CITY BEAT: ONE OF MY FAVORITE ‘SCRAPBOOK’ ARTICLES IS ‘THREE LITTLE MAIDS’

     I’ve compiled and written over 2,000 “Scrapbook” features for this newspaper over the last half century-plus and I have more than a few of them that are my favorites.
This week’s “Scrapbook” on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions, about the Overstake sisters, the “Three Little Maids” is certainly high on the list of my favorites.
     Their parents, Hershel and Helen Overstake, were living on West Grand in Decatur when Evelyn was born in 1913, Lucille in 1915 and Eva in 1916.
     As this week’s Scrapbook mentions, the girls were very young when they started singing in Lincoln Square around 1920 as part of a street program with The Salvation Army.
     After the Salvation Army Band played and the sermon was delivered, the three little girls sang and became an instant hit with the crowd.
     As the “Scrapbook” feature also indicates, as the girls grew into young women their singing careers achieved huge success at WLS in Chicago.
     There are times I look out my office windows towards Lincoln Square and, even though the Transfer House no longer stands at the Main and Main intersection, and its been a century since they sang there, I think about how that place is where it all began for the Overstake sisters — the “Three Little Maids”.

     • EAGLE REUNION — Lisa May has asked me to mention that a group of former employees of the Eagle Supermarkets that used to be in Decatur (that includes Lisa) are trying to organize a reunion.
If you are a former employee and want to get more information about a future Eagle Supermar-kets employee reunion you can contact Lisa May at:
          [email protected] or
          lisagridermay on Facebook
     I’m sure there are a lot of fond memories and good people connected to the Eagle Food Stores that were once familiar sights in our community.
     Best wishes for a big, successful reunion.
     As far as Eagle Food Stores, the company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2000.
     In 2003, Eagle Food Stores ceased operations and sold its assets.

     • OH NO! I’ve just received an email that my Prime Account is going to be cancelled today unless I update my information with them!
     The only problem is I don’t have a Prime Account.
     It’s another scam to get access to personal information.
     I get these “warnings” all the time from about every conceivable business on the internet that my account is going to be cancelled unless I update my information.
     Here’s a tip for Prime: misspelling “customer” as “custumer”, and misspelling “billing as “biling”, doesn’t help sell your scam as a reputable company.
     Here’s the headline on the Prime scam: “Your Account Prime well-be Remove Today.”
     Incorrect spelling (and tense) of words supposedly being sent by a major brand destroys the scam’s credibility.
     Such messages do not have me shaking in my boots (shoes) in fear of being disconnected or cancelled from something where I don’t have a membership in the first place!!

     • IF YOU’VE been on the internet very long you’ve probably received a message from someone you know (whose account has been hacked and someone is using their name) asking you for a favor.
     The favor involves “Do you have an Amazon account?” and, if you answer “Yes”, the hacker who is using a friend’s name, asks you to buy something for a friend, daughter, brother, etc… because he is on vacation and has lost his wallet, credit cards (and integrity) and he (or she) must buy that gift for a birthday, anniversary, or some other gift — and he or she will pay you back as soon as they see you again — as in NEVER!
     I never respond to any of the requests, of course, except the other day, I responded with the following sentences: “Why don’t you get a new scam? This one is really getting old!”
     I didn’t get a response.

     • I MENTIONED several months ago that someone I knew (who was hacked) asked me to buy a gift for a relative’s birthday because they had missed their flight, or were stranded somewhere without a means to buy anything.
Unfortunately for that hacker, the person he was impersonating was just at the newspaper office and was headed down the hall for the elevator when the email arrived in my inbox.
     Wow, the only way I know that this friend (hacker) could get off of that island and in the Tribune office in a few seconds was if “Scotty” on StarTrek beamed him here!!!!
     Be careful. Thieves don’t have to break into your house to take your money.
     They can break into your iphone or computer without much exertion!

     • HMMMM — Marsha Webb, who was the unsuccessful candidate in last month’s Republican Primary Election in the state representative’s race in the 107th District, wrote a long recap of her experiences in running against incumbent Brad Holbrook of Shelbyville on her Facebook page.
     She admitted that her comments about the campaign constituted a long read (and it is), but indicated she was waiting until after the election to write about it —whether she won or lost.
     While indicating that her opponent, Holbrook, won and “he did not cheat” she described her experiences with other officeholders who supported him who wanted her to drop out of the campaign.
     She also wrote: “I was followed all the way home at night by a dark colored four door jeep twice. Once from Effingham, the other time from Shelby-ville. I did not cower and run. I kept driving home. I refused to be fearful or weak.
     “I am writing this to bring awareness how important it is to KNOW the candidates. Your vote has consequences. The depths they will go to stay in office or keep their ‘buddies’ in office, knows no boundaries.”

     • IT’S DIFFICULT to talk to the people, whose actions are mentioned in Webb’s writing, and get their side of the story, because none of them are named, besides her opponent.
     If you wonder why more people aren’t stepping up to the plate to run for public office these days, maybe you should have a conversation with Marsha Webb.
     She stepped up and, according to what she wrote, she and her volunteers saw the dark side of politics in America today.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. at 7:00 every Thursday morning for the “City Hall Insider”. I’ve enjoyed our conversations each week for the past 21 years.