January 2, 200620 yr NORMAL, Ill. - When he's traveling on city business, Mayor Chris Koos carries around a $50 or $100 bill that he'll hand to anyone who comes up with a joke he hasn't heard about his central Illinois town where "Welcome to Normal" signs are about geography, not a state of mind. "I still have the money," says Koos, mayor of this growing college town since 2003. "Sometimes when people make the same joke you've heard a thousand times, it gets old, but you try to play along." Around Normal and in neighboring Bloomington, folks say they've heard all the wisecracks about a city that legend has it once combined with another uniquely named southern Illinois town for a newspaper headline that read "Normal man marries Oblong woman." Linked for your pleasure.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.