Along 66, October 2019: Someone Stole the Kaiser-Frazer Sign in Mitchell, Illinois

OCTOBER 31--  Then Kaiser-Frazer sign near Mitchell, Illinois, has disappeared and its whereabouts are unknown.

It had been altered and painted with new neon tubing to  advertising for the Town & Country Motel, but the paint had peeled off.

Kaiser-Frazer was an auto maker from 1947-1953, so these signs are quite rare.

--RoadDog

John's Modern Cabins: A Cursed Place?

In 1935, a man killed his estranged wife during a Halloween dance at what became John's Modern Cabins.

In 1938, Walter Tyler, deputy sheriff, was killed in a freak accident near "Bill and Bea's Place" just west of Rolla.  This was one of the names John's Modern Cabins had before it became as we know it.

His gun discharged as he was pushing his vehicle while trying to disengage a stuck starter.  The gun apparently fell out of his pocket and onto the running board of his car and went off, striking him in the stomach.

He left behind a wife and three children.

And Now, It Is Getting Halloween Spooky.  --RoadBoo

Congratulations US-12 (Rand Road) and Richmond-Burton High School, Winners of 2019 IHSA Footbal Showdown

US-12 (Rand Road) defeated US-14 (Northwest Highway) here in the Northwestern Chicago suburbs 1-0.  Richmond-Burton Rockets went all the way to the Class 4A Championship.

Richmond-Burton serves students in Richmond Township and Burton Township, with main villages of Richmond and Spring Grove where we live.  I saw them play four times this year and was impressed.

They outscored opponents during regular season 403-53 and 209-41 in the playoffs.

To see a game-by-game breakdown go to my November 30, 2019, Down Da Road I Go blog.

They ended the season 14-0.

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

WINNERS IN THE COMPETITION

2013  US-12
2014  US-14
2015  Tie
2016  US-14
2017  US-14
2018  US-14
2019  US-12

So Proud of Our Rockets!!!  --RoadDog

Way to Go East St. Louis, Williamsville, Lincoln-Way East and Newman Central Catholic: IHSA Route 66 and Lincoln Highway 2019 State Champions: We Have a Tie!!

We started with 256 teams and the last weekend in November came down to the final eight champions.

There were eight champions at the different classes and four of them were from out two roads.  Not bad.

Route 66 Champions
***********************

6A  East St. Louis

3A  Williamsville

Lincoln Highway Champions
************************

8A   Lincoln-Way East

2A   Newman Central Catholic
************************8

We ended up with a 2-2 tie

Winners by year:

2012  LH
2013  LH
2014  66
2015  LH
2016   66
2017  LH
2018   Tie
2019   Tie

Great Games.  Thank You.  --RoadDog

California Pearl Harbor Survivor Joe Feld Remembers Day of Infamy-- Part 4: Aboard the USS Enterprise

"We made three trips down to the battleships to help recover men.  Well, those three trips were all I could take.  I had never even seen a broken bone in my life (before this).

"However, we survived it and went on to other jobs that had to be done around the air station."

Feld and his fellow sailors stayed on the island for another six weeks under blackout conditions, doing those various jobs.  By the first of the year, most of then had returned to the USS Enterprise, believing that was their ticket home.

Not so.

Instead, he and his shipmates would sail into naval history.  The Enterprise drew first enemy blood in the war.  He was aboard the Enterprise when it took part in the Doolittle Raid and at Wake Island and  personally witnessed the turning point of the war in the Pacific when the Enterprise's planes took part in the sinking of three enemy aircraft carriers and a cruiser at the Battle of Midway.

--GreGen

California Pearl Harbor Survivor Joe Feld Remembers Day of Infamy-- Part 3: The Aftermath

A Chief Boatswain detailed Feld and the others to recover bodies at the dock.  Feld remembers seeing six battleships lined up and burning.  The water seemed to be an inferno with flames shooting eight inches up from it.

"But, we had our job to do, so we retrieved them from the water, placed them on a blanket and brought them back to the mess hall.

"When you're twenty years old and start fishing bodies out of the harbor, you don't last very long.  It's a part of the war I can hardly talk about because these guys had tried to swim in burning water to get to shore.

"But, that is what we did.

"We stood next to burning ships with flames going maybe 100 feet high.  It was hot.  You're not equipped to take all that in."

--GreGen

California Pearl Harbor Survivor Joe Feld Remembers Day of Infamy"-- Part 2: The Attack

"I called out to the other fellows, 'We're under attack!'

"We took cover in the mess hall.  Outside, the explosions were huge I'm sure I heard when the Arizona was hit.

"The ships were sitting two in a row.  Hitting one ship caused chain reactions and it was like shooting ducks in a barrel.  After the Japanese took care of the ships, they came after us.

"We fell on our stomachs as the bullets flew through the barracks.  The wood splintered on the columns that supported the roof and plaster rained down on us."

There wasn't much Feld and the others could do until it was over about three hours later.

--GreGen

California Pearl Harbor Survivor Joe Feld Remembers That Day-- Part 1

From the December 6, 2019, Nevada County, Ca. Union "Norris Burkes:  Grass Valley Pearl Harbor survivor Joe Feld remembers the Day of Infamy."

"My name is Joe Feld.   My name is one of the few things I remember,"  chuckles Joe Feld.

But he remembers a whole lot more than that.  He is one of 15 patients Norris Burkes visits at the Hospice of the Foot Hills, Grass Valley.

He joined the Navy in 1939.  After boot camp in San Diego, he was assigned to the brand new aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, "The Big E."

Joe Feld was a metalsmith who fixed everything broken on aircraft except the engine.  After that, he spent 18 months cruising the Pacific Ocean between San Diego and Hawaii.  In late November, he and 30 other metalsmiths were sent ashore in earl harbor to fix land-based planes.  The Enterprise returned to sea.

On December 7, 1941, just a few hours before the Enterprise was  to return to Pearl Harbor, he heard an explosion outside his barracks and thought that a plane had crashed.  "I looked out the window to see Japanese planes strafing the airfield.  I was close enough to see the red circle on the plane."

--GreGen

It Just Turned 7:55 AM Here in the Chicago Area: The Beginning of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, 78 Years Ago

Japanese planes began their attack on U.S. Navy and Army installations around the island of Oahu in an effort to knock out  America right at the start of the war.

My flags are up outside.

All eight of my blogs will be about this event today.

"Tattooed On Your Soul" 78th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Tomorrow

Remember to put out your flags tomorrow to mark the 78th anniversary of Pearl harbor.

My World War II blog is titled "Tattooed On Your Soul,"  the words Frank Curre used to describe his Pearl Harbor experience.  He was on the USS Tennessee and died 70 years to the day after the attack, December 7, 2011.

Hang Those Flags.  --Pearl Harbor

Farm Implements On Display in 1919

From the January 23, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Commencing tomorrow and continuing to several days, the Fisk Garage will have a display of Fordson tractors and farm implements on display at the garage at the corner of First and Lincoln Highway.

"The display will include many of the most important machines necessary to successful farming and it is probable that many farmers, who come for the horse sale tomorrow will spend some time giving the Ford products the once over."

--RoadFarm

Teamsters Should Keep Horses From Slip, Sliding Away in 1919

From the January 30, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Right at this time, especially during the forenoon,  teamsters should see to it that the horses in their charge are sharp shod, so that the animals will not slip and slide when trying to pull away with a load.

"A teamster was seen this morning with a heavy load pulled by two heavy animals, but neither of the horses had sharp shoes and there was all kinds of of slipping and sliding, the driver finally getting help getting his wagon rolling with a heavy load."

--Cooter

Along 66, October 2019: John's Modern Cabins-- Part 2

John Dausch ran the place, now called John's Modern Cabins, until 1965, after his wife's death.  He closed the business, but continued to live in the main cabin  until his death in 1971 and it has essentially been abandoned ever since.

It has fallen into ruin, but the rusty sign remains.

Joe Sonderman found another photo of the place in August 2019.

Roamin' Rich and a crew went out to the place and cleared the property a year ago and did some structural work.  You can still get out to the site and well worth a visit.  I don't consider a trip through the Ozarks on 66 complete until I visit these ruins.

--RoadDog

Along 66, October 2019: Before It Was John's Modern Cabins-- Part 1

Most every Route 66 fan knows about the further deterioration of an old motel near Rolla, Missouri, called John's Modern Cabins.  We never go by that stretch without stopping to take a look at it.

OCTOBER26--  Joe Sonderman, Mr. Postcard, has found a rare image of the roadside business which later became John's Modern Cabins near Newburg, Missouri.

It's name in the photograph is Bill's Place taken sometime in the 1940s.  Courthouse documents list the name as Bill and Bessie's Place or Bill and Bess' Place, located between Rolla and Arlington, Missouri.

Bess died sometime in the mid-1930s.  Original owner Bill Bayless sold it in 1945.  After that, it changed hands several times until John Dausch bought it in 1951 and renamed it John's Modern Cabins and added a new neon sign with the name on it.

At least one of the cabins was razed when Route 66 was widened  shortly after he acquired i.

--RoadJohn

Illinois State Football Champions for 2019

We started with 256 teams and over five weeks, whittled that down to just 8 who were crowned Illinois IHSA Football Champions this last weekend.

They were:

8A

Lincoln-Way East  14-0

7A

Mt. Carmel  14-0

6A

East St. Louis  14-0

5A

Rochester  13-1

4A

Richmond-Burton  (My town's football team!!   Go  Rockets!!!)  14-0

3A

Williamsville  14-0

2A

Newman Central Catholic  13-1

1A

Lena   14-0

Congratulations Teams!!  --RoadDog