Illinois Circuit 6 or 7 and MO 5, 1, 2, 10? (Southern Iliinois/SE/NE Missouri) especially...
Snakes ()
PS I have ties to the area.... PM me if you dont want to post publicly
anyone from the St. Louis, MO/ SW illinois area?
by SnakesInTheTower 23 Replies latest jw friends
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crazyblondeb
We already know we know some of the same people!!
Small world.
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crazyblondeb
what circuit is Knoxville or Galesburg, IL in???
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CoonDawg
I used to live in SE MO. Been gone for years now...but I went to the Arcadia, MO cong. some time back.
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NotBlind
Three congregations in Southern Illinois recently folded and were made into one due to lack of elders and attendees: Carbondale, Anna, and Murphysboro. All three KH's are currently for sale, with the intent of building one KH to handle the new cong.
If you're from that area, you may remember Melvin Branam, CO from the 80's & early 90's. Really long-winded, but seemed like a nice-enough guy. He served MO#5 (I think), IL#6, and IL#7. Whatever became of him?
Ted Jaracz is from Southern Illinois. The house where he grew up still stands. I've heard of a few JW's from the area stopping by to take pictures. Crazy if you ask me....
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DonutsToGo
Yeah from Wood River, Ilinois most of life with a brief stint near Rolla, MO. Interesting to hear about the Anna, Murphyboro, Carbondale merger.
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SnakesInTheTower
notblind:
Melvin Branam....Whatever became of him?
he was in MO 5...and IL 6 and IL 7....after that he and Betty did 3 years out in West Virginia... I was traveling along I64 on my way somewhere and seen a KH...then I seen a bus sticking out of the back... I found the next exit and an access road...and sure enough..it was their bus. (for those who dont know...Mel and Betty were one of 2 COs that had a converted bus as their travel trailer...the woodwork in that one was done by a brother in IL 6...beautiful handiwork). It was morning, so I pulled in and slept an hour or so waiting for them to return from FS....
Betty came back first...Mel a little later.... he was so happy to see me... insisted I stay for lunch with them... I always loved that he didnt want to eat out... he wanted to eat with us...just a sandwich and a piece of fruit...so he could share time being with us... or sometimes playing the tapes of talks on the Revelation book.... Mel was so glad to see me (he taught my pioneer school a few years earlier).. he wouldnt hardly let me go...literally... I loved him and Betty.... I had to leave..I was on the way to my (nonJW) brothers wedding in Virgina...
Last I heard, Mel and Betty had gone off the road and were in Lawrence, KS with family. There was a rumor going around that Mel had Alzheimers, but I seen them at a DC at Kemper a couple of years later.... Mel was fine once he left the stress of the circuit work. I do not know if they are still alive now. However, there is a Switchboard.com listing for Melvin C. Branam in Lawrence...
Melvin C Branam 628 ARKANSAS ST
LAWRENCE, KS 66044(785) 331-3719 He would be sad to know I no longer am active... one of my few regrets in leaving the Borg....people like him were very good to me.
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SnakesInTheTower
cbb:
what circuit is Knoxville or Galesburg, IL in???
either IL 3 or 4...it seems 4 was over by Urbana.... hard to remember..I used to know that (useless) info notblind:
Carbondale, Anna, and Murphysboro
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HAS BEEN HAMMERED IN RECENT YEARS WITH MERGINGS AND CLOSINGS....
I think that particular trio of congos lost some of their heavy hitters because of JCs...deaths, bad economy..... There was a young couple down in Murphysboro......wanted to be missionaries..Vorpagle maybe?... they were on QBs... not sure what happened to them........ last info I had for that area showed D. Hammer and R. Leske as PO and Sec in Anna (dont recognize those names), Harry Aldridge (PO in Murphysboro and Dept Head of Vol Svc in QB) ....Aaron Queensbury (heavy hitter used by the Society for appeals cases) was PO in Carbondale ... I also heard the Society is finally closing down Carlyle, IL... havent confirmed it yet..... they were down to 2 elders.... a few years back it was so bad that the Society sent in not one, not two, but THREE MTS brothers... 2 stayed as elders for 6 years...a third was there only a short time and was run out... ... one of the original 2 elders moved away..and a local MS that was promoted to elder got removed and moved to a nearby congo...as a side not on how bad that congo was/is ....Carlyle was the congo where an elder slept with the POs wife at the KH as the story goes....lol...As the Borg Turns Carlyle closes and some go to nearby Greenville, IL with others going to Centralia or Sparta or Highland...havent heard the latest... Nashville was dissolved decades ago...and the problems went to Carlyle. Metropolis I think closed a few years back. Benton was struggling financially and they have a fairly new KH... Litchfield closed up and sent people all over the place: Auburn, Wood River, Edwardsville, Taylorville.... Meredocia...not sure if it is closed or merged.... Rushville merged with someone... I heard an interesting story about a BOE in one of those 2 circuits that received a visit from the CO and DO during the recent CA.... they have a new young (30s) CO... he and his wife are a mixed couple... apparently there is a congo in his new circuit that have elders that are racists.... bet that goes over well with the CO.... a lot of racism in S. IL..... house cleaning of at least 1 BOE is rumored.. goody...... close them all down. Snakes ()
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SnakesInTheTower
DonutsToGo:
Yeah from Wood River, Ilinois most of life with a brief stint near Rolla, MO
Wood River ...also known as Death Valley of the Midwest...also full of racist bigots. BOE run by a single family. Kinda like the Mob..only not as cool.
Snakes ()
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looking_glass
Many years back, I went to pioneer school in Carbondale, so I am surprised to hear they shut their doors. I know John and Ramona Bush (John's second wife, his first wife's name was Rose - yes it was really Rose) from Benton. I use to know a lot of people in the Benton, Marion, DuQuion (sp?) area, but not so much any more. I did see John and Ramona several years ago and they were still pioneering, cheering on how they have a lot of new studies and how there were a lot of new people coming to the hall. To me it is just like it was 25 years ago, things don't change much in those small towns.
Carbondale was always such a hard hall. When I went to pioneer school there was a father and son team who were going to school as well. The son was the golden child of the school. I remember several months later we found out that the son had been enjoying the company of a particular girl. The dad felt that the kid should not have been df'd and there was a huge power struggle and ultimately the dad was forced down and stopped going altogether.