Rameen: Coming up on City Spotlight, the start of season eight continues on location in Arcola.

We'll first talk with the new mayor of Arcola, Jesus Garza.

And Bill Wagoner, Arcola City Administrator.

We'll learn a little bit about new mayor, Jesus Garza, the latest on work being done on Arcola parks and streets, plus, what the Broomcorn Festival means to Arcola.

And we'll close the show with a feature, the sights and sounds of the 50th Arcola Broomcorn Festival.

We're talking all about Arcola, next, on City Spotlight.

[music plays] City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

Hello, and welcome to another edition of City Spotlight.

As you can see, we are outside and on location for this episode as we continue the start of season eight.

As promised, we are in Arcola for the 50th Arcola Broomcorn Festival.

We're going to talk all about that a little bit later in the program, but first off, to help us out in this first segment, to my immediate right on the end, Arcola city administrator, Bill Wagoner.

Bill, great to have you on again.

Bill: Hey, thanks for coming to town and taking in the festival with us today.

Rameen: I'm very excited, great weather.

And to my immediate right, first-time guest here on City Spotlight, the new mayor of Arcola, Jesus Garza.

Jesus, it's great to have you on.

Jesus: Hi.

Thanks for coming to Arcola.

Rameen: Always a pleasure to be here in Arcola.

I look forward to learning about things going on here in Arcola, in addition to the Broomcorn Festival.

But first off, Jesus, you're a first time guest.

Tell us about yourself.

Jesus: Well, I'm just kind of...

I'm a hard worker.

I can say that for the last 28 years.

And finally, we decided to see if we can do something different for the Arcola community.

Kind of scared the first few months about get the mayor position, but finally we had discovered that, the team I have, especially Bill, he's a great guy, smart.

He helped me with everything.

If I've got a question about something the community asked me, he got the right answer for me and I pass it on.

It's great.

We work together pretty good.

Rameen: You mentioned 28 years.

How long have you been in Arcola?

Jesus: 28 years.

Rameen: Okay.

And you obviously... You have a business here in Arcola?

Jesus: Yes.

Rameen: And you just became mayor a few months ago; we're taping here on September 10th.

What's kept you here in Arcola for 28 years?

Jesus: Well, when we moved from Mexico to here, it's because we're looking for better jobs, better living for the family.

When we come, my son is only nine months old and we have three more girls on the passing of time.

Originally, we're thinking we working for United States for maybe a few years and back to Mexico, but no, after you see Arcola, great community, great town, I said, "Well, we're going to stay," and my wife agreed.

I think it's one of the part of the key.

If you have your wife support you in everything, I think that's one of the parts you making great.

That's why we do and that's why we have a- Rameen: Got to have people behind your back.

Very good.

Jesus: Yes, yes.

Rameen: Previous mayor, Larry Ferguson, we thank him for all the times that he was on City Spotlight.

Chose to not run for reelection, so what was the decision and why did you want to run for mayor of Arcola?

Jesus: Well, the reason is because I know... Well, this is my personal opinion.

I just thinking about the city is kind of going downhill, because business start closing.

Main Street, downtown is kind of closing a few business and I don't know why, but that's one of the reason.

When you're driving a tow truck on nights and see issues here, there with the community, and say, "Well, we need to be focused on something different for the next generations that come in.

Try to make them better."

And Bill agreed every time, pretty much, what we doing so far, and then we continued to do that hope.

Rameen: You've been in office since May?

Jesus: Yep.

Rameen: Bill, tell me about Jesus stepping in now.

Obviously Larry was mayor for quite a while, but tell us about the few months you've worked with Jesus.

Tell us about working with Jesus.

Bill: It's been really great.

Little bit of a kind of a transition there, because you get into a certain routine, working with Larry for 16 years.

Jesus has got some fresh ideas.

He's got fresh volunteers in the community, more people getting involved, and it's been a good perspective change.

You get locked in sometimes on what you're doing on a day-to-day basis, and it's good to have the challenge of opening that mindset up a little bit and seeing other ways to help serve the community.

Over the years, we've done a lot of infrastructure projects, but people don't realize that pipe in the ground, what that does.

It doesn't really impact their day-to-day lives.

But if you do sidewalks and streets and curb appeal and those things in your community, that's a different perspective.

People see that and they feel better about your community then.

Even though it's still important to put the water and sewer pipes in the ground, out of sight, out of mind.

Rameen: Maybe not the most glamorous thing, but the guts of the city.

It's very important to us all.

And so you mentioned blending the old with the new ideas, so very good.

Jesus, Bill told me, prior to the interview, that you started a local initiative to recruit volunteers.

He mentioned the volunteers.

Jesus: Oh, yes.

Rameen: Tell us about that.

Jesus: Yeah, when I campaigned, I started talking with a lot of the community, I visited a few people on the houses when we do a campaign and they asked me what ideas I have and kind of like, "Hey, I like to do volunteers helping these in here, fixing the park, repairs and remodel the park," And then everybody said, "Yeah, we can handle, we can help you out if you got elected."

Well, we got elected and now the group...

Right now, we got to about around 20, 25, I think, 25 person helping it.

And people keeping calling in, "Hey."

We have a Facebook page now and we get in signing people, "Hey, when?

When?"

We keep it going.

Rameen: It's generating momentum?

Jesus: Yeah, yeah.

Rameen: And what do you want this to achieve?

What will having more volunteers do for the community?

Jesus: Well, everything about these volunteers improve the town, make it nice again.

Well, it's nice town, don't make me wrong.

It's nice town, but I would like to get it better.

We got the next project, I guess, be with the handicap people.

We're going to try to fixing the sidewalks.

We already talked to the volunteers and they say, "Yeah, we're in.

We would like to help."

And it's good.

Making motivated more.

Bill has motivated that part too, when people wants to volunteer pretty much in everything.

Rameen: As they say, it's Amazing Arcola, so maybe make Arcola a little bit more amazing.

Jesus: Well, yeah.

Rameen: Something like that.

Jesus: A little more, yeah.

A little more amazing, yeah.

Rameen: All right, very good.

I was last here in Arcola back in June, and I talked with Angie Miller of the Arcola Chamber of Commerce.

She filled me in on some of the newer businesses that have popped up recently.

Bill, get us caught up on some of the work that's been done recently on the parks and streets.

Bill: Yeah, NeCO was in town this year, doing a lot of work for the state, and so while they're here and working and set up and the state's paid for that set up charge, we'll take a little bit of a discount and not have to pay for that.

We were getting more time and material work done.

Our crossings here on the railroad tracks were redone, we did a long stretch on Washington Street, and just some pocket areas in town we've been needing some attention on.

It was a good chance to do that.

And then we milled and resurfaced our basketball courts at both parks, and so we've got a nice focus on Moore Park, of getting that all cleaned up.

We did the tennis courts a few years ago, we now did the basketball courts.

We've got a splash pad coming in.

It'll be open next summer.

That'll be very exciting for the kids, and just new opportunities to dress things up at our park.

It's had some age on it.

It's one of our busiest locations in the community.

It's very active with soccer and basketball and baseball and softball during the summer, so just to add to those amenities would be a great thing.

Rameen: Jesus, in previous episodes that I talked with Bill and Larry Ferguson at the time, they talked about the work on the parks.

It doesn't happen overnight, but how important is is it to maintain your parks?

Jesus: Very important for us to keep it nice and clean and make an update when they need it.

We working on that together to get in maintenance-wise, keeping updated all the time.

That's be the main for the community, especially the kids, it's been more safe and better.

Rameen: Absolutely.

A few other communities here in Central Illinois have added splash pads, all abilities parks, so it'll be a nice addition to the park there, here in Arcola once it's open.

You said next summer?

Bill: Yep.

Rameen: We've also talked in recent episodes, Bill, about housing.

Any progress or additional housing on the way?

Bill: We've had a newer subdivision out by our park that got a little bit of a slow start.

It's been very busy.

There's two houses under construction now.

I think there's two more lots that were sold, so we're looking at two more starting here at the end of the year, possibly.

In a small town, that's pretty good growth for us.

Our latest census estimates showed that we had population growth again.

It wasn't 10% we saw in the last census, but it was still pretty good.

Rameen: Still growth.

Bill: Yeah.

It's really good to keep your community and your school district have some vitality to it, just so you have to grow your population, you have to get your base up and you have to have that for taxing for students and just a general healthier community.

Rameen: And also on one of the recent episodes that we talked with you Bill, the Solar Project there on the south end of town; was that completed and how's that working out?

Bill: Yeah, it's great.

They've got it up and running.

Little bit of maintenance on it.

The ownership group, they're good guys, but they're not used to field maintenance down south here, so introducing them to Roundup and mowers and weed eaters and getting that cleaned up a little bit.

They've hired a grounds crew out there, so hopefully we'll it get dressed up a little bit and make it look nice, but it's very active.

It's been a very positive addition to the community.

Rameen: Great.

Bill: Solar's kind of the next big thing and the governor's plan right now is to transition us all away from fossil fuels.

Coal plants are going out, so we're going to see a lot more of these types of developments on the edge of small towns, just because there's available land, there's access to the electric grid and it's a positive for everybody.

Rameen: Arcola's beating some communities to that, with having your solar up.

It's a slow process to get to those goals of community, state and our country's leaders to get to that point, but Arcola has some solar going.

Jesus, your overall thoughts on some of these projects that we've mentioned and how they'll benefit the community?

Jesus: I think that they're going to benefit pretty much 100%, right, Bill?

And especially with keeping... We're going to open two more business in town in the next few months?

Bill: Yeah.

Jesus: Yeah, downtown there's a bakery, they're going to be open.

Rameen: Wonderful.

Jesus: Yeah, it'll be more like a American-Mexican bakery.

It's going to be exciting for the community.

Rameen: Excellent, and it's downtown.

That's a great addition.

Jesus: Yeah, it's downtown.

Rameen: All right.

Well, without further ado, let's talk a little Broomcorn right now.

We're taping here on the morning of September 10th.

Things are getting going as we're taping here on the morning of September 10th, and Broomcorn is a three-day festival.

It is the 50th Arcola Broomcorn Festival.

It took a little bit longer to get here, but it's here.

Your thoughts on the 50th Broomcorn.

Jesus: Well, I'm exciting, because I'm the mayor of the town when that happened.

I'm very excited, because when I take this position, it's not because I want to be the mayor.

No, it's because I want to be enjoying with the community, everything, and especially with this 50 anniversary, I love it.

I got it right here, because basically when we come here, it's be almost 30 years ago.

We are part of the community and we love that.

Rameen: I want to break away for just a second here, Bill.

I'm hearing this kind of comment there and I want your reaction to it.

He's excited for those reasons.

That's got to make you very happy inside to have Jesus here at this time and that's what his excitement for Broomcorn is.

Bill: Yeah, it's great.

And we added a couple of young, Hispanic men onto our city council, so diversity of thought is very important.

We did some alignment exercises, we had Jim Arndt, from Arndt Municipal Services, come down and work with us to help us all make sure we're on the same page and singing the same tune.

We've got a common vision for the next couple of years, so it's been a good exercise.

There was a lot of things we were all thinking just separately, but now we're all on the same page, so that's great.

Rameen: This is a big milestone number.

I'm grateful to be here.

I've been looking forward to this for a while with everyone here.

And obviously, because of COVID, had to be pushed back a year, but it's here and it's a signature event.

This is annually.

This is the big event in Arcola.

What does it mean to have the 50th Broomcorn here in Arcola?

There's been 50 of them, but this is a big number for a very big event that happens annually that a lot of people look forward to.

Bill: I think it was very timely that this is the 50th, and after the year of being locked down with COVID and not getting out and people are just...

There's a pent up demand to get outside and experience life and not be shuttered in fear with the virus.

We've had our opportunities to get shots and here today, our numbers are still trending up, but we're outside.

You can enjoy this freedom and celebrate our community and its vitality and have some great fair-food and meet the street vendors and buy some junk you don't need for your house and spend it all in town.

We'd love to see you here.

Rameen: You hit a lot of check marks there, Bill, with the things you don't need for your house and fair-food, but fair-food is a luxury that you get to enjoy a couple of times a year, and what could be better than the weather you guys are going to have for this weekend?

Picture perfect.

For each of you, Jesus, you said you've been in Arcola almost 30 years.

What's something about the Broomcorn Festival that you look forward to the most?

Jesus: Well, I love the parade.

We love it.

Rameen: And they're calling it the huge parade, not just a parade, it's a huge parade.

Jesus: Huge parade, yeah, it's a huge parade.

Yeah, they call it a huge parade, yeah, true.

I love that.

Bringing the family to see the parade as we do every year, we waiting... My sons, my girls and my son are always waiting for that day.

It's kind of exciting doing every year, September, and it's awesome.

We love it.

Rameen: Fantastic.

Bill, I've probably asked you more times on this program about Broomcorn, but what's something else, or what is something that you look forward to?

Is it the overall weekend or is it the parade?

What is it something that you look forward to?

Bill: I really enjoyed the people watching.

Everybody's so happy and excited to be here and enjoy the parade, whether young or old, see their faces light up.

And then just the general crowd, everybody's upbeat the whole weekend.

That's just great.

We get down in the dumps sometimes and you need a little pick me up and that's not just us in the community, it's everybody.

It's a great weekend to celebrate and have a good time and enjoy ourselves.

Rameen: I'm honored to be here and we look forward to sharing the sights and sounds of Broomcorn Festival.

I'm taping it following this interview, so I look forward to seeing what we can present to you here in the second segment.

I'm having a moment here talking to Jesus and Bill, and having recently been in Arcola a few months back for the Raggedy Ann Rally, you have the Broomcorn Festival.

For a town of this size, toot your own horn here.

You have some truly, very unique things for your small town.

It's got to make you very proud.

Jesus: Yeah, we do.

We do pretty good.

Rameen: Yeah, Bill?

Bill: It's because we have a lot of great volunteers that step up and help out with these things and bring ideas and fundraise and organize and do all the behind the scenes things that we get to enjoy and take for granted.

The Broomcorn Festival, there's 20 people that are hardcore dedicated to putting this together every year, and they all work together well and they do their job and make sure everything is planned out to the last minute and done right.

We hope the next generation picks up on those traits and helps out and pitches in.

We need those kind of people to keep this going, because it's not Jesus or I that can make this happen.

It's got to be community working together.

Jesus: Mm-hmm, agreed.

Rameen: Community, team and your initiative to get more volunteers.

Add to those volunteers and you'll have a whole bunch of volunteers in the community making things what you want them to be.

Jesus: Yeah, kind of motivated pretty much everybody to do that.

And especially like Bill say, we got two aldermen, two council members Hispanic.

They born in USA, but they're coming from Hispanic family.

It is great.

Get more people involved with the city, I think it's going to be great.

Rameen: Fantastic.

We're taping here are at Arcola for the 50th Arcola Broomcorn Festival.

We thank the time here in this first segment, the new mayor of Arcola, Jesus Garza and Bill Wagoner.

Gentlemen, great to have you on City Spotlight.

Thank you very much.

Jesus: Well, thank you.

Bill: Thank you.

Jesus: Thank you.

Rameen: And enjoy the Broomcorn Festival as always.

Jesus: Thank you.

You enjoy it too.

Rameen: And coming up next here on City Spotlight, we'll have sights and sounds from the 50th Arcola Broomcorn Festival, but first let's take a look at some of the upcoming activities going on in Arcola.

[music plays] Lawn Rangers: We're here!

It's about the crowd.

[Horn sound] [Applause] Lawn Rangers: We do this for the people.

It's for the people.

Kevin: When I was a kid, I remember my dad and his friends practicing The Rangers in the church parking lot across the street from our house.

They were doing a news story about the group, and of course these were guys that I knew growing up and looked up to as adults in the community.

And despite that, I still joined The Rangers.

Pat: It's the 50th year of the Broomcorn Festival and the 40th year of The Lawn Rangers, so basically most of my Broomcorn memories are because of what the Rangers have done, how we've started, how it grew, how we've traveled around the country, how we've been in inaugural parades, done so much.

I like to say this, and so does Kevin, never have so many done so much with so little for so long.

Lawn Rangers: How about you Arcola!

[Applause] We're here for Arcola!

[Wheels turning] Kevin: It means a great deal.

This is one of the first communities that really adapted the beer tent type thing.

Having alcohol at your festival was kind of looked down upon at once.

It was the first community that really put a big time road race with a 10K.

We had Olympian Craig Virgin start off the first couple of years, and of course it's the birthplace and home of the world famous Lawn Rangers.

It's a unique festival and a tribute to a great town.

All right!

Pat: We do have the greatest parade in Central Illinois, to go with the greatest festival.

It's another real source of pride, the whole weekend, for not only us, but really everyone in Arcola.

They look forward to it, the plan for it, they enjoy it.

They invite their children to come home, friends come back.

It's just a great family reunion atmosphere.

[Cheerleaders cheering] [Sweeping sounds] Tom: There we go... That's wrong!

Kevin: There's about a 16 foot by four foot maze that was set up, we believe, maybe 40 years ago.

We're still using the same maze that was set up.

Just a really neat contest, and of course, all of this, the whole festival, gives tribute to our rich history, not only in brooms and broomcorn, but our cleaning industry is still very present and an important part of Arcola.

Set go.

Friendly with, I've heard some trash talking in it, but despite that, you have some regulars that are champs.

The guy that won yesterday, this year in 2021, was a repeat champ, so there is a strategy to it, but it's a real nice, fun event.

PA Announcer: Let's here it for Bob.

[Applause] Lady: Good job Bob.

Pat: It is the best parade in Central Illinois, because really everyone wants to be in the parade.

We started with a good parade when we had the O's Gold 40 horse hitch was the first big draw we had, 40 horses all hitched up for one...

Guy named Dick Sparrow was the driver.

It was a big draw, and the next year we had Clayton Moore, which is when the Lawn Rangers started.

And from these beginnings of being willing to underwrite expenses, just in case the Broomcorn Festival didn't cover their own expenses, the community said, "Well, if we need some money, we'll all chip in something to make sure we get both acts here."

That's how we got started, and once you get a reputation for having a great parade, people come, and when people come, bands and different organizations want to be in the parade to be seen more.

That's why, if we want any politician in the state to march, they would come.

[Lawn Rangers marching and cheering] Kevin: It is a big parade and the Lawn Rangers are a big part of it.

It's something unique and I will say that my grandfather, my dad's dad, I know had always preached that, "Do something to help put Arcola on the map."

And certainly, my dad creating, with his buddy, Johnny O'Halloran, the world famous Lawn Rangers, that's something putting Arcola on the map, one of the many great things.

PA Announcer: We have one of the greatest pride and joys of Arcola, these masked men are all in their 41st year of crowd-pleasing, precision marching.

Pat: People do enjoy seeing bands.

They do enjoy seeing queens, but after so many go by they all start looking the same.

And then they see, started with 13 guys, now 100 guys, all doing the limit of their talent, allows them to push mowers and twirl brooms, but they're having a great time.

They're really enjoying themselves.

People realize, yeah, we're here for a parade.

Let's enjoy ourselves too.

These guys are having a big time.

That's why I think we're so popular.

Kevin: Well, we hold the crowd, and sometimes if the crowd didn't get all they wanted, we go around twice.

This is the granddaddy of them all.

When you think about the Lawn Rangers have done Phoenix Fiesta Bowl, San Diego Holiday Bowl, Canton, Ohio Hall of Fame, inauguration parade in Washington, DC, and many others, Detroit Thanksgiving Day, Chicago and St. Louis St. Patty's Day, and a lot more, and there's nothing like the Broomcorn Festival parade in Arcola.

Pat: We have to have a solid group that we can count on whenever we take an invitation, accept an invitation, to go to a San Diego or a Phoenix for a bowl game, or any other parades that Kevin mentioned.

But this is what we renew our vows to stick with the Lawn Rangers and keep them going and it's been working for 40 years and I don't see any end in sight.

Whenever I fill out the application for a parade, I don't just say, "The Lawn Rangers," I always said our name was World Famous Lawn Rangers from Amazing Arcola.

When you're at a Holiday Bowl festival, inaugural parade, the announcers, wherever they are, they have to read that title, because they don't want to be accused of setting up another title.

One thing that always made me proud when I march is to hear the announcer saying, "And now, the World Famous Lawn Rangers from Amazing Arcola."

It's made be proud to be an Arcolan and get that good publicity for us.

[Lawn Rangers marching and cheering] Kevin: Definitely wowed by how long it's gone on.

I started marching when I was 21, haven't barely missed a parade since.

I have friends that came and marched with me 23 years ago that are still here today, coming back every year.

It really is something special to be a part of.

You see people from all ages, all walks of life that come together, and I think it's important in today's world to be able to laugh at ourselves and laugh at each other.

The Lawn Rangers have given us a great opportunity to do that.

Pat: We have to thank Pulitzer Prize winner, Dave Barry.

When he had a daily column, or weekly column, he would write always about his visits to Arcola.

That's helped us quite a bit getting known around the country.

There are scouts from parades that read these things and then they either saw us or heard about us from other scouts and we'd get more invitations.

We have to thank Dave Barry for his role in helping us to go these 40 years.

Kevin: A quote from my dad, the founder of the Lawn Rangers, and the ranger credo and motto, "You're only young once, but you can always be immature."

[Clapping] Lawn Rangers: All right!

How about you Arcola!

City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

[music plays]