ILLINOIS - Land
of Lincoln, January 24-27
Upon exiting
the airport, we found ourselves in a personal tour bus, complete with a local
wine tasting and video slide show of all the lodges in Illinois. The wine was excellent, as was the company. It was a great way to travel to our hotel,
where we were greeted by the rest of the officers and spouses of the Illinois
Elks State Association. That evening we
had dinner upstairs in the State hospitality suite. (The hotel had actually
closed their restaurant and turned the room over to the Illinois Elks.) We dined on smoked pork loin, turkey, salad
and lots of hand-made chocolates and macaroons for dessert.
Friday morning the
guys went to Charlie Parker's restaurant for breakfast. Set in a Quonset hut
and a local favorite, they had a great and plentiful breakfast followed by a
visit to Lincoln's grave site. While it was a little bit chilly, the tomb is set
in a beautiful location and no one minded the walk. 
Meanwhile, the
ladies treated Venita to breakfast in the State President's suite, after which
they rendezvoused with the gentlemen for a tour of the Lincoln Library and
Museum. True to presidential tradition, the museum was wonderful. The two featured movies, “Ghost in the
Library” and “Lincoln’s Eyes” made use of amazing technology and graphics. Of special note was that one of the three
remaining stovepipe hats that Lincoln wore during his years as president was on
display in the “Treasures” Room. It was
fascinating to see this great piece of history, all the way down to his finger
prints on the brim of the hat.
After touring
the museum, the gentlemen returned to the hotel for meetings, but not before
they stopped at Jerry’s favorite Italian restaurant, Sapudo’s, for lunch. Not to be outdone, the ladies took Venita to
"The Feed Store," a soup and sandwich shop located next to the old
capitol building and down the street from Lincoln's original law office. Given the cold weather, soup was a welcome
menu choice.
Friday evening
we went to the Past State President's dinner at the hotel. The PSPs are a very social group of people
and we very much enjoyed their company. Much to our delight, they have a
tradition of making and flying paper airplanes during dinner. We jumped right in and sent a couple soaring
ourselves. After dinner, we spent time in several of the hospitality suites,
signing cards, handing out pins and visiting with the Illinois Elks. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and they
appreciated having us visit with them.
Saturday
morning Tom went with Jerry and Lou to the various committee meetings. They
then joined the ladies at the Ladies Luncheon.
Each year, Illinois elects a “Lady of the Year,” someone who is not an
Elk and yet works for the betterment of the Order and their community. Venita and Karen were at the head table with
the eight District winners and Venita had the pleasure of presenting plaques to
each of the District winners and then announcing the overall winner. For a change of pace, Tom was able to be
there to hear Venita’s speech!
After lunch we
helped pack “S.O.S.” boxes with donated foods and toiletries to be sent to the
troops overseas. Last year, the Illinois
Elks donated over 500 boxes for this program. Tom also gave a radio
interviews while we were packing things up. Afterward, Venita headed out with the ladies
to a local quilt shop to see if there was anything she couldn't live without.
Of course there was.
The Saturday evening
banquet started with music played by the Illinois Pipe and Drum Corps, including
the most frequently requested bagpipe song, “Amazing Grace.” All of the Illinois Elks State Officers and
their spouses then enter, couple by couple, accompanied by music specifically
selected for them. They were followed by the Grand Lodge Officers in
attendance. When it was our turn, we
walked through the tables to the rocking beat of "Born to be Wild." Perfect selection!
We then enjoyed
an excellent dinner, after which Tom shared his concerns and vision for our
Order with those in attendance. The
Illinois Elks presented us with several gifts including an Illinois state charm
for Venita’s bracelet, a beautiful quilt block for her memory quilt, a book
about Lincoln, and a beautiful pen with a pen display case for Tom. In honor of our love of motorcycling, Jerry
and Jan gave us a 100th Anniversary Harley-Davidson bear, complete
with bandanna and leather vest. Of
special note was the presentation of a hinged-frame plaque with a commendation
on one half and our photo on the other, all done in metal. It was truly unique
and something we will forever treasure.
Sunday morning, Jerry
and Jan did yeoman’s duty and took us to the airport at 5:30 a.m. Jerry commented that he didn’t know there was
a 5:30 with an “a.m.” after it. But then
he recalled once before when he had been up that early! We bid them a fond farewell at the airport
and boarded our plane for home. We
thoroughly enjoyed the Land of Lincoln and vowed to come back when we could
spend more time exploring the home of this great President
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