5 questions: A man of many colors

A man of many talents and a master of some, Tim Beeney crossed my path decades ago when he worked at Butch Duffy’s storied blues club in Peoria Heights, where the 20-something was thinking of dabbling in the saxophone.

I wrote a short piece about his enthusiasm, if not his skill, and a daily newspaper editor titled it “Sax Maniac.”

Now 62, Beeney still has many impulses and ideas, if not investor capital – a sort of impresario without portfolio.

“I’m not independently wealthy,” he says, smiling. “I’m independently poor.”

Raised in the northern edge of the West Bluff, Beeney attended Loucks School, Central, ICC, the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and ISU, and the “college of hard knocks.”

“I’ve traveled around – I did my ‘retirement travel’ when I was young – but Peoria’s always home,” he says.

Is fondness for Peoria has driven him to ask why such-and-such doesn’t happen, and then trying to do something. For instance, a few years ago he thought it would be nice to have a small concert on the Bob Michel Bridge, so he organized several local musicians to entertain on and around it for 12 hours one day – without objection from traffic or police.

Lately, he voiced concerns that old theaters such as downtown’s Apollo aren’t in use, and when he was told that there’s interest in purchasing the Apollo (plus developing the Madison and a new owner at the century-old Palace Theater in Elmwood, he said, “That’s good!”

A long-time bicyclist who used to bike 13 miles to work, Beeney years ago ran Bicycle Bus on West Main Street, and muses about helping start a similar venture also featuring pottery and coffee along Camp Street in East Peoria, and even another “bridge show,” this time on the McCluggage Bridge “when bike lane’s complete and the time’s right.”

Beeney’s a wheeler-dealer professionally, too, but he’s down-to-Earth, having been a truck driver for 26 years, for the last eight years for FedEx. Personally, he’s busy with bees and gardening, and looks to get back to rock-climbing at First Ascent Peoria, where he wonders whether he could once more complete dozens of “routes” there over a few days, as he did a while back.

“It was rough, but I’m glad I did it, and I’d like to do it again,” he says.

Beeney made time to chat at his East Bluff home.

 

What’s your favorite song – some go-to tune?

“The Wheel” by Jerry Garcia – “The wheel is turning and you can't slow down. You can't let go and you can't hold on. You can't go back and you can't stand still; if the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.”

 

In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy re-directed $1.73 billion in federal grants away from transportation projects and ridiculed what he called “DEI bike lanes.” How does government connecting bikes to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strike you?

It’s ridiculous – and I’m not a huge proponent of bike lanes themselves. Roads should be shared. And anything that gets us off our asses and burns calories instead of burning oil is good. A better solution is better education [about bikes]. Bikes are a legitimate mode of transportation.

 

In your job, you travel a lot. Any favorite towns?

I’ve come to enjoy the Macomb-to-Champaign route that passes through Havana. I really like Havana.

 

Salsa or guacamole?

Guacamole, definitely.

 

Is there anything you used to care about that you really don’t any longer?

Probably a lot of stuff. I guess “bicycle advocacy” reached its limit as an interest. It’s still important and I’m not done riding and glad I helped started Bike Peoria, but it’s others’ turn now.