O'Brien Field Tour and Chiefs Game -- August 30, 2010

Our last trip of Summer 2010 featured a visit to O’Brien Field, home of the Peoria Chiefs minor league baseball team.

Chiefs President Rocky Vonachen led a behind-the-scenes tour of the ballpark and facilities. We even had a surprise visit from Chiefs patriarch and Peoria legend Pete Vonachen before the game. After the tour, we enjoyed our box seats in Wrigleyville, dined on a buffet dinner of hot dogs and burgers, then watched the Chiefs take on the Clinton LumberKings (the final score was Clinton 7, Peoria 2).

For more information about O'Brien Field and the Peoria Chiefs, visit the team's website.

Area Organic Farms -- August 19, 2010

Twenty OLLI members enjoyed a mid-August trip throughout Peoria County to visit local farms and business owners dedicated to organic growing practices.

The original itinerary was changed due to the June 5 tornado that hit Elmwood, Illinois, and damaged Basil's Harvest. As a result, we changed the tour to include lunch at Kickapoo Creek Winery in Edwards, then tours of Hart's Honey and Twisted Chicken Acres in Brimfield.

Janet Hart of Hart’s Honey gave a tour of her apiary in rural Brimfield. She discussed her beekeeping techniques, demonstrated how colonies are built from beeswax, and gave a (non-graded) quiz about bee facts and figures.

Leslie Schenkel, owner of Twisted Chicken Acres, was our second host of the day. She explained her growing techniques and her involvement with the Good Earth Food Alliance. In addition, Scott Wallace, District Conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, was in attendance to explain how Leslie was awarded federal funds to construct two hoophouses.

Beer Tasting Class -- August 5, 2010

Pat Hartzler, local beer expert and account representative from Specialty Distributing Company, led more than a dozen OLLI members through the finer points of both domestics and imports during a beer tasting class at Two25 Restaurant in downtown Peoria.

During the two-hour class, participants explored six types of beer, including a pilsner, ale, weiss, pale ale, stout, and lambic. Pat also talked about craft beers, explained the brewing process, and discussed the "green" beer movement.

For more information, please visit the websites of Two25 Peoria and Specialty Distributing Company.

Lake Geneva -- August 11, 2010

Once again, the weather cooperated when OLLI visited Wisconsin for a tour on the U.S. Mailboat-Walworth in Lake Geneva and Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay.

Forty OLLI members were aboard the boat, which delivered mail to about 60 homes around the lake. The two-hour tour, which included commentary about many of the homes, featured a postal carrier who jumped off the bow of the boat while it was still moving, delivered the mail, grabbed any out-going parcels, and leapt back on to the stern of the boat before it passed by.

After a pasta buffet at Gino's East, we headed to nearby Williams Bay for a private tour of Yerkes Observatory, part of the University of Chicago's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The hour-long tour featured a discussion of the latest astronomical research conducted at the observatory, plus a demonstration of the work'd largest lens-type telecope in the 90-foot dome.

For more information about our tours, please visit the websites of Lake Geneva Cruises and Yerkes Observatory.

Princeton and Festival 56 -- July 28, 2010

OLLI members spent a beautiful summer day exploring Princeton's cultural heritage in late July. The day began with breakfast and a presentation by Dexter Brigham, Executive Artistic Director of Festival 56, Illinois' largest summer theatre festival.

Brigham, a 1998 alumni of Bradley University, spent the morning with OLLI, sharing the history of Festival 56 and colorful anecdotes about growing up in Princeton. Before he left to prepare for the weekday matinee, he guided the group through a tour of the theatre's prop department.

After lunch at the locally owned Wine Cellar, we took a guided tour of Princeton's historic homes and buildings, then enjoyed the performance of "Moon Over Buffalo" at Princeton High School.

For more information about Princeton, please visit with city's website.