Wednesday, July 6, 2016




July 6, 2016 - Wednesday
69 degrees/heavy rain/breezy
Pekin, Illinois

There's not a lot of time to write, so it'll be a pictorial essay this morning.

We left Pentoga Road around 6:30 Tuesday morning and despite all the road construction, made good time.



A crop dusting plane in central Illinois
Grandma is navigating from the back seat. Though Sargie and I used our GPS's, Mom had the old school map on her lap much of the way.
We arrived in Galesburg, Illinois, by early afternoon. After a quick stop to purchase some silk flowers, we visited the Masonic section of the cemetery where Dad, Grandma and Grandpa are buried.





Dad, meet Sargie...



We later drove by several places of interest to Mom, including Grandma and Grandpa's long-time home on Cherry Street.

With Galesburg in our rearview mirror, Pekin, forty five miles away, became our next destination. We drove by my grade and junior high school and just a mile away, my childhood home of many years.


When Mom and Dad built the house in the early 60's, it was one of the few in the middle of a corn field. The town has since expanded and is surrounded by miles of homes on each side.
The hotel restaurant special last night... chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn, all for $5.25!
Like towns everywhere, the downtown area of Pekin has dried up with many empty storefronts. I remember wonderful times walking up and down the area, looking in windows,and stopping by Woolworths for a coke or ice cream sundae.
I attended and graduated from Pekin High School. It's since expanded and sprawls over a campus of several acres.



I disliked high school a great deal and except for my band director, had little or no respect for most of my teachers. Because of poor grades, I was in the bound-for-Vietnam group of students and was given the lowest level classes with the least experienced or poorest teachers. During my third year, I expressed that I might like to go to college.  My high school counselor's reply was, "Why bother to apply, no one is going to want you anyway." 

Today, though I feel no love or kinship for my alma mater, I'm grateful for their attitude towards us lower level students of the late 60's, those who were either going to Vietnam or otherwise, would amount to very little. They taught me how to be tough and persevere, but most importantly, they taught me how not to teach. Their late 1960's mentality towards it's non-college bound students compelled me to earn multiple university degrees and continue on to a long and successful career of over forty years in education at the public school and university levels. Today, when I'm notified of a class reunion, soon to be my fiftieth, I simply reply, "No thanks."


Mom and Dad's home of many years. They moved here after I was all grown up.
Pekin Insurance home office where Dad worked for over forty years. He retired as Vice President for the Claims Department.

The crown jewel of Pekin is its park, complete with large pavilion and lagoon. As a boy growing up, I used to peddle my bike several miles to the lagoon and fish all day. Sargie and I took a walk last night and observed  more than a few children doing the same. There's at least one place on the planet that iPhones and computers don't rule a beautiful summer evening.

A bench in the park is dedicated to my beloved high school band director, Larry Fogelberg. Some of you might remember his son, Dan, who was a popular singer in the 1980's with his song, The Leader of the Band. 
I attribute about everything I accomplished professionally to Mr. Fogelberg. He was the reason I went to school each day, the man who made me believe in myself and taught me that all children want to succeed through hard work. Of all my teachers, he alone believed in me. The Leader of the Band was the ultimate disciplinarian with expectations that seemed unreasonable and far too great at the time. Yet, there was an entire generation that strived to meet his standards. I later became a band director because of Mr. Fogelberg.








We're planning on leaving Pekin around 9 this morning for Terre Haute, Indiana. After getting Mom settled, Sargie and I will begin winding our way back north.

Since Sargie has several more days of vacation, I'm not entirely certain where the road may lead us. I'll let her point the car in whichever direction she feels like going and I'll just go along for the ride.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road, by way of Pekin Illinois...




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