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| Don't miss the new video restaurant tour by clicking the link above. |
October 1, 2009
Fall Feast...They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Sadly neither, or even both, can tell you how wonderful this tastes. The transition to the Fall menu is now complete and this is only a small sample. I photographed the new menu items on Wednesday evening which will be pictured tomorrow at the link below. Prepare yourself for new almost sinful delights such as: baked brie cheese topped with apple walnut compote, Calamari lightly fried to golden perfection, Sheridan's Waldorf Salad, Pan seared duck breast over wild rice with a cranberry carrot glaze, Salmon with a bourbon glaze, St. Louis style ribs, and above is Sheridan's 6 oz filet & shrimp. You would think this would be enough but there is much more. Many of your favorite items are remaining on the menu also. Sheridan Lane has also added a prime quality and beautifully prepared 10 oz. Ribeye complete with all the trimmings for only $12.00. Click the link below for more...
October 2, 2009
Homecoming Week...wraps up today with a pep rally at 1:00 in the gym, the Homecoming Parade at 1:30, and the big game against South Fulton at 7:00. Tiffanie Bell has been reporting on Homecoming 2009 all week in her column we call "In the Halls". If you haven't checked it out please do and find out what is going on in today's Shot of the Day above.
October 3 & 4, 2009
Homecoming Continues!...The Parade was fun and full of energy, the Royalty has taken their thrones, and the South Fulton bus pulled into town. I'm sorry to tell you that we lost in overtime, but hey it was a great game and we held the lead for a good portion of the game. Festivities began Saturday evening at the gym starting at 7:00. More photos and videos of the parade, the game and the dance are available by clicking the link below...
October 5, 2009
HAPT enters Phase II...You have seen the window clings everywhere. This program to help fight the teenage drinking problems is moving to the second phase of the overall plan. I ask that all parents PLEASE read the informational article on this topic by clicking the link below. These facts will give you valuable information that may surprise you about teenage drinking. You might be shocked to learn what damage alcohol can do physically to developing teenage brains.
October 6, 2009
Intermet owners update...A couple of weeks ago I did a story on the status of " Intermet 2009 " . This update was mostly to answer questions I had received from viewers over the last year. One of the most asked questions was regarding the ownership. At the time all I had was that the Havana property was owned by a company named 227 Wagner Ave LLC. This information was not wrong but it was incomplete. I was able to get the mailing address of this company and had just sat down to write them a snail mail for more information when I decided to do a little more searching with the new information. In the mean time a viewer emailed me with the same information I had just found. It seems that 227 Wagner Ave LLC is a company set up to deal with the Intermet facility by another company named Cat Iron, Inc. located at the above satellite photo on Google maps at the address of 587 Covered Bridge Road in Oley, PA 19547. You can visit this map yourself which has other information available there just click this link... Google Map Cat Iron, Inc. But wait there is more, in fact a lot more...
October 7, 2009
HJHS Lady Ducks & PORTA...hit the hardboards on Monday evening. Thanks to Tim Oest we have photos of the evening of wins over PORTA by the Ducks. I hear these young ladies are having a great season, I can't wait till I can get to a game myself to see you in action. Keep up the great work!
October 8, 2009
Ramps are operational...Well the task is finished. Just about everything possible that mother nature could bring forth happened. Near record flood waters on three different occasions delayed the progress but they are finished and operating. This is a great facility for area boaters as you can see, thank you Havana Park District.
October 9, 2009
Post Season is here...Regardless of who your favorite team is everyone likes the Post Season Play when October rolls around.
October 10, 2009
The Sixth Grade...girls are again playing some good basketball this season. Tim Oest was at the game on Thursday night for the action against VIT.
October 11, 2009
It had to happen...I guess, but like many of you on Saturday morning I was not ready for it and of course I had no idea where it was. I looked all over for it as I remembered placing it where I could find it easily when I needed it this year. Since my search was going nowhere fast and the sun was coming up strong and warm I decided to get my camera and take a photo for the Shot of the Day rather than continuing to look for my scraper. Yup, you guessed it, the photo above is an extreme close-up of the season's first frost on my windshield.
October 12, 2009
Spoon River Drive 2009...has now come and gone. The event is always filled with unusual items, scenery, people, and places. I hope everyone had a great two weekends of treasure hunting.
October 13, 2009
Nice Kitty...Earlier today I had the opportunity to photograph this beautiful feline as part of a family portrait project and just thought I would share this rather interesting stare with everyone.
October 14, 2009
What a game!…The HJHS Lady Ducks and the Lady Raiders first game on 10-13-2009 was something to see. Sadly only one team can be declared the winner by the scoreboard. At the end of regulation play the score was tied. At the end of the first overtime session the score was tied. Yes, it was again tied after the second overtime session. Only at the end of the third overtime session was the Lady Raiders declared the winners by the score of 31-30. It was a tough game for the girls to drop but they have nothing to hang their heads over, great game.
October 15, 2009
Bill Watts…It takes a tremendous amount of courage to be humble, brave, honest, and caring on a daily basis. As a man of this type of real courage, I know none better than Bill Watts. He has given so much of himself to this town, area, and the people who live here. How many times has he headed off to a call of unknown outcome without a second thought for himself or his own safety? Bill is that kind of guy; unselfish, caring, brave, and a big ole teddy-bear. I remember the very first time I met Bill Watts at Chautauqua Wildlife Refuge many years ago. He is just one of those people you walk away from thinking, "That is one nice person." To a standing ovation from 300 of his fellow Illinois Fire Chiefs on Tuesday evening at the Hotel Pere Marquette in Peoria, Chief William C. Watts was honored by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. For 59 years Bill has responded to the fireman's call to help someone in need and now he has been awarded the status of Fire Chief Emeritus at the age of 79. I ask each and every visitor to this website to make it a point to find Bill and thank him in person. In some manner in his long career he has touched the life of yourself or someone in your family. To Bill and his family, I can only do the same...THANK YOU BILL!
October 16, 2009
The HHS Class of 1952…members shown here held a social gathering on Saturday, October 10th at the Paddlewheel in Havana. Those present were:
Front Row (L to R): Marisue (Bruning) Wilson, Betty (Birchfield) Hummel, JoAnne (Jones) Brown, Elaine (Morris) Ray, Norma (Siltman) Behrends, Martha (Hughes) Griffin, and Carolyn (Trimpe) Gaines.
Second Row (L to R): Daniel Roat, Charles Glick, Robert Clark, Lloyd Behrends, James Fletcher, Wanda Skaggs, and Gwen (DeLapp) McNamara - Teacher.
Third Row (L to R): Larry Lines, Kenneth Mullen, Miriam (Carpenter) Mullen, Jack Sowers, Jim Fred Bohm, and Wayne Vanderveen.
October 17, 2009
Travis Davenport…delivered a hit in the Second Quarter that was heard deep into Fulton County. It was Friday night and Senior Night at the stadium against West Prairie. Number 80 was looking at the end zone but then came a sound similar to a canon shot. That was Travis arriving on the scene. Even though it was a cloudy night, I am sure Number 80 was laying there on his back looking up at lots of stars. The Ducks went on to defeat West Prairie 36-8. This was the last home game of the season, they travel to Bushnell next Friday for the last regular season game.
October 18, 2009
Linda Johnston…came home for a visit recently. I received a message and the photo above from her which you might find interesting:
Hi Ted. I sent you a note in the GUESTBOOK , but couldn’t include this really great picture we took last week at Riverfront Park. My daughter and her two granddaughters visited Havana with me for the Spoon River Scenic Drive. We even showed up on your Homecoming Parade website! They are 15 and 17 and hadn’t seen corn fields or barges. I sneaked up and took their picture while their mom, Julie Boggs Pellhum was explaining how the barges work. They are very close siblings and this picture says a lot.
Thanks Linda, sorry I missed you while you were home.
October 19, 2009
Spiders…like many others in nature are very busy right now getting ready for winter's wrath. Sunday was not a day off for this beautiful big guy. He didn't give me much time to grab his portrait then he was off to finish his chores for the day, or maybe he was just getting ready for the dreaded Monday. Have a great week everyone!
October 20, 2009
Welcome Grace!…Today Grace Sarff became the latest new advertiser on 62644.com. You will see her ad around the website. Most of you know Grace as the great owner/hairdresser of Shear Techniques Salon at 110 North Plum, but Grace is also a highly trained Reflexologies Technician. Reflexology is an amazing ancient art and science that everyone should learn more about. Give Grace a call at 309-338-5151, tell her you saw this and would like to know how to get your free session. Again, Welcome aboard Grace.
October 21, 2009
Has everyone been good?…If not you better shape up because it won't be long now. The photo above was taken on a FREEZING night in November 2005 and it will soon be time for this moment to repeat itself, I just hope it is not as cold as it was four years ago.
October 22, 2009
Tim Oest…has been doing a great job of keeping us updated on the 5th & 6th Grade Girls Teams and their games with some great photos. On Monday and Tuesday he has been in Astoria and Petersburg for games on both nights as you will see in the photo gallery by clicking the link below. Thanks Tim for all your hard work and great photos. The girls have been doing a great job also, so try to catch one of their games.
October 23, 2009
Sheridan Lane goes HollyWeen!…The popular new restaurant at Lakewood Golf Course is going to be the fun place to be for "Hollywood Halloween" on Saturday, October 31st. The Red Carpet Halloween Contest will allow for a wide variety of new and unusual costumes in their Costume Competition open to anyone for great prizes. Other contests include pumpkin carving, Jell-O Shots, Music, and all you can eat Appetizers. It all takes place from 6 - 9 pm on Saturday. Don't get TRICKED, this is the Halloween TREAT, you are looking for.
October 24, 2009
The 2009 Havana Ducks…The final Friday night of the regular season has arrived. It is game time in Bushnell where the Ducks have traveled to try to complete an "impossible" task again this year as the Ducks really took it to Bushnell, Prairie City, Avon last year and won the game, can they do it again? Four quarters of play will tell that story but there are many other stories other than winning and losing. To all the great young folks, the players, the cheerleaders, the dance squad, the band, the fans, and all those behind the scenes...the season ends but the memories will remain forever. Even the games lost on the scoreboard provide so many positive wins for each of us, take those with you along with the really important things your efforts have brought back to you...GO DUCKS!
October 25, 2009
Today the sun returned…to Central Illinois and it gave me an opportunity to grab a few "Fall" photos around town like the one above of North Broadway. Fall is here in all it's splendor as you can clearly see. It was a busy day for me, but an enjoyable day. It wrapped up with a visit with the HHS Class of 1964 who held their reunion on Saturday night at Sheridan Lane's Restaurant. I can't tell you how great it was to see all those folks, many of whom I had not seen since those days we shared hanging down the street above at Main on a Friday or Saturday night. I was surprised to learn how many of you check out the website to keep up on what's going on back home. Thanks to all of you and again, it was great seeing all of you.
October 26, 2009
The Lincoln Memorial…in our Nation's Capitol is a long way from Havana, Illinois and no one knows that better than a 27 year old US Park Police officer named Valerie Hall. Yes, that Valerie Hall, a former resident of Havana and daughter of Tim Goforth. Valerie is one of the US Park Police officers who are in charge of security of our national monuments based in Washington DC.
The Peoria Journal Star has developed a new magazine named Mistique and over this past weekend, writer Kevin Sampier penned a story about Valerie and the interesting job she does. To read the rest of Valerie's story:
October 27, 2009
They're coming!…and many homeowners around town have gotten into the Halloween spirit. If you haven't already done so take a drive around town and see all the festive decorations such as this one on Market Street.
October 28, 2009
Time to "FALL BACK"…Sunday @ 2:00 AM it will only be 1:00 AM. DO NOT FORGET or your world will be behind you and you will be waiting for them. If you like to wait on people don't change your clock but if it makes you mad set it back, as simple as that, I think. But is it in the spring or fall that we change the smoke alarm batteries? And how about the car battery, is that Thanksgiving or Easter? I remembered my pink shirt for October, now what color do I wear for November? I'll find out and let you know.
October 29, 2009
Time to "FALL BACK"…Sunday @ 2:00 AM it will only be 1:00 AM. DO NOT FORGET or your world will be behind you and you will be waiting for them. If you like to wait on people don't change your clock but if it makes you mad set it back, as simple as that, I think. But is it in the spring or fall that we change the smoke alarm batteries? And how about the car battery, is that Thanksgiving or Easter? I remembered my pink shirt for October, now what color do I wear for November? I'll find out and let you know.
October 30, 2009
Just in case…there is someone out there who hasn't looked outside for the last month I thought I would give you a peek at the outside world in Havana. I guess things could be worse, at least it's not snow...for now anyway.
October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!…Everyone be safe out there as you celebrate. Also, remember to set your clocks back as we go back to Central Standard Time this weekend...and last but not least, drop by Sheridan Lane Restaurant for a great "Hollyween" Party, it should be a great time.
