lessthanthree Ricky!

January 19, 2007 5:37 AM

St. Patrick's Catholic parish of Iowa City had a lovely old church until last year on Holy Thursday when the building was destroyed by a tornado. The church ruins were demolished yesterday. Here is the heart-wrenching (and related!) saga of Ricky the Flying Raccoon.
posted by thirteenkiller (22 comments total)

Poor Ricky! I hope he's okay.
posted by Jess the Mess at 5:41 AM on January 19, 2007

Downtown Iowa City had changed a lot the past 10 years. Then the tornado hit. I'm sure in another 2-3 years it will be nothing like the place I left in '96.

All the pictures I saw of the area after that tornado were sobering.
posted by infowar at 5:42 AM on January 19, 2007

Yeah, infowar. I especially miss all the massive old trees.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:46 AM on January 19, 2007

Oh geez, the "lovely old" link actually goes to a different church. Pwnt. I'm not a good Catholic, really.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:54 AM on January 19, 2007

So did God do this or was it Nature? I can't keep em straight sometimes...
posted by LordSludge at 6:04 AM on January 19, 2007

That would have been Nature, since God is made up.
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:07 AM on January 19, 2007

I thought Ricky Raccoon lived somewhere in the black hills of Dakota with his brother Rocky.
posted by inturnaround at 6:13 AM on January 19, 2007

I'm the furthest thing from religious, but I hate to see that oldarchitecture come down. Lot of demolition of old churches here in St. Louis, too.

That said, that shot of the raccoon in midair as the wall comes down made my fuckin' day.
posted by notsnot at 6:21 AM on January 19, 2007

Looks like Dinesh D'Souza and Pat Robertson are right - God is clearly really really angry with the American Left and their fellow travelers, the Catholics, and this is the result.

Goddamnit, this is why we can't have nice things.
posted by kcds at 7:35 AM on January 19, 2007

I helped clean up a tornado-damaged church, back in 1984. One thing I remember was the dozens of pigeon skeletons, I suppose from years of nesting in the rafters.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:38 AM on January 19, 2007

That was a damn crazy night. I was far more upset about Martini's closing than St. Pat's, but at least they reopened Martini's this fall. (As well as the Union, unfortunately)
posted by anomie at 8:01 AM on January 19, 2007

Downtown Iowa City had changed a lot the past 10 years. Then the tornado hit. I'm sure in another 2-3 years it will be nothing like the place I left in '96.

Bah. If you remember back in the day when Bushnell's Turtle was in a double-wide on Clinton, we'll talk.
posted by hal9k at 8:17 AM on January 19, 2007

I remember that. What shall we talk about?
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:20 AM on January 19, 2007

Aw, man. I lived right across the street from that church.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:34 AM on January 19, 2007

I lived right by that church too. I drove back up to Iowa City a month after that tornado and was really surprised at how different the place was just two years after I left. I miss it.
posted by makonan at 9:25 AM on January 19, 2007

If Ricky gets sainted I'm going Catholic.
posted by django_z at 9:33 AM on January 19, 2007

I you don't believe in God then you should meet the bartender in Ottumwa who sometimes workes at the one stripper club across the street who is nicknamed Spider Coochie.
posted by MapGuy at 10:00 AM on January 19, 2007

I try to avoid Ottumwa.
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:06 AM on January 19, 2007

Yeah, it is hard to get a drink when she won't come out of the toilet from shooting up long enought to pour. But I must say; Nice Ice, to the top with Jack and just a splash of coke for color.
posted by MapGuy at 10:10 AM on January 19, 2007

I don't recall Bushnell's being in a doublewide, but I do recall attending a wedding reception there in 1990.

I don't recall as many bars and remember more retail on the ped mall back in my day.
posted by infowar at 10:54 AM on January 19, 2007

I remember Bushnell's being in the ped mall, too. And I definitely remember St. Pat's. When I revisited Iowa City a few years ago I was stunned by how much it had changed. Thank God Prairie Lights is still there.
posted by mijuta at 5:23 PM on January 19, 2007

that raccoon story was fucking depressing.

with that and the thing about the water buffalo, i'm done with metafilter for a day or two.

need nother drink
posted by Baby_Balrog at 6:28 PM on January 19, 2007