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2008 Fall Guide

Fall classics

College football matchups are just a few hours away and help a good cause

By R. L. Nave

While there is no shortage of great prep gridiron action or NFL team spirit in Springfield, the capital city's offering of college football leaves something to be desired. Sure,

2008 Fall Guide

Autumn amusement

Abe’s Corn Maze and other corny festivals

By Amanda Robert

If you're looking to get into the maze craze this fall, we have great news — Springfield will host its very own 10-acre corn creation. If that's not enough, it's even cut i

2008 Fall Guide

Fall... in love

You don’t have to be alone this winter

By R. L. Nave

By now, your summer fling is either nearing an end, you're thinking about taking the relationship to the next level, or the thought of spending the holiday season alone is depres

2008 Fall Guide

Remembering Everett Dirksen

Pekin’s Dirksen Center celebrates a colorful character

By Linda Hughes

The colorful and raspy-voiced U. S. Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen died in 1969, but his memory lives on at the Dirksen Congressional Center in Pekin, near Peoria. This is a research center,

2008 Fall Guide

Haunted hot spots

From “R-Rated Springfield” to the “Haunted Dead Walk” and “Terror on the Square”

By Amanda Robert

No kids allowed. It's a strict requirement of Garret Moffett's new October tour, "R-Rated Springfield." "If you enjoy TV shows like 'The Sopranos,' then you will enjoy this,"

2008 Fall Guide

Pick your pleasure

Soak up the season while harvesting berries and apples

Many days, Mother Nature locks you indoors and keeps you there with her sweltering heat or bone-chilling cold, soul-sapping humidity or ear-warping wind, rain, snow, sleet, thund

2008 Fall Guide

Visit Postville, where Lincoln argued cases

Courthouse replica offers a feel for 19th century justice

By Linda Hughes

Despite local opposition, in 1929 Henry Ford bought and dismantled the courthouse in Postville and had it set up again at his Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich. The courthouse

2008 Fall Guide

Fall Guide Calendar

Hundreds of fall activities across Central Illinois

Determined to put an end to the rumor that there's nothing to do in central Illinois, we reached out across the region to identify a bevy of fairs, festivals, concerts, art exhibi

Best of 2008

This and That

Best Green-Friendly Business Food Fantasies 1512 W. Wabash Ave. www.foodfantasies.com If you've ever "fantasized" about free-range turkeys and locally harvested tomatoes, you may not be su

Best of 2008

Best of Arts and Entertainment

Best Original Band Best Local Band Likely to Make it Big The Station Over 10 years of constant touring across the U.S. took The Station a long way from its humble beginnings in Chatham, Ill

Best of 2008

Best place for a fast cheap lunch

In a hurry and pinching pennies? Our readers didn’t deliver one clear winner so we decided to feature the top five vote getters. Here’s the skinny on some of your options for fast, cheap m

Best of 2008

Best of Recreation and Fitness

Best gym for weight training Fit Club all locations www.fitclub.net Though it’s not obvious to a casual observer, it’s true that weight training burns more calories when the muscles a

Best of 2008

Best of Food & Drink

Best Chips and Salsa Xochimilco 2941 W. Iles Ave., 546-3116; 3210 Northfield Dr., 544-9206; 6901 Preston Dr., 483-1006 You can tell a lot about a Mexican restaurant by its chips. If they’re

Best of 2008

Best small town resturant outside of Springfield

Rather than name a winner in this out-of-town eatery category we thought it would be far more fun to challenge readers to eat their way around central Illinois. In alphabetical order here are nine ea

Best of 2008

Best of People

Best school crossing guard Rosemary Thomas She starts her mornings as crossing guard at St. Aloysius school, then by 8:30 she’s on the job at Ridgely elementary. She’s back again at both

Best of 2008

The Making of the Best of Springfield

A long tradition of celebrating the outstanding

When we started working on this Best of Springfield edition many weeks ago, the world was a calmer place than it is today. Given the general craziness we’re all experiencing as Wall Street and M

Bybee

Man talk

At their core, they’re all basically idiots

By Doug Bybee

Untitled Document It’s a perfect night for a ballgame, and I’ve lucked into box seats only five rows behind the Sox dugout. The young couple to my left is discussing

Bybee

The essence of beauty

The answer, it would seem, has toes

By Doug Bybee

He is dressed as a cowboy and looks to be about 6, which, according to my (admittedly yet unpublished) Rules of Diner Etiquette, is about two years too old to be leaning over the back of his booth, in

Bybee

When today’s 65 is yesterday’s... 65!

Note to self: Television doesn’t resemble reality

By Doug Bybee

I’m 65. The TV is on because I like background noise as I pretend to do my morning exercises. The man has a few wrinkles around his eyes, but his eyes are clear and bright. His

Bybee

Hamburger, in the eye of the beholder

Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, hold this thought

By Doug Bybee

Doctor: No more hamburgers for you! Neighborhood bar and grill: $2. Police officer: The alleged hamb

Bybee

Lifting the smokescreen

Life can get a little strange, cold turkey

By Doug Bybee

Henry Rose is a man full of charity, kindness, and even temper; he can’t recall ever thinking ill of anyone, and he’s never been angry. Life is good, always has been, and through

Bybee

The last rhubarb

A veteran manager reveals the secrets of America’s pastime

By Doug Bybee

Brad Dood (pronounced “dude”) settled into a smirk. “Right place! Right time! Right stuff! No one more deserving,” he thought. “I’ve paid my dues!”

Bybee

The fan

Even in hell, it’s possible to come out a winner

By Doug Bybee

John awoke to searing pain, running from behind both eyes to the middle of his forehead: a migraine triangle. He pressed his palms hard against both temples, went to

Bybee

When nothing “really” matters

The American Way of voting, as described by participant in last month’s primary

By Doug Bybee

Yanks (“American”) Avatar (“embodiment of a concept”) is, by definition, the essence of American thought, the quintessential American. Were it

Bybee

Play online poker and win $2,000

Disclosing the secrets of the game — and the most important rule of all

By Doug Bybee

Eleven million people play online poker; 10,999,999 of ’em win, usually $2,000 each. No doubt you know one of the 10,999,999 — Uncle Bob’s strange friend wh

Bybee

The most purposeful shot

This game’s over so, why argue with Frankie?

By Doug Bybee

Harry Jacobs watched from his window as the February snow drifted in his neighbor’s driveway, most of it under the basketball backboard bolted to the roof over the gara

Feature

The lives they lived - Part I

Celebrating 22 loved ones lost in 2009

By IT Staff

About the issue This last week of the year Illinois Times takes a loving look back at some of the lives that ended in 2009. All across Springfield this past week, chairs were empty and hearts were a

Feature

The lives they lived - Part II

Celebrating 22 loved ones lost in 2009

By IT Staff

KENNETH “GENE” WELLENREITER JR. Aug. 13, 1971 – July 27, 2009 {image-7167}Gene Wellenreiter came into my life about six years ago and taught me more about life and living through

Feature

Goat invasion

A growing breed of livestock preserves an old way of life on a Sangamon County farm

By Rick Wade

Like an art critic judging a sculpture, Mike Earles leans back and places the end of his goateed chin between the raised thumb and forefinger of his left hand. His eyes narrow as he leans

Feature

The growing U.S. goat market

Earles brothers belong to a new breed of livestock producer

By Rick Wade

The South African Boer goat quietly invaded the United States via Texas about 15 years ago – and has been nibbling its way north ever since. Developed by Dutch farmers

Feature

Shadows of the Motherland

Russian Orthodoxy in downstate Illinois

By William Furry

T he trained eye rarely misses them: three-barred crosses and primitive, colorful icons, occasionally spotted in roadside cemeteries and out-of-the-way chapels from Chicago to Carbondale

Feature

Compact, climate-friendly, competitive

To restart the economy while saving the planet, the Congress for the New Urbanism advocates traditional neighborhoods for all

By Katherine Gregor

“This is one of those moments to step up and articulate what urbanism is worth to America.” That’s how Scott Bernstein, president of the Center for Neighborhood Technolo

Feature

New urbanism the Springfield way

The capital city is brimming with grand ideas about how to grow the city’s core and push back against sprawl. So why hasn’t anything happened yet?

By R. L. Nave

Springfield is bursting with new urbanists. While the phrase “new urbanism,” coined in the 1980s, often frightens people who think that new urbanism entails mandating an organi

Feature

Home-grown virtuoso

After beating string players twice his age, Springfield's Clayton Penrose-Whitmore moved on — to Chicago, Detroit and Carnegie Hall

T here must have been scores of kids who, like Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, found themselves enjoying a snack in the Ethnic Village at the Illinois State Fair, just as a group of Suzuki vio

Feature

Building a new life after prison

RaeLynn Costa is making a comeback, with the support of Project Return

By Amanda Robert

Feature

State Fair history needs a home

July 11 Corndog Kickoff to raise money toward museum

By Jolonda Young

What do you do with 156 years of photos, programs, ribbons, exhibits and other memorabilia collected from the annual Illinois State Fair?

Health & Fitness

Finding your way to fitness

Four tips to start the new year out right

By IT Staff

Avoid the New Year’s resolution trapJanuary, 2010…you’ve been handed a proverbial clean slate -- another chance to shrug off your bad habits and reach for your dreams. It never fail

Health & Fitness

Stretch work

We do the hard work it takes to figure out simple movements that take the stress out of chronic and traumatic injuries before – and after – they happen

By Jody Robbins

Untitled Document Got a fitness problem? Sometimes ... you’ve got to stretch yourself. The most common injuries are sorted int

Health & Fitness

Warm up, cool down

Get your blood pumping first, local experts say

By Amanda Robert

Untitled Document Tim Butler used to run in high school and college, but he says it’s nothing compared to what he’s been up to for the past 13 years.

Health & Fitness

Those mighty mites

More and more Springfieldians have asthma

By Amanda Robert

Untitled Document Dr. Glennon Paul has worked with Springfield asthma patients for 33 years, but even he admits that he doesn’t have all the answers

Health & Fitness

A career in caring

Respected Springfield psychiatrist put his mark on medical community

By Lawrence Crossett

Untitled Document The Frank J. Menolascino Award for Excellence, given yearly by the National Association for the Dually Diagnosed, was created to honor individuals

Health & Fitness

Health Briefs

Untitled Document This year, keep your workout promise With the new year comes the promise of starting, then sticking with fitness routines. Make a difference

Health & Fitness

Healthy & happy

Finding a fun path to fitness and other

By Dana Carmen

Untitled Document You’ve heard it all before: Mix fun with your fitness, the minutes will just fly by, and before you know it you’ll be 10 pounds lighter.

Health & Fitness

Untangling the Alzheimer’s mystery

Old age doesn’t cause Alzheimer’s disease

By R. L. Nave

Untitled Document First, let’s clear up a common misconception: Old age doesn’t cause Alzheimer’s disease. Rather, the risk of AlzheimerR

Health & Fitness

Health briefs

Staying active, dental health, and fluid consumption

Untitled Document Don’t assume you have to sweat Older, frail people can get a free “gym pass” and still benefit from activities that are not as ta

Health & Fitness

Take a deep breath. Yoga’s easy!

Springfield practitioners say yoga offers a path to better mental and physical health

By R. L. Nave

Untitled Document Erinn Tanner’s yoga class begins with pupils on brightly colored foam mats, lying flat on their backs, arms at their sides (think starfish washed ashore)

History

Abolition, the spark that ignited a revolution

A tumultuous time in Illinois, to be explored at history symposium March 7-9

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

One hundred fifty years ago this year, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and the slavery question was threatening to dissolve the nation.In Illinois, Lincoln’s allegedly “free” s

History

Mad for ‘Mad Men’

University of Illinois symposium looks at the 1960s through the lens of the television drama

By Marissa Monson

From the bored housewife and the determined workingwoman to the philandering businessman, the television drama “Mad Men” explores a cast of 1960s archetypal characters, and displays them w

History

A pictorial history of the ‘city of the dead’

New book marks 150 years for Oak Ridge Cemetery, the nation’s second most-visited

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

One hundred fifty years ago this year, Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery was dedicated by former mayor James Conkling as a “city of the dead.” A new book by former city historian Edwa

History

Killer flu hits Springfield

October 1918: Death rules the capital city

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

A few weeks ago, as I nursed my son through swine flu, I frequently thought about my great-grandmother. She had lived in Athens, northwest of Springfield, and nursed her son during another flu pandemi

History

Springfield’s own Rosie the Riveter

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

“All the day long, Whether rain or shine, She’s a part of the assembly line. She’s making history, Working for victory, Rosie the Riveter…” -from

History

When the railroad first came to Springfield

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

In the 1830s, when people traveled by foot, horse, stagecoach or boat, Illinois developed a railroad. It was ahead of its time.

History

A fair start, 156 years in the making

By Amanda Robert

The Illinois State Fair began in 1853 as a salute to agriculture.The founders of the newly-created Illinois State Agricultural Society wanted to give farmers an arena to discuss and advance their prof

History

A 19th century pop star finds Springfield bad news

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

It’s never easy being a star, but if you believe a superstar concert pianist from that time, it was especially difficult in Springfield in the 1860s. The New Orleans-born Louis Moreau Gottschalk

History

An Illinois artist’s amazing life after death

The sad story begins with rotten childhood in a Lincoln asylum

By Tara McClellan McAndrew

“Too late now,” said Henry Darger, an 80-something retired janitor and former central Illinois resident, as he waited for death at a Chicago charitable institution i

History

Korean War National Museum comes to downtown Springfield

Temporary exhibit and gift shop open in anticipation of permanent site

By Zach Baliva

Springfield resident Larry Benson served in the Korean War, working first as a radarman and then for a chaplain. Last Friday, Benson joined dozens of other veterans from central Illinois