Glory Be It's Thursday....News Day

And Off We Go To Casey's This P.M.
(Singing to the wizard of OZ tune) "I'm off to see the paper, the wonderful paper of news!" Well.....at least I will be this afternoon. Where in the world did this week go? I've been busy so I guess the time flew by without my even noticing.

Actually I've not been as busy as my two grandkids. Lerin Elizabeth will be 14 in December and she is wonderful when it comes to cleaning. The last two days she has thoroughly cleaned our master bath with has a whirlpool in the main part and a separate room with a double shower and stool. It now is sparkling but needs to be painted so I guess that is a future job for her. The smaller bathroom also got a good cleaning.....but what has impressed me the most was her getting on her knees in the hallway and cleaning the baseboards and the carpet edges which have a tendency in my house to gather dog hair, dust bunnies and general ick. She cleaned the hall and then went right on down the stairs and got those free of ick too. The basement stairs got a thorough cleaning as she prepares to paint those in the next couple of weeks. Then it was on to a spare bedroom which was being used as a junk room....we removed a lot of junk and put it as recycle stuff, intended for the Goodwill. Whew....I really am tired from supervising. She makes me tired just watching her. But she's trying to earn money for cheerleading camp, her shoes and warm up suits, so I'm glad to pay her a good wage.

My grandson Cade Alexander is almost 10 and he really tries.....but sometimes we have to go over it again....but at least he's learning responsibility. His wages are not quite the amount for Lerin, but he wants to earn money too for games, candy, etc.

Unfortunately, before long the kids will be busy with summer ballgames, cheerleading activities, etc., so the rest of my house will have to wait until the next break! Perhaps I could vow to be less sloppy!

But this afternoon is coming and I'm taking the kids back home but, then I'm headed to Casey's. At least I can stop at Casey's in Athens or even Ayerco at Bud's Corner to buy the Greenview Blab. These places charge a bit more than the $.50 but with the price of gas, I will surely not require myself to go to the Greenview Casey's to pay $.50.

Greenview Businesses
For some of us who lived in Greenview many years ago, we remember that for a small town, we had quite a few businesses. These days, the downtown business section is pretty slim. It saddens me that so many of the buildings were destroyed by fire over the years. Couzin's Restuarant, which was housed in the old Tripp Hardware and a couple of other buildings to the north, was the last one to be destroyed by fire and that was several years....my mind fails me on the date. The owner didn't rebuild, but he did start a different bar in the old Blanche Hill Beauty Shop building down by the firehouse building. A tavern still remains in the old Corner Cafe building, but since I haven't been bar hopping for many a year, I don't remember the name at this moment. That's the only businesses on the west side of the square. The Merrihew Insurance building still stands but I thought it was damaged a bit during the Cousins fire. The CIA and Masonic Lodge building along with the firehouse completes that westside downtown block......with a few empty lots.

Crossing to the north, Sanert's Auction building used to house Baugher Implement. Ronnie Sanert has some really nice items during his auctions and you would probably find some memorabilia to take home if you attend one of these auctions. On the north side of the square, west side of the block is occupied by the Petefish, Skiles and Company Bank. For us oldies, we remember the spot as the old Post Office site, then the Greenview Community Bank, then the Illini Bank, and finally the Petefish facility. Unfortunately Petefish, Skiles and Company has found it necessary to operate the facility with very limited hours. On Monday and Friday it's open a full day, but on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only until noon and closed entirely on Saturday. I personally think this is unfair to our citizens to have such limited hours because almost everyone works out of the town and it's hard to get to the bank with it closed on Saturday. A trip to Petersburg is necessary. I'm sure it has lost customers and will continue to do so, but Middletown State Bank operates a facility on the south side of the square so the Middletown Bank is always an option. In the middle of the north side of the square block, in the building built by Bob Straight, Kevin Janssen operates his Wausau Homes building operation and next to him in the Apke grocery store building Dan Horn operates the Rainbow Cleaning and Restoration service. Kevin Janssen's wife also operates a small craft type business called Zip & Zap in his building. The Presbyterian Church still reigns as the queen church on the southeast side corner and the Marbold Bank building stands proud on the southwest side corner. The Marbold Bank building appears to be in good repair and is owned by the local DJ Liz Willis Soldwedel and her spouse who I believe does contractor work. Not sure if he operates a business out of Greenview, but I welcome any comments to set the record straight.

Going from the downtown square, the funeral home is operated by Hurley's. Jeff Johnston operates a window film business in the old Hinrich's Chevrolet building. Down the main street toward the cemetery, is Rohlf's Implement. The elevator is operated by Farmer's Grain & Coal. The Boston family still operates S & H Trucking/Hallway Trucking on the northeast side of town, next to the Brandt Fertilizer operation.

Along the highway (or as oldies use to say, the hardroad),Glen Tuttle operates the service station and Tony Tuttle operates the car sales lot. Bill Willis now operates the Bar/Cafe, originally owned by Pete Nance. I must say he has the best hamburgers and french fries cut from real potatoes.....yummy! And he also serves fish on Friday night. Just down the hardroad to the south stands our Casey's convenience store which was a town lifesaver. It at least allows citizens to buy gas, milk, drinks, coffee, ice, doughnuts or even toilet paper in a pinch. The prices are high for convenience items but if you have to drive to the big city, it's not high at all. And recently their gas prices have been cheaper than Springfield's prices.

Down the highway to the north is Crop Production Services and out south of town FS has a huge operation about a mile north of the Rte. 123 junction. The old Williams pipeline operation in just north of the junction.

I know that at least one couple operates a candy making business in their home, and I'm sure there are other home based businesses which I'm not aware of.....but I've hit the main businesses which operate in town. At least I hope I haven't missed too many!

What's On The Menu For Tonight
Tonight we are having Hotel Steaks from Alwan and Sons Meats in Peoria. If you have never bought a steak from Alwan's you are missing the boat believe me! Being a very frugal person, I hate to pay huge prices to go out to eat steak. We don't have steak often due to the red meat quality, but when I do have one I want it tender. I really don't want to pay outrageous prices for T-Bone, Porterhouse, Filets, etc., so long ago I found this cut called Hotel Steaks. I used to buy them in Springfield at a butcher shop which closed. Then I went for years unable to find them. One day I saw an advertisment for Cub Foods/County Market for Hotel steaks for $3.49 a pound....I thought wow I'm once again able to find my steaks......NO NO NO.....County Market's version of this steak was as tough as my shoe leather. But then I found Alwan & Sons Meats in Peoria. It's a quaint market with case after case of fresh meat and deli items and hard to find stuff. The hotel steaks right now are $6.49 per pound and are absolutely wonderfully tender.....the steaks are so thick and big, we buy one and cut it in two pieces and both of us are immensely full when we get done eating. So try this market if you dare.....take your cooler and buy the ice at their store if you need ice. The ground beef is great too.....heck all of their stuff is great!

Anyhoos.....I'm going to seal the juices on all sides in a hot pan, with a little lower fat margarine and then throw the steaks on the grill to complete the cooking. Corn on the cob, a lettuce salad, and a big baked potato completes our evening meal.....called supper by some and dinner by others.....call me anything you want but don't call me late!! Happy Eating tonight. I mean it....go to Peoria and try Alwans!!

http://www.alwanandsons.com/

Did You Know??
Greenview's median age in 2009 was 37.3 which tells me that there aren't a lot of old folks left in town. Another interesting fact is that the median income in 2009 was $57,414 while in 2000 it was $39,196. I guess those who moved in are richer than the ones who left. There are 3 sex offenders living in Greenview.

On The Weekend
I have decided that on the weekend I most likely will not write a post unless I find some juicy news.....and sometimes I do hear that kind of news on the police scanner. A weather situation might also prompt a post. But I'm sure you will understand....we all need a rest from our weekday activities.

Thought For The Day

Now That I'm Over 40, my "get up and go"

has turned into "get up and pause a moment".

As my wonderful mother used to say....always make sure your shoes are on the right feet and don't turn your toes in......from one Greenviewanite to another.......see you soon!