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Odds and ends

Go you Southwestern: Congratulations to the girls softball team at my alma mater, Southwestern High School in Piasa, Ill. The Piasa Birds (27-2) defeated Carterville 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the Illinois High School Association Class A Girls Softball State Tournament. They'll play Casey at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the semifinals at EastSide Centre in East Peoria for a shot of reaching the state finals Saturday night. The Piasa Birds finished second at state in 2003.

Shrine Circus Parade: No place loves a parade more than Belleville, Ill. Even though the annual Shrine Circus Parade doesn't kick off until 7:30 p.m., people were on the streets before noon setting up their lawnchairs along West Main Street so they would have a front-row seat for the event. The parade is one of the big social events of the year in Belleville.

Bicycle agenda: It's bright and early for me Sunday morning. The Gateway Council of Hostelling International puts on its Natalie A. Kekeisen Flat-as-a-Pancake century ride on Sunday in New Baden, Ill. Co-ride coordinator Billie Teneau helped me out for Tour de Stooges, so it's time for me to return the favor by helping her with parking at the century. I know I'm not ready for a full century or even a metric century, so I probably will ride a bit up there, then go down to the Belleville Area Bicycling and Eating Society's ice cream ride at Eckert's Orchards in Belleville.

On Wednesday, I'm going to help the Haven House set up a major fundraising ride it is planning in May 2007. Haven House wants to put together a two-day ride in the Ste. Genevieve-Farmington, Mo., area, and I'm going to offer some assistance in the organization's hope to put together a first-class ride. The following Wednesday, I will be assisting the Coal Country Chamber of Commerce it setting up its first Tour de Coal in September in Benld. Ill.

Then on June 11, I probably will go up to Brighton, Ill., my hometown for the Bicycle Fun Club's As the Crow Flies Bicycle Ride. I normally don't go to the Bicycle Fun Club rides on Sunday morning because it's difficult for me to get up early enough after working Saturday night to be fresh for those rides. But this will be an exception because it will give me an excuse to go see my mom!

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