- Look at me, I'm like Bob Ross.

- Well I was trying for 1980's Bon Jovi, but I fear I look more like 1970's Barbara Streisand.

- Well let's try not to look like Bob Ross and try more to paint like Bob Ross.

- We're gonna paint and we're gonna rock.

- You gotta see this.

- And hear this.

(vibrant music) (vibrant music continues) Maybe we should wear more wigs.

- (chuckles) Well, that wig was certainly distinctive and all about Bob Ross.

- And speaking of Bob Ross, we're gonna take a painting class that can show you, yes you, how to paint exactly like Mr. Ross.

- [Julie] Well, especially if you have zero talent like the two of us.

- First though, let's go spin some records.

- Records, how old are you?

- Pretty old, but the thing is, vinyl is back even with teenagers.

- Let's go to a local Peoria record shop and check it out.

(lighthearted music) - [Narrator] If you were a pop music fan in 1987, chances are you might have been walking.

♪ Walk like an Egyptian ♪ - [Narrator] Dancing.

♪ Oh, I wanna dance with somebody ♪ - [Narrator] And even praying.

♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Livin' on a prayer ♪ - [Narrator] And chances are, if you bought any of these hits, you got them on vinyl, maybe even the entire album.

After 1987, not as much.

Fans started buying compact disks, or what the cool kids were calling CDs.

1987 was the last time vinyl albums outsold CDs.

(record scratches) Until now, the Recording Industry Association of America, which tracks sales of new recordings issued its yearly report recently.

It found that in 2022, for the first time in 35 years, vinyl outsold CDs.

- Vinyl has created a whole new world of collecting among young people.

- [Narrator] Moore has run a record shop since 1984.

A few years later, album sales started to wane overshadowed by CDs, but in recent times, Moore has seen a resurgence of album buying at his record shop.

- But in here, you know, the people come in, and you know, and they're, it's a touchy feeling, again.

You know, they want something substantial.

- [Narrator] Overall, streaming is still king, making up 84% of US sales of recorded music.

But last year as CD sales hit 33 million, vinyl albums blew by, with 41 million.

Of the new titles, many are reissues of old favorites, such as Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

That double album goes for $50, about five times its original cost when released in 1979.

As for single albums, they run about 25 bucks to 30 bucks, whereas older listeners tend toward reissues.

Teens are drawn to vinyl albums by contemporary artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Kendrick Lamar.

But the biggest selling vinyl album last year was "Midnights" by Taylor Swift, which sold just under a million copies.

How does that compare to vinyl's heyday?

Let's look back to 1981.

The year before CD started to trickle out commercially.

Across all formats, the top selling album was by the central Illinois favorite, REO Speed Wagon.

♪ I just wanna keep on loving you ♪ - [Narrator] "Hi infidelity" sold 6 million copies in the US besting "Midnights" by more than six times over.

Often those young music fans will come into Younger Than Yesterday for a Taylor Swift album, then get wide-eyed at all the vinyl, 25,000 copies, new and vintage.

And the newcomers chat with Moore to learn about vinyl albums.

- This is maybe one of the things I really love the most.

- [Narrator] They're discovering that vinyl has a warmer, fuller sound than downloads.

(rock music) And there's certainly more art involved on the cover and on the sleeves, enhancing the connection between the listener and the performer.

- You've basically, you've opened a piece of the artist's life with a record, with whatever creative input they have forced into this package.

- More and more young people are coming in to look through the albums and buying whatever appeals to them just from the look on the cover.

- "It just looks good to me."

Well, that's precious, and priceless, because I did that myself when I was 14, 15 years old.

- [Narrator] Moore thinks young people are starting to seek the kind of listening experience he enjoyed in his youth.

- "Aqualung" comes out, Jethro Tull, 1971.

And you know, I'd go down and buy the album, friends of mine would come over and we'd sit down and we'd listen to side 1 and then think, wow, you know, that's amazing, you know, and discuss it, and then maybe do something else in between.

And then turn the record over and listen to side 2, and then discuss it and talk about it.

It was a thing, you know, it was an entire experience to listen to a new album.

- [Narrator] Will the album resurgence continue?

Maybe.

Moore recalls 1994, during the CD explosion, he and other record store owners saw only doom and gloom.

- At the end of five years, nobody was ready to give it up.

And here it is, 30 years later.

♪ Hey la, hey there lover ♪ ♪ Hey la, hey there lover ♪ ♪ Hey la, hey there lover ♪ ♪ Hey la, hey there lover ♪ - As people continually say, I can't draw a straight line.

I don't have the talent, Bob, to do what you're doing.

That's baloney.

- [Julie] Well, Bob Ross never met Phil and I, two people who love to chinwag, but have zero talent in art.

- Anything that you're willing to practice you can do.

- [Julie] So we headed to Art at the Bodega in Washington to get some practice in with a Bob Ross certified instructor.

Our instructor, Kaitlyn Mugg, has learned to paint, teach, and promote the spirit of TV's number one art show, "The Joy of Painting."

(lighthearted music) Which you can see here on WTVP.

She holds Bob Ross painting classes for groups of people where she teaches them techniques of our favorite bushy haired painter that are uniquely his own.

- I think it's his like demeanor and like the way that he presented himself when he did his series.

A lot of people say that it's like calming to watch him and people would fall asleep watching Bob Ross.

I've heard that a lot and he just makes it look easy.

- [Bob] Don't worry about it.

Painting should make you happy.

- Just try it, give it a go and you'll probably be surprised at what you can do.

- All right, so we're finally here.

Blank canvas.

You ready?

- Kind of.

I haven't had an art class in 40 plus years when I was in 8th grade, and I know at that time they didn't trust us with any oil paints.

- No.

- I mean, use latex paints on the exterior of the house, just wash off.

But I've got a dress shirt on and I should have a full hazmat suit on is what I should have on.

(relaxing music) - You guys ready?

All right.

- So nervous.

- Try and do really soft back and forth strokes.

- I, yeah, I have a storm.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- All right.

- All right.

Just happy little accidents.

- His technique is, I mean, you have to listen, and it's more about the way that you load like your brushes and load your pallet knife and stuff more than it is the painting on a canvas.

- [Julie] Oh my god, it's happening.

- [Narrator] It's like an ocean appearing right before us.

- I'm winning so far.

- On this canvas, you're the creator.

Anything that you want, you can build here.

This is your world.

Your dreams come real here.

- [Julie] But some of us struggle to make our dreams a reality on the canvas.

- And the way that you load this pallet knife is really important.

- How'd you do that?

- Okay, so I- - Because I like spaghetti, I'm Italian.

(laughs) - [Kaitlyn] We're gonna take it this way.

- Oh spaghetti noodle.

- Mr Noodle!

- Spaghetti noodle.

♪ Doing a terrible job, yeah ♪ - And let's take the rest of our dark that we have here.

- I still don't know how to make the noodle.

I'm trying so hard to noodle it.

Did you know that Bob had a pet squirrel?

- What?

Like on a chain or something, like on a leash?

- I don't think he was on a leash, but his name was Peapod.

- I've seen the show, but I've never seen the squirrel.

- No.

- Might have missed a very special episode.

- It wasn't the Bob Ross and Peapod show.

- I'd watch that a lot more.

- There, isn't she something?

- I learned the spaghetti, but I didn't do it that way.

I swear I am an intelligent person, I swear.

- [Narrator] So many people say that.

- Oh my God, you're about to wear this.

- We don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents.

- Phil, you're really doing a good job there.

- I know, it's amazing how I could, look, no hands.

(Julie laughs) - That's talent.

- [Julie] The class is normally a three hour tutorial of Bob Ross's techniques and wisdom, but we did a very speedy version in just 30 minutes.

(lighthearted music) - I actually did find it kind of soothing, you know, the process of it after I got over the, I'm freaking out, I don't know what I'm doing, it wasn't bad.

- And actually I, this is gonna sound kind of goofy, but I did find it calming.

I really didn't care what it looked like.

It's just kind of just doing it.

It was like, ah, I don't have to worry about this at all.

- Well, maybe we should stick to our day jobs.

- I mean, if you stand back like far back, like- - Like a mile and a half?

- I think it's perfect then.

- It would look great.

- Until then from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting and God bless my friend.

(lighthearted music) - Mark Welp is gonna tell us about how to live in a cave.

- Mm, me Mark, me caveman.

- And he definitely doesn't grunt like that.

- Speaking of grunting, we're gonna hang out with the Peoria Piggies Rugby Club, it's their 50th anniversary.

- Let's get down and dirty with that rugby team.

- [Narrator] Rugby is more than a game, especially for the Peoria Piggies.

For them, it's not just about the sport, but off-field camaraderie.

The close-knit group ranges from new players in their late teens to long retired members in their 70s.

- Building those relationships and continuing them off the field and spanning generations of just the new guys that come out here.

Maybe it's their first time playing and they can relate with the guys that started the club back in 1973.

- [Narrator] That kind of kinship is why the club this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Charlie Perod has been with the club as a player, then coach, for 45 of those years.

- I mean, you don't see too many organizations that last 25 years, let alone 50.

- [Narrator] In 1973, the club started modestly with a rag tag group gathered at the Bradley University quad, playing amid trees.

Four years later, after a rain soaked tournament, an onlooker remark that the team looked like muddy pigs.

Thus the nickname Piggies.

Those early years, the team worked on learning the rules and nuances of the game.

It's essentially football without pads, blocking, or forward passing.

But though the sport is physical, it rarely gets as brutal as American football.

Properly played, rugby focuses on foreman technique, not hard hits.

- You're actually a lot lesser injuries and potential injuries because there's no blocking in the lower body.

Also, when you tackle, you must fully wrap.

You can't go in with your arm back, no spearing with your head.

- [Narrator] Two sides of 15 play games of 80 minutes, most of them nonstop.

Rugby combines the most challenging aspects of multiple sports.

- You have the conditioning and running of soccer, you have the impact of say, boxing, you have the jump ball say in basketball.

- [Narrator] The sport isn't for everyone, but the game's controlled chaos and repeated impact carry a unique appeal.

- [Charlie] Body's crashing together.

It isn't the the violence of somebody being attacked or whatever, but it is tackle and it's very physical.

- [Narrator] Yet amid the on field roughhousing, players respect each other.

- Let's go boy.

- And the sport.

- A ruffian sport played by gentlemen.

- And when the whistle (whistle blows) ends a game, both sides become buddies.

- Put it all out there.

You go through and you shake hands.

There's real respect for the opponent and the referee.

You shake your hands go off, and then you go down and have the third half we say, the social.

- [Narrator] Ah, the social, which the Piggies hold at Jimmy's bar in West Peoria.

The social is the glue that keeps clubs, current players as well as old boys, together.

- Well, the social side is another part of it that I really love and that's one thing that keeps me coming back is because like you say, we battle on the field, but then afterwards, traditionally the home team provides food and beverages for their opposites.

And you get to sit down with them and eat.

And like I say, tell stories, sing songs, and do silly things.

- [Narrator] The social makes rugby distinct from other pastimes.

- It's not like any other sport.

Softball you go and you play, you shake hands at the end, but then, and they might go and have a beer with your teammates, but you wouldn't go with the other team and that sort of thing, so that's what I think differentiates it, and it's that way, whether you're in the United States or whether you're in Europe, or whether you're in New Zealand.

- [Narrator] The universal social aspect makes rugby a connection point for players who move from city to city, even country to country.

So does the shared experience of battling through such a tough sport.

For rugby players in a new town, find a fellow rugger and you found a new friend.

- Once you get into rugby, if you really get into it, and really love the game, I mean it's almost for life.

- [Narrator] The kinship extends off the field.

The Piggies have assisted in multiple philanthropies such as diaper drives and highway cleanups.

This year the club won 1st place for its float in the St. Patrick's Day parade.

The club's separate foundation has helped foster rugby among area high schools.

The team grooms and maintains a field or pitch on the grounds at Catholic Charities in West Peoria.

The site hosts not only the Piggies but the Peoria Bootleggers women's rugby team, which old boy Piggies, like Charlie Perod help coach.

For all those reasons, a gala celebration this year will bring together Piggies young and old.

- Peoria rugby's been around for 50 years now and we hope it'll be around for 50 more to come and it's all rooted in, you know, values that those guys started back in 1973 when the club was founded, so we just wanna carry that on.

(upbeat music) (whistle blows) - [Mark] The 1970s energy crisis saw gas and heating oil prices double and even triple in the US if you could even find the products.

In 1976, a man named Andy Davis in Tiny Armington, Illinois, came up with a solution to part of the problem and unknowingly started a new industry, which his son Marty Davis continues today.

- He kind of got the idea if he could build something that used the temperature of the earth, but make it comfortable, that it would save on heating and cooling, 'cause he was paying $400 a month, which would be like a thousand dollars a month now to heat and cool this rendered house.

- [Mark] So Andy Davis built a new $15,000 home covered in soil, it went viral before viral was a thing.

National magazines and TV crews descended on Tazewell County.

And after so much attention and interest, eventually the family started building earth sheltered homes or what others called cave homes.

- And the big thing on that first winter and what the headline was, was, you know, Illinois man heats his home for a $1.29, which is the gas and oil for dad's chainsaw to cut wood.

He had a Ben Franklin stove and it, he didn't have air conditioning, it stayed cool in the summer too.

- Not only has Marty Davis built more than 300 homes around the country and as far away as Denmark, he raised his family in this 2,000 square foot cave home.

Getting on your roof can be a dangerous job.

No, this isn't a commercial for gutter protection.

This house doesn't even have gutters.

That's because it's an earth sheltered home.

The term cave home may imply darkness, but light is not an issue, if you have the right design.

Here at Marty Davis's house in Logan County, which doubles as a model home, you can walk up a hill to the grass covered roof and see the secret for naturally lighting the home.

Tubular skylights.

Inside it's hard to tell only sunlight is illuminating the rec room.

Like many cave homeowners, Davis doesn't need AC or a furnace and has a wood burning stove if he needs more heat.

In Northern Peoria County retirees, Roger and Pat Wehage spent years researching cave homes and working with Davis caves before finishing their house in 2011, they wanted an efficient home and took it to the next level using large windows, solar energy, wood heating, and a heat pump.

- We could leave this house for a full winter, provide no heat, and the temperature would not drop below about 60 degrees all winter, even if it got down to below 0.

- [Mark] Building a cave home will typically cost more upfront because of all the concrete used, but the eventual financial savings is impressive.

The Wehage's electric bill is normally about $10 a month, which pays for the meter.

The propane for their kitchen stove and clothes dryer costs less than $100 a year.

And solar provides more electricity than they need.

Many cave owners keep landscaping changes to a minimum so that green space isn't lost and wildlife isn't disturbed.

- Well we did have to do that to some degree for erosion control but we tried to build a house so that it fit into the environment.

- [Mark] Other benefits include fire resistance, because the structure is mostly concrete and metal studs, protection from tornadoes, lightning and hail, a longer lasting concrete structure, and less maintenance.

Plus, what kid wouldn't want to tell their friends, they live in a cave?

- Definitely made for a very nice childhood, that's for sure.

- [Mark] Your dad ever tell you to go mow the roof?

- Surprisingly not, but maybe now that I'm older, that things might change.

(laughs) - We also wanna honor a Peoria war hero who recently passed away pretty much unnoticed.

- You may not know his name, but we think it's time you finally do.

- [Narrator] In Peoria, a quiet hero, died a quiet death.

Carl H. Porter Jr. was the oldest veteran of the Army's 508th parachute infantry regiment.

He survived not only a D-Day jump, but captured by Nazis.

Yet aside from family and friends, not many people knew his name.

Maybe more should.

A native of Manito, Porter was working at a Peoria grain elevator when World War II broke out.

He enlisted in the army and trained as a paratrooper.

In June 1944, he and the rest of the 508th got ready for Operation Overlord.

Allies would push from the United Kingdom into Normandy, France to launch a major offensive.

At 2:15 AM on June 6th, 1944, bright moonlight filled the sky.

Parachuters peered out low-flying transport planes looking for Normandy.

Above the beaches, they jumped out, hoping to win the war and save the world.

Porter watched German tracer bullets crisscross the sky, multiple rounds seared through his chute.

He landed in a tree, he grabbed his rifle, he wasn't alone.

- And when I got out, cradling my rifle, I looked up, and there were three Germans there with their guns pointed at my tummy.

So I just dropped the gun.

I responded to a (speaking in German) which was hands up.

- [Narrator] He and 12 other paratroopers were herded into a French stone farmhouse that Germans had commandeered as a makeshift base.

Outside, the Americans heard the rising roar of rifle and mortar blast from friendly fire.

The fourth infantry division, which had quickly seized control of Utah beach, had arrived at the farmhouse and engaged in a firefight.

The Germans were keen on protecting the property.

- We were in the room, we couldn't really do anything.

But at one point a German came in.

He was furious about something.

I don't know if he'd lost a friend or what.

But he came in and started threatening us with his rifle, the end of his rifle.

And he, for some reason, chose me.

And while I was trying to back out of the way.

He asked me if I was English.

He said, "Englisch?"

And I said, my mother was German, so I knew a little German.

And I said, "Nein, nein."

And he said, "Ruskie?"

And I said, "Nein."

And I had the American patch on my right shoulder, on my jump jacket, and I turned and I said, "American", he said, "Amerikanisch!

Amerikanisch!"

And he grabbed me and gave me a big bear hug, set his rifle down by the wall, and two other fellas were in there.

There were about 13 of us in there as prisoners.

- [Narrator] Another paratrooper grabbed the German's rifle, darted into an adjoining room and promptly forced six enemy soldiers to give up their weapons.

Porter grabbed one of the discarded rifles and joined his countrymen in going room to room to order more Germans to surrender.

Outside, though the Germans had surrendered, US infantry kept firing at the farmhouse thinking only enemy soldiers were inside.

A US paratrooper found a bullet riddled German bugle on the ground, and blared a common tune all US military recognized.

Chow call, played before every meal.

At that the 4th division realized their fellow soldiers were inside the farmhouse and stopped firing.

Porter served in the army throughout the end of the war, returning home to prepare to marry the love of his life.

Bradley University grad Marly Moeller, realizing his high regard for his time in the army, she fashioned her wedding dress from a parachute he'd brought home.

They married on March 16th, 1946.

On their first anniversary, they took a long trip to Alaska on the recommendation of an old army buddy who'd visited and loved the place.

The Porters agreed and stayed for decades.

Porter went into the insurance business and the couple raised two children.

In 2011, they returned to their central Illinois roots, moving into the Buehler Home Senior Living Facility in Peoria.

They were married 67 years before Marly died at age 88 in 2013.

At Buehler Home, Carl celebrated his 100th birthday in 2021.

He enjoyed mostly good health before passing away February 18 of this year.

To the end, he was proud of his service to his country.

- I've been proud to be a paratrooper ever since.

(emotional music) (lighthearted music) - Irish eyes are smiling in my house when I make my Guinness mac and cheese.

Let's start with the topping.

It's a mix of butter, garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs.

Let's cook the garlic right in the melted butter and we'll cook that for about 30 seconds.

Then we'll brown the breadcrumbs on medium heat.

The breadcrumbs are nice and brown.

And I've added some parsley in there, I'm giving it a good mix.

We'll set this aside, and now we'll start making our mac and cheese.

I'm cooking a box of elbow macaroni.

I've already put two teaspoons of salt in the water.

You really wanna cook your pasta al dente, that's when it's perfect.

And when I drain the pasta, I'll reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water because I'll add that later to make sure that our sauce is just the right consistency.

Making a sauce can be tricky.

I'm starting by making a roux, I've got my butter melted.

I'm adding a couple of tablespoons of flour.

Keep whisking until that's good and combined.

Now I'll slowly add the Guinness, the half and half in milk, a little salt and pepper, and about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

This gives it a little tang.

Keep whisking until the sauce begins to thicken.

This sauce gets richer by the minute, once we start adding our cheeses.

I've cut the cream cheese into small pieces.

I've already grated an Irish cheddar cheese.

We're going to add about 2/3 of that right in the pot.

Keep stirring.

A good tip is to stir in one direction until all the cheeses are melted, because we don't wanna get any lumps in our sauce.

Next, we'll add our pasta.

And the remaining grated cheddar cheese.

Oh, this is looking yummy.

Keep stirring until all the cheese is melted and the pasta's reheated.

If the sauce seems too thick, just add back in a little bit of that extra pasta water.

But this sauce to me looks perfect.

When you're ready to serve, just transfer the mac and cheese into a serving bowl or your favorite casserole dish.

Don't forget to top it off with these toasted garlic breadcrumbs.

Cheers to Guinness mac and cheese.

(lighthearted music) - Well how about that show?

We had caves, we had records, we had paintings.

It was like a mural of fun in Peoria.

- I still think we should probably try the wigs on a regular basis, they look so good.

- Well, you know when you can see it?

Next time.

- On, "You Gotta See This".

- Maybe we will.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)