Freeport-Standard Picks Me Up

Another shout out - this time to Illinois, and reporter Jane Lethlean -

Read entire article HERE.

Crossing the big steel bridge over the Illinois River, Judy Steffes of West Bend, Wis. said she wondered what it would be like to be a Green Bay Packer fan in Chicago Bear country.

She did not need to worry. The rural people of this state were just as nice and accommodating to her as the Texans were on May 18, when she embarked on a cross-country bicycle ride to create awareness of the exercise that comes with riding a bicycle.

Steffes made a stop in Freeport on Monday. Her first stop was at Cub Foods. She was looking for places to see in the “City of Lincoln.” Someone suggested she visit the Stephenson County Historical Society Museum. She was disappointed to find it closed.

The next stop was Freeport Public Library to use a computer to upload her blog to the newspaper she works at in West Bend, Wis. Her readers depend on her weekly journal of her travels.

With just a couple of hundred miles left in her trip, Steffes said her journey has been one of continued discovery of the niceties of people. Her bicycle is her common denominator to conversation. Strangers approach her to listen to her stories. The bicycle breaks down the barrier.