Behind the Music -- October 30, 2009

On October 30, OLLI traveled to Don's Musicland in Peoria for a private, behind-the-scenes visit with owner Don Middleton.

Middleton, who opened his store 41 years ago, gave us a tour of the 9,500 square-foot facility, which includes seven studios. His store has the largest music book selection in downstate Illinois -- during our visit, he had more than 1,300 books from which to choose.

Other highlights of the tour included demonstrations of the Beamz interactive music device, which interacts with a computer to play hundreds of types of songs, all controlled with hand movements. Members of Don's staff also showed off the new digital pianos, guitar selection, and spoke about the Quick Start program, which encourages senior citizens to learn to play instruments.

For more information about Don's Musicland, please visit its webpage.

In Search of Lewis and Clark -- October 29, 2009

The rain didn't dampen the spirits of nearly 30 OLLI members who joined our learning trip to the Lewis and Clark State Historical Site and Cahokia Mounds National Historic Site in southwest Illinois.

Our first stop was the Lewis and Clark site, which was designated as the location for one of the National Signature Events for the 2004 Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. The 14,000 square-foot facility, located at the winter camp area of the expedition, included a 55-foot full-scale replica of the keel boat used by Lewis and Clark. We also viewed exhibits on Illinois and the entire expedition, as well as a video in the facility's theater.

After a hearty lunch at Ravanelli's, we visited Cahokia Mounds, where 1,000 years ago a great civilization of Mississippian peoples thrived. During our interactive tour of the visitor's center (it was much too rainy to climb to the top of Monk's Mound), we learned about its history as the largest prehistoric Indian city north of Mexico.

For more information about the sites we visited, check these websites:
--Lewis and Clark State Historical Site
--Cahokia Mounds