The second annual Eureka Rodeo will offer more features as part of the 2016 Big Hat Rich & Famous Tour Finale Rodeo at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

WOODFORD COUNTY

Get a flu shot at football game

With a new influenza season approaching, the Woodford County Health Department and the Metamora Township High School will host a flu clinic at the Oct. 7 Metamora football game at Malone Field. Flu shots will be administered 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The health department is conducting this flu clinic at a community event as a pilot program. If this is a success, the health department will look into offering flu clinics at other locations or future events throughout the county.

The vaccine will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis to adults and children 3 and older. Cost is $30 per person. Only cash and check will be accepted.

Families who need pediatric (younger than 3 years of age) and Vaccine for Children program (VFC) influenza immunizations should call the health department to schedule an appointment or attend other flu clinics.

The health department is also offering a Fluzone high-dose influenza vaccine designed specifically for people 65 years and older. Human immune defenses become weaker with age, which places older people at greater risk of severe illness from influenza. The high dose was developed to give older community members a better immune response and therefore better protect against flu. The fee for this vaccine is $45 per person.

For additional information about influenza, call (309) 467-3064 or go to www.woodfordhealth.org or www.flu.gov.

EURKEA

Second rodeo grows in size, popularity

The second annual Eureka Rodeo will offer more features as part of the 2016 Big Hat Rich & Famous Tour Finale Rodeo at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at Eureka Park (Lower Lake), Milt & Lynn Hinnen Way, 203 Lake Road, Eureka.

The public will be treated to the work of more cowboys who will be competing for increased prize money, awards and seating. The spectacular bucking livestock of the Big Hat Rodeo Company will attract the best cowboys and cowgirls in the nation.

Pony rides will be offered for $5 per person. New for 2016 will be a Meet the Cowboys and Clowns where children of all ages can enjoy interactive games as well as a chute tour to meet the animal stars of the show. Get pictures taken with a cowboy and a clown. All these activities are scheduled for 5-7 p.m. before each show begins. 

Pre-sale rodeo tickets, available through Sept. 29, cost $12 for adults and $8 for children. Tickets at the gate cost $15 for adults, $10 for children older than 2.

Also, Sept. 30 is the date for Eureka Business Association’s Taste of Eureka slated for 4:30-7 p.m.

Region

Extension unit working on school breakfast programs

The National School Breakfast Program (NSBP) is a federally funded program which provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free breakfasts to young students. University of Illinois Extension, Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit SNAP-Ed educator Michelle Fombelle has been reaching out to school administration and food service directors to provide information and assistance in improving local school breakfast programs.

University of Illinois Extension, Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit SNAP-Ed’s role is to help get new breakfast programs started and improve participation in current programs by implementing alternative models and/or special events and marketing. In Fulton, Mason, Peoria and Tazewell counties there are 73 schools eligible for SNAP-Ed, which includes the NSBP. In Illinois, 80.5 percent of eligible schools participate in NSBP.

Several school breakfast grants are available through various venues. University of Illinois Extension is working with eligible schools interested in implementing a new breakfast program or improving their current program to find and apply for grants.

Museum exhibit tapped as top to see

The traveling “Be the Astronaut” exhibit at the Peoria Riverfront Museum has been listed among the 12 best museum exhibits open to the public this fall, according to USA Today.

The national publication compiled a list of both permanent and traveling exhibits at museums. The display at the museum, 222 SW Washington St., Peoria, is ranked alongside the newly renovated Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, an exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks at the International Museum of World War II in Boston and a variety of other shows.

The exhibit is on display at the museum through Oct. 16. It uses STEM-based content and includes simulators, video game technology and NASA reconnaissance data. For more information, call (309) 686-7000.

–Woodford County News Briefs–