And My Best Two War Board Games: Stratego and Risk

I enjoyed the Milton-Bradley/American Heritage war board games, but my absolute two favorite games of this sort were Stratego and Risk.

I had excellent strategies for playing both of these.  You could always count on my spy to be somewhere around the general in Stratego.  That way if my opponents marshal came after my general, I had a shot at him.  My marshal would be around at least one of the colonels, maybe both, in case my opponent's general ventured forth.

Plus, I often played Risk in both high school and college.  These games could go on a long time, especially if there were only three players left or to begin with.  With just three players, you dare not go to war with one of the others and wear your armies down while the third person is just getting stronger by the move and preparing to wipe out what's left of the two warring parties.

--CootTego

Fox Lake Historical Society, March 19, 2022: Puppet Bar Ghosts?

Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society, Fox Lake, Illinois.

Working on the website and information being updated.

There used to be 56 or 57 bars in Fox Lake.  It was, after all, a resort town.

**  The society has more Grant Township yearbooks than it needs and will sale extra copies to persons contacting us.  I think the price would be $20.

**  Of course, these last two years have been very difficult in both membership and finances.

**  A paranormal guy came by and said the Eagle Point puppets had a lot of energy emanating from them.

**  They're looking for docents to come in and  watch the place and help visitors on every other Sunday afternoon, but, I'm wondering, what if you're sitting there by yourself with "ghosts" around.  

**  There used to be a bowling alley next door to the museum and it had eight lanes and there used to be a gas station on the other side of it.

--Cooter

Deaths: William 'Bill' Schulz, Member of IHSA 1952 State Basketball Champs-- Part 2

By the 1951-1952 basketball season, Bill Schulz stood at 6-foot-10 and played center for the Alden-Hebron Green Giants.  That school had just 98 students and just five players on its basketball team.

That year, the team went 35-1 and won the 1952 IHSA Basketball Tournament by beating Quincy in overtime 64-59, with Bill as the leading scorer.

Alden-Hebron is the smallest school ever to win the IHSA (Illinois High School Association) Tournament in the old one-class system where all schools are in the same class regardless of size.

In 2017, Bill was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame.  Today, the Hebron water tower is painted to look like a basketball in honor of the 1952's team accomplishments.

(Today, Quincy, Illinois, has a population of 40,000 and Hebron 1,200.)

Deaths: William Schulz, Member of Illinois 1952 Basketball Tournament Champs, Hebron ( a 'Hoosier' Moment')

From the January 30, 2021, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Illinois).

WILLIAM SCHULZ

Born:  November11, 1934

DIED:  January 21, 2021

A well-known Illinois high school basketball player, F. William "Bill" Schulz, 86, of Kenilworth, Illinois, passed away due to complications related to leukemia on January 21, 2021, with his family by his side.

He was born on November 11, 1934, in Harvard, Illinois.

Raised on a dairy farm in Hebron, Illinois, Bill attended Alden-Hebron High School (98 students) where as a lanky 6-foot-five freshman, he was recruited by Coach Russ Ahearn to play on the Green Giants basketball team.  Before this time, Schulz had never played basketball and had to ask his father's permission to be released from his after-school farm chores.

He worked hard to develop his skills, and by his junior year, he had grown to 6-foot10 and played center for Hebron's varsity team which only had five players.

And, Then.....   It was the movie "Hoosiers" all over again.

San Francisco Goes Whole Hog Woke and Cancel Culture

From the November 30, 2020, Los Angeles Times "San Francisco may rename  42 schools, including  Lincoln Highand  Dianne Feinstein Elementary" by Faith E. Pinho.

There were 42 schools recommended for renaming.  For those of you counting, that's one third of their schools.

Some of the school's namesakes have already come under fire, including  California  missionary Father  Junipero  Serra and "Star-Spangled Banner" author Francis Scott Key.

Others, like  Abraham Lincoln and Senator  Dianne Feinstein, well, maybe the reasons are not so obvious.

Even the storied  magnet school Lowell High is on the last.  Its namesake  James Russell  Lowell was an abolitionist (Okay) but his writings.

--CootRidiculous

DeKalb High School Cadets Get Guns in 1920

From the April 22, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The High School Cadets are not marking time since they received the new equipment of guns and rifles  from the government.

"Wednesday two squads  of the company were out for target practice and used the bank of the Kishwaukee River as a backstop.  The boys used the regular ball ammunition and some of them made very good scores."

Students with guns?  Well, it was a different time, wasn't it?

These students were probably the forerunner of today's JROTC at DeKalb High School.

Target Shooting.  --Cooter

Moratorium Problems at DeKalb High in 1969

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

1969, 50 Years Ago.

"A couple of NIU students were reported to have been physically ejected from DeKalb High School by high school students yesterday, following the passing out of moratorium day literature.

"George Walters, principal, stated that the university students  were in the high school building without permission."

*********************************

"Effective September 1970, DeKalb Senior High School will change from a three year  high school, grades 10 through 12, to a four-year high school, grades 9 through 12.

During the Vietnam War Era Protests.  --Cooter

Death of Olivia Hooker-- Part 3: What Happened to Her Doll

One of her most searing memories was what the mob did to her doll.  "My grandmother had made some beautiful clothes for my doll.  It was the first ethnic doll we had ever seen.  ...she washed them and put them on the line.  When the marauders came, the first thing they did was set fire to my doll's clothes.  I thought that was dreadful."

Her family survived the massacre.  Her father temporarily located the family, including her mother and five children, to Topeka, Kansas, while her father remained in Oklahoma attempting to rebuild his business.

He later went on a speaking tour to black Methodist churches to bear witness to the murder and incineration in Tulsa.

When the family returned to Tulsa, she attended Booker T. Washington High School.  "The teachers were scholars, and they were determined every child would do his best,  every child would be taught the King's English."

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

American Legion Baseball

Post 703 has been supporting an American Legion Baseball team for many years now and this year, we are planning a Legion Day for one of the team's home games at Grant Township High School.  More information on that will be given when we know the schedule in June.

Our team is comprised mostly of boys from the Fox Lake area and managed by Brian Talbot.

But, in the meantime, to prepare for the season, we'll take a look back at the history of American Legion baseball.

From Wikipedia.

American Legion Baseball is amateur played by  13 to 19-year-olds in all fifty states and Canada.  More than 3,500 teams compete each year.  The American Legion Department of South Dakota established  the program in 1925 in Milbank, South Dakota.

PURPOSE

To give players the opportunity to develop their skills,  personal fitness,  leadership qualities, and to have fun. Hundreds of thousands of boys have been taught this over the years.

--Cooter

The Vietnam War in DeKalb County in 1968

From the November 7, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1968, 50 Years Ago.

**  "Once again, the senior girls  of Shabbona High School will be baking cookies for the boys in Vietnam."

**  "Reports of a possible break through toward peace in Vietnam spread around the world today.

"Attention centered on an American offer to end the bombardment of North Vietnam."

--Cooter

DeKalb High School Cornerstone Dedicated in 1967

From the March 15, 2017, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1967, 50 Years Ago.

"  It might have been a bit delayed but the cornerstone of the new DeKalb High School became official in brief ceremonies at the school.

--DaCoot

Sycamore Gets a New High School in 1917

From the February 1, 2017, MidWeek "Looking Back."

Sycamore, Illinois.  Wonder of it is still there?

1917, 100 Years Ago.

"The Sycamore high school pupils will occupy the new school building beginning next Monday.

"The public will be invited to inspect the building the following Sunday."

A New School.  --Cooter

Looking Back: 1916: Sycamore Needs a New High School

From the January 27, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back"

1916, 100 Years Ago:  "An interesting and important election was held Saturday in the county seat (Sycamore).  The proposition submitted to the voters was whether Sycamore should erect a new high school.

"It has been apparent for some time that a new school had to be built.  The present structure was erected in 1905 to accommodate 125 people.  The enrollment has increased until today it is over 180.

Later that week it was reported:  "Sycamore will begin this spring the erection of a thoroughly modern completely appointed city high school building.  The building will be located on the Haley site of over three acres on the East State Street.

And, there is a newer high school now, south of town on Sycamore Road Il-23.

--Cooter

Palatine High School's Gerald "Chic" Anderson

From the December 30, 2013, Chicago Tribune.

GERALD "CHIC" ANDERSON, 84  (1928-2013)

Palatine High School (Illinois) athletic director for nearly 20 years.  The football field and soccer complex is named the Chic Anderson Stadium.

Illinois Athletic Director of the Year in 1979.

Nickname "Chic" given to him by his father.Taught at Palatine High School beginning in 1958 before going to Fremd High School in 1962 and then was at Conant High School.

Looking for John Belushi-- Part 5: College of DuPage and Wheaton Central High School

Christopher Borrelli drove to John Belushi's hometown of Wheaton to see if they had anything in his honor.  They did.  The McAnich Art center at the College of DuPage (all sorts of problems with its president these days) has recently rededicated  its 800-seat theater as the Belushi Performance Hall, but that is actually for both John and his brother Jim (both are CoD alumni).  Jim has raised $330,000 for the college's John Belushi Scholarship Fund.

From there, Borrelli drove to Wheaton Warrenville South High School.  John Belushi graduated from Wheaton Central, but a Mariano's sits where Central once stood.

Belushi gets a modest tribute in the lobby of Wheaton Warrenville in a glass case which has a "Blues Brothers" CD, a picture of Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and a photo of Belushi as Wheaton Central's homecoming king (Class of 1967).  

In an additional case, there is a similar tribute to Wheaton alum Bob Woodward includes a copy of :"Wired," the man who wrote the often reviled John Belushi biography.  A nearby stairwell has a mural of Belushi, football legend Red Grange and astronomer Edwin Hubble, also alumni.

"Seven Good Years of College Down the Drain.  --Cooter

"The Breakfast Club" Movie at 30-- Part 7: The Library and Growing Up to Be Judd Nelson

THE LIBRARY

Most of the movie took place in a two-story library.  This was built inside Maine North's gymnasium.

The Chicago Blitz later practiced here; Michael Jordan shot commercials here.  WHAT??  Michael Jordan during commercials, how could that be?

There is no trace of the library remaining, unfortunately, just some boxes of toner cartridge.


GROWING UP TO BE JUDD NELSON

It was a cast of unknowns at the time.

Judd Nelson "was a revelation, the kid who stood up to authority and seemed mercilessly direct in a way teens only dream of being."  nelson was also 25 when the movie was shot.  If the movie were remade now, he would probably be the villain of the group.

NOTE:  His "Eat my shorts!" came four years before Bart Simpson uttered those words.

Whose Shorts?  --Cooter

"The Breakfast Club" Movie at 30-- Part 6: Two Movies at Maine North High School

"The Breakfast Club" was shot inside Des Plaines' Maine North High School.  The school itself closed in 1981.  (I came close to student teaching here in 1973, but ended up in nearby Maine West High School.)  It opened in 1970 so was just used for 11 years.

Occupying the building now is an Illinois State Police district office, an Illinois Lottery prize center, a Cook County 911 Center and assorted other state offices.  The building is painted gray.

Ernie Scarpelli, building manager, gave a tour.  The hallways through which the cast sprinted are now an institutional yellow and the lockers are gone.  In the basement, in a glass case, is a "Breakfast Club" poster.  he says he gets about 30 people a year wanting to tour the building, but tells them to just take a picture of the exterior of the building.

The school was also used in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" movie of 1986.

--DaCoot