07.31.07
What are you known for?
Every town’s got to be known for something, I guess. I was born and raised in The Rocket City — Huntsville, Alabama — and worked for a newspaper in The Limestone Capital of the World — Bedford, Indiana. But how would you like to be from a town known for having the world’s largest catsup bottle? That claim-to-fame belongs to the folks of Collinsville, Illinois.
Collinsville was home to a catsup (more commonly spelled ketchup) factory back in the early 1900s, and in 1949, the makers of Brooks Catsup built a 100,000 gallon water tower in the shape of a catsup bottle. The company no longer makes catsup in Collinsville, but the bottle is still there. It was at risk of being torn down in the mid-90s but the Brooks Catsup Bottle Preservation Group formed and raised more than $75,000 to restore the bottle-shaped water tower, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
So just how do you top having the world’s largest catsup bottle? Make the world’s largest catsup packet! And the town of Collinsville did just that last weekend.
Collinsville is also the self-proclaimed Horseradish Capital of the World. Like I said, every town’s got to be known for something.
06.26.07
Born in the U.S.A.
At work today, we celebrated with a co-worker who recently became an American citizen. The man talked about coming to America in 1969 from another country and it made me think, what an experience that must be and one that those of us who were born in America will never feel.
I wrote an article a few years ago when I was still a newspaper reporter about a couple who came to the United States and became U.S. citizens. The wife described the process and talked about the citizenship test that those seeking to be U.S. citizens must pass. On the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services web site are 96 practice questions. Questions like “How many branches are there in the U.S. government?” (3), “What is the name of the President’s official home?” (the White House) and “What are the colors of our flag?” (red, white and blue).
I chose a few easy ones to post here but there were some that I know I learned in school but had to take a peek at the answers. Check out the complete sample Q and A here and see how you do. If you had to take a test to be an American, would you pass with flying colors – red, white and blue?
