BIG NEWS FOR THE LITTLE TOWN

Big things are happening in little Blue Mound. My little town of only 1,200 people is all abuzz with today's going on. Only two blocks from my house, they are filming a scene in a major motion picture. This may be even more talked about than the earthquake that had us all shaking a few weeks ago at 4:30AM.

Yes, a stone's throw away from my home this evening is Matt Damon, who is starring in the upcoming movie, The Informant. This movie is based on the actual story of Mark Whitacre, a former ADM executive turned informant for the FBI. Whitacre and several other ADM execs were involved in a price-fixing scheme that ultimately resulted in the biggest anti-trust case for the FBI in history, with ADM repaying more than $400 million in fines and to plaintiffs and customers. At first thought a hero, it later became known that Whitacre himself was also involved in an embezzlement scheme in which he took almost $9 million, mostly during the time he was working with the FBI. Whitacre ultimately spent 8 1/2 years in federal prison for price-fixing, tax fraud, and tax evasion.

Quite a bit of the filming is taking place in Decatur because of the fact that the storyline centers around ADM (headquartered in Decatur) and where most of the the real-life story actually took place. I have heard that the movie folks are using the inside of our local P & G Quikstop because of its LACK of updating - - it apparently still closely resembles the time frame they are looking for. (So take THAT Casey's, with your ultra-modern cappuccino machine!)

I have tried to think of acceptable reasons that would make it necessary for me to go walk by the P & G so I could claim that I actually had a purpose for being out and about near the action, instead of just trying to do some celebrity gawking. Alas, no good reasons have come to mind, so here I sit at my computer, writing about Matt Damon instead of gazing at him through the gas station window.

KREKEL'S: MORE THAN JUST A BURGER JOINT

I called Chris late this morning and asked him if he wanted to meet me for lunch. He said that he was really busy today, but wondered if I would bring lunch by instead. We agreed that Krekel's fit the noontime bill. For those of you who are reading this blog from out of the area, I should probably fill you in a bit on Krekel's. Krekel's is something of a Decatur legend - - they have fantastic cheeseburgers that are flattened and crispy on the edges. They also have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and my favorite, lemon frozen custard. They are also somewhat know for their unusual chicken car. In our area, it is almost considered blasphemous to utter a disparaging word about our beloved Krekel's.

I stopped by the Krekel's on East Wood, the one that you get to right after crossing MLK. I pulled in and parked in the back, then came around front to the dilapidated little burger stand to place my order. The smells wafting from the stand were enough to make my stomach growl. I am always a little embarrassed though, when I order my cheeseburger, fries, and DIET Coke. Gotta save those 200 calories with my Diet Coke so I can eat my burger and fries with 40 grams of fat. Maybe I am hoping they will somehow balance each other out.

At any rate, after I had placed my order, I stepped back from the counter and waited while my food was prepared. It generally only takes about 4-6 minutes, depending on how many other people are waiting. As I stood in the parking lot with the other folks waiting for their lunch, I made the most incredible social observation: Krekel's may be the only place in Decatur that I have ever seen different classes and races of people interact so openly and freely with one another.

In the five minutes or so that I waited for our lunches, I observed social interactions that I dare say you wouldn't see anywhere else in town: as everybody stood around and waited on their order to come up, they. . . talked. To each other. There was a business lady in a skirt and heels chatting with two guys off a construction crew. I saw an elderly gentlemen who pulled in a Cadillac stand and talk to a kid with a half dozen tattoos who was holding up his pants with one hand to keep them from falling down. I even watched a guy in a three-piece suit who drove in a Mercedes convertible help a guy driving a pimped-out Blazer, complete with spinners, carry his large order to his vehicle so he wouldn't drop it. I stood and talked with a nurse from St. Mary's while I waited on my order.

What is it about Krekel's that inspires this sense of community and togetherness? Why do various races and classes of people feel comfortable associating at a run-down little burger stand when they would never have anything to do with each other away from there? Perhaps when our community is studying ways to bring about positive change, they need to examine the Krekel's phenonemon. Krekel's: bringing the community together, one burger at a time.