Area Briefs: Memorial Day service at Rooks Creek
Memorial Day service at Rooks Creek
Rooks Creek Cemetery will be the site of 138th Rooks Creek Memorial Day Service on Sunday, May 29.
The service will begin at 2:15 p.m. with the military salute in the cemetery taking place at 3 p.m. Rooks Creek Cemetery is located on Illinois 116 west of Pontiac.
The program will include a roll call honoring deceased veterans from the Rooks Creek community, as well as those who served from the War of 1812 to the present.
The roll call will be read by Anthony Arrigo, master chief petty officer, retired. The color guard will be furnished by the Flanagan American Legion.
Those planning to attend are encouraged to bring chairs.
Navana Ahrends
'Spark!' will be exhibited in Chatsworth
Illinois Humanities has announced that The Community Connection Center is one of seven small-town cultural organizations in Illinois selected to house “Spark! Places of Innovation,” a new traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution. Spark! will be at The Community Connection Center, 404 E Locust St., Chatsworth, from Sept. 9 to Oct. 24, 2023.
Spark! will highlight innovation in rural America from their perspectives of people who have lived it. Spark! features stories from communities throughout the United States — including several small towns in Illinois — that have enhanced their vitality through advances in fields such as the arts, education, technology, agriculture and economic development.
The 2023-24 tour is part of Illinois Humanities’ Museum on Main Street, a program conducted in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution specifically to support cultural organizations in small communities. Each host organization produces a companion exhibit with a unique programming that connects local history and culture to the exhibit themes.
“The Community Connection Center in Chatsworth is a special 'Place of Innovation,' which showcases attractions and communities all over Central Illinois. Visit the Center and find your own hometown displayed somewhere in the exhibit! Because Central Illinois hosts so many interesting small communities, be sure to visit to learn about dozens of area attractions,” said Mary Catherine Carter, executive director of Community Connection Group of Central Illinois.
Watch for a list of programs at the Community Connection Center highlighting Farm-to-Fork and local foods produced in Central Illinois. The Fairbury area has been chosen by the Smithsonian to be part of its Exhibition because of its over 45 small farms which supply local meat, eggs, milk, and produce to Chicagoland and across the whole State of Illinois. Mark you calendars to come tour the Connection Center in Chatsworth in September and/or October, 2023, to taste local foods and discover attractions in dozens of communities across Central Illinois.
Five of the organizations that will host Spark! Places of Innovation are based in communities that will be featured in the exhibition: Equality, Hillsboro, Rushville, Marshall and Chatsworth, which will be collaborating with organizations in nearby Fairbury, another featured community.
“We received an outstanding pool of applications, and the communities chosen to host Spark! should be very proud. We’re excited to amplify the work of our partners, and we’re eager to see how they bring this exhibit to life through their own communities’ stories of innovation,” said Illinois Humanities Executive Director Gabrielle Lyon.
Spark! Places on Innovation will kick off its Illinois 2023-24 tour on June 17, 2023 in Equality, where it will be hosted by the Gallatin County Tourism Committee.
Illinois Humanities
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Area briefs include Memorial Day, "Spark!" exhibition in Chatsworth
