(Note: This is the first in a three-part series on St. Louis, Mo. Look for the next two installments, to feature entertainment, shopping, dining and neighborhoods of St. Louis.)

[OCT. 4, 2000]  When you think of St. Louis, certain images immediately come to mind: the Arch, Cardinal baseball and Budweiser.

Facts about St. Louis, Mo.

*Founded in 1764

*Nickname: "Mound City," because of earth structures built by early Indian civilizations

*The stainless steel Gateway Arch opened in 1965 as a monument to the important role the city played in America’s westward expansion.

*The abundance of red brick, iron and other ornate features seen on many historic homes and buildings is due in part to a steamboat fire in 1849, which destroyed one-third of the city. An ordinance passed later required future buildings to be constructed of non-flammable materials.

*Population: 993,000

A listing of events, attractions and hotels can be obtained from the Convention and Visitors Commission’s website: www.explorestlouis.com

[Copyright 1999 Bi-State Development Agency]

While growing up in central Illinois, I traveled to St. Louis occasionally and even more so as an adult to visit my college roommate, who has lived there since graduation. But I must admit I’ve only been to the top of the Arch one time. I’m not really a big Cardinal fan — although taking in a game at Busch stadium is a pretty pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It’s not that these popular attractions aren’t worthy of topping just about any list of city highlights, it’s just that there are so many other interesting and fun things to do.

For starters, if you’re like me and take advantage of the city’s close proximity to Lincoln every chance you get to do some power shopping, see a concert or spend a day at the botanical garden, you just never have time to play tourist. And there’s really no excuse, since one of the best things about this metropolitan city with a small-town atmosphere, in my opinion, is that it’s so easy to drive in and find your way around.

But even if you’ve been to this city’s top tourist spots before, or like me, it’s been a while, there are certain things worthy of a second look to see why this river city is such a popular destination.

You can’t miss it. Whether you enter the city by land or air, it’s the first thing you see. The Midwest’s most famous monument is indeed a welcoming sight and impressive no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen in 1965, the piece of steel is recognized as a gateway to the Midwest and symbolizes the westward movement inspired by President Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase.

The 630-foot arch is the nation’s tallest man-made monument and can be reached by a tramway which carries visitors to the top for an expansive view of the city and Mississippi River. The arch is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which also includes the Arch Odyssey Theater, which shows two feature films on its four-story-high Imax screen. I think it’s time for my next visit.

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One of my favorite places to visit in St. Louis, the garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. Because there are so many distinct garden areas to explore, which change throughout the growing season, it’s a good idea to visit the garden several times during the spring, summer and fall seasons, because there is always something new to see.

The 79-acre garden features the largest traditional Japanese garden in North America, which is a favorite among visitors not only for of its beauty and serene, perfectly manicured landscaping, but also to watch and feed the fish in the huge koi ponds, which are interesting if not unsettling — the way the koi graze the surface of the water for food with their large, gaping mouths.

The garden also features the Kemper Center for Home Gardening, a Climatron rain forest, a Chinese garden, herb garden and a formal rose garden enclosed by white fences covered in climbing roses. The home gardening center is comprised of more than eight acres, and its 23 demonstration gardens are an inspiration to any home gardener. Among the display gardens are a city garden, secret garden, backyard garden, terrace garden, children’s garden, bird garden, vegetable garden, Missouri native shade garden, fruit garden, fragrance garden and butterfly pavilion.

A stroll or guided tram tour through the garden is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. It’s also a peaceful place to eat a light lunch at the cafe’s outdoor terrace, near the garden’s entrance and next to the rose garden.

The arboretum is an extension of the botanical garden and includes 2,500 acres of natural Ozark landscape and managed plant collections. Located 35 miles southwest of the city in Gray Summit, Mo., it was founded in 1925 when coal smoke from the city threatened the living plant collections housed at the botanical garden.

The arboretum provides workshops and natural awareness walks for adults and children and serves as an outdoor laboratory for developing interpretive programs. Recently, the arboretum has become a focus of fire ecology and habitat restoration.

Visitors can walk through the Pinetum, a 55-acre expanse of meadow studded with plantings of conifers from around the world; the Whitmire wildflower garden, a five-acre concentration of native wildflowers; or an ecological reserve with 13 miles of hiking trails through a full array of Ozark border landscapes, including a floodplain forest, oak-hickory woods, glades, bluffs, tall-grass prairie and marsh wetlands.

(To be continued)

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[SEPT. 27, 2000]  The festivals of fall continue, with New Holland's anniversary celebration this weekend and the Barry Apple Festival. There are many more to come in this area, including scenic drives where thousands of visitors are expected

Parade, entertainment, carnival, antique machinery/autos, combined church service on
Oct. 1.

217/732-8687

Celebrate the apple, as thousands of people do each year at this event. Enjoy the fall fruit, made into cider, dumpling, fritters, pie and a host of other treats. An apple-theme quilt will be raffled, and activities include a parade, entertainment and queen contest.

217/335-2108

The third annual event offers a real treat for music fans, with a line-up of bands and jam sessions, plus arts and crafts, food, pie-eating and cutest pumpkin "baby" contests.

www.tuscola.org

800/441/9111

Events for kids and adults, food, live entertainment, pumpkin-decorating contest and craft show.

217/422-7300

Oct. 7-8

Enjoy the autumn air and beautiful surroundings, while sampling food and listening to live entertainment. Crafts and children’s activities are also on the schedule.

An intertribal powwow where you can test your tomahawk throwing skills, eat some fry bread and pick your own pumpkin. Also featured are Native American dance, arts and crafts, an appearance by "Cody" from the movie "Dances with Wolves," stories about the white buffalo, a corn maze test your skills, pony rides and petting zoo.

Fulton County’s 33rd annual fall festival is along more than 130 scenic miles, through the towns of London Mills, Avon, Middle Grove, Farmington, Bernadotte, Table Grove.

More than 100,000 people are expected to pack the traditional event, so be prepared for lots of traffic. Flea markets, entertainment, historical sites, good food and beautiful fall leaves are all part of the fun. Watch apple butter made, eat butterfly pork chops at Mount Pisgah or a plate of chicken and noodles at Smithfield’s Red Brick School. Re-enactors encamped on the grounds at Dickson Mounds Museum will recreate the life of colonial Illinois in habit, cooking and eating, blanket trading, and demonstrations of black powder shooting and knife throwing.

www.spoonriverdrive.org

www.misslink.net/scenicdrive

309/647-8980

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Get both your face and your pumpkin painted at this event, which includes the Wildlife Prairie Park traveling zoo, a bungee run, a bake sale, magician, puppet shows and plenty of food. Admission is $1.

309/347-YWCA

Pick-your-own pumpkin patch, arts and crafts, pony rides and entertainment.

217/854-3514

Pick your own pumpkins, take a hayrack ride, enjoy live music, play pumpkin games and eat pumpkin treats.

309/ 243-1012

Native American Living History, hot air balloon rides, chili cook-off, flea market, craft fair, old time music, Halloween window-painting contest, car cruise.

217/438-3405

Come and see who wins the apple pie bake-off, and enjoy the crafts, entertainment and food available.

217/245-9917

Pet Clydesdale horses, walk through three-acre corn mazes, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, have your own broom made while you wait or tour the 100-year-old Pike County Courthouse at this event. Hundreds of crafts and antiques are for sale at booths throughout the drive and demonstrations include doll making, basket weaving, chair caning, stained glass and rope making. More than 25,000 visitors attended the popular event last year.

217/335-2670

Take a step back in time and watch villagers prepare for Thanksgiving, by making apple butter and shucking corn. Parade and demonstrations.

217/632-4000

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  The days at the local swimming pool are a faded memory. The crisp, clean air means sweater weather is just around the corner. Ushering in the new season, trees will soon turn autumnal shades of red and gold, and pumpkins have already started popping up on every front porch in town.

But one of the best things about fall in central Illinois — besides the pumpkins — is the abundance of activities, festivals and special events. Nearly every local community has a festival of some kind, and some of the area’s largest, like the Spoon River and Knox County scenic drives, draw 100,000 people each year in October.

The season for fall festivals has already begun, but there are still a ton of festivals on the calendar well worth taking a drive in the country to explore, including the Clinton Apple and Pork Festival this weekend. The town of Clinton rolls out the red carpet in celebration of pork and apples for this favorite local event. Although in recent years the event has become very crowded, it’s still a fun way to spend the day in DeWitt County.

This annual event, always held the last weekend of September, celebrates harvest time on the grounds of the C.H. Moore Homestead (DeWitt County Museum). The event, which draws more than 70,000 people to the city, serves up a variety of food, but taking center stage is pork in all its forms — cutlet sandwiches, pork chili, pickles and pork sandwiches, pork sausage sandwiches, BBQ pork ribs, hog legs and even pig ears. There's also a big emphasis on apples — taffy apples, apple cake, apple and corn fritters, apple Danish rolls, fried apples, caramel apple wedges, apple pie, apple cider and apple butter.

There is also a juried craft show, with artists making everything from dulcimers to carousel horses; a flea market; scarecrow contest; art show; and antique tractor exhibit.

More information is available by calling 217/935-6066.

And, just when you think you’ve had your fill of pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn during all the fall festivals in September and October, another local event comes along the first weekend in November and wins the prize for the most unique — the annual Persimmon Party in Taylorville. The historic fruit is celebrated in a big way at the Christian County Historical Museum.

What has now become a popular annual event all started when Taylorville resident Mary Anne Durbin decided to put to good use all that messy fruit falling off the old persimmon trees on the grounds of the historical society. Her friend had brought back some frozen persimmon pulp, which was quite expensive, from a festival in Indiana, and it gave her the idea. Durbin, a member and past president of the Christian County Historical Society, said the event has turned into a fun fund-raiser for the museum and a way to spread the joy of the native American fruit. Members of the historical society pick the fruit, process the pulp and freeze it. The frozen pulp, which resembles pumpkin when spices are added, she said, is then made in a variety of foods, including bread, pudding, cake, cookies, fudge and even ice cream.

"It’s a good fruit. But only pick them when they’re ripe," Durbin said. "If they’re not ripe, you don’t want to touch them. People pucker up when they try one that isn’t ripe. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like them — because they had a bad experience with one that wasn’t ripe. You have to wait until they fall off the tree."

Area residents bake a variety of food items using the fruit, and it’s all available for sampling during a tasting party. "People have a lot of fun with these persimmons and tasting all the different foods," Durbin said.

The native fruit was used by pioneers and Native Americans, according to Durbin, and not only do people enjoy eating the native American fruit, but during the party they also learn how to use the fruit to forecast the weather. "People come year after year, buy cups of frozen pulp, taste samples and really have a good time," she said. "We also have persimmon seeds. If you split the seeds open, you see a little white sprout in the shape of a spoon, knife or fork. If you see a spoon, which is the most common, it means there is a lot of snow in the winter ahead. A fork shape means the winter will hold light, powdery snow, and a knife shape means cold, winter winds."

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The event draws about 800 people each year, from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Kansas. A recipe book, first published during the city’s 150th birthday celebration in 1989, features 147 persimmon recipes and is also for sale during the event.

This year’s event will be Nov. 4 and 5, from noon to 4 p.m. each day. More information is available by calling 217/824-6922.

Other local events include the following:

Sept. 22-24

Springfield Septoberfest

Fifth and Washington streets, Springfield

This second-annual event offers crafts, antiques, entertainment, scarecrow building and a children’s area. Food from local restaurants and farmers market produce will be available. 217/544-1723.

Sept. 23

Petersburg Harvest Fest

Downtown Petersburg

A parade, craft sale, talent show, soapbox derby, carnival rides, antiques and crafts, food and entertainment. 217/632-7363.

Peoria Octoberfest

Festival Park, Peoria

This annual festival is full of German food, music and culture. Polka dancing, crafts and food and beer catered by Jumer’s Castle Lodge are on the menu. There is an admission fee.

Sept. 23-24

Beardstown Fall Fun Festival

City square, Beardstown

A combination homecoming and festival, with parades, flea markets, arts and crafts booths and entertainment. 217/323-3273.

Steam Show and Fall Festival Days

Prairie Land Heritage Museum, Lincoln and Michigan streets, Jacksonville

Equipment, flea market and crafters present three days of activities. 217/243-7262; 800/593-5678.

Fort Crevecoeur Rendezvous

Creve Coeur

Experience life in 1680 to 1835 at this 86-acre historic park with a 30-acre nature preserve. French voyageurs, trappers, buckskinners and traders re-enact a fall rendezvous in the woods, between French settlers and the area’s Native Americans. Silversmithing, beading, fife and drum music and dancing. 309/694-3193.

Jordbruksdagarna (Agricultural Days)

Bishop Hill

Traditional harvest festival featuring 19^th-century crop-processing demonstrations, traditional music, children’s games, farm produce and colony stew served throughout the historic village. 309/927-3345.

Annual Taste of Illinois food and
beverage fair

Apple Basket Farms, Barry

Snack on apples, wine and cheese, among other food items, while learning all about herbs, during Herbfest 2000. The Illinois Herb Association convenes its annual fall meeting at the apple business, so seminars and other educational features on how to cook and make crafts with herbs are on tap.

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

(More fall festivals)

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