Great 4th in the Park

It just keeps getting better and better every year. The Kiwanis “Pork in the Park, MCB’s “Dessert Tent” and of course, the Maple City Band were on-target with great food and patriotic music. Financially, it was very successful for both the Geneseo Kiwanis and the Maple City Band. What more can be said on all the beautiful “Aisle of the Flags” that stood to honor those past veterans. I don’t know how many flags stood their ground in the park, but I’ll bet they are not real far from a thousand. In short, a big “Thank you” goes to all the volunteers that helped make this past Fourth of July a fun and honorable event!

Three more Concerts

Circle the following dates: 1) July 18 for the last concert of the Maple City Band. 2) July 25 for the Maple City German Band. 3) August 8 for the Geneseo Big Band. All three bands are definitely worth attending. Of course, the three ice cream socials, Henry County Sheriff’s Auxiliary, Henry County Humane Society and the Inspire Continuing Care also benefit financially at the concerts. It’s a “win-win” scenario.

Humor 1

Retired Conservation Police Officer, Tony Petreikis, told me this story. Tony saw this guy driving along the canal with a bunch of penguins in the backseat. Tony turned on his flashers and pulled the man over. He asked the man where he got the penguins? The man answered, “I found them on the side of the canal.” Tony told the guy he should take them to the zoo. The next day Tony couldn’t believe it, he again saw the same guy with the three penguins. Tony stopped the guy and asked the man why didn’t he take them to the zoo? The man answered, “I did, but today I’m taking them to the beach!”

Fishing has been Good

Lately I’ve fished with Tom Simpson and Gary Dahlquist a few times and I still managed to keep my sanity. A few weeks ago Gary and I went to a private lake and we really nailed the panfish. Most were small, but enough were keepers that went under the fillet knife. If you belong to Giant Goose near Atkinson, try fishing for channel cats, especially the main lake. Use stink bait.

Geneseo Ikes Fish Fry

Members and guests are invited to the second fish fry of the year on Saturday, August 5, 2023. It will be held in the Ikes Lodge starting at 6 p.m. Club members are asked to donate some fish on the Friday before the event. The meals are always really good and the fish stories perhaps border a tad on the truth.

Fish Story

So, my neighbor, Scott Thurman, went fishing by Lock 25 the other day. As he was sitting on the canal bank, he saw a cottonmouth with a frog in its mouth. He remembered that frogs are good bass bait. Scott knew that the snake could do no harm as the frog was still in the snake’s mouth. So, he grabbed the snake and put it in his bait bucket. The problem then was how to get the snake out of the bucket and not get bitten? So, Scott had a bottle of whiskey and quickly poured some of it into the side of the snake’s mouth. The snake’s eyes rolled back and it went limp. Scott quickly put the snake in the water and took the frog to use for bait. A little while later, he felt a nudge at his foot. There was that same snake, but this time with “two” frogs in its mouth.

Captain Laura Petreikis, newly retired Illinois Conservation Police Officer (CPO} and her friend, Everett, look at their nice catch of yellow perch. Both Laura and her husband, retired CPO Tony Petreikis, used to patrol Henry, Rock Island, Will, and other Illinois counties, too. Now they can enjoy the "good life."

Newspaper vs. the Web

Call us old fashion, but we still get the Dispatch/Argus newspaper. We need to have our morning coffee and read the paper. We receive the Henry County Republic, but whenever our subscription runs out, it’s salah vee, old friend! It is rare, but other than an occasional local obituary in the ‘Republic, where is the local news for Geneseo and other Henry County towns? Geneseo is a big sports town and so what happened to that coverage? All I can say is thank goodness for the Geneseo Current.

Take the Bait

Here is a fishing tip. If you are going to get bait like waxies, nightcrawlers, trout and/or red worms, check the container “before” purchasing. I sometimes check on live bait that’s for sale at convenient and larger stores. In some cases, there are way too many sick or dead creatures and that can be a turn-off to some species of fish. Those baits I mentioned need to be kept cool and that means while ‘yer fish’n, too!

Humor 2

Nice guy, Todd Sieben, Geneseo, is one of the better local fishermen. However, last week he was spotted going into a local fish market. The story be told that he asked the owner for three walleyes, but instead of putting the fish in a bag, throw him the fish. The owner asked, “But why do you want me to throw them at you?” Todd said, “So I can tell everyone that I caught the three fish!”