Mail to the Illinois State magazine editor for February 2015:
To the Editor,
I remember watching the Cubs take a 2-0 lead on the Padres in the playoffs and a World Series appearance was one win away. The buzz was in the air. My roommates and I saw the flyer for the rally on the Quad and thought we would check it out, so I brought my camera along (“Oral history of the beer riot,” August 2014).
We joined in the middle of the rally and I was taking photos. It took a turn to Redbird Liquors, headed toward 51 and College. Next thing you know, the intersection is shut down and Police Chief Lear is there trying to calm the situation. He is handed a beer and I get my photo of him with the beer in the middle of the intersection.
The crowd moved on toward the police station and that’s when things started getting out of hand. We decided to call it a night before the tear gas came out. I printed up the photo and got the shot of Lear and the beer in The Pantagraph and Vidette.
Online comment
Dan Bell ’86
To the Editor,
I was so excited to read “Sustaining the Mother Road” (November 2014) about efforts to preserve Route 66. There were pictures of the first home we lived in after our marriage in 1982! We lived above the bridal shop in what was originally Sprague’s Super Service. I was a graduate student. We were thrilled to find an apartment near campus. We had no idea about the building’s historical significance when we lived there. But we certainly got a kick out of the red neon lights lining the walls of our kitchen. We were sad to leave our quirky little first apartment. I’m so happy to hear about Terri Ryburn’s efforts to restore the building. We will have to stop by next time we are in town.
Jane (Hulbert) ’80, M.S. ’82 and Mark Hewitson ‘84
