Everything fun from Wednesday, Dec. 23, through Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Phew. Are you as ready as we are to shake off the dust of 2009 and move into the shiny new year of 2010?
While it never makes sense to deny the problems we face in the world, just for the next couple of weeks we thought it would be good to stop talking about unemployment stats and health care debates. Cease and desist with the unending worry about war, global warming and nuclear threats from Iran. Reality will return soon enough. For now let’s have some fun.
That’s what we had in mind when we planned this special double entertainment edition of Illinois Times. We decided to leave all the heavy news behind this week and put together a special edition that is chock full of fun … and nothing but fun. Two full weeks of it.
We were so eager to get the party started we decided to publish one full day early. We did that to give our drivers a break (so they won’t have to work on Christmas Eve) and to give you, our faithful readers, a full day’s jump start on the long two-week holiday season ahead. Publishing early also allowed us to let our hardworking staff take a few vacation days during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Here’s to a fun, stress-free end to the year of 2009 – may we never live through another just like it! We hope you enjoy this special entertainment edition … it may become an annual tradition around IT.
Peace, love, sandy feet
Sharon Whalen, publisher
Inside this edition
10 Christmas memoir Roy French of Virginia, Ill., gifts readers with his annual tale of a rural Christmas the way it used to be.
12 Holiday at the movies Chuck Koplinski really came through with previews of six holiday movie releases.
20 Two weeks of Pub Crawl Not one but two full weeks of live music, karaoke and open mic nights plus our spotlight on two groups.
24 First Night Springfield Courtney Enlow and the folks from the Arts Council provided the complete schedule for First Night festivities.
25 Two weeks of Events Calendar Anita Stienstra worked extra hard on the pub crawl and a full twoweek calendar of events – including everything from church services to art shows.
