Flick: The ‘original’ Jake? God bless those khakis!

As TV’s sketch-comedy cornerstone “SNL” did a recent “Jake at State Farm” spoof and the clip went viral, Bloomington-based State Farm got an extra 25 million views of free advertising, all from a now 12-year ad campaign that even State Farm marketing folk admit has lived much longer than THEY ever suspected.

On social media in recent days, it has also spawned another logical question:

“Hey, whatever happened to the original Jake?”

Now 12 years after “just for fun” Bloomington’s Jake Stone answered an in-house casting call and flew out to California to do a 20-second shot that basically involved him saying — “Umm, khakis” — (fun fact: that was only one of several takes, but the khakis line was judged best by the State Farm ad agency) here’s even better breaking news:

Still living in Bloomington, working at State Farm, a 2003 Normal Community High grad and then in 2007 from Illinois State University, the original “Jake” is doing what many a Twin Citian (and Americans) do: toiling by day, then at eve and weekend fully enjoying life and family with wife, Steph, and their kids, and all that goes with it.

“Remy is now 5 and in kindergarten, and Reyna is 3 and doing what she can to run her preschool class,” says Jake. “Steph and I are just trying to keep up with them.”

The other news flash, in wake of worldwide chatter that “Jake at State Farm” has altered attire?

“I’d never stop wearing khakis,” says the Original Jake, whose actual commercial-famous khakis hang in that honor at Pub II in Normal. “We’ll stop the rumors right there!”

A pair of Jake Stone’s khakis have been framed and hung at Pub II in Normal.

For The Pantagraph

Even Van Halen loved a part of B-N!

When it comes to our great entertainers, an added entertainment is what they ask, by contract, to be in their dressing rooms at an entertainment venue.

“We had some performers demand Trader Joe’s products, and the closest Trader Joe’s was in Chicago,” says Barb Dallinger, who used to arrange, set up and accommodate acts at Illinois State University’s Braden Auditorium.

And Van Halen, one of the all-time most revered rock bands?

Uncovered recently, a contract of theirs:

They asked that their dressing room must have, among 54 pages (no joke) of contractual requests:

Ten bags of M&Ms (no brown ones!); six bags of Ruffles potato chips; six cans of mixed nuts, salted; 120 Reese’s peanut butter cups (full-sized); 10 bags of twist pretzels; 12 assorted Dannon yogurts; 96 large bath-size cloth towels; 500 16-ounce plastic cups; one 16-ounce tube of KY Jelly (explanation: their guitar-string-picked fingers needed the ointment); 15 serving bowls; five bottle openers; three corkscrews; two rolls Bounty paper towels; four large bars of Ivory soap…

… and … “3 POUNDS OF BEER NUTS.”

God bless Bloomington’s native and still-all-made-right-here sugar-coated protein snacks.

Oh, Maggie!

Meanwhile, success only grows for Maggie Vespa, the Central Illinois native, 2010 University of Illinois graduate, daughter of former Channel 19 reporter and anchor Kay Vespa, and then reporter and weekend anchor at WHOI and WEEK.

That’s before, a few years ago, she moved on to be a reporter and then weekend anchor job and talk-show host in Portland, Oregon.

She and Lester Holt are on almost nightly.

These days an NBC correspondent, among other recent assignments, Maggie’s covered parts of the Super Bowl, the Michigan State campus shooting, the groundhog fanfare in Woodstock, Illinois (where the famed movie “Groundhog Day” was actually shot), a ranch in Colorado where lions were flown in from Ukraine to avoid being killed, a blizzard in Green Bay, the mall shooting in Buffalo and the U.S. Open tennis championships in Flushing, New York.

“For an Illinois kid who grew up watching NBC, this is a true honor,” says Maggie.

Recently, she even went back to nearby Chillicothe, where her mom was raised and her grandparents lived, for a story about the fire department there donating a fire engine now being used in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, to fight those sadly endless fires.

Oh, and one other thing: Reader Cindy Kernes Thomas, of Normal, rehabs an old feature of this column — Central Illinois Look-Alikes.

She and actress Jennifer Connelly (most recently opposite Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”) are dead-ringers.

A reader pointed out that Maggie Vespa, left, News 25 alum now with NBC, and actress Jennifer Connelly, right, share a striking resemblance.

Centenarians celebrate birthdays at Luther Oaks in Bloomington

Clay Jackson Photos: State Wrestling finals

Mattoon’s Aiden Blackburn wrestles Antioch’s Caleb Nobling on Saturday during 2A 145 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Mattoon’s Aiden Blackburn wrestles Antioch’s Caleb Nobling on Saturday during 2A 145 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Mattoon’s Ben Capitosti wrestles Bloomington’s Dylan Watts on Saturday during 2A 138 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Bloomington’s coaches cheer on Dylan Watts against Matton’s Ben Capitosti on Saturday during the Class 2A 138-pound tournament at the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Normal Community’s Caden Correll wrestles Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis on Saturday during 3A 106 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Normal Community’s Caden Correll wrestles Plainfield North’s Maddox Garbis on Saturday in the Class 3A 106-pound weight division.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Shelbyville’s Calvin Miller wrestles Newman’s Brady Grennan on Saturday during 1A 126 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

LSA’s Clinton VerHeecke after winning against Coal City’s Brody Widlowski on Saturday during 1A 113 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

LSA’s Clinton VerHeecke wrestles Coal City’s Brody Widlowski on Saturday during 1A 113 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

LSA’s Clinton VerHeecke wrestles Coal City’s Brody Widlowski on Saturday during 1A 113 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Bloomington’s Dylan Watts wins against Matton’s Ben Capitosti on Saturday during 2A 138 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Normal West’s Evan Willock wrestles Oak Forest’s Caden Muselman on Saturday in the Class 2A 132-pound weight class at the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

LSA’s Garrett VerHeecke wrestles Tremont’s Payton Murphy on Saturday during 1A 120 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Le Roy’s Jacob Bischoff wrestles Macomb’s Ethan Ladd on Saturday during the Class 1A 220-pound match during the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

LeRoy’s Jacob Bischoff wrestles Macomb’s Ethan Ladd. Bischoff finished sixth at state at 220 pounds.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Mattoon’s Leo Meyer wrestles Gllenwood’s Alex Hamrick on Saturday during 2A 220 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Cumberland Noah Carl wrestles Fairfield’s Payton Allen on Saturday during 1A 285 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH

Shelbyville’s Will Fox wrestles Marian Central Catholic’s Max Astacio on Saturday during 1A 160 Pounds during IHSA Boys State Finals.

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