Bloomington/Normal is an ever changing place. Whether it be from its shopping to its restaurants Bloomington/Normal isn't only changing but growing, from our beer fests to our Zombie walks, we have it all! We have had many new places of interest and activities join our booming but small twin cities and we would love nothing more than to add you to the mix! Please read below for more information about what our town can add to your experience here and enjoy all the fun and interesting things we have to learn and offer!

People

Jeffrey Pelo

Jeff Pelo was a 17 year veteran of the Bloomington Police Department but he was more than that. He turned out to be a serial rapist, he broke into and terrorized 3 different women in Bloomington. He stalked them, checked their records, ran their plates to know where they were and finally to each of them broke into their house, bound them with duct tape, covered their heads with a pillow case and raped them. Afterwards he would make them bathe and clean up the house, including getting rid of the sheets. He knew how to cover his tracks because of all of his training as a police officer.

One night his third victim's dog was barking like crazy and because she had had a feeling she was being followed weeks before she didn't hesitate to call the police. Another officer arrived finding Jeff Pelo outside this woman's house. The officer was shocked and concerned at the sight of this brother in arms but did the proper thing and took him in. After being interrogated for a couple of hours and Jeff repeating his innocence they decided to do a voice matching. Jeff was told to read off of a script that included things that the attacker of the women had said but it wasn't the only thing the women recognized, it was his piercing blue eyes. One look at those and they knew.

Jeff was tried and found guilty of 35 counts of rape and stalking. He received one of the top sentences in Bloomington history of 440 years. He is now where he belongs. Videos of the accounts and even of his interrogation can be watched online!

David Hendricks

David Hendricks was a successful businessman, with a patent on a back brace. While on a business trip in Wisconsin, when his wife and three children were found murdered in November of 1983. He tried contacting his wife multiple times, before he called Bloomington Police to check on his house. When the police arrived at the home on Carl Dr. off of Washington St. in East Bloomington, they found David's wife and three children hacked to death with a knife and ax. Since David left for his business trip a day before his murders were discovered, he was a prime suspect. He was later charged with the murders and convicted in 1984. In 1990, his conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial. Hendricks was acquitted at the second trial in 1991. After his acquittance he moved to Florida. There was a book later written about the murders, "Reasonable Doubt" by Steve Vogel.

Places

Soldiers and Sailors Home

If you want a fun but intensely nerve racking experience, take a midnight stroll through this place. It is located in Normal and used to be a home for children of war families. Whether their fathers had died or were just in war this was a school for the children left behind. It hasn't been in use since 1979 after 114 years of service so it has since turned into a home for the homeless and a dare for young kids. I was one of those young kids and here was my experience of the 35 year abandoned building:

We dressed in all black, head to toe, to be unseen, drove by to scope the place and parked a block away. We tried to find the best place to enter earlier but trees and weeds cover the front and sides of the building. We walked low and brisk up to the front and found a dark place to hide until we found the entry. We found it around the corner to the right. You could tell that many people had gone into this window because there was a cinder block as a step up outside and a chair to stand on once you got through the window. Flashlights in hand we walked through the very dark halls peeking into every room, finding current food wrappers and water bottles. We took too many turns and walked through too many doors and down way too many stairs.

We finally ended up in what I would assume to be the basement and found very odd machinery. Things I have never seen before. There were old medical journals and magazines on the floor and as I was turning the page of a magazine, I glanced over at a box and of course had to know what was in it. Dental records. Thousands of dental records of the children that stayed there, names, birth dates, teeth issues. Looking further into the machinery it looked like they could have been ancient dentist equipment. We heard something in the distance and that was all we needed we were out of there. If you decide to take a peak yourself it was very interesting but go with friends and have extra batteries for those flashlights. My biggest tip would be to bring bread crumbs to find your way out. After we heard the noise and wanted to bolt we couldn't figure out how we had gotten in. A dark abandoned orphanage and panic mode do not mix. Have fun!

Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre:

Even though it’s not directly in Bloomington, this is definitely something that should be mentioned. Conklin's Barn II dinner theatre is a place to go where you get to watch a live performance while you eat. It is family friendly place where they mostly do comedies, but sometimes do other types of shows. It is also not very expensive. The pricing is Thursday evenings $33.00 (musicals $35.00) Friday evenings and Sunday Brunch is $35.00 (musicals $37.00) Saturday evenings $37.00 (musicals $39.00). The address is 1451 Timberline Road Goodfield, IL. To learn more or learn the current shows that there playing go to http://www.barn2.com/

The Challenger Learning Center:

The challenger learning center is a very good place to take anywhere from seven and up year olds to learn. Here you and your child will get to participate in real world interactive educational experiences. What happens is you arrive and get sorted into two groups. One is mission control and the other is the space station. Mission control does research and has fun little activities that you have to do. Personally I got the results back from space station and had to determine what to do with them. Somewhere safe to bring back and somewhere bio-hazards and had to be discarded. Halfway through your mission, your group switches jobs. So the people in mission control come to space and the people from space come to mission control. In the space station portion, what happens is depending on which job you get depends on what you do there. Personally I was in charge of researching “space rocks”. This just meant that I got to use machines to pick up rocks and measure/ weigh/ evaluate them and send the results to mission control. When the mission is complete everyone meets back up and you’re told if the mission was a success or not. When that’s over you can to go explore the gift store. The challenger learning center is located on the campus of Heartland Community College. The address is 1500 West Raab Road, Normal, Illinois 61761. For more information go to www.challengerlearningcenter.com

Grady’s Family Fun Park:

Most towns don’t have a mini theme park in the middle of their town, but Bloomington does! Grady’s is located at 1501 Morrissey Drive Bloomington, IL 61701. Here is an awesome place to if you have children or younger brothers and sister or are just looking for a new palace to go as a family. For the little kids, the rides they have are the Jr. Ferris wheel, Motorcycle Jump and Super Fun Slide. Kiddie Rides include Western Train, Red Baron Airplane, Motorcycle Jump, Merry-Go-Round, Jumping Star, Dragon Wagon, Jr. Ferris Wheel, Super Fun Slide, Tea Cup and the Family Himalaya. The cost is $2.00 per ticket, 1 ticket per ride. There is also rides and things to do as an adult. Adult Rides are the Tilt-A-Whirl, Family Sizzler, Paratrooper and Round Up. For adults it costs $3.00 per ticket. Event though there is rides specifically for adults and children, there is lots of rides for everyone! Rides that you can either be an adult or a child are the go karts, bumper boats, bumper cars, batting cages, and lastly miniature golf. There is also a restaurant here, so when you’re done playing you can grab a bite to eat. There pizza is amazing, so it’s a must try. To learn more go to www.gradysfunpark.com

Haunted:

Williams Hall:

The ghost of Angeline Vernon Milner, Illinois State University's first librarian, is said to haunt the former library building, now called Williams Hall. Built in 1940, the building was named in honor of Milner who served as University Librarian from 1890 until 1927. Beginning in the 1990s. Books that were her favorites have had reported encounters with what they believe to be ghost of Milner.

Events

Zombie Walk:

The Bloomington/Normal Zombie Walk or BNZW in Normal will be celebrating its 5th year Oct. 2014! What is a Zombie Walk you ask? Well feast on this, each year hundreds of people young and old rip up their clothes and splatter "blood" all over their bodies, paint their faces deadly white and walk with a limp around uptown Normal. These scary goblins walk to raise money for the CCFA, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. These are true Zombie enthusiasts! They all gather and scare the towns people by growling and moaning like the "real" undead! It is a blast if you haven't ever participated. They also have a raffle and a terrifyingly fun after party for all involved! So come out and wear your scariest zombie costume, enjoy a deadly walk with some bloody, scary, but fun people with good food and prizes to follow. Nothing says fun like acting dead and terrifying the town! They have a Facebook page if you'd like to get more information about upcoming events or want to know the rules of the walk! https://www.facebook.com/#!/B.N.ZombieWalk

Big Money Bingo:

Big money bingo offers Bingo, Raffle, and Pull Tab games. Some games offer bonuses of 1000+. It’s located on 356 Wylie Dr Normal, IL 61761. You're not allowed to bring food in, but there is concession stand that serves food. The only catch to coming here is that you have to be 18 to play anything and have valid ID. For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/bigmoneybingo

Festivals:

Illinois Shakespeare Festival:

In 1978, this Festival was founded as a partnership between the Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance and the College of Fine Arts. These two places are still working together today. Every summer, a collection of theatre professionals and interns unite in Bloomington-Normal, IL, to create a play that William Shakespeare created. This festival happens every summer Tuesday through Sunday evenings at Ewing Cultural Center (parking is FREE directly across Emerson Street at St. John's Lutheran Church (GPS: 1617 E. Emerson, Bloomington). If the weather cooperates then the show opens in July and ends in August. For more info go to http://thefestival.org/about/history.shtml

Sugar Creek Festival:

This is a festival is all about crafting. People from all over the county come and sell here. You can find a little of everything, so there’s something for everyone. The 2014 Sugar Creek Arts Festival will take place on July 12th and 13th. The festival will be held on North St. from Fell to the Circle and E. Beaufort St. from the Circle to Linden St. For more info go to http://www.normal.org/index.aspx?NID=567

Cultural Festival Weekend:

Cultural Festival Weekend is a three-day event that includes cultural and ethnic food vendors, music entertainment (local and national R&B, Blues, Country, Jazz, Classical, Gospel Performers and Dance groups), and vendors of all sorts. The festival focuses around different children's villages, where children of all ages can learn, explore and become engaged in activities that inspire and encourage cultural and ethnic understanding and appreciation. The best part is that it’s free. This takes place at Miller Park (1020 S. Morris Bloomington, IL 61701). For more info go to http://www.visitbn.org/index.cfm

Bruegala:

This is a festival all about beer. There’s over 200 beers to sample, nearly 100 varieties of wine, great local food, and live musical performances. If you’re into brewing your own beer, they have a competition for that. Its Friday, August 23 6-11 pm and Saturday, August 24 5–11pm (An extra hour of drinks and music!) It will be at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA). Located at 600 N East St. Entry is only $15 at the door and you purchase punch cards inside. You need the punch cards in order to sample the beer/wine that the volunteers pour for you. All proceeds go to local charities. Must be 21+ to enter with valid ID. For more info go to http://www.bruegala.com/

Sweet Corn Blues Festival:

Just like the title says, this is a festival about sweet corn. Basically you show up and eat a bunch of corn as they have live music playing. This takes place on August 23-24, depending on the weather. Get in line for corn quick! They almost always sell out and you DO NOT want to miss out! They have hundreds of interesting shops to find anything you could possibly want, from old records to unique jewelry, to head bands for babies and tutus for dogs! For more info go to https://www.normal.org/index.aspx?NID=568

Fun facts

There is a mural that was painted in the 1930's in the Normal Post Office that has been hanging there since 1938
The Bloomington Airport was in Normal until 1934
University St. is the only street in the world (according to Ripley's Believe it or Not) to have Universities at both ends! It starts in Normal with ISU and travels to Bloomington having Illinois Wesleyan at its other end.
The popular TV show Supernatural filmed an episode in season 8 here. Its called "Men of Letters".
Bloomington is one of the highest cities in Illinois. It sits at a whopping 797 feet above sea level whereas Peoria is only 502 feet above sea level.
MacAruthur Ave. used to be part of central Illinois' thriving red light district until the 1960's when they decided to clean up the town.
There is a Bloomington resident on Oakland Ave. that has an enormous tropical bird cage in his front lawn. When it's warm he lets his Tucans out and from my experience he will allow you to walk up to the cage and see the beautiful birds! Go take a look!