The pizza looked pretty good too, but…
It is easy to tell when I am happy about a restaurant’s food. I don’t talk much and focus on eating everything on my plate. This evening I ate too much and am happy it was at Collinsville’s Friday South. A friend suggested that we meet up for dinner and take advantage of their “Daily Specials’. Thursday the deal is Philly & Fries for $6. Throw in two $2 PBR drafts and you have yourself a situation.

The food came pretty fast and even much better, the french fries were hot. How I loath gooey, lukewarm fries, so my first happy moment was spent thanking the cook for hot fries. In the meantime I was sizing up the sandwich, wondering how I was going to eat the whole thing. It was huge and meaty! Steak, cheese and peppers were rolling out of this fat sandwich. Did I mention the fries were hot and tasty?

Since these fine folks do not have a website, I decided to post Fridays South Collinsville, IL current daily specials. Call it an ExploreCollinsville Public Service Food Announcement. Don’t take my word, take a hike to downtown and have your own Philly and fries.

By the way, next time I am heading there for a pizza. The pizza one table over got my attention, but I was way too full to even think about pizza. They will be getting “Yelped” by me as well!

Friday’s South
106 E Main St.
Collinsville, IL 62234

Daily Specials As of 4/26/2012
(These specials are bound to change.)
Monday: .35 wings, $1 Stag Longnecks, $2 Blue Moon Draft*
*Wudman suggests Blue Moon will go well with hot wings…
Tuesday: $4.50 Cheeseburger & Fries
Wednesday: 9.95 Large Deluxe Pizza
Thursday: $6 Philly & Fries
Friday: $6.95 Cod plate & $2 Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Draft
Saturday: $3.75 Tasted Ravioli, $4 BBQ Pork Sandwich, $2.00 Heineken Draft, $3 American Honey Shots
Sunday: $9.95 Large Deluxe Pizza & $3.50 Bloody Marys

PS: Bribery, free anything or future considerations never lead to reviews here. This just happens. Having said that, I fully expect to return and sample more of the Daily specials.

Normally good prices get better at new location during Grand Opening Sale
Swing City Music’s new location is at 1811 Vandalia Ave, the corner of Vandalia and Beltline, adjacent to the Walgreens store. It is very cool that the old car dealership on one of Collinsville’s busiest corners has found new life. The Grand Opening sale is also extended to the Edwardsville store at 244 S. Buchanan.

Locals and others who shop around for music equipment know that Swing City does not like to be bettered when it comes to price. Now add Grand Opening sale prices to the mix and you are sure to find exceptional values bettered. A few of the sales prices mentioned include; 50% of Gibson guitars, 40% of Fender guitars, 50% of Squire guitars and basses and a lot of other special pricing through April 28th.

Other notable announcements shared are that the Minimoog Voyager Synthesizer is in stock as well as Orange and Genz Benz Amps are in stock. The emphasis was that every item in the store is heavily discounted for the week-long celebration.

Just in case you are a classic synth fan and have no clue what the Minimoog Voyager is about, just think “Minimoog”, then modernize the 40-year-old synth and you are getting warm.  Turn back the clock when warm analog sounds rocked and you are getting hot. The new Minimoogs feature a 100% analog sound engine. It is old school, monophonic, monotimbral and yet very high performance. Think Rick Wakeman, that should be enough. Think “Starship Trooper’. If you haven’t got there yet, check out the video below…

Rick Wakeman Talks to Bob Moog

Rick Wakeman rocks out “Excerpts From The Six Wives of Henry VIII”

Biting cold and stiff wind does not deter the fans!
It was a windy, cold and most sunny Saturday at the soon re-opened Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, but that didn’t stop about 50 race fans from showing up to help Gateway Motorsports Park get ready for the 2012 racing season. With rakes, shovels, bags, paint brushes and scrapers, crews set out to clean, paint and weed the park.

The new owner, Curtis Francios, was there along with his kids along side the volunteers weeding along the grandstands while other crew rebuilt the tire wall and painted walls in the oval and drag tracks. The track provided ample refreshments, but for the most part, it was clear that people were glad to help in support of a place to race and watch motorsports.

A few clubs came from as far as St. Charles, MO. In fact it appeared Missouri was represented much better than Madison County. No comment on how that happened…

In any case, kudos go out to the Buick Club, St. Louis Drifters, SCCA and others who stepped up and busted butt getting the track ready for a great season of racing in 2012.

There may be another volunteer track day this month. You can find out by checking the calendar at: Gateway Motorsports Park  

<h2>All Car Show Scheduled Saturday, March 10, 10AM till 4PM</h2>
Gateway Motorsports Park along with the regional SCCA will hold an all car club meet on Saturday, March 10, 2012. This will be an opportunity to network with the track management, SCCA and other car clubs. All car clubs and car enthusiasts encouraged to attend. No fee show & shine and meet other car enthusiasts as well as get an idea of the mission the new Gateway Motorsports Park is on!

More evidence why shopping local, Madison County businesses is very important!
Due to massive forth quarter losses, Sears marked another 24 stores for closing behind announced closings in December and August 2011. Recent store closings have included both Kmart, Sears and Sears Great Indoors stores. Of the 24 recent announcements, only three were full-line Sears stores, one of which is the store at the Alton Square Shopping Center. Malls depend on anchor stores to keep the hallways active which feeds the smaller stores, so the Sears loss at Alton Square is a massive loss to all the stores between the Sears end of the mall and the remaining anchors.

Also, losing any business can impact the local tax base and Sears in Alton will cost all of Madison County in some way. If anything, this is a warning to Madison County residents that we may want to drive to and shop at Madison County retail outlets even if the St. Clair version of the store is closer. The gas money you think you are saving may cost you in tax dollars later
.
Full list of sears closings

Team Puts Together Very Special Red Carpet Children’s event in just 50 Days!
St. Louis Night of Superstars Website
On Saturday, February 25th I had the honor of photographing and videotaping an event for a friend and client who is a REMAX Best Choice agent in South County. When offered the opportunity a few days prior to the actual date, I jumped on it more as a favor to a friend, but soon realized that it was he who was doing me a favor. Night of Superstars is an event that stated in Dallas, TX in 2005 that puts on a Hollywood style awards show for kids that have achieved and amazed despite various health issues. Saturday’s event was the first St. Louis “Night of Superstars”.

Instead of grabbing too much of the energy in this blog, I would rather you visit St. Louis Night of Superstars and check it out for yourself. It won’t take you long to get it. Grab some tissues or handkerchiefs because unless you have anti-freeze for blood, you should have some kind of ”moment’.  As a grown man, I had a lot of “moments” during the 10 hours I was at the event shooting pictures and video as well as during the six hours early Sunday morning that I spent editing some of the 800+ images I took during that time.

If ever need proof for unconditional love...

My moment happened taking a break to charge up my camera and video camera between the the kids getting their hair,  make-up, fingernails and toes done and the limo ride to the Centene Cente in Farmington, MO. Various professional makeup artists and Great Clips employees were stuffed in rooms on the lower level of the Festus Drury Inn, grooming the kids for a night on the red carpet as celebrities. I was sitting down with my cameras plugged in for charging near a family with a young lady who was severely impacted by cerebral palsy. Another young lady, about the same age in a similar powered wheel chair drove up and parked next the the first young lady and then reached over to touched her. The immediate smiles that were exchanged will remain with me for the rest of my life. Here were two young ladies with minimal verbal and motor skills that conneted magicially. It was simply amazing. Lucky for me I had my trusty, semi-retired point and shoot on my belt as it allowed me to get a few shots of the meeting.

Check out the gallery images. These ladies were connected for the rest of the long night!

The St. Louis REMAX Best Choice put this event together in 50 days. The last part of the evening was a concert by Nashville recording start Jason Ashley. The kids made it a most incredible evening. Why every town doesn’t have one of these is beyond me as it would be a good event for everyone involved. It isn’t as if the Metro East doesn’t have special kids and the facilities to host such an event!

Former Gateway International Speedway renamed, racing and bring NHRA back!
St. Louis and Midwest are racing enthusiasts no longer have to wonder what will be happening at the newly renamed Gateway Motorsports Park because the schedule is up! The regions preeminent racing facility featuring a drag strip, oval and road course races back to life on March 17th with an “Open Test and Tune”. Chassis certification happens on the previous weekend with a “Gateway Kickoff” and a two-day NHRA Chassis Certification.

For complete details be sure to check out: Gateway Motorsports Park Schedule

For those that are willing to work for an early peak at the race track, there is a Volunteer Work Day Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 9AM and it is scheduled to run until 3PM. Sunday, March 4th is a back up day.

When more details become available, I will update the blog and local calendar.Gateway Motorsports Park staff will be updating their Facebook page with more details including who you should contact if you want to attend. They will be providing refreshments for volunteers, so they would like volunteers to RSVP.

Anyone in Collinsville, race fan or not, should be excited about this development! Gateway Motorsports Park is going to once again be an integral part of Collinsville’s prosperity and help grow our community’s reputation as a place in the Metro East St. Louis area to do business and raise a family!

Take your date out for a seafood dinner!
I seldom focus on chain retailers here, but what the heck, a deal is a deal. If you a not adverse to fat, sodium, carbohydrates or unidentified fish, this is bound to be a tasty, budget treat. The link goes to Arby’s corporate site and you must print a coupon. They do ask for your name, but surely you can be creative! In any case, the deal is for a fish sandwich and curly fries for $2.99. I figure that is about $1 off of the combo they usually sell with a drink for $5. Fill your water bottle up before leaving home and you a cool.

The Prize
Arby’s $2.99 Fish & Curly Fries Coupon Link Good until end of business on 2/14/12 at participating locations.

Give a helping hand and enjoy the holidays in Collinsville, IL
On December 18th, Sunday, at the Collinsville American Legion, (1022 Vandalia St.), your assistance is requested by the Collinsville Marine Corp League to help sort and bag toys for the “Toys For Tot’s” distribution. The post I read said “…lots of volunteers…” would be needed starting around 8AM. It is estimated the volunteers will be needed until sometime between noon and 2 pm. Of course the more, the merry and quicker one can get to their mid-day church services or football game.

Everything needs to be completed by 2pm to be read for the “Toy’s For Tot’s” distribution to 1,500 area families.

Collinsville Area Recreation Department Updates
- 2012 Season passes to Splash City are on sale now. Save up to 20% if you purchase your pass before January 31, 2012! (More Info PDF)
- Parents are asked to attend the informational meeting on the “Snowboard & Ski” trip for kids 11 to 19. This meeting is on January 9th The trip is 4PM to 11Am February 10 & 11th. Inclusive cost for this chaperoned overnight trip is $125 with ski/snowboard rental or $110 without including lessons. That would be a pretty nice stocking stuffer for your future or existing skier! There is also a $75 option for kids who are not snowboarding or skiing. Kids will need to bring money for snacks, dinner and breakfast. More details available at the informational meeting on January 9th. (More* Info PDF) *For some reason, pricing is lower on the C.A.R.D. website.
- Don’t forget to get your free “C.A.R.D.” card, available to in-district residents which does give you benefits when using C.A.R.D. facilities.

I swear I saw the Cardinals hopes of post season and then championship opportunities get smashed against the wall a half dozen times. This Championship should be called “Last Seconds All The Way To Victory” because it was one of those kind of things.
Who’d of thunk…
Well plenty did, but I believe now! Isn’t it all that counts!

Now lets get around to roasting that squirrel, this is Cardinal Country!

Tonight, how about partying locally? As a proponent of safe roads, I suggest that your Halloween party should be somewhere you can cab to and from. If you are in or close to Madison County or downtown St. Louis, consider checking out Hallowine at the West View Wine Cellar.

There will be costumes, contests, prizes, trival, specials, and in general, fun. Better yet, you get a view as well.

It starts at 5PM!
I bet there will be some extra celebration up on the bluff as well!

http://westviewwinecellar.com

Westview Wine Cellar is located right off I-55/70 at Exit 11 Rte/157 in Collinsville, IL. From St. Louis just take I-55 as if you are going to Chicago. About 15 minutes from downtown, firs exit after you pass I-255.  Just go straight across after exiting and turn left up the hill. Look up, you will see!

Most folks around Collinsville know of Ravanelli’s since it has been around here since 1964. Many don’t know that Thursdays nights at Ravanelli’s is one of the better “pig out” deals if you are prone to “all you can stand to eat”. Unlike some places that offer rib tips or normal ribs if and when the do “all you can stand”, Ravanelli’s offers up baby back ribs Thursdays and that is only $10.99 for all you can eat. That pricing put’s it right in line with the factory food and service available at the “Golden Corral”. Instead of being a buffet where everyone gets to breathe on your food before you get it, Ravanelli’s offers you table service, a more personal atmosphere and way better seating.

Even better, if you sign up for the Ravanelli’s newsletter, not only do you get a gentle reminder to what is going on, alerts to special values and the act of signing up will get you a $5 off $20 coupon. Other good deals follow!