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Founded in 1948, the Illini Glider Club is a collection of about 50 enthusiasts who meet regularly in Monticello to fly gliders. Using nothing but thermal updrafts, the flights can sometimes last for hours and traverse more than a hundred miles. We meet some of the pilots and learn about their love of soaring.
Segment duration: 06:11
Story links:
Producer: Rachel Reed
Editor: Rachel Reed
This segment is filed in these categories:
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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.
Segment duration: 09:54
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Livestock/Animals/Zoology • Parks/Outdoor Recreation • Science/Nature • University of Illinois
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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.
Segment duration: 04:50
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
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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.
Segment duration: 08:00
Producer: Alison Davis Wood
This segment is filed in these categories: Business • Food/Restaurants
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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.
Segment duration: 09:11
Story links:
- Dr. Dan Morrow, University of Illinois
- ARTICLE: Morrow Focuses on Pilot Expertise and the Aging Mind
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Science/Nature • University of Illinois • Savoy
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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.
Segment duration: 07:46
Story links:
- Senior Odyssey
- Dr. Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, University of Illinois
- Odyssey of the Mind (International Program)
Producer: Steve Drake
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: Hobbies • Science/Nature • University of Illinois • University of Illinois • Urbana
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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.
Segment duration: 06:44
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: Family history • History • Illinois Culture/History
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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.
Segment duration: 11:01
Story links:
- Champaign-Urbana Storytelling Guild
- Tim Sheppard’s Storytelling Resources for Storytellers (UK)
- International Storytelling Center (Jonesborough, TN)
- Dan Keding: Storyteller, Author, and Folk Musician (personal website)
- Kathe Brinkmann: Storyteller (personal website)
Producer: Steve Drake and Virginia Steffen
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Folklore • Hobbies • Literature • Champaign • Urbana
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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.
Segment duration: 05:32
Story links:
Producer: Steve Drake and Alison Davis Wood
Editor: Steve Drake and Tristan Riddell
This segment is filed in these categories: History • Illinois Culture/History
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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.
Segment duration: 5:35
Story links:
Producer: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
Editor: Jared Collins and Steve Drake
This segment is filed in these categories: Agriculture/Agribusiness • Ethnicity/Culture • Historical Landmarks • Grand Detour
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