When Vernon Kays retired from being County Clerk, Dad ran for the office against Vernon’s Chief Deputy Rosemary Azzaro. Rosemary won, even winning at least one Crystal Lake Coventry precinct in which she knocked on doors. Dad didn’t do any … Continue reading
Category Archives: Cal Skinner Sr
This is the fourth in a serialization of my father’s biography. Previous parts can be found below on McHenry County Blog. One of Dad’s inspirations for running for office involved an unresponsive city government. Plunk, plunk, plunk. I can hear … Continue reading
Previous parts of this biography can be found below on McHenry County Blog. I am running them again because my father would have been 105 on June 8th, if he hadn’t been a smoker. (His mother lived to be 96.) … Continue reading
That’s what this column in Crain’s Chicago Business says: Rust Belt cities should try embracing the suburbs Merging aging urban centers with surrounding municipalities shows promise as a path to revival. READ MORE > Been there, done that. The RTA was created ti … Continue reading
I was reminded of how my 3rd grade teacher in Easton, Maryland, suggested my team of Halloween window painters change the sign on a wagon in a Halloween parade from “Vote for Ike” to “Vote” by a painting on a … Continue reading
My first car was a hand-me-down from my father. It was a Mercedes diesel, bought in 1964. When he showed up at my Oberlin College in it in my senior year, I wondered how he had been able to afford … Continue reading
Found this paving block on the Town Square in Huntley: My father met Henry Marlow while on jury duty. Every summer Marlow brought eggs to hatch at the McHenry County Fair. Perhaps you can imagine how excited the kids were … Continue reading
When Vernon Kays retired from being County Clerk, Dad ran for the office against Vernon’s Chief Deputy Rosemary Azzaro. Rosemary won, even winning at least one Crystal Lake Coventry precinct in which she knocked on doors. Dad didn’t do any … Continue reading
Prior to the 1972 elections, the United States Supreme Court ruled that legislative bodies like the McHenry County Board and city councils had to be apportioned on a one-man, one-vote basis. The county board divided the county into three districts, … Continue reading
Before we moved to Crystal Lake in 1958, the Government Improvement League of McHenry County had a newsletter. Dad belonged to the group and became responsible for publishing that newsletter. From 1963 to 1968 the publication became the Public Affairs … Continue reading
In honor of the anniversary of my father’s 100 birth year, I continue this series about his life: In 1963, my mother and I attended the Illinois Crime Commission’s summer hearings held in the old county board room at what … Continue reading
The pre-Crystal Lake posts of my father’s biography can be found by looking down on McHenry County Blog. Dad rented a home at 100 W. Crystal Lake Avenue. We started school there (the junior class built its Homecoming float there) … Continue reading
Earlier segments of this biography of my father can be found below on McHenry County Blog. In 1952, my youngest sister Ellen was born. That was also the year Dad switched his registration from the Democratic Party to the Republican … Continue reading
This is the fourth in a serialization of my father’s biography. Previous parts can be found below on McHenry County Blog. One of Dad’s inspirations for running for office involved an unresponsive city government. Plunk, plunk, plunk. I can hear … Continue reading
Here’s another billboard found on the way from Atlanta to Florida: It seems a good message for my birthday. When my grandmother was 95, I visited her on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It was the mid-1980’s. Over my objections, … Continue reading
Previous parts of this biography can be found below on McHenry County Blog. I am running them again because my father would have been 100 on June 8th, if he hadn’t been a smoker. (His mother lived to be 96.) … Continue reading
The first part of my father’s multi-part biography ran yesterday. Today, we’ll run Part 2 in honor of his birth 100 years ago. Dad graduated debt free from college in three and a half years. Somehow I have gotten the … Continue reading
My father would have been 100 years old todeay and it seems appropriate to run my articles on him again. There are lots of parts. Calvin LeRoy Skinner was born in Wilmington, Delaware June 8, 1916, the second son of … Continue reading
December 7, 1941. The day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Near Robins Air Force Base is an aviation museum in which the following display reminds folks of that day: Because I was conceived before December 7, 1941, my … Continue reading
The November 8, 2015, Crankshaft cartoon reminded me that I have not written about losing an election lately. With the petition filing deadline for the March Primary Elections coming up Monday, I thought that might be appropriate. Four times I … Continue reading