NATURE | Communal pot

Start the New Year with nature and friends. Join the Sangamon Valley Sierra Club at its annual Stone Soup Hike, Wed., Jan. 1, at Carpenter Park Nature Preserve. Bring something to throw in the soup pot, your own drink (something hot is recommended) and your own table service. There will be a vegetarian pot and a meat-eater pot. If you bring meat or anything requiring an extended cooking time, it must be precooked. Join the club on a hike through the nature preserve while the pots cook and then return to the stone shelter to enjoy soup together. The preserve is located off north Business Route 55 (Peoria Road) near the Rail Golf Course.