Just In Time for Halloween: A Short History of Hearses and Those Who Collect Them-- Part 1

From the Oct. 30, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Honk, but only if you're macabre" by Christopher Borrelli.

This is an article about people in the Chicago area who collect hearses.There are even clubs devoted to collecting hearses named Hardcore Hearse Club, Grim Rides Chicago and the Las Ryd's Hearse Club.

I've seen the occasional hearse as car shows.

SOME HISTORY OF HEARSES

The hearse, or "funeral coach" as the industry prefers, is actually a custom car  When a fleet of hearses are ordered it is not likely that any two will be 100% identical.  The traditional hearse is essentially a single luxury vehicle that has been split in two, outfitted with a long chassis to extend the length and then sculpted back into shape.

Hearses were initially pulled by horses, but the first one to use a standard combustion engine appeared in 1909, a year after the Model T was introduced.  The hearse industry, like the larger car industry, began in the Midwest, except the car-makers did not have hearse divisions.

The first motorized hearses were made by Crane & Breed of Cincinnati and advertised being able to travel at "fifteen miles-per-hour faster than any hearse should have to go."  About a decade later, the president of the company, Austin Breed, poisoned himself to death and they switched to caskets.

--Riding Out With Style.  --Cooter

What Makes A Movie Scary?-- Part 4: "Here's Johnny!! Open the Door Or I'll Axe You In"

**  I've seen it.

**  THE SHINING (1980)--    Stanley Kubrick's scary movie about a man going insane.  No one  can play someone a bit off kilter better than Jack Nicholson.

**  THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS  (1991)--  The only horror film to ever win an Oscar for Best Picture.   All that cool and class and appetite.

**  THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE  (1974)--  It wa slow budget, but big scary.  Still afraid to cut my trees with a chainsaw.

**  THE THING  (1982)--  John Carpenter's remake of the 1951 classic about that cold weather creature.  All the gore and gook you could want.

BVooDoo.  --CootScare

What Makes A Movie Scary?-- Part 3: Freddie and That Giant Skull

**  Means I've seen it.

**  A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET  (1984)--  The movie that gave us blade-fingered Freddie Kreuger.  Don't go to sleep or he'll get you.  Freddie's kind of a funny guy at times.

**  THE OMEN  (1976)--  Hey, Damien is the demon child.

**  POLTERGEIST  (1982)--  That spooky old tree scared me, but not as bad as that huge skull coming out of the closet.  I almost had to leave the theater when that happened.  Man, that was scary.

**  PSYCHO  (1960)--  Alfred Hitchcock's mama's boy goes awry.  You can check in, but I don't know about checking out.

**  ROSEMARY'S BABY  (1968)--  It's a slow-builder, but creepier the whole time.

Scared Yet?  --DaCootBoo

What Makes A Movie Scary?-- Part 2: Maniac Killers and That Big Ol' Shark

**  Ones I've seen:

**  GET OUT--  (2017)--  A young black man meets his white girlfriend's family.  Guess who's not coming to dinner.

HEREDITARY--  (2018)--  They say this may be too intense for some.  You've been warned.

**  HALLOWEEN  (1978)--  John Carpenter terrorized middle America with this one.  It's all in the family.

**  JAWS  (1975)--  Steven Spielberg's masterpiece about a big ol' shark.  But you never had to worry about it until you heard that music.  That meant Sharkey was nearby.

**  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD   (1968)--  George Romero's original.  All zombie shows owe this for their existence.

Like, BOO!!!  --CootScared

What Makes a Movie Scary?-- Part 1: A to E

From the October 24, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Rafer Guzman.

What makes a horror movie scary?  Some say its the jump-scare, that "Boo" moment that jolts you.  (That gets me every time.)  Others say its a particularly horrible looking monster, otehrs a preponderance of blood, guts and gore.

Here is a list of pretty good horror movies in alphabetical order (and just in time for Halloween):

**  ALIEN (1979)    Basically "Jaws in Space" according to director Ridley Scott.  Where, oh where, is that monster and it is pretty dark.

AUDITION (1999)  I didn't see this one.    But they say the second half "must be seen to be believed."

**  THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)  "Found film footage."  Pretty creepy.  I wouldn't go into the woods.

**  THE EVIL DEAD  (1981)  Don't play that videotape, folks.

**   THE EXORCIST  (1973)  They said it was so scary, people fainted.  I didn't see anybody faint, but pretty creepy anyway.  And, those scary bells.

**  Means I've seen it.

--CootScared

Spring Grove Fish Hatchery-- Part 2: Winter Time Ice Skating and a Real Nice Park

Winter time was a favorite of the children of Spring Grove as they would bundle up and go out to the fish hatchery ponds for a day of ice skating.  Thomas McCaferty  was known to leave the door to the hatchery building open so the children could come inside and warm up, something much appreciated on those chill days.

While the fish hatchery was an important part of the growth of Spring Grove for nearly a century, it closed in 2005.  (We moved to Spring Grove in 1992.)

The property was acquired by the Village of Spring Grove in 2007 (I understand for the princely sum of $1) with the goal of turning  the old hatchery into a community park with a historical display to commemorate and explain what it was and how the hatchery did it.

With a number of volunteers, some money, the area was transferred into a beautiful park.  The ponds needed reconstruction and walking paths were built around the pools along with fishing piers.

Fishing is allowed, but no live bait and it is catch and release.

The park was completed and opened to the public in 2012.  There is a small charge if you are not a resident of the village.

Every year in the spring they have a major fundraiser at Spring Grove's Horse Fair Park with a Door County-style fish boil put on by Fitzgerald's in nearby Genoa City.

It is one really pretty place.

--CootFish

A Short History of Spring Grove, Illinois-- Part 3: Growth, Then Decline Caused By the Automobile

Walter Carey introduced electricity to the village in 1918, using a waterfall n the Fox River to generate the power.

The business community continued to grow until the 1920s, when the use of automobiles owned by residents made travel to other communities easier.  Many of the businesses in Spring Grove closed.

Completion of US-Highway 12, which goes right through the village, a few blocks south of the old downtown, increased traffic, many on their way to Lake Geneva, about twenty miles away in Wisconsin.

One business that has been a bar/restaurant is located in the old downtown and has been there since the 1890s is now called The Grove and a popular spot for food, watching sports and entertainment.

Of course, we knew we had made it as a village when we got a Jewel grocery store, Walgreens and a McDonald's several years ago.  Plus, there is a growing strip of businesses along US-12.

--Cooter

Spring Grove Fish Hatchery-- Part 1: A Perfect Location

From the March 21, 2018, Hi-Liter "Former Fish Hatchery" reborn" by Sandra Landen Machaj.

Spring Grove was the home of the very first State of Illinois Fish hatchery in 1914.  A group of 16 men and Thomas McCaferty built eight concrete ponds in the swampy land near Nippersink Creek to be used as a fish hatchery.

This was a perfect site because of the great source of water from a spring located there (which I believe to be the spring that gives Spring Grove its name).

The ponds and associated buildings constructed there became known as the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery and eggs were incubated in the building.  Once hatched, they were moved to one of the ponds to continue growing until they were big enough to survive in the open waterways.

Each fall, the little fish, known as fingerlings, were released into Illinois waterways including rivers, lakes and even Lake Michigan.  By 1967, more than 500,000 fish were produced annually, making it the largest fish hatchery in Illinois.

--Cooter

A Short History of Spring Grove, Illinois-- Part 2: Growth of the Village 1840 to 1900

The presence of Nippersink Creek, which zig-zags its way through the community made it a perfect place for a mill, so important to early settlers.  By 1841, Spring Grove had two mills:  a grist mill owned by Joseph Bliven and a sawmill owned by Lewis Hatch.  The area became known as Blivin's Mill.

Lewis Hatch became a big landowner and farmer as well and is the father of Fred Hatch (inventor of the silo).

In 1847, the Blivin's Mills Post Office was established and the first store was built.

In 1883,the name became Spring Grove because of the large spring and the beautiful grove of trees around it.   This would be where the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery is located.

In the next years, Spring Grove became both an agricultural and business center.

Improvements came along as well, including telephone service in 1897 when Walter Carey ran a phone line from his store in Wilmot (Wisconsin, just over the state line) to his farm in English Prairie.

By the early 1900s, concrete sidewalks replaced wooden walkways in the downtown area (which is not very big even to today).

--CooterBlivinHatch

A Short History of the Village of Spring Grove, Illinois-- Part 1: Early English Settlers, Fish and Fred

From the March 21, 2018, Hi-Liter newspaper by Sandra Landen Machaq.   She has written a lot of articles about local history for the paper, as well as has a book out about our neighboring village of Johnsburg.

Illinois was celebrating its 200th anniversary as a state in 2018, and our little village of Spring Grove has made its contributions to the state's growth, most notably with this fish hatchery and the first silo in the country, developed by local farmer Fred Hatch.

Spring Grove was not incorporated until 1902, some 84 years after Illinois became a state.  But the village's beginnings can be traced back 60 years before that.

Jonathan Imeson became the first settler here in 1830, when he made his home in a shanty for a year before he was joined by other English families with names like Wrays, Lawsons, Richardsons, Hoffmans, Fowles, Manns, Rices and Blivens.  Many of their descendants still live in the area.

The 1830s was when the last Indians were removed from the area.

They were soon followed by John Sanborn and Alfred and Merrells Stevens.  Alfred Stevens was the father of Burton Stevens, for whom Burton Township, where we live, is named.

We still have a road in the village named English Prairie after these early residents.  Spring Grove was also called  Bliven's Mill at first and we still have a Blivens Road.  The Richardsons are a huge agribusiness with what is reputed to be the biggest corn maze in the country and quite a fall celebration.

--CooterLocal

Spring Grove Fish Hatchery: So That's Where the Springs Are

I have often wondered whatever happened to the spring from whence the name of our village, Spring Grove, comes from.  I've even asked several people in the village where the springs were and they didn't know.  One of them was friend Ed whose family has owned the old Hatch farm since in early 1900s.  And, even he didn't know.

Then, I came across an article about the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery that I had put aside back in 2018 and went on this blog and looked up Spring Grove Fish Hatchery just to be sure I hadn't already written the article in this blog, and I hadn't.

But, I did read that the reason the fish hatchery was located where it is was because of the hard-flowing spring there.  The fish hatchery is located very near what there is of a "downtown" in the old part of the village.

So, this must be where the springs that lent their name to our village are located.

You Can Fool Some of the Folks Some of the Time, But This Blogger Most of the Time.  --Cootfish

In Search of New Role for Yerkes Observatory: Is It In Danger?

From the July 5, 2018, Chicago Tribune "In search of new role for astronomy icon" by Ted Gregory.

Yerkes Observatory is located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin (near the Illinois state line), and on beautiful Geneva Lake.  A move is now on to save the world-renowned observatory as the University of Chicago plans to close it.  Back in 2006, it was almost sold to a resort developer.

The 121-year-old observatory and around 77 acres surrounding it are in danger.

Sadly, the observatory is no longer considered to be cutting edge as a research center.

The Yerkes grounds were designed by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead and includes some highly desirable lakefront footage.  Distinctive and ornate, the building's main feature is what is touted as the world's largest refractor telescope with a 40-inch lens, 63-foot tube and total weight of 20 tons.

Carl Sagan and Edwin Hubble studied here, as did Nobel laureates Gerhard Herzberg and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.  Albert Einstein visited it as well.

Here's Hoping They Find A Use.   --CootSee

That's Not the Statue of Liberty's Original Torch Up There

From the November 16, 2018, Northwest Herald  "Statue of Liberty's original torch moved  to a museum site."

The Statue of Liberty's original torch has been housed in the base of the statue (whose pedestal, by the way, is an old fort) since a replica replaced the original in the 1980s. was moved on Thursday to its new home in a museum that will open in 2019.  The museum is 100 yards from the statue on Liberty Island.

The base and detached flame of the 3,600 pound torch was moved very carefully.  It had been removed in 1984 because it had been too damaged by the elements and pollution to restore.

The torch left France for the United States in 1876 where it was exhibited at the Centennial Celebration of the U.S. in Philadelphia and then was taken to New York City and then to Madison Square Park where it was used to raise funds to pay for the statue's pedestal.  These were the first of many moves the torch has made.

It went back to Paris in 1882 and then returned to New York City along with other crated pieces of the statue in 1885.

The torch was held high by Lady Liberty from 1886 to 1984, but modifications to the flame changed its original design over the years.

--CooterStatue

"Seinfeld's" 30th Anniversary: Some of Our Favorite Nothings-- Part 2: The Festivus for the Rest of Us

JUNIOR MINT--  "Delicious" packaged snack that sparks a medical mintcident.  I don't remember this one.

LITTLE KICKS--  The key component to Elaine's signature dance moves.

RE-GIGTER--  A person who receives a gift and then gifts it too someone else.

MUFFIN TOP--  The top of the muffin where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of does its own thing.

MAN FUR--   A winter coat made out of fur and worn by a man.

FESTIVUS--  A secular and non-commercial holiday celebrated on December 23.  Have you gotten your Festivus tree yet with all this Christmas Creep?

PEZ--  Jerry's Tweety Bird Pez dispenser creates a major-key scene during a piano recital.

DOUBLE DIPPER--  A person who inserts a chip into a dip, takes a bite and unhygienically re-dips the chip.

When will NBC get some funny sitcoms?

Shrinkage, George, Shrinkage.  --Cootivus

"Seinfeld's 30th Anniversary: Some of Our Favorite Seinfeldisms-- Part 1: Yada Yada Yada

From the June 30, Parade magazine "Happy Birthday Seinfeld."

The show about "nothing" ran for nine seasons 1989-1998.  The groundbreaking NBC prime-time series (back when NBC actually had funny sitcoms) made a lot of hilarious somethings out of nothing.

Here are some of the favorites

THE BRO--  (also called the Manssiere)  A support undergarment designed especially for men.

SOUP NAZI--    The super-strict soup kitchen owner.  We still use this term for anyone who is especially good at making soup.

CLOSE TALKER--  A person who violates personal space during conversation.  In other words, back off.

YADA YADA YADA--  Phrase used as a substitute for actual words to gloss over information.

No SOUP For You!!!.  --CootYada

Man Shoots Self While Hunting Pigeons in 1919

From the March 20, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back,"

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Jack Cook of Rollo had the misfortune to suffer a painful accident of last week.  He was using a rifle to shoot pigeons and as one dropped, he dashed to get it, forgetting to put the safety release on the rifle, the shot going through his leg.

"Treatment was given at Mendota Hospital and he was returned to his home."

I Can Almost Hear the Pigeons Laughing.  --Cooter

Buying Lower California and Mexican Claims in 1919

From the January 2, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"President Wilson is requested to begin negotiations for the purchase from Mexico of the Peninsula of Lower California in a resolution introduced today by Senator Ashurst of Arizona.

"Ashurst also introduced a resolution directing the war department to investigate claims by American citizens growing out of damage to American property by Mexican bandits since December 1, 1912."

Nothing, Obviously, Ever Came of It.  --Cooter

A 'Likely' Story About No School in 1919

From the March 27, 2019, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"One of the little fellows attending school here sprung one on Captain Rowe of the police force this morning, and although a triffle slangy, is too good to keep.

"Just imagine a little fellow about seven years old, and the policeman in a conversation and the latter putting the query as to the reason the little was not in school.  Here is the little fellow's reply:  'Huh, thank the Lord there is scarlet fever at the school, and we don't have no school until Monday.' "

Yeah, Right Kid.  Is That Your Best Excuse?  --Cooter

After World War I, 1919: 100 Years Ago

From the March 20, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

**  "Prof. John Adee, who is well known here as a Sycamore boy, and as a former and popular superintendent of  the Sycamore schools, is one of 30 superintendents of schools selected by  the government to go to France to teach the American soldiers."

**  "Names of several returning heroines and heroes known in DeKalb were included in the lists today in the papers.  Miss Celeste Firkins of Shabbona Grove and Miss Nellie R. Satter of Leland, who were with the Red Cross nurses of the Presbyterian  unit, arrived on the Mauretania."

--Cooter

World War I Trench Design To Be Used In Some Schools Against Mass Shooters

From the August 30, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "Michigan school designed to hinder a mass shooter" by Alex Horton, Washington Post.

Now, this is a real sad story to read.

Engineers in World War I dug through the earth to build serpentine trenches borne from horrifically clear logic.

If enemy soldiers ever breached the trenches, the zigzagging pattern would prevent them from shooting in a straight line down the the length of the trench --  leaving only a relative few exposed to gunfire or shrapnel.

That concept has come back a century later in a western Michigan high school as protection against mass shooters.  It is a $48 million project at Fruitport High School which will add curved hall ways, jutting barriers and spaced classrooms that can be locked on demand

This Is Just So Sad.  --Cooter