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(music) (music) (music) (music) Welcome to Prairie Fire. I'm Sarah Edwards. On this episode I'll sit down with Alison Davis. Alison was the former host and producer of prairie fire

for many years, so I thought it would be fun to get some stories from the road from her. And also we'll share one of her all time favorite documentaries. Stay tuned later in our half

hour for a performance from folk roots and Americana musician, Chris Vallillo. But first Tinisha Spain has the story of a really fascinating guy who has come up with some innovative ways to

enjoy gardening from the confines of his wheelchair. But I didn't talk yet I wasn't even talking yet. One of my mom's parents, Eileen, she bent down and she showed me this

flower and she goes flower and I said flower back. That was my very first word. Everyone was like, wow, you said it. And and then my very first word is not mama or papa or anything easy was

flower. Tony Becker has always been fascinated with planting things. My parents always had a garden as far as I can remember. I guess I watched him because I was about six or seven. And I

guess I watched him plant. I went into the freezer and I grabbed me a bunch of beans. And I said these are seeds. I thought I guess I thought these are seeds. I planted them in my mom's

house plants. And then of course, they start growing. And my parents come up to me and they call me into the into the room where the houseplants are, and my mom's going, what is this

Antony? But is this because my mom's Hungarian so she has that accent. And so I'm like thinking I did something wrong. This is very good. Antony you'd like to plant in the pan

produced several beans. And I remember my parents, you know, picking them and giving me hear what your ears what you grew. While other kids to fishing poles or flashlights to summer camp.

Tony took seeds. I was kind of mad that you know I missed basically eight weeks of plant you know, messing with the garden while at camp so I actually took some the early tomatoes and

actually, you know got them to be with a flowering and took them with me to camp plus some radish seeds because I knew they will be done in a month. And I grew tomatoes and radishes at camp.

His love of gardening grew. And after serving in the Navy, he enrolled at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to study crop sciences. Next up grad school at the U of I on my way to my

first final exam as a grad student, which is actually the first day I ever miss school, I rolled my truck and I broke my neck 14 December 98. I was going to go and study for another hour at

school. And there was black dice the ice can't see on the road in front of me. I couldn't see it because the sun was behind me. And the next thing I remember is about two weeks

later. Sort of you're still kind of in the fog about what exactly happened. Tony was now a quadriplegic. It was you have weird feeling when you're first aware, you're,

everything's tingling a lot, it feels like your hands are going to sleep. Well, I wasn't fully aware that I wasn't going to ever move properly again, until the doctor like

really put it on the table. And then I became very depressed I guess. Because I was no more garden I've worked on my own car, I've replaced almost everything except for the motor

and the transmission. And I started realizing I can't do any of that anymore. I still love to dance as well. So that was all gone. And so I was depressed for quite a while. After months

of therapy, and learning how to live life a different way. Tony returned to school, earned his PhD in bioinformatics. And then got back into the garden. But now I can take both hands, if

I'm really getting into I can, I'm leaning down. And actually, this is too short for this. But I'm leaning down, and I'm really working into things. Most garden tools are

made for a standing person. So for the past several years, Tony has been modifying the tools he buys and making his own. So some of the tools that I made just just didn't work right

for very good to bulky. The other thing is, is, it's not a big short tools to be better, but there are none there is actually the longer tools that are better, the longer you can make

it, it has to be light, of course a bit long, the the better it is, you need a reach of at least a meter away from it in order to do any real significant gardening. So the challenges of

using the garden tools, gets less and less every year as I learn what works, what doesn't work. As I get somebody as my strength gets even better. And it's that same string that

helped Tony find his way back to the garden. So who is Tony Becker someone who obviously had to overcome major catastrophe in his life. But I've gotten much better at gardening. And

even though it's not exactly how I want the landscaping, how I want things, I can still do it, I'm still able to do it with very minimal help from anyone else. And I'm going

to still do it. Because keeping me active will also keep me more alive as well. So it'll always be my enjoyment till I can't pick up a tool anymore. Before we go much further with

the new prairie fire, I thought it would be a wise idea to get some perspective and stories from the longtime host of the original Prairie Fire, which aired from 1992 to 2008. Allison Davis

was the producer and host for most of that time, and she sets a very high standard. She's won seven Emmy Awards, and she's currently a lecturer of journalism at the University of

Illinois, Allison Davis. Thanks for joining us on fire. Thank you so much for having me, Sarah, I really appreciate this problem. Tell me a little bit about how prairie fire started and how

your role kind of developed over time, while prairie fire was started by Jeff Cunningham at will TV. And he chose the name because of how when there is a prairie fire, it burns away the

prairie grasses and exposes the roots and we thought this show would really do the same thing kind of helping us explore our deep roots in central Illinois and and create new growth. And I

was very lucky after I graduated from college. I started working here part time and I became Jeff's production assistant. So we went on tours all over central Illinois. And it was just

the two of us creating these programs. And I did that for about a year with him and then he moved to Wisconsin and I applied for his job and that's when he took over as producer of the

show. So how did you take what he had done originally and kind of make it your own thing? When Jeff and I were doing the show our budget was really non existent. So our plan was, as far as

we could drive in a day and get back, that was our where we could go because we couldn't really travel anywhere to do the show. And I do have to emphasize, yes, it is a, it is a very

small crew of people doing this very small crew of people. Yes, at the beginning, it was just two of us. When I started doing the show, a lot of times, it would be just me, I would go out

and do the story. Later, I had Tim Horton was helping me with it. And that was really amazing, because he is such a talented videographer and storyteller that he really helped push the

production levels of the show, and also created some of my favorite shows like a profile on recording artist, Mark ruble, and some other wonderful stories that Tim did. So we really had in

the last years that I worked on the show, we really worked as a team on the productions. How do you choose what to cover? I mean, what are the elements you're looking for in a good

story? Well, for me, I'm always looking for a great character. And I want someone that feels comfortable with me. And I work on that to make them feel comfortable with me. And I

don't think they have to be a larger than life character, because I do think everybody has a story. And that's my job as a storyteller is to be able to mine them for their story

and to be able to present it in an informative and entertaining way. And also, of course, visuals, some stories are lucky because everything falls into place there an artist or someone who

has a really, really great personality. And then they also have incredible visuals, they're creating things that we can record historical pieces always a lot harder to do, because you

don't have as many visuals to work with. And those require a lot more time craziest stories from the road wacky stories, unexpected events that happened to you while you were doing

shoots go. Well, I will say one of probably the craziest stories we did was the world freefall convention up in Rantoul, which was a national convention for people that love to jump out of

airplanes. So we went up to Rantoul. And it was a party scene with these people. They Were Free Spirits. And it was like spring break for them. And I remember walking around shooting

visuals, and my cameraman Julius Bolton at the time, kept putting his camera down. And I said, Why are you putting your camera down? And he's like, the women kept flashing me. So it was

very challenging in that respect. But we did get some great B roll. And then at the end of the day, the director said, you would you like to jump out of an airplane? And I looked at him and

immediately said, No, I had small children at the time. And I just couldn't imagine my husband at the time telling them yes, your mother passed away jumping out of an airplane with a

camera. So my cameraman Julius immediately jumped up and said, I will do it. So he did it. He jumped out of the airplane and tandem jump film the whole thing and we use that in the story. So

it was a really fun, a really fun way to end the story. Your favorite pieces of all time. They name a few. And yeah, one of my favorite pieces was on the Sangamon ordinance plant in

Eliopoulos, Illinois, and this was one of the largest manufacturers of ammunitions during World War Two, most of it while the workers were women. So it became very progressive. They had

dormitory housing for the women that were working there. They even had child care, I was able to talk to some of the former employees. And one thing they were telling me is how all of their

hair turned red. Because of their exposure to the chemicals that they were working with all day they all became these redheads. Another story that really inspired me was doing a story on

demolition derby driver Tracy Neiman. When I met her she was she's about my age. And I was blown away by her being one of the only female demolition derby drivers in this whole part of

the state. And she was winning. She was really successful. She took it very seriously. We followed her around to the county fairs. I just remember the heat. You know, those hot County Fair

dot days, the noise stamp, we had an old Chevy Suburban that we would drive around to film with. And I remember getting up on the roof of there trying to get shots of what was happening

during the event. And getting to immerse myself in this whole subculture that I really didn't know a lot about. And working in video, you know, is a really male profession. And I saw

her in a very male world and she was very competitive and she had such a great attitude that she really inspired me. Allison Davis, thank you so much for stopping by and giving us your

stories and your history with purifier. Thank you so much for having me and great job with show. Thank you. And here without further ado is Alison's story about them. Derby driver Tracy

Neiman I don't know I've always been a tomboy daddy's little girl went fishing used to drive my grandmother nuts. I didn't want to wear a dress didn't want to go

shopping. I'd rather been with the guys there's something I've done since I was little and it stuck with me all my life grandma still doesn't like it but is part mud,

parts guts and part insanity. And it's one of the most popular sports in the Midwest. The demolition derby has long been thought of as a man's world of crunching out of bodies and

loud engines. But within the sea of masculinity is an island. I get a lot of statics and a lot of people being the only girl out here a lot of guys don't like it. Last year after I won

the Champaign County Fair. I managed an autoparts store in the place next to us as like a quick lube oil change. The guy come in there right away Saturday morning was going on and on to the

manager the quick lube place about this girl won the Champaign County Fair last night that wasn't right. She should be home barefoot and pregnant. That upset me. Told him if if that guy

ever come in, they're going to call me because I was coming over. She's good driver. Real good driver. I was quite impressed. First time I saw. Well, I guys are out to get her

just because she's a woman. But she's one of the best drivers I've ever seen. I think she deserves what she got shipped last year. She needs to get get again this year. Traci

has spent the last 10 years of racing and before that she grew up around the track watching her father less because a 30 year veteran of the demolition derby was the only thing she ever did

listen that celebrate home at night. She won't show up till three in the morning. But when it comes to work on cartoons. For the first couple years, Dad wouldn't when I was younger

dad wouldn't let me run with the guys. I strictly stuck to the powder puffs. And after about two years of that I got fed up with that. So I convinced him to let me drive with the guy.

So let me start it for county and your county fairs because they're the smaller tracks and I know a lot more people there. But now, like I said, I've been around this since I was a

little kid. I know everybody that's at the racetrack. You get to the smaller county fairs and stuff. Yeah. You know everybody and it's kind of tough. I'd rather go out and

raise somewhere I didn't know anybody. Make a decision. Traci Traci's other mentor is former driver, Scott Kelly. Scott now works with Tracy as our chief mechanic vendor, likely

better than I ever thought about being is this go in and she's very intelligent. She makes the right decisions. She's not perfect. But she's not too bad. And she's the 93

Illinois state champions. So I think that speaks for itself. I was never skeptical because I could see the desire. And she was she was willing to put in the work and the drive into the fun

part that being on center stage. It's the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of preparation, preparation that it takes to win to build a championship car. She has she does

get nervous. But I think that's more that her intensity is there because she wants to do well. I think she feels like she has an added burden on her shoulders being a female. But and I

think she does. I think the burden is there. But I think that makes victory that much sweeter when you do it because we play by their rules. There's no, you can run with the girls. And

then you can come and play with the boys. We run by the men's rules against the men with the same officials. And probably they're a little harder on the officials so that they

don't appear to show favoritism. And when she wins, that makes it that much better. Scott has taught me you can do anything you want to do. I just put your mind to it. The year before

last it was it was okay. You're like I said I won the state championship and took third at the Hoover Dam and stuff. But after coming here last year and getting demolished by my

friends. We went to Crescent City. I didn't make it to the feature. But I had to find all the guys from Crescent City up there. So my car was literally destroyed. And I was you know

kind of disappointed about that. It was nothing you could do about it. That's the name of racing but went into champagne. And Scott says I've got this feeling of choice. You can do

it. And he says don't don't think about it. Just go out there and drive. And you can do it and that's exactly what I did. I just kind of like blocked everything else out and

just concentrated on what was happening out there on the track and if it helped Tracy and Scott say it takes a month to prepare a car for battle. Before the race officials inspect each car

to ensure that any modifications are within Derby guidelines. We've got a 350 Chevrolet engine with 283 heads which allow the engine to run cooler. We've got aluminum intake, which

allows the engine to run cooler and the exhaust up through the hood for two for two reasons. One that makes it louder and the crowd likes it too. If she kills the engine, she can start it

easier. We've got a radiator strap down with the rubber straps to keep it from moving an extra large fan to keep it cool. And for safety, we've got the engine mounts welded down

solid so that the engine can't rock and lock the car with the accelerator down and if you could lose the brakes and get into the crowd. Then we've got 14 ply trailer tires on the

front, which these are about 14 years old and been flat ones. And on the rear, we've got forklift tires that have been grooved with the saws off so they get extra traction. Then

we've got a separate ignition system inside. With the ignition, not routed through the car at all we've got our battery box inside our shifter only has two speeds, pull it back to

go forward, push it up to go reverse and neutral. And then we've got the fuel tank in the back, we've got a fuel cell out of a stock car which has a plastic bladder on the inside.

And aluminum can on the outside with a rollover van so that if she does get rolled over that no gas can run out over run out on it. And then we've got one bar that's allowed this

legal distract to protect the gas tank. And that's basically what we do to prepare them besides removing all the glass and anything else that can come out. Ours we usually get two or

three runs. We had one we had eight runs out of last year and we didn't win with it till the seventh time. So that's that's the longest but it was only about eight foot long

and about three foot wide when we were finished. Please try to stay off the driver's door. It looks like you're gonna hit a door, put on the brakes and try to get it stop.

We'll go along with you. We feel it's an intentional hit. You're out of here. We're not here to get no one hurt. Your car catches on fire. We have put up the red flags

and stop the show. Bring the fire department out but fire out. It's over. We're not allowed to run you again. You just backfire something like that and keep going. No problem. All

right. You lose your brakes. For God's sake. Shut it down. Guys. This thing has always been real close here. Right so you get loose and get into a fence and hurt somebody. Soon as I

climb in the car, it's like I'm okay, everything's better. I just concentrate on different places to hit and stuff like that and watching my front end and my back into my car.

Oh seven the first guy is Sean Schwartzman. 5150. Very slick with some of my time number four. Tracy Davis. Tracy I believe the only lady has done this before. object of a demolition derby

is simple. Keep driving. Derby drivers try to be one of the last three cars running in here. Then the winners of each heat compete in the feature or final. At the Ford County Fair, Traci is

disappointed she doesn't make it to the feature. The first couple years all I met they gave me a break. Now that I proved to them, I can do it. There's no more breaks. Do I have to

fight harder another one of the reasons besides being a girl is like I said with my dad scouts reputation. I mean, they weren't very good drivers. And you know, they want a lot of the

fares and just you know, I'd like myself I'd like to do that and people are going to you know, they've been beat up by my dad and Scott before so they're not gonna let me

beat him up. I got I've really got to fight a little bit harder. But even when she doesn't win, Tracy leaves an impression with the derby fans. Whether they like it or not, there

is a woman on the track. And Tracy would like to see more. I got a few little girls that follow me and when they're old enough they're gonna drive. And when I decide to have

children, I hope I have a girl because I want her to drive. You can watch Allison's piece on the world freefall convention on our website that's at will.illinois.edu/prairie fire.

We end this episode with a tune or two from one of Illinois real musical assets. Chris Bilello has been telling the stories of the people and the history of Illinois for more than 30 years

with his guitar and his voice. His new album is called forgot Tonia. Here's Chris bolillo. In 19 7216 Count He's in west central Illinois banded together to form the independent

nation of forgot Tonia secede from the Union, declare war on the United States and then immediately surrender and apply for foreign aid. It was all just political theater to protest the lack

of federal dollars coming into west Central Illinois. But to everyone's amazement, it worked. For years later, I moved down there as an archaeologist on federal money during the first

highway project going through the section of our state. It was like walking back in time for two years and it just enchanted me the song was trying to capture that before it all disappeared

little town new rusty old horseshoe hanging up above whether or maple trees the sultry summer breeze waltzing crossed the summer kitchen down all the towns where all the kids are hanging.

Swap in lies and sneak in their first when the sun goes down, they'll be hidden. gonna spin those times. Bang those tramonti oh the old men in the shade. spin out the backhoe on the

battered decoy ducks. angstrom arrested pickup trucks. By the bandstand in the middle of the cafe you can catch the latest news who left who and how the cropa are doin. Randy wrecked his

truck, that boy always had bad luck. Areas says sweet come in real soon sometimes you can hear it just be on the feeling like the echoes of the past come back to cause XL o fit loose tune

heard beneath the harvest moon. One that haunts your mind. You can wide recall little town blue. Rusty old horse shoes above the weather or maple tree, a sultry summer breeze Walton cross

the summer kitchen