It’s the only national forest in our predominantly agricultural/urban state, and it offers a great escape from our daily routines. Located down in the southern tip of the stat]]> The gospel choir has finished its hymns and the pastor is well into his sermon when a tall, gaunt man with short-cropped hair and a handsome baby face appears at the edge of the dais. The pastor, fer]]> SCENE ONE: SCREEN DREAMS Marc Sigoloff has always loved movies. As a boy, he fell for Snow White and the Three Stooges, an unlikely pairing of concepts, starring 1960 Olympic figure skater Carol Heis]]> Untitled Document Part of the intrigue of the Underground Railroad is its mystery — we’ll never know the whole story. Its activists tried to keep their w]]> Before it became the Center for the Arts, the old Masonic Temple downtown on Sixth Street was labyrinthine, ugly and outdated. Its bland, dreary innards were a metaphor for Springfield's cultural life]]> Originally published in 1970, the children’s book The Orchestra Mice had been out of print for decades when its author, Springfield resident Jacqueline Jackson, got an unexpected phone call. The]]> BEST ARTS ORGANIZATION Springfield Art Association 700 N. Fourth St., 217-523-2631 The Springfield Art Association, which traces its start to the Amateur Art Study Club, founded in 1909, is more popul]]> BEST BARBECUE Hickory River Smokehouse 2343 N. Dirksen Pkwy., 217-528-2271 The second link in what could become a chain of flavorful franchises around the state, Hickory River, born in Urbana, bills i]]> Untitled Document Vern LaGesse steps into the swaying prairie grasses at the Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary, a sprawling 120-acre refuge for flora and fauna located 12 miles southwest]]> Untitled Document Love means never having to say you’re sorry — that you’re sleeping apart. Although many older couples remain young valentines at heart,]]> Justin Robbins knelt on the living-room floor in his Piper Glen home with his 4-year-old daughter, Sydney. The pair held hands, closed their eyes, ]]> Untitled Document When Thomas J. Wood began working at then-Sangamon State University, in late 1986, the files of Lowney Handy, James Jones’ mentor, were still ]]> Dennis nearly lost the lower portion of his right leg when the trencher he was working with unexpectedly hit a metal beam in the ground, causing the blade to jump up, catching the bridge ]]> What price would you put on the smile of a child? How much would you pay for the pitter-patter of little feet? What about the singular sensation of a baby instinctively squeezing your finger]]> ]]> Thomas O’Dell was a mess — and in deep trouble. One of his tennis shoes had come off as he ran through a cornfield, desperate to ge]]> Springfield District 186 has won awards. But it also has ten schools on the state's Early Warning List--schools with more than half the students failing to meet state standards two years in a row. It ]]> If it had happened at a basketball game or a beauty pageant or a spelling bee, it might not have merited a second thought. But in the refined, tuxedoed world of symphony ]]>