The Worm Word

Remember to Remember

A busy, busy Memorial Day weekend is coming up quicker than I expected. I do appreciate the three day weekend, and I hope everyone get the chance to go out and enjoy it. If you don't have plans already, then let me give you a few ideas;

HerrinFesta Italiana!! It started today and runs through next Monday. There are rides, games, music, bocce tournaments, a parade and, of course, great Italian food. Everything is going on in downtown Herrin, IL and you can't miss it if you head that direction.

The second annual Shawnee Wine Trail Arts Festival! May 23 and 24 in Riverside Park in Murphysboro. From Noon to 6:00pm there will be music and arts and 12 local wineries. I hope the river calms down a little before the event, but either way, it will be a beautiful weekend.

I know there are even more things going on in the region, but those are all I have time to mention right now. Let me know if there are any other great happenings.

Sezmore

Can You Hear Me Now?

First and foremost I want to say a huge "Thanks" to everyone who has come into Southern Illinois and Missouri to help with the clean-up from the storms. I hope everyone affected by the weather is starting to see a return to normal life.

We only got electricity back at Silkworm today, it is still out at home for a lot of the wormers. Yesterday we had a generator powering the shop so we could get our orders filled on time.

With everything being a bit out of sorts, I really don't have much to announce this week. I just want to remind everyone to be careful out there; there are still downed lines, and using a saw of any type is dangerous.

Wishing everyone the best,

Sezmore

Swing into Spring

I have been so busy lately that my blog keeps sneaking by me unwritten. I hope your spring is bounding by as wonderfully as mine has been.

I very much hope that everyone got to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we had this past Saturday. I was in Goreville working a timing station for the River to River Relay. 250 teams of 8 people running a distance of 80 miles. I can't even imagine running that far, that is precisely why I work the timing station; all of the excitement and none of the hard work. I did head to Golconda to the end of the race to watch the Silkworm team run in. They took about an hour off of their time last year. Way to go Worms!!! Congrats also to everyone who participated in the race as a runner, or a volunteer.

This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one also. I suggest you start your Saturday off at the SIU Spring Flea Market. It will be going on at the SIU Arena parking lot starting at 8:00am. There will be a crew from Silkworm selling some discontinued SIU items from the online store, along with other items. From there you can walk up the hill to the dock on Campus Lake for the Annual Cardboard Regatta. I love watching people paddle cardboard boats as fast as they can to make it across the finish line before they fall apart. I hear that one of the Relay For Life teams from Murphysboro will be entering a boat this year; that lumps two of my favorite things together! The races will start at noon. If you aren't exhausted after the races you can go to Turley Park in Carbondale for the Southern Illinois Irish Festival. There are always great bands playing and fun things to watch. The food is usually pretty good too.

I am starting to feel tired just thinking about all of the fun coming up. I hope you will be able to enjoy some of it, if not all.

Have a great week,

Sezmore

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

I was just getting into the swing of spring; warm days, flowers, birds singing, and then this cold snap happens. I almost left for work in a short sleeve t-shirt before I checked the weather and realized I needed a sweater. I hope it warms up quick, I worry about the farmers in the area when the temperature drops like this.

It is supposed to warm up by this weekend, thank goodness. Saturday there will be Easter Egg hunts all over the region, and those would not be fun in the rain and cold. I personally will be at the one in Murphysboro. Last year I got to ride in on a fire truck, I hope I get to do that again this year.

Next weekend is the River to River Relay. Silkworm always works a timing station at about the half-way point in the race. I encourage people to visit any station along the way and cheer on the runners. I know I couldn't run the way the teams competing do, so I like to cheer them on as one runner passes the baton to the next.

On April 25th there are a number of events going on. We will be having a multi-family yard sale here at Silkworm for team members to help with their spring cleaning. You can start in Murphysboro and work your way to Carbondale for the yard sale at SIU, where there will also be some team members from Silkworm selling items from the SIU Alumni Association Online Store. If that isn't exciting enough for you, the Cardboard Regatta will be going on, on Campus Lake. I am really looking forward to all of the events on that Saturday.

I hope you can enjoy the spring when it returns,

Sezmore

Here Come the Irish

The 2008/2009 basketball season is over. I had a lot of fun cheering for the Salukis and can't wait to do it again next year. I will miss our graduating seniors, but I look forward to the new players of next year. I wish they could have done better in the tournament, but was happy to cheer them on through their game. Good luck next year guys.

Now on to my true love; baseball. The SIU baseball team will play Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. I plan to be there this weekend to take in some quality time on the hill. Come and join me and have a relaxing afternoon at the ballpark. I need to get the softball schedule, but I haven't been to one of those games yet. Check back for an update on that next week.

This Saturday is also the St Patrick's Day festivities in Murphysboro. There will be a Kids' Fair, stew cook-off and a parade. The parade begins at 11:00 am and goes from 7th street to 18th. The Kids' Fair and stew cook-off are near the end of the parade route.

That is all I have for this week. I hope you have a good one.

Sezmore

Arch Madness!!

I'm running behind this week on getting my blog post up, I apologize for that. I was getting things ready for and then setting up the Saluki Store in the Hilton at the Ballpark in St Louis. The Hilton is where the SIU Basketball team and a lot of the fans stay for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. To accommodate all of the people who come in from out of town Silkworm sets up a store with all sorts of new SIU apparel and fun stuff right across the hall from the Alumni Suite. And I do have to say that there is a lot of great new stuff this year. If you are in the area, you should totally stop by.

This may be the last weekend for basketball until next year, though I would love to see SIU win the MVC tournament and go to the NCAA tournament. If they don't make it I will have to comfort myself with SIU baseball, and I don't think that is at all a bad thing. The guys had their season opener on Tuesday and are going to be playing this weekend against Northern Illinois. Next week they will play Ball State on Tuesday and Wednesday, and North Dakota on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I can hardly wait.

Next Saturday will also be all of the St Patrick's Day festivities in Murphysboro. There is a stew cook-off, a 5K race, a parade and the Kids' Free Fair. I will be walking in the parade and attending the fair afterwards. I might also sneak over and sample some stews. No matter which event you are at, next weekend is going to be a good one.

For now I am off to St Louis to cheer on the dawgs.

GO DAWGS!!!!!

Sezmore

Taunted by the Weather

Cold one day, beautiful out the next, only to be followed by a day where the highest temperature is still below freezing. I blame groundhogs everywhere for this, not just Punxsutawney Phil. Though the weather man claims a week of 45 degrees out, I'm not holding my breath.

It is a good thing there are so many wonderful indoor activities to attend right now. The race to the finish has begun for basketball players all over the country; next week will be the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and the NCAA Championships come almost right after that. Before we get there the Salukis have two more games to tend to; tomorrow the dawgs take on Drake in Iowa, I wish them all the best there. The game I'm excited about though, is this Saturday at 7:05, where the guys will be taking on Wichita State at home. It is also Senior Night, and I for one will really miss Brian Mullins, Tony Boyle and Wesley Clemmons.

Next week is the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St Louis. I always enjoy the buzz around the event. Each year a team from Silkworm set up a store at the Hilton at the Ballpark, and they will definitely be there this year. They have all of the newest SIU apparel and I have seen some of the stuff they are taking, I promise that you won't be disappointed.

Soon the weather will be warm and I will want to be outside. I assume you will be doing the same, so I thought I would mention some things coming up soon. On March 14th there is the St Patrick's Day Parade in Murphysboro. In April there is the SIU Yard Sale, Cardboard Regatta and the River to River Relay. There are so many things coming up that I can hardly wait.

Here is hoping for nice weather for a bit,

Sezmore

Farewell Ice

I am so glad for that ice to finally be gone. It felt like it was here forever. Between making it too hard or too dangerous for Silkworm Team Members to get here and the power outages, it was really making life difficult here. I shouldn't complain though, I know there were some people in the region who just recently got power back on to their houses.

Despite what that groundhog said last week, spring seems to be here. The sun is shining, the air is a little warmer and love is in the air. This Saturday is St. Valentine's day, so be sure to do something special for all those important people in your life. If your true love is basketball, you are in for a great time this year, on Saturday, February 14th at 4:05pm, SIU takes on their rival Creighton at home. The game will be shown on ESPN2, but if you are going to see the game in person you need to dress the part; MAROON OUT!!! Silkworm has printed up some shirts specifically for this game; they say "I 'heart' 2 H8 CR8N" and are only $5. You can pick one up at Pinch Penny Pub, the Silkworm lobby or here.

Since February is so short, March will be here before you know it. For Saluki basketball fans that means the MVC tournament in St Louis. As always, Silkworm will be at the Hilton at the Ballpark with their MVC store. I highly recommend going by and checking it out. There are going to be some really neat new designs.

Well I am off to go enjoy this weather before anything can happen to it. I hope you can do the same.

Later,

Sezmore

An Exciting Time

It always seems like there is either nothing going on, or everything going on. We had Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, I hope everyone enjoyed their three day weekend. Yesterday was the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. I love inauguration ceremonies, I think my favorite part was the playing of the "Air and Simple Gifts" song, that was a really neat piece.

Yesterday was also the Kick Off for Relay For Life of Jackson County/Murphysboro. We announced the theme for the Relay; Colors United in Hope. The goal is for every team at Relay to choose a specific cancer and wear something with that cancer's awareness color and give information about that type of cancer to anyone interested. I personally love Relay For Life, I have participated for the past few years and have had a blast every time. If you need more information you can go to www.relayforlifeofmurphysboro.com to find out about fundraisers, activities or to sign up yourself. If you want to know more about the Kick Off meeting you can go here to read the article in the Southern Illinoisan.

Just when you thought the fun might be slowing down, the SIU Men's Basketball team has a game tonight! Unfortunately it is an away game, but that doesn't often keep me from watching it. Tonight the guys take on Indiana State in Terre Haute. Right now Indiana State is one place behind Southern in the Missouri Valley Conference rankings. The dawgs have been getting better with each game they play, so I am really hoping for a win tonight.

I hope everyone is having a great time,

Sezmore

I don't want to shovel snow

Despite living in Southern Illinois long enough to know better, I always expect a gradual warming to happen beginning in January and leading into spring. I know that the weather here doesn't work that way, but I was still surprised when I looked out my window a few minutes ago and saw snow flurries. I don't mind the cold, or even the snow, but I do enjoy those just warm enough days that really don't arrive until March.

The year still seems off to a slow start, but I know that it will pick up feverishly before long. Right now I am rather content to root for SIU men's basketball and not need too much else going on. This Sunday, January 18th, SIU will be playing against the Bradley Braves. It is also a White Out, so everyone needs to be donning their favorite white SIU gear. If you don't have any appropriate atire for the event you should stop by Silkworm; we have some of our favorite white apparel from the SIU Alumni Association Online Store for sale in the lobby. If you can't make it in you can always go to the website and have it delivered.

Next week I'm sure will be an exciting one; on Tuesday, January 20th, not only will Barack Obama be sworn into office as our new president, but the Relay For Life of Jackson County/Murphysboro will also be hosting their Kick Off meeting. I always love watching presidential inaugurations, something about the ceremony of it all and knowing that people all over the world are watching the same thing is really neat. Then again, I also really like Relay For Life Kick Off meetings because I get the chance to meet new people who are as eager to get their Relay action going as I am. If you want more information about Relay, or if you want to get your team registered, you should come to the meeting. The doors open at 5:30pm at the 17th Street Warehouse, and the meeting will start at 6.

I hope everyone has a great week,

Sezmore