- You wanna play a game?

- Sure, why not?

- How about "Name That Tune."

- All right.

- Ready?

Okay, I'm ready.

♪ Na na na na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ Batman It's the "Batman" theme, right?

- Yeah, you jumped in a little early, but- - I was excited.

- Okay, okay.

You should be excited.

You know why?

'Cause we're gonna cruising with Batman in a 1966 Batmobile!

- Caped Crusader.

You gotta see this!

(upbeat music) I feel a little underdressed.

I feel like if we're gonna go see Batman, I should dress like Batgirl or Catwoman, or something like that.

- That would be great, 'cause I'd like to be rather dressed up like the Riddler or Joker or one of those guys, but you know.

- Well, you know, but we are gonna go see a man and his man cave, but you know what?

It really should be called a bat cave.

- And in that bat cave, he has been working on a Batmobile from the 1960s "Batman" TV show that looks completely authentic.

It's gonna blow you away.

Check this out.

Some boys want to grow up to become a policeman.

Others want to be a fireman.

John Bisanz wanted to be Batman.

("Batman" theme music plays) ("Batman" theme music continues) ♪ Batman ♪ Batman - In a way, the realty agent has achieved his goal.

- Realtor by day and Caped Crusader by night fighting crime.

- [Phil] The 61 year old Washington man doesn't fight crime like Batman, but he does drive a Batmobile.

Bisanz spent the last 10 years and as much as $150,000 creating a remarkable facsimile of the centerpiece vehicle from the campy sixties TV show, a 1966 Batmobile.

Back then, a young Bisanz was riveted by the program, (groovy music) but not by the courageous heroes, or even the crazy villains.

(Joker cackles) - Oh, how delicious it is!

- [Phil] But the car.

- [Announcer] Once again to the rescue.

- Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed.

- Roger.

Ready to move out.

(dramatic music) ("Batman" theme music plays) - Yeah, every time I saw "Batman," I always got more excited when I saw the car.

That car was always the thing.

- [Phil] Since his teens, Bisanz has been a gearhead.

He has a 4,000 square foot garage.

- [John] This is my man cave, yeah.

- [Phil] Should you start calling it your bat cave?

- [John] I should.

Now the car's done, it's official.

It's official.

I need to change the title.

- [Phil] There he has 10 non-conventional vehicles, including a Mayberry Police Cruiser from "The Andy Griffith Show," a 1969 ambulance, and a custom race car.

But even as his collection grew over the years, he yearned for a missing piece.

- Always been into cars.

I've always been into the weird cars.

It doesn't get any weirder than a Batmobile.

- [Phil] But replicas can cost well over $100,000.

Bisanz never had that much spare cash, at least not at any one time.

- It's all about time and money.

It just came down to, you know, finding the time and finding the money to get it done.

- [Phil] So more than a decade ago, he started to make plans to assemble a Batmobile piece by piece.

First for the body, he got a hold of a 1977 Lincoln Continental.

That was the easy part.

He had to figure out the rest.

- There's no instructions on YouTube on how to build a Batmobile.

There's no- I had, I just had to figure it out.

That's one of the reasons it took so long, is to have the learning experience.

I had to learn along the way, 'cause no one's gonna tell me.

- [Phil] Meantime, he had to find parts for features unique to the Batmobile, such as the Bat Phone, the Emergency Bat Turn Lever, and the turbine exhaust.

- I can't go to O'Reilly's and buy parts for a '66 Batmobile.

They'd look at me really weird.

(John laughs) - [Phil] So he'd either make parts himself, or order them from other Bat Fans.

The labor of love took 10 years.

During that time, he financed the project with sweat equity.

Bisanz is known as a fix-it guy, from lawnmower repair to minor home renovations.

- One of the reasons I'm able to get that car done, I guess, is I'm just insanely handy.

- [Phil] All that work has been weaved amid his job as a realtor, but he finally got his Batmobile done earlier this year.

Bisanz has a Bat Suit of his own, which he plans to wear as Central Illinois Batman in public appearances with his vehicle.

He hopes to help children's charities.

- The goal for me has been to raise money to, you know, help with kids, you know, for wishes and stuff.

- [Phil] Some kids are hip to the '60s "Batman" show, but not all, such as a 12 year old girl who spotted Bisanz's Batmobile roll by.

- "Nice "Fast & Furious" car."

(John laughs) And then they're like, "What?

"What're you talking about?"

So it depends.

The younger people, some of the younger people know what it is.

The older people have, you know, they totally get it.

They totally know what it is, but some of the younger people missed it.

- [Phil] Bisanz has taken a few spins around Washington, always prompting wide eyes and sell shots.

- Yeah, the reactions is just insanity, because no one's ever seen one.

You know, it's like, it's almost like a holy grail, seeing some crazy sighting or something.

And yeah, it's just unreal.

- [Phil] He made a recent stop at a fast food eatery, and the parking lot quickly filled with curiosity seekers.

Central Illinois Batman looks forward to many more such encounters inside his Batmobile.

- That's the best part, is just making people's day and seeing their reactions.

And you know, I had a great time too, but it was just, yeah, that's, I get reactions like that all the time.

It's just so much fun.

- Now, speaking of superheroes, we do have a super new person who joined us at WTVP, Mark Welp.

And he is gonna be on "You Gotta See This," this episode.

- You can't believe what happened.

- What?

- I'm at my house doing "8-Track Time Machine," he crashes it.

He crashes it out of the blue, but you know what?

It turned out to be a rocking party.

- Okay.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Hey, I'm Mark Welp, and I am here in Worth Township today for "8-Track Time Machine."

Very excited to be here finally- - Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

What are you doing here?

- "8-Track Time Machine," dude.

- I know that, but this is my house.

This is my garage.

You live way aways from here.

What do you doing here?

- Well, I came here to rock.

- Came to rock?

- Yeah.

- I can respect that.

- Let's rock!

- All right.

What are you bringing to the time machine today?

- All right, one of my favorite songs, it's not quite a one hit wonder, but kind of close.

It is "Midnight Confessions" by The Grass Roots.

- You take over for now.

- All right, Phil.

Well, this song is, again, a favorite of mine.

And The Grass Roots are more famous today than they probably were in 1967, and that's because of one particular band mate, one member.

We'll get to him in just a minute, but first let's talk about the song "Midnight Confessions."

Now this came out in 1967, I believe, and it's about a man who is in love with a married woman, but she's married, so there's not a lot he can do about it.

♪ The sound of your footsteps ♪ Telling me that you're near ♪ Your soft, gentle motion, babe ♪ ♪ Brings out a need in me that no one can hear, except ♪ ♪ In my midnight confessions ♪ When I tell all the world that I love you ♪ - So The Grass Roots formed in 1965, and believe it or not, they're still around today.

No original members, but they've had about 30 or 40 members over the years.

And "Midnight Confessions," again, was their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

It got all the way up to number five.

Now, let's talk about why The Grass Roots are famous today.

Does the name Creed Bratton ring any bells?

- I've been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower.

You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader.

- Well, if you watched "The Office," it should, because Creed Bratton from The Grass Roots played Creed Bratton on "The Office."

He was the older guy, didn't have a lot of lines, kind of creepy, little mysterious, maybe had some indiscretions in his life perhaps, but he did have some great sometimes borderline inappropriate one-liners.

Now he was in The Grass Roots, he was a guitar player mostly, but also sang back up and did write some songs.

He was in the group for just a few years, until he was kicked out for the old creative differences.

Creed actually became an actor after that, just doing a lot of bit parts in TV and movies, never got real famous until "The Office," and he was on that show for eight years.

- You declare bankruptcy, all your problems go away.

Creed Bratton has never declared bankruptcy.

When Creed Bratton gets in trouble, he transfers his debt to William Charles Schneider.

- That was an "Office" Easter egg.

Creed Bratton's real name is William Charles Schneider, so he changed his name in real life before he got into The Grass Roots, and stuck with that name through his acting career, and then on the show, just told us what his real name was.

(hand slaps) (Creed yells) - Ow.

- So I like that story.

It's great to have a second act in your career, if that sounds familiar.

(Phil laughs) - Interesting.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- But I tell you what about The Grass Roots?

They played in Peoria a few times, mostly it's been in that second phase of the revival circuit in the '90s and whatnots and whatever.

But during their heyday, they played once in Peoria that I could find.

It was in '67 at Expo Gardens, and back then Expo Garden had a lot of big acts, including a band called, you might have heard of them, The Who.

Pretty big act.

They went onto some bigger and better things after Expo Garden, but at that show, they had a couple opening acts, and one of 'em was a band in Peoria.

And some of you old time Peoria rockers might remember this band.

It was called Suburban 9 to 5.

They were pretty much a garage band, straight ahead rock and roll, and their best player was probably a guitarist, an 18 year old guitarist from East Peoria.

You might remember his name, Gary Richrath, who also went on to bigger and better things after he joined REO Speedwagon in 1970, so lots of good stuff there.

I'm glad you came by the garage for "8-Track Time Machine."

- Me too.

I think I'm gonna hang out here until our next "Time Machine."

Is that all right?

- You're just gonna live in the garage?

- I, hey, there's plenty to do in here.

- There's lots of stuff.

You have a good time.

We'll have a great time.

So for The Grass Roots, for REO Speedwagon, for Gary Richrath, and that guy whose name I already forget from "The Office."

- Creed Bratton.

- Creed Bratton.

(Phil laughs) We appreciate all you and all your work, and we'll see you next time here in the garage for "8-Track Time Machine."

(upbeat music) - Speaking of crashing parties, the WTVP "You Gotta See This!"

team was actually celebrating St. Patrick's Day this Saturday.

- We got an early start on festivities (Julie laughs) with all of West Peoria.

- Well, you know, the actual Peoria parade is on March 17th, the traditional day, but we got it started a little bit early.

- West Peoria had its first ever St. Patrick's Day parade.

We had a blast.

- [Julie] Where can you find more shenanigans than a St. Patrick's Day parade?

How about with a bonus St. Patrick's Day parade.

For more than four decades, downtown Peoria has hosted a parade on March 17th, but this year, for the first time, West Peoria decided to throw its own parade in advance of the big day, so "You Gotta See This!"

was there to join in on the fun.

Welcome to the first ever West Side St. Patrick's Day Parade.

- Oh yeah, everybody gets dressed up in green, and it just has a good time, you know, and the spirit and their celebration.

- [Julie] Like many other St. Patrick's fans, Spears had celebrated the holiday since childhood.

- I remember when I was a kid going to St. Mark's, if we came down and didn't have green on on St. Patty's Day, my mom would send us back upstairs to change our clothes, put some green on.

And if we came down in orange, she'd take that orange off.

- [Julie] Spears' family and saloon have participated in the Peoria parade for decades, but he long wondered if maybe there was room for locally another parade.

Well, that's what Chicago does, so why not the same for Peoria?

The planning finally fell into place this year in West Peoria to host the first ever parade on March 11th.

- What it does, it gives people that have to work on St. Patrick's Day a day to celebrate the day, and also it gives us two days as well.

- [Julie] The event was spearheaded by a newly formed West Peoria Business Association.

Tavern owners picked up the tab to provide free shuttle services around town, and Farmington Road was blocked off for a quarter of a mile.

- Grand Marshall this year is Yvonne Murphy.

She's a Bradley student that's from Clonmel, Ireland and our sister city.

And the friends of Clonmel have sponsored her for the last four years.

She'll be graduating senior, and moving on probably from Peoria after this.

- [Julie] More than 20 floats registered to provide candy, dancing, bagpipes, and other merriment.

Right in the mix was "You Gotta See This," clad in their finest greenery and giving away goodies.

A great time was had by all, a solid start for what West Peoria plans to be a new tradition.

- It's just a fun, fun day, you know?

- [Phil] In opening Gator'z Pub and Grill, Deb and Kurt Waylon didn't just start a business, they started a business district.

Welcome to La Rose, population 98, and the one-stop retail strip known as Gator'z.

- [Deb] They're all pretty excited to have something happen in La Rose, because there's not much here.

- [Phil] La Rose sits among crop fields of Marshall County, where the biggest city, Henry, has only about 2,000 residents.

Around these parts there isn't a big customer base, but Gator'z is no mere shot and a beer joint.

It gleans and sparkles like a slick modern pub, much to the surprise of newcomers.

- Like to surprise them.

- [Phil] More than 20 years ago, Deb and Kurt opened their first Gator'z, in her native Varna.

Gator is the nickname for Kurt, a native of Florida.

Deb cooked up a menu by trial and error based on what they like.

- I just like to eat.

(Deb laughs) We, I like food.

- They ran the business until 2007, when they moved to Florida.

Two years ago, they decided to move back to Varna, wondering if maybe they could give it another go with a bar and grill.

They spotted an ad for the shuttered shop in La Rose.

Built in 1871 as a grocery, the structure was last occupied in 2011 as an office.

A decade passed and the property taxes went delinquent.

From Florida, the Waylons saw only exterior photos of the structure.

- Such a small price though.

- $642, so.

So we could've just walked away.

- It wasn't that much.

- [Phil] Then they headed to La Rose.

- [Deb] You get what you pay for, because when we opened the door, there was no floor or anything.

- [Julie] And what did you think when you opened the door, and there's- - She cried.

- [Deb] I can't say that on camera, but I shut the door and I got back in the truck.

(Deb and Julie laugh) - [Phil] They thought about walking away, but Kurt, a welder by trade, thought the building had good bones.

He got to work, then bought fixtures from auctions and salvage, and La Rose residents have helped, donating vintage photos that honored the history of the old town.

- Yeah, we didn't wanna be like any other place around.

- [Phil] Mission accomplished.

Newcomers always seem wowed.

Their reaction?

- "Boy, it doesn't look like I thought "it was gonna look when I walked up outside."

- [Phil] And they're floored by more than the looks.

The bar is well stocked and includes craft beers, and the menu is extensive.

- People come in and they, you know, they'd like, "Oh, I can't believe it."

You know, just like they're, you know, they'd be like floored.

Like, "Well I didn't- - Yeah "realize is was gonna look like."

It's gonna be four drywall walls in here, and that was it, you know?

And even when we were building, a lot of people come up there.

"Yeah, I can't wait to come in and have beer and all that," which is fine, but it's not just any, you know- - Just for beer.

- Any old bar.

- [Phil] Comfort food includes meatloaf and pot pies.

Pizzas are homemade, and can involve non-traditional ingredients like artichokes, ricotta cheese, and Alfredo sauce.

Innovation even invades the burger selections, such as the Bacon Me Crazy.

- Like we have a burger, it's a half pound burger, and it's got bacon jam, and six pieces of bacon, and bacon mayonnaise, and you know, it's, if you like bacon, it's.

- [Phil] Those slight variations make Gator'z distinct from many other small town joints.

- I want it to be food that you gotta come here to get it.

You can't just go down the street and get the exact same thing.

And that was, that's why some of it's a little bit different.

(blues music) - [Julie] WTVP is celebrating the fact that we've been publishing the new and improved "Peoria Magazine" for a whole year.

From digging up stories to delivering them to your home, we've been very creative in finding ways to do things differently and continue to move the community forward.

That's why when we decided to distribute our magazine, we wanted to involve the community, specifically our dedicated delivery crew from EPIC.

- We are so thankful for this partnership with "Peoria Magazines."

We are doing some of the distribution to their local pickup spots, and this allows us to provide opportunities for some of the people that we support.

- [Julie] You might wonder how this team got their EPIC title.

Well, EPIC stands for Empowering People, Inspiring Capabilities, and they certainly live up to that name when they partnered with "Peoria Magazines."

- Count 'em out, deliver 'em, and we might go somewhere, and then go back to EPIC.

- [Julie] Are people happy to see you when you come in with those magazines?

- Yeah.

- [Julie] With an EPIC team member behind the wheel, Jess and Georgie are off to distribute "Peoria Magazines" around the community, but they aren't just doing a job.

They are developing skills.

- We're giving people job skills, but we're also ingraining them into the community where people are physically seeing their capabilities and changing their perceptions of what someone with a disability might look like.

We're partnering with them to build a skill that could potentially lead to a job.

And so what that looks like for us is our activities team, we've got a activities coordinator, and she's got a full team that takes people out in the community all the time.

It's not always working, sometimes it's just going out to eat at a local restaurant, and giving them that experience of spending their own money and ordering their own food.

And again, ingraining them with the community.

- [Julie] EPIC currently has 80 individuals doing volunteer hours throughout the Peoria area, and 86 employers that have teamed up with them to provide jobs, doing everything from donut making, cleaning, office work, and so much more.

That's why "Peoria Magazines" is proud to make EPIC a part of our team that delivers fresh local stories to you.

(light music) Take a walk on the wild side with us today, and Wildlife Prairie Park, and Rogue, the one-year-old striped skunk.

- [Andrew] Most of the time nocturnal animals either have really big eyes to take advantage of whatever light's available, or they have really small ones, and don't rely on their eyes very much.

- [Julie] Okay.

- And so Rogue is definitely that latter group, where they mostly use their sense of smell and touch and hearing to navigate around, but their eyes are pretty small and beady.

It's thought that they can see well for about three feet in front of them.

- Oh wow.

- And at all for about nine feet.

And so they don't have the greatest sense of vision.

- So what are we feeding him here today?

What does he like to eat?

- [Andrew] So skunks are omnivores.

- [Julie] Okay.

- [Andrew] And so they are animals that are going to eat fruits and veggies, of course.

Stuff like berries, but they also eat bugs.

They really love things like earthworms, little grasshoppers, and things.

So in captivity, our diet looks kind of like you would expect from a standard herbivore small animal diet, so it's gonna be some like kibble, some fresh fruits and veggies.

He definitely likes things like blueberries and strawberries.

- [Julie] Can I hold him?

- [Andrew] Sure.

If I'll let you.

- [Julie] Will you let me?

- [Andrew] So the kind of thing that's different about having a captive skunk versus a wild one is that our skunk here is de-glanded, so he does not have his ability to spray his, you know, what skunks are known for.

- They kinda have a bad rap, don't they?

- [Andrew] Yes.

He's being all kinds of squirmy today.

- [Julie] You're frisky.

Frisky little boy.

- [Andrew] How do you feel about some celery?

- [Julie] I'm gonna take it over here.

Andrew shows the "You Gotta See This!"

team how calm and tame Rogue is now.

He's been working as an animal ambassador his whole life.

And most people don't even mind his dangerous looking front claws and sharp teeth.

And some have actually invited striped skunks into their homes as pets.

So people have skunks for pets?

- [Andrew] They do, yep.

- [Julie] Really?

Why would you do that?

- [Andrew] Well, you kind of have to ask the people that want them as a pet.

I will say that of the kind of exotic animals that people keep as pets, skunks are one of the ones that I understand at least a bit more, because once they are totally desensitized to people, I mean like Rogue here has been working with the keepers and public here basically since he was born.

And so he's not really likely to bite or, - Right.

or really, but if you look in his enclosure here, you can see he's got a cat box, and so he is actually fully litter box trained.

- [Julie] Oh, you are a fancy skunk.

Man.

- [Andrew] Which is better than some, you know, house cats don't actually use their litter box.

- [Julie] So they're pretty smart.

Pretty smart indeed.

Maybe they should change that old saying "Sly as a fox," to "Sly as a striped skunk."

(upbeat music) - I'm a firm believer that life is better with a little bit of chocolate, and my bittersweet chocolate truffles with cognac barrel-aged vanilla is one of my all-time favorite recipes.

And I think you're really gonna love this.

Good chocolate makes the difference, so buy the best that you can.

I've already chopped my bittersweet chocolate and placed it in a microwave safe bowl.

In a small pan, heat up the cream just until it starts to form bubbles on the side of the pan.

It's looking bubbly.

I'm gonna slowly pour the cream over the chocolate, and I'm gonna let that sit for two minutes.

We want the chocolate completely melted.

Whisking it usually does the trick, but if you need to, you can pop it right back into the microwave for about 15 seconds, but keep a close watch on it.

You don't want the chocolate to burn.

The mixture is nice and smooth.

I'm going to add the softened butter, a little bit of my vanilla.

This is my private label vanilla.

You can find out more about that on my website.

Pour the chocolate mixture into an eight by eight inch baking pan.

Oh, look at how good this looks.

When the mixture is completely cool, place a piece of plastic wrap right over the top.

Place it in the refrigerator for four hours or even overnight if you'd like.

So far pretty easy, right?

My mixture is cool.

It's time to turn them into truffles.

Take a generous teaspoon of your chocolate mixture.

Roll it in the palm of your hand.

You can use a cookie scoop for this as well.

And finally roll it into your decorations.

You can use chocolate sprinkles, cocoa powder, or the decorations of your choice.

And there you have it.

Look at how beautiful they look.

You can store your finished truffles in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to three weeks.

Enjoy!

(playful music) (glasses clink) - Hi, my name is Ashley, and I'm the owner here at Ashers.

We're Ashers Bar and Grill in Pekin.

This is Stevie.

- Hello.

- She's one of my original bartenders.

We brought her over here from Farmington as well.

Today we're going to make one of Ashers, or I'm sorry, Ashley's Famous Lemon Shakeup.

But we are going to make Stevie's favorite flavor, which is the huckleberry.

- Very good.

We started off with, go ahead.

We started off with just the original Lemon Shakeup, like you would get from a fair, only better 'cause you add alcohol.

But since then we've added flavors.

We have the peach, raspberry, watermelon, huckleberry, - Strawberry.

- and strawberry.

- I will say that strawberry and regular are probably the most popular.

Huckleberry has becoming a little more popular, as Stevie pushes that all the time, 'cause that one's her favorite.

So we will start with the two ounces of a citrus vodka.

My favorite to use is the Pinnacle.

I think it has the best citrus flavor.

And then we obviously have ice in our glass.

We will squeeze fresh lemons into it.

Then we will add our sugar, like I said, just from the fair, only better, 'cause it has alcohol.

Stevie's gonna pour her half ounce of huckleberry.

Once we have those ingredients in, we will top with water and we will shake away.

So these are super popular.

We offer them as a special on a Friday night.

We go through, how many do you think we go through, Stevie?

- I probably make about 30 on a Friday night.

Probably more sometimes.

(drink shakes) - Just depending, yes.

- It's a lot of lemons.

- A lot of lemons.

- A lot of lemons.

(drink pours) - [Ashley] See now, the best is you get to taste test it.

- You know, I'm seeing much clearer with my new glasses.

- And I've got a new spring in my step.

Well, that's part of the magic of leprechauns and pots of gold and all things green and Irish, St. Patrick's Day.

- Well, we'll see you next time on "You Gotta See This!"

- [Announcer] Do you know a person or a story that should be featured on "You Gotta See This?"

Send it to the email here.

(light music) (light music continues)