Before we discuss the many games of April, let’s touch on some recent items of interest that have come to my attention. Some seem to be beyond my understanding, as if they had been written in a foreign language, like Greek for example!

I don’t know about you, but…

I wonder if it is a sign that you are going to have a bad day when the fake shoelaces on your hands-free slip-on Skechers tennis shoes come untied. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this type of shoe, the shoestrings are not designed to be tied and untied. They are simply for show. I am still trying to figure out why and how they became untied. This could only happen to me.

I don’t know about you, but…

I am glad I have good medical insurance. I hope you do too. I had a recent switch in prescriptions and was told the new prescription would be expensive. I had no idea how much it would be. When I went to pick it up at the pharmacy, I was told that a 90-day supply would cost me $62.50, which is not bad. It was pointed out to me that if I didn’t have insurance that 90-day supply would have cost me $1256.57 which is over $5000 a year! Are you kidding me? I told the pharmacist that if I didn’t have insurance I might have to risk being sick.

I don’t know about you, but…

I still can’t stand it when inclement winter weather keeps me from traveling to a destination I really want to go to. But it really irritates me when it happens in the middle of March. Mary Simaytis, Larry Flannery and I were all set to go to the Illinois Athletic Director’s Association Honors Banquet in East Peoria on the evening of Sunday, March 15, when we were advised that it was probably not going to be safe to travel home after the banquet (you know, “Beware the Ides of March”). We might have made it safely, but we may have ended up in a ditch (There were reports of many vehicles that did end up in the ditch that evening.) It was a difficult decision. Each of us agreed that we may have decided to chance it when we were young and foolish, but we are simply too old to end up in ditches. This is an event that I have attended every year since I first became athletic director at Kewanee High School during the 2005-06 school year, and I really wanted to attend this particular banquet.

Why were we going to attend the IADA banquet that evening you ask? Well it was simply that our good friend and Kewanee High School athletic director. Tim Atwell was receiving the Class 1A/2A State Athletic Director of the Year Award. This is a well-deserved award in our opinion. He was also honored with a retirement plaque. Tim will be retiring at the end of this school year. I know I share this opinion with many people: Tim Atwell did wonderful work in his 15 years as the AD. We were disappointed we couldn’t be there for Coach Atwell’s special night. He will surely be missed.

Speaking of athletics, I don’t know about you, but

I was surprised when Tim Atwell informed me that the Illinois High School Association was celebrating 125 years of supporting student-athletes and activity-participants across the state. I was equally surprised to find out that Kewanee High School was one of 16 high schools in the state of Illinois that were the original members of the association, with their names appearing on the original document which was signed on Sept. 9, 1900. Whatever your personal opinion of the IHSA may be, there is no denying that for 125 years, the organization has been dedicated to promoting leadership, sportsmanship and excellence in education-based athletics and activities. You can find out more information on what the IHSA is doing to celebrate and recognize 123 years of serving by going to their website, isha.org.

Staying on the subject of athletics, I don’t know about you, but…

I believe that the season that Coach Todd Hansen and the Wethersfield Flying Geese had this past basketball season was quite remarkable. In case you haven’t heard, they came within a missed last second three-pointer of defeating the eventual 1A Girls State Champions, the Deer Creek-Mackinaw Lady Chiefs in a super sectional contest. Deer Creek-Mackinaw went on to win the semifinal and championship games in dominant fashion later that week to claim the IHSA Class 1A Championship.

I have known Coach Hansen for a long time. I heard him speak prior to the season. It is my opinion that he runs a basketball program in the proper manner and is an excellent leader of young people. Congratulations to him and the Wethersfield Flying Geese.

Yes, more sports. I don’t know about you, but…

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the YMCA Kraken Swim Team for their fine performance at the YMCA State Swim Meet. Behind the performance of one Evelyn Nance, the team was the 2026 Girls 8 & Under team champion. Other members of the Kraken, coached by Matt Bursell, that contributed to the team at the state meet and all season long include Lucy Bohm, Eijay Dickens, Randal Engels, Anna Golnick, Camden Johnston, Karsen Kingdon, Paxton McIntire, Preslee McIntire, Lucca Quagliano, Sebastian Rodseth, Mariah Jeffrey, Asher Johnston, Paisyn McIntire, Porter McIntire, Bernard Porter, Bruce Porter, Ian Ramos and Nolen Washburn. Nice going Kraken!

What about the games of April you ask? First of all, April is National Pickleball Month. Also, the first weekend of April features my favorite golf tournament in the great game of professional golf, the Masters. That same weekend has the Final Four of NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. And even though opening days for Major League Baseball teams were at the end of March, to me April signifies the beginning of the season for what used to be America’s favorite pastime, baseball. And who can forget that America’s new favorite pastime, the NFL, conducts their draft at the end of the month.

I don’t know about you, but…

I didn’t even know there was a National Pickleball Month. Evidently April is a nationwide celebration of one of our nation’s most popular and fastest growing activities. Pickleball can be enjoyed by those of all ages. Go ahead, and enjoy it on one of Kewanee’s pickleball courts.

I don’t know about you, but…

One of my favorite times of the year happens when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is played. This year’s tournament has really been special because my beloved Illinois Fighting Illini Men’s basketball team managed to win their first four games of the tournament to reach the Final Four for only the third time in my lifetime. Congratulations to Coach Underwood and his team. Will they bring home the University’s first National Championship? A daunting task to be sure. I am guessing I will probably be commenting on whether they do or not in my next Voice column. And this post season has a cherry on top. One of my other favorite college basketball teams, the Illinois State Redbirds, have reached the Final Four of the Men’s NIT and will be competing for a championship early in April. It doesn’t get much better than that for the old Greek guy.

I don’t know about you, but…

Baseball gets going in earnest in April, and I am always excited for a new season, even when my favorite team is predicted to be bad, as it is supposed to be this year. One thing I don’t understand about the beginning of the season is MLB’s practice of scheduling early season games in cold weather climates. Really? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Can’t MLB make use of the domed stadiums or warmer weather markets? Also MLB needs to figure out a way to level the playing field for all its teams in the manner it is done in the other major professional sports leagues.

April 4 is National Carrot Day, and April 14 is National Pecan Day. I don’t know about you, but…

I wonder if it would be alright to celebrate these days with two of my favorites, carrot cake on the fourth and pecan pie on the fourteenth. It’s not exactly the health food menu, but, oh well.

Speaking of not being on the health food menu, April 11 is the 75th Annual Kiwanis Pancake Day. I don’t know about you, but…

It seems hard to believe that an event such as the Kiwanis Pancake Day can have been going on for such a long time. And no, I wasn’t at the first Pancake Day, but I plan to be at this one. I encourage you to make an appearance and perhaps bring some friends and maybe the whole family and spend some quality time together. And in the process, you would be helping out a wonderful service organization serve the children of our community and the world. If dining in is not your cup of syrup, you can also take advantage of the pick-up and drive-thru services that are offered.

In the month of April, in Kewanee History, we have April 28, 1897, as the date when the Illinois General Assembly incorporated Kewanee as a city. And on April 23, 1930, the Kewanee Airport opened.

I don’t know about you, but…

I wonder if there was a big celebration on April 28, 1897. I also wonder if John Pierce had a big party to celebrate being elected Kewanee’s first mayor. And I wonder what life would have been like living in the Hog Capital in 1897.

I don’t know about you, but…

I consider the Kewanee Municipal Airport to be one of Kewanee’s many great assets. In my opinion, Ross and Diane Carbiener have been running a first-class operation that only enhances our community.

I don’t know about you, but…

With all that is going on in April, and with the increased opportunities to get outdoors with the improving weather, I may have difficulty finding time to take naps. But probably not!

I don’t know about you, but…

It seems that I do tend to ramble on. So I will close by sharing with you what was on a sign on the wall of the Kewanee Elks Lodge that says a lot.

Behind you – All your memories
Before you – All your dreams
Around you – All who love you
Within you – All you need

Be safe. The world can be a scary place!