MATTOON — The Douglas Hart Nature Center in Mattoon has announced upcoming July events. All activities are held at the nature center unless otherwise noted.
Summer camps: There is still time to register for Douglas Hart summer camps. Visit dhnature.org/summercamps or call 217-235-4644 to register by phone.
Whiteside Garden Tour: Join one of Douglas-Hart’s docents for an hour-long tour of The Whiteside Garden. These tours run on the first Saturday of the month from 10:00 am to November 1st. Registration is not required, just register at 9:50 am at the Welcome Center. The parking lot is located on the west side of the 1820s. Cross the road on the asphalt road. The welcome center has a bathroom, a gift shop and a small exhibition area. Tours last approximately 1 hour. The garden has stairs and even paths in some places. Tours available.
Bat monitoring: 8-9 pm, Thursday, July 14
The Douglas-Hart Nature Center has just received an updated forest management plan that includes improving and protecting wildlife habitat, and needs volunteers to work on their citizen science team to conduct wildlife monitoring. Citizen science will include observation of insects, amphibians and more.
Their first need is to watch bats. Training includes observing roots and using electronic bat monitors. After learning, you can also control your own time. Registration required. The event will be canceled in case of bad weather.
This position requires the following abilities:
- Ability to walk 0.5 miles on smooth, level ground. (Stationary positions are available, such as sitting position and watching perches or active areas if needed).
- Ability to see and turn on and record the steps of bats in different locations with a bat monitoring device.
- Ability to correctly see and fill in data sheets.
Should you require any modifications to the listed abilities, Douglas-Hart will do its best to accommodate them.
Respond to questions by emailing the volunteer at dhnature.org.
Mattoon Arts Council outdoor quilt exhibition winners announced
Live to Learn, Herbs for Grassland Wildlife: 9 am, July 9th.
Learn about pasture management and the grasses that make it special from speaker Bob Gillespie. He will talk about the various grasses that make up our prairies, native and friendly Eurasian grasses that are very beneficial for wildlife conservation. Learn about pasture management, planting and building, and the problematic herbs that give us seizures.
“Little Lilies” 10:00 am, Wednesday, July 13, Whiteside Garden, for children 2-4 years old with adults; free, donations welcome
Littles in the Lilies is perfect for kids who want to play, learn and explore the garden! Great for ages 2-4 but all are welcome.
Summer Food Truck at the Garden of Friendship, July 13, Wednesday, 11:00-13:00:
Visit the Friendship Garden monthly to dine at Don Sol’s food truck. Douglas-Hart is adding a new supplier to sell Cold Brew coffee: both suppliers will donate 10% of the proceeds back to the Douglas-Hart Foundation.
bird Club, 18:00, Tuesday, July 26; free
Doulgas-Hart invites beginners and experienced bird watchers to learn from each other, share findings and participate in ornithology. The club meets once a month for presentations and discussions, and occasionally goes on field trips or field trips.
Storytime and Snuggles 10:00 am, Wednesday, July 27; free
Bring your own cuddly toy to snuggle up to while one of the naturalists reads a nature-themed story each month. Great for ages 2-4 but all are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is welcome.
To register information about any of these events, visit www.dhnature.org/
My City: Clint Walker’s Memories of Coles County, Retrieved from the Archives.
Space blue comics
This photo of Cosmic Blue Comics at Mattoon is from the Journal Gazette on November 22, 1992; where I spent almost every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That little back room you see to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept a lot, I mean a lot, long boxes of old issues. I still have my boxed copy of “Tales of the Beanworld” issue #1 that I found there. Unfortunately, this place is now just a “green zone”.
arcade
Pictured: Bob Murray of Shelbyville from the Journal Gazette on June 2, 1982, demonstrating his dominance of the arcade game TRON in the Carousel Time arcade at the Cross County Mall, which later became Aladdin’s castle and shortly thereafter ceased to be a thing. more. I spent almost every Saturday in this arcade, probably with the same haircut. But no overalls. I was more of a Ocean Pacific kid.
icenogla
Pictured: Journal Gazette November 28, 1988, Icenogle grocery store. Hailing from Cooks Mills, we didn’t often shop at Icenogle’s… but when we did, even as a kid, I knew this was how a grocery store should be in an ideal world, and it wasn’t just because they had wood floors. , comics on a magazine shelf or a lot, I mean a lot of trading cards in wax packages.
Mills Cook
I had long since left Cooks Mills by the time this article about Adam’s store was published in the Journal Gazette of June 13, 1998, but there was a time when I could very well be one of those kids in this photo; because if it was summer and you had a bike and lived in Cooks Mills, that’s where you ended up. According to the latest reports, they still had a Tab in the fridge with the Pepsi logo in the back. I’m seriously considering asking my financier if I can afford to reopen this place.
Mister Music
Pictured from the Journal Gazette, July 16, 1987, is an advertisement for Mister Music, formerly at the Cross County Mall. I didn’t buy records at that age, but eventually I did, and that’s when it all fell apart. If you don’t think it sounds “cool” hanging out at the record store with your buddies on a Friday night with a fresh driver’s license in your wallet, you’d be right. But it’s the best thing a geek like me can do. Wherever you are today, Mister Music owners, please know that the Minutemen album I found in your cheap trash can has changed my life.
Sound Source Guitar Throw
Portrait of the author as a young man about to throw a guitar at a target in the same year’s Sound Source Music guitar throwing competition, from the Journal Gazette, April 18, 1994. Take a look at my grunge hoodie and yes…look closely, those are the Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: Despite what it says in the cut, I didn’t win the guitar.
Pictured is a clipping from the online archive at JG-TC.com, a photograph of April 18, 1994 Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music guitar-throwing winner and current JG-TC staff writer Clint Walker.
Vette
Here Today, Not Tomorrow, Vette’s Teen Club, from the Journal Gazette, June 20, 1991. I wasn’t “tough enough” to hang around Vette in his “heyday,” and by “tough enough” I mean “not experienced enough at parking lot fights.” If only I could get a crack at this now.
FutureGen
FutureGen: The End of the Beginning and Ultimately the Beginning of the End, December 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I paid more attention at that time. I should probably have read the paper.
.
