Beatles memorabilia was abundant on Saturday, as Benton welcomed the Pete Best Band: Best of the Beatles, Peter Conrad, Rex Van Zandt and area musicians.
Jim Kirkpatrick, president of the Benton George Harrison Beatle Festival committee, welcomed the crowd from the steps of Hard Day’s Nite Bed and Breakfast.
“Members of the committee worked very hard and want to keep the memory of George Harrison alive,” he said. “This is the second year we have welcomed Peter Conrad, who hails from Columbus, Ohio.”
Conrad, who performs an acoustic tribute to George Harrison with his “Harrisongs & More ... Handled With Care,” entertained with a song he had written commemorating Harrison’s visit to Benton in 1963, titled “113 McCann,” which references the address of the now B&B.
Across the street, Connie and Dorothy Schultz continued to pack their belongings for their move to Chicago. Together with Daryl and Jim Chady, the four purchased the home once owned by Louise Harrison.
“Gordon and Louise Harrison arrived in Benton about the same time we did, in 1962,” Jim Chady said. “I was an engineer with Old Ben Coal Company and Gordon was an engineer with Freeman United. We lived near one another and our kids grew up together.
“We knew that George Harrison was coming to visit his sister in the fall of 1963,” he said. “A friend of ours, Gabe McCarty, was a member of the Four Vests. Gabe was booked to play at the V.F.W. in Eldorado and invited us to go to hear them perform. A member of the band had met George Harrison in England and invited him to perform while one of the musicians took a bathroom break. We did not know any of the songs he performed because the Beatles were not known in the United States.”
Dorothy Schultz credits Bob Bartel with saving the Harrison house from the wrecking ball.
“When Bob learned that the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals wanted to tear down the first three houses on McCann Street to use as a parking lot, we got behind the project to help Louise save the house where George Harrison had stayed,” she said. “We had the first house on the block and traded it for the Harrison house because it had more floor space.”
The four purchased the property in 1995 and converted it into Hard Day’s Nite Bed and Breakfast.
“We played host and hostess to Beatles fans from all over the world,” Chady said. “When our health started failing, we first put it on eBay but the offers we received were far too low. We sold the bed and breakfast two years ago through Dave McCollum to Sarah Morrison.”
