This month, gardeners have the opportunity to explore the backyard sanctuaries of several Springfield private properties. In addition gardeners can enjoy watching the creative transformation of nature into art at Lincoln Memorial Garden. Symphony Garden TourThe Illinois Symphony Guild will host its 21st annual garden tour on Saturday, June 19, from 11 a.m. to 3 […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inArts & Culture
Preventing Alzheimer’s
Brent Bohlen, a retired state worker and current exercise enthusiast, is an unlikely person to be speaking to doctors at a high-level conference on Alzheimer’s disease held this month at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. But several of those researchers say he may have discovered an effective form of prevention against the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield whipped up a storm
Today, Springfield’s downtown square is a peaceful place. Its manicured lawn and grand Old State Capitol suggest that it was a location of thoughtful debate and mannered discourse among our early lawmakers. But before the Old State Capitol was there, the square was the site of violent punishment for lawbreakers. Like many frontier towns, Springfield […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Plan ahead to plant the right tree
Selecting a tree is one of the most important landscape decisions a homeowner will make. Trees should be considered as an investment for the future, since most people move before a tree that they planted reaches mature height. Keep in mind, a properly placed and cared for tree will most likely outlive the person who […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Illinois and the Panic of 1819
Financial problems are nothing new to the Prairie State. Sadly, neither are inept responses by governmental officials. After the Panic of 1819 one of our own townsmen, an esteemed founding father, was one of several leaders investigated for wrongdoing in relation to state-sponsored recovery efforts. This fact was discovered by local historian and author David […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Native plants like it here
Illinois, known as the “Prairie State,” has several native plant species. Prior to European settlers in Illinois, 60 percent of the 22 million acres was prairie. Today less than one hundredth of one percent of the original undisturbed prairies exists in Illinois. Some of these original prairies can still be found in pioneer cemeteries, fencerows […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Conserve water with rain barrels
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, lawn and garden watering makes up nearly 40 percent of total household water use during the summer. One way to reduce outdoor water usage and conserve water is to collect rainwater. A rain barrel is a system that collects and stores rainwater. A typical 1/2 inch rainfall […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Plant anywhere you have space and sun
Vegetable gardening can provide the grower many benefits including exercise, a break from the stress of everyday life, decrease in the weekly food bill, nutritious produce that tastes better and is fresher than grocery store produce, and a sense of pride when you feed your family fresh vegetables from your own garden. It’s no wonder […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Beautification is contagious
This is the sixth year for Springfield in Bloom, the community-wide beautification program that challenges homeowners, businesses, neighborhood associations and nonprofit organizations across central Illinois to bring beautiful new color and life to their street-side yards. Illinois Times is proud to be the primary sponsor of this program that works in cooperation with Mayor Tim […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The legacy of Brother James Court
Brother Anthony Joseph came to the St. James Trade School from Syracuse, N.Y., in 1967 to join the Franciscan Brothers in running the school. The Springfield school on the northeast side closed in 1972 following a 42-year run, after which the Brothers opened Brother James Court in 1975 to house and care for developmentally disabled […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Getting to know the natives
It’s easy in this Land of Lincoln Obsession to think that our area’s history began with the sixteenth president or with white settlers in general. But doing so ignores the many Native Americans who lived here thousands of years before there was even an America to preside over. Dr. Michael Wiant, director of the Illinois […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Abolition, the spark that ignited a revolution
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” state, black laws discouraged African-Americans from entering and especially staying. A black person could be jailed and fined if he or she came to Illinois for longer than […]
