February 14, 2006
Professional Golfer Jenny Wiegand visits CCA.

      Sycamore – Students in Mrs.Wright’s physical education class at Cornerstone Christian Academy recently enjoyed a visit from professional golfer Jenny Wiegand.     Students were taught the basics of golf such as putting and hitting the ball, as well as rules of etiquette of the sport.  The Hook a Kid on Golf Foundation generously donated the golf equipment, making it possible for students to learn a challenging game, while grateful to get the assistance from a professional. Wiegand said, “It’s really neat being able to teach the kids a few basic fundamentals of golf.  It’s so much fun to see their faces light up when they connect with the ball, plus it’s a great way to build self-esteem while having fun.  I’m glad to have the opportunity to share my experiences with the kids.” Wiegand, and her husband, Joe, have a daughter who attends second grade at CCA. Wiegand has been a professional golfer for the past six years and participates in mini-tours and state opens.     Her most recent project has been serving on the Junior Golf Committee which is associated with the Solheim Cup, the premiere women’s tournament pitting the pros of Europe against those of the United States. The Junior Golf Committee’s responsibility is to ensure the successful integration of junior activities in the 2009 Solheim Cup.  Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove will be hosting the competition. CCA is a private, non-denominational, Christian school at 355 N. Cross St. and provides classes for preschool through 12^th grade. 
    

October 24, 2004
A House Divided by Humor United

 Disagreeing at election time doesn’t mean people have to be disagreeable  In a house divided by politics, hippie father Jim Wiegand, 63, and Republican son Joe Wiegand, 39, might be expected to fight until they’re both red, white and blue in the face. But they don’t, even when their election opinions clash as colorfully as their two fortlike rooms in an annex behind the younger Wiegand’s family home. The Green Room functions as the DeKalb County “hideout” for the elder Wiegand between his “Jim Wiggins” comedy gigs, including on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” last spring and “The Tonight Show” later this fall. In his Fairdale refuge, surrounding the poster of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, are green furniture, green appliances, green picture frames. “My joke is, that way, nobody can find the pot plant,” said Jim Wiegand, who leans Democratic and describes himself as Libertarian “if I have to have a label.”  The Yellow Room, a sort of demilitarized zone, opens into the Blue Room of Joe Wiegand, who is executive director of the Family Taxpayers Network and a member of the DeKalb County Board. On his walls hang pictures of President Bush and Ronald Reagan, for whom he first campaigned at 15.     “Under his mattress I would find not copies of Playboy,” Jim Wiegand often says. “I would find copies of the National Review.”  Joe Wiegand never outgrew his twist on teenage rebellion.  He and his father, who made news in 1986 leading Lincoln Park countermarches over nuclear weapons, still joust on politics. But the elder can’t exactly give his son a spanking. And the younger can’t exactly adopt a new dad. So they make sure good humor eventually wins. “We will debate the substance, but we will find ourselves both laughing,” said Joe Wiegand, who ran for state representative last spring until he was eliminated in the tight Republican primary.  “Honestly, when you’ve got people like Tom DeLay on my side or Joe Biden on his, there’s a lot of material there.”  Undoubtedly, the material is easier to find when one party is a stand up comedian and the other is a veteran of government.  But private citizens can take cues from both kinds of   professionals to coexist peacefully amid political polarity in their own lives. Clearly, Americans ache for comic relief, as indicated by the 60 million hits on www.jibjab.com, featuring two non-partisan campaign parody videos. But humor as a device within debate registers deep in American history, from political cartoons to “The Daily Show” of Jon Stewart. It’s just that too often these days, private citizens let their comedic conscience be squashed by expletive-strewn anger or stony silence.  Or the only humor the find in politics is from the perspective of a spectator, said Joseph A. Morris, an attorney, chairman of the United Republican Fund of Illinois and a frequent public speaker. “Fighting in the sense of debating – trying to persuade, taking things seriously, caring, worrying – that’s good.  When one is simply booing and cheering, hooting and hollering, this is not good,” said Morris who is also director of the American Conservative Union. Frightening problems follow from that, he said. “And they reduce to this fundamental issue: Are we serious about self-government?  Self-government means we all understand that we have a stake in the political decisions and that we need to participate in the debates, by speaking and by listening.  If we don’t have a stake in it, if we’re just watching for fun, because it’s drama or slapstick comedy, then we are loosing our grasp on self-government.”  That is serious.   But as a Republican in Democratic Cook County, Morris has wooed hostile crowds with wit, including at a Chicago Historical Society event for the first presidential debate.   “Sometimes the most powerful form of humor is the humor at which oneself is the target,” Morris said.  “If I’m able to make a joke about myself, it makes me less belligerent and pugnacious.”  One of the masters of this was Reagan, under whom Morris served as assistant attorney general of the United States.  Countering concern over his advanced age, for instance, Reagan rejoined that he would not exploit his opponent’s youth and inexperience in the campaign.  Another time, he quipped, “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency – even if I’m at a Cabinet meeting.”     “The ability to make a joke, take a joke, get a joke and pass along a joke shows the ability to make a human connection,” said Morris.…  There’s little danger of the Wiegands losing their persective…. “We’re like salt and pepper,” the elder Wiegand said.  “They both taste completely different but go together.”   He turned 63 two weeks ago Sunday, the day after his ledest son – Joe’s big brother, 42-year-old Jimmy – was killed in an Idaho car crash.    “We are all so terribly sad,” Joe e-mailed, “but Pops drove here from (a performance in) Omaha, and we are finding our ability to laugh in between the tears.”  Day’s before the accident, he had explained how he and his father keep their political convictions and family ties intact.  “In the end, he’s my father,” Joe said, “and whether it’s the biblical admonition to honor my father and mother, or the truth in my heart that all I have is one dad and one mom, I’ve got to love ‘em while I’ve got ‘em.”

The Chicago Tribune by Tribune staff reporter Wendy Donohue

February 11, 2004
Walking the Campaign Trail

Candidate delivers his message on foot  Hillcrest – Joe Wiegand is kind of a cross between Forrest Gump and Dan Walker.  Like Gump, Wiegand travels by foot have attracted the curious, but like the former Illinois governor, there is a political method to Wiegand’s madness.  Wiegand is running as a Republican for the legislative seat from the 70^th District.  His campaign strategy is a bit unusual.  Like Walker, he is taking his message on foot to the people.   Whereas Walker traversed the length and breadth of Illinois in 1972, Wiegand is only walking within his district.  Still, the wintry weather makes that a tough assignment. On Tuesday Wiegand made a stop at the Hillcrest Fire Department.  He was carrying a backpack and his face was red from being out in the wind and cold, but he was smiling broadly.  “It’s been a wonderful experience to get out into the field to meet the voters,” Wiegand said, “to meet the people in their grassroots environments.” Tuesday was the second day of his political odyssey that will result in about 150 miles being walked before the Illinois primary on March 16.  The 70^th District stretches from Stillman Valley in the west to Sandwich in the east.  Wiegand, who lives in Fairdale, hopes to get to as many of the towns and villages in the district as possible.  Later Tuesday evening Wiegand strolled down the road to Rochelle, where he stopped at a restaurant to meet with citizens.  “It is typical of the serendipitous way it has manifested itself,” Wiegand said of his walking campaigns. Although he plans on stopping mostly at coffee shops and restaurants, his itinerary has included meetings with the Stillman Valley and Malta city councils.  Additionally, he said, many people have come out of their homes to talk as he passes by.  “I love coffee shops in the morning,” Wiegand said.  “People are very frank.”  As Wiegand talked a man drove up and got out.  He told Wiegand he was an artist and presented him with a drawing of Albert Einstein.  Wiegand said it was going on the wall of his office. “I’m going to vote for you,” the man said, getting into his car.  Wiegand smiled and waved.  Wiegand described himself as the conservative son of hippie parents.  His father performed comedy routines under the name Jimmy Whig in the 1970s.  The family lived for several years in Los Angeles, where Wiegand’s father wrote material for the likes of David Letterman, George Carlin and Chuck Barris.  Wiegand now performs  comedy with his father, doing a show titled “Like Father, Like Son…Not Necessarily.”  Wiegand’s specialty is a one-man show about Teddy Roosevelt.  A former college cross country runner, Wiegand got the idea of a walking campaign from several sources.  In 1981, the family conducted a “Walkin’ Proud, Talkin’ Loud” journey that took them from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.  Along the way they visited 22 states and 160 cities and received hundreds of post cards and messages to give to President Reagan.  “People were feeling proud,” Wiegand said about the responses to the family’s walkathon. According to Wiegand, he was also inspired by the story of Terry Fox, the Canadian amputee who walked across Canada. Wiegand once organized “Marathon a Day for the United Way,” in which he ran 26 miles a day for seven days across northern Illinois. “I’ve got pretty good endurance,” Wiegand said. In addition to getting his message out, Wiegand’s walking will have another effect. “My jeans will probably fit a little looser when this is done,” he said with a smile. Wiegand said he goes home every night to be with his family. Wiegand, a member of the DeKalb County Board, ran for the 68^th District seat in 1994, but lost to former incumbent Ron Wait. According to Wiegand, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan left a terrible legacy. “I want to make people proud to be a Republican again,” he said.

The Dixon Telegraph – February 11, 2004
David Holsted 

November 10, 1999
    Wiegand Follows Her Dreams to the Golf Course.

      SYCAMORE – Jenny Wiegand is following her dream and her heart.  Wiegand has dropped everything, including her job as a mortgage officer at the First National Bank of Sycamore/DeKalb to pursue her calling in life to golf.  She is on her way to the Futures Tour in Lakeland, Fla.  The tournament is the equivalent to the men’s Nike Tour.  “This is something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time,” said Wiegand, who is 35 years old. “I never had the guts to quit the job and do it. “I finally did,” she said.  “I figured I better try now because I don’t want to look back and wonder what if.” …”It took a lot of soul searching and it’s not to say God didn’t help me and my husband as well,” Wiegand said.  “I couldn’t have done it without him.  He’s been supportive the whole time.  “It’s hard to give up the second income and spend more money,” she said.…Wiegand did not start playing golf until after college.  She played field hockey, basketball and lacrosse growing up in Baltimore, Md.  She received a scholarship and played field hockey at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. Tennis was Wiegand’s summer sport of choice with golf an afterthought. “Golf was something I thought was down the road when I was older,” she said.  A tennis friend introduced Wiegand to the game at about the age of 14 but she played on occasion and just for fun. “It wasn’t until I started getting a little more serious until I was in my 20s and everyone said, ‘You’re pretty good for a girl,’”Wiegand said.  “I beat my brothers now. “People keep asking me, ‘Did you play in school?’ No.  I know I’m a little behind some of these 21-year old whipper-snappers coming right out of college,” she added.  “I’m hoping I have a lot of life experience they don’t have.” Wiegand, who was a Sycamore Chamber of Commerce Ambassador and a Rotarian calls Sycamore Golf Club her home.  She said Mike Doty and Kirk Lundbeck unofficially are her first sponsors. Wiegand said Doty approached her and told her to play for Sycamore and gave her some apparel with Sycamore logos on them. “It really is (a good feeling) to know a lot of your friends are saying, ‘All right, go for it,’” she said. Wiegand said her friends are big supporters and her family, husband Joe and daughter Samantha are her biggest fans. 

… Larry Andersen, The Sycamore News    

August 18, 1986
Peace March Knotting Up Family Ties

 ‘Hippie’ dad faces off with conservative son  It was a scene reminiscent of the chaotic ‘60s – a father and son locked in dispute about a pressing issue of the day, with one advocating nuclear disarmament and the other supporting the need for a strong defense.     But the times have changed. On the side of disarmament Sunday afternoon in Lincoln Park was the 44 year-old father, wearing a T-shirt and red bandanna around his forehead; on the other was his conservatively dressed and conservative-minded 21 year-old son.  The father had helped organize Great Peace March observances in Chicago over the weekend to protest the nuclear arms build-up, and the son led a counterdemonstration when the marchers arrived. Dressed neatly in a suit and tie, Joe Wiegand, the son, stood in Lincoln Park amid the more than 100 people he had organized to demonstrate against the peace march. “I tell my dad, ‘Thank God the times have changed,’” said the college student and summer intern for U.S. Rep Philip Crane (R., Ill.). Wiegand, who attends the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., began organizing the countermarch two weeks ago when he found out from his father when the “peaceniks” were coming to Lincoln Park.  Wiegand’s father, an entertainer whose stage name is Jim Wiggins, knew a lot about the peace marchers’ schedule, because he was the Chicago-area spokesman for the march, a walk across America in support of global nuclear disarmament. Wearing a T-shirt saying “Sixties Survivor” and a red bandanna tied around his flowing gray hair, Wiggins played host during entertainment for more than 600 marchers Sunday, and he tried to be philosophical about the countermarch his son was staging less than 200 feet away.  “It’s the liberal hippie father against the conservative son,” said the antinuclear comedian and father of five from Palatine.  “It’s just like what I went through 20 years ago with my father.  Everything comes home to roost, I guess.”  Wiggins couldn’t help but inject a note of fatherly frustration regarding his middle child. On the one hand, I’m proud of him, because he’s doing what he believes in,” he said.  “But on the other hand, I’d like to spank him.  To have a son who believes in nuclear war goes against everything I believe in.” The son, however, maintained that his supporters were as much pro-peace as those marchers who were lying in the grass listening to his father.  “We, this coalition for peace through strength and a realistic foreign policy, we believe that the United States’ number one priority should be the preservation of a secure peace for her people.” He said, as the crowd around him cheered.  “On Thursday, one of the peace marchers told me that we are living in the past.  Well, we are not living in the past, but we have certainly learned from the past.  We have learned that Russia cannot be trusted,” said the son, as the father listened.  Joe Wiegand’s coalition included State Rep. Judy Koehler (R. Henry), Republican candidate for U.S. senator, who also spoke at the rally; members of the Ethnic American Council, area chapters of the College Republicans; and Civilian Military Assistance, a group that aids the Nicaraguan rebels. The coalition members gathered at the Lincoln Statue in the park and walked about a half mile to confront the peace marchers in another area of the park, chanting “Hey, hey, what do you say? Peace through strength in the USA.” Koehler carried the American flag during the march, and the coalition arrived near the peace marchers’ site just as the other side released 1,000 black balloons into the air, a symbol of the nuclear holocaust.

Katherine Seigenthaller     

August 18, 1986
It’s a Generation Gap for the ‘80s

 Dad, son clash at peace rallies  As 1,000 black balloons from the Great Peace March floated over Lincoln Park yesterday, Joe Wiegand pointed up and yelled, “Sure wish we had an anti-ballistic missile system.  We could should those down.”  Minutes later, his father, wearing faded blue-jeans, a red bandanna, a gold earring and shoulder-length gray hair, said softly, “I love him.  I’m a little angry at him right now.  He’s still my kid and I’d love to spank him.”  Father and son went to war yesterday – over peace.  Wiegand, 21, was one of some 60 banner- and placard-waving marchers, led by the Ethnic American Council, College Republicans, the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations and other groups, to demonstrate against the Great Peace March.  His father, Jim Wiggins, 44, was master of ceremonies for the 4 ½  hour “Survival Sunday” program and paid little attention to his son’s group as it marched from Lincoln’s statue to confront him and the other 650 marchers.  “I can imagine this is raining on his parade a little bit,” said Wiegand, wearing a dark blue pinstripe suit, blue button-down Oxford shirt and red-patterned tie.  “But this is serious.  Little children’s lives are involved here.”  Joy Wiegand, 9, a fourth-grader at Sanborn School in Palatine, was holding her older brother’s hand.  “I think Joey’s right,” she said, a doleful smile hovering under her sad blue eyes.  “I think the people who say we should keep our weapons are better than the people who say we should put them down, because if we put them down, the other people will kill us.”  It was only five years ago that the entire family – Wiggins, his wife, Joan, and three of their five children – marched from Los Angeles to Washington to experience patriotism, said Wiggins, a Chicago comedian and self-proclaimed “Sixties Survivor.”  “And then we diverged,” said his son, a senior at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.  Yesterday in Lincoln Park, folk songs from a temporary stage battled for air space with chants of “Hey, hey, whaddya say, peace through strength in the U.S.A.”  While Wiggins group sang anti-war songs, Wiegand’s contingent heard state Rep. Judy Koehler (R-Henry), the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, say, “America’s best offense is a strong defense.”  Said Wiggins: “This is freedom in action.  I love my son.  I don’t quite comprehend some of his philosophies.  I just don’t want any war, man.  I just don’t want any war.” AP photo – front page – “Sixties survivor” Jim Wiggins (right) puts his arm around his son, Joe Wiegand, 21, yesterday as the two took part in the demonstrations at Lincoln Park.

John Jeter – Associated Press  

United Way/Crusade of Mercy Quarterly
February 1985
No Pain, No Gain?

      Joe Wiegand is 20 years old an must love a physical challenge.  On July 30, Joe picked up the pace in Savanna, Illinois, with the intention of running what he calls, “a marathon a day” for the United Way/Crusade of Mercy.  The 182 mile run from Savanna to Chicago was conceived by Joe as a way to raise money for the yearly campaign, in addition to calling attention to the United Way system in Illinois.  Joe has accepted pledges for each mile run between Savanna and Chicago, and has given new meaning to the old cliché, “Give ‘til it hurts.”