#88 "Cheers" 11x14 oil on linen panel

Patrick James Cahill

"Where Everybody Knows Your Name, and They're Always Glad You Came"

This is my Grandpa Patrick James Cahill. He was my dad's father. He died when I was pretty young but I have a couple memories of him. One  day when I was probably 11 or 12, he stopped by the house to see us. I was a hot shot little league pitcher and Grandpa Pat being a huge baseball fan, wanted to play catch with me in the backyard. He said show me what you've got! To me he was my grandpa but he was still an old man, probably in his 50's or early 60s at the time. I was a little concerned that he wasn't up to the task. He assured me that he was so I leaned back and fired one at him. Much to my surprise, he caught it just fine!!! Mostly I know that he was a drummer during the vaudeville years. He played  drums in the pit at the Terrace Theatre (101-05 E North Street) in Danville, Illinois. Built in 1907, this was Danville's largest theatre for nearly 20 years. In fact, it was too large to be profitable; it was torn down in the early '30s to make way for a supermarket. The site is now a parking lot. Whenever the big acts would come through Danville on their way to and from Chicago, that's where you would find Pat and my dad whenever he could sneak in to watch. Grandpa Pat was known to have a drink or two. Perhaps that was the Irish in him. In his later years, sometime during the1940s  he was a bartender at the grand ol" Claypool Hotel at the corner of Washington Street and Illinois Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. This painting is from a photo of my Grandpa Pat tending bar at the Claypool. (101-05 E North Street)

Claypool Hotel

Contract signed in 1934 by Grandpa Pat to play double drums with the Barnett Brothers Circus...