Features

[OCT. 21, 2002]  Don Peasley, new owner of the former Kerrigan Funeral Home, wants to become better acquainted in Lincoln and to expand his business throughout Logan County.

Peasley plans an open house Sunday, Oct. 27, to meet the public and to showcase the redecorated Kerrigan-Peasley Funeral Home. Hours for the open house at 401 Delavan St. in Lincoln are 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

Peasley has been involved in the funeral business for 17 years. In February 1992 he graduated from Mid-America College of Funeral Service in Jeffersonville, Ind., which is across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. He served his apprenticeship at Duker & Haugh Funeral Home in Quincy, and he became a licensed funeral director in May 1993.

A native of Atlanta, he worked part-time at Quiram Funeral Home there beginning in 1985. Since becoming licensed he has worked at various funeral homes in Bloomington, Decatur and Peoria.

Peasley said he is willing to serve anyone in Logan County, including clients of any religious faith. He tailors his service according to the needs and wishes of the family. In redecorating, he aimed to make the rooms lighter and the atmosphere more homey in order to help families feel comfortable.

Among the changes to the earth-tone decor of the funeral home are new off-white draperies, some new furniture, new paintings and pictures, and new lamps and candlesticks. In the entry, red curtains were removed to reveal leaded glass windows, brightening the room and giving more emphasis to the fireplace of blue Italian ceramic tile.

Further changes are in the planning stages. Peasley said he hopes to convert the current office to a children’s room, furnished with a couch, television and VCR. His office is located upstairs. "As a bachelor, I don’t need all four bedrooms," he said. He also plans to make the fireplaces more functional.

The funeral home is a large three-story Victorian building with gables and a red tile roof. The design features ornamental scrollwork and both stained glass and leaded glass on two stories. The business occupies the lower floor, and Peasley recently moved into the second-floor living quarters. The third floor is open for a ballroom, which was never finished.

The front entrance was originally on Ottawa Street, where a ramp gives handicapped access to the business. The roof was originally slate. Old photographs show a side porch on the southeast side of the home where the carport now stands and a circular drive off Delavan Street. A fountain once graced the side yard. Peasley believes that at one time the building was divided into apartments.

The funeral business dates to 1933, when John Kerrigan opened it in the 100 block of North Kickapoo Street. In 1948, when John’s son Richard "Dick" Kerrigan returned from World War II, he bought the business from his father. In the same year he also bought the house at 401 Delavan and moved the business there.

[to top of second column in this article]

Dick Kerrigan owned Kerrigan Funeral Home until his death on March 24, 2002. Joe Rabbitt, a native of Streator, was the manager for the past several years. He has returned to his hometown to work at a funeral home there. Peasley bought the business from the Kerrigan estate. He has two part-time employees, Bud Moon and William (Ron) Gober.

Kerrigan-Peasley Funeral Home has facilities for holding two visitations at a time. The business conducts traditional funerals, cremation services and memorial services as desired by the family. It helps with notifying Social Security, securing a minister and organist, making arrangements with a cemetery, writing and placing the obituary, and other services requested by the family. Peasley sells caskets and vaults. If needed, he can recommend a grief counselor. For Roman Catholic services a kneeling rail is available, and draperies can be opened to display a picture of Jesus Christ.

Peasley said it is sometimes difficult to ascertain names of family members for an obituary. Usually, however, the problem is solved by contacts within the family.

One of his more unusual experiences involved sending cremains to Estonia. He said the process involved "interesting paperwork" but that it was "just part of the business."

Peasley has observed several changes during his 17 years in the funeral business. For one, he said many funeral homes have substituted a CD player for the organ. However, Kerrigan-Peasley Funeral Home offers both. Peasley said he prefers to have an organist at every funeral, but the choice is up to the family.

What was once a "wake" is now more often called a "visitation." Another change is that obituaries now sometimes entail a fee. In the past, he said, obituaries were always free, but currently there is sometimes a charge or a space limitation.

"We’re seeing more and more prearrangements," Peasley said. Many people have funeral files in which they specify such items as obituary wording, verse for prayer card or folder, musical selections, and pallbearers. Some people also choose to prepay for their funerals.

Peasley grew up in Atlanta, where he was active in 4-H. He has been a member of the Atlanta Rescue Squad since 1985 and an emergency medical technician with the fire department since 1994. He said he will have to quit his involvement as an EMT but intends to continue with the rescue squad.

Peasley’s mother, Linda Peasley, and sister Krystal Peasley live in Atlanta. Another sister, Shellie Reed, lives in Albuquerque, N.M. Peasley crews at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, which launches over 700 balloons in three waves.

[Lynn Spellman]

[OCT. 15, 2002]  As of 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Casey’s General Store at 1100 Fifth St. will be open for business and celebrating with three days of free samples, prizes and special promotions.

[Photos by Lynn Spellman]

In the words of area supervisor Sandy Barr of Atlanta, the store offers "a little bit of everything." In front are the fuel pumps. Inside, the shelves are laden with juices, lunchmeat, cheese, diapers, frozen and canned foods, soft drinks, beer, and cigarettes, to name just a few. Altogether, Casey’s stocks 1,500 retail food and nonfood items, Barr explained, making it a "mini grocery store."

In addition the store offers a snack bar with sandwiches and homemade pizza and doughnuts. The pizza recipe calls for fresh vegetables as well as fresh-made dough. Morning specialties include breakfast pizza, sandwiches and hash browns.

Grand opening activities run for three days, from 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, to 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. Twinkie the Kid, a walking Hostess Twinkie, will be there, complete with hat and bandana. Prizes to be distributed include bicycles as well as other goods. "Our vendors have been really, really generous" in donating prizes, Barr said.

Casey’s itself is providing other prizes and giveaways, such as balloons and free samples of soft drinks and pizza. And there are specially priced items, including soft drinks.

The manager of the new store is Paula Morrow of Lincoln. She and assistant manager Tammy Goff, also of Lincoln, have been training for two months at a Casey’s in Bloomington. The 20 other employees have been in training almost as long — 1½ months. Among other procedures, they have been learning to make the pizza and doughnuts the company prides itself on.

Barr said the store is fully staffed, although she is still accepting applications because "you never know." Store hours are from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the new building passed its final inspection by Casey’s. At that time the district manager and maintenance supervisor checked and approved every feature. Construction of the building began in June.

[to top of second column in this article]

Finishing touches include brick sidewalks along Fifth and Madison streets and sodding beside the walks. Barr explained that brick was chosen for the sidewalks because the store is in a historic area, with Postville Courthouse State Historic Site just across Madison Street. With many workers on the job, sodding was completed in a single afternoon. Eddington & Sons of Springfield did the brickwork, using over 8,000 bricks in the process.

Barr, Morrow and Goff all agreed that service to customers is the company’s No. 1 priority. "Without them, we wouldn’t have a paycheck, now would we?" asked Goff. Barr said service is emphasized in the ongoing teaching program for employees.

[District manager Dianne Cooper of Lostant stands with Lincoln store manager Paula Morrow of Lincoln and area supervisor Sandy Barr of Atlanta]

The trio said other goals of the chain are producing good products and maintaining a family orientation. "We pride ourselves on clean stores," Barr added.

The corporate headquarters for Casey’s General Store is at Ankeny, Iowa. Of the now 1,286 stores, 95 are privately owned franchises. The Lincoln operation is one of the nearly 1,200 stores owned by the company.

Casey’s is primarily a Midwestern and small-town company, but it is branching out from its traditional base, Barr said. The firm has stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. Among nearby cities, there are two locations each in Bloomington, Normal and Decatur and three in Springfield. "Anything is possible in the future," Barr said, regarding directions of growth.

The new store is not the first Casey’s location in Lincoln. An earlier store located at the corner of Limit and Tremont streets failed after several years. Barr said she trained at that location. She said scouts select Casey’s sites and she does not know their criteria, although she considers Fifth Street a prime location.

"I’m really excited about this," Barr said of the new operation. "I can see the growth in Lincoln. I was born and raised here."

[Lynn Spellman]

‘Back Talk’ airs Fridays on WMNW

[OCT. 9, 2002]  ATLANTA — A new health program, "Back Talk," airs Friday mornings from 9:30 to 10 on FIX 96 WMNW radio, Atlanta. The program can be heard at 96.3 FM.

Hosted by Frank Adubato of 1st Choice Chiropractic in Lincoln and chiropractors Amyas Kabir and Wayne Christenson of Kabir Family Chiropractic Center in Bloomington, the show features helpful advice on topics ranging from headaches, back and neck pain, fatigue, and arthritis to digestive disorders, female problems, muscle spasms and more. During the program listeners are welcome to call in their questions at (217) 648-5510 or toll-free 1 (877) 963-9669.

[WMNW press release]

Sangamon Street is the coming place

[SEPT. 13, 2002]  Sangamon Street was a busy place in the 1850s, bustling with hotels and other businesses to serve the travelers who came in on the train. Almost 150 years later, the historic street is once again bringing folks to downtown Lincoln, not just for an overnight stay but as a place to live.

[Click here for more photos]

Above the businesses on South Sangamon there are now 21 apartments. According to Larry Steffens, who has developed 14 of them, there could be a lot more if everybody who owned property on the street decided to turn the upper stories of their businesses into living units. He estimates there could be 46 housing units on the block between Pulaski and Broadway alone.

[Photos by Jan Youngquist]

The newest apartment, already rented, was remodeled by Steve and Susie Fuhrer. It’s located above Health and Fitness Balance, also remodeled by the Fuhrers, which is next door to Susie’s Blue Dog Inn.

The new apartment, like many others on the block, preserves as much historic appeal as possible. Windows the size of the originals were installed in the foot-thick brick wall in front, providing a view of the courthouse dome and the mural across the street. The brick has been cleaned, tuck-pointed and sealed.

It wasn’t possible to save the original wood floor, so the new apartment is carpeted except for tile floors in the kitchen and bath. The apartment is a gracious blend of old and new — the old brick wall and a brand-new all-electric kitchen.

Above her Blue Dog Inn, Susie said, the floors are in good condition, but the Fuhrers have no plans to develop that space right now. Originally the Illinois Hotel, the upper floors are divided into 34 small rooms and a suite. If times get better, the Fuhrers might think about building more apartments.

Dwight Smothers, who owns Flounders, thinks he could fit eight apartments in the space above his nightclub, but he’s not ready to do that right now, either. He did remodel the front of his building about four years ago and put in new floors.

"If things pick up, we might think about making apartments upstairs," he said.

Across Pulaski Street, Dale Bassi and partner Dr. Larry Crisafulli are completing the last of six apartments in the building at 201-205 Sangamon. They have also created new street-level space, which now houses a group of new and old businesses.

Again, the developers have kept many of the historic features, including brick walls and hardwood floors. Two of the front apartments have lofts. All are rented.

"We’ve developed 4,000 square feet up and another 4,000 square feet down," Bassi said. Bassi has no concrete plans to do anything more on Sangamon Street now, but he’s open to ideas for further development there.

In the corner building at street level are Franz Express, with shipping and copying services, Coffee With Einstein, and Lan Café, which offers Internet access and gaming. To bring even more people to Sangamon Street, Coffee with Einstein holds open mic night on Thursdays and has live entertainment most weekends.

The newest business, AMP Studio, is a digital photography studio owned by Adam May, whose motto is "pictures about people."

The Steffens family owns several businesses on the ground floor below their apartments and rents space to two others, Closet Classics resale shop and A. Lincoln General Store, which sells both new and consignment items.

[to top of second column in this article]

The family operates Grapes and Grounds, which sells wines and specialty coffees, Capone’s restaurant, and Eckert’s, Inc. decorating studio. Grapes and Grounds has recently been incorporated with Capone’s.

Capone’s is giving folks another reason to visit Sangamon Street, with a full lunch menu Monday through Saturday and a dinner menu for the evening. It also features live jazz or blues Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Steffens bought the property on the south half of the block and began developing it five years ago. His 14 apartments include efficiencies, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units; the largest has 1,300 square feet of space.

His own home, a former warehouse above Closet Classics, includes 4,500 square feet of living space on the second floor, a 500-square-foot library on the ground floor and another 4,500 square feet in the basement.

Historic features preserved in the Steffens buildings include the oak woodwork and the pressed tin ceiling in Eckert’s.

The Steffens family also maintains the park between Sangamon Street and the railroad track, and Larry painted the mural on the back of the Neal Tire building. The mural gives tenants and visitors an idea of the bustling place Sangamon Street was in the early history of Lincoln, during the decade when Abe Lincoln himself christened the new town.

Many of the buildings depicted in the mural were hotels — the Spitly Hotel, C & A House, the Illinois Hotel, the Western Hotel and the Monroe House. Other businesses include Dutz Paints, Boots and Shoes, and the Lincoln Volksblatt, an early German-language newspaper.

Bassi says "living above the store" has been a tradition in downtowns since the turn of the last century.

"It is the best use of downtown space in towns like Lincoln. If you bring people downtown, you bring life downtown. There is no replacement for bringing people here."

[Photo provided by Adam May]
[Click to enlarge]

Bassi is a member of the Economic Restructuring Committee of Main Street Lincoln, which has a $20,000 grant from the state to find ways to bring more businesses downtown.

"We still need more shops downtown. We need to point to smaller niche market stores, specialty stores like Merle Norman. We’d like to see a shoe store or a women’s clothing store. We won’t see another J.C. Penney store here.

"We need more stores like Abe’s, Beans and Such, and Prairie Years. We are trying to find other little businesses that can make it downtown."

[Joan Crabb]

Announcements

[OCT. 21, 2002]  Central Illinois Community Blood Center and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital announce the appointment of Mrs. Shirley Helton to the CICBC board of directors.

Mrs. Helton grew up in Logan County and attended nurses training at Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Springfield. She later moved to Dwight, where she worked as a floor supervisor and in hospital emergency rooms for about 20 years. Her husband, Ralph, served as superintendent of schools for 30 years. Upon retirement, they returned to Lincoln.

Mrs. Helton is a member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and has taken an active part in the community for many years. She is a member of the Lincoln Women’s Club and of the Emblem Club at the Elks. She serves as a volunteer for Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, participating in various activities for the hospital. She was a volunteer for the American Red Cross for 15 years.

[to top of second column in this article]

Central Illinois Community Blood Center is a nonprofit, FDA-licensed blood provider and provides all of the blood used at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. CICBC is governed by a local volunteer board of directors who make decisions regarding safety, supply and cost, with local needs in mind.

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital and Central Illinois Community Blood Center are grateful to Mrs. Helton for sharing her time and expertise to help save lives in this community.

"Having an adequate blood supply available to patients in the community is such an important need," says Helton. "We want people to know that blood donated in the community stays in the community first. Every time you donate blood, you are helping to give a friend, neighbor, family member or even yourself, a chance at life," she added.

For more information about the Central Illinois Blood Center, please call (217) 753-1530.

[CICBC press release]

The Chamber Report

Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce

Bobbi Abbott, Executive Director

303 S. Kickapoo St.

Lincoln, IL 62656

(217) 735-2385

chamber@lincolnillinois.com
www.lincolnillinois.com

Honors & Awards

[OCT. 21, 2002]  For the second year in a row, the Lincoln College Food Service is one of 10 companies in a four-county area in central Illinois to be honored for hiring people with disabilities. The accomplishment was recognized with a brief ceremony in the Lincoln College Alumni Room on Oct. 15.

Victor Sabatini, a rehabilitation counselor with Illinois Department of Human Services, says the award acknowledges the tremendous support Lincoln College provides. "It is quite an accomplishment for Lincoln College to be named in the top 10 for the last two years," he said. "This award speaks volumes of the partnership between Lincoln College, Logan Mason Rehab and Department of Human Services."

Ronald L. Schilling, executive vice president and acting president of Lincoln College, said the award is a great honor for Lincoln College. "One of the key principles of Lincoln College is to give everyone a chance to succeed. We feel the college is committed to this by giving opportunities to those individuals with disabilities. We are honored and hope to continue this partnership with Logan Mason Rehab and DHS.

[to top of second column in this article]

[Job coach with client]

Tom Tibbs, Logan Mason Rehab supportive employment program supervisor, says the idea of forming a partnership started in 1988 and has grown to nearly 30 clients working at Lincoln College. "We’re much like the coaches who inherit a great team; the rest just fell into place."

The job coaches at Lincoln College — Teresa Crawford and Marlene Ely, both of Lincoln, and Cindy Williams of Beason — all agree about job satisfaction. "We all love our jobs and appreciate the treatment that our clients get from the kitchen staff at Lincoln College." Crawford and Williams have both worked for Logan Mason Rehab for over 15 years, while Ely has been a job coach for seven.

[Lincoln College news release]

Main Street Corner News

Main Street Lincoln

Cindy McLaughlin, Program Manager

303 S. Kickapoo

Lincoln, IL 62656

Phone: (217) 732-2929

Fax: (217) 735-9205

E-mail: manager@mainstreetlincoln.com

Job Hunt

Lincolndailynews.com makes it easy to look for a job in the Logan County area.

The Logan County Housing Authority is accepting applications for the position of Receptionist/Program Aide. The position requires an office professional who has excellent telephone skills, good computer and typing skills, and outstanding customer service skills,  with the ability to deal with people of all age groups.

We offer an excellent benefit package, competitive wages and a friendly work environment.

Applications and a job description may be picked up at the office located at 1028 N. College St., Lincoln, IL 62656. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

E.O.E.

Employers, you can list available jobs by e-mailing ads@lincolndailynews.com. Each job listing, up to 75 words, costs $10 the first week, $20 for eight days to one month.

Classifieds

Looking for a used topper that will fit a 5x8 truck bed. E-mail: lincoln2CD@cs.com. Phone (217) 735-4063.

To place a classified ad, e-mail ads@lincolndailynews.com or call (217) 732-7443.