Duryea Festival riding high on Saturday

 Marty Potts keeps a somewhat-serious look on his face when he talks about his 1888 high-wheeled bicycle.  He restored the 55-inch bicycle in 1972 and for him, its history is important.

When he gets on the bicycle, though, the East Peoria man beams like a kid who just got his first bike at Christmas. Even if you can’t hear it, you can practically see him exclaiming “whee” as he wheels the bicycle around.

“Fun? Oh, yeah. It’s still a lot of fun," he said just after hopping off the bicycle during a news conference at Tower Park in Peoria Heights. “It’s why I still do it.”

The news conference was to promote the 10^th Annual Duryea Festival in Peoria Heights, which is Saturday beginning with a parade at 10 a.m. The festival celebrates the unique and rich historical heritage of the village, which is where Charles E. Duryea invented the high-wheel bicycle as well as the first “drop-frame” bicycle for women before he invented the first gasoline-powered car.

Part of this year’s celebration will be members of the Illinois Wheelmen showing and riding their high-wheeled bicycles and other bicycles. Janie Potts, Marty’s wife, will ride her drop-frame bicycle, which much more closely resembles the bicycles of today than the high-wheeled bicycle even though it was made a mere 10 years later, in 1898. “Quite a radical change in design in just 10 years,” Marty Potts said.

He and Janie will join other members of the Illinois Wheelmen chapter – as well as any other cyclists interested – in riding part of the Rock Island Trail, starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Another highlight this year will be the display of the Glide automobile that was manufactured in Peoria and was the vehicle President Teddy Roosevelt rode in on Oct. 12, 1910 to tour the area, the day he proclaimed Grandview Drive “the world’s most beautiful drive.”

Other events will be a cruise-in of more than 100 antique and class cars, a decorated bicycle contest for kids, a bags tournament, live music, food and beverages and many other activities. That’s just at Tower Park.

The many stores and restaurants in the village will be open, several hosting sidewalk sales.

Many high-wheeled bicycles were actually manufactured elsewhere, before Rouse, Hazard and Co. began manufacturing bicycles in Peoria Heights, in the building that still stands across the street from the Peoria Heights police department. That started in 1895 with the manufacturing of the Overland brand; before then, the company assembled  bicycles from parts made elsewhere, including overseas.

Charles Duryea, a farm boy from Wyoming, Illinois, invented the Sylph bicycle, the first to have the drop-frame design for women. It sold for $100. So popular was that bicycle and others Duryea invented, that is how he financed the invention of his car and other items, including the first armored car that was equipped with machine guns.

The Potts’ bicycles both were made in Boston. The high-wheel bicycle features a nickel-plated frame and leather seat. The wheels are of a steel frame and hard rubber tire, similar to that of a wheel chair. Getting on the bicycle requires stepping up on a tiny piece welded onto the frame. “Every time I get on the bike I think the mounting step is going to break and I’m going to end up speaking in a very high voice,” Marty Potts joked.

Janie Potts rides a bicycle with wooden rims. It also has fenders and places to attach lace to keep skirts from getting caught in the spokes.

She doesn’t have to worry about her skirt getting caught in a chain, however; this Columbia bicycle is made with a drive shaft that was more efficient than a chain, but much more expensive to build.

Marty Potts has ridden the bicycle on a cross-country event, from San Francisco to Boston, in 1984 and from Detroit to Philadelphia in 1976.  He has never done a “header”, but has fallen a couple times, he said.

The reason for the high front wheel on the bicycle was that, because the pedals are a direct-drive mechanism rather than a chain that drives the rear wheel, meant the machine could go faster and longer with each revolution of the wheel. “A man was only limited by the inseam of his pants. Remember, back then the average height of a man was much shorter,” Potts said. He noted that made riding a 60-inch bicycle even tougher; he owns one of those but no longer rides it. He also owns a 50-inch bicycle.

The fastest he has gotten his high-wheeler to go with pedaling is about 25 miles an hour. However, there was one time when he was going downhill on a much steeper incline than he expected and could do nothing but coast and hope he didn’t hit anything on the way down. He said a truck driver pulled up beside him and informed him he was going 50 miles an hour down that hill.

“I wouldn’t want to do that again,” he said.

He and Janie will ride their bicycles in the parade before displaying them at Tower Park.

Below is a schedule of events for the festival.

Schedule of Events

                                     10 a.m.                            Duryea Parade starts at 4450 N. Prospect Road Heritage Square going north to Tower Park. KIDS: Decorate your bikes, be in the parade and win prizes. 

                                       TOWER PARK STAGE EVENTS

           11 a.m.                           Singsations: Exciting music and dance performance ensemble

            Noon                             Julie K: Award-winning interactive children and family performance

                                               1 p.m.                             Where’s Waldo?

                                               1:30 p.m.                        Peoria Heights Historical Society Self-Guided Historical Tours

                                               2 p.m.                             Still Shine Band: “New Grass” acoustic jam band

                                               4 p.m.                             Ed Kaizer Trio: Classic Swinging Jazz

                                               6  p.m.                            Roundstone Buskers: Energetic Celtic, Folk Trio

                                               8 p.m. – 10 p.m.              The Robin Crowe Band: Rockin’ Rhythm & Blues

                                             10 a.m. to 10 p.m.             Great Food and Beverages at Tower Park

                                           OTHER GREAT FUN EVENTS

                     10 a.m. to 5 p.m.              Cruise-In car event with antique and classic cars and trucks

                                            11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.           Historical Glide Car on display at Tower Park. President Teddy Roosevelt rode in the Glide car during his re-election campaign tour in 1910 and proclaimed Grandview Drive the “World’s Most Beautiful Drive.” High Wheel and antique bicycles on display at Tower Park with demonstrations by the Illinois Wheelmen Chapter. Peoria Heights was a major manufacturer of bicycles in the 1890s and early 1900s.

                                            11 a.m. – 7 p.m.               Fun on the Run children events

                                            11 a.m. – 4 p.m.              Wild Style: Face Painting

                                            11 a.m. – 7 p.m                Dunk Tank

                                            Noon – 3 p.m.                  Rare book Evaluation at I Know You Like a Book Store ($2 a book)

                                            1 – 5 p.m.                        Unique Twist: Doug Smith, balloon artist

                                            1 p. m.                             Bags Tournament at Tower Park Parking Lot

                                           10 a.m. – 5 p.m.                Side Walk Sale

                   All Day                              Chalk the Walk: Fantastic art by local artists (Prospect and E. Kelly Ave.)

                                           4:30 p.m.                          Illinois Wheelmen Chapter will do a 10-mile ride on their High Wheel and antique bicycles on the Rock Island Greenway leaving Tower Park at 4:30. Other cyclists are invited to join them on the ride.

Holding back water allows riverfront events to go on

Steamboat Days will happen as scheduled and riverfront businesses will remain open this coming weekend as the city of Peoria has been able to keep flood waters from the Illinois River rom encroaching too far.

In a news conference Thursday, the city said efforts to erect a 1,500-foot temporary flood wall in only 18 hours has been instrumental in ensuring the weekend will not be ruined by rising water.

The river is expected to reach the 25.5 foot flood stage on Saturday, but Michael Rogers, Peoria public works director, said the temporary wall and other sandbagging efforts should be enough to keep the water from encroaching further than it has so far. Work will continue to the weekend, he said.

“Today and tomorrow, our staff will be focusing on cleaning up the riverfront area for the weekend events. The efforts of our department with the additional help from the Mayor’s Youth Program have been critical to the speed in which the wall was installed,” Rogers said.

“We want to ensure that our businesses take place, that people continue to come downtown, enjoy this beautiful downtown,” he added.

Among the Steamboat Days activities is the Steamboat Classic Four Mile Run and 15K on Saturday morning as well as a carnival and live music during the weekend. Events scheduled for the CEFCU Stage, the main stage on the riverfront, will be moved because that stage is under water.  

The temporary wall that is being used here for the first time is filled with sand, using backhoes, and can be erected 30 times faster than the normal way of putting up a wall of stacked sandbags. Called RIBS, for Rapid Installation Barricade System, it was shipped to Peoria from Joplin, Missouri, and filled with sand from Pekin, the city said.

Working in two shifts, crews from the city’s Public Works Department and youth from the Mayor’s Youth Program were able to get the wall erected in 18 hours. The city said survey crews are monitoring the riverfront and elevation levels and if the water continues to rise, an extension of the wall can be installed, if necessary.

“In order to maintain the structure of the wall and the safety of residents and visitors, the public is asked to stay away from the wall. There are two official public viewing areas on top of the Riverfront Village parking deck. These areas are both adjacent to the outdoor dining spaces of Joes’ Crab Shack and New Amsterdam. Access to the restaurants and viewing areas are by stairs or elevators on the Water Street entrance or the stairs between Joe’s Crab Shack and the clock tower,” the city said.

“All riverfront businesses and the Steamboat Festival remain open.”

The parking spaces under Riverfront Village and the adjacent parking lot next to the River Station are temporarily closed as crews work to install the temporary wall system. Parking there will be limited when it reopens.

The Riverfront Market will be held in its regular location on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

“We want to encourage people to come down and enjoy the Riverfront activities like the Riverfront Market, the annual Steamboat Festival and our many unique shops and restaurants,” said City Manager Patrick Urich.

The Peoria Riverfront Association on Thursday issued a news release reiterating all events will happen as scheduled, with Steamboat Days Festival using Festival Park, and that the Spirit of Peoria cruises are still scheduled, including its Father’s Day cruise on Sunday.

'Les Miserables' back, perhaps for the last time

Robin Hunt felt blessed to get the opportunity to direct “Les Miserables” in its regional community theatre premiere three years ago at Eastlight Theatre in East Peoria. It was one of the first produced on a community theatre in the country after the popular Broadway musical was made available.

Now, Hunt is directing it for one of the last times the show will be done anywhere in community theatre, at least for several years, because the rights are being pulled by Musical Theatre International on June 30.

It opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a seven-show run at the Byron Moore Auditorium in East Peoria High School and Hunt said she again feels blessed for the opportunity.

“I felt so incredibly lucky to be the first to direct it in the area and to be asked to do it again was amazing. I immediately accepted. It is just such a tremendous show. The music is fabulous, the story of grace and redemption is priceless. And I am blessed to once again get to work on such a beautiful piece of literature and theatre experience,” Hunt said.

“Les Miserables” is the story of struggle for survival and redemption during the French Revolution in the early 19^th century that was immortalized by the Victor Hugo novel and the musical that is back on Broadway, which is why community theatres no longer can get the rights to produce it.

That is why Eastlight Theatre decided to do it again, only three years after it produced the show in June 2012.

“Les Miserables” features a cast of veteran performers, including Jason Morris as Valjean. He portrayed Javert here three years ago.

Javert is being performed by John Huerta, who portrayed the same role two seasons ago at Peoria Players Theatre. “I asked John about doing the same role and he said he wanted to because he wanted to continue digging even deeper into the character,” Hunt said.

Mary Rose Williams portrays Cosette, Vicky Snyder is Eponine and Carmen McCarthy is Fantine. Bryan Blanks and Katy Ailshie portray Thenardier and Madam Thenardier, respectively, while Madalyn Schmitt is Little Cosette and Claire Hawks portrays Little Eponine.

Other key roles are Marius, portrayed by Deric Kimler, Enjolras, portrayed by Daniel Maughan, Combeferre, played by Gregory Schamberger and Grantaie, played by Stephen Peterson.

Sean Degenhart, who directed the music for “Mary Poppins” when Hunt directed it last fall at Eastlight, directs the music for this show. Hunt did the choreography. The set was designed by built by Eastlight technical director Steve Cordle, whom Hunt described as “a genius with lights and sets.”

“It’s a wonderful cast and they are doing such a fabulous job,” she said.

Tickets for “Les Miserables” are $19 and can be purchased on-line at www.eastlighttheatre.com or by calling 699-7469.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. on June 19, 20, 24, 25, 26 and 27 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 21.

The musical centers mostly on Jean Valjean, who is released from 19 years of unjust imprisonment, “but finds nothing in store for him but mistrust and mistreatment. He breaks his parole in hopes of starting a new life, initiating a life-long struggle for redemption as he is relentlessly pursued by police inspector Javert, who refuses to believe Valjean can change his ways,” states the Eastlight website.

“Finally, during the Paris student uprising of 1832, Javert must confront his ideals after Valjean spares his life and saves that of the student revolutionary who has captured the heart of Valjean's adopted daughter. His world-view shattered, Javert commits suicide, and Valjean at last attains the peace he has sought for so long,” it says.

“Les Miserables” is one of the most popular musicals ever written.

'Dixie Swim Club' next up at Corn Stock tent

If we’re lucky, each of us will go through with a small group of friends that will always be there, no matter how many miles separate us or how many go by between visits.

Those are the friends who will know each other’s deepest secrets, will lend an ear or even a shoulder during a crisis, and will never judge.

That is the basic premise of “The Dixie Swim Club,” the all-women comedy written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. It is the second show of the summer at Corn Stock Theatre, opening Friday at 7:30 p.m. under the tent in Upper Bradley Park.

“This is a show about friendship, a friendship among five women who will and do discuss absolutely anything with each other,” said Lana Warner, who is co-directing “Dixie Swim Club” with her daughter, Lisa Jeans. “Men and women are different, I think, because men are more reserved in their friendships. They don’t talk as much about personal matters, whereas women hold nothing back. People will see that in this show. Nothing is off limits.”

Jeans said she believes audience will “maybe find a new appreciation for the friends that have stuck with them through the years, through thick and thin, good times and bad. While it is billed as a show for women, men are going to love it, too.”  

The play follows five women through 33 years of their lives. It starts 22 years after they all became friends in college and continues into their senior years, tracking them from age 44 to 77. They meet each year at the same beach cottage on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to catch up with each other’s lives. Much laughter ensues, largely because these five have very distinct personalities that still somehow mesh into deep and lasting friendships.

“We still laugh every night at rehearsal. It truly is like these five have been friends ever since college,” Jeans said.

She is referring to the five women chosen to portray “The Dixie Swim Club.” She and Warner were able to get some of the finest talent in the Peoria region, stage veterans who know how to turn a phrase for laughter or wring a tear or two from audiences.

Cheri Beever, a veteran of countless musicals, comedies and dramas throughout the region, portrays Sheree, the group’s leader. Carol Urish, known mostly for her musical talents, portrays Dinah, the overachieving lawyer whose personal life is a wreck. Lexie, the oft-married and pampered one, is portrayed by Trish Ballard, who stage credits include the voluptuous Mrs. Robinson in Corn Stock’s production of “The Graduate.”

Barb Couri, who wowed audiences as the Bird Woman in “Mary Poppins” at Eastlight Theatre, portrays acerbic Vernadette, who walks around with a dark cloud hovering overhead. And Belinda Calvert, making her comeback to the community theatre where she once played Florence in the female version of “The Odd Couple,” portrays Jeri Neal, the sweet, eager-to-please one in the group.

Warner said she has worked on stage with all five and knew each would be great in this play. “We had 25 women audition, which is wonderful. And to have this talented of a group want to work with us as directors is humbling. We are blessed,” she said.

“I mean, how lucky can we be? This is one of those special shows you get to do every once in a while. And it is very special,” she added.

The show has its serious moments that may surprise audiences, Jeans said, and the way the cast handles those is “really wonderful. I think mom has been able to bring out the best in all of these actors.”

Warner, a long-time player of comedy roles on area stages and now a regular at Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre, said the cast simply was able to take her ideas and run with them. “If there is one think I know, it’s funny, and they took suggestions and made it work,” she said.

The cast itself has had to deal with serious issues during rehearsals. Two cast members lost siblings to illness in recent weeks and another sent her only child to college. “It has been a very emotional time for some of us this summer. We’ve had a lot of group hugs,” Jeans said. “But you know what? We have really come to love each other. We’ve become very close. Now we all have lasting friendships with each other.”

The show runs from Friday June 19 through Saturday, June 27, with all nine performances starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students.

To reserve tickets call 676-2196 or visit tickets@cornstocktheatre.com.