Features

[MARCH 17, 2001]  March 17 is possibly the only national holiday recognized outside its native land — a clear indication of the Irish influence throughout the world. In the United States, though not a national holiday, March 17 is celebrated in many communities by hosting parades, serving green beer and dyeing rivers green. The biggest observance of all, of course, is in Ireland, where almost all businesses, except restaurants and pubs, close on the 17th of March.

Being a religious holiday as well, many people attend mass, where it is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries throughout the world, before the serious celebrating begins. St. Patrick's Day is commemorated in Ireland as a religious feast day. There’s no green beer or marching in parades, except in a few cities where it’s done for tourists.

The day each year that people flock to their favorite bar or restaurant for that overrated green beer and bowl of cabbage all began with a young boy named Patrick who lived in the British Isles, a land that had been invaded and conquered first by the Romans and then by Germanic tribes. The ritual and history of St. Patrick's Day contains many misconceptions and ironies, including the fact that Patrick himself was born Magonus Sucatus in Britain.

The 16-year-old Magonus was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland. He later escaped, sailed to Europe, became a missionary and converted the Celtic people of Ireland to the Christian religion. He used the shamrock (a three-leafed plant) as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland — that they all went into the sea and drowned.

The Irish people set aside March 17, the day of his death, to mourn. He became the patron saint of Ireland, and mourning turned to commemorating him and celebrating his life.

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The first Saint Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was in Boston in 1737.
Today, more than 100 cities host parades, with the one on Fifth Avenue in New York City being the largest.

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[MARCH 16, 2001]  Even if there’s not a drop of Irish blood to be found anywhere in your body, that doesn’t stop many of us from pretending or at least celebrating March 17. We pluck out the lime-green sweater from storage, stick shamrock stickers on our cheeks, loop green plastic beads around our necks and maybe enjoy a local parade.

For those unaccustomed to breaking out in an unabashed Irish jig in public or plastering our bodies in green, there’s always the refined, dignified manner of celebrating with a large, hot bowl of steamed cabbage and potatoes followed by an Irish coffee at a local restaurant.

So what’s the appeal of St. Patrick’s Day? It’s not just those who can honestly claim an Irish heritage who celebrate the 1,600-year-old holiday and the "wearing the green" in recognition of an ancient Irish custom of farmers burning green leaves in spring, spreading the ashes over the fields to enrich the soil.

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What is it about the holiday that makes everyone want to be Irish — if just a day? After all, the holiday is named after a man (Saint Patrick) who was actually born British, and the color of honor today (green) was initially blue.

Maybe it’s the allure of the "Emerald Isle," or the rich heritage of the tiny country that makes everyone want to wear green, drink green liquid and dance Irish jigs.

(To be continued)

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[click here for "A bit o' St. Patrick's Day history"]

[MARCH 10, 2001] 

Irish Stew

Ingredients

1½ pounds lean, boneless lamb shoulders, cut in ¾-inch cubes

12 fluid ounces beer, or water

2 14-ounce cans broth

3 cups cubed potatoes

2 cups thinly sliced carrots

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon pepper

1 envelope brown gravy mix

parsley, chopped, for garnish

Directions

In three-quart pan with cover, heat oil. Add onion and sauté until brown; stirring occasionally. Add lamb and sauté, stirring until browned. Stir in beer or water, and pepper.

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Mix in broth and gravy mix. Add potatoes and carrots, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

(Source: http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/
irish_recipes.htm)

Boxty

Boxty is a traditional potato dish, celebrated in the rhyme "Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, If you can't make boxty, you'll never get your man."

Ingredients

1 cup raw potato

1 cup mashed potato

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

large knob of butter, melted

about ½ cup milk

Directions

Grate the raw potatoes into a bowl. Turn out onto a cloth and wring, catching the liquid. This will separate into a clear fluid with starch at the bottom. Pour off the fluid, scrape out the starch, and mix with the grated and mashed potatoes. Sieve the dry ingredients and mix in along with the melted butter. Add a little milk if necessary to make a pliable dough.

Knead lightly on a floured surface. Divide into four and form large, flat cakes. Mark each
into quarters but do not cut right through, and bake on a griddle or in a heavy pan.

More milk and an egg can be added to make a batter that can be fried in bacon fat like
drop scones.

(Source: www.irelandseye.com)

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Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned beef is brisket, topside or silverside which has been pickled in brine. It is especially popular around Dublin. It is best to soak a joint overnight to remove excess salt.

5-pound joint of corned beef

1 large cabbage

bay leaf

2 large onions

cold water to cover

2 large carrots

ground black pepper

4 potatoes

Directions

Quarter the cabbage and put aside. Peel and slice the other vegetables. Cover the meat
with the water and bring to the boil. Skim the surface, add the vegetables (except the
cabbage), the bay leaf and the pepper, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 30 minutes more.

Serve the meat surrounded by the vegetables with additional mashed potatoes. Serves four to six.

[compiled by Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[MARCH 2, 2001]  In like a lion, out like a lamb — March is upon us and that means that spring is ALMOST here! Temperatures should start to gradually warm, and the bulbs that you planted last fall will begin to show their beautiful faces. While you’re out adoring your bulbs, keep these gardening tips in mind:

• Prune your grape vines and fruit trees now before the buds begin to break. Also be ready to apply your first application of fruit tree spray. Pick a time when it’s going to be above 40 degrees F and it’s not going to freeze overnight the first night. It is very important to make your first application BEFORE the buds break!

• Treat for peach leaf curl with an application of a broad-spectrum fungicide. Peach leaf curl infection occurs on fruit trees at bud-break so it is extremely important to spray just before the buds break!

• Sign up for a lawn maintenance program. Weed spray and fertilizer programs usually begin in early April. The lawn care professional at your local garden center will be able to make recommendations on the needs of your yard.

• Meet with your landscape designer to plan your new garden areas. Planting season will be in full swing soon, and you’ll want to be ready! Your landscape designer can help you lay out your new beds, pick your plant materials and give you proper care instructions.

• Start your seeds indoors. If you are planning on growing some of your own flower and vegetables from seed, now is the time to get them growing! An Illinois Certified Nursery Professional (ICN Pro) at your local garden center will be able to answer the questions you might have.

• When the soil thaws and begins to dry out, then you can till your garden. It is a good idea to work some organic material in when you till. Mushroom compost is a mixture of different organic matters that works very well. Simply scatter the mushroom compost on top of your garden area (amount will vary depending on the condition of your soil) and then till it in. Mushroom compost is very high in nitrogen, so it is imperative that it is worked into the soil. Using mushroom compost can cut down on the amount of synthetic fertilizers you have to use!

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• Cut back your ornamental grasses and other perennials before they begin to grow (late March). Roses will need to be uncovered around the first or middle of March. Be sure to uncover them BEFORE they begin to grow!

• If you have a water garden, you will need to begin feeding your fish again in March. Do NOT add your tropical plants to your water garden until the danger of frost is completely past! Your hardy water plants can be added once the water temperature reaches 50 degrees. Beneficial bacteria can also be added once the water temperature reaches 50 degrees. If you have questions, consult the ICN Pro at your local garden center.

During the month of March, a lot of activities will be going on at your local garden center or nursery. Garden seed, onion sets and plants, potatoes and all sorts of new garden ideas will be arriving. It’s a great time to stop and visit with an ICN Pro about your garden ideas, problems or new products for spring 2001!

If you would like more gardening information or have questions, please feel free to contact an Illinois Certified Nursery Professional (ICN Pro) at your local garden center.

["Gardening tips" is provided monthly
by the Illinois Nurserymen’s Association,
1717 S. Fifth St. in Springfield.]

[FEB. 24, 2001]  Thirteen years ago, Patti Austin of Springfield began a divorce-recovery program at Westside Christian Church. Since that time, the program has expanded to Lincoln, Taylorville, Riverton and even out of state. There are 30 congregations that have begun Austin’s divorce-recovery program. Due to the great need for divorce counseling, Westside now has a waiting list for its biannual, 14-week program.

Austin developed her program out of "a need she saw in her own children and the children of single parents in her church." Austin used her own experience — she was divorced and a single parent for nine years — and the help of a professional counselor to write the program’s curriculum. The first edition of the program took a year to write and focused on single parents who were widowed, never married or divorced. The program has since been rewritten to focus on parents and children hurt specifically by a divorce.

The most important aspect of her program is that it focuses on adults and children both. She has seen several models that help just the children, but Austin believes that parents and children need help to heal together.

Just three years after Austin began the program in Springfield, members of Jefferson Street Christian Church heard of the program and asked her to help them begin the same program in Lincoln. Austin agreed, and now Lincoln’s program is 10 years old. Several of the program-trained counselors help in Lincoln’s divorce-recovery program because they have gone through divorces and want to help participants better relate to what they are facing.

For the past three years, Joyce Bechtel has been coordinating Lincoln’s program, but this year she is training Steve Elkins and Sarah Wilson to replace her. Bechtel began volunteering six years ago because she "saw that it was a good program" and that it was a way of supporting those families who could not afford weekly counseling. She decided to step down to focus on teaching the children in "Broken Promise."

The divorce-recovery program actually has two divisions: "Broken Promise" for children and "New Beginnings" for adults. These two programs are advertised for families, but adults without children are welcome as well. Even the parts of the class that focus on how children feel and behave can be helpful to an individual without children, because he or she may remarry and have stepchildren.

The goal of both programs is to give families tools to reconstruct their lives. One of the coordinators, Sarah Wilson, said the purpose of "Broken Promise" is to give children "a neutral environment where they can express their feelings." Teachers, trained by professional counselors, help children move through different emotional stages: denial/guilt, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and hope. If the teachers see that a child needs more help than they can offer, they are able to recommend local, professional counselors to the parent.

"New Beginnings" also has its own goals. Teachers and counselors help parents, just like the children, move through the emotional stages. The program teaches parents which feelings and problems to expect in their children of different ages. Four- to 6-year-olds tend to be clingy and whiny because they fear abandonment. Eight- to 9-year-olds often worry about the family’s income and provisions. Some children, usually the oldest, appear to adjust very smoothly. They maintain their composure for the sake of the family, but they typically are damming up a flood of emotions. Counselors refer to this as the Sleeper Syndrome and warn parents to prepare for that child to collapse.

Wilson, the coordinator, joked that this is a program where children play and parents have homework. Single parents may have assignments such as: make an effort to express your feelings this week, allot 10 minutes a day per child for one-on-one time or have a family activity this week.

Nine volunteer teachers plan to work with the children this year: Joyce Bechtel, Randy and Debbie Bruns, Cynthia Clark, Cheryl Frank, Deborah Martinsic, Allen and Melanie Shew, and Larry Simonson. The directors plan not to exceed a student-teacher ratio of 3-to-1 for the younger grades and 5-to-1 in the older grades, so that the children may have the individual attention they crave. The children’s classes are divided into five age groups: 4 years to second grade, third and fourth grade, fifth and sixth grade, seventh and eighth grade, and high school.

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The children’s curriculum is as follows:

• Week 1 — Introduction to the course
• Week 2 — "Emotions"
• Week 3 — "The Family"
• Week 4 — "Denial"
• Week 5 — Meet your leader
• Weeks 6 and 7 — "Anger"
• Week 8 — "Bargaining"
• Week 9 — "Guilt"
• Week 10 — "Depression"
• Week 11 — "Acceptance and Hope"
• Week 12 — "Forgiveness"

• Week 13 — Review and closing program

Two volunteer teachers, Steve Elkins and Sarah Wilson, team-teach the adult program with professional counselors.

The parents’ curriculum is as follows:

• Week 1 — Introduction to the course
• Weeks 2 to 4 — "The Grief Process"
• Week 5 — Parents meet with their child’s counselor
• Week 6 — "Communication with Children"
• Week 7 — "Assertive Disciple"
• Weeks 8 and 9 — "Shared Parenting"
• Week 10 — "You and Your Ex-Spouse"
• Week 11 — "Anger and Guilt"
• Week 12 — "Forgiveness"

• Week 13 — "Dating and Intimacy" and closing program

Participants are asked if there are specific topics they need addressed. In the past, an attorney came to class to answer legal questions. A minister often comes in on the 12th week to discuss forgiveness.

Anyone who has gone through a divorce is welcome to enroll in the program. The divorce may be recent or it may be a while in the past. Often children’s emotional development is stunted at the time of a divorce, and counseling, even years later, can rekindle emotional development.

Members of other congregations and non-church attendees are all welcome. There is not pressure to join Jefferson Street or Lincoln Christian churches.

For single parents who bring their children, or single individuals, the cost is the same: $15. If parents send their children without participating themselves, the cost almost doubles, because the program is designed to help the family.

Registration for "Broken Promise" and "New Beginnings" is on a first-come, first-served basis, so it is important that interested families register early. The adult classes usually have eight to 15 participants but can hold up to 25. The children’s classes usually have 15 to 20 children in the combined age groups.

Due to the confidential nature of this program, counselors were unable to give specific success stories. The counselors do sense that parents appreciate the help and information they receive on how to relate to their children. Wilson did say that she not only received a compliment on the program from a participant but also witnessed a word-of-mouth recommendation for the program.

Bechtel knows of one family who was so blessed by the program that they enrolled a second time. The mother said that "Broken Promise" and "New Beginnings" was the best program in which she had participated. She has since referred many friends.

In the future, Lincoln’s coordinators would like to see "Broken Promise" and "New Beginnings" grow. They are not hoping for more broken families but instead hope more divorced individuals and families use the program. If needed, the coordinators hope to do two cycles a year instead of one. They would also like to see other congregations adopt a similar program.

Bechtel compliments the program for "teaching parents how to deal with their children." Wilson reminds interested individuals and families that the program is a "non-threatening environment to help you get the tools you need to navigate sometimes rough waters. We’re just here to care about you. . . .this is not a place of judgment."

If you want more information on the 14-week program or plan to enroll this year, please call Jefferson Street Christian Church at 732-9294. The course begins for adults and children on Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m. at 1700 N. Jefferson St. Each class session begins at 7 p.m. and ends about 8:15 p.m.

If you live in the Springfield area, contact Westside Christian Church at 793-2800 to enroll in their program. The present cycle has already begun there, but they will have a second cycle later in the year. Call early, because their classes fill quickly.

[Jean Ann Carnley]

Animals for adoption

These animals and more are available to good homes from the Logan County Animal Control at 1515 N. Kickapoo, phone 735-3232.

Fees for animal adoption: dogs, $60/male, $65/female; cats, $35/male, $44/female. The fees include neutering and spaying.

Logan County Animal Control's hours of operation:

Sunday  –  closed

Monday  –  8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tuesday  –  8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Wednesday  –  8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Thursday  –  8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Friday  –  8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Saturday  –  closed

Warden: Sheila Farmer
Assistant:  Michelle Mote
In-house veterinarian:  Dr. Lester Thompson

[MARCH 20, 2001]  Tucked amid a grove of towering timber just off a quiet stretch of old Route 66 near Bloomington sits a slice of New England. At the end of a curved dirt lane is a modest shingled home, a low-slung brown sap house spouting large clouds of steam, and rows and rows of trees with aluminum buckets attached to their trunks. Ancient gnarled oaks, slender saplings and majestic maples give the place an almost mystical feeling. A small red building with simple, black painted letters spelling out Funks Grove is nestled among the virgin timber and provides a wonderful burst of color in what is otherwise a sea of gray bark.

"Funks Grove is actually a township. There once was a town with a post office and a few businesses, but as Bloomington grew, the town dried up. Funks Grove now is a church, cemetery and a Sugar Grove Nature Center, which gives visitors a chance to see how the land once looked when settlers arrived," Mike Funk said.

The area once supported six syrup camps, but only his family has managed to stay in the business, Funk said.

The cold weather crop season only lasts four to six weeks, beginning in February and March, and during that time the Funks gather between 40,000 and 60,000 gallons of maple sugar from the stand of trees, which yields between 800 and 1,200 gallons of syrup.

The shop sells bottles and bottles of the stuff until they run out, which is usually about the
beginning of August.

The brown sap house is where the action takes place and where the watery substance
collected from the trees is turned into syrup. Customers flow in and out of the adjoining
gift shop, which offers light syrup and dark syrup, in jars and jugs and log-cabin cans. You can buy maple candy and maple cream or Funks Grove Honey. There are also nature books, cookbooks, T-shirts ("Just naturally sweet") and plenty of Route 66 memorabilia, plus the romance and children's novels written by Funk's sister.

Funk, who also has a part-time job and farms, said he usually takes a vacation from his other jobs during this time of year to manage the business.

Mother Nature can actually be given the credit for knowing when it’s time to start the process. In the early spring, a freezing and thawing cycle is required to generate the flow of sap, according to Funk. A tree must be 40 years old and 10 inches in diameter to support one tap. Holes up to 2 inches deep are drilled into the trees with a power drill. Metal spouts are hammered into the trees and metal buckets are hung on the majority
of the 4,000 taps drilled annually. The rest are connected to a more modern pipeline tubing system. When warm thawing temperatures follow a hard freeze, the sap begins to run. Under ideal conditions, a 150-quart sap bucket can fill in 10 hours.

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Each crew member totes two five-gallon gathering pails and moves from tree to tree, pouring the sap from their buckets into the pails. When the pails are full, they are poured into a tank pulled through the woods by a tractor. The collected sap is stored in an underground cistern to keep it from getting too cold or warm.

The process of evaporation makes 50 gallons of sap become one gallon of syrup. The liquid is pumped from the cistern into the evaporation tank, which is a series of connected metal pans. As the level of sap in the pans decreases through the evaporation, more sap is metered into the pans by a flat device, and the temperature must be raised six degrees. After being drawn off the evaporation tank, the liquid is finished in the gas-fired finishing pan, where the liquid is raised another degree, pressure-filtered and then bottled while it’s hot. The entire process from cistern to bottling tank can be done in less than three hours, according to Funk.

After dealing with sticky fingers several months of the year, how does Funk actually use the stuff? "Mostly in the traditional way, on pancakes and waffles, hot cereals or biscuits. It’s also good on ice cream," he said. And most customers don’t hesitate to indulge despite a trend toward healthier, light eating these days.

"It’s a natural sugar, it’s not processed sugar. You can use it in baking as a sugar replacement. We say there’s no fat, just all calories," Funk said with a smile.

When the buds on the maples begin to swell, it signals the end of the season. Buckets and
bags come down, spouts are pulled off and the camp receives a good spring cleaning. But
even after the sign at the end of the road says "Closed for the Season," customers still
wind their way up the wooded lane looking for a taste of New England.

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[MARCH 19, 2001]  Tucked amid a grove of towering timber just off a quiet stretch of old Route 66 near Bloomington sits a slice of New England. At the end of a curved dirt lane is a modest shingled home, a low-slung brown sap house spouting large clouds of steam, and rows and rows of trees with aluminum buckets attached to their trunks. Ancient gnarled oaks, slender saplings and majestic maples give the place an almost mystical feeling. A small red building with simple, black painted letters spelling out Funks Grove is nestled among the virgin timber and provides a wonderful burst of color in what is otherwise a sea of gray bark.

The scene could easily be found in the eastern region of the country, but it’s here at Funks Grove Sirup Camp ("sirup" with an "i" is the preferred spelling at Funks Grove). This tiny spot in central Illinois is where the Funk family has been making the sweet liquid since the early 1920s. On a recent sunny winter day, three bus loads of senior citizens and school children toured the site, and all seemed fascinated with how maple syrup is made. Young and old alike squealed with delight as they tested samples and eagerly purchased more to take home.

Mike and Debby Funk, who now operate the business, took turns giving tours of the operation and explaining the process from the beginning stages in the woods to the end result, which appears in glass bottles in the gift shop. Pure maple syrup is produced commercially at only a handful of places in the Midwest, which explains part of the appeal of the place. The other reason is that because of its location on a historic road it’s often found by visitors who might not otherwise know about it.

"We get a lot of visitors from Route 66," Debby Funk said. "During the summer months we get groups on motorcycles or antique cars, doing the Route 66 trip from Chicago to California. It’s fun."

In fact, there are so many visitors from so many places, she keeps a world map in the gift shop and has customers mark the country or city where they’re from. Some people, from as far away as Brazil, Australia, Africa, Japan and Germany, have drawn their home on the back of the map.

The business, which is listed on the Route 66 Hall of Fame and was designated a Registered Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, has become a common stop for many repeat customers who can’t get enough of the sweet, sticky stuff.

"We start getting phone calls in January and people say they are running out of syrup and need more," Mike Funk said. "We still get people who remember we were here and always wanted to stop by. Once the nostalgia associated with Route 66 hit, people started traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles, and they stopped in out of curiosity."

I must admit, I was one of those people who had always noted the large billboard advertising Funks Grove while traveling north on I-55 but had never bothered to stop. I’m so glad I finally did, because the hospitality of the Funk family is as welcoming and soothing on a crisp winter day as the warm syrup they produce.

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The timber where the camp is located is actually owned by the trust fund of Hazel Funk Holmes, a nature-loving relative who intended a walk though the camp to be an educational experience. By the terms of her will, her woodlands will be preserved and maple syrup will continue to be produced at Funks Grove as long as its feasible, Funk said.

It all started when great-grandfather Isaac Funk, the pioneer founder of what was later known as Funks Grove, settled in 1824 in an area rich in maple trees and discovered the art of making maple syrup and maple sugar, which during that time was the only way to get readily available sweetener. Isaac’s grandson Arthur opened the first commercial syrup camp at Funks Grove in 1891, selling the sweet stuff for $1 a gallon as a luxury item. Arthur’s brother Lawrence later ran the operation and passed it on to his son, who is Mike Funk’s father.

Mike’s father, Stephen, 76, and his mother, Glaida, 74, took over the camp in 1948. Although they officially retired about 12 years ago, they’re still on hand most days, helping out at the business. It’s hard to get away, not only because they enjoy it but also because they live in the shingled house just yards away from the sap house and the center of activity. "It’s a part of their life, it always will be," Funk said.

Indeed, Funk has passed the family tradition on to his three children. His two daughters and son grew up helping out in the family’s seasonal business, and his daughters liked to make maple candy sold in the gift shop as a way to earn extra spending money.

It was made possible by Isaac’s granddaughter Hazel, whose trust provides the forest and capital needed for producing syrup. She was also was the person who insisted "sirup" was the preferred spelling. Noting that the U.S. Agriculture Department uses the spelling, the Funks decided to stick with it out of respect for Holmes.

"Hazel Funk Holmes had 160 acres of timber that we operate on and also some farm ground. We also rent trees from other trusts, so there are probably 500 or 600 acres altogether," Funk said.

(To be continued)

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[click here for Part 2]

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