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>>Lori: Welcome to an all new season of Heartland Highways, I’m Lori Casey.
>>Kate: And I’m Kate Pleasant. We’ve got a great lineup of adventures to share with
you in our 12th season. Two of our stories today take us to Casey, Illinois.
>>Lori: It was a viewer who told us about some volunteers who were doing restoration
work in cemeteries in Martinsville and Casey. So on one of the hottest days of the summer,
we headed out to the Washington Street Cemetery to meet up with Jim Niksch and Joe Hawker
and check out their work. [Background noise and talking]
>>Joe: We try to do it safely and most of the time I will tell Jim what direction I'm
going to go or when I'm about to do it. So, just in case that he's around and I might
hit him why he might duck. [laughing] >>Narrator: All kidding aside, these guys
take their work and safety very seriously. In August of 2011 Jim Niksch saw a need for
someone spend some time fixing old headstones that had fallen down or were in danger of
falling. Being retired, he thought it might be a good project and well let's say one thing
lead to another. >>Jim: I've been retired for about 6 years
now and just thought well this might be a nice thing to do. And my family uh in Franklin
county, has a cemetery and it's it's just pristine. It's just taken care of and when
I saw some of the stones around here in Martinsville Township, I thought maybe this is something
that I could get some guys to help me and we could we could see what we could do.
>>Joe: Well, I am on, one of the cemetery trustees in Martinsville Township and our
township supervisor uh got ahold of Jim and that's how we got into it. He'd give a presentation
and we work from there. [Background noise]
>>Joe: And why have the tractor. Without the tractor we couldn't do it. Hydraulics does
wonders. >>Jim: I basically started here and with some
volunteers here in town. And then we moved over to Martinsville Township and we worked
over there in what they call City Cemetery which dates back to 1835. And we set up stones,
very typical of what we see here in Washington Street Casey. And we did two-hundred and nine
stones. My wife cleaned stones that didn't need to be straightened. She cleaned the biological
growth off for 33. And then this spring when we started we went out to RUPP, they call
it Rupp Cemetery, it's between Martinsville and I-70 and we, so far, we've done over 170
stones there. We've done about 15-18 stones here. We just started the other day.
[laughing] >>Narrator: Jim received training through
the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency for cemetery restoration and a permit to do
this type of work. Most of their time is focused on headstones dating from the 1880's and up.
>>Jim: Presently we have uh we have permits for nine cemeteries. But we will not get to
all of those this year so we will have to go back next year.
>>Narrator: In other words, there's plenty of work to go around. We met the guys working
in Casey at the Washington street cemetery. Their primary job here is to reset stones
that are in danger of falling, which is a multi-step process.
>>Jim: Typically, the stones that we're looking at most are what they call pedestal stones.
They have a foundation, at least a foundation and a top stone. Generally though, the ones
that we have, have a foundation, then a marble base and then they will have a pyramidal or
an (word) shape uh top stone. And sometimes those will have some orientation like an urn
and drape over it. [background noise] The foundation uh if it's unleveled, we remove
it with a tractor, tractor and straps. We lift that out and then uh prior to that probably
though we take off the top. I should mention that, we take off the top stones. Then the
foundation and then we take out, a lot of times there will be chunks of concrete, they
will be on layer of bricks totally unsatisfactory. There will be pea gravel and sand which is
really unsatisfactory and that what causes the stone to tip. Uh, and then we take that
out, we dig out around the original area of the foundation and then we put a layer at
least four inches of what we call road pack. It's a crushed limestone. It has fines in
it like powder all the way up to about a three-quarter inch, inch diameter crush rock. And we temp
that down, level it and then take the tractor, put the foundation back in, then we'll have
to re-level it. And then pack, road pack around it for, to make it more secure and after that
point uh we clean off the top and put a setting compound down and it looks like putty. And
we plastic spacers which were about an inch square and an eighth of an inch thick. And
we put those down around the setting compound to make sure the weight of the stones on top
doesn't press it out and then therefore weaken the stone. Generally, unless it's an extra-large
stone, we can usually get those about, oh, about three or four a day. So, we work only
about four to four and a half hours a day. Then we come back the next day.
>>Narrator>> So half a day? How many days will you do this?
>>Jim: Well, I'm not sure we'll live long enough. [laughing] We will probably not do
any work after mid-October. >>Narrator: Does this kind of work keep you
young do you think? >>Jim: [laughing] Well, after it's done I
don't feel young, but I usually recover to be back the next day so I guess I'm fortunate
I'm in pretty good health. >>Joe: It's just a job that needs to be done
and this is the period of time we have to do it in. We don't, our age group don't work
a full day. Well, not our here anyway and I'm the senior member on it. Jim's next.
>>Narrator: In addition to work on stones, the volunteers also worked on the mausoleum
at the cemetery. >>Jim: [muffled sound] These panels were loose
and some of these stones. The, what I call, the epitaph stones were in danger of falling
out so bad and uh so anyway what we did is Dan and his son and a first cousin that works
with him, put these uh sawed out uh it's kind of a concrete board substance, so it's there
for as long as they'll ever have a need for this. And we put those up and then they reinforced
the, they reinforced the stones and these these (word) here to make sure that these
were all solid and firm. >>Narrator: While spending time in a cemetery
may seem spooky to some, it can also be a history lesson.
>>Jim: The one that looks like a tree branch, see the one there? Ok. Uh that is uh a facsimile
of a tree that's been cut and that the symbolism to that is that is a life cut short, okay?
And then you have you have other things. There's all types of uh all types of symbols. Uh,
the hand clasp that you will see on a stone and that's typically mother-daughter or husband
and wife and it just shows then that you can tell the difference because the man will have
a cuff that is typical of the cuff today and the lady will have a ruffle cuff. So, there's
a lot of different stones. [background tractor noise]
>>Narrator: Work like this is not easy, especially on a hot and humid summer day, but it doesn't
seem to dampen these guys enthusiasm for their work or their reasons for doing it.
A grave stone is a is a symbol of a departed soul.
It's a sense of accomplishment because the people who does the mowing in the cemetery
easy job for them because they don't have to dodge them and it just makes the cemetery
look a lot better...more appealing to someone coming in if they see a cemetery that the
stones are not standing vertical or laying down and I wouldn't want to be buried there
so whenever you do the maintenance on the cemetery you have more people that that might
be there final desire to be buried in that cemetery.
>>Lori: The small community of Casey, Illinois is doing some BIG things to break WORLDLY
records in the form of a wind chime, knitting needles, a crochet hook and a golf tee! Stay
with us as we travel down the Heartland Highway on State Road 49, where these record breakers
far surpass 49 Feet. [music]
>>Kelly: When it comes to having a "handle" on world records, Casey Illinois is the place.
Meet, Jim Bolin. While his profession involves pipeline maintenance, his hidden passion is
constructing, world records! His first recorder breaker knows how to carry a tune. While this
huge wind chime is deep in base [wind chimes] it welcomes visitors with a song and story.
>>Jim: It all starts back on vacations with my family. We like seeing a lot of neat stuff
and when we run into this neat stuff we were always thinking like wow it'd be great if
our town had some stuff like this, that's kinda what got the wheels started. I was kinda
thinking of something that would draw people to Casey.
[chimes] I've got some wind chimes at home and because
wind chimes make me think of my childhood and my grandma Whittling that had wind chimes
so I got up and thought I wonder how big the biggest in the world is. So we looked it up
and it was up in Michigan and I thought we could beat that being a pipeline maintenance
company and wind chimes are pipe so it kinda fit!
>>Kelly: A lot of things had to fit just right to build something of this magnitude. Bolin
had to come up with a plan, design, materials, builders! The process to construct the world's
largest wind chime took two years. The old record was just over 23 foot high, Bolin's
creation; 42 feet! Jim says his drive to build the biggest doesn't come from competition
or kudos, but his faith and love for community. >>Jim: Casey, Illinois is home. I mean I was
born and raised here. It's a small community. It's been a fun community for me and just
like all small communities it's dying you know. Economics around here is really show.
Trying to get a factory or industry in Casey is really hard because every small town in
Illinois is doing the same. Every small town in the U.S. is fighting for jobs so instead
of waiting for someone to come in and put a plant in here we're trying to be proactive
and tourism is kind of like a factory. It puts people to work.
[Wind chime sounds] >>Jim: If we can get things made where people
want to have a destination to come here and visit and see something that's different,
they come to Casey to see something unique, stop some place and eat, buy some gas, or
stop in a shop and maybe do some antiquing or buy something unique or whatever or spend
Friday/Saturday or whatever, just get away from the hustle and come through and just
come to a destination to see what's going on!
>>Kelly: And it was that mindset and drive that encouraged Jim to come up with another
record breaking idea! You could say this masterpiece has fit the Casey community to a tee! That's
right; Clark County is also home to the world's largest golf tee!
>>Jim: But it weighs 6,659 pounds it's 30 foot 1/2 inch long. The world record stated
its 30.9 inches but it's 30 foot and a half inches. The old record was 26 foot so we beat
it by quite a bit! It's made out of yellow pine. Yellow pine is a stronger wood. It's
light. Lighter material. We started putting it together one board at a time. Everything
is two inch boards, two by twelve, two by eight, two by ten, two by six laminated with
glue and screws. There's almost 60 gallons of external glue on it, 15 coats of varnish,
100 pounds of screws. There's a lot of different materials and time that went into it!
>>Kelly: While the chime and golf tee weren't Jim's first world record ideas and we'll get
to that in just a moment ... the chime did inspire him to create more. Some of that inspiration
came a little yarn shop on the town's Main Street! Jeanette Huisinga owns the business
and she remembers the day fondly when Jim approached her about being part of an oversized
project. >>Jeanette: He came to me and said that he
had a idea that would boost business and make more business come to Casey and boost tourism
and I'm like, go for it! He came in and he asked for knitting needles and crochet hook.
He had done his research and had beautiful replicas of the hook and needle. Upon my approval
he continued with them. When he got them finished he delivered them to my store and everything
fell into my lap and it was my turn to practice with them and it's been a lot of fun!
>>Jim: I like working with wood it's one of my favorite things and so I thought why not
try and build the world's largest knitting needle and crochet hook. Well, come to find
out there is no world's largest crochet hook so we had to make the first and Guinness says
it has to be ten times greater ten times larger than the original so we constructed it and
made it six foot 1/2 inches long, 3 inches thick and out of white pine. The knitting
needles are 3.25 inches in diameter. The old record is 11 feet some inches and we are 13
foot 3/4 inches weighting 26 pounds apiece and they're also made of white pine.
>>Kelly: In order to be a recorder breaker the needles and hook had to be used to make
something! Good thing Jeanette Huisinga started twirling twine at a young age. She had to.
The school she attended said it was a must. >>Jeanette: I've always been creative and
I've always enjoyed creating things with my hands. Knitting was something I learned when
I was little. I was in the 4th grade when I learned how to crochet. A very kind neighbor
lady kept me busy by teaching me to crochet and I might say when you learn a lot a young
age it really sticks. As far as knitting goes, I went to a school where it was a requirement
to learn embroidery, knitting and crocheting. I already knew how to crochet. It was private
school in the south. So in a class we had to knit footies and so that was my first endeavor
in knitting! >>Kelly: And so, with a background of knowledge,
a nine pound crochet hook and two 26 pound knitting needles, Jeanette works her craft
to ultimately break a record and on this day it was in front of hundreds of school kids
and other fans using tools of the actual size! Lift after lift, shift after shift, judges
watch intently and take notes on what will become a new world record!
>>Jim: To have a Guinness you have to go through a process. The first thing you do is file
for a number. They'll send you a packet and you'll have a record number and you'll have
to follow. In that packet, it'll tell you all the processes you'll have to go through
to gain a Guinness. You have to have two witnesses to certify your measurements you do weights,
etc. they have to film all of this and put a package together so when it gets sent to
London they can see it for themselves. >>Kelly: And Casey is not done seeing or being
a world record town, Bolin has another project in the works and you could say it will rock.
>>Jim: Working on the world's largest rocking chair! It goes back to chain sawing. I like
to chainsaw and carve and aah the world’s largest rocking chair right now is in Missouri
and it's outta steel pipe and it's cool, but I got to thinking why don't we build a wooden
rocking chair" >>Kelly: This project may not be finished
for a while and frankly, many of us might think it would be a "world" of trouble to
construct, Jim says it's all part of doing something big to help his small community!
>>Jim: What motivates me is it goes back to Christian beliefs that if you look at the
wind chime there's Christian symbols on the wind chime. The bible talks about loving thy
neighbor and aah love covers a multitude of sins in first Peter and it's just love of
community and if we can just get the love of the community back together and start out
with small things like the wind chimes and the knitting needles. I really feel like if
I start pushing the wagon down the road, it will snowball and just get bigger!
Our final story gets a lot of attention and is always dressed for the occasion. We’re
talking about the Charleston area’s Gracie the Shark. Swimming the prairie-filled seas
of Pat and Valerie Goodwin’s home, Gracie has a story all her own!
>>Pat Goodwin: Probably the question that gets asked most is why? Why would I build
a shark? And my answer back is why not!? Um, this is the only one I know of in Coles County.
It's the only one I know of maybe in Illinois! >>Kelly Runyon: You're not going to find an
ocean in Illinois, but that doesn't mean you won't find a shark! That's right, a shark!
Popping out of the pasture on County Road 12-hundred East, you'll find Grace swimming
the meadow! >>Pat: I've always built some crazy things
out here. I've had to take the tractor and we built a snowman one year. I've had some
16 foot reindeer built out of logs out here in the yard. So, I've always done some crazy
things and always big things. About four years ago, I got a wild burr and I thought I'll
just build a shark coming out of the pasture! Um, I just drew up some sketches on some paper
and the next thing I knew I was out in the shop welding away! I had no plans really just
bit by bit and formed Grace the Shark. >>Kelly: Gracie's Owner, Pat Goodwin probably
had no idea when he was building Grace ... just how popular she would be. Over the years she's
become quite the centerpiece for pictures! Senior portraits taken with Grace looking
on. Bike riders stop for a pose. Now it's just as if she's always been there.
>>Pat: The first week I could say was the most interesting because all of sudden Grace
is out here and even the neighbors you know now the neighbors, it's just a normal sight
now they see the sightseers and that's their new sight, but that first week was crazy.
Since then, this is a bike route. We've had a lot of bikers stop by. One on one or a group.
We've had bikers out here that look like the shark is chasing them on their bikes. One
Saturday we were out here and everybody was stopping by taking pics. I came out and said
what's going on today. Grace was part of a scavenger hunt. They had to find the shark
in Coles County. >>Kelly: When you do come across the famous
Grace ... she's likely to be dressed to the NINES! That's another trademark that makes
this FISH so FAMOUS! >>Pat: She's been dressed in a lot of different
things. We've had one Halloween she had a witch riding her ... aah she's been Uncle
Sam for 4th of July with the big beard and outfit. Um I was wanting to have Grace with
Santa Claus in her mouth, but I got voted down with that by the family. So, the first
year Grace pulled Santa Claus in a big sleigh and I had Christmas lights and everything
on her. Um, last year during the drought she had a big sign and acted like she was thirsty
and praying for rain! >>Kelly: While Pat says he enjoys coming up
with the costumes, what gives him the most pleasure is the joy this meadow shark brings
to others. >>Pat: We built it for the kids and the people
to have fun with and they do. They stop by every day. When a car will pull into the driveway
and a father and son. He was carrying his son and they wanted to know if they could
come out here. His son wanted to stop and see the shark. I said that's why I built it.
I built it for the kids and families. They have fun with it. It's a common occurrence
we'll be sitting in the house and we'll see a car slow down and stop and they'll get out
and take photos and that's my enjoyment that they're getting enjoyment for something I've
built. >>Lori: Thanks for coming along with us today
and this is just the start of the many adventures in store for you this season.
>>Kate: Hope to see you again next time.