Twice in the MBIP past, Molly Crusen Bishop has taken us on tours around town. In 2016 she gave us a guided tour of The East Bluff Community Center and I also appeared on her radio show. Later that year, she showed me around The Gar Hall in downtown Peoria.
These days Molly is the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce Facilitator/Office Manager. Some of her responsibilities include: setting up network meetings, luncheons, and Networking opportunities.
She’s in charge of fundraising, getting speakers for the members, getting them educational resources, collecting member dues, getting new members, deposits, connecting members to one another, try to help build their business base, help them with marketing/advertising on social media, Newsletter and the Chamber website, which you can see by clicking here.
Molly says that she’s also a Chillicothe Cheerleader (check out this event happening tonight) and and that led her to invite me to Chillicothe to take a tour of the town. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do, next stop: Chillicothe, Illinois!
Chillicothe Chamber Of Commerce
Through the miracle of these here interwebs, here we are at The Chillicothe Chamber Of Commerce and there’s Molly waiting out in front!
Great to see her smiling face, as always and inside the office is her desk, a conference room, informational pamphlets and historical books and photos.
We met last Monday and Molly led the way as we toured a section of Chillicothe known as the Historic Downtown 2nd Street.
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Sights and Storefronts
Some businesses in Chillicothe are closed on Mondays, but we were still able to look in the windows and I got photos of the storefronts. There’s information and links for each business below the photos.
1. Chillicothe City Park - This City Park is a beautiful park to have a picnic in, walk your dog or just hang out in and enjoy some time in nature.
2. Little Shop Of Hoarders - I love the title of this store, which features antiques, furniture, gifts, books, artwork and more.
3. Little Land Of Candy -N- More - This is a sweet spot featuring a huge variety of candy, plus ice cream, fudge, smoothies and over 200 types of soda! This is not just a candy store, it’s an experience!
4. Crossword Cafe - This Youth Center was founded in 2001 and it’s a meeting place that offers tutoring, music lessons and all kinds of special events.
5. Chillicothe US Post Office - A one-stop Post Office for all your mailing needs!
6. Tripple Dipple’s - If you need to satisfy your sweet tooth, this is the place to do it at! They specialize in cheese cakes with many different variations including: Sweet Tater, Pumpkin Turtle, Oreo and other flavors as well. They also serve up cookies, brownies, pies and more! Yum!
7. Cranberry Creek - Cranberry Creek is a unique gift shop, home decor and a boutique store. They specialize in hand-poured soy candles and hand-crafted natural bath and body products, Essential oils, home decor, clothing and accessories.
8. Edward Jones - Matthew D. Kenady has been guiding clients investments as a financial advisor at Edward Jones for quite a while. He’s a trusted investment consultant in Chillicothe.
9. Odie’s - Odie’s is open for breakfast treats at seven in the morning and then appetizers and sandwiches are served from eleven to eight in the evening. They have a full bar menu for those that want to dine in. Some of the homemade sandwiches include Turkey & Bacon Melt, Meatball, Pulled Pork and an Italian Sub. There’s a full bar for cocktails, beer and wine and there’s also gaming machines if you’re feeling lucky!
10. Happy Thought Coffee and World Class Travel (In The Vault) - Happy Thought Coffee is a well-known coffee shop serving up homemade soups, sandwiches, baked goods and homemade desserts in addition to a variety of piping hot coffee. They’re located in a historic bank building that was built in the 1800’s and there’s also a fun gift shop. If you feel like booking a trip after your lunch and coffee, World Class Travel is located in the same building and they specialize in a variety of getaway destinations including, Disney, Hawaii, Ireland and they partner with Celebrity Cruises, Caribbean Cruise Lines and many more specialty travel deals.
11. The Chillicothe Town Theatre - This is a classic movie theatre that was purchased by The Optimist Club in 2009. I went and took a tour of this beautiful theatre three years ago and you can click here to see photos and information from that tour!
Featured Business Number One: Nat’s Place
Nat’s Place - Owner: Nathina “Nat” Zich.
Here’s the coffee bar, which features a large selection of coffee, tea and sweet bakery items and breakfast treats. The menu can be seen by clicking here.
Nat’s Place is a fun and unique shop with multiple personalities. It’s part gift shop, part coffee and gourmet treat house and part gaming room. You’re guaranteed to have a good time in here and the gifts are all unique, fun and some are pretty edgy and funny! Theres a separate gaming room and there’s outside dining in the back.
Featured Business Number Two: Covered Wagon
Covered Wagon - Owner: Shirley Loser
This arts and crafts store has been in business here in Chillicothe since 1982, so you know that owner Shirley Loser isn’t living up to her last name! There’s unique and handmade items in this unique and wonderful shop and you can read more about this business by clicking on this link when The Covered Wagon was celebrating its 30th anniversary back in 2012.
Featured Business Number Three: The Grille 2
The Grille 2 - Owner: Sarah Adkins
The Grille 2 has an extensive menu and as you can see from the photo above a generous selection of beers on tap. There’s a nice dining room for indoor dining and you can also call and get take-out orders to go. Check out the entire menu here on their website.
Exclusive Spotlight On a Chillicothe Business: Owens Design Group
Owens Design Group - Owner: Greg Owens - Owens Design Group Crew, From Left: Andy Ruhland, Greg Owens, Todd Baer, Sarah Sights and Libby Rutan (Not pictured are Tiffany Brian and Tyler Baer. They backsassed Greg and were currently in a time-out position in a back room. I hope they learned their lesson!)
As you enter the foyer of Owens Design Group you’ll find historical t-shirts celebrating Chillicothe businesses from the past on display. These are so fun and cool and a portion of the profits from the sale of these shirts are donated to the Chillicothe Historical Society.
Here’s the front office area and there’s owner Greg Owens with his wife Vicki behind a desk. Greg and Vicki have owned and operated this business for over 17 years.
That’s Production Manager, Todd Baer pictured below them and Greg, Todd and I all worked at Fleming Potter all those years ago.
Check out some of the artwork in here featured in the last two photos. Both of these prints are 8’ x 8’ soft surface prints that are used to absorb and control sound in the studio area.
The first one is a collage of old ad images with hidden images in the piece that are cleverly placed and offer a visual surprise once the viewer discovers them. This was a fun project done by Andy, a designer at ODG, that not only is entertaining visually but also helps reduce and absorb noise in the large studio area.
The one at the bottom is a Clarendon font image. This wall image was created by Libby, another ODG designer, and it’s a clever and expressive and fun piece using a font she is fond of.
I love the conference room here and the vintage typewriter on display.
The best thing is the TV screen which has the clip of myself and Greg on The Today Show on a continual loop.
I always love it when I’m featured somewhere, it just shows good taste and I should really be part of everything that happens in this world, it’s just the way the world should be! Me, me and me!
Here’s a shot of the back of the office area at Owens Design Group. The desks here are all made by local artisans using wooden desk tops from Corsaw Hardwood Lumber in Fulton County. They were assembled and finished by a local Sparland wood worker.
Here’s Molly leading us to the back production room. Check out the refrigerator back here, it’s a to go menu from Nat’s Place, we’ve come full circle here!
Wow, lots of impressive equipment back here.
Greg told me that what they do here includes branding, marketing, design, print, direct mail, and regular and large scale signage. They’ve been servicing clients in Chillicothe and from around the country for over 17 years, so Owens Design Group has years of experience of guiding clients to branding themselves through carefully thought-out artwork, design, branding and marketing strategies.
They’re a small-town business offering big-time ideas, artwork and strategies for all types of businesses. And with the internet, they can work with you from wherever you’re located. Click here to check them out.
Greg Owens: The Guy Who Changed My Life
I first met Greg Owens back in the early ’80’s when we both were working as film strippers in the art department at Fleming Potter. We were the young guys in the department back then, so we naturally drifted together and became friends. We used to draw cartoons for each other and a lot of them were making fun of the other people we worked with.
One day I drew a cartoon of a guy who used to read questions from the game Trivial Pursuit. This is back in 1985 when that game was red hot. I had a cartoon of him reading idiotic questions like: “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” And “How many members were in the original Jackson Five?”
I gave the cartoon to Greg and he later approached me and asked if I could think of more questions similar to the ones in the cartoon. I told him I could and he said he’d like to turn the idea into a game. He then explained he could do a logo and handle the production of doing a boxed game and I thought of the name, “Trivial Trivia: The Idiot Edition.”
Well, one thing led to another, through dumb luck, we got on a local radio station, then the local news, through more dumb luck the U.P.I. Wire Service picked up the story and we ended up with stories in newspapers and being mentioned on radio stations and TV news all over the country. The whole experience came to a head when we were invited to be on The Today Show and we were interviewed by Jane Pauley!
It was total insanity!
A year later we followed that up with a joke cookbook called, “Gone With The Burp.” That was a collection of goofy recipes and we created a fictional character called, “Chef Bob.”
I decided to write a forward for the book which was the history of Chef Bob. I wrote it up long-hand (I didn’t know how to type at the time) and I remember being nervous showing it to Greg because I had never written anything original in my life and I wondered if this was any good.
I remember Greg reading it and he really liked it and told me that I was a good writer. This amazed me because I had never considered myself a writer and from that point on it led me to a life that started pursuing different kinds of writing.
It also boosted my self-esteem, which at the time, I had none. I still don’t have much, but this helped to boost it to a non-suicidal level.
I found a passion and that passion was writing. I’ve always felt lucky about this because a lot of people never catch this kind of passion in life. It’s something that can kind of drive you crazy, but in a good kind of obsessive way.
Eventually it drove me to publishing and editing the magazine People of Peoria, which led me to moving to New York and living there for 19 years. While living there I did freelance writing for publications including, The NY Post, NY Daily News, NY Newsday, Time Out New York, NY Press, Manhattan Spirit, Our Town and many others.
I also published and edited my fanzine, fishwrap for six years and then did four blogs before moving back here to Peoria in 2012 when I started this blog which you’re reading now.
All of these experiences would not have happened if Greg wouldn’t have had the idea to turn the Trivial Trivia idea into a game and then be encouraging about my writing a year later.
Back in 1985 before the Idiot Trivia thing happened I was on a dead end street heading nowhere, so thanks for changing my life, Greg! You’ve been a good friend and one of the most important persons in my life.
If you enjoy this blog and need some design, branding or marketing work, check out Owens Design Group and see how Greg and his crew can change and help your business. He did it for me and he can do it for you!
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