The Southern Illinois Earth Science Club will hold its free gem and mineral show this weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday here in the Williamson County Pavilion.
Vendors will be showing off include exhibits of minerals, fossils, Indian artifacts, gemstones, jewelry and lapidary work.
The Ben E. Clement Museum from our sister city of Marion, Kentucky, will feature minerals from their world-class collection and the Illinois State Geologic Survey will also have maps and guides for sale.
There will be working demonstrations of lapidary skills, arrowhead making, rock painting and related crafts.
A silent auction will also be held, along with numerous chances to win door prizes.
DuQuoin State Fair Goes With Jungle Theme
The Southern Illinoisan is reporting this afternoon that the theme for this year's DuQuoin State Fair will be "It's a Jungle in Here".
The fair will feature a free jungle theme park north of the two permanent homes in the fairgrounds. The theme park will host three structured shows on each day of the fair. Tigers, cougars, monkeys and various types of snakes will also be available for viewing.
The fair will run from Aug. 22 through Sept. 1.
Presidential Golf Trail About to Debut?
We know Bill Clinton likes to golf. Forty years earlier it was Dwight Eisenhower's game that made the news, but I admit I really hadn't thought about the combination of Abraham Lincoln and golf before yesterday when a reporter called me about it.Turns out this was a case where the reporter knew more than I did. Apparently state Rep. Kurt Granberg, D-Centralia, has this idea of a seven-course Abraham Lincoln Golf Trail to be modeled and advertised much like the Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, which is to golf trails like the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail is to wine trails.
Tessa Culli wrote about it last month in the Mount Vernon Register-News and I missed it.
MT. VERNON — A proposed Southern Illinois golf trail which includes the Rend Lake Golf Course is just the beginning of a bigger plan, according to state Rep. Kurt Granberg.
“It’s hard to market just one course,” Granberg said. “If you want to attract a lot of people, start in the Metro East area, go downstate, hit lodges where you can utilize state lodges and parks. The golf trail is part of a large economic development blueprint for the region. The golf trail is just one part.”
Besides Rend Lake the article notes he is also including Kokopelli Golf Club here in Marion and Stone Creek Golf Club in Makanda definitely in the plan and "would like to add the Gambit Golf Club in Vienna.
In addition to the local golf clubs there are two to four more in the MetroEast and along the I-64 corridor.
There's a meeting next week where Granberg is expected to unveil more details to the golf courses.
What's not known at this time is how this will impact the Southern Illinois Golf Trail.