From 1974 through 1976, among our closest friends were Dick and Joyce Simms. In fact, Joyce reminded us that the four of us actually considered buying a house together in San Bernardino, CA. But in the spring of 1976 I was accepted into seminary in Portland, OR. Although we have mailed back and forth over the years, we had not seen Dick and Joyce for 43 years…until this week, when our “reconnecting with family and friends” mission brought us to their hometown of Shelbyville, IL.
It was a wonderful reunion, and the Simms were outstanding hosts. We had dinner at their farmstead and explored the wonders of Shelbyville and the surrounding area. It is a wonderful part of the country, oozing with quirky landmarks (a gigantic cross and two-story outhouse), Midwest charm (a Mennonite village and store, shown in a previous post), and an abundance of history (the homestead and burial place of Abraham Lincoln’s father Tom, complete with educational reenactors).
The pictures below show just a few of the memories of our time.
We didn’t stop in Casey IL for the world’s largest rocking chair, pencil, mailbox, wind chime, bird cage, pitch fork, and golf tee. But we did manage this picture of what was, until a few months ago, the largest cross in America, called the “cross at the crossroads.” This is in nearby Effingham, IL. 
Meanwhile, the town of Gays proudly displays its 2-story outhouse, formerly built for a 2-story hotel. Not to worry — a wall separates the two “flows.: 
Bryans and Simms, taking a soda fountain break. 
The Simms home belonged to Joyce’s grandparents. 
Isn’t this a lovely spring view out their front door? 
Here is the re-created home of Thomas Lincoln (Abe’s father), circa 1845. 
A great interactive gallery describes life in this pivotal era. 
School kids learn, with help of reenactors, life on a farm in the 1800s. When we were there, a school group was making tallow candles, splitting logs with a sledge and wedge, and cooking in the cabin fireplace. They also muck out the barn and learn (above) how to use teamwork to operate a crosscut saw. 
These little lambs were only a week old! 
Lincoln’s father and step-mom are buried in this site nearby.