http://www.sj-r.com/news/20170608/dozen-communities-celebrating-ties-to-route-66

(Steven Spearle -Springfield Journal-Register.  Please Click on the link to read the full story.  Here is an excerpt.)

The Shell Station museum in Mount Olive, which will be part of the festival this weekend. (roadtrips.com image)

Cheryl Eichar Jett learned to read a road map as a small child.

“I acquired (my parents’) love of road-tripping,” said Jett, a former Springfield resident and author of four books on Route 66. “Route 66 is Americana at its best. It’s a microcosm of our society.”

The “Blue Carpet” is the state’s southern-most Route 66 corridor. There are also “Red Carpet” and “White Carpet” corridors, which have their own separate festivals.

Jerves receives his diplomas and certificates from RLC Board of Trustee Larry Manning during the 50th Annual RLC Commencement ceremony on the morning of Saturday, May 13 in James “Hummer” Waugh Gymnasium.
(ReAnne Palmer / RLC Public Information)

ReAnne Palmer – Rend Lake College Public Information

INA, IL – For most Rend Lake College students, the road to campus isn’t very long, but for Spring 2017 graduate Fabian Jerves, the distance is nearly 3,000 miles. Jerves, originally from Cuenca, Ecuador, walked across the RLC Commencement stage last month with honors in three associate degrees and three certificates, and he’s far from finished.

In 2014, Jerves arrived in the United States with his family and father, who had been transferred to Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) in Mt. Vernon. It was at the facility where his father first heard about RLC and friends encouraged Jerves to enroll.

“I heard about Rend Lake College from my father’s friends at work and they recommended RLC to start my education. My father worked at Continental in Ecuador, but in 2014, he had the opportunity to work in Continental in Mt. Vernon for two years, and that was one part why we came to this part of the United States,” said Jerves.

Jerves first sat in an RLC classroom in the spring of 2015 to start working on associate degrees and certificates in industrial electronics (INEL) and maintenance technology, which he plans to use as a transfer student this fall at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

“Now, I’m planning to achieve a degree in industrial engineering at SIU,” he said. “I chose [INEL and maintenance technology] because, after talking with my advisor, we found that it was the best option to make it easier to transfer and get my engineering degree.”

He continued, “It has been really nice to be part of an American class, because it changed my point of view on how education is around the world. RLC taught me that there is always something new to learn, and that with effort, everything can be achieved.”

Needless to say, Jerves kept himself busy on campus. Specifically, he graduated with a 3.85 grade point average with an Associate of Arts, an Associate of Science, an Associate of Applied Science in Industrial Maintenance Technology, and certificates in Industrial Maintenance Technology, Programmable Logic Control, and Robots and Automation. All of this, and balancing his personal life, brought unique challenges to the forefront.

“The biggest challenge has been adapting to the cultural differences with a language barrier and being apart from my family and friends in Ecuador,” said Jerves. “It is very similar, except that we spend more time with our family. Americans work from a very young age and while they are still studying, which is not common for Ecuador.”

All smiles, Jerves walks out of the RLC Waugh Gymnasium after Commencement on May 13.
(ReAnne Palmer / RLC Public Information)

As if that weren’t enough, Jerves also became involved in one of RLC’s most popular internship programs. The CTA Maintenance Internship program takes only the top students from RLC’s INEL and Maintenance Technology programs for a two-year, hands-on placement at the Mt. Vernon facility.

“Some of my classmates were part of the program. I thought that this experience could be meaningful for my professional career, and I had the opportunity to get experience in the real work place, plus practice what I have learned in school,” said Jerves. “That’s been my favorite part. Being involved in a practical system that we don’t have at my home country.”

He continued, “I think working at Continental taught, not only technical skills with different technologies, but also how to interact with people in a working environment. They gave me the opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds to work together in order to achieve a common goal.”

Jerves said the internship program has already had a lasting impression. After graduating from SIU, he said he hopes to have the opportunity to continue his professional career at CTA.

“I want to stay at Continental because I think it’s a company that allows me to develop my career, and where I can learn something every day,” said Jerves.

It’s not all work and studying for one of RLC’s only South American students. Outside of the classroom, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and playing sports, specifically basketball and soccer.

Jerves added, “I want to thank the staff at RLC that made my time there very nice and guided me to become a professional. I want to thank Continental too, for the work opportunity, and my family for all the support that has made everything possible.”

Last year, Jerves’ father moved back to Ecuador while he finished his education at RLC. He did make it back in time to watch his son walk across the stage.

Reece Rutland – Rend Lake College Public Information

There are many names that dot the history of Rend Lake College. Some of those names have lent themselves to buildings on campus, others to classrooms. But, only one name literally leads every visitor right to the doors of RLC, Kenneth J. Gray.

The late congressman Ken Gray (D-West Frankfort) Photos provided by RLC Public Information

Gray, a former United States Rep. who represented Southern Illinois in Congress between 1954-74 and 1985-89, is cemented in the history of the college and the surrounding area via Ken Gray Parkway, the road that the Ina campus proudly calls home

His initiatives while in office delivered $7 billion in regional projects to the area. Initiatives like Interstates 57, 24 and 64, the Marion Federal Penitentiary, opening the Kaskaskia River to barge traffic and the construction of Rend Lake were all made possible through Gray’s work.

Known for his colorful demeanor as much as his politics, Gray is credited by RLC’s founding fathers as “being instrumental in creating the statewide community college system and Rend Lake College.” For his efforts, the Rep. was the one of the keynote speakers at RLC’s Dedication ceremony on Sept. 26, 1971, and received the first honorary degree awarded by the college.

At the time, Dr. Allen Y. Baker, Vice Chairman of the College Board of Trustees, lauded Gray for his “many fine contributions” to the college.

He credited Gray with “giving us hope and confidence in ourselves.”

Gray, in turn, called his honorary degree from Rend Lake College “the finest single honor I received during two decades in Congress.”

Dr. James Snyder, then president of RLC, speculated, “It probably is the first honorary degree to be granted by a community college in the State of Illinois.”

Ken Gray speaking at RLC’s Dedication ceremony on Sept. 26, 1971.

As for the road that carries Gray’s name, there’s a funny story there too.

Initially dubbed “Ken Gray Boulevard,” a critic argued that the name “sounds too much like something metropolitan.” The Trustees agreed, and during a June 18, 1974, meeting voted to change it to the “Ken Gray Parkway” we know today.

It’s hard to imagine Rend Lake College without Rend Lake

Dubbed the “Prince of Pork,” Gray was widely criticized by his opposition for his pork barrel politics, but the desperate need for water in Southern Illinois for decades had the area in dire straits. A three-year drought in the 1950s finally sparked talks about building a reservoir in the area.

“I can remember seeing a horse pulling a wagon with water on it and could name 50 communities around here that had to haul water. Lakes had dried up and cities and towns had to haul water. Even in larger towns, the lakes would dry up and towns couldn’t get water,” Gray said in the book “Pass the Plate: The Legend and Legacy of United States Congressman Kenneth J. Gray.”

In 1973, thanks largely to Gray’s work in Washington, the Big Muddy River was dammed, and the lake was filled. Historical accounts say the impact was immediate with new housing and businesses popping up where drought had ravaged for years.

It is estimated that the lake provides for 35 towns and 1,200 retail customers over seven counties.

While it was originally constructed to bring water into the area, the lake has also saved the area from flood damage by regulating the water level.

A closeup of Ken Gray at the dedication of Rend Lake College in 1971

“They call Rend Lake pork,” Mr. Gray said in a 2008 interview with The Southern Illinoisan, referring to one of the projects he had supported, a reservoir created when the Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Big Muddy River. “Yet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, six years ago when there was tremendous flooding, said that because of Rend Lake holding the water back, more than $100 million worth of property downstream was saved.”

“If that is pork, pass me the plate, because I’ll take another heaping serving.”

Born in the Franklin County town of West Frankfort in 1924, he graduated from Frankfort High School and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

In 2008, a portion of Interstate 57, between Mile Post 0 at the Illinois State Line and Mile Post 106 at the Marion/Jefferson County Line, was named the Ken Gray Expressway. Mr. Gray had helped write the Interstate Highway Act, which President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed in 1956.

A state of Illinois news release announcing the expressway naming at the time said Gray brought seven presidents to southern Illinois. The statement said Gray “was known for his flamboyant wardrobe, humor, amicability and a fierce passion for bringing federal funds to southern Illinois.”

He died on July 12, 2014, in Herrin at the age of 89, after a long battle with illness.

In addition to the two stretches of road, Gray is also memorialized with the Kenneth Gray Federal Building in Benton and the post office in West Frankfort carrying his name.

Outside of politics, Gray served in World War II as part of the Army Air Forces, earning three bronze stars for his service. He served as an aircraft crew chief and attained the rank of first sergeant before being discharged in 1945.

According to a news piece written after his death, Gray started wheeling and dealing early, opening his own business, Gray’s Roller Rink in West Frankfort, at the tender age of 13. He became an auctioneer at 16, and bought Gray Motors Car Dealership at 18, a business that he operated until 1954. He also operated an air service out of Benton Airport following the war.