CITY BEAT: BILLY SUNDAY HAD A ‘FIGHT WITH THE DEVIL’ ON WEST ELDORADO

     As this week’s “Scrapbook” (pages 4 and 5 of print and online editions) points out, it’s been over a century since the biggest attraction in Decatur was Billy Sunday and his “fight with the devil” on West Eldorado Street.
     Thousands gathered to hear Sunday preach a fiery brand of Gospel to the people of Decatur and those from surrounding communities.
     The famous evangelist conducted his battle with the devil and “that old demon rum” in a structure called the tabernacle, which was located on the corner of Union and West Eldorado streets.
     Obviously, Billy Sunday drew the huge crowds to the tabernacle before I was born, but when I was a child I do remember the “fire and brimstone” preaching I heard that would pack church buildings, huge tents and other large places where people gathered to hear the Gospel preached.
Not only has society changed since Billy Sunday preached to the huge crowds in Decatur, but the preaching of the Gospel has, in many places, been “watered down” in its presentation.
The message of the Gospel never changes.
     It is about the love of God and salvation through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, to those who accept it. It’s not the preaching style that matters, but the content of the message.
     Acceptance of the Gospel today, as it has always been, is life-changing and life-saving! It is a message that is needed now more than ever!

     • WOW! It you are a digital subscriber to the Decatur Tribune you know that last week was a tough one for this editor as our decaturtribune.com website service got hacked taking it offline, not only the online edition, but the online editions of many other weekly newspapers across the nation!
     That happened on Tuesday and, as I’m writing this column, we are almost back to full website status but it has been more than a little stressful.
     As you know, the problems with decaturtribune.com did not impact the production of our print edition which went out on schedule.

     • SPECIAL thanks to our website provider for working around the clock to restore all of their clients’ websites.
There was no loss, or hacking of, customer information of those who subscribe to the digital edition. Payments are made through PayPal which is a separate operation.
     It was kind of ironic that the crash came with the edition where I was writing about how dependant our society has become on digital technology or “machines” and then our digital edition gets wiped-out!
     Maybe it was AI or “artificial intelligence” who didn’t like what I wrote and hacked our website!

     • THE REBUILT website has several new protections to prevent what happened last week from happening again. (I hope AI does not view that last sentence as a challenge.)
     By the way, I get fun poked at me from time to time from agencies in major cities like New York, for still having our email address using aol.
     Some of these “tech experts” act as if aol came over on the Mayflower!
     Well, we’ve used aol for over 20 years and it has never let us down or crashed!
     Oops! Maybe I just presented another challenge for AI to take us down!

     • BY THE WAY, it is probably not a great idea to get my twice-a-year medical checkup while trying to deal with our website being down last week!
     Everything was fine except my blood pressure reading at the doctor’s office was sky high!!!!!
     I told the doctor I had been under a little stress that morning.
     A few hours later, it had come down to its usual good number!!

     • APPRECIATED — Ann Irwin of Operation Enduring Support in Decatur sent me the following email which shows how much the work they do is appreciated.
     Ann wrote: “I wanted to share this letter with you. This Destroyer is stationed in the Red Sea.
“We received a beautiful letter with a picture of the USS Gravely today, The letter is dated Jan 1, 2024 so this is actually for our Christmas mailing and we did send packages for Easter to this ship also:
     “We would like personally thank you and all of OPERATION ENDURING SUPPORT for taking the time out of your busy schedules to collect all the various items, package them, and then mail the care packages to the Sailors deployed onboard USS GRAVELY (DDG 107) !
     “All of the items were well received and the Sailors onboard greatly appreciated the kindness and thoughtfulness that you all have shown to us. The crew loved everything and will surely put everything sent to good use! Being de-ployed away from home and our families is extremely tough but knowing that we have your support at foundations like OPERATION ENDURING SUPPORT, makes things better.
     “Thank you again for your selfless generosity!”
     The letter was signed by the commanding officers.
     I really admire and appreciate Ann and all of the volunteers in the OES effort who, for many years, have made sure that our deployed military personnel who are far from home get a “touch of home” on special holidays.

     • SAD NEWS — So sorry to receive the news that Ed Booth, a longtime Decatur attorney, and a longtime friend of this newspaper and this editor, died April 30 at the age of 97 after a recent move to Minnesota.  As his obituary on page 20 of this week’s edition states, Ed practiced law in Decatur for 61 years; was married to his wife, Dottie, for 62 years (until her death in 2012); and lived in the same house for 63 years.
     I knew Ed for most of the years that he practiced law and we had many conversations on a lot of Decatur topics at different places downtown. His law office was in the same building as this newspaper for several years, so I saw him often back in those days.
     One of the bittersweet aspects of being an editor of the same local newspaper for over a half century is that, the longer I’m in this position, the more my newspaper records the passing of longtime friends and acquaintances.
     People like Ed Booth have added so much to my Decatur and Central Illinois experiences since I started my business in the 1960s.
     My condolences to his family and many friends. Ed was a good man.

     • HAPPY SPOT! Thanks to Jerry and Ann Brunson who sent me the following “letter to the editor”:
“We have much to be proud of in our Decatur Public Library. Excellent friendly staff, and a bright new revitalized interior. However, this note is about the exterior of our fine facility. Master Gardeners have once again provided beauty and surprises on every side. Kudos! Take a walk downtown and go around and in the library. It’s a happy spot.”

     • MOTHER’S Day is this coming Sunday, May 12. As I’ve written in the past about Mother’s Day, and repeat those words in this week’s “Viewpoint” column in the print and online editions, my mom and dad were tremendous influences in my life — especially in teaching by word and example of how we should view and treat others.
     I’m sure about every one of you reading this column can say and write a lot about how your mom influenced your life in a positive way.
     Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms out there who define what motherhood is by their enduring example in raising their children.
     If you are like me, even though your mom passed away years ago, she still occupies a big place in your heart.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the “City Hall Insider”.
We’ve been discussing the issues and the people who impact our area each Thursday for 22 years.