Prairie Fire Segments

Exotic Feline Rescue Center

2009-05-15T00:30:38Z

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center is one of the largest rescue centers in the country for abused, abandoned, and neglected exotic felines. The EFRC was founded by Joe Taft in 1991 and has grown over the years to spread more than 100 acres in Center Point, Indiana. Cared for by a small group of devoted professionals, the cats go through an astonishing 3,000 pounds of meat a day, live in custom-made enclosures, and even get dental work done by the vets at the U of I. Steve Drake visited the EFRC and went on an amazing, guided tour provided by the director himself.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-14-a.mp4 (duration: 09:54)

Lincoln: Mud Circuit

2009-05-15T00:30:26Z

2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll look at what daily life was like for Lincoln as he traveled along the “mud circuit” and explore how the challenges and people he encountered along the way shaped him.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-14-b.mp4 (duration: 04:50)

Bachmann-Keefner Drug Store

2009-05-15T00:30:00Z

Alison Davis Wood bids a fond farewell to Prairie Fire by remembering one of her favorite stories from the past. The Bachmann-Keefner drug store in downtown Springfield was a local landmark. When Alison visited it back in 1995, she was glad that it was still open. When she was growing up in Springfield, her father’s office was next door and she had many lunches with him eating grilled cheese sandwiches and sipping chocolate milkshakes at the Bachmann-Keefner counter. Sadly, just like so many of the people and places captured on this program, this piece of central Illinois history is no longer around. One of the reasons Alison is proud to have been a part of this show is that, in a small way, it preserves the memories of these people and the history of our area.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-14-c.mp4 (duration: 08:00)

Aging Pilots

2009-05-08T00:30:31Z

Is it necessary to force pilots to retire when they reach age 65? While it’s clear that we all slow down mentally and physically as we age, researchers at the Institute of Aviation in Savoy, IL are looking into ways to help aging pilots perform just as well as their younger counterparts. Dr. Dan Morrow uses a flight simulator and eye tracking equipment to put older pilots through their paces in the hopes of developing strategies and tools to help pilots maintain their flying skills as they age.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-07-b.mp4 (duration: 09:11)

Senior Odyssey

2009-05-08T00:30:10Z

Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition centered around creative problem-solving for students from kindergarten through college. But researchers at the University of Illinois are using those same brain teasers, stage performances, and long-term problem solving challenges to study the possible benefits these types of activities might have on the minds and overall well-being of older adults.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-07-a.mp4 (duration: 07:46)

Lincoln: Domestic Life

2009-05-04T15:46:30Z

2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with our documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at Lincoln’s life in central Illinois and how his years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois eighth circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. Tonight we’ll look at Lincoln’s domestic life and how being away from his wife and children affected him while he was traveling on the circuit. We’ll also learn how protecting his soon-to-be-wife’s honor nearly cost him his life.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-05-07-c.mp4 (duration: 06:44)

Storytellers

2009-05-01T00:30:58Z

The art of storytelling has been with us since before written history. When most people think of storytelling today, they think of someone simply reading a story aloud from a book. But traditional storytelling actually involves much more than that. We caught up with storytellers Dan Keding and Kathe Brinkmann to get the story straight from the storytellers themselves.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-30-b.mp4 (duration: 11:01)

Lincoln: Circuit Towns

2009-05-01T00:30:42Z

As part of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments looking at how Lincoln’s years spent as a traveling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. We look at what life was like in the mid-1800s in the towns along the circuit and how Lincoln’s time spent there helped shape him as a lawyer, politician and man.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-30-c.mp4 (duration: 05:32)

Blackmiths

2009-05-01T00:30:22Z

Before the industrial revolution, the blacksmith was a vital part of most successful towns in America. Modern machines and mass production may have made the village smithy a thing of the past. But the blacksmithing tradition lives on. Jared Collins visited a gathering of blacksmiths and woodwrights at the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, IL and saw how the trades of shaping metal and wood using hand tools is still very much alive.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-30-a.mp4 (duration: 5:35)

Red Bull Flugtag Chicago

2009-04-24T00:30:29Z

The Red Bull Flugtag is a competition were teams design, build, and pilot their own, entirely human-powered flying machines. Since the event began in Vienna, Austria in 1991, more than 70 Flugtags have been held around the world. The most recent one in the Midwest was held at Chicago’s North Avenue Beach. Series producer Steve Drake joined a number of central Illinois teams in Chicago and rooted them on as they showed off their vehicles, pre-flight comedy sketches, and often even funnier dance moves.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-23-b.mp4 (duration: 10:36)

Lawn Mower Racing

2009-04-24T00:30:17Z

Have you ever seen a neighbor, friend, a loved one, or maybe even yourself, cruising around his front yard on a riding lawn mower? Maybe they seem to be having a little bit too much fun to be considered yard work. With a little mechanical expertise and a lot of courage, you can have even more fun on a lawn mower. We catch up with a group of enthusiasts in Metamora, IL who have taken their love of racing, and the riding mower, to all new extremes.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-23-a.mp4 (duration: 8:02)

Coke Museum

2009-04-17T00:30:58Z

Twenty-five years ago, professional disc jockey David Lee Allen bought a single piece of Coca-Cola memorabilia. Then he bought another one. And another one. His collection grew so large that he’s created his own museum dedicated to his favorite soda—David Lee’s Cola-Zeum. Showcased in the museum at the Hickory Point Mall in Forsythe, IL, are a full-size Coca-Cola denimachine van, a R2-D2 cobot (Coke-robot), and many other iconic Coke emblazoned items.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-16-a.mp4 (duration: 9:07)

Lincoln: Ambition and Early Career

2009-04-17T00:30:34Z

As part of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009 and in connection with WILL-TV’s documentary Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency, we’ve created a series of segments exploring how Lincoln’s years workings as a traveling lawyer in central Illinois helped make him one of our nation’s greatest presidents. In tonight’s segment, we look at Lincoln’s early ambitions and explore his life and career in Illinois before he became a traveling lawyer.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-16-c.mp4 (duration: 5:41)

Chinese Art Collecting

2009-04-17T00:30:30Z

Yu “Ian” Wang is an avid collector of local artists. He was born in China’s southernmost province of Yunnan and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1990s. Although he lives in Champaign and works in Rantoul, Wang has always kept his ties with his Chinese homeland. Collecting artwork from his hometowns takes him not only across the Midwest, but across the globe. His collection is a combination of traditional Chinese water-ink painting and modern Western abstract art.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-16-b.mp4 (duration: 9:11)

Starved Rock State Park

2009-04-10T00:30:37Z

Starved Rock State Park is located just south of Utica, Ill. Its 18 canyons were formed by melting waters from glaciers. The erosion created spectacular rock formations in the surrounding sandstone bluffs. Producer Brian Paris and videographer Virginia Steffen visited the park to see for themselves what makes Starved Rock so special.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2009-04-09-a.mp4 (duration: 8:00)