All photos by D. Hoekstra
When spring opened its renewing arms for the first time last Saturday, I went to the liquidation sale at the Cascade Drive-In on old Route 64 in West Chicago, Ill.
I spent several summer nights at the Cascade while growing up in Naperville. And, as an adult a road trip from Chicago to the Cascade followed by a visit to John’s Buffet in Winfield made for a perfect Saturday night date.
As I wandered down Route 64 (North Avenue) I thought about the live Dixieland jazz behind the bar at John’s Buffet. John’s closed in 2017 after a 96-year run leaving nothing but ghosts. I [...]
WHITING, IN.—-Life is like a mascot.
You have to look beneath the surface.
The new Mascot Hall of Fame, 1851 Front St, in Whiting is ripe with punchlines. Right off the bat, it’s a mascot museum for North American professional and collegiate sports, with more than a hundred items.
And it is on the industrial shores of Lake Michigan in Whiting (pop. 4, 900), two miles from the south side of Chicago. Whiting hosts an annual Pierogi Fest at the end of July. Local ladies parade around in babushkas and housecoats and there are mascots Mr. Pierogi and Miss Paczki.
The museum’s executive director is Orestes Hernandez. His parents fled [...]
Floyd Saunders (Courtesy of the Beer Nuts)
It is rare that I resurrect my Chicago Sun-Times stories, but these are thoughts from the print version of Nocturnal Journal (pre-WGN radio show.) Floyd Saunders died Sunday morning March 10 at the Grove of Fox Valley nursing home in Aurora. He was 92. With the time change, birds chirping and the afternoon sun, it felt like the first day of spring.
Floyd was a man for all seasons. He deserves to be remembered.
Sept. 27, 1996—
There’s something behind a sunset.
And Floyd Saunders intends to find out what it [...]
Pat McLaughlin (left) and John Prine at the Grammys (Photo by Fiona Whelan Prine)
Like a magnolia along a winding river, singer-songwriter Pat McLaughlin has blossomed to become one of the most beloved music figures in Nashville, Tn. where he has lived since 1977.
He has released nine solo albums since 1988. He has five co-writes with John Prine on Prine’s breakthrough “The Tree of Forgiveness” record. Two of those songs, “Knockin’ on Your Screen Door” and “Summer’s End” were Grammy nominees for best American Roots Song.
McLaughlin played guitar on Johnny Cash’s final sessions at American [...]
