New Winery Opens in Union County

The Southern Illinoisan today has the story on the new Lincoln Heritage Winery in Union County operated by Homer and Bonnie Cissell. The winery opened last week on Oct. 15.

In planning and designing their winery, the Cissell's said they wanted an atmosphere that reflected their personalities.

"We don't want a frenetic or party-like atmosphere," Bonnie said. "The great thing about the wine trail is every winery has its own personality."

"So if you want that party atmosphere, you've got a couple places you can go, and if that's not for you, you can come here," she added. "We wanted it to reflect what we enjoy when we go places."

Homer said it's important for each winery to have its own persona, both in its atmosphere and in its wines offered.

The winery is located at 772 Kaolin Road outside Cobden. They're open noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and from noon to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

You can find them on Facebook and it appears that they're still working on their website, which will be at www.LincolnHeritageWinery.com when it's up and running.

Bald Knob Cross Meeting Set for Tuesday

A public meeting is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow (April 15) in Alto Pass where an engineer from E.T. Simonds Co. will release a report on the structural integrity of the interior of Bald Knob Cross.

The report will be made during the regular monthly meeting of the Friends of the Cross group.

Last month the Southern Illinoisan quoted the group's president, Bill Vandergraph, passing along the initial reaction of the engineer.

"He says it's considerably worse that what most people say," Vandergraph said, adding that cost estimates and specifics had not yet been given.

The Alto Pass Civic Center is located at 19 Elm Street in Alto Pass.

New Owners Serve Up Lick Creek General Store

This week's Carbondale Times has a nice story on the old Lick Creek General Store off of Interstate 57 at Exit 36, 18 miles south of Marion in northeastern Union County.

The store had been transformed into a unique restaurant some years ago, but had closed. Carbondale Councilman Lance Jack and Emily Taylor reopened the restaurant earlier this spring, but have held off on their grand opening until today for their Labor Day Party.

"Up until now we have been relying on word of mouth and calls from the past," Jack said. "We have done no advertising whatsoever until this past week. We have been passing out fliers. We were working on a soft opening to make sure that we had all of our ducks in a row. Emily and I have known each other for years now but we want to make sure we could work together.

"We have come to the conclusion that we can work together without killing each other," he joked. "She likes to call me the best husband she's never had."

The restaurant is known for its unique nine course meals.

For more information contact them at 618-833-6360. They are located 1/8th of a mile east of the interstate on Lick Creek Road.