Photograph of boat and Niagara Falls with red text

Niagara Falls is part of the Niagara River that flows from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. The famous tourist destination is located on the American/Canadian border. Visitors can take a boat tour on the Maid of the Mist (pictured) to get close to the raging falls that guarantee you will get soaked. The Falls are also a powerplant that supports both the American and Canadian surrounding cities. Access to the falls is available from America and Canada with separate entrances and views of the park.

Illustration of eagle descending on rollercoaster in a gold pyramid. Red, blue, white, and pink text on white background.

American Eagle is a wooden roller coaster in Six Flags Great America, formerly Marriott's, in Gurnee, Illinois. Opened to the public in 1981, this racing coaster features two tracks side by side with the two trains leaving at the same time for a racing experience. The maximum drop is 147 feet and the top speed is 66 miles per hour, both of which were records for wooden coasters when it opened, but have since been broken.

The park was originally owned and operated by Marriott at its opening in 1976. In 1984, Six Flags purchased the park for $114 million and with it acquired the rights to use Looney Tunes characters at their other parks.

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The Blue Island Lions Club held a yearly parade on the 4th of July. The theme for this parade was Space: the final frontier. The Lions sold buttons along the parade route to raise funds to continue to put on the 4th of July parades and festivities.

Space: the final frontier, is a phrase made popular by the television and movie series, Star Trek. Space is considered the final frontier because it is massive and it is believed that during the lifetime of humans, we cannot fully explore or catalog all of space. The phrase comes from previous frontiers in history such as the exploration of the continents and the oceans.

The Lion's Club is a secular service club organization, founded in Oak Brook, Illinois, which promotes volunteerism, community involvement, and environmental awareness, amongst other things. 

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Blue Island is a South suburb of Chicago, Illinois, adjacent to the city. The suburb was established in 1835 as a way station for travelers on the Vincennes Trace, a former cross-country trackway that passed through multiple states including Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Blue Island has been a point of entry for immigrants since the 1840s. The city celebrated their 150th birthday in 1985 and were later chosen by the White House as part of the Preserve America communities.

The Lion's Club is a secular service club organization, founded in Oak Brook, Illinois, which promotes volunteerism, community involvement, and environmental awareness, amongst other things. 

Illustration of a horse and horseshoe in center with red text on white background.

Around Kentucky, you can find places to ride horses, visit horse farm tours, or attend a wilderness horse camp in the Lexington area. The equine industry in Kentucky is a major part of the state's agribusiness, including sectors involved in horse breeding and rearing, racing, buying and selling, and tourism. According to a study by the University of Kentucky, the equine industry contributed $3 billion to the state economy in 2012 and generated 40,665 jobs. Kentucky is the United States' leading producer of horses overall, and the number one producer of Thoroughbreds, with 30% of the national foaling total. The famous horse race, Kentucky Derby, is held annually on the first Saturday in May in Louisville.

Horsing around is a common phrase meaning to behave in a silly and noisy way.

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The Northern Illinois Gas Company (Ni-Gas) began the annual ENERCON EXPO in 1974 that gathered “commercial and industrial customers and consultants to demonstrate energy conservation equipment and applications.” Ni-Gas, the founder of the expo, began working toward energy conservation in 1972 and produced conservation handbooks in 1973 to advertise their efforts. In 1975, Ni-Gas began working on a project employing ceiling insulation to enhance heating and cooling efficiency. ENERCON has since become an energy conservation firm partnering with other energy professionals to ensure safe energy development and use.

Photograph of burglar with a sack holding a cigarrette box with red text and black underline above and black text below on a white background.

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The Frankfort Fall Festival was a part of nationwide bicentennial festivals being hosted in 1977 and was put on by the city’s Chamber of Commerce. Thousands of celebrations were hosted in honor of the bicentennial of the establishment of the United States of America as an independent country, and were coordinated and publicized by the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission (ARBC) and the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA). A complete listing of events hosted during the Frankfort Fall Festival was published by Frankfort News including booth locations, event times, hours open, etc. Although the festival was established in honor of the bicentennial, it continues on today and is celebrated each September with parades, booths, and other events.

White text in red image of foot; heel is red text on white background.

A walk-a-thon is a type of community fundraiser. Participants will walk a planned course (half a mile, one mile, a lap around a track, etc.), and each time they pass the start line, money will go to a cause. If you were to walk ten laps around a track and had ten donors who pledged they would pay $10 every time you completed a lap, you would have raised $1,000. There might be volunteers who cross out the number of laps you do on your lap card, fill cups of water for participants to drinks, cheer, and play music during the event. This is meant to be a fun fundraiser that also includes some light exercise. There are many reasons to hold a walk-a-thon; in this case, the cause is for Lutheran education.