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Story Subject Category: Danville
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Sparky Songer of Danville, Ill., served in the infantry in Europe and was captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. He spent six months in German camps before escaping as the war was winding down and finding his way to American lines, thanks to the help of an English-speaking German guard who was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Songer talks to WILL-TV producer Denise La Grassa about his escape and his experiences in the German camps, where he subsisted almost almost entirely on rutabaga soup. He weighed under 100 pounds when he reached safety. Songer is curator and president of the Vermilion County War Museum.
Segment duration: 09:11
Producer: Denise La Grassa
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Military • World War II • Danville
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Nate “Bo Bo” Smalls of the Danville Stars likes to think of his team as The Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. Smalls, a former Negro League player, dazzles Danville school children by throwing four pitches at once into the gloves of four different catchers.
Yet the Stars pitch something else besides baseball hijinks when they take their show to elementary schools. They can be silly while doing baseball stunts, but they’re serious about taking an anti-drug, anti-gang message to kids. Prairie Fire features a look at the The Stars who feel it’s worth the effort if they can reach even one kid during a performance. “They likethe idea of being role models,” said WILL-TV producer Jack Kelly.
Smalls, who played for the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro Leagues, also leads the players through a demonstration of “shadowball,” slow motion baseball without the ball. It’s ideal for the school gyms where the Stars perform.
Segment duration: 08:32
Producer: Jack Kelly
This segment is filed in these categories: Ethnicity/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Sports • Danville
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Segment duration: 02:39
Producer: Alison Davis
Advisor: Marilyn Campbell
This segment is filed in these categories: Parks/Outdoor Recreation • Science/Nature • Weather/Climate • Danville
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Host Alison Davis takes a look at the World War II drawings of Danville’s Kendell Erskine. Davis talks to him about the drawings he sent home with letters to his mother from the Pacific theater. “He colored them with small dime-store sets of water colors. He’d lose his paints, or run out of them, or they’d melt, and his
mom would send him more,” said Davis. Erskine’s drawings are on display at the Vermilion County Museum in Danville.
Segment duration: 07:55
Producer: Alison Davis
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • History • Illinois Culture/History • Military • Danville
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