will.illinois.edu/prairiefire/episode/pf2007-02-15 WILL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Series Episode WILL meets Joseph Standing Bear, learns about the SOARRING Foundation and attends a Pow Wow; we travel to Douglas County and see the beauty of Rockome Gardens; we travel to Crosswinds Equine Rescue and see how they rehabilitate old, unwanted, and sometimes abused horses; we learn about the renovation of the Virginia Theatre in Champaign Abstract Segment Arts/Culture, Cinema/Theaters/Film, Champaign, Champaign County, Historical Landmarks, Illinois Culture/History, WILL Custom Prairie Fire Subject Headings Many towns around central Illinois are trying or have tried to save their major downtown theater. Champaign is succeeding. The Virginia has been serving the community for 80 years. Thankfully local people thought enough of this historic landmark to keep it open. It remains a place to catch local theater, national acts and film festivals. This story produced by longtime Champaign-Urbana theater person Chris Stasheff examines the history of this beautiful building, but also reveals how much is left to be done. Abstract Alison Davis Wood Producer Segment Livestock/Animals/Zoology, Parks/Outdoor Recreation, WILL Custom Prairie Fire Subject Headings I am interested in rescue groups for animals. I have been to a few humane societies, so I wanted to do a story on a rescue group that did not have anything to do with dogs or cats. I saw Crosswinds on the Internet and realized that it was not far and thought the organization sounded interesting. Crosswinds Equine Rescue is a nonprofit organization that takes in abused unwanted horses and buys those that are for sale at slaughter houses. The group takes them in and rehabilitates the horses so they can be adopted out to new homes. If you’d like to help out the organization, you can visit their Web site or call them at 217-832-2010, 8 am-9 pm Central Time. They also accept donations which help pay for the horses’ food and other things that the horses would need. If there is a certain horse that you like, you can sponsor that horse.  Abstract Katie Woodson Producer Segment Historical Landmarks, Horticulture, Illinois Culture/History, Livestock/Animals/Zoology, Parks/Outdoor Recreation, Science/Nature, WILL Custom Prairie Fire Subject Headings The shoot took two days and was actually a double feature. Douglas County, my home county, offers more than just corn. It also has two agriculture-based amusement parks. The Great Pumpkin Patch and Rockome Gardens are just two miles apart, as the horse pulls. A fellow producer, Virginia Steffen and I started at Rockome. With movie magic, we hoped to make the gardens look warm, springy and comfortable. In reality, it was cold, windy and miserable weather. Luckily Sasan Shabrou, a Rockome worker and friend, was able to take us around the grounds in a complimentary golf cart. With our transportation problem solved, the equipment moved quickly and so did we. Day two was colder and possibly windier. Virginia, new recruit Dave Noreen and I worked well into the night, which was actually pleasant. It was just before Halloween and the weather changed for the best, just after the worst part of the shooting schedule. Despite poor conditions, the Rockome staff was sunny and eager to answer questions. The evening crowd for their treasure hunt was large and in good spirits. The country charm of the gardens warmed everyone. One lucky treasure team left Rockome with $2,500. We left with a delicious meal and two wrapped segments. The second segment will have to wait for another blog and another episode. Stay tuned for part two of our shoot: The Great Pumpkin Patch. Abstract Shane Pangburn Producer Segment Arts/Culture, Ethnicity/Culture, Illinois Culture/History, Native Americana, WILL Custom Prairie Fire Subject Headings I became interested in doing a story on Midwest SOARRING Foundation in June of 2005, well before I started working for WILL. I attended a Pow-Wow of theirs in Le Roy, and was very moved by the event. At that time, I met Joseph Standing Bear Schranz (President and Founder), who told me about the work of SOARRING. I was really impressed by not only the organization’s very open and welcoming attitude, but also their innovative ways of working for changes. I decided than I wanted to tell their story some day; I just had to find the means. I started at WILL in January of 2006, and soon realized that Prairie Fire would be the perfect way to tell this kind of story. Abstract Virginia Steffen Producer WILL-TV, University of Illinois Copyright Holder Publisher ¬© 2008 University of Illinois 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 video/mp4 http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2007-02-15.mp4 Moving Image MPEG video MPEG-4 00:28 eng pf2007-02-15.mp4 WILL Public Media, University of Illinois 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 video/x-flv http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/flash/pf2007-02-15.flv Moving Image Flash Video Flash Media 8 00:28 eng pf2007-02-15.flv WILL Public Media, University of Illinois 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 2007-02-15T10:38:00-06:00 video/vnd.rn-realvideo http://willmedia.will.uiuc.edu/ramgen/pf2007-02-15.rv Moving Image 00:28:00