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Pinball supershow starts today in Herrin

By Codell Rodriguez, The Southern

Friday, September 21, 2007 1:22 AM CDT

HERRIN - When Ken Hall of Vienna was 11 years old in 1971, he played the pinball game Aquarius fervently. The Baptist youth minister later bought the machine and is now sharing it with everyone at the Heartland Pinball and Arcade Supershow at the Herrin Civic Center.

Hall is one of four show organizers who've lined up as many as 85 pinball machines, including Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and Spiderman. There will also be 10 classic arcade games, including Donkey Kong Jr., Ms. Pac-man and Asteroids.

Rob Craig is chairman of the Southern Illinois Pinball Players Association. He said that he and the other organizers came up with the idea after forming the group. They had pinball tournaments at members' homes and found that they were far too exclusive, so they started the Supershow.

"We have four collectors that are very into our hobby and this is just an avenue to share it with everybody," Craig said.

Beside playing all the games they want on a per day or per weekend basis, there's also a two-day tournament and a silent auction featuring a pinball machine from the Herrin Fire Department. After covering show costs, all proceeds from the event will go to Shawnee Crisis Pregnancy Center and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

More than half of the machines at show are provided by the collectors, Craig said. Hall alone is bringing 21. Craig said the collectors are making a selfless act because they "let the public pound on the machines for hours" before taking them back for repair.

Craig said that in addition to having a family-friendly environment, what everyone will find at the show is nostalgia.

"(The participants) want to go back to a time when life was easier," Craig said. "We want to relive that sort of youth and we want to share that with them."

codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com

351-5804