CITY BEAT: ATTACK ON AMERICA BROUGHT US TOGETHER BACK THEN
Paul Osborne
Editor/Publisher
It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 24 years since America was attacked on 9/11.
I shot the photo on the front page of today’s edition of the Decatur Tribune, and many others that day as the community came together in Central Park to pray for the nation.
Each year, I publish a reminder of that day that shook America to its core.
I was only a few months old when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor happened, so I don’t remember anything about it — or the resolve of Americans to join together and defeat the enemy.
I do remember when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas in 1963 — and the shock and sadness I experienced at that time.
But, there is no doubt, that in my lifetime, I’ve never felt a sense of shock and sadness over a national happening than when the 9/11 attack was reported!
I will also contend that, in my lifetime, I’ve never experienced the coming together of a community and nation to stand as one in a spirit of unity and commitment to what this nation has always represented.
On that day, I saw people of this community no longer talking party affiliation, or about our different beliefs, but being one mind in standing up for America!
When I see all of the division and hatred manifested in today’s society, I wonder if that unity is still possible among people of our nation.
Will we ever again join hands and pray for our nation and our future?
I pray that we do!
Natalie Beck
• CONGRATS — The Girl Scouts of Central Illinois have chosen their 2025 Diamond Honoree.
It is Natalie Beck, CEO of the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation for her long-standing support of the Decatur Community.
Natalie will be honored at this year’s Diamonds & Dessert event, September 18th at the Country Club of Decatur.
The event honors community changemakers while serving up sweet treats and raising funds to support the Girl Scouts programming in STEM, the arts, financial literacy, and civic engagement.
Tickets can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/46dyp5sn
I’ve known Natalie for many years and am very pleased that she has been chosen for this honor.
Congratulations, Natalie. A well-deserved honor.
• CONCERNED — Decatur Attorney Bill Faber has an interesting column on page 7 of the print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune.
Bill expresses his concerns about the reckless, dangerous driving in Decatur he witnessed.
I know I write a lot about it in this column, but if I was to rate the No. 1 topic on the minds of the people I work with, or who come to the office, it is about their experience with reckless drivers on the city’s streets.
One afternoon last week, I was working in my office at the Tribune when I heard the screeching of tires and then a loud “crash”!
I looked out my window and a pick-up truck and a car were stopped in the Main and Wood streets intersection after a serious crash!
I don’t know who was responsible but I would guess that someone ignored a red traffic signal and drove on through — or almost through — the intersection.
The intersection was soon filled with two ambulances, a fire truck and two police cars!
No report yet on the extent of the injuries the drivers sustained.
During all of the decades that I have been driving on Decatur streets and the roads coming in and out of Decatur, I have never seen such a disregard of traffic signs and signals by the majority of the drivers on the road!
I travel to and from downtown on Route 51 South and I’m thinking about getting a certified NASCAR driver’s helmet to wear as I’m driving to and from the office!
• COURTESY and… I was pulling my infamous car, “Christine” out of a parking lot at Wood & 22nd Street and I had to wait awhile for the traffic on 22nd Street to pass by.
Then, something nice happened. A driver stopped his car, along with the traffic behind him, to let me pull onto 22nd street. (I felt a little like a duck, deer, or some other animal might feel when traffic stops to let them cross the road.)
I waved a “thank you” to the driver, started to pull out, when a car blasted by in the other lane!!!
If I had pulled all the way out, I would have been broadsided on the driver’s side by that speeding car — and someone else would be writing this column today!
Thanks to the first driver for the courtesy, who let me out of the parking lot, and thanks to God that the speeding driver missed me — and I lived to write about it.
• FOOD DRIVE — We’re less than a month away from the BIG DAY for the WSOY Community Food Drive that will be held on Oct 3rd from 6 AM until 6 PM in front of the Kroger Store on Route 36 East!
Of course, you don’t have to wait until Oct. 3rd to make a donation. There is information about how you can give NOW if you choose on page 14 of this week’s edition of the Decatur Tribune.
I will make sure that we keep posting that information in the Tribune and on our website so it will always be available for you.
I have been an early morning guest of WSOY’s Brian Byers and Kevin Breheny on THE DAY of the food drive each year for many years — as mayor and now, former mayor.
I’ve been asked again this year to be present for the start of the Oct. 3 Community Food Drive broadcast on WSOY, along with present mayor, and longtime friend, Julie Moore Wolfe.
This day is always a very special one for me — and many in the community.
With all the conflict, controversy and confusion that is going on in the world today, this day of giving and wanting to help those in need, defines for me what the Decatur area is all about!
The Community Food Drive is not about political parties, issues or anything other than helping those in need. To me, there is no finer representation of what a community should be about — than helping others.
I have absolutely no hesitation in encouraging members of our community and beyond to give to the Community Food Drive — it is the avenue that expedites your desire to help those who need help with no administrative costs involved.
• OUTSTANDING! — I’ve known realtor Sandy McReynolds for many years and she’s sent interesting items for our back page from time to time. She has a good, creative sense of humor.
Sandy has an ad on page 14 of this week’s Decatur Tribune that I find pretty clever. She is “out standing” in a field and…well, I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t already seen it. Check it out.
• SNAIL MAIL — Bob Walters of Clarkston, Michigan sent me a message on Aug. 30: “Mail came today. Two copies of the Decatur Tribune – June 4 and August 20!!! I read them both!”
As I’ve often mentioned, we mail out the Tribune every Wednesday around noon at the Mound Road Post Office in Decatur and they expedite the many tubs and sacks filled with Tribunes in an efficient way.
Where some of those newspapers go before being delivered is unknown. Considering the time that elapsed before Bob received his June 4 copy (nearly 3 months) I would guess that his June copy went to the planet Mars before returning to earth for delivery!
Thankfully, about all of our mail subscribers receive each week’s Tribune in a timely fashion.
However, it seems like every time our postage rate goes up (which is usually in January and July) delivery to some areas slows down.
Here’s hoping that the USPS gets its act together. As I have so often mentioned in this column, our mail carriers and the postal employees we deal with each week, work hard to expedite our mail. The problem is with decisions being made at a higher level in the system making it difficult for local postal employees and mailers.
• I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the “City Hall Insider”.
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