 The Red Hat Society is a societal
group of women over 50 who share one thing in common -- their red
hats. With 40,000 chapters nationwide and approximately 1.5 million
members, the Red Hat Society has quite an influence. In Illinois
alone, 20 cities beginning with the letter "A" have Red Hat
chapters, with many of the cities having more than one chapter.
Following the 11 a.m. luncheon, the crowd was entertained by Elvis
impersonator Elvis Himselvis, an Egyptian belly dancing tribe, the
Lotus Fire and others. Members also had the chance to enter a raffle
with prizes that included Red Hat mugs, bandanas, baseball caps and
cozies.
The Red Hat Society also had a red hat contest to see who had the
most creative red hats. The event appropriately began with judges
being given their own red baseball caps and featured 15 contestants
competing for the title of Red Hat Grand Marshal. One contestant
represented the 4-H club with a green four-leaf clover and matching
green tulle. Another dressed up like Miss Illinois from 1853, the
year of the first state fair, and wore a red bonnet. Others
incorporated a bouquet of flowers, stuffed animals, eccentric red
and purple flowers, and toys into their hats. All of them, of
course, were red.
The winner, Helen Lilly, of Petersburg, incorporated this year's
theme, "Celebrate and Educate," into her
design. The hat was decorated with pennies and wooden pins, among
them chalkboards, stars, schools, pens, notebooks, rulers and
apples. The hat also had glittery sequin balls around the bill and
purple beads and feathers around the bulge. Purple tulle hung from
back of the hat.
Lilly said her hat creation wasn't just her idea. The members of
her Springfield chapter, the Yo-Yo Red Hat Sisterhood, helped not
only with the idea, but also assisted in designing and assembling
the hat. In fact, it was a tossup between her and fellow
chapter member Carol Maggio to see who would wear it at the
luncheon.
Maggio said the hat was finished in about an hour thanks to the
help from the chapter.
"It took a lot of glue guns and women," she said.
This was the first year the Yo-Yo Red Hat Sisterhood chapter,
which began in January 2005, has entered the hat contest. Lilly's
prizes included a carousel, a red hat box, a camera that the society
had been taking pictures with all day and a photo album.
Lilly was also featured in the daily 4 p.m. parade thanks to her
win.
Illinois Building/Senior Center hosts various activities for
seniors
Through the duration of the fair, the Illinois Building and
Senior Center will have various activities available for seniors to
become better educated on state services available to them. A wide
variety of entertainment and informational sessions are planned,
including a workshop on insurance fraud, sponsored by the Illinois
secretary of state's office. The office also sponsors the Illinois
Library booth, which has information on Braille and audio books for
the visually impaired, and a booth for driver's license renewal.
St. John's Hospital offers a number of free screenings for
seniors, including screenings for skin cancer, cholesterol, blood
pressure, glucose, stroke prevention, bone density, heart disease
and body fat.
Along with free screenings, several state agencies, including the
departments of Public Health, Veterans' Affairs, Employment Security
and the treasurer's office, all have informational booths set up.
AARP has a tent set up for the duration of the fair. The Illinois
Optometric Association offered free vision checks on Monday to all
seniors, and bingo served as the main indoor entertainment for the
day.
Charles D. Johnson, director of the Illinois Department on Aging,
said that putting together the events for the Senior Center is a
year-round job. "We start planning and getting booths usually around
October or November," he said. "About the only month we're not
working on this is September."
[to top of second column]
 |
 Tuesday events
Agriculture Day
Campus Town: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 9
a.m.-4 p.m.
The state of Illinois' flagship university comes to Springfield
to show fairgoers and potential students what makes it one of the
nation's top institutions. Stop by to learn more about the
university that enrolls over 29,000 undergraduate students in nine
undergraduate divisions, offering some 4,000 courses in more than
150 fields of study. The university also enrolls more than 11,000
graduate and professional students in more than 100 programs and is
among the top seven universities in number of earned doctorates
awarded annually in the United States.
The interactive exhibits will allow visitors to explore the many
careers available to individuals with an education from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Explore Illinois.
Hometown Pride: Woodfield Chicago northwest region, 10 a.m.-8
p.m.
Attractions from Chicago's northwest region will be on display
during a visit to the state fair's Hometown Pride area. Fairgoers
will be able to obtain information on tourist destinations,
including the Arlington Race Course, the Medieval Time Theatre, the
Woodfield Mall, CoCo Key Water Resorts and the new Cabela's store
opening in Hoffman Estates. Visitors will also be able to get a
coupon book valid for some of the finer restaurants in Chicago's
northwest region.
Arena: Truck and tractor pulls, 7:30 p.m.
The Illinois State Fair's motor sports tradition will continue
this year with the truck and tractor pull competition, sponsored by
the Illinois Tractor Pullers Association. An event that is
anticipated every year for onlookers and participators, this year's
rendition is sure to please newcomers and returning fans. If you are
looking for a breathtaking display of raw power, look no further.
Livestock Center: Commodity auction, 5:30-6 p.m.
As always, the state fair will have its annual commodities
auction in the Livestock Center. Be sure to check out the bidding on
what the judges consider the finest meats and beverages in Illinois.
Proceeds raised from the event will go toward good causes. Ham,
bacon, summer sausage, processed beef and cheese proceeds will be
donated to the Sleeter Bull Fund; wine proceeds will be donated to
the Superior Young Producer Scholarship Fund; and doe milk and honey
proceeds will go to the exhibitor.
Livestock Center: Governor's Sale of Champions, 6-8 p.m.
The grand champion steer, barrow, wether, meat goat, poultry meat
pen and rabbit meat pen will be sold at the Sale of Champions
auction at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Livestock Center. Added to the Sale
of Champions will be a grand champion Land of Lincoln Steer, barrow
and wether. Proceeds from the sale will go to 4-H, FFA and to help
the exhibitors pay for their education, purchase breeding animals
and develop future careers. You can help support youth leadership by
attending this year's Sale of Champions. The event will be streamed
live at
agr.state.il.us/isf/competition/sale.html.
Director's lawn: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
recognizes districts for conservation efforts, 1 p.m.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Doug Scott will
be on hand to recognize the Association of Illinois Soil and Water
Conservation Districts for continued support of the Illinois
Conservation and Climate Initiative, a program started in 2006 by
Gov. Rod Blagojevich that offers cash rewards to landowners who help
combat global warming. The program, the first of its kind in the
nation, offers credits to agricultural and forestry landowners who
use conservation practices to trap carbon in the soil rather than
releasing the harmful substance into the air. So far, more than 600
landowners have enrolled more than 127,000 acres in the program, and
the sale of carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Change has netted
more than $207,000 to participants.
[Text
from
Illinois State Fair news release received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information] |
