MATTOON — Douglas-Hart Nature Center in Mattoon has announced their upcoming July events. All events are held at the nature center unless stated.
Summer Camps: There is still time to register for Douglas-Hart’s Summer Camps. Visit dhnature.org/summercamps or call 217-235-4644 to process your registration over the phone.
Whiteside Garden Tour: Join one of Douglas-Hart’s docents for an hour-long tour of The Whiteside Garden. These tours are offered on the first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. through Nov. 1. Registration is not required, just check-in at 9:50 a.m. in the Welcome Center. Parking is located on the west side of 1820e. Walk across the road using the asphalt driveway. The Welcome Center has a bathroom, gift shop, and small exhibit area to enjoy as well. Tours last approximately 1 hour. The garden features stairs and uneven paths in some areas. Accessible tours are available.
Bat Monitoring: 8-9 p.m., Thursday, July 14
The Douglas-Hart Nature Center just received its updated forest management plan that involves wildlife habitat improvement and protection and needs volunteers to serve on their Citizen Science Team to conduct wildlife monitoring. Citizen science will involve monitoring insects, amphibians, and more.
Their first need is bat monitoring. Training involves observing roosts and using electronic bat monitors. Once trained you may monitor on your own time as well. Registration required. The event will be canceled in the event of inclement weather.
This position requires the following abilities:
- Ability to walk .5 miles over smooth, even surfaces. (stationary positions are available, such as sitting stationary and monitoring roost or active sites if needed).
- Ability to see and turn on, and record bat pitches in different locations using the bat monitoring device.
- Ability to see and fill out data sheets accurately.
If you need any modifications to the abilities listed, Douglas-Hart will do their best to accommodate
RSVP by emailing volunteer@dhnature.org.
Winners Mattoon Arts Council’s Outdoor Quilt Show announced
Live to Learn, “Grasses for Grassland Wildlife”: 9 a.m., July 9.
Learn about managing grasslands and the grasses that make them special from speaker Bob Gillespie. He will discuss the different grasses that compose our prairies, the natives and the friendly Eurasian grasses that have great utility for wildlife conservation. Learn about grassland management, planting and establishment, and those problem grasses that give us fits.
“Littles in the Lilies”, 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 13 at the Whiteside Garden, for ages 2-4 with adult; free, donations appreciated
Littles in the Lilies is perfect for children that want to play, learn, and explore at the garden! Great for ages 2-4, but all are welcome.
Summer Food Truck at Friendship Garden, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, July 13:
Visit the Friendship Garden to grab lunch from the Don Sol Food Truck each month. Douglas-Hart is adding a new vendor that will be serving Cold Brew Coffee: Both vendors will donate 10% of the proceeds back to the Douglas-Hart Foundation.
Bird Club, 6 p.m., Tuesday, July 26; free
Doulgas-Hart invites novice and experienced birdwatchers to learn from each other, share finds, and get involved in birding. The club meets once a month for presentations and discussions, with occasional field trips or outings.
Storytime and Snuggles, 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 27; free
Bring your stuffed animal to snuggle as one of naturalists reads a nature-themed story each month. Great for ages 2-4, but all are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration encouraged.
For registration information about any of these events visit www.dhnature.org/
My Town: Clint Walker’s memories of Coles County as pulled from the archives
Cosmic Blue Comics
From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of “Tales of the Beanworld” issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a “greenspace”.
Mattoon Arcade
Pictured, Shelbyville’s Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the “Carousel Time” arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin’s Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an “Ocean Pacific” kind of kid.
Icenogle’s
Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle’s grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn’t often shop at Icenogle’s…but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that’s not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.
Cooks Mills
I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam’s Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that’s where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I’m seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.
Mister Music
Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn’t buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that’s where it all went down. If you don’t think it sounds “cool” to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver’s license fresh in your wallet, you’d be right. But it’s the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.
Sound Source Guitar Throw
Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year’s Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes…look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.
Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.
Vette’s
Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette’s Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn’t “cool” enough to hang out at Vette’s back in it’s “heyday,” and by “cool enough” I mean, “not proficient enough in parking lot fights.” If only I could get a crack at it now.
FutureGen
FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.
