March 2009

march 2009 • www.marionliving.com • 1

2 • marion living magazine • march 2009



Table of contents

Publisher/OwnerJim Muir

Graphic Design Toby Brooks

ConsultantCheryl Schafer Collins

PhotographersCeasar MaragniChristopher Kays

Contributing WritersHarry BoydLila H. CollotonDon GasawaySue GlascoCeasar MaragniJim MuirJon MusgraveBernie PaulDixie TerryGeorge Trammell

‘Unique’ – that’s the key word in Unique Ink/Rethink Your Ink......16

6

11

Born and Raised in the Buisness............................................8

30

des-ti-ny.................................................................................12

Dedicated to Mom.................................................................14

left:The Marion Cultural and Civic Center

on the Cover:Unique Ink/Rethink Your Ink owners Jack and Becky Morton pose for a shot at

their West Main Street studio

Photos by Ceasar Maragni

cover Story

other Features

Back to Her Roots.................................................................22


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16 22 30

Advertisers IndexBanterra Bank...........................................................................................................29Coleman-Rhoades Furniture.......................................................................................7Heartland Regional Medical Center...........................................................................30Hospice of So. Illinois.................................................................................................21Image Graphics..........................................................................................................28John A. Logan College...............................................................................................27Marion Chamber of Commerce..................................................................................21 Marion Ford...............................................................................................................28 McDonalds.................................................................................................................28 Neon Internet .............................................................................................................7T-Birds Grille...............................................................................................................7The Bank of Marion...................................................................................................32 Williamson Co. Regional Airport................................................................................13Williamson Co. Tourism Bureau.................................................................................26


march 2009

Greetings and welcome to the March issue of Marion Living.

With February in the rearview mirror and March in front of us, it certainly gives the feeling that spring is right around the corner, doesn’t it? Of course as soon as I start thinking that, Old Man Winter will slap us around again.

Well, even if winter has another punch or two, we are assured that those dreary sunless days are just about over and soon we’ll see flowers blooming and birds chirping.

With that bit of optimism – or folly – out of the way, let’s look ahead to the March issue of Marion Living, an issue that might best be described as ‘past, present and future.’

Let me explain.

The ‘past’ is a story written by Sue Glasco that details the remarkable journal-ism journey of Marion native Jari Jackson, who spent more than five decades in the newspaper industry. As a former ink-stained newspaper wretch myself, I’m amazed at the sheer tenacity and endurance that would be required to sustain a career that long.

On the ‘future’ side, ML details the mammoth undertaking of Jim Halpin as he works to start a new restaurant – “The Great American Chop Shop” – at the site that formerly housed Ruby Tuesday, in the Illinois Centre Mall.

And the ‘present’ is a story I think you’ll find interesting about a West Main Street location that houses two businesses, Unique Ink and Rethink Your Ink. As I’ve mentioned several times in the past, one of the key things I hope to accomplish with Marion Living is to stray off the beaten path and find stories that highlight out-of-the-way businesses and unusual residents that blend together to make up the community of Marion.

I went back and pulled a paragraph from the first-ever Publisher’s Greeting that I penned in this space. It reads:

“As far as my vision for the direction this magazine will go, that can be summed up very simply. Marion is often referred to as ‘the hub of the universe’ and we plan on being a small spoke in that hub. In a nutshell, we plan to present you a monthly written and pictorial view about the way Marion works, plays, relaxes, worships, celebrates and educates. Really, our vision can be summed up in the name of this magazine – Marion Living – because we plan to promote every aspect about how Marion lives.”

Looking at the March issue of Marion Living I think we’ve done just that.

Enjoy! And oh yeah ... think spring.

Jim Muir, Publisher

From the publisher



Marion Living feature jim muir

Born and Raised in the Business

Jim Halpin will bring a lifetime of experience to The Great American Chop House, located at the Illinois

Centre Mall


Chef Jim Halpin explains plans for his new Marion restaurant, Jim Halpin’s Great American Chop House, which he is planning to open soon at the Illinois Centre Mall in Marion.


It’s often said that certain people were ‘born’ to work in particular professions. If that old adage is

correct, and most would agree it is, then it’s a certainty that Jim Halpin was born to own a restaurant.

In fact, Halpin himself will readily ad-mit that he also believes he was des-tined to be in the restaurant business. And that destiny now brings Halpin to Marion where he plans to refurbish, restore and then reopen the facility that formerly housed Ruby Tuesday in the Illinois Centre Mall.

Halpin is looking at a late spring grand opening at his new restaurant that will be known as The Great Ameri-can Chop House.

“I really was born and raised in this business, I grew up in Miami Beach and my father ran “The Castaways Ho-tel” which was considered the most exclusive place in town,” said Halpin. “I got my first cooking job when I was 13 and I’ve been cooking or running restau-rants and bars ever since.”

While he’s a Florida native, Halpin is not a stranger to Southern Illinois and area residents are certainly aware of his culinary skills. Halpin was the first manager/chef at Kokopelli and also managed the Rend Lake Resort.

“I’m very familiar with the area and more importantly the people in this area,” said Hal-pin. “Even though we keep hearing how bad the economy is, if there’s a commu-nity I feel confident about it is Marion. I’ve talked to other restaurant owners

and they tell me that their business is not down.”

Halpin showed confidence when asked details about The Great Ameri-can Chop Shop.

“We plan to have the best food and the best atmosphere in the area,” he said. “We’ll have tablecloths, new lighting, new booths, a new state-of-the-art kitchen

and we’re going to buy good food and cook good food.”

Halpin said the large salad bar area at the restaurant will remain with an up-grade, along with a luncheon special everyday.

“We’re going to do everything from scratch,” said Halpin. “Our soups won’t come in a bag where we just throw it Born and Raised

in the Business

The new restaurant is already being touted on an electronic billboard along Illinois Route 13 in Marion.


in a microwave like some franchises do; we’ll cut all our own vegetables and do everything from scratch.”

Halpin said the struggling economy actually served as a motivation for him to move forward with the restaurant.

“When the economy started going down I had people tell me that this is not the time to do it, not the time to open a restaurant,” said Halpin. “But, the only way this is going to get fixed is if people go out there and try and stimulate the economy. We’re going

Following the Grand Opening of the Chop House in late spring, patrons will once again be able to enjoy a meal in what was formerly Ruby Tuesday’s in the Illinois Centre Mall.

I’m very familiar with the area and more im-portantly the people in this area. Even though we keep hearing how bad the economy is, if there’s a community I feel confident about, it is Marion.

– Jim Halpin, owner of Mar-ion’s Great American Chop House

to try and dot that and also create several jobs.”

The name – The Great American Chop House – has some historic meaning, according to Halpin. He said back in the 1800s in Eng-land it was customary to have ‘chop houses’ next to butcher shops.

“A lot of time they would just buy the meat and go right to the ‘chop house’ and cook it for them,” said Halpin. “They specialized in big steaks and pork chops and I just thought it was a great name. We’re also going to have lamb chops, stuffed pork chops and veal chops.”

Halpin said he envisions employing 25-30 people at the restaurant at full operation. Halpin said the timing to open the now-closed restaurant hap-pened at the right time and the right location.

“Every couple of months somebody has offered me a restaurant at vari-ous locations around Southern Illi-nois,” said Halpin. “But this place … this place was just a perfect fit. I plan on being here every second, seeing every customer.”

Looking back at his days at Kokopelli, Halpin said he developed many good relationships with customers and also

s p o k e about the optimism that abounds in the Marion area.

“I came in as a stranger and I got to meet a lot of people and these are just the greatest people in the world,” he said. “I guarantee that if I walked into Krogers right now I’d have 15 people stop me and ask me when we’re go-ing to be open. I think some of the franchise restaurants have lost sight of the people-aspect. We’re going to offer great food but we’re also going to take care of our customers.”

Calling on his long history in the res-taurant/food service industry Halpin recalled some sage advice given to him by his father.

“My dad used to say the bottom line is important but it’s more important to see customers coming back again and again,” said Halpin. “This is what I love to do.”

Halpin said after renovation he esti-mates that The Great American Chop House will open in late April.


MARION CARNEGIE LIBRARYOdds & Ends

206 S. Market • 993-5935 • www.marioncarnegielibrary.orgHours: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. • Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Coffee Break@ Your LibraryHoursMonday – Thursday 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.Friday and Saturday9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

LIBRARY BOARD CONTRIBUTES BEHIND THE SCENES

Call ahead to place an order!

MARCH EVENTS CALENDARWiggles n’ Tunes • Wednesday, March 11 • 5 p.m.

Wiggles n’ Tunes is a program where a trained instructor leads participants through a colorful world of music and movement. The program, which is taught through the Talent Education School of Southern Illinois, is specially designed for ages eight to 48 months.

Free and open to the public.Teen Tech Week Game Day • Friday, March 13 • 1 p.m.

Games and snacks for ages 13 to 19. Free and open to the public.St. Patrick’s Day Game Night

Tuesday, March 17 • 6 to 8 p.m. • FreeThe whole family is invited to play games, including Scene It, Uno, Jenga, Blokus and Wii. Light refreshments and door prizes included.Read the Movie, Watch the Book • Monday, March 30 • 5 p.m.

Join us for the 1948 film version of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers! The book and film features the adventures of D’Artagnan, a young noble who comes to Paris to join the famous Musketeers. He soon becomes involved in political plotting with “The Three Musketeers:” Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Featuring a cast that includes Gene Kelly, Lana Turner and Vincent Price, this swashbuckling adventure is a delight for the entire family! Free and

open to the public.Regular Free Programs: Storyhour for pre-school age children every Wednesday at 10 a.m. and Chess Club for all ages and skill

levels on Tuesdays from 4 to 7:30 p.m.

Marion Carnegie Library is a municipal library and its Board of Trustees members are appointed by the mayor to serve three-year terms. The board meets every month except December. The current members are:

George Trammell, presidentJudy Moore, vice-president Kimberly Walker, treasurer Judy Arnold, secretarySteve Aschieris Janis BrandtJenna GriffithJohn O’KeefeGuy “Pete” Peterson

The board offers advice and oversight to the library staff. They volunteer their time with no compensation. The board is supportive of the library’s programs and efforts to expand its services, including the new Young Adult Department. Many of their ideas are visible at the library, including the new coffee bar, Coffee Break @ Your Library.

Board members Janis Brandt (left), George Trammell (third from right) and Judy Moore (second from right) help celebrate the ribbon cutting of Coffee Break. Also pictured, from the left, are Debbie Childers, Steve Lappin and David Patton.


Because he could combine his love for science with a flexible work schedule, Dr. John Kaeser

realized decades ago that dentistry was the correct profession for him to pursue.

A Marion native, Kaeser said he didn’t like the idea of being on-call 24 hours a day as is the case with most phy-sicians. He wanted his evenings and weekends free so that he could attend

Marion High School athletic events and umpire baseball games.

It’s for that reason that Kaeser chose dentistry. It’s a decision, he said, he has never regretted making. Kaeser set up shop in Marion in 1958, after a two-year stint in the Air Force. Prior to serving his country, Kaeser had mar-ried his girlfriend, the former Romelle Harris of Marion (1954), and had com-pleted four years of dental training at

the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kaeser treated patients for 42 years in Marion before selling his business and retiring in 2001 at the age of 68.

But he wasn’t idle for long.

John A. Logan College officials soon came calling, offering him the oppor-tunity to oversee their new dental hy-giene department. It was an opportu-nity Kaeser couldn’t refuse.

Marion Living feature john homan

Dr. John Kaeser, who oversees the dental hygiene program at John A. Logan College, looks over an x-ray with student Mi-chelle Stilt of Odin. Kaeser sold his Marion dental practice in 2001 after more than 40 years in business and got involved with the new Logan program immediately thereafter. Kaeser

said he had always wanted to teach. -Logan Media Services photo

des-ti-ny [des-tuh-nee] –

noun, 1. something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot

or fortune. 2. the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events. 3. the

power or agency that determines a course of events.

Retired Marion dentist believes he was destined to teach

The college needed a qualified dentist on staff to serve as a su-pervising dentist in clinic and I couldn’t say no. I had dreamed of being a dean of a dental school and get-ting the opportunity to teach – to give back if you will – and this was the perfect fit for me.

-Dr. John Kaeser


“The college needed a qualified dentist on staff to serve as a supervising dentist in clinic and I couldn’t say no,” he said. “I had dreamed of being a dean of a dental school and getting the opportunity to teach – to give back if you will – and this was the perfect fit for me.”

Pam Karns, coordinator for dental hygiene at the col-lege, said students enrolled in the four-semester pro-gram must first have completed an accedited dental as-sistants’ course, which covers two additional semesters of instruction. Karns said Kaeser has brought with him invaluable experience as an instructor.

“He’s truly concerned about both the students and the faculty,” she said. “He has such a wealth of compassion and knowledge. He’s here in the classroom even when he doesn’t have to be. Dr. Kaeser goes above and be-yond the call of duty. “He is most certainly an inspiration to me,” Karns said. “He’s not just a figurehead. He works hands on with the students and the patients. He helps all of us develop a professionalism that he said is expected by patients of all dentists and hygienists.”

Now 76, Kaeser describes himself as “a people person” who can’t resist the urge to teach the young and inex-perienced.

“The technological advances in dentistry the last few years are incredible,” he said. “We are long past the dark ages when going to the dentist was associated with a great deal of pain.”

Kaeser said it’s important for his students to have em-pathy for their patients if they are in pain.

“We want them to know what the other person is feel-ing,” he said. “So we will give one another injections in the mouth as part of our training. They give the injec-tions to me, too.”

Because there are only 15 to 20 dental hygiene stu-dents enrolled at any one given time, Kaeser said he is able to provide more one-on-one training.

“I just hope that when these students complete their training they will walk away with both a proper attitude and set of skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.”

The Kaesers have three children: Diane Lazorchak, who works in human resources at Mid-Country Bank in Marion; David, an aircraft maintenance engineer with Boeing in St. Charles, Mo. and Steven (deceased). The couple also has five grandchildren. Romelle is a retired teacher of the Goreville school district. The Kaesers at-tend United Church of Christ in Marion.


dixie terryMarion Living feature

Dedicated to Mom

For more than 25 years Jo Barger had been writing her cookbook – in her head and not on paper.

But with the encouragement of family and friends, partic-ularly Sharon Fairbanks, she finally got it ready for print six years ago.

The painstaking endeavor was completed without any high-tech assistance, said Jo recently while showing the cookbook in the office of her son, Patrick, a Marion CPA.

“I started out with an old-fashioned typewriter and had the recipes filed in categories in cigar boxes,” she ex-plained.

The cartons of her cookbook, “Richey Recipes: A Collec-tion of Recipes by Jo Richey Barger,” were delivered on her birthday more than six years ago, Dec. 17, 2002.

“And people continue to buy it,” said Jo.

After initially showing the cookbook at a fall festival in Golconda, she hasn’t had any book signings since.

“I sold a bunch after the cookbook was featured in the REA publication,” she said.

She learned the art of cooking by necessity after her mother passed away when Jo was only 12 years old. Her two older sisters moved away and Jo began mak-ing meals for herself and her dad, Milo Parks Richey, on a wood-burning range. Jo said her mother was well-known as an excellent cook and the book is dedicated to her memory.

Jo told of the white cake, homemade ice cream, bar-becued rabbit and many other well-remembered reci-pes handed down from her mother, Fannie Faith Turner Richey. Some were from her memory and they were not written down. Jo told about her mother turning out wonderful meals for a family of nine, without the conve-nience of modern appliances.

“She did everything from scratch, using mostly home-grown foods,” said Jo.

Below is Jo’s mother’s white cake recipe that she contin-ues to make often.

2 cups sugar2-1/2 cups cake flour1 teaspoon baking powder3/4 cup Crisco shortening3/4 cup buttermilk1/2 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon cream of tartar6 egg whites1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Mother’s White CakeFirst, beat egg whites and cram of tartar until stiff. Cream shortening and sugar until creamy. Add flour, baking powder, buttermilk, baking soda, salt and flavoring. Beat until smooth. Fold in egg white mixture. Pour into cake pans that have been greased and floured. Bake for 20 minutes in 350-degree oven.

After a lifetime of having a cookbook inside her head Jo Barger now has it on paper

Jo Barger and her cookbook, "Richey Recipes: A Collection of Recipes by Jo Richey Barger”

-Photo by Dixie Terry


1 cup sugar4 tablespoons water1/2 cup light corn syrup4 egg whites2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring

Mother’s Fluffy White FrostingMix sugar, water and corn syrup in saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook to 242 or until syrup spins a 6-8-inch thread. Just before syrup is ready, beat egg whites until stiff enough to hold a point. Pour hot syrup very slowly in a thin stream into the beaten egg whites. Continue beat-ing until frosting holds peaks. Blend in vanilla. Spread between layers and on sides and top of cake. Make pret-ty swirls with spatula. You may also sprinkle generously flaked coconut over all of cake.

“The whole family has enjoyed the cookbook so much,” said Jo, of the 171-page book published by “Morris Press” of Kearney, Nebraska. The book is in its second printing.

Several of the recipes are favorites of aunts, cousins and friends. Photos of loved ones are interspersed be-tween recipes for such as Esther’s Sweet Sour Pickles, Mother’s Kosher Dill Pickles, Rosalie’s Special Dessert, Grace’s Pumpkin Pie, Jackie’s Squash Casserole, Nich-ols Chili, Nell’s Coleslaw, Carolyn’s Dinner Rolls, Rho-da’s Cookies, Nell’s Cocoa Fudge and Rose’s Punch.

“Every recipe is one I have used and still do,” but not all are her own she pointed out. She has some recipes that she didn’t include in the book.”

Family secrets?

“Well, sort of,” she said.

Although several have suggested that she publishes an-other cookbook.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m pretty content with this one.”

Jo’s late husband, John, who passed away in 2004, had built her a special kitchen in their backyard to house her collection of vintage kitchen items, including a wood-burning stove, much like the one she learned to cook on. Jo swears that biscuits taste better in the wood range.

In this old-fashioned kitchen she welcomes friends and family to enjoy her gourmet food.

“We can seat nine at the table,” she said.

Full breakfasts as well as beans and cornbread are only two of her specialties.

“I cook dinner nearly every Sunday for her two sons, Scott and Patrick, their wives, three grandsons and a granddaughter.

“One of my grandsons always asks at church every Sun-day, ‘what did you cook today, grandma?’” she said.

Jo bakes each family member’s favorite cake for each of their birthdays.

“They each have a different one,” she said.

On Super Bowl Sunday Jo had planned an extensive menu, featuring lasagna and other choices for an an-ticipated crowd. One of the tasty items on the table was her own dip.

Mexican Dip

1 can jalapeno bean dip3 very ripe avocados16 ounces of sour cream1 cup mayonnaise1 package taco seasoningChopped green onions, tomatoes and black ol-ivesShredded cheese

Spread bean dip on bottom of plate. Blend, mash or food process the three avocados; add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, salt and pepper. Layer on top of bean dip. Mix sour cream, mayo and taco seasoning together and layer on top of avocado. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes and olives on top of sour cream. Spread shredded cheese on top. Serve with corn chips.

Another food project in the planning is home canning ten-derloin, along with a special gravy. This was requested by a grandson, who will be her assistant in the project.

After her husband’s sudden passing Jo made the choice to stay busy and do volunteer work and other community projects. She serves as treasurer of her church, Cen-ter Baptist, in Crab Orchard, which she has attended all her life. Jo also belongs to two home extension units and serves on the Williamson County Extension Board, as well as the University of Illinois Council where she serves as treasurer.

She is also involved with a new restaurant, “The Old Home Place” that was recently opened in Goreville, by her son Patrick.

Will she be putting any of her family recipes on the menu at the new restaurant?

“We’ll see,” she said with a smile.


Marion Living featureStory by Jim Muir


It’s been said that it takes all kinds of people to make the world go around. While that statement is

certainly correct it can also be said that it takes all kinds of businesses – big and small and woven together – to make up the true fabric of a community.

Located only a short distance from downtown Marion, Unique Ink is aptly named – it’s a business that deals with ink and to say Jack and Becky Morton’s business and lifestyle is ‘unique’ would be an understatement of grand proportion.

Actually, the small and neat structure located at 1411 West Main Street, is two businesses in one. First, there’s Unique Ink, a business that deals with tattooing and body art and under the same roof there’s Rethink Your Ink, a separate business that deals with the removal of tattoos and body art.

Simply stated, if you’re looking to get – or get rid of – a tattoo Unique Ink/Rethink Your Ink is your one-stop location.

The Mortons move to Marion six years ago from Des Moines, Iowa and set up shop at the West Main Street location.

“When we moved here there were no real serious studios in this area,”

said Jack Morton. “I think we could have done well

any place we went but we’ve been successful here.”

Morton has been in the tattoo business for more than two decades and nearly as long in doing laser tattoo removal. Morton said he decided to get in the tattoo removal business primarily out of necessity.

“I really got into it because I got fed up with the journey I was having try-ing to get some of my tattoos laser-ed,” he said. “To put it bluntly, it was a horrible experience, very costly. They were charging a ridiculous amount of money, $750 for a place the size of a silver dollar.”

Morton used his own arm – com-pletely covered in tattoos – as an example.

‘Unique’ – that’s the key word in Unique Ink/Re-think Your Ink Marion business offers tattoos, body piercing and tattoo removal

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“I have $5,000 in tattoos on this arm,”

he said holding out his left arm. “Most people

can’t spend $5,000 or $6,000 having those tattoos

removed and then spend that same amount getting new tat-

toos.”

Morton said individuals seeking his service for tattoo removal have a variety of reasons from a mistake to too much alcohol but said the biggest reason is to have a name removed.

“If you come into this shop and asked to get a tattoo of somebody else’s name I’m going to try and talk you out of it, but in the end it’s your deci-sion to make if you want that tattoo,”


said Morton. “But, I’m not kidding, I think tattooing somebody’s name is the kiss of death, it just straight up seals the fate of the relationship. I’ve been in this business more than 20 years and rarely do you see some-body come in here with a name on them and tell you that they have no regrets.”

Morton explained the laser proce-dure to remove a tattoo.

“The big misconception in tattoo removal is that there is some miracle process that this machine will totally remove the tattoo and it just doesn’t work that way,” said Morton. “As soon as the light and heat hit the ink molecule it basically expands. The laser process does not hurt but what hurts is that you’re taking these ink molecules and expanding them, that’s what hurts the most. The laser

does not remove the tattoo it only disrupts the settling process into the pigment. The actual removal is done through the human body after the laser is used.”

Morton said there is no actual time limit on tattoo removal and said he has had great success with veterans from World War II and the Vietnam era that have sought his services to have tattoos removed.

“Those come out nicely because they were done differently back then,” said Morton. “The colors have changed since those days so the older tattoos are easier to remove than the newer ones.” Morton said to have what he de-scribed as “a large tattoo” removed will cost between $150 and $200.

ABOVE: Jack uses advanced laser technology to remove a tattoo from his wife Becky’s arm.

“I think tattooing some-

body’s name is the kiss

of death, it just straight

up seals the fate of the

relationship. I’ve been in

this business more than

20 years and rarely do

you see somebody come

in here with a name on

them and tell you that

they have no regrets.”

-Jack Morton


“Or I tell them as much as they can handle, because it hurts,” said Morton. “And that’s a key factor – ‘as much as they can handle.’ A lot of these big guys come in and they’re all gnarly and tough and they tell me they can take it. If anybody goes be-yond an hour, they’re pretty tough.”

Morton described himself as a “body modification guy” and said that he believes that in order for him to have a relationship with his clients he needs to have experienced the full gamut of the services he offers.

Noting his obvious body modifica-tions Morton was asked about his ears, which obviously have been modified.

“My upper ears are derma-punched and my ear lobes have been stretched over a very long period of

time,” said Morton. “You start with smaller rings and go bigger; this pro-cess has taken me seven years. I do this so I can relate to my customers. If you came in here to be lasered and I had never felt the sting of the laser, how would I know how to answer your questions? The same goes for tattoos, piercings and body modifica-tion. I couldn’t relate to you and you couldn’t relate to me. Plus I like the way I look, I like the look of body modifications.”

Morton explained that his look is not for everybody and stressed that young people should consider the overall costs.

“I’m 48-years-old and I’m not going anyplace, this will be my profession as long as I work,” said Morton. “But, young people get into tattoos and body modification when they’re real

young and then snivel because they can’t get a job later; this is clearly not for everybody. You can’t fix this, it’s done. And when I take the plugs out of my ears it’s very ugly and they look better with plugs in. I try to get young people to understand that some of this is forever.”

Morton said he currently has three-fourths of his body tattooed and is working toward a “complete body suit” of tattoos.

Morton said more and more of his business with tattoo removal by laser has him on the road, noting that he just completed an eight week stay on the east coast working primarily in New York.

Morton demonstrated the laser pro-cess on his wife Becky (much to her displeasure) who is in the process

BELOW: Becky Morton schedules an appointment, saying afterwards that they’re booked weeks, and sometimes months, in advance.


of having a tattoo removed from her arm. She offered a unique description about how the process feels. She offered an accurate warning that once the process started some expletives would fill the air.

“I think it feels like bacon grease popping out of the skillet and hitting you, but its constant stinging,” Becky said. “It just hurts … it hurts bad.”

Morton said some women have compared the tattoo re-moval to the pain experienced at child birth while others have likened the process to passing a kidney stone.

“Maybe the best way to describe it,” Becky said, “is to think about a straight pen being stuck in your skin and then it explodes.”

Visitors to Unique Ink/Rethink Your Ink immediately no-tice that the inside of the business is smartly decorated, high tech and spotlessly clean.

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LEFT: Tattoo artist and removal specialist Jack Morton and his wife Becky pride them-selves on operating a top notch business with Morton emphasiz-ing the point by stating, “Even if Mayor Bob But-ler walked in the door and wanted a tatoo, I would insist on a photo identification. If he refused, I’d show him the door.”

“The area has had its share of bad experiences with tattoo shops but we really pride ourselves on the way our busi-ness looks,” he said.

Morton said Marion adopted ordinances on tattooing and body piercing and he feels his business has been well-received and accepted by city leaders. Morton said he oper-ates his business “by the book.”“We are very, very careful and make sure that everybody, and I mean everybody has an ID when they come in here,” said Morton. “We’re very strict, I don’t care if you’re the mayor, you’d better have an ID.”

Morton was asked, ‘even Mayor Butler?’

“Yes, even Mayor Butler,” Morton laughed. “If the Mayor de-cides he wants a tattoo or body piercing he needs to bring his identification with him.”


Marion Living feature sue glasco

Jari Jackson has returned to her roots.

After a 53-year career writing and editing for several of the largest newspapers in the Midwest, Jackson has returned to Marion where she began her remarkable jour-nalism journey as a high school student writing a column for the Marion Daily Republican.

Born Mary Ida Jackson she began writing under the name

she used in her columns “Jari’s Jottings.”

Here in Marion, Jari grew up with newspaper stories from her mother, Aurora, who had worked in the print shop of the former Murphysboro Independent. Her affection for her home town and her desire to contribute resembles that of her father, Bill, a substation electrician at the then-CIPS, who for many years decorated the exterior of the old court-house in the Marion square at Christmas.

A Southern Illinois labor leader, he headed the former Tri-County Labor Day celebrations in Marion and was president for several years of the Trades Council and the Building Trades Council in Marion. During World War II, he represented labor on the local and state rationing boards. In her career and now back home again, Jari exhibits the same sense of service to the community. At the Chicago Tribune in those pre-Internet days, she had a deadline every few hours with multiple editions seven days a week including holidays. Jari’s rapid-fire speech and her need to be working and writing reflect those years. Retirement after her 10 years as a journalist for the Joliet Herald Journal and for Russell Publications allowed her to change her work focus. Wanting to continue to do something worth while, now she has time to write books and to be active in area organizations, such as publicist for both the Marion and District 25 Woman’s Clubs.

After two years of work her first book, “A Dozen Knights and Griffins,” has just been published. The book tells about the academic, athletic, and artistic achievements of Lincoln-Way High School District 210, which she covered for more than 12 years. Not content with just her own experience with the school district writing for New Lenox Community Reporter, Lincoln-Way Sun, Joliet Herald-News and the former Lincoln-Way Journal, a large weekly where she was editor for almost three years, Jari drove the 640-mile round trip four times to conduct interviews, obtain photos, and scour the archives of Russell Pub-

Back to Her ROOTSFollowing a career in journalism that spanned more than five decades, Jari Jackson returns to the location where her distinguished writing career began


lications at Peotone. She explains she also made “zillions of phone calls.” Now, Jari is planning her next book to recount some of the most interesting stories and court trials that she has covered and Southern Illinois will have a promi-nent place in this book. She credits part of her career success to the highly supportive faculty at Marion High School and the interest and personal attention of her typing teacher Mary Barker. Knowing Jari would need to be a fast typist in the newspaper world, Mrs. Barker focused on seeing Jari achieve 125 words a minute. After high school, Jari worked summers at The Marion Daily Republican.

With a Williamson County scholarship to the Univer-sity of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Jari became a member of the editorial board for the Daily Illini as a sophomore and remained there three years. She quickly rose to associate activities editor and then associate editor for university affairs after being ac-cepted into the School of Journalism as a junior.

All was going splendidly until a spring trip to Florida with a roommate and two friends brought a car-wreck disaster. Returning from Fort Lauderdale, the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Jari was sleeping also, and she woke from a coma a week or so later with her parents at her hospital bedside. Fortunately, seatbelts weren’t invented yet, and she and the other backseat passenger were thrown from the car when the back end was destroyed. A broken jaw and crushed left arm (still shorter to this day than her right arm) required weeks of rehabilitation before she could return to school, so summer school was in order, instead of the usual return to The Marion Daily Republican.

Nevertheless, Jari graduated on time in 1956, and two days later she went to work as a reporter for The Cham-paign News-Gazette, where she continued working for four years rising from reporter to co-state editor and then assistant city editor. It was during this time that she interviewed 13-year-old Roger Ebert and they became life-long friends. He worked for her as a high school student, and later they reconnect-ed when Roger was at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he gained fame as a film critic with Gene Siskel of the the Chi-cago Tribune. Their friendship continues today although a tragic incident following surgery has left Ebert unable to speak. Yet he is still able to critique films and write re-views.

Leaving Champaign to go on to the The Evansville Courier as a reporter, Jari thoroughly enjoyed covering the federal courts, celebrities, and other assignments, such as Presi-dential candidate John F. Kennedy’s visit to Marion and Harrisburg. During her Evansville stay, Jari and two friends spent about four months in Europe and visited 19 countries. In London, England, she visited her former Marion classmate and fel-low writer Jeannie (Holmes) Finlayson of Creal Springs, who was a graduate of the University of Missouri journal-ism school and today lives in Bath. Jari has always cher-ished that youthful overseas adventure.

After several more years at the Courier covering city hall, she applied and was offered a job at the Chicago Tribune. When she left Evansville, the late Mayor Frank McDon-


ald, Sr. presented her with a key to the city. At The Tribune, she worked in its Indiana bureau at Gary, where she covered the Indiana General Assem-bly, and at the State of Illinois Office Building in Chicago before she be-came the first woman on the foreign copy desk. Her rapid typing skill al-lowed her to speed copy to the setting room and some days she knew the responsibility of attempting an error-free front page. Viet Nam war stories were abundant in this era.

After nearly eight years at The Tri-bune, she moved on to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat for the next dozen years. Closer to home and writing for the most read newspaper in our area, she enjoyed city life and cover-ing more than 20 courts in St. Louis County, cable television franchising in all the cities in the county, and mur-der trials both in St. Louis County and Kansas City. She covered the Marion tornado, and while walking in the de-bris, she found the house where she grew up on North Johnson Street to-tally destroyed and McKinley School across the street fatally damaged. Features from the Southern Illinois area included a two-page spread for the 25th anniversary of the Orient 2 coal mine disaster.

When The Globe was closed, before moving back to Evansville, Jari moved to Carmi in White County, where she became The Evansville Courier’s bu-reau chief for Southern Illinois and traveled to area towns like Mount Carmel, Olney, McLeansboro, Harris-burg, Carbondale, Mount Vernon, and Shawneetown to cover major stories. Once again she knew the excitement of covering important court cases, and she added experience that will show up in her next book.

Throughout her storied career Jari met top entertainers, scientists, edu-cators, United States Supreme Court Justices, and political figures includ-ing Eleanor Roosevelt, Richard and Pat Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, Lillian Carter, and Gerald Ford. Yet Jari, who was an only child, also kept close ties

not only with her Marion parents but with classmates and childhood friends including Ursula (Fish) Richey, Claire (Reuter) Giles, Romelle (Harris) Kae-sar, Esta Mae (Wickert) Fowler, Ann (Schafale) Trask, Pat (Berkel) Pulley, Alice Ann (Yewell) Weeks, Noma (Hill) Moore, and the late Roberta (Bobbie Grimes) Duncan.

In Southern Illinois Writers Guild, Jari reconnected with classmate Lois Fowler Barrett, another journalist and book author, who lives in Texas. Her high school memories included the thrill of Marion going to the state bas-ketball tournament in 1951. In fact, the cover of Jari’s book is the design of her classmate Ann ( Schafale) Trask, who now lives and maintains an art studio in Independence, Mis-souri, and in her mountain home in Colorado following 30 years teaching experience in public schools and 18 in higher education in Texas.

After the sale of the Evansville Cou-rier and a brief time at the Hammond Times in Indiana, she came home to work on the Marion Daily Repub-lican as city editor and later as as-sistant managing editor. She covered breaking stories, the city council, the schools, the Williamson County Sesquicentennial, and the earliest stories about a new mall in Marion, which came to be named the Illinois Centre Mall. She wrote editorials and columns and received a plaque from the Marion city council in appreciation of her editorial support. (It was during this era, that a college student named Jon Musgrave began writing for her. Now several of his books are on her shelves). Helping Harry Olson put out a special edition of The Review on outstanding women in Marion she also conducted interviews and wrote several stories. She wrote outdoor stories for The Scout published by the Reppert Publi-cations at Anna. She supplied articles for the guide for three years and vis-ited most of the parks and lakes and historic sites from Cairo to Effingham and the guide won a top state award.

She next spent a year as copy editor at the Kankakee Daily Journal. She was also bureau chief in Danville for the Champaign News-Gazette, and she worked with Marilyn Cavaness in Marion for six months with the Arthritis Foundation. Her final 12 years in Will County, southwest of Chicago, where she wrote for numerous newspapers, inspired her first book.

Jari has been busy promoting the book and accepting accolades from the New Lenox community, where she is donating half of her book sales back to the Lincoln-way Foundation for Educational Excellence and has donated books to the high school district and local libraries. The Cham-ber of Commerce, New Lenox Vil-lage Board, Lions Club, and the VFW and its Auxiliary all honored her there when she retired. .

Jari, who has received Illinois Press Association awards, belongs to the National Society of Professional Jour-nalists and is a lifetime member of the University of Illinois Alumni and the Journalism Alumni Association, which she served as vice president.

While she will be glad to sell you a copy of her book about the northern Illinois school district, she promises that the next one will be of general interest about the southern region of the state.

About the writer ... Sue Glasco studied journalism educa-tion at Southern Illinois University Car-bondale. When she and her husband bought a farm and moved to William-son County in 1962, she continued writing a column about family life and also freelanced in the rare moments left over from motherhood and house-wifery. A part-time secondary and college teacher, Sue later worked in family literacy for Rend Lake College. The 1960s columns became the ba-sis for her book Down on the Farm: One American Family’s Dream, which she published in retirement.







Muir’s monthly jim muir

In the fast-paced, on-

line world we now live in,

communication that was once considered

a luxury is now a shear ne-cessity.

Whether it’s surfing the ‘net, sending a fax, or zipping off an e-mail, the demands of keeping in touch with our workplace and each other have reached an all-time high. That’s why I was not surprised recent-ly when I read a report that 75 percent of all phone calls made in the United States are answered by automated phone services.

And despite the ultra-modern era we live in, I was also not surprised that the report also stated that 50 per-cent of the individuals that have calls answered by automated systems fail to make contact with the person they’re trying to reach. That percent-age seems especially dismal when you consider that nowadays children know about caller ID, call-waiting, call-forwarding and three-way calling, sometimes before they can read and write. Most grade school-age children even have their own cellular phones.

Yet for some reason we can’t seem to find a way to simplify answering sys-tems to the point where we can make contact with someone we’re calling.Think about it...for every 10 phone calls we make, five of them are fail-ures. That’s a pretty sad statistic.

However, after giving this telephone problem some thought I realized that the reason that 50 percent of phone calls do not reach their destination has nothing to do with the phone sys-tem and more to do with people like me.

Let me explain.

Call me old fashioned, but I trust peo-ple to be able to direct my call in the direction it needs to go, and showing that I’m not completely comfortable with all the modern gadgets at our daily disposal, I simply don’t trust an automated voice to have the slightest inkling about who I need to talk to.

Anytime I make a phone call and I’m greeted by a recorded voice I immedi-ately become irritated, impatient and I can feel my blood pressure start to rise. And I get even antsier when the recorded female voice prompts me to talk to her … or it … or them … (I’m not sure what word to use when carrying on a conversation with a ma-chine). Even on a call to directory as-sistance, when I hear the automated voice say ‘city and state please’ I’ve learned to immediately say ‘operator please.’ And then within seconds I’ve got a real, live person on the other end of the line.

This column is prompted by a recent phone call I made and yet another battle with an automated phone sys-tem. And I think it clearly explains why people like me fall into the 50 percent of telephone users who do not get their call completed.

The message began by thanking me for calling and telling me I had reached the main switchboard. That’s just where I wanted to be, I thought … so far, so good.

The nasally automated male voice on the other end then told me that if I had a touch-tone phone I would have to make a simple choice about which specific department that I wanted to speak with.

Sounds pretty simple, huh? Well, let me assure you it’s not, especially for

a person whose irritation and impa-tience are escalating by the second.The ‘voice’ then reeled off a menu of seven choices that were available. All I had to do was push the right button and I would soon be speaking with a person that could help me. The se-cret, I learned long ago, when deal-ing with automated systems that offer choices, is to wait until you’ve heard them all before making a decision. No matter how certain you are that the choice given is correct, I can assure you from past heartache that you’re better off to listen to all the choices. Otherwise, you get to go back to square one and start all over again, which is not a pleasant experience.

The only catch, if you’re like me any-way, is that by the time all seven choices were given, I’d forgotten what the first three were. I pushed the but-ton I thought would get me to the right person, but was told that I would need a different department.

Then, when I tried to push the button for that department I was told by the ‘voice’ that I’d made an “invalid entry” and that I should place my call again. Then I heard a dial tone. Nearly five minutes had elapsed since I placed the call and I never spoke with a real, live person.

Perhaps it’s an example of my resis-tance to change or the fact that I’m a baby boomer who can still recall the days of the ‘party-line’ when three or four families in the same neighbor-hood shared the same phone line, but I’m one of those people who find a certain measure of comfort and se-curity in hearing a living, breathing human being – complete with a pulse and a heartbeat – on the other end of the telephone line. Give me a call ... I promise to answer ... and we can talk about it.

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March 2009