The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Middle Of Nowhere

by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor and Publisher

16 May 2001

Do you ever feel like you are living out in the middle of nowhere?

I had to smile as I noticed on my desk the third edition of the Union High School school newspaper.

The Journalism students of Mrs. Ross's class, chose the name "Middle Of Nowhere" out of several submissions from their school body.

You have to wonder why they chose that name for their school paper. Is it a feeling they get because their school is located in the country, rather than inside a town?

Or maybe they feel Henderson County is in the "middle of nowhere" in particular.

It is hard to describe just where we are located when someone asks. I usually tell out-of-state strangers that we are located half way between Chicago and St. Louis Missouri, right on the Mississippi River, and they get the idea.

I don't know why the students chose the name, and I may never know.

One thing for sure, it does make you think. It even makes you ask yourself how you feel about living here.

To me, we are really in the Middle of Everywhere and among great people. All roads lead to some interesting places. I challenge you to tour Illinois and find out.

My Corporate Attorney of Peoria, William Rutherford who is founder of Wild Life Prairie Park near Farmington, told me that our area in Illinois will be the most popular place in the United States someday.

Rutherford, a past head of the Illinois Dept. of State Conservation, said Illinois holds beautiful green lands, rolling hills and meadows. It also enjoys wildlife, the four seasons, and, excluding Chicago, is a rather conservative state.

You will find places to fish, hunt, and camp and you will see that most Illinois residents are concerned about taking care of the environment in order to pass on a better place to the next generation.

There are always the exceptions, and if you live next door to one, life may not be as pleasant. You only have to attend a local village board meeting to find out there are neighbors who are uncaring about their property or uncaring about upsetting their neighbors with their howling dogs or some other reason.

Although being in the middle of things, may be confining, being in the "middle of nowhere" sounds lonely to me.

It's like being someplace where no one cares.

In reading the Union School Board meeting reports, Superintendent, and Principal reports, this can't be the case at UHS, because it sounds like there's a lot of caring people there.

The Middle Of Nowhere must be named for some other reason, and I hope I receive a Letter To The Editor that helps solve this mystery.