Not Too Far Away Ride – Southern IL
Approximate Distance: 149 miles / 239.79 km
Time to Allow: Got a free afternoon? This ride will take 2-4 hours.
Best Time to Go: Spring, Summer, Fall
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AUTHOR’S DESCRIPTION:
Nice trip up to Southern Illinois.
You will go through Amish communities and even pass by a great store run by the Amish. Excellent quality hand made furniture for sale there too.
You will cross the Ohio River on a Ferry into Cave-In-Rock Illinois.
This route also passes through the Garden of the God’s area. Lots of scenery and hiking there.
In OLD Shawneetown, you will be able to visit World Famous Hog Daddy’s Saloon. VERY interesting items hanging it that place…..
In Sturgis Ky, there is a nice bike shop there called Custom Biker Wear. Very friendly people and lots of biker clothes, chrome, parts, decals, patches, etc.
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COMMENTS:
Rate this Road/Route
JLCrosser
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
5 star except for the Custom Biker Wear Shop, I will admit they were extremely friendly till…..What made my visit to Custom Biker Wear unique and special is in the 48 years I have been a consumer I have never experienced the level of direspect that I recieved from them today. I was returning a pair of gloves that split from dry rot when my boyfriend tried on his gift. They not only refused to even look at my receipt, they stated that they had never carried that line and that I had purchased them at Rural King. The only logical reason I came to was that after all the years they have spent on the road selling to people they will never see again has lead them to treat locals in the same manner. I have visited their website to review their online return policy and there is none. The link goes to a page that is EMPTY…just like their actual brick and mortar store policy (Call the customer a liar and trust that they are illiterate). Bikers BEWARE ! ! !
Area Ride Route 2
Approximate Distance: 92 miles / 148.06 km
Time to Allow: Plan on lunch, this ride will take 4-6 hours.
Best Time to Go: Spring, Summer, Fall
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SCENERY:
ROAD CHARACTERISTICS:
AUTHOR’S DESCRIPTION:
Although I listed this as a 4-6 hours ride, if you stop at all of the sites it could last all day. You’ll begin (and end) your day in Columbia, IL there is a gas station with plenty of parking within easy access of a major interstate. I like to begin my ride going to the top of the bluff at Columbia and coming down HH Road. This has two advantages: One its curvier than Bluff road, and Two on a hot day the tree canopy along HH Road traveling down the ravine is a welcome relief from the heat.
Bluff road will take you into “old” Valmeyer. The ’93 flood left it almost a ghost town. If your up to it, there is a wooden staircase that you can climb to the top of the bluff about 1.5 miles past the town of Fults (12.5 from Valmeyer). If you take the hike, you’ll appreciate the fact that your next cool down will be just outside of Prairie Do Rocher. The road runs past a limestone mine. The air coming out of the caves is like a blast of air conditioning. You’ll want to stop in front of one of the caves for a while to really cool off.
On the other side of Prairie Du Rocher you can take a little side trip to Fort de Chartres. Going back to Prairie Du Rocher, you’ll take Bluff Road to Ellis Grove and continue on to Fort Kaskaskia State Park where you can take a short side trip to the top of the bluff for a scenic overlook. When you’ve had your fill, continuing on you’ll pass Menard State Prison in Chester. You may want to leave the route for your first real chance to get gas or refreshments in Chester.
Take note as you pass the statue of Popey before you cross the Mississippi into Missouri. You’ll pass through St. Genevieve on your way to the Ferry. I probably should point out that the Ferry is $10 – $16. Once your back in Illinois, take the ferry road to the levee, turn left on top of the levee, follow the levee road to Bluff Road and make a left. Stay on Bluff Road all the way back to Columbia.
COMMENTS:
Area Ride Route 1
Approximate Distance: 39 miles / 62.76 km
Time to Allow: Quick and Easy. This ride will take 1-2 hours.
Best Time to Go: Spring, Summer, Fall
State(s):
SCENERY: Historical / Fall Colors / Forest / Rural / River / Farmland
ROAD CHARACTERISTICS:Straight / Sweeping Curves / Twisty / Rolling Hills / Moderate Traffic / Gas Scarce / Foot Traffic Rare
AUTHOR’S DESCRIPTION:
Nice scenery for this part of the country. Mississippi River bluffs
farm country and woods.Watch for loose gravel on some of the narrower roads.
COMMENTS:
Buffalo Soldiers Raise Money For The Susan G. Komen “Race For The Cure” – Jun 2010
The Southwest Illinois and Saint Louis chapters of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club joined forces to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Through the generosity of our members and friends we were able to donate over $1100 to this worthy cause. This is just one of the many ways we give back to our communities.
Susan G. Komen fought breast cancer with her heart, body and soul. Throughout her diagnosis, treatments, and endless days in the hospital, she spent her time thinking of ways to make life better for other women battling breast cancer instead of worrying about her own situation. That concern for others continued even as Susan neared the end of her fight. Moved by Susan’s compassion for others and committed to making a difference, Nancy G. Brinker promised her sister that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever.
That promise is now Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the global leader of the breast cancer movement, having invested nearly $1.5 billion since inception in 1982. As the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, we’re working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, and generous contributions from our partners, sponsors and fellow supporters, we have become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.
SWIL Soldiers Present a Donation to Fund Raisers for Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital – May 2010
The SWIL Soldiers donated $250 to Belleville-area high school students who held a Teeter-Totter-A-Thon fund raiser in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is located in Memphis, Tennessee. The students took turns on the Teeter-Totters, working in shifts over a 48 hour period and were sponsored by several organizations and individuals.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded in 1962, is a leading pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children’s catastrophic diseases. St. Jude was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas on the premise that “no child should die in the dawn of life.” Thomas named the hospital for Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Catholic patron saint of hospitals, desperate cases and lost causes. Thomas was a struggling young entertainer when he knelt in a Detroit church before a statue of St. Jude Thaddeus and asked the saint to “show me my way in life and I will build you a shrine.”
All medically eligible patients who are accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family’s ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric research center in the United States where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. In addition to providing medical services to eligible patients, St. Jude also assists families with transportation, lodging, and meals. Three separate specially-designed patient housing facilities—Grizzly House for short-term (up to two weeks), Ronald McDonald House for medium-term (two weeks to 3 months), and Target House for long-term (3 months or more)—provide housing for patients and up to three family members, with no cost to the patient. These policies, along with research expenses and other costs, cause the hospital to incur more than $2.4 million in operating costs each day. Around $180,000 is covered by patient insurance, the remaining $2.22 million/day is funded by charitable contributions.
SWIL partners with organizations to restore an historic cemetery
In late 2007 the SWIL chapter became aware of a local area cemetery in East Carondolet, Illinois that possibly held the remains of a Buffalo Soldier. Members of the club rode out to the site and discovered a long forgotten plot of land surrounded by farm fields that was over grown and contained obvious signs of vandalism and grave desecration. The restoration was more than our chapter could accomplish alone.
We sought to find more information and eventually met members of the Flat Creek Missionary Baptist Church of East Carondolet, IL. This church is the oldest Black church in the State of Illinois. It was established in 1809 before Illinois statehood and is still a vibrant place of worship. At one time the plot was used to bury church members and others from the town.
With the involvement of a United States Congressman, County Officials, bordering land owners, a major railroad corporation and the mayors of two adjacent cities; the church members, anthropologists from the University of Illinois, members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Saint Clair County(IL) Genealogical Society, the Saint Clair County Levee District, the SWIL chapter of Buffalo Soldiers and other interested parties soon gathered at the church to form a committee and hold meeting in order devise a plan to restore the cemetery. Through old records and a discovered broken headstone, a member of the 6th Regiment, United States Colored Heavy Artillery (C.H.A.), Company “I” was found to be buried here.
Sgt. Jack Jackson enlisted on December 8, 1863 and was posted at Natchez, Mississippi. He was one of 76,000 Black soldiers to be enlisted to fight for the Union during the Civil War and was instrumental in recruiting Blacks who were apprehensive about joining the Army. He was a formative figure, known as “Big Jack”. He traveled with White Unionofficers on their recruiting jaunts. Dressed in a sergeant’s Army jacket and striped military pants, armed with a musket and cartridge box, and sitting astride a horse, “Big Jack” was probably the first Black soldier many plantation hands had ever seen, and his appearance created a stir in the slave quarters. He managed to convince many slaves to leave their families and take up arms as members of the Union Army.
He accompanied General Grant at the famous Battle of Milliken’s Bend where his heroism became apparent. A detachment of 1410 men, of whom 160 were Whites, and the remainder were ex-slaves fought Confederate forces at Milliken’s Bend. During the battle “Big Jack” receiveda bullet wound to his head that he survived. The bravery of the Black soldiers during this battle completely revolutionized the sentiment of the Army with regard in the employment of Negro troops.
Records indicate that he was 25 years of age on December 29, 1864 when he married Mary Johnson in Vidalia, Louisiana.
In June of 1865 Jackson submitted to a Field Officers Court Marshall for what appears to be a loss of 83 cents worth of camp equipage. There are no records of a defense of the crime recorded in documents obtained from the National Archives, merely that the punishment was quite severe: having to pay a $10 fine from his pay, and to serve 20 days of hard labor, 10 of which he was to be fed only bread and water.
On May 13, 1886 Jackson finally mustered out of the service having received his last paycheck December 31, 1865. It is not known at this point how he arrived in Illinois. There is one mention in the St. Clair County History – 1881, that the first local store was kept by Misters Green and Jackson and was situated on State Street in the old village of East Carondolet.
Interviews with an elderly owner of one of the oldest Black funeral homes in the area have led us to believethat up to three Black Buffalo Soldiers are buried here. We fully understand that soldiers joining the Army from 1866 to 1944 served during a era when they were referred to as “Buffalo Soldiers”, but these members of The United States Colored Troops deserve our attention because of their sacrifices. The calendar marking their years of service will not delineate them from our name sakes. The small plot of land may contain the graves of up to 1,000 people. Records found to date show burials dating back to 1878. All of these people deserve to rest in peace, in graves that are properly maintained and respected.
Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club raises money for scholarship fund
CLUB KEEPS MEMORY OF BLACK SOLDIERS ALIVE
By Jason Sibert Suburban Journal
Thursday, August 6, 2009 5:12 PM CDT
The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Southwest Illinois’ block party in Lebanon was about more than raising money for a new scholarship.
The party, held Aug. 1 on McAllister Street, was also about preserving a piece of black military history.
The Buffalo Soldiers’ story began immediately after the Civil War, when Congress authorized six regiments of black Army troops, two calvary and four infantry, according to the website Texas Almanac (www.texasalmanac.com). The name Buffalo Soldiers came from American Indians who thought the soldier’s curled hair resembled the curly hair on a bison’s face.
Larry Wilkins (left), of St. Louis, and Karen Sisk, of St. Louis, prepare chicken for attendees at the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Southwest Illinois scholarship fundraiser in Lebanon on Aug. 1.
The first chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club was started in 1993 in Chicago by a Chicago police officer to pay homage to African-American contributions to the post-Civil War military, according to the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club website (www.buffalosoldiersnational.com). The club has 80 chapters nationwide.
“The legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers, it’s a legacy that military people and law enforcement people want to see continued,” said motorcycle club member Laurie Calkins. “So much is not taught in school. I hadn’t heard of the Buffalo Soldiers until after I’d joined the military (at 19). Our focus as a motorcycle club is to educate people in the schools and the communities about this.”
Calkins is retired from the Air Force. She’s also the owner of Lil’ Bits Juke Joint in Lebanon, a tavern that serves as a clubhouse for the local chapter of the club.
This year marks the first year for the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Southwest Illinois scholarship. One $1,000 scholarship will be given to a student from the Lebanon, East St. Louis, Madison, Cahokia or Lovejoy school districts who attends a four-year institution, according to member Wendell Johnson. Criteria for the scholarship are a 2.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and the completion of an essay on Buffalo Soldiers.
Participants in a motorcycle poker run for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society stopped by the fundraiser because Lil’ Bits Juke Joint was one of five stopping points for the run in the Metro East.
They took the time to grab a bite to eat and talk with those at the block party.
Brandon Osborn, of O’Fallon, a poker run participant, said the block party represented the chance “to hang out with other bikers.”
Aaron Wright, of Collinsville, who also participated in the poker run, said the two events amounted to a “good Saturday ride” and the chance to be with other bikers.
A few feet from Lil’ Bits Juke Joint, local Buffalo Soldiers club President Darryl Nelson worked the disc jockey booth, playing a combination of rock and rhythm and blues.
“We want to educate people on the history of the Buffalo Soldiers,” Nelson said. “We do that by going out to churches and different organizations. Some of our other chapters have scholarships and we felt it would be a good thing for us to do.”
Nelson, who is retired from the Air Force, and his wife Donna Nelson are Charter Members the Southwestern Illinois chapter which began in 2007. Nearby, St. Louis resident Larry Wilkins, an Army veteran, cooked and served up turkey legs, chicken, bratwurst.
Sonny Theobald, the owner of S&J Lighthouses in Belleville, operated a booth to installed LED lights on bikes. LED lights make motorcycles more visible at night.
“I’ve never worked an event with the Buffalo Soldiers before,” Theobald said. “I’m having a great time. I’m meeting some great people.”
The final tally from the fundraiser was not available.
