{"id":13814,"date":"2023-08-01T01:36:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T06:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/?page_id=13814"},"modified":"2023-10-21T16:21:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T21:21:05","slug":"archived-articles-and-images-august-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/archived-articles-and-images-august-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Archived Articles & Images August, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archived Articles & Images August, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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What happened to the Bel Air Drive In Sign?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

A Piece of Granite City History is Restored and Preserved<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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If walls could talk, they would have directed curious City Hall employees to explore the old vault on the bottom floor of the building where a treasure trove of old documents awaited their discovery. The vault contained all of the Clerk files dating back to the origin of the city. This included all of the minutes and ordinances from the 1890s through the 1960s.

Inside an old box of random papers was a very old cotton type tri-fold binder. It was inside that binder that the original document was found where on March 9, 1896, is recorded as the day of Incorporation with the State of Illinois. This information was certified on June 8, 1896, by then Secretary of State, William Hinrichsen.

\u00a0This amazing piece of history was transported to a historian and archivist who, along with a chemist, restores and preserves historical documents. The official unveiling of the preserved piece took place 0n July 11th, 2023, in the Rotunda of Granite City, City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n

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THE TWIGS STORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The goal of TWIGS is to provide a lunch to the children who are at risk of not having a lunch during the summer months. Our cost per lunch is about $1.35 and you can support a child for the entire summer with $75.00.<\/p>\n\n

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\u201cFor most this is just another building. For those connected to Twigs and feeding the children in many metro east communities, this building represents the future. Special thanks to John Janek for offering us space for this summer. What a gift he provided.
We now have a roof and the electrical was all roughed in last week. Hoping the doors arrive this week. So very grateful for all who have contributed in so many ways. Truly a labor of love.

Any and all donations that support the TWIGS effort are greatly appreciated. You can make a donation by clicking the link.\u00a0Donate here!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Granite City Fire Department Swears in Brendan Steinmeyer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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\u201cToday our newest member Brendan Steinmeyer was sworn in at City Hall by City Clerk Jenna De Yong with his family in attendance. His father, who is the Fire Chief in Worden, had the honor of pinning on his badge. Followed by the Fire Chiefs presenting him with his helmet and the Granite City Police and Fire Commissioners presenting him with his appointment as a Granite City Fire Fighter.
Congratulations<\/strong>\u00a0Brendan and let today be the first day of a long and successful career.\u201d
Images and story from the Granite City Firefighters Local 253 Facebook<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Cheeto and Jason\u2019s Story, A Happy Ending<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Article & image from the Metro East Humane Society<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Cheeto came from Madison County Animal Care & Control in January. The happy, silly boy we met at animal control became overstimulated in the shelter environment after months of being overlooked. He was mentally and physically deteriorating, and after implementing plan after plan, we were running out of options to safely place Cheeto in a home. He needed a lifeline, and Jason was determined to be exactly that.

Cheeto was cautious of Jason upon first introduction, but Jason remained cautiously optimistic, visiting the shelter 4-5 times a week to build a bond with Cheeto as our staff took turns fostering him to keep his stress levels down. When Cheeto finally built that trust with Jason, another roadblock hit. Cheeto & Jason\u2019s dog, an MEHS Metro East Humane Society Alum named Bullseye, did not mesh after their attempted intros. Hope felt lost, but Jason asked to be given the opportunity to foster Cheeto, keeping both dogs separated until Cheeto had the chance to decompress fully with gradual introductions between the two.

Today, after months of working with Cheeto to fully integrate him into his home, Jason made it official and signed Cheeto\u2019s adoption papers! Cheeto and Bullseye now coexist peacefully together and love to romp and play. Jason even says he finds them cuddling together on his bed sometimes. All of this to say \u2014 Happy Tails, Cheeto & Jason! We wish you two (and Bullseye!) nothing but the best. And thank you, thank you SO much for giving him the time to show you how great of a dog he truly is.

For more information on how to adopt and add to your family\u00a0click the link.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Illinois State Fair Exhibit Displays Pieces of Granite City History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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When you remember the artistic designs of retro signage, nothing compares to the neon glow that is now considered works of art to many. Nothing was more well known or recognized than the Bel- Air Drive In marquee. The Drive in opened for business in 1954 and closed in 1987. In 2018 the Drive-In property was sold and the Bel-Air Drive In marquee was dismantled and sold to a collector.
Today the marquee proudly stands in all its refurbished glory on display at the Illinois State Fair Route 66 Experience exhibit. This new outdoor exhibit is located inside Gate 2 of the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Enter in the Main Gate and take your first right for a walk down memory lane.<\/p>\n\n

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The Chain of Rocks Motel was built in the mid 1950\u2019s along Route 66. The majestic, colorful sign and bright neon made this a perfect photo destination along the Illinois stretch of the Mother Road. In 2006, the neon sign was sold to collectors and is now refurbished and back to its original state. This sign is also on display at the State Fair Route 66 Exhibit.

GraniteCityGossip.com, August 2023<\/em>

The Illinois State Fair runs August 10 through the 20th.\u00a0Click here for more information.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Pontoon Beach Party at The Beach Was Highly Successful Event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Dan Brannan and Jared Engelman from The Riverbender<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The Pontoon Beach Party at The Beach had remarkable attendance and was a great time for those who attended, officials said in the summary statement Monday.

The 11th Annual Party was held Friday and Saturday in Pontoon Beach.
The event featured carnival rides, games, food vendors, cold beverages and entertainment. On Friday, entertainers Drake White and Gary Allan appeared. Saturday the Long Lake Fire Department had a corn hole tournament. KSHE 95\u2019s Street Team and Sweetmeat were there at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Anthology, featuring the music of the Allman Brothers took place at 7 p.m., then the Marshall Tucker Band appeared at 9 p.m. and was well-received as the final main act of the weekend.

This was the comment by the Pontoon Beach officials:
\u201cThe Village of Pontoon Beach administration, Board members and Police Department would like to thank all that came out to Party at the Beach 2023. We hope you all had a great time. We work very hard to put this on every year and it\u2019s not easy. We try and create a safe and fun environment for you and your family to enjoy some great food, drink and great music. We know we cannot make everyone happy but we do our best.

\u201cThere is a lot going on behind the scenes. The Village does all this \u201cin-house\u201d without the use of promoters. I know a lot of you thank me for the party but without my team this would be impossible to do. It is definitely a team effort with a very small team. We are worn out, to say the least. After the event, it\u2019s the same team that cleans up. We will get back to normal in a few days and start working on PATB 24. Thanks to all of the residents and local communities for supporting this event.\u201d

Pontoon Beach Officials gave a special thanks to:<\/strong>
Steve Freeze, Kelly Rogers, Terry Kreher, Linda McFarland, Harlon Keel, Christy Vivod, Bret Ware, Shana Pagano, Amanda Rogers, Rita Rogers, Nick Rockwell and crew, Bri Bartlett, Larry Courtney, Alan Williams, Chris Hankins, Chief Modrusic and The Pontoon Beach PD, Chief Brent Stewart and the Marine PD, Scott Oney, The GC Aux PD, Long Lake Fire Department, Jeff Scholebo, T Dog ( emotional support ), Rual Med, Tres Caminos, All that helped load in and load out the stage equipment, Larry Manns, IDOT, Bob Patel, Andy Patel, Jeff ( stage truck driver), all of our motels
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July, 2023 Archives<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What happened to the Bel Air Drive In Sign?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13814","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13814"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14744,"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13814\/revisions\/14744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/granitecitygossip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}