Superman Celebration...

By Lonnie Cruse

First, my apologies for being late to post this morning. I've got a new satellite dish, and it's been storming most of the morning, keeping me offline and sans television. Not good. And I can't seem to format this properly this morning. The paragraphs keep snuggling together, sigh, no matter how many spaces I put in. Hope you can read this!

Left picture: Fifteen foot tall statue of Superman at the Metropolis, IL courthouse. Flowers were put there a while back in tribute to actor Christopher Reeve, as was the black material draped on the railing. Oh, and the railing is there to keep us locals from mowing down the tourists who used to stand in the middle of the street to take pictures. Works for me.

Center picture: Actor John Schneider (Smallville and Dukes of Hazzard) appearing at the annual Superman Celebration, one of the nicest celebs we've ever had. You can just barely see the lovely Margot Kidder next to the guy's orange shirt. Actor Scott Cranford is in the back of the shot, he always comes as Superman. Big hit with the kids. Scott and his wife were married at the statue.

Bottom picture: Me (when I was still pretending my hair wasn't grey) with the lovely Noel Neill. The indoor pictures were taken in the Metro Chamber of Commerce, one of the most unusual C of C's anywhere! All photos by Lonnie Cruse.

Today and tomorrow the annual Superman Celebration takes place in downtown Metropolis, Illinois. (In case you haven't heard me say this, we're the only Metropolis in the U. S. Zip Code book.) I'll be at the celebration most of Saturday, hopefully in my usual spot, in front of Humma's, selling my books. And I'll be at the main tent from 6-8 PM on Saturday night, selling bricks (yes, I said bricks) to raise money for the Noel Neill/Lois Lane statue, soon to be unveiled. The bricks will have buyers names on them.

Noel is a real sweetheart. Now over eighty-five years old, she shows up every year for the celebration, signing autographs, chatting with the crowd, bringing DVD's of the old Superman television show she appeared in back in the 50's for tourists who wander into the Metro Chamber of Commerce to watch. She's a real treasure, and the tourists and locals alike love her. I'm a big fan.

The Superman Celebration brings visitors from all over the world. And vendors selling everything imaginable. I always enjoy checking out the vendor tents. And while the new Superman movies and comics are popular, the vintage stuff is the biggest crowd pleaser. Unfortunately today, the weather is not cooperating, and it makes it tricky to keep the tents in place.

For a couple of years we've battled thunderstorms, not a good thing for standing under a metal awning, selling books. Eeek. So I won't be able to set up until tomorrow.

So, what does this have to do with mystery? Not a lot, except it's a mystery how a small town can hold so many people once a year, and don't forget my mysteries are set there. Metropolis is a town full of charm, fun to visit, and lots to see. We have kryptonite, a Planet newspaper, and, of course, THE statue. I love living here, and the town is a perfect setting for a mystery series!

Ya'll come see us!