LeTourneau home donated to CILF; to be moved to Wheels O' Time
- Details
- Published on 09 January 2017
- Written by Paul Gordon
Perhaps the country’s first termite-proof house is about to get its due in the city where it was created.
One of the original all-steel Carefree Homes built in the 1930s by R.G. LeTourneau will be moved from the site of his Peoria factory to the Wheels O’ Time Museum in northern Peoria in the spring, then refurbished and opened for public viewing next fall, according to the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation.
Komatsu America Corp, which now occupies what was original the LeTourneau factory on Northeast Adams Street in Peoria, donated to CILF the Carefree Home that had once been the manufacturing office for the factory. While it ceased that use in the early 1980s, the house remained on the factory site.
“We view this as a really incredible opportunity to celebrate and honor R.G. LeTourneau and partner with other organizations to do something for the community,” said Brittany Brown, vice president of CILF, during a news conference Monday at the Carefree Home to announce the project, known as the Steel House Revival.
The foundation is working with the Wheels O’ Time Museum and the Peoria Historical Society to raise the money needed to move the house on a lowboy to the museum site and to restore it to its original condition. The 28-by-28 foot house will have two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and small living room space when the work is completed, Brown said.
The total cost of the project will be $180,000 and more than 45 percent of the total was raised, mostly through private donations, before the project was even made public. In-kind donations from other organizations and a matching grant from the Caterpillar Foundation also will go toward the total.
The expenses of the project includes a 17 percent contingency and the money is earmarked for:
- Moving the house, likely in May 2017
- Site preparation and infrastructure
- Restoration of the exterior and interior of the house
- Furnishings and exhibits
- Long-term maintenance
LeTourneau opened his construction equipment company in Peoria in 1935 after moving here from California at the urging of Caterpillar Inc. The country was coming out of the Great Depression but LeTourneau found that many of the people he hired for his factory needed housing.
He developed the all-steel Carefree Home and built several hundred of them at his factory here. At an original cost of $4,000, each house was billed as termite proof, among other things.
According to a brochure about the home: “It must be air conditioned, insulated not along against cold and heat but against storm, dust, termites, flood, flame and other foes. And it must be a trouble-proof house – a house requiring a minimum of maintenance.”
According to CILF, each home was machine crafted. Embossed steel panels were welded together to form the structural skin. Panels were used as the inner and outer skin to form the walls, roof and floor of the house.
Construction of the houses stopped within a few years when World War II created a steel shortage. It was never revived.
About 30 of the Carefree Homes still exist in the Peoria area, most in Peoria Heights. Some have been changed in appearance or been expanded.
At Wheels O’ Time Museum, the house will be placed on a piece of property adjacent to the museum building to the north. It will be visible from the road. Brown said there are talks underway between CILF and the Peoria Park District about the possibility of relocating a statue honoring LeTourneau from Glen Oak Park to the museum, as well.
The museum said it is proud to be the final resting site for the house. “The objective is to make sure the Steel House fits perfectly with the museum’s cultural and industrial artifacts from the Peoria area. All ongoing repairs and maintenance costs of the Steel House will be our responsibility,” the statement from the museum said.
CILF has established the website www.steelhouserevival.com, where is more history about the steel houses, more information about the revival project and a method for individual giving toward the effort.
AARP film award winners announced
- Details
- Published on 05 January 2017
- Written by The Peorian
AARP The Magazine has announced the winners of the 16th Annual Movies for Grownups® Awards. In doing so, the editors continue their integral role in awards season by honoring the best films with unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind and by recognizing the inspiring artists who make them.
With Loving and Denzel Washington and Annette Bening among the top honorees, this year's winners will be celebrated at AARP Movies for Grownups® Awards on Feb. 6, 2017. Three-time Emmy award-winning film and stage actress Margo Martindale will host the evening at the historic Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles.
"AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards is one of the loveliest events of the season, one that is intimate and elegant and honors the films, filmmakers and film actors that people really respond to," said Martindale.
Best Picture goes to Loving, the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, whose challenge of the anti-miscegenation law in Virginia went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Annette Bening and Denzel Washington lead this year's acting honorees and will take home Best Actress and Best Actor awards for their work in 20th Century Women and Fences, respectively.
This year's Best Supporting Actress award will go to Viola Davis for her outstanding performance in Fences and Jeff Bridges earns the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Hell or High Water. This year's Best Director and Best Screenwriter awards will go to Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea.
Actor, producer and Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman will receive the evening's highest honor, the 2016 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award.
"AARP is delighted to celebrate the very best movies of 2016 and the outstanding work by the filmmakers and actors who make them," says Myrna Blyth, senior vice president and editorial director for AARP Media. "These are the top movies for grownups made by tremendously talented grownups."
The 16th Annual Movies for Grownups® Award Winners are:
- Best Picture: Loving
- Best Actress: Annette Bening (20th Century Women)
- Best Actor: Denzel Washington (Fences)
- Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)
- Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
- Best Director: Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
- Best Screenwriter: Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
- Best Comedy/Musical: La La Land
- Breakthrough Achievement: Robert Mrazek (The Congressman)
- Best Grownup Love Story: Margo Martindale and Richard Jenkins (The Hollars)
- Best Documentary: The Beatles: Eight Days a Week
- Best Intergenerational Film: 20th Century Women
- Best Buddy Picture: Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie)
- Best Time Capsule: Jackie
- Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up: Kubo and the Two Strings
- Best Foreign Language Film: Elle (France)
Event proceeds benefit AARP Foundation, which helps struggling people 50 and older transform their lives through programs, services and legal assistance. Chase Card Services, through its AARP® Credit Card from Chase, is the presenting sponsor of AARP's Movies for Grownups® Awards event.
With weekly news and reviews, nationwide screenings, and an annual awards event, the Movies for Grownups®initiative champions movies for grownups, by grownups.
For more information about AARP's Movies for Grownups® Awards, go to www.aarp.org/moviesforgrownups. The entire list of award winners will also be featured in the February/March Issue of AARP The Magazine, available in homes Feb. 1st.
Area hospitals want visits limited because of flu
- Details
- Published on 04 January 2017
- Written by The Peorian
Because of an increase in flu cases Peoria-area hospitals want the public to voluntarily limit visits to patients.
In a joint news release, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, UnityPoint Health-Methodist | Proctor, Pekin Hospital, and Hopedale Medical Complex are making the request as “a precautionary measure to protect patients, visitors, and staff from spreading the flu and other upper respiratory illnesses.”
The request for the public to limit hospital visits is based on community influenza and illness data gathered by Peoria City/County Health Department, the release said. Data indicates increased flu activity throughout the Peoria region, prompting area hospitals to follow best practices from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Effective Jan. 4, 2017, it is requested that:
- Visitors should be at least 18 years of age and older. This will minimize patient exposure to children, who are known to be high risk for transmission of viral infections, and will also help protect children from contracting an illness while visiting the hospital.
- Individuals who are not feeling well or have had flu-like symptoms in the past seven days should not visit hospitalized patients. Flu-like symptoms include a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, cough, and/or sore throat.
- When entering and leaving a patient’s room, everyone should wash their hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand foam/gel. Washing helps limit the spread of disease.
- People should cough or sneeze into their arm, shoulder, or tissue (not hands) to reduce the spread of germs that can be passed from hands touching surfaces or people.
While the voluntary request is restrictive in nature, the health care community firmly believes the request is in the best interest of patient health and safety.
For additional tips on staying healthy during the flu season, visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits.htm.
Cat may move Aurora production to other facilities
- Details
- Published on 04 January 2017
- Written by Paul Gordon
Caterpillar Inc. said Wednesday it is contemplating moving machine production from its Aurora plant to other facilities, including in Decatur, as it continues to restructure operations.
Such a move would take 800 productions jobs from the Aurora facility, but it would not eliminate those positions, Caterpillar spokeswoman Jamie Fox said. About 1,200 other jobs, largely engineering and product support positions, would remain in Aurora, she said.
Caterpillar is expected to make a final decision about Aurora is the second quarter of 2017, Fox said.
“This isn’t about eliminating jobs. It’s about consolidating our footprint and reducing excess capacity,” she said.
This move would be in addition to the global restructuring and cost savings plan the company announced in September 2015 that including the elimination of thousands of jobs and the closing and/or consolidation of several facilities worldwide.
The Aurora facility is where Caterpillar manufactures large and medium wheel loaders, compactors, wheel dozers, power train and tube components. If the move is made, production of large wheel loaders and compactors would move to Decatur with about 500 jobs and medium wheel loaders and 150 jobs would move to North Little Rock, Arkansas. Fox said the other production and related jobs would be moved to other facilities, as well.
All the moves are being made because worldwide economies are dragging Caterpillar sales and revenues down for the fifth consecutive year, an unprecedented down cycle in the company’s history.
“Faced with lower demand, we continue to evaluate our global manufacturing capacity. We must use our existing space in the most efficient way possible while maintaining the ability to meet demand when it returns,” said Denise Johnson, Caterpillar group president responsible for resource industries.
“Should we move forward with the decision to relocate production, we will support the local leaders to mitigate the impact on our employees, their families and the community,” said Johnson. “We value and respect the significant contributions all employees in Aurora have made in ensuring Caterpillar maintains its unparalleled record of quality and service to our customers and dealer network.”
Caterpillar is scheduled to announce its 2016 fourth quarter and year-end financial results on Jan. 26.
Girl Scouts begin 100th year of cookie sales
- Details
- Published on 03 January 2017
- Written by PRNewswire
Girl Scouts of the USA announced Tuesday that the 2017 cookie season has started, marking the 100th year of the first known sale of cookies by Girl Scouts.
A century ago, girls started participating in what would evolve into the largest entrepreneurial training program for girls in the world: the Girl Scout Cookie Program®. Through the program, girls learn the essential skills they need to become effective leaders, manage finances, gain self-sufficiency, and develop confidence in handling money.
To commemorate this banner year for the organization and celebrate how the cookie program powers amazing experiences for Girl Scouts year-round, the highly anticipated Girl Scout S'mores™ cookies are now available, joining classics like Thin Mints® and Trefoils®/Shortbread.
The sale of cookies by Girl Scouts had humble beginnings, born as a way for troops to finance activities. The first known sale of cookies by Girl Scouts occurred in 1917, when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in their high school cafeteria as a service project. As the Girl Scout Cookie Program developed and evolved, it not only became a vehicle for teaching five essential skills—goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics—but it also enabled collaboration and integration, as early as the 1950s, among girls and troops of diverse backgrounds as they worked together toward common goals.
Today, nearly 1 million Girl Scouts participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, generating nearly $800 million in cookie sales during the average season. All of the net revenue raised through the Girl Scout Cookie Program—100 percent of it— stays with the local council and troops. With more than 50 million households purchasing cookies every season, the irresistible treats can be found nationwide and will hold a beloved place in Americana for years to come, continuing to help girls take the lead and, ultimately, change the world.
"I am so thrilled that, as an organization, we've reached such an important milestone—celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts selling cookies," said Sylvia Acevedo, interim CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. "The Girl Scout Cookie Program has long been the engine that powers Girl Scouts on every level. Cookie earnings fund local council programming for girls and allow girls to do incredible things of their own choosing—from civic-engagement projects to educational travel opportunities, and beyond. Each box of delicious Girl Scout Cookies® —and the entrepreneurial skills gained by participating in the Girl Scout Cookie program—helps girls fulfill their dreams, follow their passions, take the lead in their lives and communities, and change the world."
Girl Scout Cookies not only help Girl Scouts earn money for fun, educational activities and community projects, but also play a huge role in guiding girls to discover their inner G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ as they learn essential life skills that will stay with them forever, the organization said. Starting from the momentous, first known sale, Girl Scout Cookies have become part of American pop culture and history and have enjoyed support from some equally iconic figures and notables.
Babe Ruth promoted the Million Cookie Drive during the 1924 World Series. Former First Lady Lou Henry Hoover inspired the first organized national sale of Girl Scout Cookies in 1933 as a way to cope with the effects of the Great Depression. And when the popularity of Girl Scout Cookies soared higher than expected in 1936, commercial cookie bakers were called in to assist in making the sweet treats. Last year, the audience at the 88th Academy Awards ceremony was eating out of Girl Scouts' hands, with film stars clamoring to buy and munch on cookies during the telecast.
Not even cataclysmic world events have dimmed the popularity of Girl Scout Cookies or the resolve of tenacious and resourceful girls. During World War II, there was a global shortage of cooking ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugar—and Girl Scouts, too, were faced with imposed war rationing. Girl Scouts sold calendars with images of them engaged in wartime service activities instead of cookies, and supported the war effort through humanitarian actions like running farm-aid projects, planting victory gardens, and sponsoring defense institutes that taught women's survival skills and techniques for comforting children during air raids.
When postwar prosperity flourished across the country, Girl Scouts employed clever new sales tactics to their advantage. By going door-to-door and setting up booths in shopping malls, the girls were able to reach customers in innovative ways, as well as sell a brand new cookie—the now iconic Thin Mints, which first were produced in 1939 as "Cooky-Mints."
As the organization entered the latter half of the 20th century, Girl Scout Cookies continued to power once-in-a-lifetime experiences for girls. Whether they used their cookie earnings to attend the Apollo 12 launch at Cape Kennedy, Florida, or to microfinance their big ideas to get to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, cookie earnings have transported as well as transformed girls.
With the emergence of the Internet and rise of ecommerce, girls were eager to harness the power of technology to expand their communication channels. In December 2014, Girl Scouts responded by launching a scalable electronic addition called the Digital Cookie™ platform. The new online expansion of the Girl Scout Cookie Program provided a platform for girls to market and sell cookies to customers online and via mobile devices. Digital Cookie made its official debut at the annual 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)—where Girl Scouts was one of the first youth-serving organizations to present and one of, if not the first, to provide a booth run entirely by girls.
Girl Scouts is thrilled to announce that Dell and Visa Checkout will continue their support of the platform, which continues to grow across the nation.
The celebration of 100 years of Girl Scouts selling cookies will kick into high gear during National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend 2017. From Feb. 24 to 26, Girl Scout councils around the country will host events and cookie booths.
To find cookie varieties available locally or learn more about the history of Girl Scout cookies and the Girl Scout Cookie Program, visit www.girlscoutcookies.org. To join or volunteer, visit www.girlscouts.org/join and www.girlscouts.org/volunteer.
We're Girl Scouts of the USA
We're 2.7 million strong—1.9 million girls and 800,000 adults who believe girls can change the world.
It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Girl Scouts' founder Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, who believed in the power of every girl. She organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, and every year since we've made her vision a reality, helping girls discover their strengths, passions, and talents.
Today we continue the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscouts.org.
