Succeeding: Dress For Success program reaches 2,000 clients

Despite earning a graduate degree from Illinois State University, job hunting hasn't been easy for Nadia Lam.

That's why the 42-year-old woman who is gearing up for an interview at Bradley University turned to the Dress For Success program through Peoria's Friendship House to get some help.

That included some big-name help finding the right outfit on Monday as the 2,000th client served by the Peoria Dress For Success program that started in 1999. State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, who is undoubtedly one of the most stylish members of the Illinois General Assembly, stopped by to help the program celebrate the fete and to be Lam's "personal shopper" for the day.

"This is exciting to come here to help someone do her first suiting at Dress For Success because it is so important for a woman to look her best when she goes for an interview,"
Gordon-Booth said. Not only does it help in the eyes of the employer "but in the confidence a woman feels when she looks good, when she looks professional. It makes quite a difference."

Peoria is one of only 120 cities worldwide to have its own Dress for Success program, said local director Sarah Fletcher. But it is also one of the smallest, so reaching the 2,000 clients plateau is significant. It also is proof the local program is becoming better known through various events and fundraisers; it took only four years to reach the second thousand clients whereas it took about 10 to reach the first thousand.

Fletcher said she believes the "Going Places" program recently started worldwide through funding by Wal-Mart will help bring more clients in. Lam went through the program, which first teaches women how to write resumes, cover letters, how to handle themselves in interviews and takes them through mock job interviews and critiques them.

The clothing is the final step, helping women look good for those interviews with clothing and accessories donated to Dress For Success.

Fletcher said "Going Places" is conducted three times a year and is open to any woman who needs help finding work. "One of the wonderful things about Dress For Success is that there really is no typical client. We serve women with no degree to women with graduate degrees, like Nadia, whether they are entering the workforce for the first time or re-entering the workforce. Most are single mothers but we will work with any client and meet them where they're at in their life. What's important is that they are ready to join the workforce," she said.

The Peoria program gets referrals from 70 area social agencies and employment programs and has grown to the point of serving more than 300 clients a year. Gordon-Booth was asked to be Nadia Lam's shopper because she is a frequent donor to the program. "That's because I believe in it and I love the benefit I get in knowing I am helping a woman feel the confidence she needs to succeed, the feeling I get from watching someone begin to believe in themselves. To me that is even more important than putting nice clothes on her," she said.

Such a transformation could be seen on Monday while Gordon-Booth helped Lam find an outfit for her petite frame, talking with her all the while about posture and feeling confident. By the time the suiting was completed, including some earrings, a necklace and even some eye liner, Lam went from seeming almost intimidated by the presence of a state representative and a room full of media to appearing confident and a woman who could easily have fit in a corporate board room.

"I learned so much through this program, including how to dress professionally. I am more confident now than I've ever been," Lam said.

"This program is really important in that it helps women in so many ways," she added, enthusiastically saying she would encourage other women to participate in Dress For Success.

Lam said she also wants to pay back the organization after she gets a job and can help others. "I really want to do something to give back to Dress For Success. I want to help other women the way I was helped," she said.

Fletcher said Dress For Success has several fundraisers through the year, including a luncheon featuring guest speaker U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, on April 19. But donations of professional clothes, shoes and accessories are accepted any time. "We always have a need," she said.

CAPTIONS (Photos by Paul Gordon):
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, helps Nadia Lam with earrings to complement a business suit Lam received Monday from the Peoria Dress For Success program. Gordon-Booth, a frequent contributor to the program, was asked to helped honor Lam as the 2,000th client served locally since the program began in 1999.

Nadia Lam looks over a sweater as a possible part of an outfit she could wear to a job interview, an outfit given her by the Peoria Dress For Success program. State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, right, helped Lam find an outfit to celebrate her being the 2,000th client served by the Peoria office.

Nadia Lam poses in the suit she and State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth chose for her to wear to an upcoming job interview. The suit was donated through Peoria's Dress For Success program. Lam was the 2,000th client served by the program, which started in 1999.

Knight: "I Wish't I Was In Peoria" should get a new recording

Jerry Klein, the dean of central Illinois feature writers let go by the Peoria Journal Star after decades of work (but still churning out thoughtful essays in the weekly Catholic Post) this winter shared a lyric sheet to the classic song "I Wish't I Was in Peoria," written 87 years ago by Broadway's Billy Rose, one of the 20th century's most famous figures from the Great White Way.

The title, a verse and the vague melody of the chorus are somewhat familiar, but the good-natured spoof of the then-wide-open town and Vaudeville proving ground is fuller and funnier than assumed.

"I Wish't I Was in Peoria" was one of several memorable tunes Rose penned with collaborators. He's also credited with "It's Only a Paper Moon" (with E. Y. Harburg), "Me and My Shadow" (with Al Jolson) and "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" (with Marty Bloom).

Rose may be remembered mostly as the namesake for the Billy Rose Theater on 41st Street in New York City (now unfortunately called the Nederlander Theater) or for his 9-year marriage to comedian and singer Fanny Brice or for James Caan's portrayal of him in "Funny Lady," the sequel to the film "Funny Girl." But he was a lot more.

He was a producer (the talent behind the 1940s all-African-American cast of "Carmen Jones," based on the opera "Carmen"), an impresario (launching Times Square's famed Diamond Horseshoe nightclub), and talent scout (he not only hired Olympians Johnny Weissmuller and Esther Williams for his New York World's Fair show "Aquacade," he gave young struggling dancer Gene Kelly an early job as a choreographer).

For Peorians, of course, his comical nod to the River City is a hallmark, even if it chiefly survives as sheet music and piano rolls (stride piano player Clarence Johnson is credited for one such recording – regrettably instrumental only – available online at YouTube).

The tune has hilarious plays on words and rhymes, plus more than a few references to an active and entertaining, if corrupt, community where many famous performers honed their routines and talents before moving on to national circuits or New York.

More than a half dozen verses are just setups for variations on the chorus, which changed slightly:

Oh, how I wish't I was in Peoria, Peoria tonight
Oh, how I miss the "goils" in Peoria, Peoria, tonight
Oh, you can pick a morning gloria
Right off the sidewalks of Peoria
Oh, how I wish't I was in Peoria, Peoria tonight

Oh, how I wish't I was in Peoria, Peoria tonight
Oh, how I miss the mud in Peoria, Peoria, tonight
The present Mayor of Peoria
Works in the Five and Ten Cent Storia
Oh, how I wish't I was in Peoria, Peoria tonight

Such giggly, goofy lines and rhymes must've been crowd-pleasers decades ago; they're still amusing: Rose created "Toreadoria" to rhyme with Peoria, and came up with lines like "The pretty girlies think much more o' ya," "we've got sawdust on the floor-ia," and (a favorite) "That big hotel Waldorf Astoria gets all their porters from Peoria."

And Rose parodied the place, too, like, "The beauty contest, Miss Peoria, fought in the Revolution War-ia."

Oh, if someone would only record it again!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Here are a few videos of the song being performed by artists over the years. First, the Smothers Brothers:

If you prefer your songs with more banjo in them:

Nothing like this version from the 15th Annual Glacier Jazz Stampede in Kalispell, Montana! And we didn't even know there was such a thing as "Glacier Jazz":

And finally, a version by Spats Langham and his Rhythm Boys. And yes, Spats, the beauty queens in Peoria WERE crowned during the Civil War-ia:

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day" Our Favorite Books (At the Moment)

The great thing about our murder of writers here at The Peorian is the diversity in tastes, especially when it comes to book and novels we love. And it would be silly to try and get our writers to select their favorite book of all time. That would be like trying to get a parent to select their favorite child, when everyone knows no one likes children.* So we asked our writers, "What's your favorite book at the moment?" Check out their answers below. Enjoy!

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Kevin Kizer, the writer of this column, does not have children of his own and routinely refers to them as "filthy, bacteria-laden creatures." So ignore his digressions.

Troy Smith
American Dreams: The United States Since 1945, by H.W. Brands

Brands, a professor at the University of Texas, has written 25 books on U.S. history, covering subjects from Benjamin Franklin to the Gilded Age to the Cold War. Using political history, and in particular presidential history, as a window into broader social and cultural trends in America, Brands shows how our nation has evolved, for better and for worse, since the height of American power at the end of World War II. 

He traces the development of U.S. policy during the last half of the 20th century, illustrating how closely domestic and foreign issues were linked, one often driving the other in a direction that few could have foreseen at the time. Focusing attention on the interplay between public perception, public opinion, and the political reality that informed our leaders when they made decisions, he reminds us that even the seemingly infinite power of post-war America had limits, perhaps more than we are willing to admit even today.

Brands humanizes his narrative by effectively contrasting the styles and personalities of the presidents with numerous anecdotes and memorable quotes. One personal favorite is Eisenhower’s response to a reporter’s question about what ideas Vice-President Nixon had contributed to his administration, “If you give me a week, I might think of one.”

Ken Zurski
Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Mitchell Zuckoff
Duel with the Devil: The Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery by Paul Collins

I've been working on research for a new project and my head has been deep into a stack of books on railroad history lately, but I'm looking forward to reading two new books coming out this spring and summer. Frozen in Time is the new work by Mitchell Zuckoff who wrote the terrific Lost in Shangri-La, about a daring World War II rescue set in the New Guinea jungle. Zuckoff's new book is a similar rescue-and-survival story set in the Arctic. Can't wait!

Paul Collins is the author of The Murder of the Century about a late 19th-century high-profile murder case and the New York newspaper's quest to cover, or more importantly, solve the crime. Collins’s latest, coming out in June, is about Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and another unsolved murder mystery. It's titled Duel with the Devil. By the way, awhile back, both Zuckoff and Collins were kind enough to respond to emails from an aspiring new author looking for a little advice (Yes, that would be me). Here's my advice to you: If you like a book, you can usually let the author know. In many instances, an email can be found on the author bio page or through the publisher. Trust me an author appreciates it. Just saying. (kzurski@earthlink.net)

Bill Knight
Echo Burning: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

After re-reading all of Robert B. Parker's Spenser mysteries in order last summer, I decided to read Lee Child's Jack Reacher action novels the same way.

I just finish Number 5 (out of 13), Echo Burning, and, so far, I think the character is compelling but the author needed an editor. He goes off on too many self-indulgent, behind-the-scenes, Tom Clancy-style tangents about caliber and tactics and equipment, and generally reads like no one wanted to suggest he trim extraneous prose after he created a best-seller. I'll finish, but Child is no Parker.

Lindsey Tanner
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Hidden behind the pen name Currer Bell, a match to the initials of her own, Charlotte Bronte published Jane Eyre — my current read. Host to some of the most eloquent language of any writer to have struck pen across paper or letters on a keyboard, the novel isn’t just art, it sentences are. For the modern reader, familiar with hurried conversation and recycled vocabulary, accustomed to conversing in fragments, slang, and hash tags, the detail of Bronte’s writing is almost overwhelming. Or refreshing. Bronte set the ominous biography of the life of Miss Jane Eyre on the moors of England. And you are given no choice. You too endure the cold breeze, powerless under heavy clouds soon to empty and drench the world below, yet again. You must also feel the percussion of horse hooves on cobble, the billow of heat hurled from a stoked fire, hear teacup clash against saucer, and see candles cast away shadows. You walk the passages of the Mr. Rochester’s Thornfield Manor, complete with drafts, the reply of your own voice and a secret. It’s a tale of Jane Eyre and eventually, Mr. Rochester. And I won’t tell you how this love story ends but the plot is unpredictable and character depth seems infinite. The combination makes for one of the most riveting tales to survive the 1800s and a must-read ever since.

Terry Towery
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
Write Great Fiction: Revisions and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell

I generally devour three or four books a month, sometimes more and seldom less. I tend to have two books going at any given time -- a novel and something non-fiction (and often writing related). Right now, I'm reading Pat Conroy's Beach Music for the second time, along with Write Great Fiction: Revisions and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell.

Because I write novels (two so far, but only the current one is publishable) that are a somewhat curious literary/thriller hybrid, I do try to read novels from both genres. For instance, I've recently read thrillers by Jodi Picoult, Michael Crichton, Brad Meltzer and John Grisham. Stephen King is my all-time favorite thriller/horror author, and I have read all of his novels a dozen times or more over the years. In the literary genre, I love Chabon, Conroy, Anne Tyler, Anne LaMott, Toni Morrison, and, perhaps most of all, the great John Updike.

My most cherished books on the art of writing are by two of my favorite novelists: On Writing by Stephen King, and Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott. I also love historical fiction. In the past month, I plowed through the wonderful A Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and 1776 by David McCullough.

Matt Richmond
Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard

I’m about two decades late getting on the Elmore Leonard bandwagon. But a couple weeks ago I saw this quote from Leonard on writing: “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.” How could you read that and not want to check him out?

I picked a title at random – Road Dogs. So far, it’s entertaining, addictive stuff. He’s right, it doesn’t really sound like “writing.” The prose has the shape and rhythm of what you might call “dirtbag vernacular.” As a reading experience, I’d actually compare it to reading Shakespeare, in that you have to muddle through several pages before the voice of the author gets established in your head and the story really flows. Road Dogs is not exactly MacBeth, but it’s not trying to be, either. It’s a well-told cops and robbers story, and a really fun read.

Kevin Kizer
Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital by Sylvia Shults
Paris is a Nice Dish: Its Recipes and Restaurants by Osbourne Putnam Stearns

Now, both of these books are related to Peoria but in different ways. The first, Fractured Spirits, is an interesting and enlightening look into history of the Peoria State Hospital, which was one of the most innovative mental health facilities of its day. That was thanks to the vision of Dr. George Zeller who believed the purpose of a mental health institution should be to treat patients and not lock them up. Incidentally, the term “basket case” comes from the way some mental patients were confined – literally in wicker baskets or worse. But that was before Dr. Zeller changed the face of mental health care. While the book recounts the history of the institution, its primary purpose is to recount the numerous tales of ghost sightings over the years, with many firsthand stories. While I am not a believer in other worldly things, this book makes me even a bit skeptical of my own skepticism (but I am skeptical of that). This book is a great read for anyone interested in this important landmark in mental health care or things of a supernatural nature.

The second book, Paris is a Nice Dish, relates to Peoria because I pulled it from the well-stocked shelves of the Pettengill-Morron home. The book was published in 1952 and was purchased by Miss Jean Morron for one of her worldwide cruises, which inevitably took her to Paris. It provides travelers with all kinds of tips for travelling in Paris – including advice on (I kid you not) how to hook up: “If you feel your oats, and, being of the rougher sex, wish to sow a few, consult le concierge, and he will instruct you in protocol.” Valuable advice, indeed, for Miss Morron. The author, who was “Radio’s Food Magician” in the ‘40s, also offers up many essential Parisian recipes, like anchovy éclairs and creamed shrimp in a potato wall. Bon appétit! 

Wildlife Prairie bill passes out of State House, onto the Senate

Legislation that would put Wildlife Prairie State Park back into private ownership was approved by the Illinoise House of Representatives on Friday, announced State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, the bill's chief sponsor.

Specifically, adoption of the bill by the General Assembly would allow the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park to assume ownership of the wildlife refuge that was private until 2000, when the state took it over. The bill now advances to the Senate for its approval.

"Wildlife Prairie Park is one of the Central Illinois' greatest treasures," said Gordon-Booth. "I am so grateful for the work that the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park is undertaking to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy and learn from this unique setting. I look forward to continuing to work and assist the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park in the future. I also want to thank Representatives (Michael) Unes and (David) Leitch. This truly was a bipartisan effort and I greatly appreciate their leadership."

William Rutherford founded Wildlife Prairie Park on 480 acres of land. The land is used for the protection and conservation of natural ecosystems found in Central Illinois. The Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park gave the state of Illinois possession of the park in 2000. After years of budget cuts to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park have offered to take over the maintenance of the park to keep it open to the public

House Bill 1292 requires that the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park to maintain the education and recreational facilities of the park. If passed, the state of Illinois will transfer the maintenance and management responsibilities to the Friends of Wildlife Prairie Park.

"Wildlife Prairie Park is one of a kind," said Bill Cirone, board member of Wildlife Prairie Park. "Our board wants to make sure that we preserve an important educational opportunity and tourist destination in Central Illinois. We would like to thank Representative Gordon-Booth for her leadership on this issue."

For more information about this or other upcoming legislation, please contact Rep. Gordon-Booth's constituent service office at (309) 681-1992 or repjgordon@gmail.com.