A New Biggest Tree in Illinois

From the April 29, 2018, Chicago Tribune  "New preserve lays claim to biggest tree in Illinois" by Ted Gregory.

It's in Mt. Morris, about 100 miles west of Chicago.  And, it is 122 feet tall and nearly 29 feet in circumference eastern cottonwood and lives in Bald Hill Prairie Preserve.  The former biggest one is a cypress tree in the Cache River Natural Area near the southern tip of the state.

Bald Hill Prairie Preserve is a new 160 acre acquired by the Byron Forest Preserve District.

Between the wind, ice storms and soil conditions in Illinois, very few trees grown taller than 120 feet.  Eastern cottonwoods are particularly vulnerable as their wood is very weak and typically only live to be 70 to 100 years.  They estimate this one to be about 200 years old, the same time Illinois became a state.  So, it could be our Bicentennial Tree.

I remember my first encounter with a cottonwood in Round Lake Beach, when ones in the neighborhood let loose their seed parachutes which resembled dandelion fluff.  I had just had sod put down and said, "Oh no you don't.  I'll have no dandelions growing in my sod so ran out and started clearing them away until I realized it was a futile effort."

Well, I was the guy looking around Woodstock, Illinois, for the Woodstock Arts Festival in 1969.

Our friends Kevin and Kelly have a big old cottonwood in their yard on the Chain of Lakes.

Not the Sharpest Pencil in the Box.  --CootStupid

Ray Boro, Korean War Vet-- Part 5: After the Navy

Ray met his wife Catherine after he was in the Navy at a bowling alley in Round Lake and knew she was the one right then and there.

He is proud to be a member of the American Legion for 64 continuous years.  He started at the McHenry Post, transferred to Gurnee and has been at Fox Lake for many years.  In addition, he is a lifetime member of the McHenry VFW.

--Cooter

1994 Round Lake Teacher Strike: Back at School

DECEMBER 13TH, TUESDAY

I actually got a full night's sleep and feel better than I have for two months.  I now can hear the weather reports and don't care!!

First day back at school and as I expected, I don't remember hardly any students' name.  I was really surprised that 60% of then had their current events reports.  The day went fast and it was definitely good to be back.

Talked with M.R. and L.M. for awhile after school then went to hq to get my flag and sign.  They were quite mad about the letters principal M. and B. wrote to their teachers which in parts could be considered as threatening.

Watched TV and Liz picked up pizza on her way home from Costello's.

It Sure Was Great to have This Over!!!

1994 Round Lake Teacher Strike: Sour Grapes and Fences

DECEMBER 12, MONDAY

In this morning's Tribune, our illustrious leader, M.D., was gloating that we didn't get much considering how long (38 school days) we were on strike.  What a work!  Sour grapes!!

The fences were down at Magee when we drove over to Grayslake.  Who is calling the strike anyway?

These have been taken from my 1994 journal.  I have entries for every day, but just wrote some of them in this blog.

1994 Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Ratifying the Contract

DECEMBER 12TH, MONDAY--  Up at 7 when Frances called.  I couldn't get back to sleep.

We left at 11 and drove to Olde Stratford Hall in Grayslake.  The place was packed with a very long line waiting to get information (contract proposals) and pieces of paper to vote.  I videotaped for posterity.

Terri opened with some comments and then went the whole contract explaining all changes.  We then voted with a final vote of 240 to 50.  I had been considering a no vote but changed it to yes.

I did this because I am personally tired of the strike and I believe  we've pushed our people as far as they can go.  If we had voted it down, I fear that quite a few of our people (at Magee) might have crossed.  I talked to T.M., who is the only one earning money at his house, and he said he might have been forced to go over had it continued.

Drove to Costello's to eat and talk to other teachers.  K.P. was upset that it passed and had voted against it.

Came home and watched TV.  Talked to my parents who were very happy it was over.  The news shows had a lot on the strike.

1994 Round Lake Teacher Strike: December 11th, End in Sight?

DECEMBER 11TH, 1994, SUNDAY:  Up at 6:30 and wrote in this.  Reading the Chicago Tribune, I found an article on the one minute of silence required in Georgia and found some paragraphs on B.B., our Georgia Boy scab.

I called M.D. at 8:15 a.m. to tell him about it so he could put something about it in the Update.  He told me that a tentative agreement had been reached early this morning and that we would be voting on it tomorrow.  GREAT NEWS!!!

However, if this is not to my liking, I'll definitely vote it down.  A few more weeks or months is not going to make a difference to me.  They can't hurt me anymore than they already have unless I get fired for this which hopefully is not likely.  I already intend to quit any and all volunteering or perhaps restrict it even more than before.

Also, my days of coming into school even if I'm sick are over.  I will use many more sick days and will stop my efforts at student attendance.  The people of Round Lake have spoken long and loud about how they feel about us.  They have done nothing to end the strike ad when given a chance, sent their children to school with unqualified substitutes.

More to Come.

1994 Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Part 6: Last Paycheck Cashed

D.K. said that the Cobra letter did not mean that we lose our insurance right away but that we still had 60 days and could reapply and extend it.  Also, M.D. (superintendent) had guaranteed the subs (scabs)_ permanent jobs which means she would have to fire the teachers.  D.K. said that the board could do this but they'd have to take each one of us  to court individually and that would cost $30,000 for each of us.

I followed D.K. to her house in Cary and had a long talk with her about the strike.  On the way back, I picked up some firewood and a wood holder for our fireplace.  I also bought the new Beatles CD and other cassettes at Best Buy.  I have been staying out of these places and not even looking at their flyers.  (Hey, both of us are on strike and have no money coming in.)  I had lunch at Tommy's where I had a Polish sausage sandwich.

Came home and helped Liz drain the hot tub and fill it up again.

We went back to Ellis School to say goodbye to the scabs.  I stayed in the car as I forgot my hat and gloves and it was starting to snow quite hard.  I still don't feel too good about the confrontations at Ellis because of the phone call to M..

Went to the bank and put my last school paycheck in, the one from Oct. 15th, this officially putting me on strike.  (When it became apparent that we would most likely have a strike, I began saving my paychecks instead of cashing them.  That way, every two weeks, I could cash one and it would seem like I had a paycheck.)

Went to Costello's and then home to watch TV.

Twenty Years Ago, the Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Part 5: The Georgia Scab and Trekking to the Lair

DECEMBER 6, 1994, TUESDAY:  There was about 1/4 inch of snow on the ground this morning and a very fine snow falling most of the day.

Drove to the front of the high school to confront B.B., the Georgia Boy scab.  Someone had found an article in People Magazine about his dismissal from South Gwinnett High School in Georgia over the one minute of silence that is mandatory.  He has to be one of the major hypocrites of all time.

Once again, I was amazed at how quiet the picketers were.  No one was yelling and one scab even walked by and they said nothing.

Went to Magee (Middle School, my school) and walked there until 9:45 when D.K. came back from hq where she had heard some of the picket captain's meeting.  Our picket captains: B.D., S.K. and M.K. had gone to Chicago to do informational picketing at the H.'s pl;ace of business.  They had earlier asked me if I'd go with them, but I chickened out.

(And, remember, this is December and the strike had been going on since October 17th.  Will it ever end?)

Twenty Years Ago on the Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Part 4: Second Longest Teacher Strike in Illinois

DECEMBER 5, 1994, MONDAY:  Also, as of the 17th, we would no longer have insurance.  She also made a big deal about a letter that the scabs supposedly found in their mailboxes that was threatening.  (I kind of doubt that we would have been able to get into a building and place them in the mailboxes without being seen what with the constant police presence.)

Came home and caught up on sleep and worked out.  S.L. (a high school teacher) came over and we went to Tom's for pizza.  Watched TV.

I had planned to go into the hot tub in the afternoon but decided not to when the water was very cloudy and smelly when I opened it.  Liz said it was a lack of chlorine.  We will have to drain it.

We are now the second-longest strike in Illinois history.  Only the small town of Homer, which went for eight months, went longer and they only had 29 teachers.

--DaCoot

Twenty Years Ago on the Round lake Teacher Strike-- Part 3

DECEMBER 5, 1994, MONDAY:  According to the radio, the board will have a news conference today to announce they will be opening more grades.

Went to Village School to greet the scabs and had to apologize to a cop who came in driving a personal car right behind D.F. (a school board member) and I called him a "Scab!" before I realized it.  (Village School had been opened for 1st to 2nd grade earlier last week.)

I was going to go to Magee at 8:30, but heard that M.D. (our illustrious superintendent) was going to have a press conference at 9, so went there.  It didn't start until 10 and I stayed until 11.  In it, M. said they were opening 3rd grade tomorrow and freshmen and sophomores Monday.

--DaCoot

Twenty Years Ago on the Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Part 2: Getting Mighty Cold Outside on the Line

Taken from my journal.

DECEMBER 2, 1994, FRIDAY:  D.B. and I went out to deliver the rest of the RLEA's (Round Lake Education Association) Straight Talk flyers to residents (this was union's effort to inform the parents what was really going on instead of the board's half-truths.  Those of us delivering were called UPS, Union Postal Service.) and found out the ones given us were from two weeks ago so decided not to deliver anymore.

We went to a rally at Hart's Woods (off Il-134) and actually had decent weather for a change (we now had been on strike since October 17th and it was getting MIGHTY COLD!!).  M.D. did a great rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" to the new name "School Board Got Run Over By the Teachers."

Went to Ellis School for two hours.  Lakeland Newspaper editor W.S. had a particularly scathing editorial about us next to a full page ad signed by 170 people supporting the board.  N.S. was particularly upset about it.  (W.S. has always been anti-teacher in the overpaid, underworked bent so anything he says can be dismissed as standard for him.)

K.P. is worried that she is going to get retribution for things she has done in the strike.

Drove to Costello's where I ate and then came home to watch TV.

Just Another day on the Line.  --Cooter

Twenty Years Ago on the Round Lake Teacher Strike-- Part 1

DECEMBER 2, 1994, FRIDAY:  Missed Dino's (in Fox Lake, Illinois, where I always met teachers on Fridays for breakfast) because I overslept.  I decided to go to the high school entrance instead of Murphy School as I wanted to greet Georgia Boy.  In honor of his presence, i was wearing my University of Georgia hat and jacket.  (He had been fired from his teaching job in Georgia because of the one minute of silence requirement, something I admired him for, but he then came here to SCAB.)  I intended to call him a hypocritical carpetbagger, but settled for hypocritical scalawag.  There weren't very many people there.

I went to the strike headquarters for awhile and then to Magee and walked in front for awhile.  Evon, our social worker, and I went out on a UPS delivery (Union Postal Service) to area homes but came up short on pages and went back to the Headquarters for more.  A non-tenure teachers' meeting was going on there and these people have been great.  Only two of the 60 have crossed the line.

More to Come.  --Cooter

Round Lake Teacher Strike 1994-- Part 5: "Don't Tread On Me"

Continuing with Day One, October 17, 1994.

"At 4, we had a rally at the pavilion at Hart's Woods.  This was a pep rally. R.B., B.D. and I sang our song and it was well received.

"Afterwards, I drove to Gurnee Mills and bought a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and ate at White Castle.

"Stopped at Costello's and was surprised to find only Liz, K.L. and one other teacher there.  I guess everyone was too worn out to do much more.

"I came home and watched TV."

I'll have to see if I can find the words to the song.

This Was One of the Hardest and Longest Days of My Life.

Round Lake School Teacher Strike 1994-- Part 4

'We finally got a (strike) headquarters (for the strike) today in the building where the first Round Lake Library was.  It is by A-1 Tire and by the library site when I was on the board.  We had originally had headquarters at Father Berger Hall at St. Joseph's, but they backed out on Friday.

"The rain finally stopped around ten or eleven.  Walking back and forth quickly became tedious.  SAt noon we had a picket captains meeting at hqand the place was still one of chaos.

"After the meeting, K.H. came by with food.  The picket captains (for Magee): M.H.,. S.K., M.K. and I drove to Burger King for their 99 cent Whoppers.  Came back and walked the line.  I continued to become more infuriated by the fence and along with B.D. composed a song 'Don't Fence Us Out' (based on the song 'Don't Fence Me In.'

Not Quite Finished With Day One.

Round Lake School Teacher Strike 1994-- Part 3

I was always upset that our school board and administration chose to treat the teachers as horrible people who were apt at any moment to destroy a building or do injury to anyone. This was obviously a planned move on their part and set the stage for a long strike.

Teachers do not go on a strike for no reason.

They should have realized that, but they chose to treat us like criminals from the get-go.  I never had any respect for our school board or administration, even after the strike was finally over.  I still don't.

OCTOBER 17, 1994

Back to my journal for the first day.

"Walked over to the administration building where I found 150-200 teachers marching around the block.  There were three TV mobiles there with their antennas extended up to three stories and reporters doing interviewing.  We only had five teachers cross the line.  I only knew two: R.K. and D.L...

"All five were met with jeering and even profanity.  (That day all five became enemies of  mine and all five took the concessions we got at the end of the strike, but had done everything they could to hurt us.)

"The assistant superintendent Ellen Z., came out and took a lot of flack.  Mary D. (our superintendent) should have come out to do that job but was nowhere to be found."

I Still Get Angry As I Type This.