(upbeat music) - Will you consider this?

Everything old is new again, and then we have new stuff going to the old stuff.

And Susie Papenhause is here with the Peoria Historical Society to tell me what all is cooking in this historical city.

- This is a historical city.

It is rich in history.

We have, coming up, our beloved Holiday Home Tour, which is coming up in December.

It will be December 8th, excuse me, December 7th and 8th.

It'll be a Saturday night and a Sunday afternoon.

We have our holiday or our house museums that we own.

- The Pettengill-Morron and the Flanagan.

- Yes.

- And they're decorated.

- They're decorated.

Absolutely.

Interestingly, I'll give you a little hint.

The Pettengill-Morron House is doing a theme this year on Block and Kuhl.

- Oh, Kuhl.

- The former, it was Block and Kuhl before it became Carson.

- Then it was Carson Pirie Scott.

Exactly.

- And now it's the OSF building down on Adams Street.

Some kind donors who collect the memorabilia have lent it to Pettengill-Morron.

And there will be displays in each room trying to depict each department within the store.

- [Christine] How neat.

- So just to give you a little teaser there.

It will be great.

- And you can buy tickets in advance.

- Yes.

- And when you go to the website.

And then you have something special, you have a VIP.

- We have a VIP tour.

The general admission, the costs are not changing.

It's $20 if you purchase by December 4th, and then it is $25 at the door.

We also offer a VIP tour, which has really grown in popularity over the years.

It's a hundred dollars.

Again, the price hasn't changed from the previous years.

With that hundred dollars, you attend a light cocktail party prior to the tour, and then you're shuttled to each location on the tour.

- So you park at location number one, and you're toured all around.

- And then you're toured all around and you're brought back to your car at the end of it.

You don't have to worry about parking other than the initial parking spot at place number one.

And then you're shuttled around and everybody loves it.

It's a great time.

And it's limited because of the number of seats on the shuttles, but we will offer them both on Saturday evening as well as Sunday afternoon.

- So how does it work?

So people can start at a different place each time?

- Yes, the VIP is the exception, because we try to have two shuttles going different ways.

- Right.

To and from.

- Yes.

But if you're a general ticket holder, you can start at any home or location that you want to and finish.

You can split the ticket up.

If you can't finish them all Saturday night, you can go on Sunday.

- You can go on Sunday.

See, that is appealing to the consumer.

- It is.

It is.

And we are very excited.

Again, another little teaser.

If any of you have eaten at Kelleher's across the street, Pat Sullivan and his lovely wife, Lark, and his son, Sean, and his wife, Maureen, are opening up their condos, which is right next to Kelleher's.

And they will be open for the tour this year as well.

They're fabulous, if I might add.

But we're going to keep the others a secret.

They'll be on the ticket when you purchase them.

They'll be online at 309tix.com within the next few weeks to be able to purchase.

- Fun.

- Yes.

- And a lot of people know a very little bit of history about the city of Peoria and the whole area.

It's not just the City of Peoria.

But you have taken some programs to various locations to bring other people in and kind of educate them on how special this area is.

- We have.

This year we developed a members and programs committee.

And they are phenomenal, phenomenal people.

They have come up with some great ideas.

Earlier this year, we did two sessions at Springdale Cemetery-Mausoleum.

Very well attended, learning all sorts of things about people buried within Springdale.

The history of some of their past, et cetera.

Very, very interesting.

I continue to say that every time I'm with someone from the Historical Society, whether it's a social gathering or a session like at Springdale, I learn something new every single time.

Which is fascinating.

- [Christine] It is.

- We had a garden tour over in West Peoria on Moss that was, again, very well-attended and loved.

We recently had a tour of Lincoln, the library branch.

And the attendees got a tour from top to bottom and loved it.

And were told the history of that building and so many fun things.

And places that we're getting into that you might not normally get into and get to see.

You need to check our website and check for the events.

We have bus tours that we offer every summer.

And we are just finishing up those.

We have the Haunted Peoria Tour going on again this weekend, and it's sold out.

And in fact, we had to get a larger bus to accommodate all of the people that wanted to go on that.

- But isn't it fascinating that you find people who are grasping some knowledge about our roots?

- Yes.

Yes.

And those that will share it with us, the ones that are well-studied, very interesting.

They know this.

Our tour guides for the bus tours, for example, know, you know, the city inside and out.

And what's interesting, two different people can give the same tour and they bring different items and information to the tours, and it's fabulous.

It's just fabulous.

Our mission for Peoria Historical Society is to preserve, share and celebrate Peoria's rich history.

So with the tours, with the events that go on at our house museums, the Pettengill-Morron House and Flanagan House, we're sharing the stories of what took place back in the day.

And it's fascinating.

It really is.

- So you're coming up with these ideas, and you've got some new blood and some young blood coming in.

They're showing an interest and stepping up and learning about where we've come from.

- Exactly.

And as we know, the young people are our future.

And we are trying to get more involved and interested in Peoria's history, in the Historical Society.

We're always trying to come up with new ideas.

We do have some young people on our board who are always coming up with great ideas that would interest their age group.

And so next year, in 2025, we hope to have additional programs such as Springdale or the garden tour, et cetera.

But they're coming up with additional items, things that would interest people.

- [Christine] Right.

- Or younger people I should say.

So we'll be looking forward to sharing that.

In fact, I was given...

I have to refer to my notes, because you know me.

- That's fine.

We're historic.

- We are historic.

- Think about it, Susie.

(Susie laughs) In the whole scheme of things.

- We are going to have programs at the Children's Home on Knoxville and at the Pere Marquette.

And we have a brand new exhibition about Southtown, Peoria.

I've been able to sit in on a couple of the meetings, and the ladies are just incredible.

The stories that they share and the pictures that they have of what was once Southtown.

Now, where the Civic Center is now.

And the buildings that were torn down, et cetera.

And so we'll be presenting that or sharing that in 2025.

Very excited about sharing that.

- [Christine] Enlightening.

- Very enlightening.

Again, you learn something new every time- - All the time.

- you are around any of these new topics.

- You also have some community sponsored programs.

So this is also a new idea.

- This is a new idea that we are hoping to get to kick off at the beginning of 2025, if not sooner.

Just to encourage corporate, whether it's a company.

- Partnership.

- Or partnership with us.

To help us share the stories.

Because our saying is, you're already a part of our history, so why not get involved with us and help us to continue these stories?

We have two.

Our house museums, as we all know, are old.

The Flanagan House is the oldest standing home in Peoria.

- Yes.

- And as we all know, old homes require a lot of maintenance.

- Boy-oh-boy, do I know that.

- Yeah, I know.

- You do too.

- Yes.

And so we're always seeking ways to raise money.

And we have some generous donors.

But we think with the corporate sponsorship, it will not only help us to get the word out about the history of Peoria, to be able to share things, but we also do want to be able to maintain our properties and continue to present them in the former glory that they once were.

- And so raising money.

I mean, so you have the Henri de Tonti Award, and that's a fundraiser.

What other ways do you make money to support the Peoria Historical Society?

- Well, yes, the de Tonti event.

- It was in November.

- It was in November.

That is our largest fundraiser.

Second is the Holiday Home Tour.

And then we do have other events that we do.

They're on a smaller scale.

And there are events held at each of the house museums.

- Right, and that's another thing people need to know, because it's not just the historical, you get to come in and see how they lived.

You can have weddings there.

You can have baby showers.

You can have tea parties there.

You can do any number of things.

- You can, you can.

They're beautiful locations.

Beautiful locations.

Beautiful landscaping, the yards.

For those who haven't been to Flanagan House.

I think back in the day it was the front yard.

Anything that was on the riverside would've been considered the front door.

And the view is breathtaking.

- It is.

- Pettengill-Morron, the backyard.

- It is the backyard.

- It would be the backyard.

It's gorgeous as well.

There's always work going on in both places to keep up the beauty of it.

Excuse me a second.

- It's one of those seasons.

- My apology.

- So how did you get involved in Peoria Historical Society?

You retired from Cat.

- I retired from Cat after 40 years.

And I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I took some time.

But you do have to stay involved after you retire.

You have to do something.

And I was asked by a dear friend if I wanted to help with the Holiday Home Tour.

Then eventually I was asked to be on the board.

And then here I am, president of the board.

But it's been just a learning process for me in growing.

I have met wonderful people.

They're just delightful.

And I just feel so fortunate in all of the volunteer projects that I've been involved in.

And the Peoria Historical Society is one of them that has just provided great friendships, things like that.

So I got involved in trying to help find ways to continue on and to help this organization keep going.

But that's the purpose of our board and everybody.

- Right, and I think everybody realizes that once they join the board, it's like preservation.

- Yes, it is.

We are a working board.

Everybody is expected.

Everybody is on a committee.

And we have Collections Committee where items are donated to Peoria Historical Society.

They decide whether or not they're pertinent to our cause.

And we are so appreciative of the donations that people make with their belongings that maybe they're ready to part with.

We have the Preservation Committee which works on our house museums, making sure that we prioritize what needs to be worked on next just to keep it in great shape.

Then we have the Membership and Programs Committee, which we talked about a little bit earlier, that are just doing a fantastic job.

- [Christine] Gangbusters.

- They are.

Our membership has increased thanks to them.

- And you're located down on Washington Street.

- On Washington Street, yes.

- And you store all that stuff there?

- We have items stored there.

- A lot of it.

- And then we also have items in Bradley Archives.

- Okay.

- And that was another tour that was allowed this year for interested parties.

We took them over to the Bradley Archives so they could see what all we have in storage there.

- And you have every age of people kind of interested in this or is it more our generation?

- [Susie] Mostly our generation.

- For right now.

- For right now, but we are trying to entice younger people to get involved.

The younger people love the Holiday Home Tour, getting in to see the different architecture and things like that.

But we are trying to get them involved.

Maybe become a member.

Becoming a member is no more...

Individually, it's a $35 donation to become a member, and then it goes up for families and then so on.

But there are some perks that you get.

And we have a quarterly newsletter that comes out, Timeline.

You're notified of events coming up that might be of interest to people.

- And it is electronic.

- It's electronic.

We're very proud of ourselves that we have become... - [Christine] Sims.

- Yes, exactly.

You can buy tickets online, so that you don't have to come down to the office.

You can, we'd love to see you if you'd like to.

But you can buy tickets for different events on 309tix.com.

Go to our website just to see what is happening within the Historical Society.

PeoriaHistoricalSociety.org.

- [Christine] Org, I believe it is.

- And I know, isn't that terrible?

You need to remember.

- You're just so used to it, it just happens.

- Exactly.

- So with this next generation, let's say it's Gen X. Millennials, Gen X.

What have you found in terms of their interest and being excited about people our age who are accepting their ideas and moving forward with them?

Because we're all in this together.

- We are all in this together.

What have I found out with the younger people?

- Mm-hmm.

- I think they're just interested in seeing things.

Someone would say, "Oh, you've seen one old house, you've seen them all."

Well, we know that not to be true.

But they just want events.

Fellowship type things, I guess, that will bring them together and come up with ideas.

And we love to pick their brains.

Let them brainstorm a bit.

And give us ideas as to what would pique your interest.

One young couple mentioned doing like a progressive dinner, starting out at some of the warehouse restaurants down here.

Go to first place for an appetizer and have the owner tell about that particular warehouse, what the history was in that one.

Then go to the next place for maybe the main course, and the same.

And then for dessert.

- Great idea.

- Yeah, so I'm hoping we can get that.

- You have to figure out how to get that done.

- [Susie] Exactly.

Exactly.

Now it's just implementing.

- If anybody can do it, you'll figure it out.

- We'll figure it out.

- So what's been the most interesting thing that you have been exposed to, that has lit a light bulb for you?

It's like, oh, I didn't know that happened here.

- Oh my.

Where do I start?

And I hope I can remember it.

- Just a little something.

Like, there's different tours.

There's walking tours also like the ghost tour and the whiskey baron tour.

- Yes, we have Roll Out the Barrel.

We have Naughty to Nice.

Because Peoria was a wide open town back in the day.

I love the stories about Roll Out the Barrel, the prohibition and the stories of Al Capone.

- [Christine] The Shelton Gang.

- The Shelton Gang, exactly.

Those I find interesting.

I find them all interesting, but that's probably my favorite part.

- The big one for you.

- Yes, yes.

- So then you have something coming up.

You have a book club that is going to take place.

- [Susie] Yes, and it was just newly announced at the Flanagan House on Glen Oak.

- [Christine] It's gonna be in January.

- It's in January 26th.

- January 26th.

I put it in my notes.

- At 4:00 PM.

And I have it at the bottom of mine.

And they'll be discussing "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon, a mystery inspired by the life of Martha Ballard.

Martha was an 18th century midwife in Maine.

A clever and brave story of scandal and justice.

This is a discussion you won't want to miss.

So again, that's going to be on Sunday, January 26th, at 4:00 PM, at the John C. Flanagan House on Glen Oak.

So check our website.

- So parking gets kind of iffy there on Glen Oak.

So where would they park, and would you do a shuttle?

Again, they could park somewhere and you could get a shuttle and shuttle them up to Flanagan.

- We could do that.

If there is enough interest, we'll be definitely looking into that.

A lot of people...

The house next door to them is a longtime Historical Society member.

And they're always very gracious about letting people park in their driveway as well as the Flanagan driveway.

And then there is street parking.

Again, depending on the number of parties interested in this book club.

- All right, so let's get back to the homes.

The Peoria Historical Society was really gifted those homes.

Correct or am I wrong?

- We were gifted the Pettengill-Morron House by Ms. Jean Morron.

And then we purchased the Flanagan House back in the sixties.

- [Christine] Was somebody living there?

- That I'm not certain.

Or if it stood empty.

I'd have to do my homework on that one.

- Well, there you go.

I'll have you back when you get the history of that.

- Absolutely.

But we were gifted the Pettengill-Morron House.

I don't know if people knew this.

But if you've been to the house, you've been told the story that Jack Lemmon was married there to Cynthia Stone.

And there are pictures that they have of them and their wedding.

There's all kinds of things that have taken place there.

And I believe his son, Christopher Lemmon, I think it is.

I think he still keeps in touch with the house manager at times.

- So you do have house managers at each of the properties?

- We do.

And I can't even begin to sing their praises enough.

They work tirelessly at each location, and they treat it as if it were their own home.

- [Christine] Right.

- Whether it's maintenance inside, painting, yard work, et cetera.

We are so fortunate.

- New stairs.

- New stairs, yes.

At the Pettengill-Morron House, we were in dire need of new stairs and a porch.

And our columns, they were in really bad shape.

So we were able to raise money.

We were able to raise enough money to replace those.

And now it has been painted, and it looks gorgeous now.

We put our foot down that the house manager would not take on those projects, because she's powerful.

So we hired that out.

But they both take great care of the homes, and we are so fortunate to have them.

I really don't know what we would do without them.

- And the homes are open.

I know Pettengill-Morron House is open on Thursdays.

- On Thursdays from 10:00 to 2:00.

And then the Flanagan House is open one or two Sundays a month.

And I think it might be from 1:00 to 4:00 or something like that.

- And again check the website.

- Check the website.

You know, my brain, I always joke about that.

(both laugh) - Don't we all.

But it's very exciting.

You have a lot of exciting new things coming up.

This book club sounds good.

Community involvement, you know, with corporate.

Corporate Peoria.

Corporate Central Illinois being involved.

- Like a community partnership with us.

And it is a community sponsor rather than corporate sponsor.

We don't want to- - [Christine] Okay.

Sorry.

- No, that's okay.

I had to look at my notes.

I had to look at my notes.

So it is community sponsor, because we would like anyone who would like to help out.

And we would greatly appreciate their partnership.

- And you take any amount of partnership?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

- If it means to come in and dust the corners a little bit.

So help the house manager.

- Help the house manager.

- Or, you know, donate some plants for the planters in the summertime or something.

Anything.

- It could be anything.

And we do greatly appreciate all of our current donors.

We can't do things without them.

So we are just trying to get the word out that we're here.

A lot of people don't know about the Peoria Historical Society.

And we're just trying to get the word out that it's really a great organization.

And the history to be learned, it's endless, you know.

It is, it's just endless.

- I know.

Well, on one of the bus tours that I went on, I learned a few of the things.

And so now I can conduct my own if there's somebody in town.

Just for a short amount of time, I go, let's go for a ride.

- [Susie] Exactly.

- But it is kind of fun when you go to the Water District and then up Grandview Drive.

And just all around.

I'll have to take you with me next time, 'cause you know all about the whiskey part.

That part.

The Roll Out the Barrel part.

I can't remember all that.

I need to take notes.

- It's so interesting.

A lot of these warehouses down here housed barrels of whiskey for whether it was Hiram Walker or some of the other distillers that were here prior to.

It's fascinating.

- [Christine] Just keeps on keeping on.

- It does, it does.

And so I'm excited.

That's why with the Holiday Home Tour, I'm excited that we're getting into additional condos that were former warehouses because of the stories behind there.

The history is phenomenal.

- It'll be fun to find out.

- It will be.

- Well, thanks.

So they should go online.

- They should go online within the next couple of weeks.

And tickets will be for sale online, 309tix.com.

Look for the Holiday Home Tour.

And the VIP tickets I think will be out there as well.

Or if it's easier, just go to the office to sign up.

- You said the VIP tickets, there's a limited amount.

So what's the number of that?

Do you remember?

- Last year, I think we had about 40 people, and so probably around the same.

- So you want to do that fast?

- Yes, exactly.

- And procrastination is not allowed.

- That's right.

That's right.

And we promise a great time.

It's just always a fun, fun time.

- Well, thank you, Susie Papenhause.

- Thanks for having me.

- For being here and enlightening us.

And we'll learn a lot more about Peoria's history, the area's history sooner than later.

- I hope so.

Come join us, please.

Thanks, Chris.

- And thanks for being here with us.

It's a fun place to be.

Fun place to learn about.

Stay well, be well.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)