I don’t know about you, but…
I wonder how many of you realize that Labor Day always falls on the first Monday of September. This year that date is Sept. 1. That means that most of the 2025 Hog Days Festival actually takes place in August. Hmm…
Speaking of Hog Days, I don’t know about you, but…
I believe that the Hog Festival is viewed differently by different citizens of Kewanee. Some absolutely look forward to it and can’t wait for it. This group can include business owners that enjoy the increase in revenue the festival means for them. Some, like me, simply enjoy it and are grateful for all those responsible for pulling it off, and are willing to tolerate the minor inconvenience it poses to our daily lives. Some are indifferent to the entire weekend and just go on with the business of life as usual. And I am sure that there are those that dislike the whole thing and can’t wait to get out of town that weekend.
More about September later, but first:
I don’t know about you, but…
I would like to give organizers of the Back Road Music Festival in Galva a shout-out. Mrs. Christakos is a huge Alabama fan, so we ventured over to our first Festival on Aug. 9. This festival has been bringing quality country music to Henry County for over ten years. It is indeed a festive affair in an outstanding setting. Now Alabama’s music is timeless, but beware. When some of the performers are older than I, and have had a history of health issues, the presentation of the music may suffer.
I don’t know about you, but…
I wonder what the PGA golfer that is paired with Scottie Scheffler in the final group of any PGA tournament on Sunday, is thinking. Now I realize that most of the golfers, being the competitors that they are, embrace the notion of taking on the best in golf head-to-head. But I have to believe that subconsciously, they must realize that their chances of winning the tournament are remote.
Speaking of golf, I don’t know about you, but…
I wonder how many of you realize that one of the largest golf tournaments of its kind, in this part of the state, takes place every year the weekend before Labor Day at the Midland Golf Club. This year over 232 golfers teed it up over two days in search of golfing glory in a two-man scramble format.
There were foursomes teeing off from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There are eleven different flights of competition, so golfers of different skill levels are afforded a chance to come out on top. The event is so popular that there was a waiting list of seven teams that were unable to compete this year, and golfers from as far away as Texas and Florida show up every year to compete. The overall winners this year were Trevor Lay and Ryan Vallard. They had a two-day score of 121, or 23 under par.
On a personal note, my partner, Dave Hoffstetter, and I were able to shoot a score of 147, or 3 over par which was six better than our combined age. That’s a feat that we are quite proud of, even if it didn’t garner us any of the prize money.
I don’t know about you, but…
The idea of federal troops doing the work of law enforcement in any of our country’s major cities is disturbing to me on several levels.
First of all, what does that say about the police force in those cities? Is there a need to have federal troops help them do their job? Second, isn’t the US military intended for combat, and not for community policing? Also, doesn’t this sort of action bring us one step closer to total military control of our country?
I don’t know about you, but…
I understand the redistricting of congressional districts needs to be done periodically as populations shift. I think that what is normally done once every 10 years after the census is taken, should be sufficient. To me, the changing of districts, or gerrymandering, just to gain an advantage in an upcoming election should not be allowed. I know it has been going on for a very long time, including in the state of Illinois. This type of activity helps give politics a bad name. I feel it is like competing in an athletic competition, with one team changing the rules right before the competition begins, in order to gain a competitive advantage.
I don’t know about you, but…
I wish we could live in a world without racism. The editorial written by Susan DeVilder of The Voice, about the disappointing racist incident that took place in Kewanee, was eye-opening, but not surprising. From a person whose life has been directly affected by racism, I think racism stinks. I wish we could all be judged by who we are, instead of by our physical appearance. Being prejudiced is a great time saver. It allows one to make a judgement of a person’s character without taking the time to get to know who that person really is.
And now September:
Sept. 4 is Eat an Extra Dessert Day. I don’t know about you, but…
I don’t need to have a special day designated to talk myself into having an extra dessert.
I don’t know about you, but…
I don’t have any problem understanding why Sept. 11 has been designated Patriot Day. I hope we never forget the events of 9/11/01. I also hope we never witness another day like that again, but I wouldn’t make book on it.
Sept. 13-14 are Goodfellows Tag Days. I don’t know about you, but…
I hope that if you are given an opportunity to make a donation to help the Goodfellows realize their goal of making sure no one in the Kewanee area goes hungry at Christmas time, you make that donation. And if you do, you are very generous.
I don’t know about you, but…
My guess is that many of you don’t know that Sept. 15 is Roberto Clemente Day. Heck, many of you probably don’t know who he is, or what he is known for. Besides being an unbelievably talented Hall-of-Fame Major League baseball player that was a joy to watch play, he was also a great humanitarian.
In fact, his life and his baseball career were cut short when he was killed in an airline accident while on a mission to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua on Dec. 31, 1972. My personal Roberto Clemente memory is of being at Busch Stadium on July 15, 1967, when he hit a liner off the pitcher’s leg, breaking the pitcher’s leg. The pitcher? None other than another Hall-of-Famer, Bob Gibson. Wouldn’t you say that’s quite a memory?
An informational note: Sept. 15 was chosen as Roberto Clemente Day in part to coincide the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Autumn begins on Sept. 22. I don’t know about you, but…
To me, this day brings mixed feelings. I do enjoy the fall season. It offers so many things that I enjoy including, but not limited to, a change in the weather, great colors of nature and of course, football. But it also means that I will be bagging a lot of fallen leaves, and that we are moving closer to winter which, as you know, I don’t enjoy at all.
I don’t know about you, but…
I believe that it is time to wrap up on this month’s gibberish. All this work has left me in need of a nap. Go figure.
I leave you with this month’s thought which comes from a former neighbor of mine. I thought it would be appropriate with September being the month that contains Labor Day. He said, “I have been having a labor dispute of sorts. My mind knows that I need to go out and do the lawn work that has been piling up, but my body is disputing the fact that I really need to do it now!”
