Upset that you can no longer watch Friends reruns on Netflix? Don’t worry! Warner Bros. and Superfly have opened the FRIENDS Experience in Chicago to give fans a chance to reenact all their favorite moments from the classic sitcom.
Visitors can walk through twelve rooms and explore set recreations, original props and costumes, and interactive moments. You can even hang out in Joey and Chandler’s apartment or take a seat on the famous orange couch from Central Perk.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Established in 1978, the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) works to educate lawmakers, professional industries and the public about the challenges domestic violence survivors face when trying to get help.
As a membership-based organization with over 50 members, ICADV works to eliminate domestic violence and provide support and direct service to survivors and their dependent children. In 1982, ICADV helped to write and pass the landmark Illinois Domestic Violence Act, twelve years prior to the first federal Violence Against Women Act in 1994.
Kanata Blanket, one of America’s leading manufacturer of premium blankets and promotional products, has announced they will move their North American and U.S. operations to Vandalia, Ill.
The new facility is planned to create 40-50 new jobs in the area in the coming year.
Vandalia and Central Illinois are hubs of automotive, agricultural and industrial manufacturing. Over 70,000 Central Illinois residents work in the industry, and thousands of others rely on the products local manufacturers make and the economic development they generate.
Pumpkins are a fall necessity! The pumpkin has been a North American staple since long before the arrival of European settlers, and Illinois farmers continue the big orange squash’s long tradition by growing more pumpkins than anywhere else in the world. Illinois grows 90-95 percent of the processed pumpkins in the U.S. Most of the processing takes place in Morton, Ill. – which has claimed the title of “Pumpkin Capital of the World” since 1978.
In 1967, the Morton Chamber of Commerce organized the city’s first Pumpkin Festival to celebrate the beginning of the pumpkin harvest and canning season at the local Libby’s pumpkin processing plant. Today, the festival includes over 30 special events and venues hosted and organized by over 2,000 volunteers. The festival welcomes an estimated 70,000 visitors every September.
Libby’s Morton plant has about 5,000 acres of fertile farm land devoted to producing pumpkins. In 2012, Libby’s became the official sponsor for the Morton Pumpkin Festival!