oddly enough

oddly enough

Giant ketchup bottle draws tourists in Illinois

COLLINSVILLE, Ill.

For tourist Bruce Pasarow of Buena Park, Calif., leaving Illinois before seeing what’s billed as the “World’s Largest Bottle of Catsup” was not an option.

The Collinsville water tower is a depiction of Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup, which once was produced in the buildings beneath the tower.

Now, the sign is for sale. Owner Larry Eckert is asking $500,000 for the 65-year-old, 170-foot-tall landmark and adjacent warehouse.

The 100,000-gallon tower never held ketchup. It hasn’t been used since Brooks moved out in the 1960s.

Judy Demoisy helped save the bottle when it was in danger of being torn down in 1993. She says preservationists believe using it in a ketchup museum would be great.

“It’s a global condiment,” she says.

Pennsylvania town gets wet yet again on Rain Day

WAYNESBURG, Pa.

It’s just a sprinkle, but it counts enough for people in a southwestern Pennsylvania town to celebrate Rain Day.

The Washington Observer-Reporter says the brief precipitation in Waynesburg makes for the 114th time in 141 years that rain has fallen in the town July 29.

The town’s street festival includes the crowning of a Miss Rain Day.

The newspaper says the rain was reported by the mayor and a Rain Day committee member, on whose notebook a few drops fell.

Every year, a celebrity wagers a hat that it won’t rain in Waynesburg on July 29. This year’s loser is actress Patricia Heaton.

Associated Press