Hollywood could not have created a better setting for the ceremony honoring Peoria’s Academy Award winner Tami Lane. City of Peoria and Peoria Public School officials, along with family and friends, gathered Thursday, Sept. 9, near the entrance to Hines Primary School where Tami attended as a young girl. The event marked the honorary naming of Lyndale Road as Tami Lane. It was the street Tami walked many times on the way to Hines from her family’s home.

The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. There was a gentle breeze everyone could feel as workers from the city’s Public Works Department carefully set up the speaker’s lectern under large oak trees providing a welcome area of summer shade.

Under the guidance of Sie Maroon, Deputy Director, chairs were placed six feet apart for those who wanted to sit comfortably, though most preferred to stand.

It was a perfect mid-western September morning to recognize and honor Tami. And honor they did with first, City Councilman Tim Riggenbach and then District 150 Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, who was followed by Hines School Principal Marcia Lough. All spoke eloquently about the accomplishments of Lane and the subsequent meaning it had for Peoria’s young people. Nick Knapp, who grew up with Tami, presented her with a colorful floral arrangement and stirred the emotions of everyone with his personal reflections of her achievements. Roger had the pleasure of serving as emcee and presenting her with small replicas of the street sign, Tami Lane, designed and produced by the Public Works Department.

When it came time for Tami to respond to the words of praise and acclamation, it came as no surprise that she was humble and most appreciative for the recognition and honor. She thanked everyone for their support and then answered questions from a group of Hines students who came outside to meet her.

For those who don’t know, Tami Lane graduated from Hines, Woodruff High School and Bradley University. After college, she and three of her friends hitched a U-Haul trailer to her car and moved to Los Angeles. Tami’s goal was to become a professional makeup artist in the movie and TV industry. It wasn’t easy and didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. She was hired by Howard Berger of KNG-EFX Group, Inc. to sweep floors, stock shelves and clean molds and eventually was promoted and trained to become a prosthetic makeup artist.

In 2006, she and Berger were nominated and won an Academy Award for Best Makeup of the year for their work in “The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy.” In 2013, Tami and two other makeup artists were nominated for another Academy Award for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

No Peorian has ever won an Academy Award or even been nominated once, let alone twice. The honorary naming of Lyndale Road as Tami Lane was well-earned and well-deserved!

It must be radio survey time

You can always tell when Nielsen comes to town to conduct radio surveys. That’s when radio stations start offering cash and prizes for a period of several weeks in the hopes of winning the race for having the largest audience during the survey. Good ratings translate into convincing advertisers their station(s) can reach the most people.

There are at least 23 local radio stations, FM and AM, vying for listeners. The fact is, no radio station has all of the listeners all of the time nor does any one station have all of the listeners part of the time. Each station has an audience, and further, the radio audience is smaller today than ever before thanks to cell phones and other electronic devices, CD players and satellite broadcasts. The largest cause of a decrease in radio audiences is television. Years ago, the first thing many people did was turn on the radio. Not true today. It’s now the ”boob tube.”

TV stations have the surveys to prove it. Here’s one provided by a local television station: 39.8% of the population learn about trying or buying products or services from TV, but only 2.9% are influenced by radio. 8.7% are influenced by what they see and hear on the Internet. And newspapers account for about 8%. Despite a smaller audience, radio rates have increased, in some cases, higher than TV, depending on time. I don’t want to rain on the radio parade since I’ve been in the business on both sides for over 60 years, but here’s another fact. More adults, age 18 plus, spend more time with television than any other media. On average they watch TV 5.2 hours a day compared to 1.4 hours of radio listening. Internet viewing is higher at 3.0 hours daily.

Congratulations

Speaking of radio, congratulations to WCBU-FM. The station, owned and licensed by Bradley University, won first place for best station for overall excellence by the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. The station was the first place winner also for the best digital presence covering its website, social media and podcasts. WCBU-FM is now managed by another public radio station, WGLT-FM, on the campus of Illinois State University.

More deserved honors for developer Kim Blickenstaff. He’s the man of the year for Easter Seals 31st annual dinner set for Friday, Nov. 5, at the newly renovated and remodeled Scottish Rite Theater. We’re told the attendees will be entertained by the Beach Boys. Don’t miss it.

Quote of the month

“The value of consistent prayer is not that he will hear us, but that we will hear him.” – William McGill