Anita Stienstra

Join the Sangamon Paddlers of Central Illinois, and become a canoe-sseur. This group promotes conservation of local water resources, recreation and education. On Friday they sponsor a potluck at 7:30 p.m. before a paddle around 9 p.m. Night air, insect song, moonlight and water. You won’t want to miss the magical combination. If you are […]

This is your opportunity to see the hummingbird up close during capture and banding by Vernon Kleen, Master Permit Bander. New Salem hosts this Illinois Audubon Society family festival on Saturday, celebrating one of the smallest and unique birds whose ability to hover in mid-air captures the hearts of bird lovers and others alike. Enthusiasts […]

Learn from the past Saturday at this family-friendly gathering about how things used to be done at the time of Abraham Lincoln. Some of the demonstrations include: gardening, food dehydration, Civil War food ways, canning, corn shelling and grinding, corn cob pipe, broom and barrel making. Enjoy period music while the kids can learn about […]

Get together with another 299,999 ready-for-fun people at this free family street festival recognized as one of the top 100 events in North America. Decatur blocks off 22 city blocks and this year celebrates the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln with cool events such as the National Lincoln look-alike contest, Midwest rail splitting competition, Chris […]

Rochester artist Jeff P. Garland’s sculptures perk up the park with life until Aug. 23. Go and visit with your very eyes what the artist calls a “celebration of the very thing that brings the prairie to life: the wind, rain, sun and animals.” These works of art located outside the Botanical Gardens are also […]

This semi-formal soirée opens with a reception/cash bar at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. After a commemorative program at 7 p.m., Jazz by Footprints featuring Virgil Rhodes fills the same corners of the rooms with music as the late Kenneth E. Barton Sr. did decades ago. Barton, a Springfield resident and musician, […]

Saturday sizzles with the day-long outdoor World Horseshoe Cook-off in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary NHPA World Horseshoe Tournament running through August 8. Here 1,500 horseshoe pitchers compete for $170,000 in prize money and the title of world champion. You can walk over to the convention center and watch the pitchers for free, but the […]

Gordon Productions presents The Last Five Years, a musical by Tony award-winning Jason Robert Brown. The show employs unconventional narrative and a diverse musical score ranging from klezmer to rock. It explores the five-year relationship between Jamie, a rising novelist played by Matt Vala, and Catherine, a struggling actress played by Mary Kate (Gallina) Smith. […]

Hill Prairie Winery is the venue for an outdoor screening of a film shot in Menard County, produced by Petersburg natives Adam and Tom Galassi and Thomas Snyder and based loosely on the local legend of a boy, Raymond Colby, who claims he was carried off by a thunderbird to a magical place (recently highlighted […]

The Senate Special Committee on Aging says there may be as many as 5 million victims of elder abuse each year. Besides the obvious physical warning signs, changes in the senior’s personality or behavior may be a signal that a problem exists. Be alert to unexplained withdrawal from normal activities, unusual depression, sudden financial changes, […]

The Sweet Corn Festival is known for its good-to-the-last-bite buttery ears of corn and its infamous Illinois Championship Cow Chip Throw, once demonstrated by a Jaycee on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Other highlights include a children’s area, a Sweet Corn Pageant and lots of great music both days. New this year is the Tour […]