Marshall City band concert
MARSHALL — The Marshall City Band will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, July 1, on the Clark County Courthouse lawn under the direction of Heather Setzer.
The concert will feature “The Stars and Stripes Forever March”, “America, The Beautiful”, “Armed Forces Salute”, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “Irving Berlin’s America”, “Each Time You Tell Their Story”, “The Message on the Rock”, “National Emblem March”, “Semper Fidelis March”, “Washington Post March” and conclude with “The Stars-Spangled Banner”.
An ice cream social will be held in conjunction with this week’s concert along with popcorn from the Lion’s Club popcorn wagon.
The Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce will be holding its Farmers Market from 4-7:30 p.m. around the courthouse square.
Stars & Stripes 5k run/walk
MATTOON — The Stars & Stripes 5k, in memory of Anthony V. Sheehan, the first person with Down syndrome to graduate from Mattoon High School, will be held Saturday, July 2, at the 19th Street Dairy Queen in Mattoon.
Race day registration and packet pick-up begin at 6:30 a.m. with the race starting at 7:30 a.m. in front of Mattoon City Hall.
This is a non-timed 3.1 mile fun run/walk. Strollers are welcome. Every participant will receive a shirt, medal and a DQ treat.
For more information, visit “Stars & Stripes 5K” on Facebook.
Weightlifting
registration set
for Bagelfest
MATTOON — Relentless Fitness in Mattoon will hosting “Battle for the Bagel,” the first powerlifting meet to be held in Mattoon in nearly 30 years, on Saturday, July 16, at Peterson Park, during Bagelfest.
The first life will be at 5 p.m.
The winner of each division will be crowned Mr. and Ms. Mattoon, as an homage to the bodybuilding contest that used to take place at Bagelfest. Registration closes Sunday, July 3. For more information, contact Colton Anderson at Coltonanderson58@gmail.com.
Fourth of July fish fry set
CASEY — The Casey VFW, located at South Central Avenue, will host a 4th of July fish fry, with serving beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until sold out. Meals are $10 with dine-in, drive-thru and carry-out available.
WCTU to hold meeting
CHARLESTON — The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union will meet at 10 a.m. Monday, July 11, at Lincoln Garden Restaurant in Charleston.
The special guest for the event will be Tom Royal, speaking on his experience with the Gideons.
Men and women visitors members welcome.
For more information, call 217-234-9827.
My Town: Clint Walker’s memories of Coles County as pulled from the archives
Cosmic Blue Comics
From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of “Tales of the Beanworld” issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a “greenspace”.
Mattoon Arcade
Pictured, Shelbyville’s Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the “Carousel Time” arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin’s Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an “Ocean Pacific” kind of kid.
Icenogle’s
Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle’s grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn’t often shop at Icenogle’s…but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that’s not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.
Cooks Mills
I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam’s Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that’s where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I’m seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.
Mister Music
Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn’t buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that’s where it all went down. If you don’t think it sounds “cool” to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver’s license fresh in your wallet, you’d be right. But it’s the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.
Sound Source Guitar Throw
Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year’s Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes…look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.
Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.
Vette’s
Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette’s Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn’t “cool” enough to hang out at Vette’s back in it’s “heyday,” and by “cool enough” I mean, “not proficient enough in parking lot fights.” If only I could get a crack at it now.
FutureGen
FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.
