Chicago Shakespeare Theater actors Faith Servant and Andrew L. Saenz in a scene from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which will come to Peoria Aug. 18 and Aug. 19. It is the first time for the troupe to perform outside of Chicago.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

Free performances of Shakespeare coming

Shakespeare is coming to central Illinois and celebrating Illinois’s Bicentennial.

Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks is coming to Peoria, the first time the program will travel outside of Chicago in its seven-year history. This summer, the theater group’s Tony Award-winning founder and artistic director Barbara Gaines stages her new music-filled adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless classic, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The Peoria performances will be presented in Glen Oak Park, 2218 N. Prospect Road, at 7 p.m. Aug. 18 and 2 p.m. Aug. 19. A specially equipped truck will travel from Chicago and unfold into a stage—and a company of professional actors will share Shakespeare’s comedy with the audience. The public is invited to bring blankets or lawn chairs. The play, which is for all ages, will run for 75 minutes with no intermission.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater is working in partnership with the Peoria Park District—the oldest and largest park district in Illinois—as well as residents and community organizations to cultivate new audiences from neighborhoods across the down state region. The first-of-its-kind tour is made possible by a civic, cultural, and corporate partnership between Chicago and Peoria.

Pollinator Palooza explains importance of pollinators

Join University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois State University Horticulture Center as they celebrate the world of pollinators. 

The Pollinator Palooza: A Party for the Pollinators will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Illinois State University Horticulture Center, located along Rabb Road in Normal, across from The Corn Crib Stadium.

This family-friendly event is attracting more than 15 community organizations offering a variety of activities and information booths on all things pollinators: bees, butterflies, moths, birds, bats, and plants. 

Make a hummingbird feeder, learn the bee waggle dance (how bees fly from flower to flower), play pollinator games, purchase pollinator plants and honey, and more. Also, enjoy some light refreshments that would not be possible without pollinators, including fruits, vegetables, and chocolate.

At the event, the public can help save the pollinators that are not only critical to the food supply and human survival but make the world a more beautiful and interesting place.

There is no cost or registration to attend. For more information, call the McLean County Extension Office at 309-663-8306. 

COUNTY

One-time early retirement plan is offered

The success of a new voluntary retirement incentive plan depends on the number of employees who decide to take advantage of it. A total of 86 Tazewell County full- and part-time employees are eligible for the plan recently approved by the Tazewell County Board.

The plan was designed to help the government control its personnel costs by offering an inducement for long-serving employees to retire.

The offer will be a one-time initiative. Eligible employees are 55 and older and have been fully vested in their Illinois municipal retirement fund for at least eight years.

No countywide elected officials will be eligible to participate.

DEER CREEK/CHILLICOTHE

Wanted: handwritten family recipes

Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois is looking for handwritten family recipes that are at least 50 years old and have stories that goes along with them.

The group will hold a Historic Recipe Road Show Aug. 11 at the Chillicothe Public and Deer Creek District libraries. Fifteen-minute appointments are available from 10 a.m.-noon in Chillicothe and 2-4 p.m. in Deer Creek. Recipes should be brought to the appointment along with a completed form that is available at each library and online at culinaryhistoriansofnorthernillinois.com.

Call the Chillicothe library at 309-274-2719 or Deer Creek library at 309-447-6724 to make an appointment. The Deer Creek library is at 203 E. First Avenue. The Chillicothe library is at 430 N. Bradley Ave.

Members of the not-for-profit Culinary Historians of Northern Illinois group will share insights about each recipe and record the recipe and story for the group’s “Cookery Manuscript Project” of digitized recipes and accompanying comments that was launched in April 2017. The group’s mission is to seek to understand social and cultural history through the study and celebration of food and drink. It also hosts events, workshops and educational seminars.

Dueling Pianos group comes to Moose lodge

Tickets are on sale for an Aug. 11 performance by Dueling Pianos at Pekin Moose Lodge 916.
Tickets are $25 for lodge members and $30 for the general public. They are available for purchase in the Social Quarter of the lodge, 2605 Broadway St., Pekin. The event will run from 7-11 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

–Tazewell County News Briefs–