- Ping pang pong tilt.

You like gaming?

We're going old school today, playing pinball.

- Pinball's coming back to Peoria, and we'll tell you where.

"You Gotta See This."

(upbeat music) I love popcorn, so let's go to the movies.

- A recent documentary chronicles the life of a Peoria icon.

Let's check it out.

George Manias is a reluctant film star.

The 91 year old has made a name for himself as Peoria's last shoe shine man.

His George's Shoe Shine and Hatters is iconic, a throwback to the days when downtown bustled with commerce, including men in sharp hats and gleaming shoes.

At his shop, he is beloved simply as George, and that's the name of the documentary, "George."

Director Matt Richmond, a Peoria native, remains astounded that George has shined over a million shoes over 76 years.

- The movie is first, I think, a celebration of George.

That's certainly how it began.

And it's also a tale of a person who has done something extraordinary, and an examination of how, and what makes him tick.

- [Phil] Not that George wanted any part in the project, at least not at first.

He'll talk all day with customers in his shop, but George, a soft spoken and humble man, didn't want a spotlight on himself.

- No, I didn't want to do it.

He approached me two years ago, and I told him I didn't wanna do it.

And again and again, pushed again, I said, no, no.

- [Phil] But relatives talked him into doing the film, especially so longtime customers and fans could get a closer glimpse at the intensely private man.

In the movie, George struggles with his emotions, especially regarding his family, including the 2020 loss of his sister, and his childhood in Greece as a slave to Nazis.

- [Matt] What's important for others to know is that it couldn't have happened without George being brave and vulnerable, and open about himself and about his feelings, and about his his life and his work.

I mean, this was a project that completely hinges upon George's willingness to share.

- [Phil] George was born in Peoria in 1931, but so his father could tend to relatives, his family moved to Greece just before World War II exploded.

During the war, George, like others in his village, was essentially enslaved by the Nazis, spending every day walking up and down hills in his bare feet, hauling water from a well to a German mess hall.

All the while, he wondered if he and his family would be killed.

Filmmaker Richmond accompanied George on a visit to the old country.

- Being there in the town that he grew up in and worked in essentially as forced labor as a very young person sort of changes the complexion of the story.

It brings it into a new, it becomes very real, seeing the hill that he walked every day, and the well that where he filled buckets with water.

I mean, it's just, it's really striking.

- [Phil] After the war, George and his family returned to Peoria, but penniless, so at age 15, he started shining shoes, and never stopped.

During boom times in the 1950s and 1960s, he had upwards of four men working for him to keep up with demand.

- I was so busy, I couldn't handle everything.

I was real, real busy.

- [Phil] But he's never too busy to chat with customers, a ritual thoroughly enjoyed by regulars to this day.

George likes to keep busy, and customers love the throwback atmosphere.

- [George] I'm doing it because I like to work, you know?

I like to meet out people, make a friend, if you will.

- [Phil] Those relationships serve as the heart of the film, with regulars explaining their respect and admiration for the hardest working man in Peoria.

Richmond, a 1992 Richards grad, marvels at George's longevity.

- [Matt] I think it's hard for anyone to believe, really.

When you talk about somebody working at anything for 76 years, and someone with the drive and dedication to be showing up five days a week at the age of 90, 91, I think anybody who hears that is a little bit flabbergasted.

- [Phil] The film has been running at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, which helped with funding.

Items from Georgia's shop including his shoe shine chairs where multiple US presidents have sat will be donated to the museum for display when he hangs up his shine rag for good.

Meantime, George, the reluctant movie star, is glad he decided to participate.

- [George] I've been doing it for 76 years today, because when I first started, I was 15, one chair in a barbershop.

- The February edition of "Peoria Magazine" focuses on health, wellness, especially of the mind.

- To that extent, we're gonna tell today the story of Rhoda Derry, whose mental health woes led to an incredibly abominable life until she was taken to Bartonville to the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane.

Rhoda Derry was a young beauty who lost her mind to love and sorcery, so says the legend.

For certain, she was institutionalized in a cramped cage for 44 years until she was rescued by the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane in Bartonville.

Rhoda was born in Indiana in 1834.

Her family later moved to a farm in Adams County, Illinois, near Quincy.

By all accounts, her childhood was mostly normal, but trouble brewed in the sky.

Her mother would see witches flying above.

She'd grab a rifle and blast skyward to shoo away the witches, but they'd always return.

Rhoda saw no witches, but she did witness her mother's gun play.

Did the erratic behavior have any effect on Rhoda?

Did the mother's delusions indicate troublesome genetics passed on to her daughter?

Hard to say, but if you believe the stories later told by relatives and newspapers, there would be further bewitching in Rhoda's life.

As a teen, she fell in love with a young man, and they talked of marriage.

For reasons never made clear, his mom vehemently objected to the relationship.

She went so far as to put a curse on Rhoda, intending to ruin her future.

Within days, so goes the story, Rhoda saw demons lurking about.

The relationship fizzled, and Rhoda went mad.

She told stories of seeing Satan lurking near her home, and she claimed that the woman who had cursed her would pop up here and there, threatening to torment Rhoda the rest of her days.

Rhoda's mind slipped away, the diagnosis, insanity.

In those days, the state of Illinois offered little care for people with mental and emotional problems.

There was almost no capacity for long-term mental healthcare.

Moreover, by law, an insanity diagnosis deemed a person incurable.

Families had just two options.

They could keep their severely ailing loved one at home.

That wasn't an option with Rhoda, who often would hurt herself and scare others.

Or a family could do as did Rhoda's, which sent her to the county poorhouse.

In Adams County, like those elsewhere, the poorhouse provided housing, but little else, and certainly no care for severe mental health issues.

Decades later, newspapers statewide would write extensively of Rhoda's dire predicament.

She was prone to extreme behavior.

She'd tear off her clothes.

She'd eat anything she could get her hands on.

In a great many ways, she'd harm herself.

The poorhouse felt it had no option except to restrain her.

Caretakers jammed her inside a cage-like box known as a Utica crib, a common restraint device at the time.

She could barely move, but pushed by increasing madness, her self-harm erupted like never before.

She ripped out her eyes, and she banged out her teeth.

In time, she calmed down, an effect of the cramped cage.

With movement limited, her muscles atrophied, leaving her almost motionless.

Though fed, she got little other care.

She wallowed in her own filth and excrement.

Rats built nests in and above the crib.

She lived amid vermin, and that was the horrible life of Rhoda Derry for 44 years.

In the late 19th century, though, Illinois sought to improve mental healthcare, including the building of the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane.

It opened in Bartonville in 1902.

The director, George Zeller, was known as a benevolent reformer.

He asked all poorhouses statewide to send their incurables to him for long-term treatment.

Hearing of Rhoda, he went to see her firsthand.

Back in Bartonville, he sent an official directive to the Adams County Poorhouse, "Send her along, God bless her."

Rhoda arrived at the Bartonville asylum in 1904.

She was bathed and set in her own bed for the first time in more than four decades.

Though unable to communicate, Rhoda seemed soothed by the delicate hand of care.

Nurses loved her, and she'd smile at the sound of Zeller's voice.

Rhoda Derry died two years later at age 72.

Asylum caretakers packed her funeral, forlorn at the loss of Rhoda, whom they'd grown to love.

She was buried in an asylum cemetery.

Her tombstone says, in part, "You taught us to love and feel compassion toward the less fortunate.

May you find peace and warmth in God's arms."

- Before there was video gaming, there was pinball, and it was everywhere.

It was in arcades, it was in pubs.

You could do it everywhere, but it's resurging even here in Peoria.

- We're gonna go to a Peoria pub that not only has a whole mess of pinball machines, but it hosts regular tournaments that brings in players from a far away as Chicago and St. Louis, and we're gonna visit a local pinball wizard who fixes and sells machines right out of his home.

- [Julie] Used to be pinball machines were everywhere.

Their heyday ran from the 1930s to 1970s.

In fact, during the '70s, pinball enthusiasts even had their own anthem.

(upbeat music) ♪ He's a pinball wizard, there has to be a twist ♪ ♪ The pinball wizard got such a ♪ (game bell dinging) - [Julie] But video games exploded in the 1980s, followed by home gaming systems.

Pinball fell to the wayside, and with many manufacturers going belly up.

But in recent years, smaller pinball companies have arisen, as has the popularity of pinball.

Peoria is no exception, especially at Gone Axe Throwing.

There in the warehouse district Axe's now shares space with seven pinball machines.

- It's a passion of mine, and I wanted to bring pinball back to Peoria, so after we got everything else that we do down here going, we finally got the pinball started.

- [Julie] Pinball arrived in the pub two years ago, and in April, Gone Axe Throwing started a monthly pinball tournament on the first Friday of every month.

- The word's getting out.

There hasn't been pinball in Peoria for a long time as far as tournament wise, so it's new for the area.

- [Julie] The lure is nostalgia for some players, like Tina Fromm from Germantown.

The 55 year old recalls first going to arcades more than four decades ago.

- And whenever I get a chance, I go to a bar or something that has a pinball machine.

- [Julie] At Gone Axe Throwing, she showed up for a recent tournament on a whim.

She's played video games, but finds pinball far more interesting.

- [Tina] This kind of takes me back to my childhood running around with kids, and that's what we used to do.

- [Julie] But younger players are fueling the pinball revival as well, and the word of the Peoria tournament has spread as far as St. Louis and Chicago.

Maurice Smith, 26, lives in suburban Chicago where pinball leagues flourish.

Further, thanks to apps, he and his other serious pin ballers can keep track of their ranking via worldwide International Flipper Pinball Association.

Smith says the pinball, unlike video gaming, provides a challenge that's more unpredictable.

- It's not the same game every time.

Like you press start, and it's different every time on pinballs.

That's what made me fall in love was just like the physics of it, not like learning a pattern and then scoring high.

It's more, you know, interactive and fun.

- [Julie] Owner Ruder also believes pinball is harder than video gaming.

- [Matt] This takes more skill, maybe geometry, because you're dealing with the angles and stuff, so it's just, it's different.

It's more engaging.

- [Julie] To be sure, players like Smith enjoy competitions.

Some attorneys offer trophies and plaques.

Others like the one at Gone Axe Throwing provide cash prizes with a pot coming from a $15 entry fee.

Mostly though, Smith likes the social aspect.

- [Maurice] Flip Frenzy, for example, you like, it's like speed dating.

You match up with somebody, you play a game, and after you're done, you either get put in the queue or you're right back on playing.

It's super fun.

And then another format is like match play four player games for like a set amount of rounds.

- [Julie] As a seasoned player, Smith looks for every advantage.

That's why he wears gloves.

- I gotta, you know, get control so I'm like slamming the games, and it's kind of rough if you're, you know, trying to get, you know, trying to do well, you know, so it takes the edge off.

These are like biker gloves, but you know, a little cushion for the pushing.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying?

- [Julie] Smith says newcomers shouldn't feel intimidated.

Just pick a machine that looks fun and start hitting those flippers.

- [Maurice] Like, don't get too intimidated.

Even if the guy next to you's like got a billion points, no worries, just have fun, you know?

- [Julie] But if you wanna test your skill against others, make sure to sign up early with Gone Axe Throwing.

Each tourney involves 32 players, all via online registration.

Slots fill up way in advance.

Ruder thinks more and more people are being drawn to pinball as a social activity, not just at Gone Axe Throwing, but in their homes.

- [Matt] We've got a group of people that meet every Friday at different houses in the area, and they play pinball.

So they've got pinballs in their basement or their garage or whatever, and they travel around to the houses, so it's kind of a tight-knit group.

- [Julie] Pinball is making its way into people's homes as well.

Jed Antonini is there to help bring these old favorites back to life.

- It started out as just I wanted a pinball machine, like what most people, then I got one.

Well, then I got another one that didn't work.

So then I started trying to fix it, and pretty soon, I ended up fixing it, and I was like, wow, what a sense of accomplishment that was, you know?

So pretty soon the game room starts filling up, you know?

So then Julie has a rummage sale, and I sold a couple, and I was thinking, man, that is so cool.

I had so much fun working on them.

I brought them thanks back from the dump, going to the dump, and sold them to somebody.

Anything made from 1976 back is gonna be electromechanical, which means it's not digital, and it's all got the roll numbers and contacts, relays, stepper units, and stuff.

Well, those old ones, they're like us, Jeff, and when they get older, they get arthritis, okay?

So you got to go through and clean 'em, gap the switches, and just, it's all about contacts and stuff.

And those there, when people bring 'em to me, my flipper isn't working or something, you know, and I check it out, well, usually it's more than one thing.

It's like five or 10 things you gotta fix, you know?

(upbeat music) ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ♪ ♪ Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪ ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ♪ ♪ Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪ ♪ 12 ♪ (upbeat music continues) ♪ 12 ♪ (upbeat music continues) ♪ 12 ♪ (upbeat music continues) ♪ 12 ♪ (upbeat music continues) ♪ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ♪ (upbeat music) - I am so excited to show you this cocktail.

This is my pomegranate Prosecco cocktail.

I love it because obviously it has Prosecco in it, but it also has some pomegranate juice, two ounces, pomegranate arils, a nice rosemary sprig, which I love rosemary, because it has such a lemony pine flavor, which I think blends so well with the sweet tartness of the pomegranate.

And we're gonna toss in a teaspoon of maple syrup just for good measure.

Let's get started.

So I am going to pour my pomegranate juice into a little pitcher.

I'm going to add one ounce of vodka.

Can't forget the maple syrup.

I'm gonna give it a little bit of a stir.

(spoon clinking) (upbeat music) I think we have that good.

I like to put my garnishes into my flute glass before I start pouring the beverages inside.

We'll drop our rosemary, drop some arils in there.

(upbeat music) These you can just get in the refrigerator section, but sometimes I have a problem finding them, and I find them in the freezer section.

Now for the fun part, pop in the champagne, 'cause we all know that Prosecco is just Italian champagne.

(upbeat music) (cork popping) Time to pour the pomegranate mixture in.

(upbeat music) Let's make some room for the Prosecco.

(upbeat music) Look at all those bubbles.

You know this is gonna be good.

Ready for a taste.

(upbeat music) Oh, it's delicious.

This is a perfect cocktail for a holiday celebration.

Cheers.

- [Phil] At Christmas time, Eric and Stacy Shangraw went sledding, dog sledding.

The Washington couple visited their daughter in Alaska where they took a ride of a lifetime.

They got in the back of a dog sled, and whoosh.

- I would say bucket list level kind of adventure.

- [Phil] You might remember Shangraw from his long-term gig as a Peoria TV reporter and anchor.

He now works in the administration for the garbage hauling company GFL.

He lives in Washington with wife Stacy.

Daughter Rachel went to Washington Community High School before earning a graduate degree in dietetics from Illinois State University.

How did any of them end up in Alaska?

After college, Rachel traveled to 20 plus states.

- [Eric] Nothing tripped her trigger like Alaska.

When she told us she was landing in Alaska and saw the mountains, and as she was landing, decided, okay here's where I'm gonna live.

- [Phil] Last year, she took a job as a clinical dietician at a hospital in Anchorage.

In December, her parents decided to visit.

During the dark season, round trip airfare is just $550 a person out of Chicago.

In Alaska, the couple hit the ground running.

- We said, "Let's do, have an adventure."

And Rachel said, "Let's go dog sledding."

We're like, "Okay, that sounds cool."

So we went and did it.

- [Phil] The price seemed reasonable, 150 bucks per person, no experience necessary.

- [Eric] There's a little training period where they're kind of telling you how it's gonna go.

They put you in a snowsuit, 'cause it is chilly moving around.

And then you get to interact with the dogs.

The place, they had 63 dogs, and we could, they said you could pick your own dogs.

We'd let them pick the dogs, but Rachel wanted to take the time to go say hi to every single dog.

- [Phil] Each dog sled carries three people, including a musher who does most of the steering.

- [Eric] So Stacey was sitting in the front in the seat, and there was a musher in the middle who was actually controlling the dogs, and then I was standing on the back of the sled, and that was very much like downhill snow skiing.

You're flat, but there was a lot of moving back and forth, and you had to keep your balance.

And so when I, and I downhill skied before, and so I know how to do that, and so I really enjoyed it.

It was a thrill.

(dogs barking) - [Phil] The dogs liked it too?

- [Eric] The dogs loved it.

In fact, they wanna run faster than the musher will let them, and so the musher has to pull them back so they don't run themselves out or make themselves so tired they can't do it anymore.

When would go downhill, we would hit the brakes to slow down because the dogs would wanna accelerate downhill.

They loved to go fast.

- [Phil] The sledding went smoothly, except for one time.

- [Eric] We did have a little spill.

The musher was new, and we went around a corner, as we look back, a little too fast.

Maybe that musher needed to ride the brakes more, and the whole thing tipped over.

I jumped and rolled, the musher jumped and rolled, and Stacy was stuck in the sled, and it pinched her arm, and was very scary for a moment.

And they offered to take her back, but she loves dogs, she loved doing it.

She's like, "Nope, we're gonna continue on."

So we continued to sled another 20 minutes or so.

- [Phil] Besides dogs, they saw other animals in Alaska, the kind you don't find in central Illinois.

- [Eric] We saw the musk ox, which was this something to me that looked up like out of a Star Wars movie, big horns, big thick hair, kind of slow moving, and they were at an animal preserve we had visited, and they looked like harmless animals, but there was a sign that said stay away from them.

Beware of them.

- [Phil] They also kept their distance from moose, two of which they spotted eating tree leaves along a highway.

All in all, it was a unique trip they'll never forget - [Eric] Something we'll remember forever.

- You gotta love February In Illinois.

It is a little snowy.

- It's a winter wonderland, but it's getting cold.

Let's get inside, play some pinball, or do anything that's warm.

- Inside.

- See you next time.

(mellow jazz music)