Chapter 4: A Morel Foundation
Roy Morell spells his name differently on his Illinois license plate, and we discovered why. We share this story. One day in September, 2011, Morell was riding his touring motorcycle around southern Illinois when he suddenly became nostalgic. The retired construction worker realized he was near Giant City State Park in Makanda, a place he hadn’t visited since 1964. Morell, a lifetime morel mushroom hunter, worked for a short time at the park in 1964 when he poured the concrete foundation for the site office where, by coincidence, Joe McFarland, the co-founder of this Web site, currently has an office.
Of course Morell was sure nobody would recognize him after 47 years.
But he stepped inside the building anyway and looked around. The concrete floor was still solid. Good work.
McFarland quickly greeted the stranger.
“Roy Morell,” the visitor stuck out his hand for a shake. After chatting for a while, both morel hunters realized the quirky coincidence of their meeting was, like all weird coincidences, the foundation for a good story.
