John Groh, president and CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, joins Steve Summers on This Week in the Stateline to talk about the ways the city is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the debut of "A League of Their Own" and the new Amazon Prime series.

You can get free tickets to an early showing of the new series, which will play at 8 p.m Saturday, July 2 at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. The screening is preceded by a street fair starting at 6 p.m.

Groh said about 300 tickets were reserved in a two-hour span Wednesday after the tickets became available at 3 p.m.

"I think Rockford is going to be put in a really good light," Groh told Summers. "I just think it's so cool that we get to have this premier before anybody else in the country."

Listen to the whole episode below.

 

[caption id="attachment_176952" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Mayor Tom McNamara speaks at a news conference Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, at the Winnebago County Health Department in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)[/caption]

Mayor Tom McNamara joins Steve Summers on This Week in the Stateline to break down the latest surge in coronavirus cases and talk about Monday's busy City Council meeting.

Listen to the full interview below.

 
...

John Groh of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau discusses their Diversity Initiatives announced in honor of Black History Month, and how the agency will better serve all of its residents. John also outlines the steps the RACVB will be taking once the Hard Rock Casino is built, and how the agency is planning ahead in 2021. He recaps the Stroll on State Experience with a tease of new community events and other plans in the months ahead.

Runtime: 9 Minutes.

 
...

Christopher Engler, English teacher at Harlem High School, discusses how his drama students used the pandemic as an opportunity to adapt their stage version of “Little Women” into a movie. The drama students produced the film with the help of Tinker Swiss Cottage, Midway Village and Rock Valley College.

The 44 minute film will be available on-demand via Vimeo starting February 26. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Harlem performing arts programs.

Runtime: 10  minutes

 
...