Ken Applehans

I’ve neglected my blog, but volume 41 of Steel Shavings is “in the can” and should come out in about a week. Entitled “Calumet Region Connections,” it combines excerpts of my blog with several dozen “Ides of March 2011” journals. The cover is bright pink and includes photos of unionists rallying in Indianapolis, folks marching in a Gary Gay pride parade, Gary’s incoming and outgoing mayor, and me with Sheriff Roy Dominguez.

I recently spent a week in San Diego and Palm Springs, California, with Phil and Miranda in connection with my mother’s ninety-fifth birthday. One highlight was Sea World, where prior to the sea lion show a comedian who called himself Biff put on a hilarious 20-minute routine that included dancing and mingling with the crowd.

At an IUN cookout I ran into Omar Farag, whose OMAR PRESENTS production company booked the entertainment, two guys playing soulful background music. I mentioned that his brother Henry included a profile on Spaniels singer Pookie Hudson in his “Ides” journal, and Omar recalled Pookie telling about a time when the Spaniels were driving in the South on the way to a gig when stopped by local police. When the cops learned they were entertainers, they made them dance, Stepin Fetchit style, before letting them go on their way. How despicable.

Sheriff John Buncich is trying his best to sully the reputation of his predecessor, feeding rumors and innuendoes to a newspaper columnist. A decade ago when Buncich was first in office, he got so upset at a reporter investigating his administration that he had officers go to the newspaper office and handcuff the guy on trumped up charges.

My good friend Ken Applehans, who had inoperable cancer, passed away. Scores of friends, relatives, and comrades crowded into the Beach Café dining room last Saturday for a memorial service. His wife Alice Bush and three sons delivered moving tributes that had everyone both laughing and crying. Several unionists who worked at Pullman Standard with him told heartwarming stories. I mentioned how he and Alice had invited us to stay with them for a month following a 2000 home invasion, even giving up their bedroom, claiming they fell asleep in the living room most of the time anyway. The political discussions we had each morning and evening re-enforced my belief that a radical change in our economic system was necessary if our country was to live up to its democratic ideals. I mentioned his love of cats and that normally when I’d end our phone conversation by saying “I love you,” he’d reply “Same here” but the last time he said, “I love you, too, Jimmy.”

Went to a picnic Sunday at Kevin and Tina Horn’s. Kevin’s mom came across my name on Google while looking for some information about a drive-in she worked at that was located at Fifth and Louisiana in Gary near Emerson School. The more famous Ted’s Drive-In was located about a mile to the east where Routes 12 and 20 came together near Aetna. Monday was an eleventh birthday party for James featuring good food and outdoor croquet and bean bag toss. Dave was the champ in both with me a close second.