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Nostalgia guaranteed: Streator’s forgotten neon signs shine again through museum project · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Nostalgia guaranteed Streeters forgotten neon signs shine again through museum project.
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  Speaker 1: Written by Bill Frescos, this article is being read by
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  Speaker 1: an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Last summer,
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  Speaker 1: Streeter native Bob Harback set out to preserve a piece
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  Speaker 1: of his city's history by finding the neon signs of
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  Speaker 1: old businesses for his basement set up. And while that
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  Speaker 1: nostalgia fuel project proved harder to execute than he initially considered,
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  Speaker 1: it also turned into something much bigger than himself. I
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  Speaker 1: have a train set in my basement that's set in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight during straight Or Centennial, and I had
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  Speaker 1: room for some pictures above it, Harback said, Ah, I
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  Speaker 1: thought it would be nice to have photos of the
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  Speaker 1: old neon signs that businesses had back then, because to
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  Speaker 1: me their artwork. I found a few online, but I
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  Speaker 1: needed more. I thought I knew exactly where to find
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  Speaker 1: them and figured it would be an easy project. Well
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  Speaker 1: maybe not. What began as a passion project for his
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  Speaker 1: basement decorps quickly grew into a year long search involving
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  Speaker 1: past and present Streeter residents scattered across the country. Harback
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  Speaker 1: spent hours tracking down forgotten photographs, contacting descendants, digging through
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  Speaker 1: museum archives, and piecing together the history of dozens of
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  Speaker 1: long going Streeter businesses. The result is an eight minute
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  Speaker 1: presentation now on display at the Streeterland Historical Museum, where
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  Speaker 1: restored images allow visitors to see many of the city's
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  Speaker 1: iconic neon signs glowing like they once did along the way.
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  Speaker 1: Harback said, each new photographs essentially became another piece of
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  Speaker 1: the puzzle. He had a few specific old businesses in mind,
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  Speaker 1: but no search proved more worthwhile and difficult than finding
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  Speaker 1: pictures of the old Tutsi Freeze on South Bloomington Street,
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  Speaker 1: a business that carried special meaning for him. When I
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  Speaker 1: was a kid, I bought a banana split there, and
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  Speaker 1: as I was leaving, I dropped it before I even
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  Speaker 1: got a bite, he said. I remember Dorothy Franzen, who
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  Speaker 1: worked there, saw what happened, so she made me another
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  Speaker 1: banana split and refused to let me pay for it.
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  Speaker 1: From that day on, she had a customer for life.
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  Speaker 1: Finding a photograph of the Tutsi Freeze, however, became a
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  Speaker 1: month's long challenge. We contacted the Assessor's office, people who
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  Speaker 1: owned businesses across the street, the construction company that built
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  Speaker 1: the current building, really just about anyone we could think of,
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  Speaker 1: he said. Everything came up empty. I was running out
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  Speaker 1: of bullets fast. After feeling he had exhausted nearly every lead,
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  Speaker 1: Harback expanded his search through family trees, hoping a distant
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  Speaker 1: relative might have an old photograph tucked away somewhere. We
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  Speaker 1: started digging through family trees and obituaries looking for relatives
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  Speaker 1: who might have old photographs. One letter led to another.
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  Speaker 1: Then someone in South Dakota pointed us to a cousin
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  Speaker 1: they had in Iowa. A few weeks later, I missed
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  Speaker 1: a call from Iowa. When I called back, the woman said,
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  Speaker 1: I have your Tootsi Freeze pictures. I told her let
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  Speaker 1: me sit down first. If it was one of those
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  Speaker 1: moments where I couldn't believe the search had finally paid off,
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  Speaker 1: Harback said. While the project is rooted in Harback's inspirations
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  Speaker 1: and childhood nostalgia in street, he emphasized that all this
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  Speaker 1: would not have been possible without the help of past
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  Speaker 1: and present streetor residents. What made it most rewarding for
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  Speaker 1: me was how many people became part of it. By
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  Speaker 1: the time we finished, Harback said, sometimes somebody would give
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  Speaker 1: you the smallest lead that knew somebody else, and that
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  Speaker 1: would lead to another picture. One picture became two, then five,
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  Speaker 1: then forty. He specifically thanked Mary Lou and Leah Anderson
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  Speaker 1: of the Striatorland Historical Museum for helping with the research
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  Speaker 1: and locating photographs to keep the project moving forward. This
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  Speaker 1: is a wonderful addition to our museum's research room because
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  Speaker 1: it shows some of the wonderful old Neon signs that
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  Speaker 1: were around Streeter. Director Mary Lou Anders said, they were
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  Speaker 1: on so many buildings back then, so colorful, and they
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  Speaker 1: really lit up the night. Dave Reid, president of the
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  Speaker 1: Streeter Historical Society, in turn, thanked Harback for his efforts
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  Speaker 1: on the project. As to what Harback hopes folks will
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  Speaker 1: get from the presentation, He's hoping it gives long time
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  Speaker 1: or former residents some nostalgia while preserving a slice of
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  Speaker 1: Streeter's history for future generations to look back on. When
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  Speaker 1: people who know the old businesses watch the presentation, it's
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  Speaker 1: an instant memory, Harback said. They start pointing at the
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  Speaker 1: screen and saying, oh, I remember that place, and maybe
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  Speaker 1: they'll have a fun story or memory to go along
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  Speaker 1: with it. So that's really what this project is about.
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  Speaker 1: It's bringing those good memories back. We don't guarantee one
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  Speaker 1: hundred percent correct color, but we do guarantee one hundred
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  Speaker 1: percent nostalgia. Although the presentation is available for viewing, it's
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  Speaker 1: still open for updates. Specifically, har Back is hoping someone
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  Speaker 1: out there may have original photographs, home videos, or even
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  Speaker 1: eight millimeter film showing the neon stars at thrifty mart
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  Speaker 1: or the old police station's neon sign. Anyone with photos
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  Speaker 1: or film that may help is encouraged to contact the
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  Speaker 1: streeter Land's Historical Museum. If interested in viewing the presentation,
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  Speaker 1: visitors can stop by the museum one zero nine East
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  Speaker 1: Elm Street during its regular business hours from ten am
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  Speaker 1: to three pm Tuesday through Friday.