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HH program 1001 Welcome to the new season of Heartland Highways.
Weíre happy to tell you this is our 10th year of bringing you stories of people and
places in right here in the heartland and this season weíve got a great new lineup
adventures in store. In this episode, we want to give you a snapshot of whatís coming up
and to get things started, letís look at some of our destinations. Now you wouldnít
expect to find a museum dedicated to ship and sea history, smack dab in the middle of
the prairie, but thatís what we discovered in Sadorus, Illinois.
The sea has always been an effort to get from one side of land to another. See whatís over
the hill or whatís over the ocean. So, you can explore as ship building moves from um
the early days up until recent ones. You can explore not only history, whose in power,
what kind of trade there is. But, also the techniques of construction from the ads to
cut down the forest and form the keels of ships to the development of underwater welding,
recently used on the oil rigs. So, when youíre looking at the entire history of the world
the exploration of the world and the universe also continues. Iíve also thought that the
next edition to the museum might be space ships, um because obviously in our imagery
exploring is part of our history. In the capitol city of Springfield, Illinois
is another unique museum that is dedicated to an important part of American history,
but something that we donít often think of and thatís surveying. After all, Washington,
Jefferson and Lincoln werenít just U.S. Presidents, they were also surveyors.
Land Surveyors are the ones that develop the United States of America, but Land surveying
is still very important today. If you own land you need to know where that land is and
how you can use it. So, that was the other goal was to show how land surveyors developed
America, why land surveying is important, and why itís needed today.
(Narrator) The National Museum of Surveying is the only museum of its type in the U.S.
About 20 years ago a group of Michigan land surveyors put together a museum in Lansing.
When they wanted to make it into a national museum, they started looking for a new location.
And of course being here from Springfield and all the Lincoln Sights and knowing that
Abraham Lincoln had been a surveyor, I put an offer in. I said let me try to put a proposal
together and see if we can bring it to Springfield. (Narrator) In 2008, the museum found an ideal
location just across the street from the old state capital and by the fall of 2010, the
museum officially opened their doors. Through interactive displays and historical artifacts,
the museum preserves the legacy of surveying and its role in the development of America.
Also in Springfield we spent some time at a botanical garden. This 20 acre garden sits
within historic Washington Park, a place that has been part of the community since 1902.
[music] (Narrator) With more than 1800 different plant
species, Washington Park Botanical Garden is one of the regionís major historical attractions.
It started in 1902 simply as a greenhouse to supply bedding plants to the newly created
Washington Park. Then about 1985 it became Washington Park Botanical Garden. In the early
70ís our large conservatory and our greenhouses were built to replace that little greenhouse
that was used for outside floral shows. Also on the museum circuit was the Museum
of the Grand Prairie in Mahomet, Illinois. The museum changed its name from The Early
American Museum, but what didnít change is the connection to the history of the pioneers
and the prairie. So weíre looking at this landscape that man
arrived in. What did it look like, how did it come to be? What was it like when the first
settlers came here and how has it evolved since then? Whatís the impact of man on his
environment and the environment on man? Not too far from the Museum of the Grand Prairie,
we visited the Douglas County Museum in Tuscola, Illinois. For over 25 years, this museum has
been displaying rotating exhibits that all have a special connection the history in their
community. [music]
Moving off the museum track, but continuing with destinations, we visited the Lake Shelbyville,
Illinois Visitors Center. This building is a new construction by the Army Corps of Engineers
and replaces a much smaller facility. Now those who enjoy the recreational opportunities
of the lake can enjoy the Visitors Center too.
Lake Shelbyville is your lake. Protect it, share it, and enjoy it. And then when you
walk into the exhibit hall you see that message and then uh we talk about the of course the
five purposes of Lake Shelbyville, which is the mainlandís flood control. And then we
have recreation, navigation, because we have a lock and Dam further down on the Kaskaskia
River and then fishing wild life conservation and future water supply. So, we emphasize
those when you first come into the exhibit hall. And then the flow of it wraps around
that theme. We talk about the natural communities and thatís where we wish the people and enhance
and provoke them to protect that part of our communities, because without the natural communities
and protecting Lake Shelbyville it wonít be here, for the rest of our future generations
if we donít take care of it now. And I know myself and many others thereís three and
a half million visitors that come here every year that enjoy this lake and want to further
you know other people to enjoy it too. While we were at the lake, we asked about
the dam that helped create the lake. What we got was enough information to bring you
a whole other story about it and its importance to flood control along its immediate waterway
system. Itís a five gate system. There is three tainer
gates which is the larger gates and two smaller gates which are called sloose gates and those
are what we use 90% of the time. We have a minimum release of 75 cubic feet per second
and a maximum release is just over 35,000 cubic feet per second.
Our final destination may seem a bit strange for Heartland Highways, but it fits into the
unique category and is a place you can tour for yourself. We headed just across the campus
of Eastern Illinois University for a tour of the Renewal Energy Center. Opened in 2011,
this green energy plant burns woodchips as its main source of fuel. To get the full story,
EIUís President leads the way. And uh you can see um that these are chips
of wood. These are hardwoods. We get them from an aggregator, a company that pulls together
these chips and then transports them here. The source is from the lumber industry when
they cut down a hardwood and theyíre going to use it for veneer and other kinds of products.
The top of the tree isnít of much use, so instead of just leaving them lying there in
the forest decomposing they could be chipped and then shipped and then we can gasify them
here. When we gasify these woodchips theyíre in a very low oxygen environment and because
of the chemistry and everything that I donít understand and Iím just a math teacher ok.
It forces this gas this very clean burning gas out of that and then thatís what actually
gets creates the flame and boils the water and creates the steam. And then whatís left
over is a real fluffy kind of ash, which has a high nutrient value, which can then be used
to go back into the soil as fertilizer, for example.
This season we will introduce you to several talented artists including one man who sees
fallen trees not as firewood, but instead he makes them into bowls, platters, vases
or pens. The woods I work with are mostly free wood
[Laughing]. I get most of my wood at the Landscape Recycle Center in Urbana. Itís the Champaign
County Landscape Recycle Center. I get a lot of wood when I hear a chainsaw running and
I go down and see whatís being cut down and I take ëem back a bowl and ink pen in six
months or so and theyíll call you again when they have some wood theyíre cutting down.
(Narrator) It's hard to believe that am ordinary piece of wood can be shaped and sanded into
a piece of art, but in the hands of a skilled wood turner like Jerry Rhodes anything is
possible. A carpenter by trade, Jerry is no stranger to working with wood and got into
woodturning as a way to wind down after a long day.
On a farm site near Paris, Illinois, Randy and Joy Turner are fulfilling their dream
of operating a glass blowing studio, something theyíve been working towards for more than
20 years. She and I built this shop by ourselves.
We joke that if we couldnít make money blowing glass, maybe we can write a book you know
how to build a pole barn with just you and your wife. But the way I did it I went to
various manufacturers of all the pole barns that you can find you know all over the place.
Arthur, there is one in Charleston or a couple in Charleston and looked at how they did things
and said yeah thatís a good idea or no thatís a problem. Thatís going to break after a
while. And kind of combine what I thought were the best of all their ideas in how they
did it and built this. So, there were no plans for this.
(Narrator) Randy is the primary glass blower and Joy handles sales, marketing and is an
assistant to Randy when heís working on complex pieces.
Like the Turners, Delilah Davis of Charleston Illinois also uses glass as her artistic medium
for making paperweights, jewelry, and highly collectable studio buttons.
To make a paper weight, to make them marble thatís something you can carry around in
your hand. In two hours usually itís done. Even marbles in an hour you have a piece of
art work that you carry around in your hand. Itís um instant gratification in its best.
Speaking of jewelry and highly collectable items, this next artist creates both. David
Griffin, a mixed media and metals artist and professor at Eastern Illinois University in
Charleston, Illinois, creates unique pieces using a variety of techniques and technology.
The pendant is here and this whole part is the tree that it has to be attached to while
itís cutting. This will all get cut away and this pendant area here is the piece of
jewelry that is going to be the finished piece. We found art in many forms this season, everything
from sculptures to performance arts and more. Weíll first take you to downtown Effingham,
Illinois, where the city is creating a new perspective on art thanks to a unique city
tour theyíve put together. Currently there are 31 sculptures on the walking
tour and then off the tour area we have about ten other pieces. So, thereís about 40 pieces
in our community. It starts at City Hall, which is located at Jefferson and 3rd street
here in Effingham across from the historic court house. We start you out with the ìFlame
of Hopeî. We actually provide these culture guides that give you a map and tell you about
the pieces. Theyíll wind you in and out of our downtown area and youíll see a lot of
great pieces both from local artists, but also from artists throughout the region.
In the small art-friendly community of Sullivan, Illinois, a different kind of art destination
caught our eye. When John McDevitt started looking for an art studio space for his business,
Yellow Dog Studio, it wasnít long before he found a home in the second story of a working
factory. John decided to open shop there and it wasnít long before other artists were
visiting and falling in love with the space. Thus began the appropriately named Factory
Art Studios. I usually call this place the hive. When everybodyís
here it just buzzes. Everyoneís working, everyoneís talking. Itís really a creative
and conducive environment to work in. We have quite a few kinds of arts right now. We have
woodworking, scroll art, metal work, um vintage fabrics, ceramics, uh paintings, sketchings,
muralists, uh folk art, jewelry. A great bunch of people too. And the whole thing is they
are all not just from Sullivan. Theyíre from the area. We have somebody from Monticello
down here. We have people from Arthur. We have people from Bethany, Lovington, you know
Mattoon, Illinois. And thatís the whole thing, but you know John and I will go out to these
different festivals and stuff and Iíll see something and Iíll bring it back and present
it to John and you know what do you think about this person you know and what they do?
And he does the same thing. Some of them as soon as we saw it decided yes, weíve got
to have them in here ëcause they would go good in here.
This next story is a different kind of art. We spent a few days with Pendulum Ariel Arts,
a Portland-based group that combines dance and aerial acrobatics with gymnastics to come
up with a whole new kind of arts experience called High Art.
[music] In true Heartland Highways tradition, we of
course met several collectors this season. We saw everything from vintage cars to trains
and buttons, which brings me to our first collector, Maude Hartman. Maude collects buttons.
(Narrator) For serious button collectors there are state and national competitions. At the
national level, button collectors follow ìThe Blue Bookî, which specifics the rules of
how to compete beginning with the all important button card.
For the competition, you put your buttons on 9 by 12 cards, because thatís the standard.
And then thereís medium, small, mixed, various. Thereís all different kinds of categories
for it. So, and you got like so many buttons on a card like 20 large, 30 mediums, mixed
is medium and small buttons, 42 small smalls, you have 70 diminutives and it just. Itís
kind of complicated. But, thatís what the cards do.
Changing direction completely, Jerry McRoberts of Charleston, Illinois, collects something
entirely different. His model trains have managed to chug their way into their very
own room in his home. This is modeling in gage. This replicated
the actual prototypes of everything, buildings, cars and I could talk about freight cars,
passenger cars as well as automobiles too. Everything is designed to be coordinated to
scale. And HO gage means half O gage. Because O gage before was the most popular. Big cars,
big locomotives and this was easier. I could put in greater, bigger layout with HO gage.
Roger Miller is kind of an exception to the ìcollectors onlyî rule. His collection is
also housed in a unique location near Greenup, Illinois. Roger and his wife have created
a vintage gas station and cafÈ to display their collection of vintage trucks, memorabilia
and signs. This next group of people arenít necessarily
collectors, but they all have something unique going on. Bob Holmes, for instance, is building
the largest privately-owned telescope in the world, not to mention doing important research
with it and others on his property in Coles County, Illinois.
I have to admit that I had never considered this next sport before seeing it when I went
to tape this story. Polo on bicycles is apparently a sport many partake in all over the U.S.,
but something I had no idea went on around Central Illinois. Well, a group in Decatur,
Illinois, showed me otherwise as they invited me to one of their bike polo matches. Take
a look! [bike polo match]
One of the great things about Heartland Highways is getting to discover all sorts of new things
and meet new people along the way. Thatís exactly what we did when we met up with a
group of archaeologists in Crawford County, Illinois. Not only are they unearthing local
history, theyíre all doing it simply because itís what they love. Thatís right; this
group is made up completely of volunteers. Casting fear aside, we became a part of this
next story. Beekeeping is a quiet hobby that is making a comeback thanks to the concern
about the declining number of bees that help pollinate our plants. We went to a honeybee
farm to meet up with the Central Illinois Beekeepers Association and find out what the
buzz was on this interesting hobby. And I ended up tending bees while we were there!
Despite my fear of bees, Iím happy to report I didnít get stung.
Each season on Heartland Highways, we generally have some themed shows. Weíre happy to report
that Season 10 is no exception. One of our themed shows this season will feature three
theaters, each in different states of renovation. The first is Harlan Hall in Marshall, Illinois.
Itís what we would call a fully-renovated facility that now functions as a community
center. I am a believer in historic preservation.
And uh I just knew we didnít have a community center and I was very positive in thinking
the city needed a community center. Uh we needed a banquette hall. We didnít haveÖ
we have other places you can have some things, but nothing was with this kind of appearance
you know. And I knew we could do it for very little city investment. You know if we were
to build a building like this from the ground up scratch youíd probably be talking you
know two to three million dollars to do something like this. And weíre going to have it done
with the cityís money um I would just roughly guess, not over 150,000 dollars.
In Champaign, Illinois, is our ìon-the-wayî facility. The Virginia Theatre in downtown
Champaign holds memories for many and thanks to the city; itís getting a new life.
Our final theater destination is in Danville, Illinois. While the Fischer Theater isnít
quite renovated yet, itís certainly on the way. Although the restoration has been in
progress for many years, the community is still behind it and organizers are confident
that ìShe will shine again.î I think people are still excited about it.
You know they are excited to come into the theater. Anytime we have an event, we have
a good turnout, simply because people are excited to come in here and see what the theater
is like. Either they have a memory of being in the theater when they were young or they
have never been in here and theyíve always wanted to come in.
(Narrator) The Vermillion Heritage Foundation hopes to restore the auditorium and eventually
use the upstairs office space as art galleries and maybe even a classroom; creating an all-encompassing
community arts center. The end goal is to bring back the charm and functionality that
so many have fond memories of.
Another theme show in Season 10 will feature aviation. Our first story is about the Civil
Air Patrol. We made our way to the Coles County, Illinois, Airport between Mattoon and Charleston
where we spent some time with the Civil Air Patrolís Johnson Flight Academy. This encampment
promotes aviation to young people by teaching them to fly gliders, balloons and powered
aircraft. [airplane engine]
Continuing our flight theme, we made our way to the Air Combat Museum in Springfield, Illinois.
Here, the hangar of Mike George is filled with planes that are all veterans of air combatÖand
all still fly! [Music]
(Narrator) Whether youíre a fan of fighter planes, military equipment, or just good stories,
thereís something for everyone at the Air Combat Museum in Springfield.
Well the star of the museum is the P 51 Mustang that was built in 1944. And it is uh an actual
combat veteran. It served in Europe towards the end of the war. Itís painted after a
Coronel Bob Frish and he served with the 339th in England. And then the next most famous
airplane is the Course Air, which is the blue one with go wings behind me. That actually
served off an aircraft carrier in Korea. For another special show, we spent some time
in Decatur, Illinois. Millikin Place is a unique neighborhood not far from Millikin
University. The street is full of homes inspired by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and
one is even credited to him. But as youíll learn in the full story, thereís more to
this place than meets the eye. At the entrance to Millikin Place is the James
Millikin Homestead. This impressive historic home was built by the founder of Millikin
University and his wife, Anna, in 1876. Throughout its history, the home has had many uses including
hospital and art institute. Today, itís open for tours.
At the time the mansion was built, obviously the cost of it was relatively little compared
to nowadays. It was $18,000 and somebody mentioned possibly now it would be $1.8 million of you
tried to recreate it Just down the street from the Millikin Homestead
and Millikin Place is the Gov. Oglesby Mansion. Richard J. Oglesby was a U.S. Senator, Civil
War General and three-time Governor of Illinois. His legacy can be seen through a tour of his
home. Well, that pretty much covers everything youíll
see in Season 10! We hope youíve enjoyed a little look at whatís to come. Make sure
to tune in every week to get the full story on all of the people and places youíve seen
here today. Thanks for watching and weíll see you out there on the Heartland Highways,
where every mile
is an adventure. [music]