Christmas For J'ville
The Source
People give Christmas presents to dogs. I know a guy who always bought something for his horse. So why not a town? What would I give our beloved Jacksonville? What would brighten this burg’s spirits? First on my gift list would be parking at Illinois College. Babies have been born while their mothers were trudging from Murrayville (the first available parking space) to events at I.C. I know, I know…the town has crowded up to the campus and the college is expanding like a bloated tic to every nook and cranny of College and Grove. Whatever used to be called parkable space is now given over to buildings or sidewalks and if you want to hear the J’ville symphony at Rammelkamp it’s best to rent out a room somewhere close to the college. … breakfast included. I was stalking the campus last week in search of a place to park and drove into the parking lot of the new “green” dormitory. A space! Dear Lord Almighty I saw a parking space! Then I saw the sign: “This space reserved for energy efficient cars.” That was me. Even if I were driving a Hummer that evening I’d have saved energy by not cruising another hour to find a spot. Gift Number Two: tiny shelters for those poor kids who are hired to stand out on Morton and hold advertising signs. I always want to stop and just put them in my warm car for a bit. Maybe we could build them their own heated buildings and invite the Wal-Mart bell ringers in for a warm-up. What else could Jacksonville use in its stocking? There was a time I would have said a Starbucks, but with the 3-Legged Dog, who needs coffee from Seattle when the local brewmeisters on the square turn out such fine java? Okay, perhaps I’d ask Santa to buy a muffler for the Dog’s torqued-up espresso machine. The 3-Legged Dog is surely one of the finest places in town to meet and greet old friends over a freshly brewed cup, but when the coffee machine kicks into gear I keep waiting for someone to announce “All passengers on Flight 504 for Miami should move immediately to the departure lounge 22-A. Your plane is now warming up.” I get first tickled then mildly irritated at folks who say “Our town needs this…” and “If we only had a good…” then leave town to shop instead of patronizing the butter than keeps our bread baking. Business is driven by one thing…customers, and if we refuse to shop locally then we deserve what we (don’t) get. But…if I could dream… maybe a walk-in bakery….yeah, I know that a couple of the grocery outlets have bakery departments, but I yearn for that store-front mom and pop place where the aroma of fresh bread hits you at a distance of two blocks, grabs you by the nostrils, and you’re magically wafted toward the loaves in the window. …the sort of place that forces you to eat the bread. Lots of little towns have museums whether the town actually merits one or not. It’d be cool to have a single place in Jacksonville designated as a repository of local history. And yes, I know that when money’s tight, historical preservation is the first to take it on the chin, and those have been the very times in our history when we’ve lost our artifacts. Just ask the Egyptians. And if we’re going to have a showplace of local pride, why not list a few current all-stars? It’s a shame to wait for people to die or organizations to fade away to put them in the spotlight… Steven Varble…. Toni Long….the Jacksonville Symphony… Passavant Hospital… Ginny Fanning… our gorgeous parks and the guys who keep them so pristine….the Kiwanis, Rotary, Ambucs, Lions, Pilot, Elks, Moose, Reindeer and any of the other service organizations that add so much to our town…. The Strawn…Imagine Foundation… the Altar and Rosary Society… Prairieland… Underground Railroad…Historical Society…Bruce Surratt on a good day… Randy the Super Sheriff… those cool bag guys at Festival Foods…. The photographers at the Journal Courier… the blackened, grilled salmon at Muggsy’s… the awe-inspiring décor of Our Saviors sanctuary… the gorgeous woodwork of Central Christian… Bruce Surratt on a bad day….the sight of the town square with snow and Christmas lights… Sturtevant Hall in the moonlight… Mt. Emory’s Kids Choir when they gather to sing songs around a Salvation Army kettle…. The music evenings at the Three-Legged Dog… and perhaps even the little guy who rides his bike all over town and keeps asking me what time it is. I think our local tapestry is plenty rich enough to fill a Celebrate Jacksonville museum. So….Merry Christmas, Jacksonville… where Jonathan Baldwin Turner once wrestled a deer to submission in his back yard, where the crunch of nighttime footsteps in the snow of College Avenue remains a delightful sound, and “Let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savoir was born upon this day.”