Indeed It Is Illinois

For a brief period, I made an attempt to follow the Surgeon General's advice to get outside and exercise for at least twenty-two minutes a day.  It was fun while it lasted.  Just did not last long enough.

Five trips around Glen Oak Park lagoon is about a mile.  I did that several times and often took one of the dogs with me. I normally saw very few people near the lagoon and it was quite nice.

I frequently walked in lower Glen Oak Park and am so disappointed with the lack of maintenance done there.  Sidewalks washing out and fallen trees across the trail were some of the problems.

Spent a lot of time hiking in Springdale Cemetery.  Usually ended by sitting by the little stream for a bit.  Matilda, the Rat Terrier, enjoyed a cool drink of water after hitting the hills!

The Pimiteoui s always a challenge.  The weather has been hard on it this year.  I would really like to go from Grandview Drive to Forest Park and back again, but don't know if I will ever be able to work back up to that again or not.  I may try again next year.

Cooper Park in East Peoria is always a fun hike.  It suffered quite a bit of flood damage this year, but the variety of plants and the river views make it enjoyable.  It is nice and flat with wonderful boardwalks.

There is a trail going up from the park at the bottom of Grandview Drive that is a good one to tie into a walk along the fence by Route 29.  Am really glad that the shelter there has been preserved rather than torn down.

And then, there was the hike from Detwieller to the tunnel at Route 6.  That was fun!

Few more excursions I would like to take while the weather is still decent.  Maybe I need to take up cross-country skiing!

And On It Goes

Still busy.  Some things have been fun, some not so much.  Never one to focus on the "not so much" stuff.  The individual Faces of the East Bluff now have a permanent home.  They are hung throughout the East Bluff Community Center. 

We gave completed the branding and logo.  We were able to introduce both to the neighborhood in time for the first annual East Bluff Sunrise 5K Run.  We painted the street.  Actually, we painted the intersection of Nebraska St. & Wisconsin Ave.  Hope it becomes a bigger project next year along with being a fundraiser.

The strategic planning process we went through for the improvement of the Wisconsin Business Corridor earned recognition of the Illinois branch of the American Planner's Association.  They liked that the plan is a poster and not a book sitting forgotten on a shelf.  Rather it hangs on a lot of walls to be seen by the entire community.

East Bluff News has completed a year of publication.  It continues to grow in readership through hard copy and the East Bluff News Facebook page.  The Facebook page is such a good way to keep in contact with neighbors and people interested in the East Bluff.  As the transitional neighborhoods in Peoria improve, Peoria improves.  Communication is part of that process.

With several months of no food pantries in the neighborhood, we were able to open the East Bluff Food Pantry at the community center.  It serves residents of 61603 exclusively.  Times are pretty tough for some of our neighbors and the churches and volunteers involved want to make an impact.

A new activity this year was "Coffee With The Cops".  The idea came from a Senior Advance meeting.  Four sessions were held this late-summer & early-fall.  Meetings were well attended and very useful!  We will pick the meetings up again in February or March, but are taking the worst weather months off.

There are many naysayers in the neighborhood, but that is okay because it forces myself and others to dig deeper and try harder to make the East Bluff a decent place to live and raise a family.  We have a lot of work to do!