SOUTHWIND SUNDIAL

If the sun shines for the winter solstice on Sunday, Dec. 21, Robert Croteau will be at Southwind Park checking the alignments on the giant sunflower sundial he designed and helped to install. The shadow of the bee on the sunflower regularly crosses the calendar line at noon, telling the day of the year. Springfield’s Rotary clubs built the project last year to commemorate 100 years of Rotary service in central Illinois. This week Downtown Springfield Rotary honored Croteau for his work at Southwind and on behalf of solar energy by presenting him the organization’s Paul Harris Award, named for Rotary’s founder. The award also involves a $1,000 donation being made to the Rotary International Foundation in Croteau’s name. This week a granite plaque will be set by the sundial with the environmental message of the installation: “The arms of this Compass wrap around the Earth, gently holding the thin layer of life clinging to it. Let us do the same.”

This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2014.