Embarking on the circuitous path to employment with two of Springfield’s largest employers, the state of Illinois and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, is a challenge even in years when Illinois has a healthy budget. Both are still hiring, but in these days of the budget impasse it’s more important than ever to make […]
DiAnne Crown
DiAnne Crown is a longtime freelance writer based in Springfield and former editor of Springfield Parent Magazine.
Posted inSpecial Issues
City meets country. Creative meets can-do.
Gail Adamski, right, with coworkers Jean Hartman, Kate Becker and Cheryl Pippin, celebrating The Farm’s 20th anniversary in 2014. Cheryl: “We get tickled because it looks like we know what we’re doing.” Gail Adamski and husband Eric, an area building contractor, bought 63 acres and a horse barn between Salisbury and Petersburg to start a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Spotlight on Ice turns 40
Paige Zolnierek as Peter Pan and Hallie Griffin as Captain Hook. PHOTO BY GRUSSENMEYER PHOTOGRAPHY This weekend, take a break from the taxes, leave the yard work, gather up the family and head to Nelson Center for the 40th anniversary Springfield Figure Skating Club celebration “Spotlight on Ice.” This year’s show promises to be bigger […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Make your ceremony memorable and meaningful
Maurice & Nicole Williams had their ceremony and reception at Piper Glen Golf and Social Club in Chatham. PHOTO BY ALICIA WESSEL PHOTOGRAPHY Web search “how to personalize your wedding” and you’ll find hundreds of ideas, from the genuine to the genuinely goofy. Want to water a love fern together (yes, the infamous “How to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
‘Do what your heart tells you.’
Lana Benedict It’s likely no one who knew Lana Benedict as a State of Illinois retiree, volunteer cook, gardener, singer, loving mother and wife thought she would leave life on this side of heaven at age 69 last October. Vibrant, passionate, and retired but never retiring, Lana always had enough energy for the next project. […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Pickleball takes Springfield
Springfield’s Iles Park has the largest dedicated outdoor pickleball facility in the Midwest. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Created one Sunday afternoon in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by then State Representative Joel Pritchard, pickleball is now played in all 50 states – and has nothing to do with pickles. Springfield resident Jack Handy loves to […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Successful home security
Stand-alone camera systems with video recording and remote monitoring are an alternative to security system-integrated video surveillance. PHOTO BY DIANNE CROWN For Michelle Tjelmeland, a good home security system is about personal safety. Various zones in her Springfield home are wired and monitored with door chimes, motion sensors, sirens and flashing lights set to signal […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Compassion lived, taught and increased
Children constantly learn from us parents – lessons we want to teach and those we don’t, whether we know they’re watching or not. Here’s how two Springfield mothers make lessons in compassion intentional, ongoing and heartfelt. A complete life For Mary Killough, compassion begins at home, with her sons, Jacob, Justin and Jeffrey, and […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Life together in the kitchen
When my son unexpectedly brought home a school friend for video games, homework and supper one afternoon years ago, I baked an easy cake recipe, topped it with fresh, sweet whipped cream and served it for dessert. “Where’s the box?” the friend asked. “And the can?” We just smiled at each other. From his early […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Real-life heroes
Abraham Lincoln is on bookstore new release racks again, this time in Brad Meltzer’s fresh new look at history and heroism “Ordinary People Change the World,” illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. First in the children’s picture book series, I Am Abraham Lincoln, is both quirky, for the cartoon illustrations and anachronistic references, and earnest, as young […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Credit cards for college kids
Just before kids turn 18 and prepare to leave home, credit card companies swoop in. It’s not fair, particularly for those who don’t have a good grasp on money and budget, who haven’t been carefully putting quarters into jars, dollars into envelopes and checks into the bank since they were young children, and who haven’t […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
For good study skills, start your child young
By making learning fun with games and conversation during the preschool years, establishing good study skills during elementary school, and building on those strategies in middle school, parents can help their students become successful in high school and college. Two Springfield District 186 teachers share basic, proven approaches parents can use during these formative […]
