A Little History

Considered by many to be the oldest continuous town reunion in the state and one of the oldest in
the country, this year's Gilman Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion is scheduled for August 11-14
[2005].

In 1886, knowing that their paths were separating and heading towards hither and yon, six young
men from the Gilman area signed a pact to return to Gilman in 10 years. In 1896, four of them
made in back and along with 18 others signed a second agreement to provide a reunion every
five years. Making it easier to remember, future reunions were scheduled in years ending in "5"
and "0".

In earlier reunions, the Illinois Central ran a special train from Chicago to Gilman to accommodate
former residents that had moved to the windy city area. But that came to an end as automobiles
gained popularity and roads improved. Back in 1970 though, about 150 Gilman residents took
busses to Kankakee and boarded an IC train and rode to Gilman where they were officially
welcomed to start the weekend event. After a bus trip and a ride on the train, I'd bet at least a few
of the 150 had already begun the festivity. --Art Jones

This 'Thing' Called the Old Boys...
(Written before the 2005 Old Boys celebration)

I guess we're talking about years and years and even more years of camaraderie, friendly
fellowship and just that plain ol' American pride in the community sort of thing here.

I don't know since I've never been to an Old Boys reunion. And, ladies, please accept my humble
apology for I know that in our politically correct world that has somehow evolved from the turtle
fries at Gus's Saloon eons ago, it is now the Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion.

But, most everyone the old guy dipping the quill has talked to refers to the whole shindig as the
"Old Boys Reunion." Somehow though and kinda like weekly stag poker games that the ladies
inevitably crash, the name of the game has changed and the old boys have added the old girls to
the official name for the festivity.

The most popular explanation for the reunion's existence is that in 1886, six guys from Gilman
signed a friendly agreement to meet again in 10 years. Four of the six made it back in 1896 and
then along with 18 other men, they signed another promise to have a reunion every five years.
Making it easier to remember, future reunions were planned for years ending in "5" and "0".
Four guys getting together for some friendly conversation, some laughs sprinkled with a touch of
ale is one thing. But I'd bet my Class of '59 ring from Taylorville High School, that when 18 other
guys were tossed into the pot, some dang women tagged along.

Among the Lone Tree Leader staff, neither Patricia nor myself have ever been to one of these
get-togethers. Daniel Richards, who works for us when we can beg him away from Milliken
University, told us that he was in a band that marched in the last Old Boys parade and said the
parade was well over 2-hours long. Just a youngster at the time, Daniel didn't take part in the
goings on in the evenings around town.

And, heck, the newest member of the LTL team, Tina Schoolman is out of town. She's with her
son, Aaron and members of the Chip and Crack Trapshooting Team including Sean Barnes,
Andy Welsh, Gary Peck and Keatin Martin at a national shooting event in Dayton. So, she ain't
much help on the Old Boys subject.

I do know that downtown Gilman has been a hub of activity in recent weeks getting ready for the
2005 reunion. Last Sunday afternoon, the president of the 2005 Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion
committee, Bret Schmid and his son ???(Brent?) were still adding historically significant items to
the windows at Bret's Pizza Palace business in downtown Gilman and brother Gary was across
the street power washing the outside of his insurance business. Up and down both sides of the
"main drag" as the young boys and young girls call it, the old boys and old girls were sprucing up
their store fronts.

Until 1982,the building that now houses the pizza business will be fondly remembered as the
Palace Theater. The structure was originally built for Albert and Sophia Lenz. In 1924, the building
was sold to Ernie and Florence Lenz Schmidt who operated the business until 1961 when
Charles and Constance Schmid took it over until 1982. In 1984, Bret and Candyce completely
remodeled the inside and the Palace Theater became today's Pizza Palace.

A few days ago, while talking to an old girl from Gilman that's attended many an Old Boys
reunion, she related that years ago a carnival was always in town for the reunion. "I think a lot of
people would still like that,' she said.

Bret Schmid and I talked a bit about changes in the reunion over the years and as he explained,
"along with the economics involved today, the carnivals that cater to these sorts of things are
booked years in advance and it just isn't practical for us anymore."

In keeping with what works for us best, the Lone Tree Leader will be taking as many pictures as
we possibly can over the next few days and from what I hear, probably long into the night. Our
August 19th edition will include as many Old Boy and Old Girls Reunion photos as we can
possibly get in here. We will include even more photos and in color on the newly designed Lone
Tree Leader web site at www.LoneTreeLeader.net.

We do this because like I said, it works best for us. Plus, it sells newspapers. The other part of it
is that all of us among the LTL group of folks from the old (me) to the young (Daniel) and the girls
somewhere in between but of course far from old (wink-wink), we place a big value on the
preservation of history. We really do-it's important to all of us. --Art Jones

Old Boys, Old Girls, And Good Old Times
(Written just after the 2005 Old Boys celebration)

This was my first Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion-Lord willing, it won't be my last. As I've
mentioned in the past, although I may be an old boy in the truest sense I know that I'm not an Old
Boy as far as the Gilman get together is concerned. Therefore, I'll admit a sense of envy seeing
all the old friends and classmates reacquainting and reliving days of yore. It's too bad really that
more towns in rural America don't follow Gilman's wonderful example of what a real town reunion
should be.

The five-year span makes it both easy to plan and for this old timer who's old enough to be as
immature as he wants to be, it also allows plenty of recovery time. After all the goings on uptown
and the revelry in the beer tent area, followed by another shot or two of celebration at the Right
Stop and Pinky's till the wee hours of morning and then chased with some coffee at the Red Door
and some quick meals at K&H, old Arthur was about worn out. And, I don't even drink.... Thank
God I'm durable though and as a younger man was well trained in the art of ale survival, sleep
deprivation and other such things.

Brett Schmid and Mayor Lyle Price and their gang of old boys and gals did a great job of putting
all this together. Everything I attended was timely and well organized from start to finish. Lorraine
Schieffer who was the Grand Marshall of this year's Old Boys and Old Girls parade mentioned
what a lot of people told me, "This was one of the best ever."

Another group that deserves special mention is the Gilman Fire Department and all the other
volunteer firemen from the area that pitched in to make the entire beer garden area a great place
to be entertained and mingle with old friends. And if the music was too loud for conversation,
there was plenty of room to just sit and chat. These guys and gals deserve a pat on the back for
maintaining a clean, roomy and well-managed area for a spot of ale and a chaw on the fat.
Since the ale was flowing like the first offering of a blue chip stock, I decided to do some first
hand scientific research on this beer drinking "thing." This decision was spurred on when Chris
Ismiel asked, "Why do we do this?"

Chris's brother's Rick and Mike could only come up with, "don't know." Sister Robin-- you know,
the one I left out of the family picture two weeks ago-said, "'cause it's there, dumbass!" Sandy
Barnes, Molly Money, Chrisie Ishmiel and Lisa Harshbarger echoed that final bit of
enlightenment. But they're all blondes....

So with abacus in hand and with plenty of beer "scientists" willing to partake in the study, I
discovered that one 15-gallon keg of beer will serve up about 141 cups of brew. Of course, that
leads to the obvious question of how many kegs were served up during the reunion. This is where
it gets difficult for I didn't seek out this information till late on a Saturday eve or maybe it was
Sunday morn. By then, my scientific research team that included Lyle Price, Dick Price, Bill Kraft,
Tim Hamilton, Steve Fancher and of course, "doctor" Allan Newton who even with a broken arm
was able imbibe in a tipple or two, had lost track.

Research indicates that somewhere between 100 and 130 kegs of beer were used over the
three days. 120 kegs is not far from 17,000 cups of beer. For the diet conscious folks, or for
those left unconscious, that's about 3,100,200 calories. Read and learn, I always say.
But the Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion is a lot more than revelry. It's a great mix of friendship,
fellowship, community pride and tradition stirred into a well-mixed beverage. I savored every
ounce that I took in. Now, I have five years to recover. --Art Jones