Untitled Document
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! Up until now, one of our favorite summertime pastimes
involved throwing back vodka tonics and taking in July 4 downtown fireworks
shows from the palatial confines of Cap City Manor, on a secluded hill
miles from the city. No more. The Springfield Jaycees, who organize the
annual fireworks show, are switching to pricier close-proximity fireworks.
This means that folks like us, who previously watched the pyrotechnics
extravaganza from a distance, must trudge all the way downtown. There’s an upside, however. The new fireworks
require less space, use fewer potentially hazardous explosives, and are
more entertaining because the audience is up close and personal, explains
the Jaycees’ Robbie Johnston. In past years, spotters had to be in place to watch for
falling debris, which prompted complaints from downtown businesses. The
fiery fallout also jeopardized trees and historical buildings. “We
want to put on a great show, so we asked ourselves, ‘What else can we
bring to the table if we can’t give you fireworks a mile in the
air?’ ” Johnston says. Unlike in previous years, Capitol Avenue will be open
to foot traffic so the celebration will also feature food vendors, music
performances, an ice-cream social hosted by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, and other family
entertainment. In addition, Capitol Radio Group has produced a CD to be
synchronized with the fireworks display and simulcast on several local
radio stations. The arrangement features a snippet of John F. Kennedy speaking.
Despite being an Illinoisan, Johnston agrees that including a soundbite
from the presumed Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama, might ignite
controversy.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? We’ve written several times about the lovely
village of Grafton, which is an easy day trip southeast, near Alton, and
abloom with such tempting treats as bubble tea, wineries, antiques and B&Bs.
Then there’s the 28-acre aquatic park with a tidal-wave beach and
rides for all ages, located at the confluence of the Illinois River and the
Mighty Mississippi. Appropriately named the Raging Rivers WaterPark, the
facility was forced to close for a few days this week because of . . . ahem
. . . raging rivers. On Tuesday we spoke with president and general
manager Larry Smith, who was clinging to a forecast indicating that the
rivers’ crest might flood some of the roadway leading to and from the
park but not the facility itself. “Our damage will all be in the cash
registers,” he says. Smith knows it could be worse. “We were here in
1993. We closed on July 6 and never reopened that season, so this is small
potatoes compared to that,” he says. But, see, that’s why we think he ought to
change the park’s name. After all, has Knight’s Action Park
ever been shut down by sword-swinging, armor-wearing mounted marauders?
There ya go.
NADER CRUSADER Christina Tobin has a
burning passion for issue of ballot access. Tobin, who lives in Chicago,
serves as the national and Illinois ballot coordinator for the 2008 presidential campaign
of Ralph Nader. On Monday, the Nader team submitted over 50,000
petition signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections to place Nader
and vice-presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez, running as independents, on the November ballot. Tobin says she’s an independent and
doesn’t subscribe to any political ideology other than the principle
of open and fair elections. She’s worked on ballot-access drives for
her father, Tim Tobin, who has run for governor and lieutenant governor as a member of
Illinois’ Libertarian Party, as well as former Green gubernatorial
candidate Rich Whitney and Randy Stufflebeam of the Constitution Party. She flirted briefly with the
idea of joining the presidential campaign of Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Tobin anticipates a challenge to Nader’s
signatures, likely by the Illinois Democratic Party, which disputed
Whitney’s petitions in 2006. That, she adds, would be a mistake this
time around: “The people of Illinois should be aware of the time and
money wasted challenging third-party petitions. It’s a loss of the
Illinois taxpayer dollars when frivolous challenges are filed.”
Meanwhile, a petition campaign to urge Nader to seek
the nomination of his former Green Party has been called off and the Draft
Nader Committee disbanded. Greens have selected as their nominee former
Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, of Atlanta, who switched parties last year. McKinney is
expected to formally receive the nomination at the Green Party national
convention next month in Chicago.
CAP CITY HATES
ANONYMITY
Loath as we are to admit it, we
laugh at the anonymous State Journal-Register online reader comments as much as the next Harry, Dick,
Ashrak, and IlliniAmy. This week, the SJ-R started requiring Web readers to submit names and
e-mail addresses before commenting. In theory, we welcome the change. As journalists who
use our real names on the stories we write, we believe that individuals who
lurk in the shadows, typing anonymous online comments and hiding behind
assumed identities, are the lowest form of news participant. Except . . . under the SJ-R’s new system, it’s still possible to post
messages without revealing your true identity. Just create an e-mail
account under a pseudonym, then register. Call us old-fashioned, but real men and women write
letters to the editor. It even takes a set of brass ones to call up your
local talk-radio program and broadcast your opinions across the airwaves. So man up: If you don’t like what we said, send
a letter to P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705.
This article appears in Jun 19-25, 2008.
