On Sunday, August 14th The HLC is holding a canoe and Kyak jaunt in the communities of Henry, Lacon and Chillicothe will jointly oversee the Canoe/Kayak Jaunt. This event starts in Henry at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast. The local commutes via the Illinois River to Lacon where you will stop for a break and have lunch. After lunch there will it will continue on the river to the final stop at Chillicothe where dinner will be provided.

The US Coast Guard Aux. will be providing Safety & Regatta Patrol Operations for this event. The US Coast Guard Aux. Patrol boats will be leaving the Marina in Peoria IL a few minutes before 8:00 a.m.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer Component of the United States Coast Guard created by an Act of Congress in 1939. The Auxiliary, America’s Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions.

The Peorian, a new local magazine, has announced the launch of its website, ThePeorian.com. The website will feature additional content to compliment the print version of the magazine, premiering in September.

ThePeorian.com is a true community portal offering book, theatre and movie reviews, a restaurant showcase, and a community calendar. The site also offers special section blogs for antiques, student stories, a local comic strip, detective stories and games.

The Peorian will be a print and online magazine focusing on the past, present and future of the Peoria area in a way no local publication has done before. The magazine will be published six times a year, while the website will be updated on a daily and weekly basis. Along with the print and web publication, the magazine will also host a weekly half-hour TV show airing on WHOI on Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m.

“While our print publication will be the cornerstone, our website will be the place where our writers provide more frequent updates,” said Paul Gordon, The Peorian Editor. “This website, along with the print version and the weekly TV show, give us a great platform for highlighting the themes and topics that are of interest to a wide variety of Peorians.”

Methodist Medical Center will be offering a free public forum on “Controlling Your Blood Pressure” as another in the series of Coffees with the Doc.

Dr. Aaron Boyer of Methodist Medical Group at Peartree will give guidelines on how to live a healthier life by controlling blood pressure. Dr. Boyer is an experienced board certified family medicine physician.

“Coffee with the Doc” will be held Thursday, September 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Methodist on North Allen Road, 2338 W. SUD Parkway at the intersection of Route 6 and North Allen Road.

This event is free but seating is limited. Call to reserve your seat at 636-9500.

Jeff Kolbus, President of Traders Realty, is pleased to announce that Judy Minner has joined the Traders Realty office at Camp Street Crossing in East Peoria . Judy joins Traders with over 7 years of experience in real estate. Judy resides in East Peoria and looks forward to assisting clients in the Tri-County area. Judy can be reached at 309-645-8845 for all of your real estate needs.

The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to welcome Megan King as its new Director of Marketing. Megan is a 2010 graduate of Bradley University and participated in an internship at the Chamber while attending Bradley. She most recently worked as a sales representative for Adams Outdoor.

Chamber Vice President of Programs and Membership Services, Terry Best says “Megan King is an excellent addition to the Chamber staff. She is a graduate of Bradley University and embraces Peoria as her home. She is a talented graphic designer and her creativity will speak for itself.”

Megan begins her role with the Chamber Thursday, August 11th

Tried and true techniques for bringing training into the 21st century
Sign up now for the August 30th luncheon!

A big obstacle to effective training is learner apathy in the classroom. As trainers, we need to stay relevant in today’s tough market and take responsibility for moving participants from ho-hum observers to engaged and passionate learners.

But how?

One way is to conduct training sessions as if they are “orderly conversations.” An orderly conversation is one that is (a) carefully organized, well-designed and documented and (b) flexibly executed with lively participation and input from the entire group. When trainers and facilitators engage learners in this fashion, learners are more likely to invest in the learning outcome and apply what they’ve learned back on the job.

Greg Owen-Boger, VP Turpin Communication
August 30, 2011 – 11:00 to 1:00 pm
Professional Development Institute
Hickory Hall, 5407 N. University St, Peoria IL 61635
http://www.astdhoi.org/register.html
In this session Greg Owen-Boger, VP and Trainer at Turpin Communication, will discuss the theory behind the “orderly conversation” and offer insights and skills for engaging learners in the process. This will include cleaning out the old training toolbox to get rid of rusty rules, gimmicks and anything else that simply doesn’t work.

The new 2011 Peoria County Land Atlas and Plat Book is now available for purchase at www.RockfordMap.com. The new plat book was produced by Rockford Map Publishers, located in Belvidere, IL. This is the11th edition of the Peoria County Plat Book produced by Rockford Map Publishers since the first edition in 1953. The 2011 book is the first plat book being released in Peoria County in over five years.

Rockford Map is distributing this edition of the plat book as a service to the community. Plat books are a great reference tool not only for landowners, but for business owners as well. It is a necessary reference guide for industries such as real estate, agriculture, land development, utilities, and municipal government, to name a few.

The plat book accurately displays parcel boundaries, roadways, waterways, railways, section lines, municipal boundaries, acreage and an index to owners. New in the Peoria Book is a Keyed Index showing more data for smaller parcels between 7-29 acres. Latitude/Longitude grids for GPS reference are also provided along with a rural addressing grid. Due to the growing popularity of GPS systems, the Latitude/Longitude grid has become a widespread appeal to recreational users of the book. A Business Directory is located in the front of the book for a quick reference to the quality products and services available in the Peoria area.

Rockford Map also offers a digital eBook version of the plat book that is identical to the printed book. It features all the same accurate data and content as the printed book and is priced equally. Email delivery is available for the Peoria County eBook and includes a license for unlimited viewing, copying, and printing. No annual fees are required.

Copies of the 2011 Peoria County Plat Book and eBook are available for purchase on the companies’ website at www.RockfordMap.com. Please visit the website or call 1-800-321-1627 ext. 15 for pricing and more information.

State Rep. Jehan Gordon (D-Peoria) will be hosting her 3rd Annual Free Community Shred Day with AAA Confidential Security Corporation in the North Parking Lot of the Landmark Recreation Center, located at 3225 Dries Ln., on Saturday, August 13 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“In properly disposing of their documents, consumers will help protect themselves from identity theft while helping preserve the environment by recycling,” Gordon said. “I urge anyone and everyone who is interested in keeping their personal information safe from unsavory characters to stop by and shred what they don’t want laying around their house.”

Identity thieves try to steal information from consumers in a variety of ways, one of which is to rummage through the trash. With this sensitive information, criminals can open fraudulent credit card and utility accounts, create counterfeit checks, and secure loans in the names of their unsuspecting victims.

A study released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in February of 2010 reported that during the 2009 calendar year, Illinois experienced 36,133 consumer fraud complaints. 12,113 of the total number of complaints were cases of identity theft. The FTC study also reported that in 2009, United States financial losses incurred due to consumer fraud totaled over $1.7 billion.

Residents are welcome to stop by and drop off old personal documents and unused credit cards to be securely destroyed by AAA Confidential Security Corporation, a NAID certified shredding company based in Peoria. For more information on the 3rd Annual Free Community Shred Day, please contact Rep. Gordon’s constituent service office at (309) 681-1992 or by email at repjehangordon@gmail.com.

What: 3rd Annual Free Community Shred Day with State Rep. Jehan Gordon and AAA Confidential Security Corporation
When: Saturday, August 13 from 9 AM to 12 PM
Where:Landmark Recreation Center, 3225 Dries Lane, North Parking Lot. Peoria

Although Illinois Centers for Pain and Rehab (ICPR) Family Practice has been treating diabetic patients for years, Dr. Volkan Sumer and his staff are strengthening their diabetes program with the new iPro™ Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), which offers patients a more effective, comfortable way of monitoring glucose levels.

Easy to wear and use, the iPro CGM is a tiny glucose sensor that is easily inserted under the skin in a virtually painless process. The sensor captures glucose levels whether working, playing or sleeping and is fully immersible, so patients can wear it even while bathing or swimming. The continuous monitoring helps provide more accurate assessments which ultimately affect therapy and blood sugar control.

“The sensor gives us an even better picture of patients’ glycemic patterns by testing glucose levels continuously for three days,” Dr. Sumer said. “It’s about the size of a quarter and lies flat against the body so that patients can go about their days normally, without pinpricks or interruption.”

The iPro CGM helps to:
· Reveal low- and high-glucose trends not tracked by fingersticks and A1C testing alone;
· Discover new insights to fine-tune therapy and improve glucose control;
· Reduce A1C level and bring it closer to the American Diabetes Association target of 7 percent or less;
· Lower long-term risks of eye, kidney, nerve and heart disease.

ICPR Family Practice, located at 1491 Valle Vista in Pekin, offers a complete diabetic program to help patients manage their disease and live longer, healthier lives by controlling diabetic highs and lows. The staff also offers educational classes to teach techniques like carb counting and discovering how certain foods can affect blood sugar. To find out more, visit icpronline.com or call (309) 347-ICPR (4277).

Jump Start Kids’ Activity Center will be holding an Open House on Thursday, August 25th from 5:30-7:30pm at 8820 N. Industrial Road in North Peoria. Representatives from all the programs will be on hand to showcase their activities and register students. There will be activities for beginning walkers and older.

Jump Start Gymnastics, Laughin’ & Learnin’ Preschool, Children’s Theater classes with Pat White, Kim’s Academy of Dance, and Levi’s Dance group will all be on hand to provide a taste of their programs to the children, while adults can learn more about each program and sign up for fall classes. Children will receive a punch card when they enter and visit each program throughout the building. Once the card has been completed, they can enter their card in a drawing for a variety of prizes, including a free session of gymnastics. The Jump Stars competitive gymnastics team will also be on hand to provide a demonstration.

For more information on the Open House or any of the programs offered, visit the website www.jumpstartfun.com or call 309-692-5867.