CITY BEAT: WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD?

     The answer to the question in the above headline probably depends on what era your childhood was experienced in the past.
     For many of us, our favorite place to eat was at home because our parents couldn’t afford to “eat out” much when we were growing up.
     “Fast food” and “drive-through” windows at restaurants were almost non-existent when I was growing up.
     Probably the restaurant where I ate the most with my parents when I was a kid was Steak ‘n Shake.
     That was back at the time when there was very limited seating inside the restaurant, mostly consisting of stools at the counter. “Car-hops” could also take your order and bring the food to your car, but I don’t remember my parents ever eating in the car. They preferred to go inside along with my brother and me.
     Steak ‘n Shake has been around my entire life but it has changed a lot in recent years and the place where I “ate out” during my childhood and most of my life, is not the same place (at least to me) that, until a few years ago, I patronized at least once a week my entire life.
It has probably been a year or more since I ate at Steak ‘n Shake because, to me, it doesn’t seem like the Steak ‘n Shake I always knew.
     “Eating out” has changed a lot over the years. A lot of the change has happened because of changing customer demand and more efficient ways of preparing and serving food.
     This week’s “Scrapbook” on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions is about the Maid-Rite franchise which is still going strong after 100 years.
     Although the local Maid-Rite connection has disappeared, the franchise is still quite strong and the Springfield Maid-Rite location has remained in the same location since the 1920s.
     I drove to Springfield several years ago just to visit the Maid-Rite location and later wrote the “Scrapbook” that is in this edition.
Several of our readers have also informed me that they have driven to Springfield just to get a Maid-Rite sandwich.
     We have several longtime restaurants in Decatur and I’m sure many of our readers, including this editor, have eaten plenty of meals at McDonald’s and other popular stops in our city.
     “Eating out” is much more common today than when many of us were children and it was a “special occasion”.

     • BIRTHDAY greetings to Jim Devereux of Decatur, who turned 90 years old last Wednesday (March 12). Jim moved to Decatur in April, 1977, and started Available Used Auto & Truck Parts on North Woodford St. He is still going strong after 48 years in business. Jim started repairing autos in 1950 while in high school and is still involved 75 years later!
     Jim has been a big supporter of this newspaper for a long time and here’s wishing him many more years to stay active.

     • HE’S BACK! Alan J. Dobrinick of Decatur was retired and not he is unretired. Alan has an ad on page 15 announcing his “unretirement” and being back in the car business.
     Alan told me that after his retirement he remodeled his house and, when that was finished, he decided to go back to “work” and unretire.
     Check out his ad on page 14 of the print and onine editions to learn more about what Alan is doing in his new “unretired” phase of life.

     • WRONG WAY! One of my staff members was walking to her car in the municipal parking lot at Main and Franklin streets when she saw a driver’s training car on the street level part of the garage.
As she was walking to her car, she saw the student driver backing in and out of spaces, etc. — the hands on instruction that’s part of driver’s training.
Then, as my employee was leaving the garage she saw the student driver driving out of the garage in the “In” driveway!!!
I assume the driving instructor told him/her that wasn’t a good idea to drive out at the designated entrance for cars to enter the garage!!!!
     Frankly, when I used to park in that facility I was nearly involved in several head-on collisions as I was driving into the garage because some drivers were using the “In” entrance to go “Out”.
     Why is it that most drivers don’t pay any attention to signs or stoplights these days?

     • NEW FIRE CHIEF — Decatur City Manager Tim Gleason has announced that Neil Elder is the next Chief of the Decatur Fire Department.

      Elder has been with DFD for 20 years and previously served as Deputy Fire Chief of Opera-tions. He succeeds Jeff Abbott who retires after 10 years leading the department.
     “I am excited to promote Neil and am confident he will provide exceptional leadership as Fire Chief,” said Gleason. “The Decatur Fire Department is one of the best in Illinois and I know that will continue under Chief Elder.”
Elder began his career at DFD in September 2004. He was promoted to Fire Lieutenant in 2010, to Fire Captain in 2018, then to Battalion Chief in 2020, before his most recent position as Deputy Fire Chief of Operations since September 2024. He officially started as Fire Chief on March 16, 2025.
     “I am truly honored and humbled to be selected as the Fire Chief for the City of Decatur,” said Elder. “This is a role I embrace with the utmost responsibility and commitment. I look forward to working alongside our dedicated team of fire professionals to continue delivering the exceptional service that the citizens of Decatur deserve.”
     Decatur has always had some incredible heads of fire and police and Neil Elder fits that mold.

     • CHIEF RETIRING — Decatur Police Chief Shane Brandel will retire this May after serving for 28 years with the Decatur Police Department. (Story on page 12 of the print and online editions.)

     Chief Brandel has not only been an incredible po-lice chief but an excellent communicator regarding the department.
     I knew he was an excellent choice for the position of police chief when I first met him and we talked about the position before the former city manager officially appointed him.
     I wish him the very best and appreciate his very effective service to the Decatur community.

     • LEAVING? According to Bryce Hill, Director of Fiscal and Economic Research at Illinois Policy, 64 of Illinois’ 102 counties saw populations drop in 2024. (From estimates released March 13 by the U. S. Census Bureau.)
     “While Illinois’ total population grew slightly last year, many areas of the state experienced population decline. People moved out of state from half the counties.
     “While the statewide population grew by 67,899 residents from July 2023 to July 2024, thanks largely to a massive surge in international migration, most of the state’s counties shed population. The largest population losses were in St. Clair, Vermillion and Madison counties. Alexander, Calhoun and Pulaski counties saw the fastest rates of population decline.”
     There has to be more concentration on reducing property taxes (we have the second highest property tax of all states) and, especially in our area, improving medical assistance availability.
     Those are two subjects mentioned in the many comments I receive from Tribune readers — second only to concern about all the crazy drivers on the city’s streets and highways who ignore traffic signs and signals.

     • SAD to report the recent passing of Rich Bobbitt of Decatur. Rich was one of the regular basketball players who played with us at the Decatur Racquet Club twice a week for many years.
     Rich was always a pleasure to be around and a “good guy”. He was 75 when he passed at home on March 2.
     It seems like only yesterday that we enjoyed playing all of those full court basketball games.
     Thoughts and prayers are with Rich’s family and friends.
     I think the older I get, the more I realize that life passes quickly — even a long life —and we should cherish the friendships we have (and had) along life’s pathway.

     • BEST WISHES to WSOY’s (and other stations) Carolyn Hilligoss and Marshelle Taylor who were celebrated in a farewell reception at Doherty’s last Thursday.
     Carolyn, business manager for the parent company CIMG, was recognized for over 50 years of service and Marshelle for 29 as they bid farewell to their duties at the station.
     Both have been exceptional employees.
     I’ve known Carolyn for many years. She always arrived very early at the radio station each morning, so she was the person who usually let me into the studio for my 7:00 a.m. appearance on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday.
     That started when the station was on Pershing Road, continued when it was located in the Citizens Building and now, on the sixth floor of the Millikin Court Building, just two floors above the Tribune offices.
     They will be missed, not only at the radio station, but in the daily routines of the people we see in the downtown business community.

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