By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – In his final months of his final year (the 24th) as Illinois secretary of state, Jesse White was called upon to perform an important duty: serve as grand marshal of the Illinois State Fair Twilight Parade, which was Thursday, the opening day of the fair.

The Jesse White Tumblers made their annual appearance. The team is probably White’s greatest accomplishment outside of politics. “I was a gymnast as a kid,” White said after the fair’s ribbon-cutting Thursday, “When I worked for the (Chicago) Park District, my supervisor asked me to put on a gym show (in December 1959) and that gym show became the Jesse White Tumbling Team.

“I’ve had over 18,000 young people come through the program. Less than fifteen have gotten into trouble with the law. My program is really designed to help young people use idle time in a positive way.”

After January, the tumbling team stands to take up more of White’s time and attention. After endorsing Chicago city clerk Anna Valencia in the June primary, White is now behind the winner of that Democratic primary, Alexi Giannoulias, over State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) in November.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]