Events Calendar

Interested in learning chess or brushing up on your skills? Join for this drop-in chess club in the Create Space. No registration required; all skills levels welcome!

Celebrate the harvest season with us at the Western Illinois Museum (WiM) during Downtown Macomb's Moon Over Macomb festivities! On Saturday, October 17th, from 10:00 am to noon, drop in to learn how to make corn husk dolls, view artifacts from WiM's collection, and taste historic culinary traditions. 

Throughout the event, guests can explore harvest traditions at interactive stations illustrating food preparation and preservation for the winter months. Victorian ladies Mrs. Bath and Mrs. Chu will demonstrate time-honored techniques for making homemade apple butter. At the same time, volunteer Dona Lantz will host a peach jam station with canning tips and samples. Guests can learn about harvesting grains, including corn shelling and an 1873 reaper once used to harvest wheat for bread, and taste fresh-baked bread generously donated by our local bread-baking expert, Aly Sturgis, owner of Sullivan Taylor Coffee House. Come taste seasonal treats and experience harvest traditions that bring history to life! 

This family-friendly event is free and open to the public, making it the perfect way to embrace the fall spirit with friends and family.

Get ready for a Halloween adventure the whole family will love! Join us Saturday, October 17th from 11:30 AM–1:30 PM at Community Field for our first-ever SPOOKY CRAWL - a family-friendly Halloween obstacle course packed with games, challenges, crafts, characters and plenty of spooky fun!
Grab your little ghosts, goblins, witches and monsters and make your way around the ballpark as you tackle more than 20 spooky stations!
SPOOKY CRAWL ACTIVITIES:
Pumpkin Roll
Zombie Zone
Vampire Baseball
Bullpen Graveyard
Spiderweb Challenge
Boneyard Obstacle Course
Witch’s Cauldron
Zombie Crawl
Tires of Terror
Haunted Clubhouse
Bat Cave Bounce House
Build-A-Monster station
Spooky Photo Booth
Monster Makeover Station
Mad Scientist Lab
Candy Corn Toss
Creepy Crawly Dig
Spooky Shorts
Costume Contest (and prizes)
Sidewalk Chalk Station
Monster Mash Dance Party
Storybook Characters with the Burlington Optimists

SPOOKY CONCESSIONS will also be available with Halloween-themed treats and goodies! PLUS Spooky Sundaes from Mississippi Moon Ice Cream Parlor!
Whether you're brave enough to explore the Haunted Clubhouse, want to dig for creepy crawlies, test your baseball skills against the vampires or just want to dance — there's something for every little goblin!
COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED!
Bring the whole family and spend your Saturday morning crawling, creeping, creating and celebrating Halloween at Community Field!
Family-Friendly Halloween Fun.
Entry Fee w/T-shirt + goodie bag: $7 per person.
Pre-register by Monday, Oct. 5th!
Come get your SPOOKY on!
Contact us: Email Jessica at jessica@gobees.com

The Shadrach Bond Chapter of The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution has recently completed a history and lineage of nine soldiers that connect with present descendants in Hancock County. Il. Names such as Ferris, Johnston, Mack, Dallas, Hunt, Marsh, McReynolds, Williams, Wilson, Gay, Yaw, Hammond, Albers, Harding, White, Worth (Bettisworth), Wedding, Stuckwisch, Murphy, Long, Squier, Faul, Phillips, Clark, Cheney, Wolfe, Ramsey, McClain, Crain, McCubbin, Riggins, Smith, Mosley, Moore, Junk, Bliss, Perkins, Lamphere, Works, Mumford, Rose and many others. The program will be presented by Joyce Buckert and other members of the chapter. Come learn about the soldiers who are buried in the county and a little about their services and their families. As written by Warren Van Dine in the History of Hancock County, Illinois, 1968, “they risked life and property, facing British guns on historic fields of that conflict, to hand down to us our heritage of the American way of life. God grant we may never forget these gallant men and their sacrifices. To recall their breath-taking brushes with death in battle and the hunger and cold they endured year-after-year in army camps bring tears to one’s eye every time these are recounted.” A book will be available for purchase in time for a Christmas present. You may find your family is connected to one of the soldiers.

Registration is now open for the 19th annual Town and Gown celebration. Town and Gown 2026 will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. This signature event brings together the WIU and Macomb communities to celebrate the partnerships and will be held at Park Place, 127 E. Carroll St. in Macomb.

A brief program will begin at 6:15 p.m., featuring remarks by WIU President Kristi Mindrup and Macomb Mayor Mike Inman. Following their remarks, the 2026 Town & Gown and Honorary Alumni awards will be presented.

The Honorary Alumni Award is presented annually to an individual who is not a WIU graduate but has provided exceptional service to the WIU community. The Town & Gown Award is presented annually to an individual who has provided exceptional service in bringing WIU and the Macomb communities together.

$5 per lesson or $15 bundle 

Join us for a guided, 4-part book discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Robin Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her book explores reciprocal relationships between humans and the land. Robin weaves storytelling and environmental knowledge throughout this poetic read. We will discuss lessons from the book as well as expand on scientific concepts such as prairies. There will be assigned reading sections for each meeting. You are invited to attend all or just a few lessons.

​Register and pay below:

Culver-Stockton College will host its annual John A. Sperry, Jr., Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in Meaders Lounge located in the Gladys Crown Center on C-SC’s campus. The lecture is open and free to the public.

Presented by Dr. Scott Giltner, Sperry Chair in Humanities, the presentation, "Family, Freedom, and Flowers: Former Slave Sam Green’s Six Decades at the Foot of the College Hill," focuses on the life and enduring impact of Sam Green.

Dr. Sperry was the first recipient of the Fred Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1980 and was recognized at the College’s 129th Founders Day Convocation. A World War II veteran and lifelong learner, he is remembered for his dedication to the humanities and his enduring impact on the academic community.

Return to Macomb, IL, to Celebrate the Annual WIU Homecoming

Friday October 23rd:
- Spencer Student Recreation Center - open 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. ($7 day pass)
- Reunion check-in starts; it continues throughout the weekend. Registration will take place at the Alumni House.
- 2 p.m. - Campus Tour starting at Admissions Office in Sherman Hall
- 5-9 p.m. All-Alumni Social, Alumni House (Complimentary food, beer, wine, and soda; cash bar available)

Come dressed in your costumes for trick-or-treating around the square, and end your walk through Pattee Plaza for a Halloween Story Walk.

It's Warren County Public Library's Annual Halloween Storytime and Trick-or-Treat event celebrating fun, fall, and the community we serve.

This is a FREE event open to the PUBLIC.

Return to Macomb, IL, to Celebrate the Annual WIU Homecoming

Saturday October 24th:
- Spencer Student Recreation Center - open 6 a.m. - 8 p.m. ($7 day pass)
- 8:30 a.m. Reunion Recognition Brunch & Social, Alumni House
- 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. - University Bookstore will be open
- 9:30 a.m. All-Alumni Breakfast, Alumni House (Complimentary coffee and donuts)
- 10:30 a.m. Homecoming Parade - Watch from the Alumni House & Gwendolyn Brooks Memorial Park next door
- Noon-3 p.m. Alumni Cookout at "The Right Place" tent - in Q LOT (Menu: Hot dogs and hamburgers, veggie burgers, potato chips, bottled water, canned soda and coffee.) A cash bar will be available (pay with cash or credit).
- 3 p.m. Leathernecks Football Game vs. TBA - Hanson Field
Tickets will not be mailed. The Homecoming football ticket sales are final. Therefore, all tickets purchased through the WIU Alumni Association are non-refundable.