Dixon’s neighbor will host a Grand Detour de force of local talent
Cleanliness is next to dogliness for a Dixon pet groomer
A Dixon senior living facility is proud of their Heritage
Plus ... Where Is It in Dixon?
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8 Conservation: It’s habitat forming
18
Proud of their Heritage
Things are as good as gold for a Dixon senior care facility: It’s got residents who’ve found a happy home, a staff dedicated to keeping them smiling, a board committed to its success, and a golden jubilee to celebrate.
26 Inspiration destination
It’s a Grand Detour de force of local talent, and you’re invited as Dixon’s neighbor to the north once again hosts a celebration of the arts — and this year, there are 75 more reasons to celebrate
34 Cleanliness is next to dogliness
A Dixon couple’s trips to Africa have helped them see just how delicate of a balancing act our planet’s future is, which is why they’re doing their part to keep the scales tipped in nature’s favor Plus ... Where Is It in Dixon? Pages 4 & 39
For the owners of a Dixon business, there’s more to dog grooming than just a bath and a brush — smoothing out a dog’s ruff edges makes for a happier and healthier dog, too.
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More than 15,000 people call Dixon home — but how well do they know it? There’s a lot to see and do here, but how often do people notice the little things? The pictures in “Where Is It” feature upclose snapshots of various sites in and around Dixon, from angles and perspectives that may have you scratching your head and asking, “Where, or what, is it?” Can you guess what’s pictured in the photos on this page? Try figuring them all out yourself, or as a group to see who knows more than the other.
ANSWERS: PAGE 39
Sometimes you have to take a trip to the past one step at a time.
If you look at this Rorschach test-like blob and see a work of art that honors a former Dixon resident, you’d be right.
The building these tiles are on makes a powerful statement, but you’re probably saying to yourself, “I’ll be da-, er, darned if I know where they’re at.”
and
There are many sides to Dixon, and when you stroll downtown, you’ll find four of them underneath these.
You may be one of the thousands who’ve passed under this light that’s got a real old-school design to it, but have you ever looked up and noticed it?
Behind this post is a place that’s cornered the market on wellness.
Raindrops won’t keep falling on your head, thanks to this auto glass.
PHOTOS: CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Ask not for whom this picture tolls, it tolls for thee — but unless you’ve got the sunroof open or the top down, it’s unlikely you’ll recognize this.
An occasional feature of Dixon Living highlighting local landmarks and locations off the beaten path. We’ll feature
photo
it’s up to you to guess where it was taken.
• The majority of Heritage Square Employees reside in the Dixon community.
• Heritage Square is a Non-Profit health care facility always governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of Dixon leaders for the past 50 years. Any profits go right back into our community.
• Our competitors are For-Profit entities beholden to out of state shareholders and are not rated 5 stars.
• The only area health care facility consistently with an Overall 5 Star Rating!
Federal Quality Rating System
have availability in our Health Care Center and Sheltered Care Areas. Call Heritage Square at (815) 288-2251 to schedule a tour today! We would be privileged to care for you & your loved one.
ill and Deb Crowson aren’t the types who enjoy spending a day at the zoo. They’d rather see wildlife where it was meant to be: in its natural habitat. Creatures great and small — elephants, orangutans, birds, cheetahs — the Crowsons can’t get enough of seeing the subjects of the animal kingdom. But that can mean taking a pretty long trip, about 8,000 miles as the Crowsons fly.
But for the Dixon couple dedicated to making a difference in the whole wild world, becoming frequent fliers is a small price to pay — especially when you consider the price the animals would have to pay if people didn’t lend a hand.
The endangered species list would grow while the animal population shrinks. Creatures that have roamed the land for centuries could become extinct. And it’s not just the animals that are impacted — the planet pays the price, too. Earth’s ecosystem starts to lose its balance and the dominoes start to fall.
“What happens is that when you lose a species, it’s going to upset the natural balance,” Deb said. “We’ve found over and over again that we need these certain animals. Look what happened to the bison. Nachusa Grasslands is a good example, the bison are important for sustaining the natural prairie because of the way they paw on the earth. You want to preserve a species as much as possible, and then in the big picture maintain as much remnants of natural environment as possible.”
CONSERVATION cont’d to page 10
That’s where the Crowsons’ long-distance love affair with nature comes in. Bill, CEO of Allied-Locke Industries in Dixon, and Deb, a retired teacher, have visited Africa 14 times over the last 20 years for wildlife viewing adventures. They took their first trip to South Africa in 2003 and have been to 22 different countries since then, tallying most of them on their second African trip, and most recently made their fourth visit to Namibia in February to visit the Cheetah Conservation Fund and its director, Dr. Laurie Marker.
“We just fell in love with it,” Deb said. “Africa gets under my skin. We’ve had good experiences. We’ve enjoyed the wildlife viewing and the birds. Birding in Africa is quite different, it’s a whole learning curve with all of the different species, but we’ve become pretty adept at figuring at least which groups they are a part of.”
The Crowsons have been awestruck and amazed by what they’ve seen, and that’s sparked an interest in supporting the mission of those who want to keep Mother Earth’s children safe. They’ve
become active in supporting initiatives that support animal survival in Africa, among them the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi for orphaned elephants, the Tsavo East and West National Parks, the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and Lion Guardians through WildlifeDirect. The Crowsons also have supported establishing and sustaining African parks, and sponsored orangutans in Borneo.
“The wild world is in trouble,” Deb said. “What they’re doing is making a difference.”
The Crowsons have seen firsthand the problems animals face in the wild, and they’re hoping they can help spread the word back home.
“Some people are not quite aware of animal plight,” Bill said. “Us being in Africa so many times, we’re very much aware of animal plight, so that has caused us to get more involved in trying to help animals.”
Once plentiful throughout the world, the cheetah has now been limited to Southern Africa and central Iran, though attempts to repopulate them in India have been tried in recent years. The global cheetah count was estimated to be around 6,500, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which classifies the cheetah as Vulnerable on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Namibia is home to about 20 to 30 percent of the world’s cheetah population, roaming in the dry and dessert-like country along the Atlantic shore in southern Africa. It is the second-least sparsely populated country in the world behind Mongolia.
CONSERVATION cont’d to page 11
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The fastest animal on land, Cheetahs can reach speeds nearing 65 mph on flat terrain, sometimes in as little as 3 seconds, using their tails as rudders to help keep their balance while they run. Bill enjoys capturing images of them, especially mid-spring when all four paws are off the ground (see page 12 for some of his photos). It’s a challenge, he said, and the best ones have found a home on the walls of Crowsons’ living room.
“We keep going back to Africa and we really enjoy it,” Bill said. Always mindful of their place in preservation, the Crowsons make sure their visits respect the relationship between humans and habitats. While visits to Africa can be an unforgettable experience, they should always be done with the animals’ welfare in mind. Some experts fear that a growing tourism trade in Africa could disrupt animals’ natural behavior.
The fund was founded in Namibia by Dr. Laurie Marker in 1990, to preserve and promote the importance of the cheetah population, and educate people about the animal; its education center welcomes visitors and school field trips to learn all about them, and more than 100,000 acres are dedicated to keeping cheetahs thriving.
“The information was so good, and it wanted to make me learn more about cheetahs,” Deb said. “During her research, she realized that cheetahs were in trouble, not just because of human wildlife conflict, but because they lack genetic diversity. You have these pockets of cheetahs primarily in the southern half of Africa, but you need a more diverse gene pool. If they don’t have that, they’re more prone to disease and weakness.”
CONSERVATION cont’d to page 15
During a recent fundraising trip to the U.S., Cheetah Conservation Fund director Dr. Laurie Marker stopped by the Crowsons for a visit, where she was treated to a cake made in her honor. “We really enjoyed her company,” said Deb.
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While there, the Crowsons saw up close the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s work when the institution was preparing cheetahs siblings — two females and a male — for release into the wild. Marker showed them the prep work that goes into getting them ready for release. About 30 cheetahs were on site when the Crowsons visited, some ready to return to the wild and some not, particularly those six months or younger that hadn’t yet learned survival skills.
Cheetahs are not aggressive animals, unlike the lions or leopards they may encounter. Another detriment to the cheetah population is how their anatomy functions after a kill; they don’t eat right away and have to stave off other animals to protect their food.
“They’re so at risk, because their heart and lung rates go way up during a kill — they can only run for short periods of time,” Deb said. “After they make their kill, they almost have to wait a half-hour to cool down before they can eat. In that amount of time, a leopard or particularly hyenas or lions may grab their kill. They’re not fighters, where a leopard or a lion is more apt to fight.”
In addition to its Namibia facilities, the Cheetah Conservation Fund also has an operation in the So-
maliland region of Somalia, trying to prevent cubs from being forcefully removed from their habitat.
“In Somaliland, sadly, young tiny cheetah cubs are captured and are sold to very wealthy Middle Easterners,” Deb said. “It’s a status symbol [for them] to have a cheetah as a pet, and they don’t take care of them, and eventually they die.”
Bruce Brewer, a longtime associate of Marker’s at the Cheetah Conservation Fund, recycles invasive Namibian thornbush into blocks using a chipper, with proceeds from sales helping CCF. Brewer showed Bill the machine and told him about a part they’d been having trouble with.
Machine. Part … Bill’s ears perked up.
“There’s a part that pushes the chips into the heating chamber to make this block, and Bruce told me that he had problems with this part – it wears out very quickly,” Bill said. “I told him, ‘Bruce, I can make that.’ So Allied-Locke now is in the process of making this part for Bruce, and we’re trying to make a better part for him.”
Deb does her part to find allies in their cause, sharing her and Bill’s wildlife experiences with local service clubs, raising awareness of the cheetah’s plight and why it’s important to prevent them, and other species, from becoming endangered or extinct.
During a fundraising trip in the United States, Marker made a short visit to the Crowson’s home on May 21 to update them on the institution’s work and share some memories of their recent visit.
CONSERVATION cont’d to page 17
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Bill Crowson, CEO of Allied-Locke Industries, was able to enlist the company’s help with the mission of the Cheetah Conservation Fund. A machine the group uses to recycle invasive thornbush into blocks, which are sold to help raise funds, needed a part that wouldn’t wear out quickly, and AlliedLocke was able to help. At left, Bill takes the Fund’s founder and director, Laurie Marker, on a tour of the plant May 21.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
“Because we’ve made a connection with Laurie and Bruce, it made us decide to want to do more,” Deb said. “We made another donation when we came back. Her work has been hard work.”
Take it from the Crowsons: Supporting the Cheetah Conversation Fund and helping to keep the cheetah population thriving is an investment that is not overlooked by its recipients.
“We decided to go visit the Cheetah Conversation Fund, and we really didn’t know what to expect,” Bill said. “We were hoping to meet Laurie but we didn’t know how much time she would give us. It turned out we were there two full days, and she spent just about the whole time with us. We really ended up getting to know her quite well and really enjoyed her company.”
Reaching out across the world. Getting to know people like Laurie Marker. Spreading the word. They’re all steps on a journey that have helped conservation and preservation become like second nature to the couple, helping them do their part to protect the nature that came first. n
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
Want to help?
The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a research and lobby institution, located in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, concerned with the study and sustenance of the worldwide cheetah population. Find it on Facebook, or either Instagram or Twitter/X @ccfcheetah; email info@cheetah.org or go to cheetah.org to learn more about the institution. A mailing list is available through the website for news and updates about the institution's activities. Nonprofit donations to help the institution's programs are accepted on its website and by mail at P.O. Box 2496. Alexandria, VA, 22301; the Cheetah Conservation Fund is a 501(c)3 organization.
Additional ways to help include sponsoring a cheetah at its facilities (as well as their livestock guarding dogs), and through bequests in an estate plan. Email donations@cheetah.org for additional donation information.
Surgeons at Morrison Hospital
eritage Square has always made its residents’ golden years their No. 1 priority. But lately, it’s had some other golden years on its mind, too: its own.
This year marks the Dixon retirement facility’s golden jubilee — 50 years of giving seniors a place to call home, where the staff prides itself on providing the kind of quality of life that comes from celebrating life. Calling itself an “oasis in senior living,” Heritage Square aims for a model of self sufficiency, creating its own community where residents don’t have to go far to find what they need. Need to visit the doctor? Have a therapy appointment? Need to go to the salon for a new ’do? Everything residents need is right on campus, providing them a sense of normalcy and independence, while helping hands are never far away.
Heritage Square administrator Dan Howard took over the reins of the Dixon retirement care facility in April from former administrator Bonnie O’Connell. Howard’s current tenure marks a new chapter in its history, now in its 50th year.
Unlike for-profit, corporate nursing homes, Heritage Square is a nonprofit facility, with decisions about its functions made solely within its offices. Residents can also weigh in, through an elected Resident Council of peers who can have a voice in those decisions.
Bonnie O’Connell’s tenure as Heritage Square’s nursing director and administrator encompassed most of the recent half of the home’s history. She retired in March after overseeing its operations for the past 16 years, where she emphasized to her staff that when they are happy, the residents are happy.
“With Heritage Square, it’s all about the residents and the staff,” O’Connell said. “The highest well-being equals their longevity here. The more you can identify when they come in and take what they’re independent with, and what they can do, and help them do what they can do, the longer they are going to remain here and the longer Heritage Square is going to remain strong.”
O’Connell handed Heritage Square’s reins over to current administrator Dan Howard, ushering in a new chapter in the home’s history at the 50-year mark.
“I’m absolutely honored, humbled and privileged to be the administrator here,” Howard said. “Bonnie has set a high bar. I’ve come to love the charm, the elegance and the traditions that occur here that these fine people have started at the beginning. With the wisdom at the beginning, it was so wise of the board to establish our mission statement: Providing the highest
quality of care in a warm and loving environment.”
Howard and his staff of around 100 employees — many of whom are from Dixon — have been hard at work this summer putting together celebration plans for Heritage Square’s 50th anniversary; additional details will be announced early in the fall.
Heritage Square has 36 sheltered care and 16 skilled nursing care beds, as well as independent living duplexes. Artwork from residents of both the home and in Dixon are featured throughout the facility. The outdoor patio area has a garden, fountain, sheltered picnic tables and a 40-foot tree that gets all decked out in lights each Christmas.
Residents enjoy activities such as bowling on the patio, Bingo, trivia contests, ice cream socials, dances, luaus and special suppers. Special events also are planned for each holiday. Ecumenical church services welcome people of all faiths each Sunday, and Catholic services are held Tuesday mornings. For those who don’t have computers or internet access, the Ronald Reagan Room study provides both.
For Dorothy Bellows, 97, the half-century celebration is sure to bring back plenty of memories from when the home welcomed its first residents in the fall of 1974. She served as its first activities director and retired in 1998. She, like a few other former employees, have come back to Heritage Square as residents, having moved there 4 1/2 years ago.
Howard considers Bellows Heritage Square’s “resident historian,” he said.
cont’d to page 22
HERITAGE
CLOCKWISE FROM
TO LEFT: The Heritage Square Board of Directors in 1974: (in no particular order): Harry Newcomer, Donald Raymond, Harold Rhodes, Patrick Jones, D.M. Tarvin, Robert Warner, Henry Lovett and Raymond Bowman. Dorothy Bellows holds an ad from the Nov. 1, 1974, Dixon Telegraph announcing Heritage Square’s open house celebration. Bellows was one of its original employees, serving as activity director for 24 years, and has been a resident since
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Heritage Square’s staff strives to provide all the comforts of home at the senior living facility, both inside and out. Among the features indoors is The Ronald Reagan Room, featuring pictures and other items of Dixon’s famous son, is a study area available to residents where they can learn how to use a computer and the internet. The outdoor patio area has a garden, fountain, sheltered picnic tables and a rock garden featuring rocks with positive messages painted on them.
“The goal of Heritage Square has always been to be respective of the residents and to treat them with respect, to love them and to help them,” Bellows said.
Though there’ll be 50 candles on Heritage Square’s birthday cake this year, its story actually begins 75 years ago.
In 1949, Laura Rogers of Grand Detour put together her estate plan with Dixon attorney Robert Warner. Rogers wished to leave part of her estate to establish a retirement home in Dixon. The endeavor would be called the Dixon Old People’s Home Fund, and Rogers and Warner selected members of a board of directors to establish the home. The board took a big step forward in 1963, when it bought the former North Dixon School property — coincidentally where Rogers graduated from high school in 1893. The old school was razed 10 years later.
Rogers died in 1971 at age 98 and her estate plan was put into motion. With that money, along with funds raised, the board set out to turn Rogers’ wish into reality.
But first, they needed something new for something Old.
The name Dixon Old People’s Home didn’t quite fit in with modern sensibilities so the board decided to come up with a different name. Two options were considered: Dixon Square or Heritage House, before a compromise was reached: Heritage Square.
HERITAGE cont’d to page 23
Raymond Bowman, who had served as administrator at Pinecrest Manor in Mount Morris, was hired in 1972 by the board of directors to serve as a building and planning consultant. As bids started coming in, it was clear that the project would require more money, so two additional estate plans kicked in more cash and the facility became a reality.
Bowman went on to become the home’s first administrator and served until 1986. Before the building was even built, one of his first hires came from his former employer: Bellows was the activity director at Pinecrest and he asked her to come aboard to Heritage Square.
“Our office was in a house next door,” Bellows said. “There were no windows and doors in this building yet.”
Ground was broken in July 1973, and 16 months later Heritage Square welcomed the community to an open house on Nov. 2-3, 1974, that drew about 2,800 people to see the community’s newest retirement home. Among the notable
trolled heating and air conditioning, and all carpeted floors. Bill Reigle remembers Heritage Square’s first few years, particularly when dealing with some the misconceptions of the time. Many people equated modern with money. Reigle served on the home’s board of directors for 42 years, from 1979-2021, and during most of that time he was also a lender at Dixon National Ban and later Amcore bank.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Activities are an important part of any senior living facility; they can help keep residents engaged and their minds active. Here, residents enjoy a game of Bingo.
HERITAGE cont’d from page 23
“We had a little problem early on getting over the idea that this was only for the rich,” Reigle said. “We had to convince people that it’s not the way it is. It was a facility that there was nothing like it in northern Illinois really at that time, where you could come and say, ‘Wow, this is something else!’ Our rates were less, plus the fact that in our bylaws, the board took the position that we would never put anybody out, even if they ran out of money.”
It didn’t take much convincing. Nine months later, after Louise Tyler became the first resident on Nov. 8, Heritage Square was at operating capacity.
Right from the start, Bowman, Bellows and the rest of Heritage Square’s staff worked not only to provide quality care to residents, but also laid the foundation that future staffers continue to build on today.
Even after 25 years since she last worked there, many of the activities that Bellows established are still being enjoyed by residents today. During her time as activities director, Bellows would often hear comments that resonate with her now as a resident.
“One of them said, ‘I always thought I couldn’t do these things anymore, and I come here and now I’m doing them,’” Bellows said. “Another family said: ‘I always tried to call my mother, and she never answers the phone, because she’s out doing activities.’”
Heritage Square has grown through the years, with additions to the complex to the north and east made in the 1990s, including the Warner Campus set of independent living duplexes.
While there has been much to celebrate through the years,
there have also been challenges, not the least of which was something no one saw coming: a worldwide pandemic.
Protecting the health of its residents and assuring their physical and mental well-being became an even greater concern than before, not to mention having to follow a slew of new state and federal government regulations to make it all happen.
The pandemic was a challenging time for O’Connell and her staff, but they rose to the challenge.
“During the pandemic — and I hate to bring the word up — it never proved itself more than it did then,” O’Connell said. “This facility took over with the rules and with all the government wanted of us, and we did it — we crossed the T’s, dotted the I’s, and we did it without any problems. It was because we had the best staff, the most staff, and everyone came together to protect our residents.”
Nearly 1,000 residents have lived at Heritage Square during its 50 years. Some of the earliest residents, like Laura Rogers, were students at the former school building that once was on its site. Other residents were classmates of famous Dixon residents such as Ronald Reagan and Louella Parsons, and likely shared stories of those days among each other.
The oldest resident to have lived at Heritage Square was Mary Crombie, who died in 2003 at age 113; the lifelong Chicago Cubs fan was also the oldest verified living resident of Illinois, fourth-oldest in the nation and ninth-oldest in the world at the time. At one point, Heritage Square had 11 residents aged 100 or older, O’Connell said.
HERITAGE cont’d to page 25
Charles Beckman has served on Heritage Square’s board of directors since 1987 and is a past president. The retired associate circuit judge is especially proud of the home’s record which has earned it a 5-star rating from the Illinois Department of Health — and the dedication of its leadership.
“The things that impress me most are the dedication of the board, who all come in with the same ideas and the same principles and we carry those into effect as best we can. All of that is overshadowed by the quality of the administrators that we’ve had. They have all been top-notch, and [O’Connell and Howard] are right at the top.”
With a board of directors that gets along well comes administrators and leadership that does the same, Reigle said.
“I don’t ever remember going home from a board meeting having any animosity from anybody,” he said. “People had their input, and some had their differences of opinion, but before we went home we’d resolve it.”
O’Connell was thankful to have a board that worked well with her, which in turn helped residents.
“A lot of times, if we needed a copy machine or whatever,” she said, “one of the board members would ask, ‘What does it cost, and what do we need to do?’ and they just make it happen.”
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Howard feels the same as well, and as he looks ahead, he’s committed to making Heritage Square’s future as successful as its past.
“My prime directive as an administrator is the safety and well-being of our residents,” Howard said. “The commitment of providing quality care will continue. Our commitment to quality care will not be diminished.” n
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
Heritage Square is located at 620 N. Ottawa Ave. in Dixon. Events surrounding its 50th anniversary will be announced at a later date. Visiting hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Go to heritagesquare. com, email ssv.heritagesquare@ comcast.net or call 815-2882251 for more information.
At left: Retired Heritage Square administrator Bonnie O’Connell chats with the facility’s oldest current resident, 104-year-old John Cramer, during a recent visit. “Bonnie has set a high bar.” said current administrator Dan Howard.
NEED NEW GLASSES?
ome artists have traveled the world to find their inspiration. Others have found it just around the bend, in a village not far from Dixon.
Strolling through the Grand Detour’s streets, it’s easy to imagine simpler times gone by, when life moved a little slower and people could take time to not only soak in the scenery but become inspired by it. That’s because throughout its nearly 200-year history, the village has served as a catalyst for creativity, a place whether people could tap into a wellspring of inspiration and find their inner artist.
Nestled in a bend along the Rock River, the not-so-bustling burg is big on small-town charm. It’s like a picture-perfect postcard of rural life along the river — and if that picture is worth a thousand words, then a painting has to be worth at least a Grand.
Today, people are still finding the artist inside them, and they’re taking it outside for the annual Grand Detour Arts Festival, when the village of about 400 people welcomes visitors to take a detour off the highway that runs through it and set aside time for some art appreciation.
When people stop by the festival, they not only get to see and buy artwork in various mediums — paintings, drawings, sculptures, woodwork, crafts — but they also get to enjoy the village charm that’s made Grand Detour a haven for artists through the years.
FESTIVAL cont’d to page 28
Grand Detour artist Jane Edgar (second from left) will sell her 2003 painting of St. Peter Episcopal Church in Grand Detour during the 75th annual Grand Detour Arts Festival on Sept. 8. She is pictured with festival committee chairwoman Lynn Roe (left) and The Next Picture Show executive director Letha Catalina. Edgar and her husband Ralph founded TNPS in 2004, and she has her works displayed in the downtown Dixon art gallery’s second floor. The church (at right) was built in 1849 and will be open for tours during this year’s festival.
This year’s show marks a milestone: 75 years for the festival, which will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sept. 8 — rain or shine — at the same place that it’s been at all these years: The John Deere Historic Site. Around 100 different artists young and old, including many participants in the festival’s Student Art Exhibit, will display their creations, hoping to catch judges’ eyes. Awards are given for the best collection of works in certain mediums, highlighted by the event’s grand prize: the Charles Kested Best of Show award.
Not only is the show one of the oldest of its kind in northern Illinois, but its outdoor setting adds to its charm — a breath of fresh air in a world of mass-production and mass-consumption.
Green grass, blue skies, and art — that’s what Lynn Roe of Grand Detour thinks of most when promoting the event. She leads the Grand Detour Arts Festival Committee of 12 local art enthusiasts who run the show, approve applications for exhibits, and promote it.
The committee partners with The Next
Picture Show art gallery in downtown Dixon to help make the show a success.
“I like to see people come and enjoy themselves,” Roe said. “I like to see the same artists come back. We love new artists, and we have a lot of new ones this year. Most of the same artists will request the same booths, and people who always come know where they are.”
While there, people can visit other spots in Grand Detour: The John Deere Historic Site is open for tours and will have blacksmith demonstrations, and the nearby vintage-1849 limestone St. Peter Episcopal Church will be open for tours.
Jane Edgar of Grand Detour used to display her works at the show, but has stepped away from doing so in recent years, but she’s still a big part of the show. Her painting of the St. Peter church, “St. Peter’s in Snow No. 2,” will be for sale this year, with half of the proceeds supporting the festival’s operations. She and her husband Ralph established The Next Picture Show in 2004.
Edgar painted the piece in 2003 from a photo she took of the church during the winter. It’s just one of many local scenes she’s come to appreciate since moving there in 2000.
“The village itself is very special,” Edgar said. “When I moved here, I would be very surprised about all of the people who would be stopping and gawking because it’s just so beautiful. It’s like the whole place is a park.”
“There’s a very rich sense of art throughout the village’s history,” she said. “Many of the homes in Grand Detour were made by Chicago artists who would come to paint. They discovered that Grand Detour was a great place to paint. They discovered the village and made their homes here, and several generations of artists are teachers and artists.”
The event also will feature a raffle of a white-on-black pencil drawing of a squirrel from Matt Jagitsch of Sterling. Jagitsch’s works won Best of Show in 2021. (Read more about him in the Summer 2023 Sterling-Rock Falls living at issuu.com/shawmedia/docs/svm_ srfl_070523/12).
FESTIVAL cont’d to page 30
Artists can bring their own equipment and tables, or rent a table from the festival committee. The application process is designed to ensure that the works are of original concept, design and execution; works commercially produced or made from kits, models or patterns aren’t allowed. The application process is the same each year, and those who wish to exhibit at next year’s show can contact The Next Picture Show for more information; existing exhibitors who refer a new artist to show can receive a discount for booth rental.
Letha Catalina has exhibited her own works at the show, and will help oversee it this year as executive director of The Next Picture Show, a role she began in August.
“Being an artist who has been to different outside shows, Grand Detour is just special,” Catalina said. “It’s kind of a magical feeling as soon as you go through the gate. It’s just such as relaxed and calm feeling, and the atmosphere is the biggest thing. The vibe as you look across the small road, you see all of these homes that were built in the 1800s. Being an artist, you don’t want to miss this one.”
Up until around 25 years ago, the show had been held around the perimeter of the John Deere Historic Site, but has since moved onto its grounds, also adding food and craft vendors and occasional musical performances.
Two major additions to the show were made about 20 years ago. One of them is The Tradition Continues Award, a judge’s choice of the top work that doesn’t quite fit into one of the show’s other award categories. The other is the Student Art Exhibit, which draws area artists from grades K through 12. In addition to top honors, student participants also receive art supplies as prizes.
“That’s become a big part of the overall festival now,” Roe said. “It brings a lot of families out, and the kids come from schools all around the area.”
The Charles Kested Best of Show Award is given to the judge’s pick for the best artwork among all categories.
Kested, an Ashton native, founded the show in 1948. He worked as a painter and decorator, taught watercolor art in the area, and studied art in the 1930s under the guidance of watercolorist Holger Jensen and oil painter John Nolf, both from Grand Detour. Jensen and Nolf were part of the Grand Detour Art Colony, which was founded as an offshoot of the Eagle’s Nest art colony in Oregon. The colony was active from the 1920s to the 1950s, and many of their paintings are on display at the Loveland Community House in Dixon.
Many of Kested’s works feature old barns and prairie scenes around Grand Detour, as well as sites within the historic village. He lived to see the 50th anniversary of the show in 1998 before his death in 2001 at 94.
“He started out in oils and moved to watercolors, and then started teaching watercolors,” Roe said. “He was very well known in the community, and we’ve honored him with our Best of Show.”
After rain put a damper on the 2022 show, last year’s event saw sunny skies return with a larger crowd and 48 booths. Jessica Modica, executive director of the Freeport Art Museum, served as judge and toured the show to find the best works. The mixed media work of Linda Magklaris of Oregon was awarded Best of Show. Along with earning the top honor, her work also is being used as a promotional image for this year’s show.
The Tradition Continues Award was won by Mary Jo Schuneman. Category winners were Stuart Roddy, oil acrylic; Margaret Rogowski, jewelry; Charlie Kerr, photography; Nancy Ocken, 3-dimension; Kevin Deets, woodwork; and Donna Smith, drawing medium. Honorable mention recipients were Joanne Farley, oil acrylic; David Radionoff, jewelry; Letha Catalina, photography; Prisilla Osborne, 3-dimensional; John Carroll, woodwork; and Whitley Cuevas, drawing medium.
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Betty Predmore talks with an attendee about her artwork, which was raffled off during last year’s Grand Detour Arts Festival.
Carolyn McBride, a volunteer for Serenity Hospice and Home, adjusts some of the Petal Pushers items for sale at the festival. The Petal Pushers are a group of women from the Dixon area who use flower petals to create one-of-a-kind everyday items greeting cards, sacks, bookmarks, framed pieces, and more. Proceeds from sales help fill patient requests at Serenity Hospice and Home in Oregon.
Carroll of Grand
runs past some of the items for sale at John Carroll’s booth at last year’s Grand Detour Arts Festival.
This mixed media painting by Linda Magklaris
of Oregon earned Best of Show at last year’s festival. Jessica Modica (above right), executive director of the Freeport Art Museum, served as judge. The painting is also featured in promotional images for this year’s show.
Live music has been a staple at the festival in recent years.
Anderson
Detour
(above left)
SVM FILE PHOTOS
In last year’s Student Art Exhibit, judged by Smith at TNPS the day prior to the event, “Two Faces Like Pablo Picasso” by Eoghan Good won Best of Show. Kindergarten to second-grade group winners were Finley Wolford, first; Coleson Goodwin, second; Khloe Stark, third; Sloan Perino, honorable mention; Evanston Gumbiner, judge’s choice. In grades three through five, winners were Delia Rich, first; Brison Fenwick, second; Jaron Walter, third; Blaine Flikkema, honorable mention; Genevieve Billiet, judge’s choice. Grades six through eight winners were Hayden Hunsburger, first; Chloie Flanagan, second; Devin Burrs, third and judge’s choice; and Izabel Dorwaldt, honorable mention. High school winners were Sophia Stender, first and third; Macklynn Rager, second; Alanya Benton honorable mention; and Rylyn Karrow, judge’s choice.
Organizers are always looking for more artists to be in the show, hoping to get back to numbers it saw before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Watercolor and sculpture exhibits are of particular need; awards had been given in those categories in past events, but were not last year due to low numbers.
“Last year’s show was great. It wasn’t our biggest show, but it was a real nice show,” Roe said. “We didn’t have as many artists, as it’s taken some time to build back up our number of artists coming back after Covid.”
Roe and the festival committee are looking forward to another great show this year, and hope to add a special touch for the 75th anniversary, though nothing definite had been nailed down as of press time..
Seventy-Five years of culture and creativity — the festival’s longevity and success not only pay tribute to Grand Detour’s history and heritage, but the creators who have been the heartbeat of art in the heartland.
“I love the tradition of it, and it seems so perfect in the setting of Grand Detour,” Edgar said. “This event draws a lot of people into the little village, and it’s a great boost and a wonderful thing for our whole area.” n Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
The 75th Grand Detour Arts Festival is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 8 at the John Deere Historic Site, 8334 S. Clinton St. in Grand Detour. Find it on Facebook, email gdartsfestival@gmail.com or call The Next Picture Show at 815285-4924 for more information.
Chris Riffle (left) and Sloan Coss opened The Pup House in Dixon this past September, and have been busy bathing and grooming dogs ever since.
ow do Chris Riffle and Sloan Coss know when they’ve got another satisfied customer?
It’s easy. They just look for a wagging tail.
Riffle and Coss are the dedicated dog groomers at The Pup House in Dixon, where they’ve seen firsthand how a pampered pooch can be a happy pooch.
And it makes Riffle and Coss pretty happy, too.
The pair of dog lovers delight when they see pups with more pep, knowing that “man’s best friend” can feel even friendlier after they get a little spoiled at the business they opened this past fall.
At The Pup House, dogs have their day as the center of attention cleaned, groomed and nails clipped at the business in Dixon’s Dement Town neighborhood.
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For Riffle and Coss, there’s more to dog grooming than just fluffing fur and clipping nails. When they talk to their clients, they stress the importance of keeping their dogs on a wellness routine, helping them understand that healthy hygiene is important to dog’s well-being.
“A lot of people neglect to remember that it’s better to be on a schedule for your dogs,” Riffle said. “When they get on a schedule and stay on that schedule, they’re happy. The best part is that the schedule makes them love it here.”
Getting dogs in for scheduled grooming can also help acclimate them to other people and add more familiar faces to their routine, a social benefit for the dog, Coss says.
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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Chris Riffle and Sloan Coss groom a dog at their Dixon business, The Pup House.
“I think it’s real rewarding building a relationship with a dog that you’ve never met before, especially after multiple grooming appointments,” Coss said. “It’s real rewarding when a dog comes here and is excited to be here.” It’s a task that comes naturally for Coss — “I love dogs,” he said.
Riffle and Coss serve dogs that are more than five pounds and operate on an appointment basis. Bathing appointments should be arranged every two months, they suggest, and grooming appointments every four to six weeks, and up to eight weeks for double-coated dogs “just so that they don’t stink, are not nasty, and that their nails can be maintained,” Riffle said.
Coss is originally from Sterling and has family in Dixon. He met Riffle while working at an animal hospital in Denver, Colorado, a few years ago. When he visited his family this past fall, he saw that Dianna’s Doggy Depot was for sale. He and Riffle talked about moving to Dixon and starting a business of their own, and they decided to take the plunge, buying the building from previous owner Dianna Newcomer.
The Pup House opened Sept. 13, and not only has Coss enjoyed being closer to his roots, but Riffle has grown to love his new home.
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Get your groom on
The Pup House, 527 Depot Ave. in Dixon, is open for appointments seven days a week. Find it on Facebook or call 815-677-7756 to schedule an appointment or for more information.
“I miss the city, I really do, but being here makes me so happy,” Riffle said. “I’ll never leave Dixon, it’s my home now. I talked with someone who told me that he’s real glad we were doing so good, and I was like, ‘Me too!’ I’m glad I didn’t move my life across the country for it to not pan out.”
The Pup House operates in a cage-free setting, which helps reduce a dog’s stress, Coss said. They’re also willing to show owners the tools they use to explain how they
Together We Inspire Wellness
work on the dogs; it’s an example of sharing their expertise and helping educate owners about the importance of a well-groomed dog.
“If you’re not ready for the maintenance, or are not willing to educate yourself about it,” Coss said, “that hair’s not going to be well.”
And when all is said and done, and Rover’s got his makeover, the owner will have one happy camper on his hands.
“Getting them from that point to looking beautiful is great,” Riffle said. “They’re just happy to not feel like that anymore.”n Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
aNsweR
Dixon Chamber of Commerce and Main Street uses these information kiosks, done in a Prairie-designed lighthouse motif, to highlight happenings and events in the area. This one at the corner of South Peoria Avenue and West First Street is one of two in town; the other is at South Ottawa Avenue and East First Street.
The facades and exterior lighting of Dixon High School’s ornate entrances to the James Wiltz Auditorium (pictured) as well as its old gym have seen few changes since they were built in 1929. The light in the clue photo hangs above the entrance doors
The Northwest Territory Historic Center’s mission is to share local and regional history. It’s housed in the building that served as Dixon High School from 1908-29. The clue photo features the front steps.
Rockin’ Nutrition & Wellness at South Peoria Avenue and West First Street in downtown Dixon is in the corner suite of the IOOF Building, which has four other ground level storefronts. The recessed corner entrance is supported by an ornate pillar shown in the clue photo.
The Dixon Dam has tapped the Rock River to provide power to the city through its hydroelectric plant for nearly a century. The green and yellow tile inlays in the clue photo can be seen around one of its doors. The dam was featured in the Fall 2022 Dixon Living, at issuu.com/shawmedia/docs/svm dl 102422.
The cul-de-sac at KSB Hospital features a glass carport atrium at its former main entrance (the current one is to the left).
The clue view looks up at the underside of the walkway at the Dixon Toll Plaza on Interstate 88 east of town. Motorists zoom under the walkway and electronic sensors let people pay through their I-Pass transponders, or if they don’t have one, online.
Howell Park’s statue of a bald eagle along the north bank of the Rock River is dedicated to the memory of former Dixon resident Grant Krahenbuhl. The statue is a replica of one done by French animalier sculptor Jules Moigniez.
