Under Rocks

Thanks to a small town in northern Illinois, Groundhog Day is bigger than one chubby rodent and its shadow dropping a dubious weather forecast. In Woodstock, the groundhog takes a backseat to the real cause for celebration: the 1993 Bill Murray movie that was filmed there. The Under Rocks team visited the famed town square with the head of the annual festival (and Groundhog Day movie extra!) Rick Bellairs.

Craft distilleries are the new craft breweries: There’s a growing number of these small operations in northern Illinois, offering their own take on the art of whiskey-making. And to wrap up another year of the Under Rocks podcast, our team heads out in search of some holiday spirit at Whiskey Acres in DeKalb.

We say goodbye to a field campus that meant a lot to northern Illinoisans during its decades of serving students interested in the environment and the arts. And we revisit a deep dive we took into one of the works of art that made the Lorado Taft campus so special.

There's a big sprawling graveyard in northern Illinois where the people of Belvidere have been laid to rest for nearly 200 years. In the heart of the Belvidere Cemetery is a tiny community space with a big history: Pettit Chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Under Rocks team met with Sam Larson there to learn more about the history of the sacred space and the role of a sexton.

As this year’s season winds down, some unhappy White Sox fans turn to another era for their baseball fix. The Under Rocks team heads to Creston, IL for a vintage baseball match.

In 1939, a group of refugees tried to dock in the U.S. Frankie DiCiaccio asks people to turn their eyes toward a new human disaster in the mking,

What do you get when you combine dragons, boats, a touch of “oh my!” and 22 dedicated athletes? The coolest sport you’ve never heard of! Dragon boating has roots in ancient China and branches all over the world…including a lake near you. The Under Rocks crew dons life vests and heads to Shabbona Lake for their latest adventure.

Fun-starved explorers find gold (and prizes!) along the Rockford Adventure Trail. Join us for what could be the most ambitious Under Rocks ever!

Lustron Houses. They're in your neighborhood. You just have to look for these mid-century metal marvels. You Under Rocks team heads to Mt. Morris to check out a cluster of Lustrons.

We go at it hammer and tongs during a visit to the Phineas Vaughan Blacksmith Shop at the Glidden Homestead in DeKalb. Will Dan be able to upset the steel in time to open his beer before it gets warm? Or does he have too many irons in the fire?