IT Picks

Many of us are under an illusion about our prairie state’s past – bison roaming a prairieland fresh from a cleansing glacial scour, the arrival of Native Americans who centered their life around the wondering herds until Euro-Americans arrived and extirpated both bison and Indians, while destroying the prairie. But is this accurate? Bring your […]

New Salem’s Theatre in the Park is closing its season with Walking Across Egypt, a play adapted by Catherine Busch from the novel by Clyde Edgerton and directed by Phil Funkenbusch. The play’s protagonist is Mattie Rigsbee, a 78-year old churchgoing, God-fearing woman. Upon discovering a stray dog on her back porch, she decides she’s […]

In October 1853, with a net profit of $853 after paying $1,500 in premiums and with an attendance of over 15,000, the first Illinois State Fair was deemed a success. For the admission price of 25 cents that year you could visit the cattle, horse and sheep venues and also see displays of reapers, mowers, […]

Operatic soprano Christine Brewer and banjo virtuoso Noam Pikelny will perform as part of Illinois Humanities’ “The Country and the City” series that brings together rural and urban Illinoisans around shared concerns. Grammy award-winning Brewer has been named by BBC Music as one of the top 20 operatic sopranos of all time and is originally from […]

Illinois Realtors is sponsoring walking tours of buildings of architectural interest in the historic district of downtown Springfield.  This week, join Anthony Rubano from the Historic Preservation Division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as he guides a tour through the area of the Old Capitol Plaza and Sixth Street.  See and hear about […]

What do a sarcophagus, Secret Service agents and sand dunes have in common? Come listen and learn about a little known and surprisingly humorous American tale of desperation carried out by bumbling criminals. Eleven years after the death of President Lincoln a plot was hatched by the leaders of one of the nation’s largest counterfeiting […]

The Faith Coalition for the Common Good and the Springfield Park District came up with an idea that, quite frankly, we are surprised no one thought of before – a horseshoe festival.  This is the first of its kind right here in the birthplace of that one-of-a-kind sandwich.  A full day of a variety of […]

Springfield Firefighters Local 37 has been serving the citizens and visitors of Springfield since 1918.  It is a highly trained career fire department that, in addition to a myriad of fire and safety services and training operations, also provides intermediate level emergency care.  With that in mind, Local 37 is offering a Heartsaver CPR training […]

It’s finally back – the annual opportunity to fling desiccated dung of the cow variety. The Chatham Jaycees Sweet Corn Festival just wouldn’t be the same without the familiar flat trailer loaded with local, freshly harvested dry cow chips all waiting for their moment in the sun – to be a part of the Illinois […]

Frank Lloyd Wright, architect and designer of the Dana-Thomas House, enjoyed the occasional nip of bourbon and even has a bourbon drink named in his honor. With that in mind, the Dana-Thomas House Foundation is hosting The Wright Bourbon, Brisket and Blues fundraiser for an evening of sipping bourbon, enjoying a good meal and listening […]

Sharon Graf, associate professor of ethnomusicology at University of Illinois Springfield, will speak on the culture of the little known geographic area of Tonga. Her presentation is based on participant observation data collected in Tonga and other Pacific islands in 2010-11 and follow-up fieldwork completed in 2017. Graf will examine the interactions between local artists, […]

Alateen is a peer support group for teenagers who are struggling with the effects of someone else’s problem drinking or drug use. At Alateen meetings, teenagers meet to share their experiences and help find solutions to problems, learn effective ways to cope with difficult circumstances and to encourage one another. Al-Anon is a mutual support […]