The “I go to my reunion” essay is a staple of the genre. By now there is nothing new that can be said, but readers read them anyway, fearful that other people’s reunions were better than theirs. Which is a very high school reason. The most the reader can hope for from such an essay […]
James Krohe Jr.
Posted inOpinion
Springfield High’s one-hundredth
I graduated from Springfield High School in 1966. My classmates organized a 50th reunion for the same weekend that the Springfield High School building turned 100. District 186 staged a ceremony Friday evening to mark the centennial of Springfield High School. (There are other events planned; let’s hope they do better than this; the featured […]
Posted inOpinion
Centennial Building continued
In “Refined, delicate and urban,” I talked about the Centennial Building on the statehouse grounds, which was built to honor the first centenary of the founding of the State of Illinois. I, argued, not very persuasively, for its restoration to honor the second centenary in 2018. Curious readers might want to also consult this entry about […]
Posted inOpinion
Fair deal
PHOTO BY DAVID HINE When the Illinois State Fair was first staged in 1853, country people went there to see other country people. Later, city people went to see country people. These days – well, I’m not sure what people go to see at the fair. For decades, managers have tried to stage a one-size-fits-all […]
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Fool me once . . . .
There’s a sucker born every minute, they say, which might explain why state legislatures and city councils count so many of them among their members. As I noted here and here, spending the public’s good money to entice large corporations to do business in one’s home state or city is folly. From a recent report […]
Posted inOpinion
Refined, delicate and urban
The Centennial Building, now known as the Howlett Building, will be 100 years old in 2018, the bicentennail of Illinois becoming a state. PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Last week, in “Getting it right this time,” I proposed that the State of Illinois commemorate the bicentennial of its founding in 1818 not with celebration but with […]
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Finally, a use for the Armory
In next week’s installment of Dyspepsiana, I argue that a nice way to mark the State of Illinois’ 200th anniversary in 2018 would be to restore the memorial it built to celebrate the commonwealth’s first one hundred years — the Centennial Building, a.k.a. the Howlett Building, on Second Street. Objections will be raised because of the cost. […]
Posted inOpinion
Religious freedom in Montgomery County
In “Get right or get out” I recalled episodes from Illinois’ recent past in which fearful Illinoisans confronted the Other. I mentioned an incident in Litchfield involving Jehovah’s Witnesses. Here are the details. After World War II, paranoid fantasies of subversion and revolution focused on new sets of exotic newcomers. Because they put loyalty to […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting it right this time
Note: The text departs slightly from the original published version, having been slightly improved for readability. Yes, I know – who feels like celebrating the state of Illinois? The commonwealth will be 200 years old in 2018, and no one in state government seems prepared to party. As our Erika Holst recently reminded us [see […]
Posted inOpinion
Get right or get out
Back in June, news got about that there was waiting on the governor’s desk a bill to set up a Muslim Advisory Council. Kumbaya gestures of this sort have long been popular among politicians pandering to groups whose good opinion they hope to win. This particular bill, as would quickly become apparent, was so ill-drafted […]
Posted inOpinion
Parade unrest
I’m not sure that everyone loves a parade but I do–as a subject. I wrote two columns about the parade that kicks off the Illinois State Fair each year. This one appeared in our paper of August 20, 1987. “I gotta tell the guys in New York about this,” I said to myself. New Yorkers […]
Posted inOpinion
Fair to middling
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thirty-six years ago, Springfield’s mayor was Mike Houston, and the Illinois State Fair was, well, what the fair has always been. I wrote about it in this column of my Prejudices series, which appeared in the IT of August 22, 1980. It varies slightly from […]
