Illinois Monster Myths
1
6 THE WOODSTOCK INDEPENDENT Oct. 24-30, 2012 NEWS Kids learn groundwater from the ground up By MIKE NEUMANN The Independent Sixth-graders at four middle schools throughout the county — including St. Mary School — attended the first ever McHenry County Youth Groundwater Festival last week. e Loyola University Chicago Retreat and Ecology Campus was the setting of the festi- val, which allowed 120 students to take part in four 40-minute hands-on workshops and activities. Bethany Gola, director of the McHenry County Schools Environmental Program, which is housed under the county’s depart- ment of planning and development, said the idea for the festival has been in the works for many months. “Our goal is to support these teachers with their curriculum,” Gola said, noting ground- water is part of sixth-grade curriculum. “It gives them a better look at [the importance groundwater plays in our lives] through hands-on learning.” Whether through a game of “Dripial Pur- suit” or the testing of surface water using samples from the campus pond, the students stayed busy throughout their three hours at the festival. In one exercise, Woodstock High School students, who are part of the Envirothon Team, scooped up water and mud from the pond to determine the lifeforms in it. “We found lots of snails and a couple of larva bugs,” said Maureen Keisling, a St. Mary student. “[It was fun] digging up the bugs in the water.” With the help of WHS students, the sixth- graders determined if the organisms showed signs of tolerance to water pollution. If they did, it meant the water had at least some form of pollution. e WHS students explained that if surface water is polluted, it is possible nearby groundwater is polluted as well. “e groups [of students] are very good,” said WHS senior Wyatt Meyer. “ey seemed willing to learn.” He said being able to educate youth about the importance of groundwater protection is rewarding and something he is happy to do as part of the Envirothon Team. Bill Donato, adviser to the team and a sci- ence teacher at WHS, said he used to take part in a grant program in the 1990s that taught students about groundwater, but funding for that program ran out after a few years. “[e groundwater festival] is a way for us to stay in the loop,” Donato said. “We’re al- ready talking about ways to expand it.” Hillary Russel, a teacher at St. Mary School, said the firsthand learning experience is ex- actly the type of engaging education needed to teach youth about these important is- sues. She said from an educator’s standpoint, she appreciates the interaction between the middle and high school students as well as the interaction of students from different schools. MCHENRY COUNTY YOUTH GROUNDWATER FESTIVAL Maureen Keisling, a St. Mary School sixth-grader, studies samples pulled from a nearby pond during the festival. INDEPENDENT PHOTOS BY MIKE NEUMANN Woodstock High School student Graham Ellinghausen pulls mud containing life- forms from water during the groundwater festival. INDEPENDENT PHOTOS BY MIKE NEUMANN COLUMN As Halloween approaches, I thought it would be interesting to gather McHenry County ghost encounters – stories aside from Elvira the Opera House haunt, the Bull Valley Monster or the House with No Corners. Aside from a handful of ghost and possible Bigfoot sightings, I came to the conclusion McHenry County seems generally safe from the wrath of other- worldy beings. I then decided to look into unusual creature sightings in our state. With the help of the website True Illinois Haunts and information from the book “Weird Illinois,” written by Troy Taylor and Mark Sceurman, I compiled the following list and also added one of my personal experiences. The Farmer City monster During the 1970s, reports surfaced about a “hulking” beast with glowing yel- low eyes. e beast ran away, on two legs, from every human it encountered. Sight- ings included the areas of Bloomington, Heyworth and Waynesville. Birds carrying off small children is story revolved around giant birds who supposedly once lived in Lake Shelbyville. Back in the 1940s, locals in the town of Alton claimed to have seen a bird larger than an airplane. Fast-forward to the 1970s, when reports stated that two enormous birds had attacked children in Lawndale. Sup- posedly, one child was picked up and carried for a short time before being dropped back to the ground. Murphysboro mud monster Once upon a time, for a short couple of weeks, a 7-foot tall, mud-streaked, white-haired screaming beast terrorized the wooded area of Big Muddy River near Murphys- boro. e creature was seen by a young couple, heard by police officers and seen once again by a 4-year old boy as it ran through his yard. Monster of Lake Michigan From 1867 to 1890, newspapers re- ported accounts of people from Evanston to Hyde Park who claimed to have seen a sea serpent offshore in Lake Michigan. e 40- to 50- foot-long beast flashed bluish black skin, a long neck, scales and a gray-white underbelly. Apparently it also made a sound similar to an angry bull. Illinois’ monster myths Enfield horror In the 1970s (I think they must have loved monsters during this decade) near Enfield, a deformed creature with small T-Rex-like arms, pink eyes, gray skin and three legs supposedly attacked a young boy playing outside before it tried to bur- glarize a neighbor’s home. e neighbor shot the monster and it ran away, while a news director for WWKI Radio was said to have recorded its screams. e mon- ster re-appeared frequently near railroad tracks before it vanished without a trace. Starved Rock ghost While staying overnight in a cabin at Starved Rock State Park, I was awakened at 2 a.m. by a sub-human howl echoing through the room. e howl was fol- lowed by a rush of wind. For a moment, I wondered if I had been dreaming. Again, the howl pierced the darkness, and from across the room my brother said “Did you hear that?” After a few moments the ‘thing’ was gone. e next day, we searched for a voice-recording device, thinking maybe someone had decided to play a prank on us. We found nothing. I will never know what mysterious being visited us that night, but I like to think it was the ghost of an angry Native American. Whether one believes in ghosts and strange creatures or not, there are truly some things in this world that cannot be explained. Sometimes part of the fun of life is not having a definitive answer to these questions. “Without mysteries, life would be very dull indeed. What would be left to strive for if everything were known?” - Charles de Lint Happy Halloween everyone. Mix Messages Rhonda Mix Rhonda Mix is a staff writer for The Wood- stock Independent.
-
Upload
rhonda-mix-anderson -
Category
Documents
-
view
25 -
download
0
Transcript of Illinois Monster Myths
6 The WoodsTock IndependenToct. 24-30, 2012 News
Kids learn groundwater from the ground upBy MIKE NEUMANN
The Independent
Sixth-graders at four middle schools throughout the county — including St. Mary School — attended the first ever McHenry County Youth Groundwater Festival last week.
The Loyola University Chicago Retreat and Ecology Campus was the setting of the festi-val, which allowed 120 students to take part in four 40-minute hands-on workshops and activities.
Bethany Gola, director of the McHenry County Schools Environmental Program, which is housed under the county’s depart-ment of planning and development, said the idea for the festival has been in the works for many months.
“Our goal is to support these teachers with their curriculum,” Gola said, noting ground-water is part of sixth-grade curriculum. “It gives them a better look at [the importance groundwater plays in our lives] through hands-on learning.”
Whether through a game of “Dripial Pur-suit” or the testing of surface water using samples from the campus pond, the students stayed busy throughout their three hours at the festival.
In one exercise, Woodstock High School students, who are part of the Envirothon Team, scooped up water and mud from the pond to determine the lifeforms in it.
“We found lots of snails and a couple of larva bugs,” said Maureen Keisling, a St. Mary student. “[It was fun] digging up the bugs in the water.”
With the help of WHS students, the sixth-graders determined if the organisms showed signs of tolerance to water pollution. If they did, it meant the water had at least some form of pollution. The WHS students explained that if surface water is polluted, it is possible
nearby groundwater is polluted as well.“The groups [of students] are very good,”
said WHS senior Wyatt Meyer. “They seemed willing to learn.”
He said being able to educate youth about the importance of groundwater protection is rewarding and something he is happy to do as part of the Envirothon Team.
Bill Donato, adviser to the team and a sci-ence teacher at WHS, said he used to take part in a grant program in the 1990s that taught students about groundwater, but funding for that program ran out after a few years.
“[The groundwater festival] is a way for us to stay in the loop,” Donato said. “We’re al-ready talking about ways to expand it.”
Hillary Russel, a teacher at St. Mary School, said the firsthand learning experience is ex-actly the type of engaging education needed to teach youth about these important is-sues. She said from an educator’s standpoint, she appreciates the interaction between the middle and high school students as well as the interaction of students from different schools.
Mchenry counTy youTh GroundWaTer FesTIval
Maureen keisling, a st. Mary school sixth-grader, studies samples pulled from a nearby pond during the festival. INdEpENdENt photos By MIKE NEUMANN
Woodstock high school student Graham ellinghausen pulls mud containing life-forms from water during the groundwater festival. INdEpENdENt photos By MIKE NEUMANN
column
As Halloween approaches, I thought it would be interesting to gather McHenry County ghost encounters – stories aside from Elvira the Opera House haunt, the Bull Valley Monster or the House with No Corners. Aside from a handful of ghost and possible Bigfoot sightings, I came to the conclusion McHenry County seems generally safe from the wrath of other-worldy beings.
I then decided to look into unusual creature sightings in our state.
With the help of the website True Illinois Haunts and information from the book “Weird Illinois,” written by Troy Taylor and Mark Sceurman, I compiled the following list and also added one of my personal experiences.
the Farmer City monsterDuring the 1970s, reports surfaced
about a “hulking” beast with glowing yel-low eyes. The beast ran away, on two legs, from every human it encountered. Sight-ings included the areas of Bloomington, Heyworth and Waynesville.
Birds carrying off small children This story revolved around giant birds
who supposedly once lived in Lake Shelbyville. Back in the 1940s, locals in the town of Alton claimed to have seen a bird larger than an airplane. Fast-forward to the 1970s, when reports stated that two
enormous birds had attacked children in Lawndale. Sup-posedly, one child was picked up and carried for a short time before being dropped back to the ground.
Murphysboro mud monster
Once upon a time, for a short couple of weeks, a 7-foot tall, mud-streaked, white-haired screaming beast terrorized the wooded area of Big Muddy River near Murphys-boro. The creature was seen by a young couple, heard by police officers and seen once again by a 4-year old boy as it ran through his yard.
Monster of Lake MichiganFrom 1867 to 1890, newspapers re-
ported accounts of people from Evanston to Hyde Park who claimed to have seen a sea serpent offshore in Lake Michigan. The 40- to 50- foot-long beast flashed bluish black skin, a long neck, scales and a gray-white underbelly. Apparently it also made a sound similar to an angry bull.
Illinois’ monster myths Enfield horrorIn the 1970s (I think they must have
loved monsters during this decade) near Enfield, a deformed creature with small T-Rex-like arms, pink eyes, gray skin and three legs supposedly attacked a young boy playing outside before it tried to bur-glarize a neighbor’s home. The neighbor shot the monster and it ran away, while a news director for WWKI Radio was said to have recorded its screams. The mon-ster re-appeared frequently near railroad tracks before it vanished without a trace.
starved Rock ghostWhile staying overnight in a cabin at
Starved Rock State Park, I was awakened at 2 a.m. by a sub-human howl echoing through the room. The howl was fol-lowed by a rush of wind. For a moment, I wondered if I had been dreaming. Again, the howl pierced the darkness, and from across the room my brother said “Did you hear that?”
After a few moments the ‘thing’ was gone. The next day, we searched for a voice-recording device, thinking maybe someone had decided to play a prank on us. We found nothing. I will never know what mysterious being visited us that night, but I like to think it was the ghost of an angry Native American.
Whether one believes in ghosts and strange creatures or not, there are truly some things in this world that cannot be explained. Sometimes part of the fun of life is not having a definitive answer to these questions.
“Without mysteries, life would be very dull indeed. What would be left to strive for if everything were known?” - Charles de Lint
Happy Halloween everyone.
Mix Messages
Rhonda Mix
Rhonda Mix is a staff writer for The Wood-stock Independent.
![Compass [WINTER 2012] Illinois labor law created union monster](https://static.fdocuments.in/doc/165x107/5531c73f550346a10b8b4bb1/compass-winter-2012-illinois-labor-law-created-union-monster.jpg)
