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In This Issue
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Canal Corridor Association is a membership organization that preserves history, protects nature and open space, and creates destinations where people can learn and have fun in the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, from Lake Michigan in Chicago to the Illinois River in LaSalle/Peru. It enhances, raises awareness of and expands the parks, trails, landscape and historic sites that make the I&M Canal region a special place. CCA manages the Gaylord Building, a National Trust Historic Site, in Lockport, Illinois. One of the oldest industrial buildings in the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, the Gaylord Building is a model of adaptive reuse, featuring the Public Landing restaurant, canal exhibits and more. |
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CCA President's Note Mingle with Abraham Lincoln and family. Rub shoulders with Wild Bill Hickock. Meet and greet Chief Shabonna. They’re among a collection of 13 new life-size silhouettes of people who traveled and worked on the I&M Canal in the 1800s that Canal Corridor Association has installed at historic Lock 14 in LaSalle. The exhibit is the first sign of the exciting things to come at the Port of LaSalle site. It is also the latest addition to the corridor-wide wayfinding system we’ve been working on, joining similar displays and mile markers along the trail and in Lockport, Joliet and Hodgkins. Not a silhouette but a real person, Mark Harmon is a new addition to the CCA staff. Mark is the new site director of the Gaylord Building Historic Site. Please join me in welcoming him to the corridor. Meantime, we still wait for federal reauthorization of the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor. Without it, we will be without federal funds to further develop and enhance the heritage corridor for a third year. Unfortunately, the delay has caused us to place several programs – including the popular summer teacher workshops – on hold. Please email or fax Senators Durbin and Obama and House Speaker Hastert to ask for their help in passing the necessary legislation. Details are below. The corridor and summer await! I look forward to seeing you at one of the many historic, cultural and recreational sites along our illustrious canal. Ana B. Koval President & CEO Canal Fact James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, born in Troy Grove, was a mule driver on the canal. In the first known fight of his career, he and an opponent tumbled into the canal. Help Still Needed for Federal Reauthorization Legislation We want to thank the many of you who have contacted Senator Durbin, Senator Obama, House Speaker Hastert and your U.S. Representative to ask for their support for the reauthorization of the “first in the nation” National Heritage Corridor. The legislation still has not passed out of the Senate and as the FY07 Federal budget is taking form, it is becoming critical that the Senate pass the reauthorization bill as soon as possible. This significant local history with national impact is still not well known, fully taught in our schools, or fully interpreted at the various historic sites. Future projects will be in jeopardy such as the full development of the Lock 14 site where a replica canal boat will soon ply the canal waters, the further development of the Chicago Portage Site (only one of two National Historic Sites in Illinois), the vast potential of the Public Landing in Lockport, and the development of a trail system along the Cal-Sag feeder canal. The Aux Sable aqueduct site with only one of the two remaining locktender houses is a gem ready to be discovered. Towns from Channahon, Seneca, Marseilles, and Ottawa are dreaming of ways to re-water the canal in their towns. With tourism a growing part of our local economy, development of these and many more projects will both add to our quality of life and provide economic benefits to our residents. Very few if any of these projects will be completed without the passage of the reauthorization bill. The Canal Corridor Association has been selected to coordinate and manage the further development of this historic Corridor if the pending reauthorization legislation (HR 2099) is passed. We have been working behind the scenes with each of our Senators and U.S. Representatives but your help is greatly needed to assure passage of this legislation. So if you haven’t already contacted our Senators and your Representative or even if you have, please call, write, fax or email them to ask for their leadership in passing the reauthorization legislation that would lead to the reinstatement of funding for the Corridor. Senator Durbin http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm Senator Obama http://obama.senate.gov/ House Speaker Hastert http://www.house.gov/hastert/contact.shtml
All Aboard!
Gaylord Building Site Director – Mark Harmon Mark S. Harmon has joined the Canal Corridor Association staff as the new Site Director of the historic Gaylord Building. A native of Ohio, Mark received his B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Akron. He has approximately twenty years experience in museums, including the last twelve in Downers Grove as Supervisor of The Downers Grove Park District Museum. His career also included two years as Executive Director of the Canal Fulton Heritage Society, which operated the St. Helena II canal boat on the Ohio & Erie Canal. Mark spends most of his free time with his family – wife Gina and daughter Krysta – enjoying movies and travel. Mark believes that “history” has played the greatest role in his life both at work and home. He is a firm believer that “we must know where we have been so we can chart a course for the future.” He spends part of most days reading historical works or watching documentaries or visiting history museums. In the past couple years he has even incorporated “living history” into his life through “vintage baseball,” which is the national pastime as it was played before the Civil War. Cook County Special Places Advocates
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Upcoming Events Here is a sampling of events happening in the corridor. For a more complete listing of events, click here to visit the Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitor Bureau's website. Don't see your event listed here? Please send it to enews@canalcor.org.
June 2-3 -
CHAMPIONS ON THE STREET, Downtown Joliet
June 3 & 4 -
Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball, Morris
June 3 - Open Wheel Modified Special,
LaSalle Speedway, LaSalle
June 4 - The Udder Century,
Union, IL
June 8 – 11 - NHRA Nationals
June 9, 10, 11 - W.D. Boyce
Pilgrimage-Scouting activity, Ottawa Scouting Museum and
other locations.
June 10 - Fishing Day Festival, Palos
Heights
June 10 - The Guess Who, John Kay and
Steppenwolf, Silver Cross Field, Joliet
June 10 – June 11 - Gebhard Woods
Dulcimer Festival, Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris
June 10 – June 14 - Heritage Tractor
Adventure, Streator to Streator
June 10 & 11 - Garden Walk, Utica
June 11 – June 17 - A Gentleman and a
Scoundrel, Engle Lane Theater, Streator
June 11 - Butterflies of Northern
Illinois, Hegeler Carus Mansion, LaSalle
June 12 – 16 - Maud Powell Music
Festival, Peru
June 15 - Murder Mystery Matinee
“Machine Gun Elvis”, Starved Rock Lodge
June 16, 17, & 18 - Lockport Old Canal
Days, Lockport
June 16 - LaSalle County Relay
for Life, Streator City Park, Park and Hickory Streets, downtown
Streator. June 17 -
Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run,
"Return to the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial Run"
June 17- Music Under the Stars,
Hegeler Carus Mansion, LaSalle
June 17 - LaSalle Speedway
June 17 - Key West Party on the
Rooftop, Joliet Area Historical Museum
June 17 & June 18 - Joliet’s 13th
Annual Car Show, Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, Joliet
June 17, 19, 24, 26 - Land and Water
Cruise, Starved Rock Lodge
June 17 & 18 - Railroad Crossing Days,
Union Depot Railroad Museum, Mendota
June 17 & 18 - 2006 Illinois Valley Air
Show, Peru
June 18 - Mendota YMCA 5K Run/Walk
June 22 - John Tesh and Cece Winans,
Silver Cross Stadium, Joliet
June 23 & June 24 - June Fest,
Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park
June 23 – June 25 - Nostalgia Days,
Morris
June 24 - LaSalle Speedway, LaSalle
June 25 - “Music in the Park”,
Starved Rock State Park, Utica
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On
April 26th about 20 Argo High School seniors continued
with clearing a trail started last year by their fellow classmates.
The trail project is to extend an existing Forest Preserve District
of Cook County trail in Willow Springs out to the Ship & Sanitary
Canal and Cal-Sag confluence. This confluence site also is the
location of one of the SEPA stations created by the Metropolitan
Water Reclamation District. The trail, once paved will add an
additional mile to the existing 11 mile loop trail. Future plans
call for extending the FPDCC trail east through Justice, Bedford
Park and Summit.