“Hawksbill,” an oil paining on canvas, will be in Eureka College Art Professor Rhea Edge’s exhibit opening at the McLean County Arts Center Sept. 8.

STATE

Free fall gardening sessions offered online

The fall series of University of Illinois Extension’s Four Seasons Gardening program focuses on environmental stewardship, home gardening, and backyard food production. The first session, What’s That Butterfly in my Garden, will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 online. With more than 150 species of butterflies in Illinois, horticulture educator Kelly Allsup will detail how to distinguish between some of the most commonly sighted butterflies in the flower gardens and prairies.

Other topics in the fall series include Cultivating Carnivores: Growing Carnivorous Plants set for Sept. 19 and 21, and Gardening as Therapy set for Oct. 3 and 5. All sessions are available for live home viewing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays and repeated at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. Following the session, a taped version is available on YouTube. There is no fee to attend. However, attendees must register in advance for the live webinars to receive connection instructions. Each live session is about an hour long and provides an opportunity to ask questions with the presenter.

Registration and YouTube information are at http://go.illinois.edu/4seasons_webinars.  

COUNTY

Health department survey to end 

The Woodford County Health Department are nearing the end of its CASPAR (Community Assessment for Preparedness and Response) survey being conducted until Sept. 15. The survey is gathering household data, which will assist the health department to better prepare residents of Woodford County in the event of a disaster. 

Residents will be notified if they reside in the selected area(s) of the county. Woodford County Health Department employees and volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps are conducting the survey, and will wear official apparel and identification badges when working. The survey is one page, front and back, and takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. 

The ultimate goal of the survey is to determine how prepared the residents of Woodford County are, and what assistance they may need immediately following a disaster. This will allow local emergency response partners to better prepare and respond when a disaster strikes. 

Wilder family is subject of program

Kim Mullins, president of the Woodford County Historical Society, recently made a trip to Minnesota and South Dakota to follow the path of the Wilder family of “Little House on the Prairie” fame and to find the real story of the people known from the popular books and TV shows about them. At the historical society’s Sept. 14 meeting, she will present her observations and set the record straight. The free program will be held at 7 p.m. at the Community Room of the Eureka Apostolic Christian Home, 610 W. Cruger, Eureka.

The “Little House” series has enthralled generations of readers, and with the advent of the television series, viewers put faces on the characters and watched them grow as they moved from one place to another. The truth of the Wilder family’s existence, Mullins will report, varies a lot from the fictionalized version.

EUREKA

Art professor to host Bloomington art show

Rhea Edge, Eureka College professor and chair of fine and performing arts will present ”Memory and Loss” at the McLean County Arts Center from Sept. 8-Oct. 28. The 18 works are all large-scale paintings of turtles, birds, seals and other wildlife and their habitats.

An artist’s reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the arts center, 601 N. East St., Bloomington.

The work is the result of Edge’s sabbatical to study wildlife during the spring semester in 2014.

Edge has been a professor of art at Eureka College since 1993 and the division chair of fine and performing arts since 2003. Her prints and paintings are in public collections throughout the Midwest, including Illinois Wesleyan University, Illinois State University, Eureka College and Bradley University.

METAMORA

Snyder Village has new health center administrator

Snyder Village has named Heather O’Brien as its health center administrator. In this role, O’Brien will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 104-bed center that offers long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, memory care and respite care at 1200 E. Partridge St., Metamora.

O’Brien started her education in healthcare as a medical assistant before earning her degree as a licensed practical nurse and registered nurse.

–Woodford County News Briefs–