Sign's Messages Shine Bright

The new sign for the Williamson County Pavilion is up and working at the intersection of Route 13 and Williamson County Parkway.

This was one of those projects that took a whole lot of effort over a very long period of time. Most of the credit goes to two of the board members of the tourism bureau and the Williamson County Events Commission, the entity that actually owns the Pavilion.

Jeanette Sollami took on the long-delayed project last fall when she served as the bureau's interim director. Bruce Troutman, the treasurer for the commission (as well as the county), stepped in when it came time to secure the land for the sign. Kudos for both.

Of course, none of it would have been possible without the generosity of Steak 'n Shake which donated the few square feet necessary in a lease in order for us to have a place to erect the sign.

We still have a few minor items to complete around the base of the sign before it's finished but most importantly the message board is working.

I did a quick check of the traffic count on IDOT's website www.GettingAroundIllinois.com. Some 21,200 vehicles a day pass along that stretch of Route 13 in front of Steak 'n Shake.

By the way, the website also showed that more than 11,000 vehicles get off Interstate 57 every day at Marion; 8,500 use Exit 54 at Route 13 and 2,650 use Exit 53 at Main Street.

Right Attitude in Murphysboro

Last Thursday's Southern had a good article on state Rep. Mike Bost's recent presentation to the Murphysboro Chamber of Commerce where he talked up tourism and the region's growing wine industry.

Midway through the article Adam Testa inserted a quote by Barbara Dallas, Murphysboro's Tourism Commissioner, who noted that while help from the state was appreciated, "local relationships need to be improved before tourism can reach its full potential."

"We need to get over Friday Night Fever," she said. "We need to realize it's not Murphysboro versus Carbondale versus Marion. The only way we're going to build tourism is regionalization."

She's right on target!

New Owners Serve Up Lick Creek General Store

This week's Carbondale Times has a nice story on the old Lick Creek General Store off of Interstate 57 at Exit 36, 18 miles south of Marion in northeastern Union County.

The store had been transformed into a unique restaurant some years ago, but had closed. Carbondale Councilman Lance Jack and Emily Taylor reopened the restaurant earlier this spring, but have held off on their grand opening until today for their Labor Day Party.

"Up until now we have been relying on word of mouth and calls from the past," Jack said. "We have done no advertising whatsoever until this past week. We have been passing out fliers. We were working on a soft opening to make sure that we had all of our ducks in a row. Emily and I have known each other for years now but we want to make sure we could work together.

"We have come to the conclusion that we can work together without killing each other," he joked. "She likes to call me the best husband she's never had."

The restaurant is known for its unique nine course meals.

For more information contact them at 618-833-6360. They are located 1/8th of a mile east of the interstate on Lick Creek Road.