About Roger
After stumbling around the wilderness of sports and city halls for seven years, Belleville's born-and-bred Roger Schlueter finally found his niche in Lifestyle in 1981. Helping start both the paper's medical and entertainment sections, he has dabbled in everything from food to religion for the past quarter-century. As the Answer Man since 1987, he has become the paper's go-to guy for arcane and unanswerable questions. He has even taken his show on the road, becoming a legend in his own mind as a popular emcee at area trivia nights.
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeQ. This probably will sound crazy, but was there ever a roller-skating rink at St. Clair Square in Fairview Heights? My daughter needs the information for a history report, and a family member believes there was one at one point during the 1970s or 1980s. Please help.
-- Janet Kirkpatrick
A. Many businesses have rolled in and out of St. Clair Square since it opened in 1974, but a skating rink wasn't one of them, according to mall officials.
Your relative may be thinking of Skate-A-Rama, which had skating enthusiasts on the move in Fairview Heights up until about 1985. It was at 6100 N. Illinois St., about three blocks south of the mall (where Streetside Records used to be and where Signature Kitchens and Baths is today).
Q. I have some items I would like to sell on eBay. However, I do not have a computer, so I am looking for someone in our area who does this as a business.
-- Mary Maue, of Belleville
A. You may be a couple years too late.
In about 2005, people seemed to be coming out of the woodwork to offer their services as eBay go-betweens. But apparently, so many people have computers and using eBay is so easy that they seem to have dried up. Phone numbers are all disconnected to two former Belleville businesses (E-Biz and Auctions to Go) as well as Sell It 4 U in Troy.
There are places in St. Louis -- StopnDrop Auctions, for example, at 2114 Schuetz Road (314-997-1600) -- but they want items at least $100 in value and they'll take a whopping 50 percent commission on any item up to $500. There's a minimum $35 commission per auction, too.
If you have just a few items, I'd ask friends or family if they or someone they know would list them for you. Meanwhile, if I receive any feedback on professional listers I've overlooked, I will send them to you.
Q. I'm re-reading "This Perfect Day" by Ira Levin, and I'm wondering if this book was ever made into a movie. Also, is he still alive?
-- Melba
A. With all of the Hollywood business his other books generated -- "Rosemary's Baby," "The Stepford Wives," "The Boys from Brazil," "A Kiss before Dying" and "Silver" -- you'd think this science-fiction tale would have been perfect for the silver screen.
Some reviews even say its vision of a technocratic utopia is more subtle than "1984" and "Brave New World," hence making it more readable. But this 1970 novel, which won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in 1992, never made it onto film. Instead, you might try renting a film like George Lucas' "THX 1138."
Levin died just over a year ago on Nov. 12, 2007, at age 78. His only other novel was "Son of Rosemary" in 1997. Of course he's equally well-known for the comedy "No Time for Sergeants" and his Tony-nominated mystery classic, "Deathtrap."
Q. I'm curious about that recent picture you published in connection with the police raid on Washington Park Detective Kim McAfee's home. In the doorway, it looks like there's an immensely tall woman with blond hair. This has been intriguing me.
-- S.W., of Fairview Heights
A. It's just another example of the wonders of high-definition television. While it looks like a live, breathing Amazon, it's nothing more than a high-def TV mounted high on a wall, photographer Derik Holtmann assures me.
Q. I have wild honeysuckle bushes starting to take over my yard, and I was wondering if there were a simple solution that would keep them from growing back. This summer I noticed some Ameren/IP guys cutting some down and then applying this reddish goop, but they told me the average homeowner probably could not buy it. Do you have alternatives?
-- S.J., of Belleville
A. Charlie Giedeman, the News-Democrat gardening maven, says he has a couple of bloomin' good ones -- depending on how much green you'd like to shell out.
What you're going to do is just what the power company people did -- cut down the bushes and then "paint" the exposed, bruised shoots with a solution that will keep the plant from growing back. So, first, consider how many plants you have and how much solution you think the job will require.
Then, if you want to do on the cheap, pour as much water as you'll need into a bucket and mix in salt until the solution is so saturated that the salt won't dissolve. You can use regular, iodized or sea salt, it doesn't matter. Then, using a cheap paint brush, apply this solution to the exposed ends of the plants.
If you're not keen on home remedies, you also can use glyphosphate -- the generic name of Roundup concentrate (not the ready-to-apply stuff). This runs about $15 (or more) a pint, but perhaps you won't need more than that.
Two final tips: Do this work in the spring, not now when plants are going into their dormant period for winter. And, be careful not to splash either solution on any plant that you don't want to kill.
Send your questions to Roger Schlueter, Belleville News-Democrat, 120 S. Illinois St., P.O. Box 427, Belleville, IL 62222-0427 or rschlueter@bnd.com
@Nyx.CommentBody@