Here I sit on my folding lawn chair, down beside the Hazen Bridge, sipping on a pale ale and marveling at the old steel structure that has connected the Hazen Bridge together over the Sangamon River for more than 120 years. The last red embers of a dying fire glow brightly as the last light of day fades away. My […]

Two-score and 14 years ago, my mother brought forth: me. And its times like this that guys like me take time to stop and reflect. And today I’m reflecting on my river; looking back at seven things that living on the Sangamon River has taught me over the years. Life has its ups and downs I’m writing this column instead […]

For everything, there is a season – King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:1 It’s Memorial Day Weekend! Or, technically speaking, by the time you read this, it was. But that’s OK, because as important as Memorial Day is for remembering those who fought to defend our land, our rights, and our free press, such as the Mahomet Citizen, it’s also important since […]

A true story. Once upon a time, 250,000 years ago to be specific, at the dawn of the Pleistocene Epoch, there was a great river running through our fair Village. This river, originating off to the east in the area that was to become West Virginia, flowed westward through our area and on down from here to the Gulf of […]

Here on the Sangamon River, the quiet stillness of the night awakens the senses. As the nights lengthen and the trees stand naked against the night sky, full moons seem brighter and familiar winter constellations return to the sky. Orion the Hunter has returned! ‘Tis the season of the celebration of one of the few truly global phenomena; a celebration […]

The river once told me “people think I’m dirty” So they do. So it is. Many people continue to view the Sangamon River as a ditch that functions primarily to carry away water and drain fields. As a matter of fact, the river truly is quite “dirty.” According to the Illinois DNR, at peak concentration rates, the Sangamon River at […]