| Neoga Pole People History | ||
Telling
the History of the Neoga Pole People.
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I think I painted my first pole person in 1992. I had tried to plant flowers at the base of utility poles on the north side of our property but nothing grew. We built this house in 1979 on a flat triangle of farm ground bordered by County Road 1200N (North) on the north, County Road 350E (East) on the west and Route 45 on the southeast, or long side, of the triangle. I had worked every Spring and Summer trying to turn a farm field into a lawn with trees and bushes. But the utility poles bothered me. I decided to paint them...stripes? Spirals? A farmer? I had a stack of short 2 x 4s (2 by 4 boards). I could use those for arms. Scrap wood was used to make a nose, ears and a cap bill. I never planned to do more than the one. But I liked him and it took so little time, just a couple of hours. I got bolder and painted a much better farmer in bib overalls holding a little American flag at the northeast corner of our triangle, nearest to Route 45. I got a lot of positive comments. There were two poles between the first painted pole and the farmer with the flag. They were both farmers in jeans and caps--one held a scythe and the other a rake. These were old tools I found in the barn.
The following summer I painted poles across County Road 350E on the west side of our house. At the southeast corner I painted a farmer in bib overalls with bales of straw at his feet. He held a sign that read "Make Hay While The Sun Shines." (This pole was replaced a few years later by Coles-Moultrie or whoever is responsible for these poles. The farmer was never repainted.) The next pole north of the Make Hay" farmer had a little fence post next to it. These became a father and son. The next pole along County Road was a farmer holding a pitchfork. (This is the only one of the pole people around my home that has not been damaged or destroyed by idiots.
The pole at the southwest corner of the intersection of Country Road 1200N and Country Road 350E held a sign that read "A Time to Reap, A Time to Sew." The next pole west was farmer holding an empty burlap sack. He had rats on his shoulder and on his arm. He was not a happy soul--the rats had eaten his grain. The next farmer to the west held a fence post and had a coil of barbed wire over his shoulder. And then there was the Kevin McKay pole. The McKays are neighbors to our west. The Kevin pole held a sign pointing to his house in one hand and a six-pack (empty cans) in his other hand. The cans in the six-pack were changed quite often--Coke, Bud, Orange Crush, Millers, etc. And once I even found a FULL six-pack hanging on 'Kevin's' upraised arm.
The following summer (1994), I began a series of 'sports' figures going north from the County Road 1200N and Co. Rd. 350E intersection. The first was the bird man. He had birds on each arm and held a sign that said Hartke's Birds. (The Hartke family farms the field just east of the bird man and also raise quail, pheasant, etc.) The next was the fisherman, he held a bamboo fishing pole with a fish on the end of his line and a couple of fish on a stringer at his belt. The softball player had a bat in one hand and a glove on the other. He had Albin across the front of his shirt. Bill Albin farmed the field just west of the row of poles. The next pole was the butterfly man. He carried a butterfly net and had butterflies above his head, on his other hand and on the bill of his cap. The bowler held a plastic bowling ball in one hand and two pins (plastic) in the
other.
The baseball player held a baseball in one hand, a bat in the other and had a base at his feet. The baseball player was dressed in a royal blue and white uniform (The first pole person who did not wear bib overalls or jeans.) with Witt on the front (in honor of my son who began his coaching/teaching career in Witt). There was a badminton player holding a racket and a birdie and a tennis player in white shorts who held a tennis ball and a racket. My favorite was the archery man--he held a target above his head and looked startled. He had arrows piercing his wrist, his arm and the bill of his cap. The boxer was painted on a utility pole that was oddly crooked--just right for a boxer who looked dazed and confused, punched once too often.
There was a weigh-lifter, A Neoga basketball player, A Windsor baseball player (my son had moved from coaching at Witt to coaching/teaching at Windsor High School). The last pole person that I painted on 350E was a hunter in an orange vest holding a rifle. Next to him was a little fence post that I painted as the hunter's son. On the front of their vests I painted Boeser. A woman who often passed in her car as I was painting these poles stopped and asked if I would do a hunter for her little boy who liked to hunt with his dad. Their name was Boeser. I had skipped a pole to do the Boeser poles. So that's as far as I got. I had six more to do and I would have had a whole mile of pole people, from Co. Rd. 1200N to Co. Rd. 1300N. I have pictures of about the first half of them. I didn't even get a chance to photograph the rest before the _________ (vandals) began their late night raids.
I had so much positive reaction to these poles. Buses of children would come to look at them and vans full of senior citizens. Almost every day we would see a car driving slowly stopping at each pole so the kids (of whatever age) could get a good look at each one. I loved it. And I was getting some publicity, even a spot on WCIA's (Channel 3 [CBS, Champaign, IL]) Sunday morning features program. That's when the nighttime vandalism began. Within about four weeks nearly all of the poles, were damaged or completely ruined. Tools and sports props were stolen or broken, arms, cap bills, noses were knocked off. Vandalism just for the sake of vandalism. How sad. I didn't have the heart to try to repair them and go on with the last six.
By the next summer, 1995, I had been asked to join a "Beautification Committee" in Neoga. Mary McPhee, now Mrs. Steve Drake, Charleston, was the chairman. Although there were several projects, one was to begin painting pole people in Neoga. I guess we painted them two summers but I'm not sure. Several people were involved.
Let's begin at the intersection of Route 45 and Seventh Street in Neoga. On the NW corner is a cub scout painted by Linda (Mrs. Jim) Short. She now lives in a southern state. On the SW corner, there is a Clown painted by Karen (Mrs. Wes) Andrews, who lives in Neoga. On the NE corner, there is a cowboy painted by (Can't think of her first name right now [Tonya]) McKinney. I don't know her married name or where she lives now. Her father is Whitney McKinney of rural Neoga.
Going south on the east side of Rt. 45, the next pole is a Mason. He stands in front of the lodge hall. I don't remember who painted him. Next is a doctor standing between the Clinic and the Bank. I painted him. At the intersection of 45 and Sixth, on the NW corner is a pole painted to resemble a pot of flowers (Me [Constance Walk]). On the SW corner, theres a farmer in bib overalls (Me). On the SE corner, a druggist stands in front of the drug store (Me). Next, on the east side of the street is a NAPA guy standing in front of Neoga Auto Parts (Me). The last on 45 is another pot of flowers and stands in front of the funeral home. A vampire would have been in poor taste (Me).
Now, on Sixth Street, beginning at the First Christian Church, there is a giraffe. A couple, members of the church, made a donation to the committee and asked that we paint a giraffe in honor of their trip to Africa. Linda Short painted it. Across the street going west is a butterfly collector (Me). Back to the north side of the street, a woman holding a basket of flowers stands near Debbie's Flower Shop. I don't remember who painted her. Going a little farther west, a banker stands beside 1st-Mid. (Me).
Now go back to the 45 and Seventh St. intersection, going west, on the south side of the street is a student (Me). At the corner of Seventh and Chestnut is Uncle Sam (Me). Now, going south on Chestnut, on the east side of the street, a fireman stands across from the fire station (Me). Next is an Indian painted by Karen Andrews.
At the intersection of Sixth and Chestnut is a NHS baseball player (Me). Across Seventh St. is a NHS Cheerleader, painted by Linda Short. Next, still going south, is a businessman (Me). Next pole person is a pizza man across from The Villa, painted by Linda Short. Next pole person is a policeman across from the police station (Me). And last, the pole person is a woman in a (pink) dress (Me) (The Pink is no longer visible on the pole person). I never painted any women when I made my own decisions in the country. Utility poles best resemble a man's body I thought. But as part of a committee, it was politically correct to include some women.
I can't remember how many poles were done as I had done them in the country, with 24 arms. But, some petty bureaucrat in Mattoon with nothing better to do decided that attaching 24s with nails (!) was terribly dangerous and would impede repairmen from safely climbing the poles in case of some disaster. (Don't they all use bucket trucks these days?) Well, anyway, we were eventually forced to remove the 24 arms and paint them on. Since I was doing most of the painting and constantly having to replace noses and ears and whatever else could be broken off I sort of lost heart. We had planned to paint children on the little posts between the railroad tracks and Chestnut on Sixth. Some of them were done but not all. The finished ones were constantly being broken.
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By Ms. Constance Walk
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