Rankin: Where close still counts
January 14, 2007
It's barely a blip at the northwest corner of Vermilion County. Barely a wide spot in the road at the intersection of state highways 9 and 49.
It has a gas station, two churches, two bars and a post office.
But in Rankin, where legendary boxer Joe Louis walked uptown by day and gangster John Dillinger slept by night, a strong sense of community remains. Full story »
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My fond memories of Rankin is when I was a kid growing up on a farm near Rankin, was the "Free Show Nights" in the summer. We would get cleaned up and put on our better clothes and pile in our 1938 Pontiac and go to Rankin to see the free shows.
Usually on Thursday nights and the screen was a big sheet on the south side of the Grab It Here store.
The fellow who ran the movies had a car like a station wagon and had the projector from the back of the car.
It started with a weekly serial, usually a western and then the main feature. About half way through the movie, an intermission would be announced and we would make a fast break to Sloan's Cafe of Ryan's Drug store for an ice cream cone or popsicle. Then we would scurry back so we wouldn't miss any of the movie when it started again.
If we were lucky, we got to go to Cissna Park on Wednesday night for their free shows.
Thanks for the memories,
Harold Keller
Posted by Harold2499 on January 18, 2007 at 3:02 PM
Memorial to the men and women who served our nation in war and peace.
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