Laurie Covington

Good or bad, has anyone noticed how much press Peoria, Ill is getting lately?

President Obama was in Peoria to make a speech at a Caterpillar facility. CAT has been in the National News recently with their worldwide layoffs. Jim Owens, CEO of CAT, has been on National TV.

Our recently retired Congressman, Ray LaHood, was appointed to the Obama Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation. Rep. Aaron Schock was elected to replace him. President Bush was in Peoria prior to the election to raise money for Aaron Schock. Rep. Schock continues to make news, he was named by the Huffington Post as the new "Hottie Freshman" in Congress. Maybe it was newsworthy because the media presumes the hotties come from traditionally "cool" areas, like Southern California, not Peoria, Ill?

We also had the new junior Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, make one of his first public appearances in Peoria, Ill, after he was appointed to the coveted spot formerly held by Barack Obama, by the recently indicted former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, in Peoria. There were reporters from around the country in Peoria for Senator Burris's two press conferences here.

Our new Governor, Pat Quinn, decided to jump on the Peoria bandwagon and Peoria was one of his first stops for a Press Conference after he was appointed as Governor to replace Rod Blagojevich.

Michael Jordan was here last week "weeping" while watching his son play on the winning team for the State Basketball Tournament. The state basketball finals, March Madness, were at the Civic Center..

Most Peorians did not even know Philip Jose Farmer, the famous science fiction writer, lived in Peoria until he died here a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Ali al-Marri, the man accused of being an al_Qaida Sleeper Agent, has been in the headlines with his trial in Peoria. He was living in Peoria, Ill, when he was arrested. His trial has been headline news.

Peoria is finally on the radar screen of national media, not because it is a cliche for vaudeville acts several decades ago.

I was visiting some friends who are former clients this weekend. It was great to see their children who are growing up. They have two beautiful daughters who were rather young when we started looking for their new home. NOTE: Same family as in previous cat surgery story, I need to find them a new home for more great stories. Anyway, we found the perfect home. It was close enough to hospitals, both parents are doctors, the setting was very private and adjacent to a park, and it had an attached small home for guests. This was just too good to be true. The home was delightful in every way. It even had a three car attached garage, which is rare in an old home in Peoria, IL. Imagine this, we are viewing the home for the second time. The girls are choosing bedrooms. The parents are deciding whether or not to let their families know they have a guest house, and everyone is happy. As we are standing in the kitchen discussing price, I hear a blood curdling shriek from one of the young girls. Following by two shrieking girls. Oh my gosh, did they see a spider? Did they drop a vase? Was there a raccoon in the yard? We ran to the family room, which was probably an old sun porch converted into a four season room. There was small metal door which I had noticed earlier, but just presumed it was part of the exterior of the house prior to enclosing it. Well, my curious young buyers had decided to investigate. Every time I think I have seen it all after selling real estate since 1978, something new comes along. We ran into the room, by then the girls were outside, and looked into the opening. There was the biggest black snake I have ever seen. It was curling its way up a water pipe. This snake had to be 4 inches thick. Obviously , one of the doctors had a strong background in biology, he knew the snake species. I do not care how safe it is, it was the biggest, scariest snake I have ever seen. This snake would have needed an open door to get into this house. I do not think so, I think it was raised in the house. I was trying to decide if one huge black snake would be able to reproduce in these walls, but the thought of two or more of them was just too much. Note, the girls are still screaming "snake in the house". So, being the polite agent I am, I left a cordial note to the sellers to let them know they had a big snake. Normally I leave notes like, "light bulb is out in basement", the snake note was a first. So, the next morning the other agent called me. I presume she wants to apologize for scaring the children (what about ME) with the snake. No. She said the snake was taken care of with $1300 worth of extermination and it was no longer in the house. One thousand three hundred dollars to exterminate a snake. At that point, I was sure there was a colony of snakes (aka snake-pit). She wanted to know if they were going to make an offer! This is true! I could not believe it. How could they make an offer when their agent would not be able to go back through the house with them without body protection? The girls would not even get out of the car. What do exterminators do with very large snakes anyway?

On Saturday September 20, 2008, John McDermott, one of the original Irish Tenors will be performing at the Peoria Civic Center Theater. The performance is to benefit the OSF St. Francis Radiation Oncology Program. Dr. James McGee, Medical Director of the Radiation Oncology Department, commissioned a song for the event. Along with Kevin Hearn of the Canadian Rock Group, Barenaked Ladies. For information on the event, go to www.spiritofhopeconcert.org, for tickets go to www.Ticketmaster.com, and to listen to John performing go to www.YouTube.comand search for John McDermott. For more information on John McDermott, go to www.JohnMcDermott.com. Call the OSF Foundation in Peoria Heights, IL, for additional Ticket information. 309-566-5666.

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Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's "Bob Hope Award"

Here is a photo of the Entrance to Edgewild, we have had so much snow this year, I actually forgot what it looked like. Today, the weather is better, blowing sleet with hail. In spite of this, Edgewild homes are selling! I listed and sold a home on Regent on a one time showing. I also just sold the listing on Wolf Road,it was listed with another agent at RE/MAX Unlimited. Then I listed a home on Morningside a couple of weeks ago and it has an accepted offer. Yeah! I have another listing coming up soon, I hope it sells as quickly. Edgewild Subdivision features high quality custom built homes with mature landscaping. Many of them have not been updated since they were built in the 1960's and 1970's, so they are great for buyers who want to remodel a home. It is difficult to find one that has already been remodeled, it seems like many of the neighbors stay, but change homes in the subdivision. Several neighbors have other relatives living in Edgewild! We are seeing younger families with children moving here, which is wonderful, it brings life to an older neighborhood. Of course, I live in Edgewild, so I am one of the biggest fans. The yards are beautifully landscaped and there are always major home improvement projects going on. I think there are more dumpsters per subdivision than any other resale subdivision in Peoria, IL. This is a great boost for everyone. Hopefully the weather will break in Peoria soon, and it will be as green as the photo again.

The Peoria Woman - April 2008

http://www.peoriamagazines.com/. Go to site for full story.

I was featured on the front cover of Peoria Woman. It is 30 years of Laurie. Please go to the magazine link to read the article. Color Classics Photography did the photos, Jules did a great job. Thanks to all of you who have sent copies of the article to me, thanks to everyone who has sent notes to me, and thanks to Jan Wright Vergon for giving me the opportunity to share my story. It has been so interesting to see how many former clients who have moved away have contacted me about the article. Throughout the years, I have introduced many new Peorian's to other people, and they have bonded as lifelong friends. This is my favorite part of the job. The friends and clients still living here must have sent the magazine to their friends, I think I have heard from more people than the distribution amount.