How we did it: a behind-the-scenes look at making The Peorian's first cover

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Written by The Peorian

The photograph that was composed for the first cover of the The Peorian is steeped in Peoria's past, present and future.

One hundred years ago, The Peorian featured a similar scene of a rowboat secured to the shore of the Illinois River. Originally, we sought to recreate the scene precisely as it was 100 years ago but quickly came to the realization that it was literally nowhere to be found on today's river.

Since our theme is Peoria's past, present and future, we decided to man the boat with local people who represent the past, present and future.

For the past we included, Kylie Rupe (seated at the back of the boat) from the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, which is celebrating its 100th year in 2011. Standing and representing the present are Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis (left) and East Peoria Mayor Dave Mingus (right). Seated in the middle and front of the boat, representing the future, are the new general manager of the Peoria Civic Center, Jim Wetherington (left), and a rising star at the Boys & Girls Club of Peoria, 6-year-old Aquarius Young.

The image was quite a challenge to create in and of itself. The boat along with its occupants was photographed separately and then composited into an image that was taken of the river. Each image was altered and adapted to fit the setting and also to show both the Peoria and East Peoria sides of the river.

The Peorian would like to thank Rex Linder and Don Welch for the use of the rowboat in the photo, Matt Grimm for taking our photographer out on the river to get the river shot and Pat Sullivan for allowing us to use his parking lot at Kelleher's to shoot the rowboat and it's "crew".