Gehlbach

• Leigh Henson

• Bill Horn  v

• Dale A. Lowe

• George A. McKinney

• Len and Rita Remmert

• Tom Renner

• Tom Rippon

• Traycee Ritchhart-Pirkle

• Greg Schriber

• Stan Stringer

• Donald Weindorf  v

• Denise Radcliffe Wood

• Tom and Kristy (Smith) Yarcho

Reunions

Ongoing class reunion in cyberspace for 1960 graduates of LCHS

http://www.geocities.com/lincolnhigh1960/

Reminiscence

• "Lincoln Lakes beach," by Stan Stringer, posted July 10, 2001, in LDN

• "Stan Stringer tells story of Mark Holland’s buzzing of Lincoln," posted May 11, 2001

• "Leigh Henson, now a college teacher in Missouri, remembers Miss Jones, Jefferson School principal," posted March 29, 2001

• "Foreign Service officer recalls infamous Valentine's Day '79 in Tehran," by George McKinney, posted Feb. 15, 2001

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