TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN
CAP CITY
Almost everyone knows about St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the not-for-profit research hospital that specializes in cancer and never charges children in need who don’t have insurance. Not everyone knows about their Dream Home Giveaway program, which raffles off big fancy houses and puts the proceeds toward helping more kids. A recent giveaway in Dunlap, near Peoria, raised $378,600 for St. Jude and put thousands of dollars worth of prizes in the hands of lucky raffle winners.
St. Jude is urging Springfieldians to get in on the action with the next giveaway, to be held Oct. 9. The grand prize is a $300,000 house located at 3110 Stone Creek Blvd. in Urbana, with at least 13 other prizes available, including shopping sprees, video game systems, furniture, appliances and more. The house was built by Brady Homes, which is owned in part by state senator and candidate for governor Bill Brady.
But what if you win the grand prize and don’t want to leave beautiful, sunny Springfield? Never fear, faithful citizen: you can take the other option of $100,000 in cash instead. Those who don’t win a prize can take satisfaction in knowing they are helping sick kids – a win-win situation. Tickets are $100 and can be reserved by calling 1-800-834-5760 or visiting www.dreamhome.org.
FRENCH HORN COMES HOME
CAP CITY
William Lane knew from the time he was 14 that he wanted to play the
French horn professionally. As a 10-year-old boy growing up in Jacksonville, Lane saw his first professional orchestra when the St. Louis Symphony played at MacMurray College, and his mother brought home a French horn for him the very next day.
He recorded professionally for movies like Animal House and Back to the Future and the original “A-Team” TV series. (Remember “Little House on the Prairie”? That was him in the opening song.) He played under Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, soloed with the Boston Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic and retired after 37 years as principal French horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Sept. 9.
Now Lane is returning to Jacksonville to play a solo concert at the same school where he first fell in love with the symphony.
“I’m very excited about it,” Lane says.
“The last time I played for many of them was in high school, and I’ll be playing the same concerto in full this time.”
Tickets are $15 and are available at County Market or by mailing a check to the Jacksonville Symphony Society, PO Box 32, Jacksonville, Ill. 62651. For more information, visit jaxsym.com or email [email protected].
