CITY BEAT: SPEAKING TO THE LAST CLASS TO GRADUATE FROM DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL

     When the last class to graduate from Decatur High School gathered in front of the Decatur Civic Center in 2007, as part of their 50th class reunion, I was asked (as Decatur’s mayor) to address the group.
     The classmates were at the civic center because it stood where Decatur High School stood when they were students there.
     I stood on a chair in front of the entrance area so that I could see all of the classmates and saw many familiar faces in the crowd.
     I did not realize that, in all of the years that I knew most of them, that they were graduates of the last class of Decatur High School.
     Later in 1957, with Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools opening, the name of Decatur High School was changed to Stephen Decatur High School.
     I honestly don’t remember what I said to the classmates that day.
     I do know that there was, and is, a special pride in being a graduate of Decatur High School and attending classes in that downtown structure
     As indicated in this week’s “Scrapbook” (page 4 of print and online editions), “students who attended the school before the name was changed to “Stephen Decatur High School” in the fall of 1957, are still a little touchy about the name change.
     Several have written this newspaper over the years to indicate that it will always be “Decatur High School” to them.
     That’s why, when we print obituaries of former students of Decatur High School and Stephen Decatur High School, we are always careful to make sure “Decatur High School” is used for those students who attended the high school before the name change in the fall of 1957.
     There is a special school pride in being a student and graduating from Decatur High School.
     Of course, there is also school pride for those who attended Stephen Decatur High School — especially since there isn’t a high school with “Decatur High School” or “Stephen Decatur High School” that exists today except in the fond memories of those who attended that high school.

     • AFTER becoming editor and publisher of this newspaper in 1969, I covered many events at the downtown Stephen Decatur High School. Since I didn’t have a sports reporter until J. Thomas McNamara started covering that beat for me for 46 years until his death in January, 2022, I covered the sports beat which included the downtown high school building and Kintner Gym.
I covered special meetings and events at the downtown high school and even spoke to a few of the classes about being a journalist.
     The complex, because of the school’s championship basketball teams, was almost regarded as a “sacred place” in downtown Decatur.
     I was one of many Decatur area people who watched the school and Kintner Gym being demolished and felt that we were losing more than a building.
     The photo at the bottom of page 5, of the print and online editions of the Tribune, of the start of demolition of Kintner Gym is one that I shot while feeling regret in seeing that building destroyed.
     When I was an area high school student I attended many entertainment events with nationally-known singers in Kintner Gym.
When that school was demolished so many people felt like a close friend had passed away.

     • OH NO! Speaking of memories, the news of the closing of the Decatur Club, 158 West Prairie, was shocking to receive and, for me, totally unexpected.
     I never saw that one coming!
     I spoke to a lot of groups meeting in that building over the years, both as a newspaper editor and during the years I served as mayor.
     We also held a lot of meetings related to city business in some of those rooms and I did a lot of interviews with celebrities and political figures at the Decatur Club.
     One of the most heartwarming meetings at the Decatur Club came when we gathered to celebrate landing the Farm Progress Show twenty years ago.
     Of course, the Farm Progress Show is being held this week in Decatur which stirs a lot of memories of when everyone worked together to make that happen — and we celebrated our victory at the Decatur Club.
     Being a part of landing the Farm Progress Show for Decatur and celebrating that victory, and the impact that it would have on our community for years, was one of the most satisfying and exciting experiences of my years as mayor.

     • THERE IS some question, as I’m writing this column, if the Decatur Club has closed permanently or if the closing is temporary.
     Of course, there are tenants in some of the offices in the building who will have to receive the attention of the organization because of their leases on the office space.
     Hopefully, the Decatur Club will be able to reopen on a more solid footing and continue in the community.

     • ALTERNATIVE? We have an article on page 12 of this edition about a response to the Decatur Club’s closing by the Lincoln Square Theater, which is offering relocation to clubs and organizations, plus social events, that were handled by the Decatur Club for many years.
     The closing of the Decatur Club definitely left a hole in downtown’s business and social attractions.
If it does not reopen, its closing may offer opportunities for other facilities like the Lincoln Square Theater.
     As Brian Byers and I discussed on WSOY Byers & Co. program last Thursday, the change in the business climate through technology and other improvements, from when the Decatur Club opened in the 1800s, has changed and that’s definitely impacted that club and the reason for its existence and popularity.

     • BIG WHEELS — Unless the drivers are making deliveries in the downtown area, 18-wheeler trucks are banned from going through downtown.
     The drivers are required to detour off of Route 51 downtown north at Eldorado and south at Wood St.
     It seems like, more and more, either from glancing out my office windows, or when I’m walking to the post office or other locations downtown, I’m seeing 18-wheelers rolling through the downtown area.
     I can see them moving through the “forbidden zone” between Wood Street on the south and Eldorado on the north, where they should be detouring away from Main and Franklin streets without stopping to make any deliveries downtown.
     That’s illegal — and also dangerous for pedestrians!
     I guess the drivers of the 18-wheelers ignoring the posted signs is another indication that traffic signs and signals mean little these days to an alarming number of motorists.
     Maybe I should shoot a photo of Central Park on my way to the post office and “accidently” include one of the 18-wheelers in the background, complete with the company name on the side!
     Maybe I could post a photo of an 18-wheeler whizzing by Central Park as a feature in each week’s edition of the Tribune!
That would be great advertising for the company name on the truck — and I would provide that service free.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the “City Hall Insider”.

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