Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 15

Angel of mercy -in C2 Decatur, Illinois Herald Review Tuesday, March 17, 1998 Hot Tickets If 3 r. i Irk i Xs J) r' V' HA f. i -J I rr: i V. V. (off -w.

i "I 'p' I 1 I I I PARADE DAY: There was a good turn out by the Sons and Daughters of Ireland as FALLSTROM Home, Lawn, Garden Expo opens Friday Maybe spring will be bustin' out all over again this weekend in celebration of the Home, Lawn Garden Expo in the Decatur Civic Center. Check out the exhibits, the free-bies everything from lawn mowers to closet organizers. Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2 with ages 12 and under free. Parking is free.

Entertainment will include Barbara Smith Company at 2 p.m. Saturday and the 4 Crying Out Loud barbershop singing quartet at 2 p.m. Sunday. A swimming pool, complements of Jan Master Pool Supply, is the grand prize. Female visitors will receive a free flowering starter plant grown by Connie's Country Greenhouse.

Children under 10 will be given a free bird warbler whistle. Decatur's Irish and would-be Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a big parade and party Saturday, but that won't stop today's if 4 they celebrated St. Patrick's Day Saturday. By TONY RE1D Staff Writer elly Doyle will go for the green nails today, but you can scratch the corned beef.

"We have a big supper at our house on St. Patrick's Day," says Kelly, 11. "I do like cabbage, but, well, I just don't like the beef." Not that Kelly lets bovine gastronomic hassles get in the way of having a pretty cool day, however. At Our Lady of Lourdes School, where she's in fifth grade, uniform rules are relaxed in honor of the green saint. "I always wear something green, and I paint my fingernails green, too, with little white shamrocks on them," says Kelly, daughter of Terry and Mary Doyle.

"But, really, the big celebration happens on the Saturday before with the St. Patrick's Day parade in Decatur." Kelly and brother Conor, 9, took part in the parade as the youngest members of the Sons and Daughters of Ireland, a 52-strong social club for folks who want to celebrate their Irish ancestry. The club had a float in the parade, and members dispensed greetings and candy to throngs of spectators. "It's a lot of fun," says Kelly, whose paternal great-grandparents left Ireland for the New World. "My family are down at the Knights of Columbus Hall for breakfast at 7 a.m., and then we have the parade, and then it's back for lunch.

They have entertainment and music and stuff, and I enjoy hanging out with my friends. We stay all day." The Sons and Daughters float featured 6-foot-tall painted wood silhouettes of Irish dancers crafted by Annettia Closs. "I dabble in art and have helped out for the last couple of years," says Closs, 46, whose Irish ancestry embraces immigrant maternal great-grandparents. "And I wouldn't want to miss the parade and the celebrations at the K.C. Hall." Closs and husband John "he's not Irish, he pretends" have children ages 26, 23 and 14 and like to mark St.

Pat's Day itself with a family meal at home. "We have corned beef and cabbage which smells up the house, but, well, you've got to do it, haven't you?" says Closs, 46. "Then we put on the Irish songs Danny all the favorites and maybe we'll sing along, too. As a child, that's how I remember St. Patrick's Day: all gathered at grandma's house and all her brothers and everyone would all be singing a big, happy party." Closs' mom, Pat Metzger, started her singing several days before Saturday's St.

Pat's parade. She says its takes a bunch of the Sons and Daughters a couple of evenings to get their float ready, and the group sessions are lubricated with song, beer, green chips and green dip. "Food coloring goes a long way," explains Metzger, 67. "And then, while we're working, somebody will break out singing and it doesn't matter whether they can Always a leader in nurturing our children, Baby TALK has excelled at providing parents with beneficial information. Hospital visits, Baby TALK times, library lapsits and music lessons for toddlers are among the many free programs that contribute to Tit Herald Review photosHerb Slodounik 1 RING LEADER: Pat Wombacher currently serves as president of the Sons and Daughters of Ireland in Decatur.

DAUGHTERS OF IRELAND: Pat Metzger, left, and Clardine Mense riding the Sons and Daughters of Ireland float, get ready to toss out more candy in the parade. carry a The celebrating on parade day starts early with hearty breakfasts at the K.C. Hall. "And you might say a big breakfast is an Irish breakfast," says Metzger's friend Betty Wrigley, 69. "I was over in Ireland two years ago, and they have huge breakfasts there, just huge: all kinds of meat and eggs and cereal and three kinds of bread.

We had a great time, and my husband, John his grandparents are from Ireland even kissed the Blarney Stone." The Sons and Daughters pretty much stay at the K.C. Hall all day for corned beef and cabbage and on into the evening for dancing, singing and general carrying-on. By the time St. Pat's Day itself has rolled around, they're ready to take it easy. "It's quieter.

We like to sit back today and relax and watch the 'Quiet Wrigley adds. Metzger will be mellowing out with husband Bob and, after the standard fare of ST. PAT Continued on C5 much-needed service. Lezlie Rucker, Decatur daughter of Herbert Banning CAREER FAIR: The Smith Barney Eighth Grade Career Fair was held at Richland Community College Feb. 24-27.

Representatives from 52 businesses and agencies presented information on 28 career areas to approximately 1,600 Macon County students. The collaboration of the school counselors and the staff of Richland Community College and Partners in Education made this event a success. Macon County has wonderful students and volunteers. Thanks to everyone who participated. Kathy Sorenson, Richland Community College Cindy Laegeler; Partners in Education Celebrate! welcomes notes about good things happening around Central Illinois.

Please limit your contribution to 75 words and list of people or organizations thanked to no more than 10 names. Send to: Kudos, Herald Review, Box 311, Decatur, IL 62525. -'tv GREEN MACHINE: Members of the Sons and Daughters of Ireland of Decatur share a common heritage and sense of fun. St. Pat's facts The patron saint of Ireland, St.

Patrick was, in fact, born in England at the turn of the fifth century. One of his big claims to fame was ordering all snakes out I of Ireland. To this day, the Emerald Isle has no indigenous snakes, unlike neighboring Britain. The shamrock is said to have been used by St. Patrick to I preach the doctrine of the holy trinity.

Several million of the plants are grown in County Cork, Ireland, and shipped all over the world for St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is a holy day when shops and i businesses close. Farnilies celebrate at home with special I meals or attend popular sporting events, like horse racing.

Information taken from the George Killian's Irish Red "O'fficial Facts on St. Patrick's Day" Web site. STAGING: William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" will be staged by The Acting Company at 8 p.m. Friday in the Sangamon Auditorium on the University of Illinois at Springfield campus. Tickets range from $23 to $12.

Call 1-800-207-6960. "Rent" is at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis today through Sunday. Call Metrotix, (314) 534-1111. Also in St.

Louis, letters written between Mary Banning and Charles Peck will be read in a theatrical performance at 7 p.m. Friday in the Shoenberg Auditorium of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd. Mary Banning lived in Maryland in the late 1800s and observed mushrooms, drawing them and describing them in her journal. Peck was the state botanist of the Museum of New York in Albany. Tickets are $5 plus the regular garden admission, $5 for age 13-64, $3 age 65 and older.

The American Passion Play celebrates its 75th season. It's a Bloomington-Normal tradition performed in the Scottish Rite Temple in Bloomington. Dates are Saturday and March 28, April 4-5, 11, 18-19, 25, May 2-3 and 9. Each performance starts at 2 p.m. All tickets are $12.

Unlike other passion plays, the Bloomington-Normal play dramatizes Jesus' entire ministry rather than just the events from Passion Week onward. Call 1-800-354-9640. MUSIC: The Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra with an American conductor, Hob Karle, plays Thursday at 8 p.m. in Foellinger Great Hall of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Ur-bana. Tickets are with senior students getting in for Jazz fans will want to make the trip to the Glendora House in Chicago Ridge at 2 p.m.

Sunday to see 84-year-old drummer Barrett Deems leading his 17-piece big band. It's a 25th anniversary birthday bash for the Illiana Club of Traditional Jazz. Tickets are $15. The address is 102nd Street and Harlem Avenue. FLOWERS: A Hint of the Tropics is the theme of the 26th annual spring floral display at the Washington Park Botanical Garden in Springfield starting Saturday and continuing through April 12.

See thousands of classic white lillies and Asiatic lillies surrounded by chrysanthemums, coleus and geraniums. Tropical plants and trees, along with a thatched hut, will set the tropical theme. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday and noon to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The location is Fayette Avenue and Chatham Road. It's free. Call 753-6228. COMMUNITY EVENTS: Visit the Christian Service Center at New Salem Baptist Church, 1415 N. Edward St.

It's open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second and fourth Friday and Saturday of the month. Household items and clothes are available. Bofctallstrom is Herald Review community news editor.

Call him at 421-7981. their disability. Jan Krows, president, Easter Seals of Central Illinois ARTS GRANT: Macon Resources Inc. thanks the Decatur Area Arts Council community committee for awarding the Group Day Respite Center at Macon Resources a $400 community arts grant. It will provide needed art supplies and activities for the children and adolescents with disabilities.

This program is sponsored by a grant from the Decatur Area Arts Council and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Melissa McKinney, PRdevelopment assistant LULLABY CONCERT: Congratulations to Baby TALK for presenting children and parents with another excellent program. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the free lullaby concert with music by the Millikin String Arts Ensemble. CHILD CARE: Thanks to Cheryl VandeVo-orde, Nancy Hanover, Susie Bean and Paula Veach for speaking to 60 child care providers and teachers at Shilling Auditorium, Richland Community College, on Feb. 9.

The area teachers spoke on ways early childhood staff in preschools can prepare children for kindergarten. This event was held by the Early Childhood Professional Club at Richland and the Child Care Resource Service. Shelly Vogel, ECPC president BREAKING TRADITION: Easter Seals' March 8 televised event at Hickory Point Mall was an example of why breaking tradition is sometimes a good thing. Going from a 10-hour fund-raising event to a three-hour show was a challenge. It turned out to be time efficient, fun to watch and a successful fund-raiser.

Thanks to Hickory Point Mall, the talented WAND and Comworks crew members, the show choirs and 22 sponsors led by ADMHickory Point Bank. One hundred volunteers, representing five counties, provided the manpower. A total of $55,206 was raised to assist people with disabilities, regardless of age, income or duration of the development of young children. Decatur is fortunate to be the home of such a wonderful organization. Happy birthday, Baby TALK, as you celebrate 10 years and 20,000 babies.

Anne Davis, Decatur RESPITE CARE: Thanks to the adult day care center at St. Mary's Hospital and their wonderful staff. Our family recently had the overwhelming task of placing my father in a nursing home. If it were not for this fine organization being able to provide such desperately needed respite care, he would not have been able to remain at home as long as he did. Thanks to each and every one who helped in caring for my father.

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