Surprises!

It's nearly 9pm on Saturday night and I am here, at WILL, listening to your stories about your town, the ones you told us on September 28th, 2013.  I'm creating the scripts for our editors -- Henry, Geo and Jeff -- from the footage you videotaped, the photos you gathered and the interviews we conducted with 22 of you at the high school.  

I’m learning a lot from you. I don’t mind being here.  It’s fun to hear your passion, to listen to your stories, and to decide what to keep and what to leave out to craft a good story.

The script is created from a simple formula:  we start with you telling us your name and the story you selected and we end with your reasons for living in, staying in or returning to Monticello. Everything in the middle is about something you told us was unique or special about your town.

I don’t want to give too much away, so here are just a few of the things I’ve learned from you that pleasantly surprised me: 

• Hope Wolfe of Wolfe Orchard grows and sells heirloom apples and some of those apples date back to Roman times. 
• According to Kathleen Piatt, whose story is about local history, Clarinda Marquiss (pictured above), an early resident of Monticello, rode on horseback at age 17 from Monticello to the Vermilion County Courthouse to lay claim to some land.
• The woodlands at Allerton Park have been run as an open park free to the public since 1946!
• Faith in Action volunteers construct wheelchair ramps for people who need them. So far, 55 people have needed them this year.

There’s tons more to share but I’m going to keep most of it as a surprise and instead encourage you to watch “We Are Monticello” at 7pm on Thursday, December 5th.  Tune in to see what your friends and neighbors told us about Monticello!