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- Things You Never Hear About Department
- From Rail & Wire Issue 68, June 1971
An unsung and very seldom publicized side of museum activities are those small jobs done that don't fall in other
categories that are regularly covered in the newsletter. During the busy and sometimes hectic months of June and
July, many small things were done which would accomodate and impress our Visiting public. Doug Oak and his wife
Chris spent some time digging out of storage some 20 different marker lights, cleaning, and setting them up in one
of the display cabinets in the station. Glenn Johnson and Warren Cobb spent some time in the hot box (attic of the
station) installing and electrically connecting the lights and exhaust fan in our public washrooms. Associate member
Al Svoboda, owner of Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern in Chicago Heights, donated the use of a Circus calliope for
Schwabenfest Sunday. The calliope is used in many parades and is complete with two merry-go-round horses
drawing it. Bob Opal was seen tickling the ivories on it and entertaining our visitors. Svoboda's is a popular attraction
having one of the largest collections of operating Nickelodeons in the midwest. Another first for the museum occured
in the month of July when Mr. and Mrs. Fred Carpenter, associate members from Vernon, Texas, drove their camper
up and parked at the KOA campsite a mile from the museum, and helped out at the museum for two weeks. Fred
ran the weekday service car and his wife, Merle, ran the giftshop. This really helped out because it freed two of the
summer employees for other work around the museum. Any other out-of-town members interested in this are most
welcome--just drop us a note telling us when you plan to be here and for how long.
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