Ninety-nine degrees just now and it feels like 109. Christmas is just 4 short months away. Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort opened today in our neck of the woods. We live just around the corner…as they say in Little Egypt. The opening of the Casino is something that we have been anticipating for months and years. Finally, something of substance has come to Southern Illinois. The promise and reality of economic growth for our Garden of Eden in Illinois is vibrant. Cynde Bunch and her late husband David have been a blessing to Southern Illinois.

Southern Illinois is the most lovely and scenic part of Illinois. Many who move here never leave. I have often said that it is a wonderful place to live but a difficult place to make a living. The region cries out for tourism. Many of the students at Southern Illinois University are from Chicago. Giant City State Park is just a few miles from my home. It is a beautiful display of sandstone and woods and a Lodge that is unparalleled in our state. The people of Southern Illinois are good hard-working and kind. All we need is someone to believe in us!

So…it is Christmas not in July…but in August! The early Christmas gift of Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort will bring a spring of new opportunities…