[caption id="attachment_177656" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Hononegah Forest Preserve is the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County's oldest preseve and one of its most popular. This year the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County celebrates 100 years. (Photo by Samantha Crooks/Forest Preserves of Winnebago County)[/caption]

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County.

Samantha Crooks, communications coordinator for the Forest Preserves, joins Steve Summers on This Week in the Stateline to talk about some of the ways the organization will celebrate its first century. (Listen to the full interview at the bottom of this article.)

She has challenged people to explore all 44 of the forest preserves this year in honor of the 100th anniversary.

The Forest Preserves of Winnebago County were created by a public vote in November 1922. It was the third forest preserve to be created in the state. The preserves now encompasses 11,500 acres of woods, wetlands, rivers, prairies and ponds in Winnebago County.

"We hear a lot of people just thanking us for what we do and they're very thankful to have a place to go to to just unwind and kind of get away from work stress," Crooks said.

[caption id="attachment_177657" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Samantha Crooks is communications coordinator for the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County. (Photo provided by Forest Preserves of Winnebago County)[/caption]

Listen to the full interview below:

 

Stroll on State, Rockford's official kickoff to the holiday season, is about three weeks away.

John Groh, president and CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, joins Steve Summers on This Week in the Stateline to discuss this year's event.

Stroll on State takes place from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25 in downtown Rockford.

Listen below for the full episode:

 
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Tom discusses waiting for election results, how excited he is to work with new Aldermen, Winnebago County Chairman and more. He also discusses the health systems at capacity for COVID cases, the Property Tax Levy and that he is proud of keeping taxes flat, how the coy is helping restaurants in need, and about new exciting initiatives he will be announcing next week to help property values for the city.

Runtime:  8 Minutes

 
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Rockford's Habitat For Humanity Executive Director Keri Asevedo discusses how the pandemic affected their ability to build homes in 2020 and the build schedule for 2021. Keri also highlights how the agency took social injustice to a new level with education, company wide changes, policies and sharing of video content. You'll also learn more about the Re-Store and ways you can volunteer.

Runtime: 10 minutes.

 
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