Twenty-two people mill about on the mostly dry Crooked Creek delta awaiting the start of our Sangamon River cleanup. Mottled sunlight from the deep blue, first-day-of-Autumn sky filters through the bright green leaves far overhead and down to the river’s surface. It’s a beautiful day down on the Sangamon River to celebrate our very own “It’s Our River Day”. Positive […]
October is fast approaching, and we all know what that means. Required “Obamacare” sign up of course! And with all the hubbub and debate surrounding required health insurance, I have my own healthcare prescription. Yes, we’ve all heard some of the scary statistics regarding our health: Fewer than 20% of adults achieve the recommended minimum of 150 minutes per week […]
There is a particular piece of land. It is just north of here along the Sangamon River and east of the Hazen Bridge. And on a rise along County Road 2600N just east of the Hazen Bridge, there is a sign posted by the U of I Foundation that a man named “Jack Commodore Richmond” donated this particular piece of […]
246 miles – Total length of the Sangamon River from Arrowsmith, Illinois to its confluence with the Illinois River at Beardstown, Illinois. 7 feet – Distance across the Sangamon River at its confluence with Crooked Creek at our place during the drought of 2012. 12.67 feet – Height of the Sangamon River at the Fisher Gage where US 136 crosses […]
This week, Notes from the River gets in on the action from the latest breakaway hit cable reality-show phenom: Duck Dynasty: Mahomet. Recently we had the opportunity to interview several of the show’s stars, a hirsute, tight-knit family of common, everyday folks running a highly successful local Mahomet operation. In the past few years, they have seen the fame and […]
A cautionary tale. And a (sort of) true story. The Bears went on a canoe trip down the Big River. But before they left, Scotty Bear advised, “After that big rain, the river is high. Perhaps we should wait to give it a try.” “Never fear”, Poppa Bear spoke up. “Benny Bear needs some lessons on what he’s doing when […]