Thursday June 1, 2017 Vol. 5, No. 14
The Weekly Post
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Strawberry Festival mixes food, cars, fun By JEFF LAMPE
ELMWOOD – Food, music, cool cars and plenty of vendors will be among the highlights of Saturday’s Strawberry Festival, held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in and around Central Park. While food remains a central draw for this annual event, the car show and a roster of 112 vendors also offer plenty of incentive to attend. The vendor count is nearly the same as last year, said Jill Gensler, who is part of the organizing committee for the festival. And in answering a common question, Gensler said, “Yes, there will be fresh strawberries for sale.” That role will be filled by Hammer’s Family Market of East Peoria, which will For The Weekly Post
also sell fresh produce, herbs, honey and hanging baskets, Gensler said. And of course, there will be a tent filled with strawberry pizza, strawberry pie, strawberry sundaes, strawberry shortcake and strawberry jam. The Elmwood Fire Department will also have a strawberries and pancakes breakfast from 6-10 a.m. Car show registration is from 8 a.m. to noon with 14 classes and plaques for the top three vehicles in each class. The first 100 entries receive a free t-shirt. Cost to
enter is $20 on Saturday. Awards are at 3 p.m. Back by popular demand from last year will be musical entertainment in the park bandstand. Christian music performers the Gibson Girls will be on stage from 9-10:30 a.m, followed by versatile musicians Banjovi & Hawkins from 10:30-1 and the Celtic Irish music of Turas from 1-4 p.m. “Having it in the gazebo worked really well last year,” Gensler said. New this year is a Bake-Off Contest for the best strawberry dessert from 9-10 a.m. and a game of Human Foosball, played on the corner of Rose and Evergreen streets. Registration for the Bake-Off is due today (June 1) at Crawford’s Home Furnishings in Elmwood. In Human Foosball, humans Continued on Page 2
A Hub of activity
Strawberry pizza is always a fast seller at Elmwood’s annual Strawberry Festival, held this Saturday.
LOCAL ARTIST
Dance sparks memories of ballroom By BILL KNIGHT
PRINCEVILLE – In its day, the dance destination eight miles east of here routinely drew hundreds to enjoy local and national acts and engage in the “Lindy Hop” and “the Jive,” “the Balboa” and “the St. Louis Shag.” The Hub Ballroom, once on Main Street near Illinois Route 40 in Edelstein, will be recalled at a “Remember the Hub” tribute dance from 6-9 p.m. June 10 at the Princeville Heritage Museum featuring the Jim Markum Swing Band. “When they think of dancing and entertainment, they think of the Hub,” said Earlene Hanlon, a longtime Elmwood resident who ran the dance club with her late husband Ray from 1975 to 2001. “It’s got a lot of memories for a lot of For The Weekly Post
Earlene Hanlon (center) is shown greeting visitors at the Princeville Heritage Museum’s 2010 dance and exhibit for The Hub Ballroom.
people.” Constructed between March and August 1938, the Hub closed in 2006, reopened in 2008, and was destroyed in a 2009 fire. Businessman Bert Potter built it to be a showroom for his farmequipment company, Potter Implement, not a dance hall. But when he threw a grand-opening party, the huge crowd got Potter and area music lovers thinking.
The Hub Ballroom emerged. With a 5,000-squarefoot solid hardwood maple floor, the Hub at its heights had four bars, plus snack counters and lunch rooms variously called the Wheel Room and the Rim Room, and seating for 600 on the main floor and 300 in the basement when folding chairs were used. An addition was Continued on Page 8
Painter Kathy Sherman of Brimfield calls this watercolor painting “Sundazzled” and overlayed the painting over strips of marbled paper.
Endless possibility in watercolor By JEFF LAMPE
BRIMFIELD – After 14 years of working professionally with watercolors, Kathy Sherman has come to a conclusion: you can’t ever learn it all. “I have studied under a lot of wonderful profesFor The Weekly Post
sional artists and international artists, also,” she said. “It’s fun to see what they bring to the table as far as watercolor techniques, because the possibilities are endless.” For the past four years, Sherman has shared her painting experience with
others on a regular basis as an instructor for Illinois Central College. And she will share some of her paintings with the public starting Monday (June 5) through July 28 as part of a two-artist show at Time Gallery at 201 Clock Tower Continued on Page 2