Deep Hollow at Hand of Fate

Another great Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day event is in the books. Thanks to Bill Crook’s organizing, we had a great time with The Deep Hollow and special guest Jaigh Lowder, at Hand of Fate Brewing Company in Petersburg on October 11, 2019.

The Deep Hollow played to a full house. Their twin guitars, three voice presentation was polished and their originals kept the evening rolling along. They also surprised with some great cover songs like George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sun, and John Denver’s Country Roads, which had everyone joining in on the chorus. They were nice enough to indulge the crowd who asked for a reprise of Country Roads during the band’s encore. Weird, but they did it anyway. So kudos to them for being good sports.

Donation from Apex Clean Energy to Friends of the Sangamon Valley concert at Hand of Fate Brewing in Petersburg.

In addition to the good vibes, tunes, and Hand of Fate brews, the Friends were also fortunate to receive a $5,000 donation from Apex Clean Energy / Lincoln Land Wind. Presented by Stan Komperda and Chris Nickell, these local representatives of the company have been members of the Friends for years, and we thank them for their continued support. The donation will be used for ongoing monitoring of the wetlands on Mary Lou Tyner-Lael’s property in rural Morgan County, including the addition of staff gauges and other monitoring devices as well as surface water samples, to see how the Lael wetlands compare to the Nipper wetlands.

Thanks to Bill Crook, Jaigh Lowder, The Deep Hollow, Hand of Fate, and Apex for making this a great evening. Watch for future music events. Thanks to Warmowski Photography for the photos.

Thanks to members and supporters for packing the house! Friends of the Sangamon Valley fundraiser with headliners The Deep Hollow at Hand of Fate Brewing in Petersburg.

The Deep Hollow performs at the Friends of the Sangamon Valley fundraiser at Hand of Fate Brewing in Petersburg.

Bill Crook – Friends of the Sangamon Valley board member and event organizer.

Winter/Spring Events for Friends of the Sangamon Valley

The Friends of the Sangamon Valley has a bunch of events planned for the first part of 2019. Here’s the info, be sure to follow us on Facebook for updates, and be sure to join so you’re always notified via our newsletter . . .

Annual Meeting – walk of Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary – 11am Saturday February 9 – includes a short walk (weather permitting) with tour of wetlands, followed by chili. Presentation of annual report by Vernon LaGesse on our group’s activities and a slideshow featuring highlights of our 20 years in conservation. Great event to attend if you’re interested in joining, becoming a volunteer or serving in a leadership position. At Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary (from Springfield or Chatham, take E. Loami Rd. west to Lead Line Rd. Turn south (left) on Lead Line to Withers Rd. Turn west (right) on Withers. Go about a 1/2 mile until you see the entrance sign for the Sanctuary; parking lot on site. 9560 Withers Rd., Loami.)

Chainsaw Workshop – Saturday February 23 – Get ready to volunteer in 2019 volunteer by sharpening your skills at free training workshops.

ADVANCED class from 10am-noon, for those who already took a beginner course. You will learn techniques for dropping larger trees. You must register in advance, limited space available. Call Vern 525.1410. LUNCH will be made available for those who stay to help with the . . .

BEGINNER class from 1-3pm, if you have a chainsaw and want to know how to use it safely. We will cover chainsaw operation, safety, maintenance, battery-powered saws, and how to cut small trees and shrubs. You must register in advance by calling Vern 525.1410.

Hopefully you’ll be volunteering on our work days. But if this is just to hone your skills to work your own, personal restoration project – you’re more than welcome to come! At Adams Wildlife Sanctuary, 2315 E Clear Lake Ave, Springfield, Illinois 62703 (an Illinois Audubon Society nature preserve).

Burn Crew Training – 1-5pm Saturday March 2 – Controlled burns are an important part of our stewardship work. If you’re interested in being on the burn crew, you may have some long exhausting days, but you’ll have a lot of fun, experience great teamwork, and get close to one of nature’s great phenomena. Plus you’ll really be helping us out. Come out to the training to see if burn crew is for you.

Call Vern at 525.1410 to register or for more information. Classroom and field session, so dress appropriately (long pants, long sleeves, sturdy boots, natural fibers). Hopefully you’ll be volunteering on our work days. But if this is just to hone your skills to work your own, personal restoration project – you’re more than welcome to come!

Mushroom Workshop – 1-3pm Saturday March 16 – We’ll show you how to grow your own oyster and shiitake mushrooms, and give you what you need to get started.

All previous sessions of this workshop have sold out. We’ve moved to a larger facility to accommodate more people, but you’ll need to act fast to reserve your spot. The workshop fee is $20 for members and $25 for non-members (membership information link). You will receive two logs and inoculated plugs for both types of mushrooms. You will learn how to harvest mushrooms from the logs, where to get spore, and how to start your own logs (one oyster, one shiitake). The oysters should fruit in fall/winter 2019 and the shiitakes in fall 2020.

Call Vern at 525.1410 to register. Pay in advance to reserve a spot. The workshop starts at 1pm, if you are not present by 1:10pm, we will give your spot to the first person on the waiting list with your payment used as a donation to our conservation work. Send payment to Friends of the Sangamon Valley, PO Box 13352, Springfield, IL 62791 or through Paypal.

To get to Nipper: From Springfield or Chatham, take E. Loami Rd. west to Lead Line Rd. Turn south (left) on Lead Line to Withers Rd. Turn west (right) on Withers. Go about a 1/2 mile until you see the entrance sign for the Sanctuary; parking lot on site. 9560 Withers Rd., Loami. Click here to get to the membership information page.

Tour of Gudmundson Property & Sangamon River Float – 11am-2pm Saturday April 13 –  This is a MEMBERS ONLY event (membership information link). Join us for a walking tour of the Sangamon River bluffs/floodplain of our new acquisition north of the Springfield airport. Meet at Howard Johnson’s parking lot, Rt. 29, just south of the airport and we’ll caravan to the property. Tour will be followed by an optional float to Rolling Meadows Brewery. Canoes can put in on the Gudmundson property, about five miles upstream of the Brewery. Those who stay behind can join us for a hot dog cook out, with a caravan to Rolling Meadows afterwards. Canoe availability is limited. Call Vern at 525.1410 to reserve a place on the float.

Thanks to all our members who make possible all our workdays, events, tours and other efforts to preserve and rehabilitate natural areas in the Springfield, Illinois region. See a list of our Places & Projects. Please join! Please volunteer! Thanks!

 

FoSV 2018 Fundraiser Thanks!

Our October 5, 2018 tour of Nipper Wildlife Preserve featuring a Ben Bedford concert at Sheedy Shores Winery was a great success. And we owe it to one of the Friend’s newest board members, Steve Warmowski, who just about single-handedly orchestrated the whole event. Everything went so well, we may as well give him credit for the weather too, which was fantastic.

Executive Director Vern LaGesse had a huge tour at next door Nipper Wildlife Preserve in the early evening, with spectacular skies (see photos of the event on our Facebook page). Ben’s concert was well-attended and gave him an opportunity to showcase recently released material before heading out on a European tour. Cindy & Dick Nagle surprised Vern by gifting him with an auction item, a picture of Vern and his recently departed lil’ Buddy. Not a dry eye in the house.

We’re grateful to the folks at Sheedy Shores who provided such a great venue, the Honeycomb Grill food truck by the Soap Co. Coffee House in Jacksonville, who we bought out of everything they had, Chris Young for his amazing photos, and to all our attendees who stayed, drank, and had a great time.

Thanks to Steve and Warmowski Photography for all your efforts. Let’s do it again!

Ben Bedford in concert. Photo by Steve of Warmowski Photography

Sheedy Shores Winery at sunset. Photo by Steve of Warmowski Photography

Honeycomb Grill by The Soap Co. Coffee House. Photo by Steve of Warmowski Photography

And thanks to all our members who attended our membership appreciation event. We have a members only Tour of Gudmundson Property & Sangamon River Float 11am April 13, 2019  Join us for a walking tour of the Sangamon River bluffs and floodplain of our new acquisition north of the Springfield airport. Meet at Howard Johnson’s parking lot, Rt. 29, just south of the airport and we’ll caravan to the property. Tour will be followed by an optional float to Rolling Meadows Brewery. Canoes can put in on the Gudmundson property, about five miles upstream of the brewery. Those who stay behind can join us for a hot dog cook out, with a caravan to Rolling Meadows afterwards.
Canoe availability is limited. Contact Vern to reserve a place on the float.

Ben Bedford Concert and Celebration of FoSV Volunteers

photo by Kari Bedford

Join the Friends of Sangamon Valley in a celebration of the conservation work our volunteers and donors make possible with a special performance by Ben Bedford Friday October 5 at Sheedy Shores Winery, Inc. 10300 Johns Creek Road, south of Loami.

Pre-party starts at 5:30pm with a sunset tour of Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary​. The concert starts at 7pm next door on the Sheedy Shores patio, and features music from Ben’s new album The Hermit’s Spyglass.

You read that right – the best opening act for Ben Bedford is all of creation.

The Soap Co. Coffee House #honeycombgrill food truck will be on hand with food for sale. Evening also features silent auction, 50/50 and cash bar. Please bring your friends and invite them to donate at the door and support our conservation efforts!

Please help spread the word . . .

• invite your friends to come, free will donation at the door
• share our Facebook post, and use the “invite friends” feature
• download our 8.5×11 poster, print at post at work/school/play

Concert sponsored by Warmowski Photography. Please message us to donate for auction or other partnership opportunities.

Please check the event page the night of the concert for any weather, parking or other advisories, or where to join the tour if you’re running late.

In case of inclement weather the show will go on inside the winery and/or inside the Nipper Wildlife center.