Caring for the poor October 24, 2006
Posted by Ron in History, Preservation.add a comment
There is a cemetery just off Route 66 in Livingston County, Ill., that was devoted exclusively for the area’s poor-farm residents. I didn’t know about it, nor did many other people for a long time, because the Poor Farm Cemetery had been neglected for years.
That has changed. For the past two years, volunteers have helped clean and tidy up the grounds, which were the the final resting place for about 120 poor-farm workers from about 1860 to 1934, according to an article in the Bloomington Pantagraph. A new marker commemorating those who were buried there was added.
The cemetery is close to Livingston Manor in Pontiac, which is the county nursing home.
Bicycle rider may not be through yet October 24, 2006
Posted by Ron in People, Road trips, bicycling.1 comment so far
Remember Buddy Boren? He’s the Texas cancer survivor who’s made several cross-country cycling journeys for fundraisers. His most recent trek, pedaling across the length of Route 66, was his most difficult, according to WFAA.com:
Mr. Boren took his licks on Route 66. He had bronchitis before he left Chicago on July 8. He hammered into a stiff headwind all the way. He wasn’t prepared for the rolling, often steep hills of Missouri, which left his knees unable to continue by Amarillo.
When he finally made it to Los Angeles, after taking a break to recuperate, he had his first two falls in his touring history. He chipped a tooth on the first, a run-in with a city trash can. Later that day, he fell when a city bus squeezed him toward and over a curb.
He finished his journey, but Boren was ready to hang up his pedals. But while writing a book about his experiences, he’s getting the itch to do one final bicycle ride — perhaps around Texas.
“To do a ride where you could film it in a documentary, and get it out to thousands of people would be the logical next level for me,” Mr. Boren said.
