July 2014
What an enjoyable day we had today ..Stephanie, Jeremy, Sean and , Bob and I welcomed Andrea, Mark , Jordynn, Nathan and Ben this afternoon...they have come from Ohio to Illinois to visit family and so pleased they included us on their wa...y back tonight. We took a tour of the Reagan birthplace Tampico, Illinois... what a marvelous job in keeping the five kiddies all entertained and "many" questions answered....they were fascinated by the safe in the old Bank room. Thanks Mrs Summers ...you sure are fantastic with kids...and this visit to Pres. Reagans birthplace, is an experience they will always remember! We also visited the "Old Jail" and told them how Grandpa ( Jerry Roth, previously of Tampico) , came to stay there one night. I am sure the kids will have some questions for you grandpa Jerry when they get back home...(.I may have embellished the story a bit.. ! We will see what Grandpa Jerry has to say...)
THIS IS MY COMPLETE CRIMINAL RECORD: I don't remember the date but it happened somewhere in this 1955 time period. I was 15 and didn't have a drivers license but I was frequently allowed to drive around and into Tampico. One night Jim Price and I were
out cruising and drinking beer. On our way home I was speeding through Tampico and yelling come and get us Batten. We got about a mile out of town and pulled under the Hennepin Canal bridge to empty our bladders. We finished our business, turned around and pulled out and Oliver Batten the Tampico police chief was waiting for us at the entrance to road. We were blocked in. He had us follow him back to the town jail. A little brick building about the size of an out house. He told us to stay there until he returned. We waited for what seemed like an eternity until he returned with our local justice of the peace who also ran the drug store in Tampico. They told us to go home and tell our parents what happened and that they should call them to make arrangements for my trial. I got home and didn't get any sleep that night, laying there worrying about telling Dad in the morning. At 6 AM he knocked on my door to signal me to get up and do chores. I handled the chickens, hogs, and calves and he did the milking. I finished my chores in record time and went in the barn to tell Dad about my arrest. I expected him to explode by he was very calm and asked me if I was guilty. Hard as it was I admitted my guilt. They charged me with reckless driving but they could have added speeding, driving without a drivers license and drunk driving but didn't. About a week later we met for the trial at the magistrates court in the drug store. I pled guilty. I was assessed a fine that just happened to be equal to all the money I had in the bank from baling hay that summer. I didn't realize it at that time but later realized that the time Jim and I spent in jail was while the authorities were at my folks orchestrating what they were going to do. Justice was done to a smart aleck kid (me) without ruining my future. About a year later Jim Price was driving and speeding in Rock Falls, IL when the police tried to pull him over and he decided to outrun them. It was a lot of speeding, running of stop signs, and driving without headlights. Jim finally thought we had outrun them and we stopped in an ally, relieved our bladders, got zipped up when two patrol cars boxed us in. Fortunately I was driving and Jim backed my story of asking him to stop so I didn't receive any punishment. Jim had a drivers license and received some heavy fines and had to spend several weekends in the Rock Falls jail.
Jerold Roth It is too bad that you didn't take a picture of them standing by the old jail.
Andrea Roth Riley Here are the kids saying, "Shame on grandpa!"
It goes to show you Jerry, "What happens in Tampico does not always stay in Tampico!"
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