AUTHOR: Dave Sypniewski DATE: Thursday, October 13, 2005 ----- BODY: 1990 in Carbondale, IL. It's a late October evening but still in the mid to upper 70's. There was a lot of drinking at a lot of watering holes. Hey, who could pass on $1 pitchers? Me and my boys would each get our own. Two or. three bucks was all you needed to have fun and by the time you walked the mile or two back to our dorm, and later our townhouse, everything was OK and you slipped into to bed. Contrary to the popular belief that SIU was a party school, I actually did better than I did in high school. There were only 18 credits allowed a semester, but with the Dean's approval I jacked it up to 21. At the end of the day, when all the work was done, we'd head out to the famous Illinois Ave. "strip". We'd stay out until three in the morning and as we walked back, we'd pass "Otis the town drunk" otherwise known as Winston the Bagel Man. He'd put any concoction together that you could think of for a buck and a half. You want a grilled bagel with sardines, pickles, peanut butter apples and jalapenos, no problem...he'd make it and would also make chit chat while he was grilling your sandwich. 1990 was the year that things got messy. I'm talking about Halloween. Just like the levee's in New Orleans, the pressure was building and building. We were there. It seemed like a typical Friday night sans the Illinois State Trooper cars...about 50 in all that were parked at the Savings and Loan's parking lot waiting for some punk kid to screw up. Taking over "The Strip" means taking whatever alcohol you can get a hold of and congregating in the street until everyone gets fire hosed or pepper sprayed. Before that, it was like a scene from Armageddon where cars were overturned and lit on fire, stoplights were torn down, fistfights and looting local businesses became "cool". Considering I'm an Alumnus of that school, you'd think I would know how the "Halloween Meylay" got started...nope. I do know it took over 10 years for SIU and Carbondale working together to put an end to Halloween. It is now a dud over that weekend, and come to think of it, it's a dud period. They try and kick everyone out for a week that lives on campus. Majority of which are from either St. Louis or Chicago. During that week the bars and liquor stores are closed. I say, let the tradition live. It's once a year, 99% of the people walk to where they're going. They're not driving! SIU and Carbondale need to get a grip. Maybe if they turned a blind eye to what's happening on one night, things wouldn't get so damn outta control! **IN MEMORY OF WINSTON THE BAGEL MAN** -------- Squealing Pig WORLDWIDE!: Carbondale Classics that will never be repeated on a late October night!

Squealing Pig WORLDWIDE!

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Carbondale Classics that will never be repeated on a late October night!

1990 in Carbondale, IL. It's a late October evening but still in the mid to upper 70's. There was a lot of drinking at a lot of watering holes. Hey, who could pass on $1 pitchers? Me and my boys would each get our own. Two or. three bucks was all you needed to have fun and by the time you walked the mile or two back to our dorm, and later our townhouse, everything was OK and you slipped into to bed. Contrary to the popular belief that SIU was a party school, I actually did better than I did in high school. There were only 18 credits allowed a semester, but with the Dean's approval I jacked it up to 21. At the end of the day, when all the work was done, we'd head out to the famous Illinois Ave. "strip". We'd stay out until three in the morning and as we walked back, we'd pass "Otis the town drunk" otherwise known as Winston the Bagel Man. He'd put any concoction together that you could think of for a buck and a half. You want a grilled bagel with sardines, pickles, peanut butter apples and jalapenos, no problem...he'd make it and would also make chit chat while he was grilling your sandwich. 1990 was the year that things got messy. I'm talking about Halloween. Just like the levee's in New Orleans, the pressure was building and building. We were there. It seemed like a typical Friday night sans the Illinois State Trooper cars...about 50 in all that were parked at the Savings and Loan's parking lot waiting for some punk kid to screw up. Taking over "The Strip" means taking whatever alcohol you can get a hold of and congregating in the street until everyone gets fire hosed or pepper sprayed. Before that, it was like a scene from Armageddon where cars were overturned and lit on fire, stoplights were torn down, fistfights and looting local businesses became "cool". Considering I'm an Alumnus of that school, you'd think I would know how the "Halloween Meylay" got started...nope. I do know it took over 10 years for SIU and Carbondale working together to put an end to Halloween. It is now a dud over that weekend, and come to think of it, it's a dud period. They try and kick everyone out for a week that lives on campus. Majority of which are from either St. Louis or Chicago. During that week the bars and liquor stores are closed. I say, let the tradition live. It's once a year, 99% of the people walk to where they're going. They're not driving! SIU and Carbondale need to get a grip. Maybe if they turned a blind eye to what's happening on one night, things wouldn't get so damn outta control! **IN MEMORY OF WINSTON THE BAGEL MAN**

posted by Dave Sypniewski at Thursday, October 13, 2005

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