I am not sure when this article was written, but since I know that Sandy passed away at the age of 63, it was probably in 1975.
Last news hawker calls out end of era with retirement. by Mike Simmons C-N Staff Writer
The guy with the smile, bright orange cap and myriad slogan buttons has retired after 19 years as a Commercial-News carrier.
Kenneth E. Sandy, known as "Sandy" to his many friends and customers, will continue working at The Nook, a restaurant on Danville's Vermilion Street Park Mall.
At 62, Sandy said he intends to work three more years at The Nook before retiring completely. He has worked there for more than 30 years.
Sandy's retirement ends an era of the newspaper business in Danville because he is the last of the old-time "news hawkers" - the street corner carriers who made famous the cry of, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it."
Because The Commercial-News and most other newspapers no longer publish extras, "news hawkers" have been replaced by carriers who sell their newspapers to regular customers on specified routes.
Sandy's carrying career began in the mid-1950s after he had lived in Lincoln and Chicago.
"I was born April 11, 1913, on the South Side of Chicago where shooting scrapes were pretty common," he said.
"I was going to the theater when they shot John Dillinger. I thought it was just another shooting scrape," said Sandy.
Once in Danville, Sandy quick "Hello, Bill" or "Hello, Sam" soon made him one of downtown Danville's more familiar faces.
His customers - most of whom never knew his real name - included everyone from courthouse politicians to businessmen to the seat-warmers who pass the days on downtown benches.
They called him Sandy and knew him by the numerous slogan buttons he pinned to his clothing and the heavy, but brightly marked, bag of newspapers swinging from around his shoulders.
Sandy's "beat" included the Mall and downtown Main Street and making his rounds often involved slipping and sliding on dangerously wet or snow-packed streets amid a cold winter's wind.
Nevertheless, "I am going to miss my customers," Sandy said, adding that he had 34 regular customers and more non-regular customers who often stopped him to buy an issue.
About all that has changed in his years of lugging the heavy bag, he said, is the price of the paper itself.
"The customers haven't changed much," said Sandy, who lives at 601 W. Harrison.
Traveling is a major hobby, he said, and later this month he is going to leave Danville's cold streets behind for awhile and tour Hawaii.
His travels, in addition to Hawaii, have included various jaunts within the continental United States and trips to such exotic places as the Caribbean.
What does he have to say to his old friends and customers?
"Stop and see me at The Nook.
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My family lines are (note: the * are in my family tree {I still have many to mark.}) Jones, Pugh, Knowles, Prothero, Painter, Owens, Nash, Albright, Watkins, Hall, Edgerton, Willoughby, Draper, Charinsky, Aikin, Moore, Meers, Morgan, DalValley (DalVallee), Monson, Klaman, Breeden, Dora, Russell, Williamson, Arnold, Chism, Siddell, Weindenburner, Gill, Ames, Wallis, Chantos, Keller, Davis, Wilcox, Cox, Pate, Gruber, Palmer, Sullivan, Douthit, West, Butler, Reese, Balsley, Smallcomb and the list goes on.
Some folks, on this blog, are friends or friends' parents. Others are individuals that are on the same page as one of my family.
I am willing to do research for others, however I do charge for extensive research and for the cost of research items. To check in some of our local cemetery records they do charge. Birth and Death records also cost. Before I do that search I will require a deposit in my paypal account. Please ask ahead if I will be charged to help you. Also all of the articles I have, I have paid to make copies of .
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Blank lines means the individual is still living at the time that I post the article. I try not to publish any names of living individuals. This is not always possible, as some folks may still be alive and I don't know them. Sorry if I have posted a name of someone you know for sure is still living. Contact me and I will make their name a blank line.
I have the complete obit if you are related and need more information. Please state how you are related in your email.
Have Genealogy you would like to share?
Contact me at genealogist53@gmail.com
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