If you’re a teenager, you probably think your Dad is a dork. His quirks, habits and rules seem so alien that you swear you’ll never be like your parents. Good luck with that. I used to call my Daddy “Mr.…
Grammie’s Words of Wisdom and Love
Dear Jensen Reed, When you are old enough to understand, I will tell you of the absolute joy that greeted your early arrival January 27th. Literally hundreds of people have prayed for you, my dear grandson, even before you were…
West Peoria News for March 2011
This year’s General Primary Election is: March 20, 2012. Early voting for West Peoria voters will be March 9, 2012 in City Hall from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. All registered voters have received new voter registration cards. The last day to…
Musings
This is the beginning of the thirteenth year of writing this blog, as someone recently called it. I started it in 1998 right after Jack died on the eve of Thanksgiving that year. The person who called it my blog…
Community Corner
Editor’s Note: The Community Word offers this column to various agencies and governmental organizations in an effort to inform the public just what it is that they do for our Peoria-area community. This month we are proud to present two contributions!] THE…
Shop Talk
By Greg Speck Do we even think about “wellness?” Should “wellness” mean using prescribed pharmaceutical drugs as main stay actions when other remedies might be available? Jeanne Garrett became involved in “wellness” when a family member developed strange physical and…
Happenings for March 2012
March 1 – 4 – Garish Garden Show – from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. @ Luthy Botanical Garden. This show reinvents the best of the worst of landscaping faux pas. The Conservatory is redecorated with pink flamingos, garden gnomes and…
Newsbriefs
Girl Scouts of Central Illinois Celebrates 100th Anniversary of Girl Scout Movement Juliette Gordon Lows assembled the Girl Scout meeting with 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912. Since then, Girl Scouting has grown into the world’s preeminent leadership development organization for girls,…
I Can Do Anything!
Adjectives describing Jennifer Hawkins include amazing, incredible, confident, inspiring and a host of others. Jen, as she prefers to be called, is a 24-year-old who goes about each day doing what many people do: living independently, going to work, visiting…
Central Illinois Preps for Primaries
Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for Decision 2012. In what’s certain to be another exciting race—and another round of partisan bickering over health care, the economy and job creation—candidates on both sides of the aisle are placing names on…
be kind to your heart!
SCORE Offers Free Workshops for Small Businesses
SCORE has introduced some new free evening workshops for small businesses. There been a lot of demand for the E-business workshop especially. The workshops launched during the second half of January 2012. The first series is called “E-Business Now.” This…
A Mole by Any Other Name
In the summer of 1988 there was a terrible drought in Peoria. That fall, I received an interesting phone call at the Nature Center. A nurse wanted to know if I could explain why there had been a 500 percent…
Titanic: The Musical at Peoria Players on February 3
Peoria Players Theatre is proud to present Titanic: The Musical directed by Steve Bortolotti. Set sail with this Peoria premiere, opening February 3rd! This production, which opened on Broadway in 1997, features music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and is based…
Do the numbers again and get back to us
Remember when the District 150 school board voted to close Woodruff High School to save money? As I recall they said it would save the district a little over $1 million. Shortly after the vote “the Peoria establishment” started pushing…
Some baseball history to think about as Spring Training begins
Major League Baseball’s pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this month, when everything’s fresh and new (if cold and dormant). Everyone has an equal chance (depending on off-season personnel moves and injuries). And the possibilities are endless (at least…
‘Saint’ Patrick Urich got away with murder
Well, not literally murder. But he nearly killed his own career. Or, maybe not. Here’s the problem. The Peoria City manager wanted to move some $29 million around to help pay for bonds that the city is buying to finance…
Ron, We Hardly Know You
by Ed Klein, Peoria, IL I wonder if those who are disenchanted with the Republican candidates for President and find a fresh voice in Ron Paul understand the consequences of the ideas he espouses. That is to say, an America…
What Was That Again?
by Dolores M. Klein, Peoria, IL Remember when candidate John F. Kennedy, back in the 60’s felt it important to reassure groups of ministers that his being a practicing Catholic would not influence his decisions should be become President? In…
Daddy’s Silent Love
Daddy didn’t talk much. Every morning he woke up at five, exercised, read his Bible then left for work. When he got home, he read the paper, watched the news, read a book or sat with the family for a…
Welcome to the family, Susanne and Julien
Initially it was a typical phone call as we talked about family happenings. But the excitement in his voice told me he’d met a girl. More precisely a woman, but even when a son is 37, to his Mom, he’s…
West Peoria News for February
The General Primary Election is always in even-numbered years, the third Tuesday of March. This year’s date is: March 20, 2012. Early voting for West Peoria voters will be March 9, 2012 in City Hall from 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.…