Outlook 2015 Work & Play

Herald&Review

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

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DECATUR, ILLINOIS

WORK & PLAY Residents of Central Illinois work hard and they play hard.

Sometimes, they even get to do both at once. In this section of Outlook, we take a look at our neighbors and appreciate what they do to be at the center of it all.

INSIDE:

IN THE REHAB BUSINESS

Spreading their wings >>> Corvette enthusiast Mid America Motorworks in Effingham is truly Mike Yager's American dream.

It's a hub for quality parts and accessories for Corvettes and Volkswagen Beetles, but it is also part museum.

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Herald & Review photos, Lisa Morrison

Jacques Nuzzo carefully puts a hood on a sick eagle found in the wild as he prepares to transport it back to the Illinois Raptor Center.

Illinois Raptor Center looks to expand with ‘Super Flight’facility

>>> Collies are a mystic breed

EMILY STEELE H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR – For years, the Illinois Raptor Center has been quietly caring for and releasing countless injured birds and other wild animals that turn up at the door of the wildlife hospital.

After two decades of growth, and at a time when similar rehab centers around the state are closing, the volunteers and single staff member at the center are taking more calls and regularly caring for large birds of prey that eat a lot of meat and need room to spread their wings. So the center is investing in new tools, programs, partnerships and a 390-foot-long “Super Flight” facility to ensure their work continues.

The wildlife hospital, offices and housing sit on 25 acres on the western edge of Decatur, along the Sangamon River.

It's closed to the public most days, but inside a rotating crew of a dozen volunteers work to clean cages, cut up food and care for more than a dozen owls, hawks, ducks, eagles and anything else that shows up.

Since 1991, founders Jacques Nuzzo and Jane Seitz have traveled the Midwest with non-releasable raptors in tow — Riley Adams, Avian Protection for educational programming Manager for Ameren Illinois to build a respect of wildlife and prevent future injuries.

Some of the resident birds serve as surrogate parents. Nuzzo, the center's program director, said the day will come when they'll be raising baby bald eagles, since they're one of the few facilities authorized to care for the protected species.

“It costs a lot to feed rehab eagles, so we do that through programming, donations and grants,” Nuzzo said.

The nonprofit organization partners with Ameren Illinois and its Avian Protection Program for projects and educational outreach. A $50,000 donation from the Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust last year allowed the center to build 36 custom cages to house its permanent birds away from the hospital residents.

“As they keep growing, they need help,” said Riley Adams, the Avian Protection Manager for Ameren Illinois. “They provide an invaluable resource to the community.”

Nuzzo is working with Ameren to plan, fund and build a larger, long-term flight cage that could house the birds safely while they recover. They hope to start this spring.

‘As they keep growing, they need help. They provide an invaluable resource to the community.’

RAPTOR/PAGE 3

While most of us have fond memories of the noble canine, Lassie, Bonnie Cary was inspired to not only buy a collie, but has become a breeder of champions.

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Jane Seitz, Nuzzo and Heather Logan work together on keeping records of the eagles that come through the Illinois Raptor Center.

>>> Geographic center point

Steve Kapper works on the transferring birds from Yvette Casner during a volunteer training session at the Illinois Raptor Center. Also in the background are Debbie Lebo and Carla Jordan. Tank is a one-year-old female great horned owl used in some of the educational programs.

No town is at the center of the it all like the Logan County hamlet of Chestnut. A "Geo Center" monument celebrates the town's designation as the geographic center of Illinois.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

WORK & PLAY

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DECATUR, ILLINOIS

Readers respond I am writing about good people: My brother, Tom Leeper, and his family.

They are members of Sharon United Methodist Church. Tom and his family all serve their church. Tom cleans the drives out at the church, they are also Sunday school teachers and Tom is also a lay minister.

Tom and his family also help my mother out a lot; she is in Imboden Living Center assisted living, and her husband, Corwin, passed away in 2013. They take her to her doctor appointments and to other places she may need to go.

Tom and his wife, Martha, have three older children. Tom also has a lot of fields he farms and also sells seed to other farmers.

Martha works at the church as a secretary and she also works with different choir activities. Evan is in the National Guard and is engaged. Jenna, who loves volleyball; and Jarred, who is married, teaches at Clinton; his wife, Lori, teaches in Harristown.

Tom and his family also help out Jan Gulick, Tom’s mother-in-law. Her husband passed away in 2014. They are a real hard-working family. They also help me.

If you see the Leeper seed signs you know you are in his area. If you want a good, loving and honest working family, you have them.

Carolyn Leeper, Decatur

About town BROWNSTOWN VILLAGE: Brownstown COUNTY: Fayette POPULATION: 759 VILLAGE PRESIDENT: Virginia Wilber EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: National Road Association, Fayette County Speedway, Fayette County Fair MAJOR HIGHWAYS: Interstate 70, U.S. 40

TOLEDO CITY: Toledo COUNTY: Cumberland POPULATION: 1,200 MAYOR: Michael Fletcher EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Spring Festival MAJOR HIGHWAY: Illinois 121

WELDON VILLAGE: Weldon COUNTY: DeWitt POPULATION: 427 PRESIDENT: Steve Followell MAJOR HIGHWAY: Interstate 72

MOUNT AUBURN VILLAGE: Mount Auburn COUNTY: Christian POPULATION: 515 MAYOR: Bette Rankins MAJOR HIGHWAY: Interstate 72 HISTORY: Mount Auburn was founded on July 11, 1839. It was seriously considered as possibility for the state capital at the time the center of government was moved from Vandalia to Springfield.

PANA CITY: Pana COUNTY: Christian POPULATION: 5,874 MAYOR: Steven D. Sipes TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: Coal Creek Village, Kitchell Park, Lake Pana, Lincoln Prairie Trail MAJOR HIGHWAYS: U.S. 51, Illinois 16 and Illinois 29 ON THE WEB: www.panaillinois.com

DELAND CITY: DeLand COUNTY: Piatt POPULATION: 446 VILLAGE PRESIDENT: Todd Benting MAJOR HIGHWAYS: Illinois 10

‘Voice of an angel’ While Lisa Kaye has a song in her heart, she hopes someday it will be her career HUEY FREEMAN

sang, “God Bless America,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Take a Chance on Love,” “All of DECATUR – Lisa Kaye Me” and “Something About can't remember any time in That Name.” her life when she didn't have It was especially moving a song. for her to sing, “My Tribute,” “I started singing when I

by Andrae Crouch. One of her was 3,” said Kaye, a pastor's key musical influences and daughter and the youngest of favorite performers, Crouch nine children. “My mom was had just died two weeks earlia stay-at-home mom. She er. would sing while she did her The combination of her housework.” voice, stage presence and Kaye, who moved to depth of feeling for each song Decatur in 2012, has been brought the audience, mostly singing in public since she seniors, to their feet at the was a toddler. end of her program.

“Growing up we had a famDuring her teen years, peoily singing group, the Starks ple began singers,” taking recalled notice of Kaye, who her unique was born voice and and raised the way she in Joliet. poured her “Everyone heart into had to sing each song. or play an She began instrument getting invior both.” tations to Kaye, sing at wedwho has dings and had a wide funerals. variety of Kaye only musical likes to sing experisongs that ences since mean somethen, has thing to her. not given “If I don't up on her really feel dream of it, I don't performing think I perto large form it very audiences, well,” Kaye — Lisa Kaye and touring said. “With around the a lot of love world. songs, I think of a happier “I've always wanted to time in my life, because I was sing,” said Kaye, who has married for 12 years. Songs worked a series of nonmusihave a lot of meaning for cal jobs since graduating me.” from the University of St. Kaye has impressed her Francis, Joliet, with a bachevoice teachers, including lor's in business administraBruce Henry, a singer who tion. “I would dream and fanhas performed around the tasize about going on tour.” world and opened for headlinDuring a recent concert at ers such as Roberta Flack the Salvation Army, she and Ramsey Lewis. entertained the audience with “I think she has the voice a program consisting of clasof an angel,” Henry said. sic love songs, hymns and “The pure tone and the qualiChristian contemporary hits.

Accompanied on the keyboard ty of her voice is gorgeous.”

Henry said it would not

by Michael Scherer, Kaye surprise her if she had a stelH&R Staff Writer

‘I've always wanted to sing. I would dream and fantasize about going on tour.’

Herald & Review photos, Jim Bowling

Lisa Kaye performs a song in tribute of gospel music legend Andrae Crouch at a concert with Michael Scherer during a seniors’ program and lunch at the Salvation Army. lar singing career, if that's what she wants.

Kaye learned early that obstacles that seem insurmountable can be conquered.

“I stuttered in second grade and had to use a speech therapist. I stuttered badly for about one year, then it just stopped.”

She is thankful her parents

sought the help she needed.

Kaye has never forgotten what it felt like to have a disability.

“It has helped me to be more empathetic to people.

We all have issues. Some are more pronounced than others.”

One of Kaye's short-term goals is to sing for national

commercials.

“I have always loved commercials,” Kaye said. “Even as a child I would sing commercial jingles. That is something I always wanted to do.

The right national spot can launch your career.” hfreeman@herald-review.com| (217) 421-6985

Braunecker has visions of gold dancing in her head ALEX MCNAMEE H&R Staff Writer

EFFINGHAM – Effingham's Avery Braunecker sounds like an Olympian when she says, “representing my country.”

The three-word phrase uttered by Olympic athletes for decades is already an integral part of her conversational repertoire because she's on the verge of actually living it.

She has less than a year and a half to practice her line and her sport before she tries to make the U.S. swim team at the Olympic Trials in June 2016, about a month before the summer games in Brazil.

The Effingham High School junior qualified for the 50meter freestyle field with a time of 26.16 seconds, about three-tenths faster than the assigned cutoff mark in January at a meet in Texas.

But the 17-year-old isn't satisfied yet. She wants to increase her chances of making the team by qualifying for at least one, maybe two more events: The 100- and 200-meter freestyles.

At least, she wants to relive the feeling of joy she had when she realized she hit a qualifying time.

For her, that feeling started out as disappointment, only because she had the wrong information. Someone told her the incorrect target time, but she eventually figured it out.

Herald & Review, Lisa Morrison

Effingham's Avery Braunecker qualified for the Olympic trials in the 50-meter freestyle next summer in Nebraska. She won state as a swimmer for Effingham High School.

“Seeing my mom in the stands and the team screaming for what I'd done, after I looked at the scoreboard the second time, I realized I made it,” Braunecker said. “It hits you like a rush. I didn't know what to do. It's something I've been working for, and I guess this is like happening now.”

Braunecker, who has two state swimming championships, picked up the sport when she was a child as a way to avoid getting overheated at the pool. After sitting in the sun, her mom, Elizabeth, made her jump in the water and swim a refreshing 25 meters to cool down.

Her mom was a competitive swimmer from an early age, growing up in the Chicago area where the programs are bigger and the sport more competitive, but Avery flourished in a different atmosphere.

Effingham, the city and high school, doesn't have a year-round swimming team.

She represents the school on an individual entry basis, which means her IHSA season starts at sectionals, which is the stage at which swimmers have to qualify for the state finals.

“That's, to me, what we've tried to do for her is give her

the opportunity to compete at the state level,” Effingham Athletic Director Dave Woltman said. “Most of the credit really goes to her parents.”

Braunecker's parents have been driving her to Mattoon and back since they put her and her brothers on the yearround swim team. There, she's merely practicing at the local YMCA and sometimes is only a few feet away from ongoing water fitness classes for members.

“All the (college) coaches I've talked to (say), 'It's kind of awkward you're swimming as fast as you are and don't have a pool,' ” Braunecker said. “My path has made me more excited for the future.”

Separately, she travels with the Academy Bullets Swim Club out of Chicago, and it all adds up to quite a bit of mileage on the gas tank. But she tries to maintain a normal lifestyle.

“On Friday nights, if we don't have a home basketball or football game, because my team wants me to have a normal high school life, I go to Springfield and have a host family there,” Braunecker said. “If we do (have a game), my mom will drive me.”

While Braunecker's brothers gave up swimming for baseball and theater, she stayed in the pool because it always felt like it was what she was meant to do.

WATC H I N G THE TIME Avery Braunecker expects she'll need to finish between the high 24-seconds and low 25-seconds to make the U.S. team at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Nebraska, and she's working hard to cut down her time.

“At this point, we're focusing on different things with my stroke, trying to perfect it, different things off the block, working on my flip turn,” she said. “We're critiquing to make sure everything is efficient.”

In the last seven Summer Olympics, the target time to make the medal stand has dropped by more than one second. Here are the bronze-medal times since 1988: 1988: Jill Sterkel/Katrin Meissner (USA) 25.71 1992: Angel Martino (USA) 25.23 1996: Sandra Volker (Germany) 25.14 2000: Dana Torres (USA) 24.63 2004: Libby Trickett (Australia) 24.91 2008: Cate Campbell (Australia) 24.17 2012: Marleen Velhuis (Netherlands) 24.39

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

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DECATUR, ILLINOIS

WORK & PLAY

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Vintage Vettes and more MY Garage Museum in Effingham is a trip down memory lane for car enthusiasts

BEECHER CITY

DONNETTE BECKETT

Motorworks corporate communications staff. “We just don't have the space in this building to house them all.”

EFFINGHAM – When a Staff will try to rotate the visitor walks through the MY collection so visitors have the Garage Museum that is part opportunity to see them all of Mid America Motorworks throughout the year. in Effingham, he may be sur“All of the cars are rare or prised at the condition of (one of a kind) vehicles,” Hinsome of the automobiles in terscher said. the midst of the pristine cars The family also has an on display. impressive collection of BeeFor example, a 2005 prototles, although the collection is type car sits among the beausmaller. Cars from the “Herties, and it features worn seat bie” movies are housed along covers and handles. The car with the Corvettes. One car is was test-driven at the Nürfrom the movie, "Herbie Fully burgring race track in NürLoaded." Others were filmed burg, Germany. during the 1980 "Herbie goes “The trunk is filled with Bananas." wires to measure diagnos“In the original script, this tics,” said Mike Yager, the Beetle was owner and supposed to founder of race a viper,” Mid America I F YO U G O Hinterscher Motorworks, WHAT: MY Garage Museum said. “But a major supat Mid America Motorworks because we plier of parts WHERE: 17082 N. U.S. 45, were working and accesEffingham with them and sories for HOURS: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., because of the Corvettes and Monday through Friday; 9 relationship Volkswagens. a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and we had built “It's been put Sunday. with them, we through its COST: Free got them to paces."

ON THE WEB: www.my change it to a The Yager garagemuseum.com Corvette.” family has All of the been collectcars are speing Corvettes cific and unique; vehicles that and Volkswagen Beetles for a car enthusiast would be more than 40 years. unable find elsewhere. “(Each Since 1994, the collection one) has a story that comes has been in a separate buildwith it,” Hinterscher said. ing next to the the Mid AmerSome of those stories ica Motorworks corporate include the beat-up research office and manufacturing. “I love it because all of this stuff vehicles that weren't supposed to survive. Since most used to be in our house,” Lori are scrapped after testing, Yager said. very few exist.

Considered one of the Many of the Corvettes were largest private car collecused in testing the technology tions, the museum is free and open to the public from 8 a.m. used in cars on the road today. The C-4 in the collecto 5 p.m. Monday through tion tested the keyless entry Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. used in most cars today.

Saturday and Sunday. There This particular Corvette is are 35 to 40 cars in the collecalso the last C-4 ever made. tion.

“The family went to the “But they're not all here, plant in Bowling Green, Ky., because some of them go to and watched it go down the different shows, or are in assembly line,” Hinterscher museums,” said Jennifer Hinsaid. “Because this was the terscher, of Mid America

VILLAGE: Beecher City COUNTY: Effingham POPULATION: 463 MAYOR: Renee Schoenfeld MAJOR HIGHWAY: Illinois 33 HISTORY: T.L. Miller arrived in Washington Township in 1862 and began purchasing land. His plan was to begin breeding and raising Hereford cattle. He knew the area offered good grazing lands; and he was convinced that the Hereford breed of beef cattle showed great promise for the future. At the time, T.L. Miller lived in Chicago and was in the fire and insurance business.

Miller was a great admirer of Henry Ward Beecher, a famous orator of that time, and named the new village after him.

H&R Staff Writer

ALTAMONT Herald & Review photos, Lisa Morrison

This 1968 Rebel Le Mans L-88 Corvette was the last to finish the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It took sixth in its class and has been involved in several races since. last car, after each piece was put on, someone was coming behind them and tearing down the assembly line.

There's not going to be another one of these.”

Although the museum houses some of the most unique Corvettes, it's not just the cars that are one of a kind.

“There's a lot of stuff in the museum beyond the cars,” Hinterscher said.

Throughout the building, visitors will see memorabilia given to the Yager family, such as jackets from a pit crew, full-size gas pumps, model cars made when Mike Yager was a boy, and Corvette bicycles made by Schwinn. Outside of the building is a restored 1910 gas station moved from Casey.

“It's my husband's nest egg, but everybody gets to enjoy it,” Lori Yager said.

“People love going down memory lane.” dbeckett@herald-review.com| (217) 421-6983

Herald & Review photos, Lisa Morrison

Jacques Nuzzo walks a sick bald eagle back to a boat so it can receive medical treatment at the Illinois Raptor Center. He received a phone call from a boater who then took him out to capture the eagle.

When to call Rescuing an injured wild animal is complicated. But it's even more complicated because there are a lot of misconceptions about wild animals, which results in a lot of unnecessary interventions, said Raptor Center Program Director Jacques Nuzzo.

Nuzzo said the rule of thumb is to leave wildlife where they're found unless they need medical attention. About 40 percent of their rescues are done over the phone in what they call “silent saves.”

Some of their most frequent calls are about baby animals, which more often than not have a parent nearby hidden from view.

“It comes down to who’s better at raising them,” Nuzzo said.

“The goal to always put them back in a nest, because their parents are better.”

The center covers 11 counties, but can't do pickups unless it's a bald eagle. Most of the time, people bring them injured animals. But if they don't bring them in immediately, they risk the animal's health as well as fines or prosecution. Don't touch or move dead birds, call the Department of Natural Resources' regional wildlife biologist.

Contact the Raptor Center at (217) 963-6909 or illinoisraptorcenter@comcast.net.

– EMILY STEELE

RAPTOR

Continued from page 1 “One of things that's important for them to do is to help their muscles get strong again,” Adams said. “What they've been wanting to do for many years is to build a cage that can handle eagles and larger birds.”

The center also serves as a research opportunity for the biology department at Mil-

A third attempt to capture the eagle is successful and Nuzzo works on freeing the talons from the net before transporting.

About town

likin University. For several years, assistant professor and center board member Travis Wilcoxen and his students have examined the birds that come into the hospital. They take measurements, do diagnostic tests and test their blood for lead poisoning with equipment funded through a grant from the university.

“That's a great experience for them to have at this level,” Wilcoxen said.

Since raptors are at the top of the food chain, Wilcoxen said they get a lot of valuable data about the bird and information about local ecosystems based on what species they're seeing and what condition they're in.

“I envision rehab facilities nationwide that are looking to the IRC for advice and data that will help them with better rehab,” Wilcoxen said.

Even as they expand, members of the IRC board of directors still see plenty of room for growth. They've opened up the center to onsite youth and adult summer camps for avian enthusiasts and could see it one day opening to the public.

Nuzzo has a lot of plans for when the Super Flight facility is finished.

“This will keep us in the rehab business for the next 20, 30 years,” Nuzzo said. esteele@herald-review.com| (217) 421-6968

The MY Garage Museum includes merchandise for Corvettes and Volkswagens. The Yagers also sell parts for both lines.

This 1953 Corvette Roadster was one of about 300 painted pennant blue and has only 3,087 miles.

CITY: Altamont COUNTY: Effingham POPULATION: 2,319 MAYOR: Larry Taylor EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Dr. Wright House, Alwerdt’s Gardens, Altamont Living Museum, Ballard Nature Center, Effingham County Fair, Illinois High School Rodeo State Finals, Mill Road Thresherman’s Association Steam, Gas & Threshing Show, Schuetzenfest, JSP Inc. Country Treasures Show.

HIGHWAYS: Interstate 70, U.S. 40, Illinois 128.

HISTORY: An early pioneer of the area was Griffin Tipsword, who dwelt among the Kickapoo Indians. The area was settled by German immigrants by way of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The name Altamont, meaning "high mound," was chosen because of the elevation or "mound" that lies to the northwest.

ON THE WEB: www.altamontil. net

ATWOOD VILLAGE: Atwood COUNTY: Piatt POPULATION: 1,224 PRESIDENT: Dale Hammel EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Apple Dumpling Festival HIGHWAYS: U.S. 36

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SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

WORK & PLAY

Smack dab Chestnut, Illinois, can truly boast they are the center of it all. Geographic center, that is

Herald & Review photos, Jim Bowling

The sign posted along Illinois 54 lets travelers know that Chestnut is the geographic center of Illinois. ABOVE: Chestnut Family Restaurant owner Cesar Andrade has created the Geo Burger meal in honor of the town of Chestnut’s designation as the geographic center of Illinois.

TONY REID H&R Staff Writer

CHESTNUT – At the center of the town that's at the center of Illinois, there is a great American hamburger cooked by a chef who was born in Mexico.

The Logan County burg of Chestnut is full of surprises like that. It's one of those quirky Central Illinois places that is worth getting to know.

Chestnut, for example, once had an official town dog, “Crackers,” a stray mutt adopted by everybody (population 200, give or take) and treated like canine royalty.

Crackers has passed on now, but you will find a memorial brick in his honor among various other family memorial bricks which surround Chestnut's “Geo Center” monument in the town

CENTER OF IT ALL Ready to have some fun at the center of it all in Chestnut?

On April 1 the town's Geo Club starts selling fundraising raffle tickets, open to anyone, where the star prize is $1,000 worth of meat.

The drawing will be held June 13, which is the date of the town's annual Fun Day. There is a fried chicken dinner and outdoor movie showing in the evening, preceded by a day filled with a flea market, art displays, cake walks, games, drawings, an animal display by Decatur's Scovill Zoo and a children's tractor pull.

For more details on any of the events, call (217) 796-3601, or (217) 737-1198.

–TONY REID

I was the next-to-youngest of 14 children who grew up dirt poor, on welfare, during the Great Depression. The only way we persevered was by hard work and pulling together: paper routes, babysitting, farm work, selling homemade baked goods, etc.

Eventually, six of us became teachers, one a minister, one a family physician and one a social worker. What all four of those professions share is service to people, which the ‘jungle doctor,’ famed Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer called the “only path to true happiness.”

I am 76 now and have buried six brothers and three sisters. I have finally accepted the harsh reality that I too will die and that it could come at any time. As a child,

park. This stone pillar, topped by a cement eagle, marks the town's designation, worked out by a student studying tourism in 1992, as the official exact midpoint of the state of Illinois.

And just across the road from the monument is the The Chestnut Family Restaurant where among the house specials is the “Geo Burger,” a mouth-watering concoction that is one-half ground beef and one-half ground bacon.

“It's our own signature burger,” said chef Cesar Andrade, 43, who owns and runs the restaurant with his wife, Rosa. “People hear about our geo center here,” he added with pride. “And they also come from a 60- to 80-mile radius for my dishes; I have a reputation.”

Andrade used to work in the world of corporate cuisine, but wound up in Chestnut eight years ago pursuing a dream of running his own business. Finding himself in the heart of the heartland has proved to be the sweetest gig of his career.

“We have been welcomed,” he said, explaining the restaurant's previous owners had been planning to close it for good.

“People around here are very friendly and we've built the business up, probably by 70 percent.” His wife, whose baking is as good as her husband's all-American cooking, added, “We love it here.”

Over the years, there have been other suggestions for marking Chestnut's “geo center” status outside of magnificent burgers. One early proposal called for the erection of a 300-foot metal tower

Readers respond like all children, I felt like I was the center of life. When I became a husband and father, family was the center of my life, with service to neglected children (as a social worker with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services) a close second.

Since I retired, I feel I’ve

About town

FLORA COUNTY: Clay POPULATION: 5,070 MAYOR: Bob Tackitt EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Train Depot, Appleknocker

Visitors from Decatur and Latham browse the monument in Chestnut that commemorates the town’s designation as the geographic center of Illinois. which could have doubled as a communications beacon. It would have been eye-catching but so was the estimated cost: $1 million.

“That was a little past the budget; it was ridiculously expensive,” said John Drake, president and CEO of the Bank of Chestnut. “But we like being the geo center, it's kind of a fun thing.”

Keeping the fun going, and building a sense of community-centered involvement, is the task of the Chestnut Geo Club. It organizes community events throughout the year, capped by an annual Fun Day, scheduled for June 13.

This features a whole day of food, flea markets, games and activities capped off by a movie shown outdoors in the

now come full circle and that the center of my life is again myself; specifically, my own thoughts. I have written three books: “Healer,” a biography of my older brother’s remarkable life as a doctor; “The Game Somewhere,” a memoir of my life when I was 12; and “Ever So True,” a book of poetry and photos about the University of Illinois. I’m working on three more. I’ve loved pouring my heart into the things I’ve written and I plan to keep doing it.

The center of everyone’s life is unique. That’s the one ingredient making humans the most interesting things on earth. I’m happy and pleased that the center of my life has been filled with passion, service, determination and hope.

Rudy Reed, Decatur

Festival, Charley Brown Park MAJOR HIGHWAYS: U.S. 45, U.S. 50 ON THE WEB: www.florail. govoffice2.com, www. florachamber.com

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DECATUR, ILLINOIS

About town CASEY CITY: Casey COUNTY: Clark POPULATION: 2,769 MAYOR: Ed Bolin INDUSTRY: Bolin Enterprises Inc., Charles Industries EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Popcorn Festival, Illinois ASA Hall of Fame, Casey Softball Hall of Honor and Museum, Fourth of July celebration MAJOR HIGHWAYS: Interstate 70, U.S. 40 and Illinois 49 HISTORY: When construction of the National Trail or the first road west had been completed through Clark County in 1834, settlements began to spring up along the muddy dirt road. Cumberland settlement was the first population in the Casey area located 1.2 miles east of Casey’s present location. The construction of a road running north and south over now Illinois 49/Central Avenue in Casey later drew the population of Cumberland west to the crossroads.

Around 1853, the post office and the community of Casey were named after Zadoc Casey, a United States Senator from Illinois at the time.

Oil made Casey a “boomtown” around the turn of the century and the instant prosperity affected every part of local life from the banks to the flame on the cover of the high school yearbook (representing the flames in the oilfields that dotted the horizon). The first oil well in the United States was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1857 and the earliest activity in Clark County followed not long after that date.

But early techniques and inexperience resulted in negligible extraction. In 1904, with a combination of proper tools and equipment in the hands of the right men, drillers from Pennsylvania began drilling on property near Oilfield. By 1907, 2,000 wells had been drilled in a 9,000-acre area between Casey and Westfield. Twenty-four million barrels were produced in the area that year.

Because of the oil business, the Casey railroad depot did more freight business at one time than the Terre Haute station. The boom brought big money and financiers to the area. John D. Rockefeller bought a local oil field in 1910 for more than a million dollars, which was deposited in one of the Casey banks. The boom had a great financial effect on Casey and the surrounding counties which spawned three to four banks and five to 10 saloons.

Some of the infrastructure from the boomtown era, such as the buildings along Central Avenue and Main Street and the roadbed for the National Historic Road, still exist in Casey.

ON THE WEB: cityofcaseyil.org

CERRO GORDO

The small town of Chestnut is the geographic center of Illinois. evening.

“We're always trying to get new and younger people involved in the Geo Club,” Patsy Cowgur, club president,

said. “We tell them to come on in and bring your ideas; let's have some fun.” treid@herald-review.com|(217) 421-7977

VILLAGE: Cerro Gordo COUNTY: Piatt POPULATION: 1,436 VILLAGE PRESIDENT: Brad Williams INDUSTRY: Dennis Ridgeway Enterprises Inc., Clarkson Grain MAJOR HIGHWAYS: Illinois 32, Illinois 105 HISTORY: Established in 1844 as Griswold, veterans of the Mexican-American War renamed the town Cerro Gordo after the Battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847. Cerro Gordo translates from Spanish meaning "fat hill."

ON THE WEB: www.fathill.com

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Mystic collies Owners and breeders agree, there’s something special about this breed RYAN VOYLES H&R Staff Writer

“I bought dogs from each... and worked it for three or four generations until I got my specific look,” Cary said.

“I can look at them and tell that it's a Mystic Collie.”

It can be a difficult look to describe to those who are not as familiar with the breed, but fellow breeder Isabel Ososki described Cary's collies as something that just sticks with people and raises awareness of being in the presence of something special.

“It's just one of those things where you look at the dog and it makes you want to smile,” Ososki said. “You want a dog that looks happy and gives you that look that makes you say, 'aww, that's a beautiful dog.”

“You have a very special gift when someone could look through a lineup and say,

TAYLORVILLE – Like many children at the time, Bonnie Cary grew up with a love of Lassie.

The famous collie from television and movies inspired the young Cary to go out and get her own collie, which became her best friend. While others were simply content to own and raise the dogs as a pet, the childhood experience led Cary to do a little more Herald & Review photos, Jim Bowling than just own dogs.

Collie breeders Bonnie Cary, left, and Kelley Courtney own the Mystic Collies kennel in Taylorville.

“I had that dog my entire life, she was my best friend, and it's her fault I'm doing all she breeds and takes care of including one that went to a of this collie breeding,” she nearly a dozen collies as well boy in Israel who suffered said with a laugh. as prepares to take the dogs from epilepsy. With the help Cary has since owned Mysacross the country to enter of the dog, the boy was able tic Collies, a kennel that has them into dog shows on top of to complete school, serve in bred collies that have gone on working a normal job in town. the Israeli military and now to win national awards as It can be exhausting, but work as a professional phowell as perform as service she said she lives and tographer. dogs across the breathes the sport of “Anyone can breed a dog world. In February, breeding and dog that can win a ribbon,” she a 4-year-old collie shows. said. “The dogs that can help she bred won Best in “I haven't' had a save lives is something that Variety for the day off in 37 years,” truly special.” smooth collie cateCary said. “These Sometimes owning a mystic gory at last month's dogs are an everyday collie is just about having a Westminster Kennel job.” beautiful pet around the Club Dog Show.

Kelley Courtney, house.

But an award-winwho works alongside Cindy Gibson bought her ning collie is not Cary with Mystic first collie from Cary in 2006 Cary and Courtney have high expectations that their collies, Dexter simply born out of Collies, said they do after finding out about her and Hadley, right, will do well at upcoming dog shows. coincidence. it because of their dogs online. Nearly nine The search for the passion for the aniyears later, Gibson has right breed came as mal. bought six different collies just a year old and never do that,” Gibson said. a part of cross-coun“Our goal is not to from Cary, and other memtrained as a service dog, to Even after nearly 40 years try purchases from mass-produce a bers of her family have also the hospital to visit a friend. as a breeder, Cary said she Bonnie Cary has won a multitude of awards during Cary in 1976, when breed that we love,” bought collies.

Despite her youth and inexpestill loves to be able to interher nearly 40 years of breeding collies. she bought collies in Courtney said. “We “Her dogs are very loved, rience, Gibson said the dog act and raise the dogs and New Hampshire and want to provide good and the puppies are very walked through the hospital had not even thought about 'that's a dog Bonnie bred.' ” California. While the kennel collies for people.” socialized,” Gibson said. with no worries, went into the stopping any time soon.

Even as she has created a in New Hampshire had collies The collies have left their “They have a sweetness to hospital room, and gently “I'm so engrained in this, I type of 'brand' with her colwith desirable conditioning, mark on people with more them and in how they interact jumped onto the bed and couldn't even quit if I wantlies, Cary said it is not a forphysiques and personality; than just their looks. with kids.” licked the hand of the friend. ed.” profit project for her. Based the California kennel had colCary said several of her Gibson remembers a par“It was the most precious rvoyles@herald-review.com| out of an old farmhouse on lies with the perfect facial collies have gone on to ticular time when she took thing I have ever seen, it was (217) 421-7985 the outskirts of Taylorville, features. become service animals, one of the collies, who was like she had been trained to

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WORK & PLAY

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

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DECATUR, ILLINOIS

Going natural Getting back to basics a rewarding venture for the mind and the pocketbook EMILY STEELE H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR – When her infant's skin broke out in a rash that wouldn't go away, Decatur mom Nicole Ropp tried everything to treat it.

“We found out we needed to get away from the traditional products because I bought everything on the shelves and nothing was working,” Ropp said.

So the stay-at-home mom with a master's degree started researching. She learned to make lotions and soaps herself using shea butter, coconut oil and other natural ingredients free of chemicals. Now she runs an online business selling handcrafted, preservative-free products geared toward those with sensitive skin or an appreciation of a clear list of ingredients.

“I like for the things to be simple so people can understand what they’re putting on without having a

Woody David and Mark Bridge work together filling bottles of home brew beer during the class.

master’s degree in chemistry,” she said.

And it turns out, a lot of people want to know what's in the products they use and food they eat. Citing cost benefits, a sense of pride and a peace of mind, there is a movement toward relearning skills practiced by previous generations by growing gardens, making cleaning supplies and keeping bees.

Caitlin Huth with the DeWittMacon-Piatt Extension Unit said, especially when it comes to food, people are calling to ask, “how can I do it myself?” They responded by offering a series called “Bringing Back the Basics” to teach skills such as canning, baking bread and beer brewing.

“From a nutrition standpoint, it's a big movement to know what is in our food; there's a lot of concern,” said Huth, a nutrition and wellness educator with the extension office.

Their audience is younger and includes both rural and urban dwellers seeking functional hobbies or businesses opportunities.

“It's primarily people having a personal interest in it,” Huth said.

“It's not that they don't want to buy beer, but they want to try it on their own and say, 'Hey, this is something I made.' ” The Sangamon Valley Beekeepers Association hosts a six-week workshop every year. Beekeeper Dave Pangrac said an increased interest in honeybees came after mass die offs known as colony collapse disorder became widespread. He said a lot of cities have changed rules to allow beekeeping and encourage local pollination.

“People don't realize how important pollination is for plants, fruits and most vegetables out there,” Pangrac said. “As the bee population dwindles, it's important to get additional beekeepers out there.”

Karen Cahill, co-president of the Macon County Association for

Herald & Review photos, Lisa Morrison

Doug Gucker looks over instructions as he and Chris Nelson work on putting the final touches on a batch of beer. The University of Illinois Extension was holding a series of classes on DIY projects including brewing your own beer.

The code on keeping critters

Nicole and Charlie Ropp work on creating soap for Tenderleaf Natural Products.

She is adding additional items to her skincare line as requests come in.

Home and Community Education, teaches a class on making your own cleaning supplies.

“A lot of the young moms are doing this because they're worried for their children,” Cahill said.

Her class includes replacement recipes for common products using ingredients such as baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and essential oils.

“It's cheaper, it's healthier,” Cahill said. “That's my big thing to get away from toxins in cleaning

products.”

Many are skeptical of the benefits of putting time and effort into something that can easily be bought. Ropp said she used to, but now she sees the need from customers seeking lotions that won't aggravate eczema or cancer patients who need to avoid chemicals. She cautions customers that her products won't heal them, but she's happy when something natural works. esteele@herald-review.com|(217) 421-6968

The proof is in the poultry. Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles as well as dozens of other major cities allow urban or backyard chickens.

“People are getting more interested in where their food comes from. So looking at chickens, or raising a garden is a way to know exactly where the food they're giving to their family and children is coming from,” said Doug Gucker, with the University of Illinois Extension office.

The trend has been steady in Decatur.

Assistant City Manager Billy Tyus said the city gets three or four calls a year about keeping fowl.

“We get questions every so often,” Tyus said. “Either from someone interested in having chickens or someone who is a neighbor to someone who has chickens.”

Chapter 47 of Decatur's municipal code outlines that residents or companies can keep rabbits, chickens, ducks, pigeons, geese and other domestic fowl in city limits. The animals must be enclosed at least 75 feet away, about a quarter of a football field, from any neighboring residences. That excludes many lots.

“In a lot of cases, having chickens isn't allowed,” Tyus said.

And while Decatur's code doesn't directly address roosters, Gucker said their loud crows means many municipalities specifically ban the birds to avoid noise complaints.

–EMILY STEELE

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015

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WORK & PLAY

DECATUR, ILLINOIS

PAGE 9

About town LOVINGTON

Herald & Review photos, Jim Bowling

The near-northwest side of Decatur has experienced some resurgence with the addition of the County Market, the expansion of the Akorn Pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility and the renovation of MacArthur High School.

Near-northwest side enjoys resurgence ALLISON PETTY H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR – Six years ago, Ryan McCrady was preparing to move to Decatur to start a new job as city manager.

As he drove through the city scouting for a place to call home, one spot caught his eye for the wrong reasons.

Weeds and boarded-up buildings marred the intersection of Oakland and Grand Avenues. McCrady said to himself, “Wow, we’ve got to do something with that.”

Today, that area looks very different, with city officials saying it has experienced a resurgence and could soon see even more positive change.

A new County Market store opened to much fanfare in January. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Akorn Inc. is working on a multiphase expansion of its facilities.

MacArthur High School has undergone dramatic renovations.

“Traffic brings other traffic. Retail brings other retail,” said McCrady, who is now president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County. “Neighborhood improvements raise the price of poker, so to speak. When someone cleans up their property, you kind of look at yours, you’re like ‘hmm, I need to do something with mine, too.’

“It happens, and you can see it happening. It generates momentum and optimism in a neighborhood, too.”

Smaller businesses are locating or expanding in the area as well. Patrick Hoban, economic development officer

County Market, refurbished school set the pace for new growth and hope for an area once in disrepair for the city, said he’s received more inquiries about potential retail space in the area since County Market opened.

“I really do think, from what’s gone on there, that you’re going to see continued development head north up Oakland,” he said.

The Decatur City Council in May 2013 voted to establish a tax increment financing district for the area that includes County Market as well as the triangle of land to the north and some property to the northeast on Oakland Avenue.

TIF districts are meant to provide incentives for development in places where it would not otherwise occur, and city officials say that area definitely fit the bill. A number of vacant houses were demolished, and the city used money from an Environmental Protection Agency grant to provide some help with assessment and cleanup.

Assistant City Manager Billy Tyus said potential developers have expressed interest not only in the TIF district but adjacent properties as well.

“It's an area that is growing, and in a lot of instances with economic development,

growth spurs more growth,” he said.

Jim Cloney is an example of the kind of investment that city officials would love to see spread through the area. In 2013, he bought a former chiropractor’s office at 1358 N. Oakland Ave. to become a new home for his businesses, Falcon Multimedia and DVD Memories Preserved.

The building had sat vacant for years, so its price was right. It was close to Millikin University, where Cloney has done business and hired some students as interns. The twolevel house had potential, but the kind of potential that might take some squinting to see.

“When we first came in, you really had to have some vision,” Cloney said. “I could see that it was a good-size space, but the way it was set up was just not going to work, plus it looked like something out of the '70s.”

He gutted the entire first floor, took out walls, added a sound studio, painted everything. The outside of the building got a royal treatment, too, with landscaping, fresh paint, lighting and a handsome sign.

When he first moved in, Cloney said he ran into some problems with people dumping garbage in his parking lot. Since he cleaned up the space, however, those issues mostly subsided.

“It’s definitely a decision I’m glad I made,” he said of the move.

Another longtime small business with plans to invest in the area is Krekel’s West.

Owner Todd Teel said he has purchased property to the north of the current location

The Colonial Mall is located on the near-northwest side along Fairview Avenue in an area that has seen a resurgence lately.

NEOGA

Jim Cloney is the owner of Falcon Multimedia video production company located on the near-northwest side of Decatur. in Colonial Mall, with the aim of opening a freestanding store with a drive-through.

Construction could take place later this year or early next year.

Teel said he’s been working in the West location, which has been open for 30 years, full time since 2006. Since then, he said he has noticed that the area around the store has “bloomed,” something he

said he expects to continue.

“I think this area is really starting to improve,” Teel said. “I think it's starting to brighten up with new businesses coming in, County Market, the remodeling of MacArthur High School. I think everybody's on the same page as far as wanting to brighten up Decatur.” apetty@herald-review.com| (217) 421-6986

Sullivan company leading charge on fiber optics Since 2010, Metro Communications has been creating links to cell towers CHRIS LUSVARDI H&R Staff Writer

SULLIVAN — If everything goes as it should, the work Metro Communications does can pass by mostly unnoticed.

President Zak Horn embraces that idea as he never wants the company to be asked whether a problem exists.

Everything must THE be in order NET as Horn www.mcc-ixc.com said it's like putting together a complicated puzzle.

“We do everything we can to make sure we're never going to have a problem,”

Horn said. “The mix of things has to work properly. We're building highly reliable, errorless networks.”

Since 2010, the Sullivanbased company has been working to establish a fiber optic network in areas throughout Illinois south of Chicago. The lines provide a link between towers for major cell phone providers.

“It's been growing since then,” Horn said the company first identified demand for the service in areas of East Central Illinois five years ago.

The network runs through communities including Monticello, Sullivan, Shelbyville and Mattoon with expansion under way in Decatur.

The preferred method of laying the lines is under-

Herald & Review photos, Jim Bowling

President Zak Horn shows the location where cell towers are connected to networks at Metro Communications in Sullivan. ground, which Horn said provides the best protection and helps improve the chances for the system to work reliably at all times.

Network and systems manager Nick Hess can monitor

Groundsman Dalton Ohm of Metro Communications cuts a conduit line during the process of laying fiber optic lines along U.S. 51 in Clinton.

VILLAGE: Lovington COUNTY: Moultrie POPULATION: 1,130 VILLAGE PRESIDENT: James Minor HIGHWAYS: Illinois 133 HISTORY: The village was first incorporated in 1873. Moultrie County, in which Lovington is located, was originally part of Shelby and Macon counties.

The county was named after Col. William Moultrie by the governor in 1843.

James Kellar erected the first building in the village in 1838. It was called the Black Horse Tavern and provided food and shelter. The Decatur and Paris Stage Line passed by the tavern three times daily using the old plowedfurrow Springfield Road. This road was one of the first in the county and extended from Paris to Springfield. Its path through Lovington corresponds closely with current Illinois highways 32 and 133. About 1848 Andrew and John Love moved into town.

The first post office was established in the Love’s home and the village was named after the brothers in 1850.

ON THE WEB: www.lovingtonil.gov.

PHONE NUMBER: (217) 8734480 mornings

the system to see how the network is performing and spot potential issues.

“We make sure to test it and build fallback protections throughout the network,” Hess said.

Plans are moving forward with the team's sights already set on what needs to be done next year and beyond. Laying the groundwork for the network can be a slow process as the network spans hundreds of miles, Horn said.

Specialized heavy machinery helps the work crews Craig Bennett oversees put the fiber in the ground and bore under roads. Crews can cover a couple of hundred miles a year, Bennett said.

Once the fiber is in the ground, Bennett said Metro's crews will work on restoration and getting the landscape looking like it was before.

“That's the objective,” Bennett said.

Customer service manager Elizabeth Bennett works with towns to secure permits in order to work along public rights of way.

“Every place is different,”

she said. “Most want what's best for their towns.”

Providers that offer services to customers can link into Metro's lines to complete the connections, Horn said. Metro is not what is considered a last-mile service provider, he said.

The goal is to create a highcapacity network to provide high-speed Internet service to underserved markets, Horn said.

“Every business needs fiber-driven capacity,” Horn said. “We're filling a need not filled by other services. It can be the only option. Having the infrastructure in place is huge.”

Demand for the services has exploded with more devices that use network capacity, Horn said. He hopes the work boosts economic development efforts in areas where the network is being placed.

Having high-speed Internet capacity is becoming essential for most businesses and governmental entities, said Heath Poulos, route acquisition and vendor manager.

“It's for anyone who uses the Internet for anything other than email,” Poulos said.

Horn, who has owned Metro since 2000, said the company's growth has been fueled by the use of smartphones and the switch away from land-line based phone communication. He said it had started as a telecommunications business before switching its focus away from that end in order to seize upon an opportunity for growth.

Horn said voice communications remains a part of the business. clusvardi@herald-review.com| (217) 421-7972

CITY: Neoga COUNTY: Cumberland POPULATION: 1,654 MAYOR: H. Wayne Modglin EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Lake Mattoon, The Aldrich Home INDUSTRY: Kern Mfg. Co., Brighton Cabinetry Inc. MAJOR HIGHWAYS: Interstate 57, U.S. 45 HISTORY: Neoga originated and flourished because of the Illinois Central Railroad. This area was relatively isolated and non-progressive until the railway and steam locomotive revolutionized means of transportation. In 1851, the state granted the Illinois Central 3 million acres of land, a strip 200 feet wide from Michigan Canal to Cairo for the purpose of building and financing a railroad. A branch of the Illinois Central was constructed from Centralia to Chicago, and it is on this line that the station of Neoga was established in 1855.

ON THE WEB: www.neoga.org

BETHANY VILLAGE: Bethany COUNTY: Moultrie POPULATION: 1,352 VILLAGE PRESIDENT: William Ashley Jr. EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS: Bethany Celebration, Crowder Park MAJOR HIGHWAY: Illinois 121 HISTORY: The land upon which Bethany is situated was entered

by Robert Law, who built the first house, a small log cabin erected in 1834. Law was a farmer, and also built mill. In 1837, Law sold out to A.N. Ashmore; and he soon afterward sold out to the Rev. A.M. Wilson who built a large two-story log house. This was all the building done here until 1854, when Dr. J.D. Livesay, who was the first physician, erected a frame dwelling and storehouse and, in partnership with Thomas Sowell, opened a general stock of goods for sale. This was the first frame building and is now used as a wagon shop by Lantz and Mitchell.

There was no school taught in the village proper until about 1871, when Miss Snyder taught in the private residence of Stephen McReynolds. The present schoolhouse was built in 1874.

The old Bethany church that stood on the village site, from which it received its named, was built of hewed logs in 1838. It was replaced by the present frame structure in 1855, at a cost of $2,200. This is the Cumberland Presbyterian church.

The Methodist church was erected in the fall of 1872.

There was a post office established in 1856 at Marrowbone, and J.L. Livesay was made the first postmaster. W.P. McGuire was next appointed and through his efforts the name was changed to Bethany.

Bethany was incorporated as a village in spring 1877.

ON THE WEB: www.354.com/ bethany/