Columns

Monroe

WOODRUFF’S 80TH CELEBRATION They held a birthday celebration at Woodruff High School Saturday, Sept. 9 and more than 550 people packed the Commons area to sing Happy Birthday to their alma mater. Sing and talk they did about old days…

Reflections From a Secular Humanist

BY HARRY ELGER As a former Christian, I can remember the comforts of believing in a God, an afterlife, reuniting with deceased loved ones and the benefits of being in a religious community. Religious beliefs have unified people with shared…

Nature Rambles

The Big Sit! It’s the world’s most sedentary birding event — The Big Sit! This worldwide event is hosted by Bird Watcher’s Digest and founded by the New Haven (Conn.) Birder’s Club. It takes place all over the world the…

Serendipity

Disney songs continue playing in my head long after the music has stopped. Hours of such selections on Pandora will do that. I’m not the enthusiastic fan, although I do have some favorite selections, but my 5-year-old granddaughter loves the…

West Peoria News

Trick-or-treat hours in West Peoria are 5-8 p.m. All trick-or-treating children should be back in their homes by 8 p.m. Kids should carry flashlights and go only to houses with porch lights turned on and not enter strange homes or…

Arts Beat

MUSIC Oct. 1: “Music in the McKenzie” with Pint & A Half. 2 p.m. Peoria Public Library North Branch. 497-2100. Oct. 1: Pierce The Veil. 7:30 p.m. Limelight Eventplex. 693-1234. Oct. 1: Faculty recital with Sarah Hansen and Mickey Chien.…

Bricks & Mortar

Think ice skating today and the Owens Center or the rebirth of outdoor skating with the addition of PNC Winterfest come to mind. But Peorians have had a long love with ice skating, first starting on the frozen Illinois River.…

Inland Art

Unconventional, thought provoking and experimental art forms exist everywhere, and Peoria is no exception. Most of Peoria’s cultural offerings, however, aren’t rigorous investigations of the current state of contemporary art, art history or theory. Unfortunately Central Illinois is risk averse…

Monroe

Happy Birthday Woodruff High Woodruff High School was closed in 2010 by a slim 4-3 vote of the District 150 school board. All of those board members who foolishly destroyed the high school are gone, but not the Woodruff Alumni…