Posts from — April 2010

Beginning May 5th, Miner Square in Glen Carbon, IL (intersection of Main St. and Glen Crossing Rd.) will be welcoming it’s first farmer’s market to the area. Every Wednesday evening, beginning in May and running through October, 15 varying local farmers and foragers will offer the very best of their livelihood.

Cooking demonstrations will be performed by area chefs and with involvement from the award-winning Glen Carbon Centennial Library, every third Wednesday will feature kid-friendly education.

Get more updates about the Green Market on Facebook Fan Page and Twitter @GreenMrktGC

Interested vendors should e-mail greenmarket.glencarbon@gmail.com for an application

Saturday, May 1, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
SIUE Meridian Ballroom, Morris University Center

The legendary big band jazz of the Count Basie Orchestra takes center stage for the Arts & Issues series as part of the Annual SIUE Jazz Festival. Widely regarded as one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his day, William “Count” Basie came out of the Kansas City Swing scene in the mid-1930s and assembled a sound that became an anthem for a generation. The group has won every musical award imaginable, including 17 Grammys, and has been named to every respected jazz poll in the world at least once.  Some members are new, yet the majority of sound still swings from musicians handpicked by Count Basie himself.

The SIUE Jazz Festival, presented by the SIUE Jazz Studies program in the Department of Music, is a non-competitive, educational event that celebrates jazz innovators.   This season’s festival features the music of Count Basie.  In addition to jam sessions and clinics, performances will include high school and middle school bands plus an appearance by the SIUE Concert Jazz Band.

Tickets available at the Fine Arts Box Office in Dunham Hall or by calling 650-5774.

Order Your Tickets Online!

Flying 4 Kids event will be Saturday, May 1st from 9:00am – Noon at Joe Glik Park

Watch the Gateway Kite Club perform with their stunt kites and enjoy the beautiful air displays!

The first 50 participants will receive a free t-shirt, air themed toys and get to make their own kite!

Joe Glik Park is located in the Dunlap Lake neighborhood at 710 East Lake Drive off IL-143.  For more information contact the Park Office at 692-7538 or visit www.cityofedwardsville.com.

Flying For Kids Edwardsville Event Flyer [PDF]

Don’t miss your opportunity to help set a world record Thursday, April 29^th, at 12 p.m. in the SIUE Vadalabene Center.  The SIUE Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Silkworm Incorporated, an all-purpose promotional items company, are teaming up to set a new world record.  Individuals will be given a pen upon arrival, and precisely at noon everyone will begin clicking their pens to set the world record for the most pens being clicked in one location at the same time.

Below is a flyer with the specifics of the event.  As a bonus, free hot dogs and drinks will be available while supplies last. Doors open at 11:30am.

SIUE Pen Clicking World Record [PDF]

See comedian Demetri Martin live at SIUE! You may recognize the NY City Native from his show “Important Things by Demetri Martin” on Comedy Central or feature films “Post Grad” and “Taking Woodstock”. Tickets are $10.00 for students and $15.00 for general public. Tickets are available at the MUC Informatin Desk. Seating is limited!

The event will take place April 23, 2010 from 8pm-10pm at the Student Activities Center. For more info contact Michelle Welter at mking@siue.edu

The city of Edwardsville’s proposed 2010-11 budget does include a few items for the Park and Recreation Department.

Despite cutbacks, the city has a list of park improvements and activities planned for the department’s upcoming fiscal year.

The city still has plans to pave all of its parking lots throughout its park system by 2011.

In 2009, the city paved three: the Vadalabene Park, the Children’s Museum and Hoppe Park. Now, Parks Director Bob Pfeiffer said the city has one parking lot left to pave – Winston Brown Complex. The 10.5 acre park, also known as Lower Hoppe Park, is located at 1325 Schiller Avenue.

Pfeiffer said because of the massive size of the lot, it will have to be completed in sections. He said the city hopes to finish the first phase during the 2010-11 fiscal year. The first phase is estimated to cost $150,000.

Other park improvement projects lined up for the department in the 2010-11 budget include: $40,000 to improve the Fogle property (the city’s most recent addition of park space – 7.7 acres of land adjacent to Joe Glik Park); $20,000 to replace the swingset and fall surface at Leclaire Lake; $10,000 to improve the Watershed Nature Center Trail; $5,000 to install bike racks at remaining parks; $10,000 to install a drinking fountain at Rotary Park, Springer’s Woods and Leclaire Lake; $5,000 for two flagpoles at Coles Monument; and $30,000 to install and continue Glik Park lake rip rap.

Along with park improvement projects, the city said it still also has plans to locate and acquire additional open space for recreational purposes.

In March, it hired Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation & Development Inc. – one of the same firms that helped them develop their Parks, Open Space and Trails Comprehensive Master Plan – to assist them in the process.

City officials said, if they are able to identify land to purchase, they would try to obtain a state-funded Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grant to pay for 50 percent of the cost.

And for the annual activities set to be coordinated through the Parks Department like the Winter Concerts, Arts in the Park, Route 66 Festival and so on, the city will rely on some help from its Community Redevelopment Funds (entertainment tax).

The city has plans to transfer about $35,000 form the CRF to the Parks Fund to assist in funding for these recreational programs.

Article from the Edwardsville Intelligencer

Red’z Rib Shack is back.

Randy and Shiona Quick have returned from the Caribbean and have every intention of reclaiming their spot at the top of the metroeast barbecue pyramid. They’ll do so from a different location as they are transforming the former Rally’s on Troy Road into a drive-through barbecue restaurant.

“We’re offering the exact same products the original Red’z offered,” Randy said. That means ribs, pork steaks, chicken pieces, shredded chicken and shredded pork. The side items will also return – potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and applesauce. Sourdough bread and kaiser rolls are also served with each meal. Randy said two new items will be added to the menu – barbaritos, which feature shredded chicken or pork wrapped in a tortilla, and crunch baskets, shredded chicken or pork served over corn chips.

Red’z will operate as a double drive-through and offer catering for special events.

Daily lunch specials will be offered in the $5 range.

“We are so extremely excited to be back and I can do what I love, which is make my customers happy with a quality product day in and day out,” Randy said.

Red’z Rib Shack new location is 1501 Troy Road in Edwardsville.

Article from The Intelligencer — Full Article [PDF]

School will be out soon and kids will be bored. What better way to spend the summer than with a new pet?

Metro East Humane Society hosts the 5th annual Rescue Rendezvous from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 17 at Phancy Pharm, located at the intersection of Rte. 140 and 159.

Rescue Rendezvous is a large scale dog adoption event bringing together multiple shelters with a shared mission of providing potential dog adopters with the biggest selection of dogs possible. All dogs at the event are spayed or neutered and up to date on all shots. Ages of dogs at the event range from brand new puppies to well-tempered older dogs.

This year’s event features a pet learning center, in which children can learn the basics of pet care to earn prizes. Also at the event: informational booths on humane issues, pet-related vendors, free goodie bags and family activities, including a dog kissing booth with a free picture. The first 15 families to adopt a dog receive a free decorate your own dog bowl.

• For more information, please contact Ella Wider at 314-822-8210 or at ewider@siue.edu

Metro East Humane Society is celebrating its 25th year of operating as a nonprofit shelter dedicated to finding homes, preventing cruelty, educating the community and relieving suffering among animals. Located just outside of Edwardsville, the shelter serves five counties with its humane investigation team.

KSDK — A proposal is in the works to build a large scale retail and entertainment complex in Glen Carbon, Illinois.

Developers said the building of University Town Center could create more than 3,000 jobs.

The center would be built on 900 acres of land at the intersection of I-270 and Route 157 and I-255 and Route 162.

If University Town Center gets off the ground, it would include a mix of retail, restaurant and entertainment businesses.

The project is expected to cost $1 billion. Senator Jim Clayborne has introduced legislation to help pay for the costs of the project, through start bonds. He’s hopeful it will be approved by state lawmakers.

The first phase of the project is expected to be in the next 18 months.

From ‘Proposed Complex in Glen Carbon Could Create 3,000 Jobs’ Article and video courtesy of KSDK.com

• Holland claims UTC is a boon, not a bust from The Intelligencer (4/10/10)
• New study supports University Town Center in Glen Carbon from STL Today (4/09/10)
• Study: Glen Carbon project would create 12,000 jobs from STL Today (4/08/10)
• Labor pushes University Town Center, jobs from The Telegraph (4/08/10)
• Retail, Restaurant complex planned for Glen Carbon from St. Louis Business Journal (3/23/09)