Skip to main content

Flashback Friday

There is a novel out that has been on the Best Seller list for months called The Burgess Boys.  I have written before about Burgess, a Shangri-La nestled in the Illinois prairie.  Its on few maps and you can't really find it without a GPS or special invitation but it does exist.  Once there you are treated to unreal hospitality and a sense that you just might be amongst the friendliest group of people you have ever encountered.  



Amongst my piles of old photos that have become fodder for Flashback Fridays, I found these that provide further amplification of me assertion:  truly nice people flock together, much like BFE and Budde's.  Above are Marvin and Richard at the bar enjoying a cold one.  



Pictures of a parade of one with Marvin the Grand Marshall.  I had my old convertible over at one point in 2003 and Marvin and Richard wanted to go for a ride.  I'd like to say no homecoming queen ever looked prettier, but I won't.




Marvin was the sheriff of Mercer county at one time and while he downplays his tenure, he did look great in uniform.  



Electrical Supervisor for some Quad City firm, Richard is an encyclopedia of car minutia.  Give him a beer and he'll talk up your old car with interesting facts and funny lines for hours.  I've talked of Burgess before (go check out the blog of 4-26-13) so I won't belabor the point.  A magical place of fun, cold beer, unbelievable hospitality and the greatest people this side of BFE.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flashback Friday - Cold Case - Part One

53 years ago today, Gordon "Peel" Duncan walked into the dark post office in Seaton Illinois and was brutally assaulted by an individual or individuals.  He died two days later.  The murder was never solved.     Gordon Duncan was one of the publishers of the Seaton Independent, a weekly newspaper in town that started in the late 1800's and stopped publishing in the 60's.     We  boys were just young children when this took place, but we have been fascinated by it ever since.  The imagination of kids, I suppose or maybe the fact that it was unsolved.  Regardless, this was a big deal in our little lives.  For our parents it tended to shatter the idea that Seaton, our town, was safe.  That it could fend off the forces of evil in the world, that in our little universe we would be impervious to harm was gone forever.  For us kids I don't suppose we were old enough to know real fear.  Fear for us was not getting our list ...
2 comments
Read more