All posts by Dave Hoekstra
Most Recent
 
Read More
July 15, 2021

The Hits Keep Coming in Downtown Beloit, Wisconsin

 

Long foul balls from this new Wisconsin stadium could land in Illinois.

 

BELOIT, WIS.—Minor league baseball is about coming and going.

No one wants to stay put.

But after the ABC Supply Stadium opens on Aug. 3 with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers taking on the Beloit Snappers in downtown Beloit, the ballpark will be there for years to come. Fans will walk through the centerfield gates along the bed of the timeless Rock River. Located on the Illinois-Wisconsin border, long foul balls hit over the first base facade could land in the Illinois zip code. Hopefully, they won’t get super [...]

601
 
Read More
June 17, 2021

The New Kansas City Monarchs

The late Buck O’Neil visits his Monarchs with a rainbow on opening day 2021 (Courtesy of Kansas City Monarchs.)

 

KANSAS CITY, KS.—The Kansas City Monarchs were the royalty of baseball’s Negro Leagues. They played in Kansas City, Mo. between 1920 and 1961 and their graduates included Hall of Famers Jackie  Robinson (1945), Ernie Banks (1950-53), and Satchel Paige (1934 and 1940-47). The team produced more major league players than any other Negro League franchise.

The Monarchs have taken a new flight as a member of the American Association.

These Monarchs play at Legends Field in Kansas [...]

651
 
Read More
June 9, 2021

Encountering Sly Stone

Sly Stone at his Marquette Park piano. We should have written a song together. (Photo by Phil Moloitis.)

 

I don’t recall the tip that led me to the Prime & Tender, an oddball nightclub-restaurant at the corner of 63rd and Harlem in south suburban Stickney. It was the spring of 1983 and I was a staff writer at the Suburban Chicago Sun-Times and was freelancing for the Reader and the Illinois Entertainer.

The Prime & Tender was not the Pump Room. Patrons walked through a cheesy, long mirrored hallway as if they were boarding an old cruise ship. They sat along the perimeter of the multi-colored dance [...]

5515
 
Read More
May 25, 2021

The State of Sound Road Trip

SPRINGFIELD, IL.–The new exhibit “The State of Sound (A World of Music From Illinois)”  celebrates the migratory paths artists took to Illinois. Visitors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield can learn about the roots of our musical tree as well as a multitude of contemporary branches.

Photo by Dave Hoekstra

You can follow some of this Chicago-to-Springfield path to visit “The State of Sound,” which runs through January 2022.

The ALPLM is rolling out a special $29 “State of Sound” VIP ticket starting May 26. That includes a T-shirt, our 36-page souvenir [...]

235
Loop Sidebar Left
Loop Sidebar Right
Compare
Go