Riverbender 🕸

URBANA, Ill. - Most deciduous trees are best pruned while they are in full dormancy. This happens to be February or March for this part of the country. While many of our landscape trees don’t necessarily need yearly pruning, the same can’t be said for fruit trees, especially if you want your trees to consistently bear fruit. If fruit trees are left to their own devices, they can quickly get too tall to easily harvest fruit at the tops of trees. Fruit trees are pruned for several reasons. First, to open the canopy so that all branches receive sunlight. The more sunlight a branch gets, the better its fruit production will be. Second, to help manage diseases and make pesticide applications easier. Opening the canopy to sunlight and air allows the canopy to dry out faster, helping to reduce disease problems. Finally, pruning keeps trees short so that fruit can be reached. Most people, especially when they first start, are intimidated by pruning fruit trees and end up pruning

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ALTON - The Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois, Alton YWCA, Milton Schoolhouse Gardens, and Hampton Gardens are hosting two Seed Swaps this winter to provide community members with a sociable space to swap and share quality seeds, cuttings, and bulbs. Join fellow farmers and gardeners in celebration of the end of winter and the start of the spring gardening season at this community event, which is free and open to all. The first seed swap will be held at the Milton Schoolhouse in Alton on Saturday, February 25 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. To register for the Seed Swap at the Milton Schoolhouse, visit fb.me/e/2MKVkc9Tg . The second seed swap will be held at the Alton YWCA on Saturday, March 4 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. To register for the Seed Swap at the Alton YWCA, visit fb.me/e/3hA11PCtB . If you are sharing self-collected seeds, please label the homegrown seeds with the common or species name, year, and your name. If you are sharing commercial seed packets, there is no need to labe

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Couples names: Susan HaugKinder and Elden Kinder City: Golden Eagle Date met or started dating: June 10, 1972 Date married: January 16, 2010 What makes your relationship special? We dated in 1972 before Elden joined the marines. My dad didn't want his 16 year old dating a 20 year old Marine so he chased him away. We met up again in September 2004 and have been together every since. We married in 2010. His 3rd marriage and my 1st. Share a memory you have made together: Rehabbing my 1925 kit home.

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Couples names: Dustyn Alexander & Emma Boyer City: Alton Date met or started dating: November 30, 2018 What makes your relationship special? We've been together for almost five years, and before that we were good friends since middle school. We have always been there for one-another, and although many people may consider our relationship a bit unorthodox, we are as happy as can be and proud of it. Share a memory you have made together: Our favorite memory so far was buying our first house together. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to buy our first house at just 22 years old, but thanks to the help and support of friends and family, we made it happen.

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Couples names: Juliana Weiner & Jonathan Siddell City: Jerseyville and Carlyle Date met or started dating: March 31, 2022 What makes your relationship special? What makes our relationship special? Well, let me tell ya. We both have kind souls and will do anything for one another, no matter the cost. Share a memory you have made together: We have made so many memories together, it’s hard to choose! Jonathan and I love going on adventures together. Our recent big trip was to Montana. We went to a musical festival there called Under the Big Sky! Got to see amazing artists and stayed in a beautiful lake house! The drive back from Montana was a beautiful experience with him. We have many more adventures ahead of us and I can’t wait!

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Couples names: Scott & Stacey Willis City: Carrollton Date met or started dating: March 18, 2018 Date married: June 18, 2022 What makes your relationship special? There's never a dull moment around each other. We are always up to something to either prank or tease the other. Share a memory you have made together: Going to Lake of the Ozarks for my birthday the July after we started dating. Taking a dinner cruise around the lake. We try going somewhere every year.

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Couples names: Angie Hillman & Matt Knight City: Alton Date met or started dating: June 11, 2022 What makes your relationship special? Although we’ve been dating a short time we are truly each others person. Dating after 40 is hard and never did I think I’d find the one in Alton Illinois. I moved here the year before we met and had given up on dating during that year. We connected on a Facebook dating shortly after I decided to give dating one last try. Our first “date” we spent 8 hours pressure washing my fence to prep it for painting and our second “date” he painted it! It took a few more dates for him to grow on me but when I met his friends and saw how kind he is and unapologeticley himself he is I was smitten! Less than a week ago he had a heart attack. Seeing him go through that and the recovery has made me love and cherish him even more! Share a memory you have made together: We’ve had many days on the river since meeting

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GOBBLERS KNOB, Penn. - Bethalto’s Steve Lowrance checked off a big bucket list item recently when he visited Punxsutawney, Penn., for the annual Groundhog Day Celebration. He said quite frankly when he returned that this was fulfilling a notch on his bucket list. “I went with my wife, Patti, my daughter and son-in-law, and my two grandkids,” he said. “They paid for my trip, which was present at Christmas time.” Steve Lowrance loves the movie “Groundhog Day” starring actor Bill Murray and even watched the movie a few times while he was at the festival. Steve only lived the experience one time, while Murray's character relived the festivities over and over again in the movie. Steve said it was wonderful to have his two grandkids there to enjoy this special moment with him. Reflecting on the Groundhog Day movie, he said in the beginning the Bill Murray character was not a very nice person. “He finally got a heart and he also found true

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Couples names: Alex & Abbie City: Bethalto Date met or started dating: September 1, 2007 What makes your relationship special? We had fifteen years of close friendship before falling in love in early 2022! There was no "new relationship learning curve" because we had almost our entire lives of learning about each other and growing both seperately and together before our timing was perfect, and the last few pieces fell into place for us to spend our forever together! Share a memory you have made together: Too many to choose! Abbie- "My personal favorite is the collective of all the nights spent stargazing for hours, only to feel myself slowly falling for my best friend, my favorite person--the memory still gives me butterflies!" Alex- "We've been there with each other for so many ups and downs throughout our entire platonic and romantic relationship, and all of my favorite memories are with her."

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Couples names: Ed & Lana Johnson City: Brighton Date met or started dating: August 11, 1971 Date married: February 23, 1973 What makes your relationship special? We both been so good to each other & we both provided for each other even in hard times. Sharing a love & a life God wants us to have. With doing that we have a beautiful family together! Also having the cutest puppy dog “Patty B”! Share a memory you have made together: A memory we share together, is we renewed our vowels 3 different times!

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Couples names: Stephen & Mariah Cope City: South Roxana Date met or started dating: September 30, 2018 Date married: February 18, 2022 What makes your relationship special? No matter what we go through, we are always there for each other at the end of the day. He is my rock and my best friend. Share a memory you have made together: Adding to our family and getting married in 2022 are my 2 favorite memories so far!

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Couples names: Nate & Kari Alderfer City: Greenfield Date met or started dating: August 1, 2014 Date married: September 26, 2015 What makes your relationship special? She is a great mother to our children and I could not be more blessed. Share a memory you have made together: We took our kids on a side by side trip to the creek and the kids saw a snake and would not get back in the water.

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Couples names: Anna & Trent City: Godfrey Date met or started dating: March 7, 2022 What makes your relationship special? I mean i don’t really know what would make our relationship special to anyone other then us. We are each other homes. Share a memory you have made together: We like to take my niece on dates and last week we took her to an arcade and she’s autistic and she really wanted a bear from this claw machine and she couldn’t grasp that we couldn’t get it so he sat there trying for about 20 mins and used about $40 just to get this bear for her it made her whole day and mine to see her hood it and laugh and smile and right after that we took her to McDonald’s ofc and she was scared to Go up in it alone but she really wanted to Go Down the slide but she was also scared so trent he’s a 6’4 man he got up in the play place and he went up the stairs and down the slide with her it was the best thing ever and the pure joy

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Couples names: Summer & Tyler City: Alton Date met or started dating: November 19, 2014 Date married: April 12, 2019 What makes your relationship special? As high school sweethearts, we got to experience many firsts and milestones together. We both grew together from a couple of teenagers, to adults with a 2 year old. We’re happily married and still haven’t left the “puppy love” stage. Share a memory you have made together: There are a lot of memories we’ve had together, but the one I remember most vividly is in 2015 we were watching James and the Giant Peach talking about our future and hoping we could make our future come true. Here we are 8 years later with everything and more!!

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BELLEVILLE - Edwardsville junior forward Malik Allen had a big game for the Tigers against East St. Louis on Feb. 10, leading all scorers with 19 points in Edwardsville's 57-38 loss to the Flyers at Lynx Arena at the Lindenwood University-Belleville campus. Allen, who is currently averaging 13.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, going along with 33 assists, 14 steals and a blocked shot, is starting to emerge as one of the key players in the Tigers' rotation as the regular season winds down and the IHSA Class 4A playoffs loom. Although East Side took control of the game in the third quarter, the Tigers kept plugging away and both played and worked hard throughout the game. "I thought we played hard, played to the capabilities that we could," Allen said about the East St. Louis game. "We're going to keep building, keep working, going to stay in the gym. The first half showed what we can do if we keep our energy up and everything. We kind of just let it get away, got a little tired, and

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Couples names: Chrissy & David City: Bethalto Date met or started dating: August 10, 1996 Date married: August 10, 1997 What makes your relationship special? We known each other our whole life. Share a memory you have made together: Back in 2020 he was a big part of saving my life along with our two children … I had a heart attack and a stroke and they saved my life.

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Couples names: Skylar & Nick City: Alton Date met or started dating: September 10, 2018 What makes your relationship special? I think what makes our relationship so special is that we are each others relief. We are always able to make each other feel better or laugh no matter the situation. Having met each other in 2018, there've been many memories we've gotten to make and milestones we hit together since then. We have been best friends from the start and that helped further build our bond over time. Share a memory you have made together: My favorite memory we have together is definitely seeing our baby on the ultrasound. Seeing the baby move and hearing the heartbeat was so special and was something we will both remember forever.

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Couples names: John & Brittany City: Bethalto Date met or started dating: September 3, 2022 What makes your relationship special? The love we have for one another after what we’ve been through is nothing short of amazing we both met at a Rough point in our lives and we’ve came together and flourished in such a short amount of time she’s my bestfriend honestly. Share a memory you have made together: Lots actually but probably going to the brewery lights for the first time ever that was pretty cool to experience that with her.

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Couples names: Aiden & Melody City: Wood River Date met or started dating: October 25, 2021 What makes your relationship special? I believe what makes our relationship so special is being best friends since 2nd grade and treating each other like we’re still best friends. Share a memory you have made together: Getting engaged in August.

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Couples names: Robyn & Jeremy City: Alton Date met or started dating: June 29, 2011 Date married: July 25, 2015 What makes your relationship special? We actually dated when we were teenagers and then were reunited 20 years later. Jeremy sent a random text one night to say that he had feelings for me and that was that! Share a memory you have made together: Jeremy and I have made many wonderful memories together. I think that the one that stands out most, and the moment that I knew I would spend y life with him, was when my oldest daughter hurt her head on the corner of a stone wall at Riverview Park during a Muny Band concert. She was sobbing and bleeding everywhere and he was so calm. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt and actually ripped his sleeve off to stop the bleeding. He joked with her to calm her down. It was one of the many times he has shown absolute kindness.

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