I took this one at the Kenosha Lakefront boardwalk next to the bath house on Simmons Island on March 16th, 2018.
Tag Archives: Kenosha
Old Kenosha
This week’s Happenings magazine has a section called “It’s Your Hometown Memories”. It includes a lot of old Kenosha photos and businesses from way back when. It’s pretty surprising to know some of them have survived for so long! I thought it would be interesting to list some of them along with a few of my related memories of them. Unfortunately I can’t include photos from the magazine due to legal reasons, but I’ll try to describe anything I found interesting in them as best I can.
Brat Stop started up in 1958 as a tiny little place that looked like a drive-in restaurant. It was located on Highway 41 long before I-94 even existed. I saw Oceans at Brat Stop with Hans D long ago.
Javelin Restaurant was located on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 60th Street, was started in the 1980’s when AMC was the big manufacturing giant in Kenosha, and was obviously named after the AMC Javelin. I don’t recall ever going to this restaurant, but it was fairly close to our family’s home, which was 6611 20th Avenue, very close to uptown Kenosha. It was owned by Vasilios (Bill) Anastopoulos, who apparently later moved on to build the successful Anastos Motors car dealership in Kenosha. I’ve watched this high-traffic corner location change hands many times over the years
Bernacci’s Drug Store was located uptown where Fire Station #3 is today, at 63rd Street and 22nd Avenue. This business wasn’t mentioned in Happenings at all, I just remembered it when I was thinking about Javelin Restaurant (those darned “member berries” again…) I remember, as a kid, the huge fire that occurred there, burning the store to the ground. Since it was only a couple blocks from home, my friends and I all ran and biked there and watch the firefighting & chaos as it unfolded. My attempts to find more information about Bernacci’s on the web have failed. Am I spelling it wrong, maybe?
The Music Center, now located on Green Bay Road, opened up in the 1940’s. I had no idea it had been around so long. Where it was originally located, I have no idea.
Happenings Magazine has been around for 40 years – since 1977. It’s a free local magazine we usually pick up at local restaurants and gas stations. It is currently located in the old American Brass Administration Building, 1420 63rd Street. Gotta include a little self-promotion in their own magazine, so there it is. It’s funny how the entire section is mostly ads (as the magazine always is), but a lot of the ad content for each business contains their historical significance, and Most pages of ads “interconnect” with each other and the photos in the pages near them, making it more like one big article you’re reading. Nice work, I enjoyed it.
Chester Electronics was located next to the train tracks on 60th Street, and I remember going there many times with my dad (both of us were gadget geeks) as a kid, buying CBs, police scanners, crystals–one crystal was need for each scanner frequency you wanted to listen to, so they had to be hand-made (or tuned) for that frequency. This took a week or two after ordering, then you could come in and pick up that crystal and install it in your scanner. This was way before today’s scanners, which provide entire bands and you just electronically tune in (or scan entire bands) to listen to them. Chester’s eventually moved to it’s current location, where National Foods once was–7709 Sheridan Road. Chester Minkowski is the owner. I’m not sure what year it opened, or whether Chester is still alive, as that information wasn’t included. Oh, and do you want to see the worst website ever? Check it out: http://chesterelectronics.com/
Lou Perrine’s gas station (aka “One Stop Shop”) has been around for 62 years – Since 1954. It is now located on 52nd Street and Sheridan Road. I noticed a YouTube logo next to this one, so out of curiosity I had to check. Very nice! It contains video ads, as expected, and they’re interesting… I had no idea they even did home delivery…$5 delivery charge, but they insist on NO TIPS! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jppVnBhbVik
Thomas B. Jeffery Company was founded in 1902. It evolved into Nash Motors in 1916, American Motors in 1954, and Chrysler in 1987. Later it was reduced to just the Chrysler Engine Plant. It closed in October 2010 and was demolished in 2013. I worked there for 5 years–1985 to 1989–as a Security Guard. Looking back on it, those were some interesting and fun times, I must say. I was hired at $4.50/hr and worked my way up to the maximun $6.50/hr by the time I left. I was hired after a bunch of restructuring of the Security department and mass-layoffs of the “old guard” who were still unionized and paid much more money as a result. The restructuring ended up with most of those guard either quitting or retiring and the wages being more than cut in half. I wasn’t looked upon very favorably by most for taking the job, but for me I had just graduated from Tech College and had been looking for work, and figured any job is better than no job. I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. I was looking for PC Tech work (and doing side PC work) pretty much the entire 5 years…though not very aggressively. I was laid off during another of the many cutbacks they did in those days leading up to the final closing.
Guttormsen’s Recreation Center, now located on Green Bay Road and 52nd Street, began in 1919 on 6th Avenue downtown, where the KVNA building now stands, across the street to the North of the Municipal Building. As a kid I remember a friend working there as a pinsetter. And I also remember “someone” obtaining a large quantity of soap and dumping it into the large Municipal Fountain located on 6th Avenue one evening, and watching as the fountain overflowed with soap suds!
The Elk’s Club, located at 5706 8th Avenue, is now The Heritage House, and is a historic Kenosha building. I don’t think this one was was even mentioned in the Happenings section, but I just remembered it now, having worked at the Elk’s Club as a dishwasher for two years, part-time, while I was in high school. Here’s the history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenosha_Elks_Club
I think that’s about half of the section so far. I’m finding it pretty interesting myself. I’ll probably post the other half soon, if time permits. Thanks for visiting!
All Hallow’s Eve
It’s coming up fast. Trick-or-Treating…haunting season is upon us. I’ve watched a few scary movies–including Stephen King’s IT–to get in the mood, and remind me of what all the creepy clown crap is about. Silliness is all. At least it’s a distraction from this presidential election mess… now THAT is scary!
Kevin stopped trick-or-treating a couple years ago, so we have no more kids to walk through the neighborhood begging for candy. Kinda sad, actually. I really enjoy seeing everyone in costumes, out walking around, having a good time. Especially Christmas Lane in Kenosha.
These days, with no more kids to take out trick-or-treating 😦 I like to take Socks out, in-costume, and walk through Christmas Lane during trick-or-treating, just to enjoy seeing the costumes and decorations all around. Since we live only a few blocks from there now, it’s an easy walk for us. So that’s what Socks and I will be doing this year, on Halloween, 5pm-6pm. Trick-or-treating is 4-6, but I get off work at 4, so I can’t get there until 5pm. It’s sad it’s only 2 hours now. I remember it being a much longer period of time most other years, going well into the night. But with all of the safety concerns with kids out in the dark, they probably feel it’s much safer this way. But I just don’t see why they can’t have it start a few hours earlier, so it’s longer, and still have it end at 6pm, when it starts getting dark… Maybe there’s not enough people home from work to hand out candy if it was earlier…?
Tired. Literally.
Last week was very busy. Wednesday, on my way to work I had a blowout. My right front tire blew as I was driving to work. I was in Kenosha county, so at least the tow wasn’t too bad. I couldn’t get the trunk open to get to the spare and the jack (darn it, I was SO looking forward to changing a tire, too!) so I called my insurance company’s roadside assistance hotline. They give you the option to locate you via GPS, so I went that route. As it turned out, they pinpointed me on the wrong road, sending the tow truck somewhere else. But the towing service call me back and I provided them with a mailbox number nearby, then they were able to find me.
My car was fixed by late that evening, and only took that long because they found other issues that also needed tending to, so I opted to have those done as well, as long as it was already in the shop. I ended up with new 4 new tires, new brakes, and some other undercarriage equipment that’s apparently important, but I don’t even know the terms or what they do. All I know is that my car rides much smoother and I no longer have “slicks” that sqeal when I turn corners, even at slow speeds. Nice and quiet.
Then, late Saturday evening, as I was leaving the house, I notice I had a FLAT TIRE! A brand new tire, and it’s almost completely flat. It looked like it still had SOME air in it, so I drove to the gas station a few blocks away and filled it up, then ran my errands and came back home. Sunday morning I checked it again and it was flat, this time completely. Ah, good times. I found a small electric air compressor in the garage–I think it was from my dad’s estate–it worked nicely, plugged into the cigarette lighter in the car. Once I started the car, the pump came on, and the tire was filled in a few minutes. The garage opened in a couple hours, so I figured it would still have enough air in it to get me to the garage by the time they opened. The garage found a two-inch sheetmetal screw embedded in the tire and showed it to me. Man, was it sharp! That car went fine on it’s original tires for 7 years with no problems at all (they were pretty bald though), then when I get new ones, within 3 days I run over a screw and puncture one! That’s my luck I guess. The shop just said “Yeah, that’s about how it goes.” Arrgh. It was covered though, so no big deal. Maybe I should have asked if I could have the four quarters back that I used to fill the tire back up…
Checking in
Today I finished reading/listening to Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” for the third time. I can’t get enough of this stuff. I think it’s all the nostalgia. Though the story takes place in the future, the book focuses on everything from the 80’s that I loved. The games, the movies, and everything else. From the videogame Joust & Pac-Man to the movies “WarGames” and “Monty Python & The Holy Grail”, it’s all there.
I’ve been playing Ingress lately, as usual, which is a blast, but unfortunately since any details I post here are fully public, and I hate to provide any “intel” that could (and always is) used against our faction, I can’t say much about my gameplay. Suffice it to say that I’m a member of the Resistance (Blue) faction. There are two factions in Ingress — The Enlightened (Green) and The Resistance (Blue). We “battle” for controlling areas of the real world using GPS and Google Maps by aquiring “portals”, which are usually landmarks, works of art, murals, statues, or other “places of interest” in the real world. Resist Greens are nicknamed “toads” or “frogs” and Blues are nicknamed “smurfs”. You aquire portals for your team by finding them on your Ingress “scanner” when you travel (preferably by walking) to them, attacking them if they’re owned by the opposite faction, and taking control of them for your team.
In our area (Kenosha) we are currently overrun, a.k.a “infested” with toads. Since I am a smurf, this provides a lot of options for attacks without having to travel far. There are hundreds of portals in Kenosha alone, not to mention the thousands all around the world. If there’s a landmark that isn’t a portal yet, you can submit it, and after it’s accepted (usually within a few weeks), the landmark then becomes a portal you can use in the game. So anyway, it’s very fun, but we could use more smurfs (BLUE). If you have an Android phone (soon it’ll be released for iPhone as well), please consider joining The Resistance and joining in on the fun. We could really use your help. And, if you join our faction, I’ll be glad to help you level up as quickly as possible, so you can help us “Keep Kenosha Blue”, instead of being covered in green toad slime, as it is now.
All things geek
No apologies this time. If it seems like I haven’t been posting much, it’s only because I’ve been posting elsewhere. There are also many things that I post, that I simply CAN’T post here, because it’s too public. I frequently play Ingress with a group of Resistance members in this area, and a lot of what we discuss is considered “intel”, which helps us in our battle against the area “Enlightened”, which is our opposing team. The game is currently played on Android devices and uses Google Maps and your GPS. It is played worldwide, and is becoming quite popular. Next month its coming out of “beta” status, and will be open to everyone, no longer requiring an invitation from other players. Anyone can download the app and become an agent for The Resistance (blue–aka “smurfs”) or The Resistance (green–aka frogs or toads) and join in the fight to control the world. If you should get the urge, I strongly suggest you join the Resistance. We could really use your help. If you do “go blue”, I can help. Seek me out. Training, gear, advice, whatever you need–even the occasional “ride-along” if you’re local to the Kenosha area, we can group-attack the slimy toads and keep the Kenosha-area’s skies shining bright and blue, instead of smog-filled green.
Sorry, I tend to get carried away once I start talking Ingress. Back to my posts: Most of the time, I post on G+. I’m not a big Facebook fan these days, so I use G+ instead, whenever I want to post something public. I know it doesn’t reach as many people, but it’s still public nonetheless. I’m not actively seeking to extend my readership at this time, so I figure what the heck. There are some valid reasons I like G+ over Facebook, and some day soon the tides are going to change in G+’s favor, so I’m just getting a jump on it.
Christmas is rapidly approaching, as well as Thanksgiving! At least we managed to get Kevin off wanting a X-Box One or PS4 for this year… Wow, those new consoles are a bit pricey, but that’s normal for something brand new I guess. I think we’ll wait and see how things shake out, the prices drop once or twice, and see who’s system turns out becoming the most popular and has the best titles and innovation. It’s going to be a cool battle to watch. They certainly aren’t going to get my $60-per-game any time soon unless they start offering “combo” games that run on their new system as well as their old system! This is probably a good idea too… If old-console users then start accumulating titles that contain both versions of their games, they’re probably going to think harder about the need to buy the new version.
Kevin and I went to Sam’s Club yesterday to pick up a few things, and we found that they had a couple very cool “retro” gaming consoles! For about $50 you can get an Atari Flashback 4, which is a slimmed down, tiny version of the Atari 2600, with 75 of it’s best games built in. Or for about the same price you can get a Sega Genesis Classic Console which has 80 games built-in. Or even a “Genesis Portable” for a little more, which gives you the same games, but in a hand-held portable format. Today’s kids probably wouldn’t stick to either of these things for more than a few minutes per game, I’m guessing, before getting bored. These are probably geared more toward “old schoolers” or “old farts” who grew up with them, and want to relive their youth in their second childhood. Which is probably why I got so excited when I saw them. Think it through, Jim, think it through: I would probably play my favorites first, maybe burn a few hours working into them, come back a few more times, then get bored myself and there it sits. I’d occasionally come back when I longed for some flashbacks to “the good old days”, but mostly it’d sit, probably in the living room attached to the TV, collecting dust, just like I do most of the time, when I’m not working or playing Ingress. Geez, just saying the word “Ingress” is like the dog in the movie “Up” when he sees a “SQUIRREL!” Nothing else matters at that moment, and focus is instantly switched. I almost did it again.
George’s Obituary & Funeral Arrangements
George J. Wegmann Jr., 92, of Kenosha, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, Sunday, July 22, 2012 at his residence.
He was born on July 17, 1920 to the late George and Bessie (Hopf) Sr. in Kenosha. He was educated in Kenosha and graduated from Kenosha High School.
On January 23, 1940 he entered the US Navy and was honorably discharged in March of 1947.
On August 2, 1952 he married Irene M. Holtdorf in Kenosha. She preceded him in death on May 13, 1989.
George worked at Simmons, Quaker Stretcher and then at AMC/Chrysler as an inspector for 30 years.
George was a member of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church. He was a member of UAW Local #72, the Navy Club Ship 40, and Senior Center and sung with the Kenosha Senior Chorus.
George enjoyed hunting, fishing, cookouts, watching old movies, going to plays at Ft. Atkinson and was an avid Packer fan.
George is survived by his loving children Ricky Wegmann, Michael Wegmann and Sandra (Jimmy) Trottier all of Kenosha, a step son Robert Andersen of Richfield, IL, his grandchildren Scott Wegmann of Norfolk, VA, Matthew Krumm of Kenosha, Kevin Trottier of Kenosha, Timmon Sinnen of Cudahy and Tiana Honey of Kenosha.
He is preceded in death by his son Dennis, his brother Roger, his sister Ruth Lynn, his daughter-in-law Ginger Wegmann and a stepson James Andersen.
Funeral Services for George will be held on Friday, July 27th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mary’s Lutheran Church (2001 – 80th St.). Interment with Full Military Honors will follow at Sunset Ridge Memorial Park. Visitation will be held on Thursday evening from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Bruch Funeral Home and again on Friday morning from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service at St. Mary’s Lutheran Church. The Navy Club Ship 40 will conduct a memorial service at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday evening at the funeral home.
The family would like to thank the staff at CCU St. Catherine’s Hospital and the 2nd Floor staff, the staff at Manor Care, Heartland Hospice, Dr. Chua, Dr. Novsam, Dr.Bandealy, the LJH Transportation, and his caregiver Karena Oseman for their loving care given to George.
The family would also like to thank his son Rick for taking early retirement to stay home and take care of his dad and when Rick worked, his daughter Sandra and his son Mike for filling in during the day.Bruch Funeral Home 3503 Roosevelt Road Kenosha, WI 53142 262-652-8298 Visit George’s Online Memorial Book at http://www.bruchfuneralhome.net
What’s wrong with this picture?
Arizona weather has moved Northeast! Now there’s no need for us to move Southwest!! Check out the two weather widgets in this screenshot from my tablet’s home screen… Kenosha and Avondale have swapped weather today! Actually, now Kenosha is up to 101F and it’s STILL 77F in Avondale! What is this world coming to?!?! And what that?!?! It’s showing rain & lightning…in AVONDALE?!?! Gotta be the end of the world! Hey, Jay–How’s our weather?? We’re melting in yours…and our lawn looks like yours too!
Cars 2
Kevin and I went to see Cars 2 today. I was very curious about it, since Kenosha News shot it down, saying how horrible it was, how it’s the worst Pixar movie ever made, and how they trashed Kenosha-made vehicles in the movie. Prior to reading that article, I wasn’t even going to see the movie in theaters. I was content to wait for the DVD release. But I knew, after reading such a horrible review, it just had to be skewed. Pixar movies just aren’t that bad. Ever. They pride themselves in taking years to work through every tiny detail, joke and frame in their movies. So I just had to see for myself.
Just as expected, the movie was great, and the Kenosha News article was a load of crap. The Kenosha News complained that the “bad guys” in the movie were Kenosha-built Pacers and Gremlins in horrible never-seen-on-the-road colors. Some were, sure. What–a “bad guy” never came from Kenosha before?? Kenosha has never had an actor that played a “bad guy” in a movie before?? Oh the horror. And gee, did Pixar really “mess up” when one of these “bad guys” says he’s from Detroit in the movie?? Duh. Check Wikipedia for “American Motors”. It’s headquarters was in Southfield, Michigan–a suburb of Detroit.
Kenosha News’ writers really need to do a little research before they just bash a movie so harshly just based on a few viewers’ opinions. I thought the movie was great, it had all of the Pixar touches and attention to detail I always love, and I was completely satisfied with it. It’s a great animated movie about cars classic, new, and in all shapes and sizes (and reputations)–and even explains the value of dents! There was also a great “Toy Story” short before the movie, which was a real treat for us. And if it wasn’t for the little kid sitting directly behind me, constantly kicking the back of my seat until I turned around, gave her a mean look, and moved over a few seats, it would have been perfect.
Oh, and we’re going to have a nice fire this evening… Guess what we’re going to use for kindling! Click on the photo. If you zoom in close enough using the “View all sizes” option in the upper-right corner of the Flickr page you can even see how they even slammed it with a big headline on the front page, see who wrote the article and even read a bit of it… Uh-oh, now I’m going to get in trouble from the Kenosha News (again) because I re-published something from their paper. Burn the evidence! Quick!
Kenosha wind storm 2011
For those not aware of it yet, we had a huge wind storm blow through Kenosha Thursday evening. It did a lot of heavy damage to the area. We have taken some photos, so I create a collection of them on my Flickr page. As for us, I think we fared pretty well compared to the damage many others (including our neighbors) suffered. We lost power at the start of the storm, around 8pm Thursday, but it was back on Friday afternoon. Kevin certainly learned a good lesson about many of the luxuries of having electricity, since he didn’t have any video games or movies (after his iPod battery died), and we had no lights or computers to use.
After all of our home repairs that Jay and I did a couple weeks ago, the porch was spared. The security lights Jay installed for us, however, are now shattered, so I’ll have to replace them, and the brand new door closer I installed on the back door was ripped right off the back screen door. The closer survived intact, but a chunk of the back door was ripped out and still attached to the closer and the wall! That was it though, no other damage to our house, luckily.
This morning Kevin, Socks and I walked down by Eichelman and Wolfenbuttel parks and the new marina and took a few more photos. When we got to the tot park I realized that the new marina slips had shifted way north, and into the duck pond! Most of the boats are still docked in them, so I bet there was quite a mess at first, with overturned and sunken boats during and after the storm.
Today more of the roads are open again and more traffic lights are working, so we’re getting back to normal. I still see a lot of tree services hard at work and We Energies trucks driving around though, so they still have a ways to go.
Kenosha House Explosion
12:00am – We were just getting into bed tonight, turned out the lights, then saw a bright flash in the window and the house shook with a BOOM! Turned on the scanner right away and at first they thought it was a transformer that exploded. A few minutes later they began getting calls of a house that exploded at 2115 55th Street. That was corrected shortly after to 2113 55th Street. And as the information kept coming in, it sounds like approximately 10 houses were heavily damaged as well as 2 commercial buildings, according to police. I heard one of the officers first on the scene say on the radio that “chance of anyone inside the house surviving, ZERO.” I’ll keep updating this post as I hear more.
12:04am – Mt. Carmel is open as a shelter right now for those forced from their homes. In the scanner chat, “User342767” says “Heard they left the stove on. If anyone was inside there’s no way they made it”.
12:09am – We Energies is on the scene now. People are also reporting heaving smell of gas at Johnny Midnight’s.
The very first early 911 calls that came in stated a house had exploded, half of it had collapsed, and a woman was trapped in a bedroom. No further information was given about that, and it quickly changed when they arrived on-scene stating the house was fully engulfed and totally destroyed, with no chance of anyone inside surviving. My guess is, the half-house that collapsed probably WAS the initial address–2115–because I doubt any calls ever came from the actual house that exploded.
12:29am – They’re reviewing the original calls now – first call was from 2113 55th Street, and said “a MOTHER was trapped in a bedroom.”
5510 23rd Ave – Large piece of plywood about 40 feet up in a tree – they’re concerned it may fall and injure someone.
12:41am – They’re reporting the media is now on-scene. They’re looking for a PIO.
Kenosha resident Michelle Pulera said she was sitting in her chair watching TV when she heard what she thought might have been an explosion. When she went outside to investigate the noise, other neighbors were also outside looking for signs of smoke. “A neighbor and I were walking to 60 Street, Pulera who lives on 37th Avenue, said. “We thought it might have been a gas station.”
1:11am – Engine 3 is leaving the scene, fire is out. I’m heading off to bed, thanks for visiting. There’s supposed to be live Chopper 4 video here, but I’ll be darned if I can find it. G’night. Oh yeah, I posted a Google Streetview shot of the house here, if you want to see what the neighborhood looked like before the explosion.
5:15am – Live News report on TMJ4 – There was no one in the house at the time of the explosion, it was being renovated. There were also no injuries as a result of the explosion, which is amazing after listening to all the chaos on the scanner last night! The investigation continues today as they try to determine the cause of the explosion and assess all of the surrounding damaged buildings.
Kenosha Classic Cruise-In Car Show 2010 – The Photos
Kevin and I went to the car show on 6th Avenue in downtown Kenosha today. It was pretty neat, with hundreds of cars. Click on the thumbnail to take a look at all of the cars. Over 300 photos in all. Enjoy!
Big thunderstorm does damage in Mike’s and Debbie’s Neighborhoods
We had a big thunderstorm pass through Kenosha today, and it did a lot of damage around town. Sandy’s brother Mike and her cousin Debbie both had some tree damage. Sandy went out and took some photos and Mike took a few himself. They’re all in the photo set I just uploaded. Click on the thumbnail to take a look.
Kenosha Police Scanner
There’s an awesome feature on KenoshaOnline.net that I recently discovered. It’s a Live Kenosha Police Scanner! It scans all of Kenosha’s Police and Fire frequencies live, and whenever anything happens you hear it all, right in your browser–anywhere in the world!
I’ve been a scanner enthusiast since I was a kid, but have been having trouble with my old 200-channel Bearcat portable lately–memory problems, and battery won’t hold a charge any more. So it was quite a treat to find this little gem. It’s cool–nice and clear, with all the important channels covered. I even created a new tab for that url and re-saved my home tabs in firefox so every time i start my browser now I get the police calls. It’s been really exciting the last couple days especially, with the storms there’s been a ton of activity on it!
It doesn’t take up much bandwidth at all, since it doesn’t talk all the time, only when there is activity on the scanner. So even dialup users can enjoy it a great deal. Even if I’m doing something else on the computer I’ll actually minimize my browser now–so I can continue to monitor the police calls.
Kenosha-area users should definitely check it out! You can get hooked real easy, and you’ll soon find yourself asking “What’s a 10-50?? What’s a 10-56??” This should help.
Origin of Halloween
Does anyone know why Kenosha and a couple other surrounding towns are having trick-or-treat on October 27th?? The kids have Thursday and Friday off school next week anyway, so even if they were trying to maintain the “safety” hours of 1-4 pm it would have been fine to keep it on the 31st. Every other community seems to always have trick-or-treat on Halloween though. Kenosha’s just gotta be different I guess.
Anyway, with tomorrow being the “big day” for most kids in this area, I thought it appropriate to explain just where Halloween came from and why we do what we do on Halloween. Here goes…
The ancient Celtic festival called Samhain is considered by many to be a predecessor of our contemporary Halloween. Samhain was the New Year’s Day of the Celts and was celebrated on November 1st. It was a joyful harvest festival that marked the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. It was also a day of the dead, a time when it was believed that the souls of those who had died during the year were allowed access to the land of the dead. It was related to the season, by Samhain the crops should be harvested and the animals brought in from the distant fields.
Many traditional beliefs and customs were associated with Samhain. Most notable was that night was the time of the wandering dead, the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink to masked and costumed revelers, and the lighting of bonfires, continued to be practiced on October 31, known as the Eve of All Saints, the Eve of All Hallows, or Hallow Even. It is the glossing of the name Hallow Even that has given us the name Hallow e’en.
Come evening, evil spirits were everywhere. Charms and spells were said to have more power on the eve of Samhain. The spirits of Samhain, once thought to be wild and powerful, were now said to be something worse: Evil. The church maintained that the gods and goddesses and other spiritual beings of traditional religions were diabolical deceptions, that the spiritual forces that people had experienced were real, but they were manifestations of the Devil, the Prince of Liars, who misled people toward the worship of false idols. Thus, the customs associated with Halloween included representations of ghosts and human skeletons–symbols of the dead–and of the devil and other malevolent, evil creatures, such as witches were said to be.
The original festival for the pagan Lord of the Dead became a festival of Christian dead. People went on expecting the arrival of ghosts on Oct. 31st. Halloween has become one of the most widely celebrated festivals on the contemporary American calendar, and it is not even officially a holiday. No day off is given for Halloween, no federal decree is proclaimed establishing it as a national holiday. People just celebrate it!
BLT Pizza Day
We had one of our favorites for lunch today–BLT Pizza from Gurnee Pizza! It was excellent, as usual. If you haven’t tried it before we highly recommend it. There are a few variations, and even a few here in Kenosha, but Gurnee Pizza’s got the best-tasting version we’ve ever had! And when you order, make sure you order extra bacon! Mmmmm! It’s defiintely worth leaving the state for!
We took a trip to Walmart later on in the day and they had a fire prevention display for the kids. Coloring sheets, information, stickers, and even face painting! They paint either a fire extinguisher or a smoke alarm (go figure) on the kids, either on their face or arm. Kevin chose his face with the fire extinguisher. Here he is:
That’s his name in his favorite color–yellow
Our Museum Trip
The photos from our trip to the Museum of Science and Industry are now online. Everyone had a great time, and we were all exhausted by the time the train got back to Kenosha. Check out the pictures!
This is Louie and Kevin clowning around at the museum
JimTrottier.com 