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            Part of the excitement regarding the 
            festival merchandise is the fact that the prices remain the same as 
            last year, with the exception of the license plates. License plates 
            are in and can be put on your car immediately. A new array of 
            T-shirt colors, in addition to the white and ash gray, are available 
            this year -- pink, butter (yellow) and sand (khaki) with the 
            festival logo. The polo shirts are in birch (gray) and butter. The 
            official pilot shirt has the racing checked collar. Pretty snappy! 
            Our denim offering this year is short-sleeved with the embroidered 
            logo. A red sandwich-billed cap or a khaki and black low-profile cap 
            looks great with the rest of the merchandise.  
            Two new venues will be unique to the 
            festival this year. The Art of Wine, sponsored by Main Street 
            Lincoln, promises to be a tasty addition to the weekend. The 
            traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall will be a major addition to the 2003 
            festival. The wall, displayed on the east side of the main drive at 
            Lincoln Christian College, will be open around the clock for 
            visitors, starting at 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, through 4 p.m. 
            Sunday, Aug. 24. Local veteran groups will provide information and 
            honor guards at the site.  
            Following their visit to the Vietnam 
            Memorial Wall, visitors can see and hear more military history by 
            driving a short distance from LCC. Around the field to the north and 
            west, Heritage in Flight, located at the Logan County Airport, will 
            host an open house Saturday, Aug. 23. Tours of the military museum 
            (housed in a historic prison camp bunker), displays in the hangar 
            and outdoor static displays that include military vehicles and 
            aircraft will be provided by HIF members.  
            A record number of balloon pilots and 
            sponsors (50) and a full slate of artists are contracted for this 
            red-letter year. Calls come in daily for crafters, commercial 
            vendors and flea market applications. The YMCA staff is making 
            changes to the Adventure Zone, which will prove to be a great place 
            for the kids. The Soap Box Downhillers, sponsored by Graue Inc., 
            Lincoln Kiwanis and Insight Communications, will race down South 
            Kickapoo Street on Saturday, and the classic car cruise-in, 
            sponsored by the Cool Cruisers, will be around the Logan County 
            Courthouse on Sunday.   [to top of second column in 
            this article]
            
             
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            There will be something for everyone to 
            enjoy over the weekend, including a wonderful exhibit of fireworks 
            following the glow on Saturday night. Fireworks are being sponsored 
            by S & N Fireworks and the chamber. 
            A free showing of Underground Railroad 
            and Civil War quilts will be displayed in the Logan County 
            Courthouse rotunda Aug. 21-24. Dr. Clarice Boswell, an Underground 
            Railroad expert and author, will give a free program in the 
            third-floor courtroom at 6:30 p.m.  
            Aug. 21. Author and quilter Susan Kirby 
            will be at the show all day Aug. 23 to sign books and show her 
            quilts. Hours for the exhibit are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 21 and 
            22, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 23, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 24. 
              
      
       
            In a separate location, the Layman 
            Gallery, on the Lincoln College campus, will host a free Underground 
            Railroad and black history exhibit Aug. 16 through Sept. 6. The 
            gallery will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday 
            (except Labor Day) and from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, or by 
            appointment. 
            Special-shape balloons to be featured 
            this year are the three-tiered Birthday Cake, to celebrate Lincoln's 
            150th birthday; Arky, Noah's Ark filled with animals; Coco the 
            Clown; Air Bear; and Freedom Flight. These balloons are locally 
            sponsored by the city of Lincoln; Animal Crackers Childcare, Inc.; Britsch Mobile Homes, Home of Britsch Towing; Area Disposal and 
            Lincoln Land Communications; and Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral 
            Homes, Holland & Barry Ltd., and Kerrigan-Peasley Funeral Home. Brochures 
            featuring both the
            
            Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival and the Lincoln 
            Sesquicentennial have been delivered to area businesses, and many 
            have gone out all around the state. If you need any additional 
            information, give the chamber a call at (217) 735-2385 or write to 
            303 S. Kickapoo St., Lincoln, IL 62656.  
            [Lincoln/Logan 
            County Chamber of Commerce] |