Onarga, IL
During my last year in college, some friends (Kara, MB, and Brad) and I, together with my father, went to an Eric Clapton concert just outside of Chicago. On the way back to U of I, we stopped for lunch in a small town called Onarga, just off of I-57. I had remembered seeing signs for 'Onarga/Roberts' each time I drove to/from school, and had imagined it as a really cute, small, midwestern town where everyone knew each other, drove pickup trucks, and sat on their porch drinking lemonade in the summer. Kind of Hoosiers meets Footloose.When we arrived, I realized I wasn't too far off. We had lunch at a (the only?) restaurant, aptly named Restaurant, next to a table with some 50-60 year-old men wearing baseball caps with logos of various farming equipment companies. As we were eating some kids came in after finishing their first day of school, and it seemed like everyone knew them. When we paid, we noticed a glass jar next to the cash register with a hand-written note asking for donations to renovate the local swimming pool.
Onarga is a place I never thought I would hear about again. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of Onarga, IL was 1,438 in 2000 - roughly 0.0005% of the total US population at that time. So imagine my surprise this morning when, as I watched Fall Out Boy performing on a morning TV show while I ate breakfast, I saw two different people in the crowd holding up signs for Onarga, IL!
Small world...
Labels: Onarga, Small world
posted by Aron @ 10:18 AM
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