little blog on the prairie

• Deb Pressey’s Sunday column announced that Buffalo Wild Wings has landed — and opened– a new location in Savoy. It is located next to Friar Tuck’s and a hop, skip and a jump from the Savoy 16 movie complex. The owners told Pressey they chose Savoy for their third restaurant “because they like the growth in the area and how close it is to University of Illinois sports facilities, Applegate said.” Hmmm … could it be that Savoy doesn’t have a smoking ban that just happens to be going into effect Jan. 31 (in Champaign) and Jan. 1 (Urbana)?
• Anyone know what is going into the old Denny’s Cleaners building on Kirby Ave.? It was auctioned off on Oct. 27. Seems to me that would be a prime location for a small business.
• Campustown business patrons won a victory from the city of Champaign on Tuesday, when the city announced that it will now enforce a two-hour limit on  parking in City Lot J (at the corner of Sixth and Green). Any vehicle parked there more than two hours will receive a parking ticket of an as-unknown fine. I guess that’s an effort to discourage students (and faculty perhaps) from parking there all day.
• In case you were wondering, here’s the top dozen University of Illinois news stories for 2006.

The News-Gazette recently changed its obituary policy, which has generated plenty of controversy on the letters to the editors page. In summary, the N-G used to run free obits that followed a strict formula. They were treated as news stories, and there was no input taken from the families of the deceased. Now, for 5.5 cents a character (and another $10 for a photo), people can wax on and on about their loved ones who have gone on to another place.

Paid obituaries are nothing new in the newspaper business. If anything, the N-G was about three decades behind other papers in getting into the death-for-profit market. But our purpose here isn’t to pass judgment on the change, but rather to reflect on how the obituaries section has now become another must-read section of the paper, and not just for your grandmother.

Without the change, we wouldn’t have had this gem in Friday’s paper in the obituary of Trent Tate, 51, of Rantoul. Mr. Tate had seven surviving children and three more proceeded him in death. The obituary continued:

In deepest regret, there are more children unknown to the family, but our prayers go out to them.

I’m not sure if one can read that without eyes popping out of one’s head.

My mom has a thing for small towns, their quirks and their characters, their history and their landmarks.

So when she saw Kirby Pringle’s recent News-Gazette story on Thompson’s General Store in Camargo, she made a mental note. So we gathered up the gang and headed down 130 last weekend to check it out for ourselves and get some grub at the lunch counter.

As it turned out,  it was quite the experience. The store’s owner, an elderly lady, greeted us with a smile and wanted to know all about Peanut. The man behind the meat counter (think Sam the butcher from the Brady Bunch) had a good time with us folks from the big city. There are no menus; you just order from what you see in the case. My mom and I had turkey, my dad had a salami and liverwurst sandwich. They were served on white bread, with your choice of mustard or miracle whip. To my mom’s chagrin, there was no lettuce or tomato.

The sandwich service is really meant for take out. There’s no place to sit, save for some stacked up chairs in the back. We used a step ladder as a table, and marveled at how meticulously organized the merchandise was — in that little corner, it ranged from dog food to a trowel to soft drinks. We also talked to “Sam,” the man behind the counter, who told us all about the town and some of its interesting residents.

In all, for three sandwiches and three drinks, the bill rang up to $7.74, and that was only because my dad had two different types of meats. When the owner told him the total, he asked, “Are you sure?”

So if you’re ever on your way to the outlet mall in Tuscola, take a detour and go down 130. Where else can a family of three eat lunch for $7.74 with some of the warmest people around?

• It’s annoying how some restaurants discriminate against Monday night diners. Mr. lbotp and I had date night tonight, and we tried to eat at both Cafe Luna and Hedgerow Bistro, only to find them closed.
• We ended up at an old stand-by, Silvercreek. We had not eaten dinner there in quite some time, and it was very disappointing to find out that they have sacrificed taste in the name of presentation. Frankly, it will be a long time before we venture there again for over-priced fare (unless it’s Sunday brunch — somehow, I can’t believe they would screw that up).
• With Peanut’s grandparents in town over the weekend, we decided to order out some sushi from Sushi Kame. My dad thought it was a nice touch when they gave him some miso soup to eat while he was waiting for the order. He was satisfied with his sushi; I enjoyed their salmon teriyaki. The only disappointment there was the fact that they didn’t have the spinach dish (gomae) we love; they claimed it was due to the e-coli spinach scare.
• Our condolences to all the Po’Boy fans out there. One of my friends, a UI grad, may decide it’s not worth making the trip here anymore!

It’s fun to be Jewish during the Christmas holiday season in C-U:

1. Your cleaning lady, who (presumably) would notice all the Judaica and Hebrew artwork in your house while she is (presumably) cleaning it, still gives you an ornament as a gift.

2. You have a good excuse for not being gung-ho about the Festival of Trees or the Chris Cringle Craft Show.

3. You don’t have to worry (or care) if the Marketplace Mall Santa has a real beard or not.

4. You don’t feel compelled to kill a local tree or put something that looks like this in your house.

5. There’s nothing like Chinese food on Christmas, and here there are many places to get some mu shu come Dec. 25.

6. You are always prepared with the “same to you” comeback when the Hobby Lobby clerk wishes you a Merry Christmas.

 (I updated this post when I realized I forgot to put a link on No. 4.) - lbotp

• The lonely stone bear near the corner of Philo and Windsor Roads shouldn’t be so lonely anymore. It appears that construction of the new upscale strip mall to be named “The Pines at Stone Creak Commons” is underway. This is, of course, the “neighborhood shopping center” that has been trying to land blog pet Trader Joe’s. No word on any tenants yet.
• There was a big crowd at Grandy’s tonight, as it crawls closer to it’s day of reckoning. I never even knew what that place served until I moved to Texas and there was a smattering of them all over the place, and my sort-of boss was a big fan. Oops, I didn’t say Peter Schmit’s Grandy’s. Ten points deducted from my C-U lifer application.
• If anyone can tell me where to find Hama beads in C-U, you will have my gratitude forever. I think it’s a lost cause, considering not even the best toy store in town — Art Mart Toys — has them.
• Speaking of days of reckoning, is Rest Stoppe ever going to close? Or is that just a gonzo marketing technique?
• There may be another women’s clothing store coming to downtown Champaign, N-G culture guru Melissa Merli (inadvertently) reported in her Art Beat column last Sunday. It will occupy the recently-shuttered Verde Gallery space.