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Our Monthly Meeting PlaceBlackhawk holds regular meetings every month (except July and August) at 7:30 PM on the first Friday of the month at the Gladys Fox Museum (also known as the “Old Congregational Church.”) The museum is at 231 East 9th Street, on the southwest corner of 9th Street (Illinois Route 7) and Washington Street in the historic downtown district of Lockport, Illinois. Doors open at 7 PM and there is FREE parking on Washington Street. If there is no wake scheduled, parking is also available in the lot of the adjacent Goodale Memorial Chapel.
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Getting There by Rail
Lockport is served by Metra's Heritage Corridor between Joliet and Chicago. The town's original 1860-era limestone depot, on 13th Street just west of State Street, still serves passengers. However, service on this former Alton/GM&O/ICG line is a limited rush-hour only on weekdays -- three trains to Chicago in the morning, one train from Chicago in the afternoon, two trains from Chicago in the evening.
Five miles south of Lockport, Joliet Gateway Center has frequent service from Metra's Rock Island District and Amtrak's Chicago-St. Louis trains. Pace Route 832 stops near both the Joliet Gateway Center and the Gladys Fox Museum, but stops running early in the evening. Taxi or ride-sharing services may be available. The last Chicago-bound Metra train from Joliet departs at 10:24 PM, while the last Chicago-bound Amtrak train departs at 10:02 PM.
Getting There by Bus
Pace Route 832 between downtown Joliet and Orland Park has a stop at the front door of the Gladys Fox Museum. Pace Route 834 goes through Lockport on its route from Downers Grove (where it connects with Metra's BNSF line) to Joliet (where it stops near Joliet Gateway Center.) Consult their website for exact route and hours of operation.
Getting There by Auto
Lockport is served by Metra's Heritage Corridor between Joliet and Chicago. The town's original 1860-era limestone depot, on 13th Street just west of State Street, still serves passengers. However, service on this former Alton/GM&O/ICG line is a limited rush-hour only on weekdays -- three trains to Chicago in the morning, one train from Chicago in the afternoon, two trains from Chicago in the evening.
Five miles south of Lockport, Joliet Gateway Center has frequent service from Metra's Rock Island District and Amtrak's Chicago-St. Louis trains. Pace Route 832 stops near both the Joliet Gateway Center and the Gladys Fox Museum, but stops running early in the evening. Taxi or ride-sharing services may be available. The last Chicago-bound Metra train from Joliet departs at 10:24 PM, while the last Chicago-bound Amtrak train departs at 10:02 PM.
Getting There by Bus
Pace Route 832 between downtown Joliet and Orland Park has a stop at the front door of the Gladys Fox Museum. Pace Route 834 goes through Lockport on its route from Downers Grove (where it connects with Metra's BNSF line) to Joliet (where it stops near Joliet Gateway Center.) Consult their website for exact route and hours of operation.
Getting There by Auto
- From the North: Take I-355 to Illinois Route 7 and head west into Lockport. Stay on 159th Street (Illinois Route 7) as it turns into 9th Street. The Gladys Fox Museum is right at the corner of 9th Street and Washington Street.
- From the East or West: Take I-80 to I-355 and head north to the exit for Illinois Route 7. After exiting I-355, head west into Lockport. Stay on 159th Street (Illinois Route 7) as it turns into 9th Street. The Gladys Fox Museum is right at the corner of 9th Street and Washington Street.
- From the South: Take I-57 or I-55 north to I-80. Take I-80 to I-355 and head north to the exit for Illinois Route 7. After exiting I-355, head west into Lockport. Stay on 159th Street (Illinois Route 7) as it turns into 9th Street. The Gladys Fox Museum is right at the corner of 9th Street and Washington Street
Do you have a presentation you would like to share with us?
| blackhawk_presentations_how_to_guide.pdf |
How long should a program be?
60 to 90 minutes in length. There is a break at midpoint during the evening for a 20 minute raffle. This raffle helps defray the cost of renting the meeting facility.
Will I be compensated for my presentation?
No, the Blackhawk Chapter does not provide monetary compensation to presenters nor any reimbursement for expenses incurred. We will provide a one-year complimentary Chapter membership to non-members. A meal at a local restaurant may be provided to presenters who travel longer distances. This is at the discretion of the Chapter. If you are traveling from outside the Chicago area and need lodging information we will gladly assist you if you need it.
What type of presentation equipment is available?
We provide a laptop computer (Windows), a digital projector and a large projection screen. Presenters may bring their own computer, but we normally run programs from flash drives or CDs provided by the presenter. We also have a Kodak 35mm Carousel slide projector available, but presenters should bring their slides in Carousel trays. We will not load slides at the meeting. Speaker audio is provided with by two handheld wireless microphones. A computer remote control with a laser pointer is available.
How should I present my images?
Some types of presentation software, like PowerPoint, are ideal but not necessary. We can run images from your files in File Explorer, but please save all the images you wish to present in one distinct file folder.
What sort of presentations are of interest to our members?
We are a railroad history group. If you have an idea for a presentation regarding some aspect of railroad history, we are interested. We welcome authors, producers and artists promoting their work. You are welcome to offer your work for sale to our members with no charge or fee from the Chapter. We are equally interested in programs about contemporary railroading, including representatives of the industry. We welcome programs from railfan photographers interested in showcasing their work.
What do you do if you’re interested in presenting a program?
E-mail our Program Director with a short explanation of your idea. You can include sample visuals if you wish. We like to include an image in our email flyers for our programs, so sending us something helps.
Time your presentation: Run your show and time it as if you would be giving your presentation. Practice the oral part of your show at the same time. You will probably find that you have more images than the 90 minute maximum allowed presentation time. You either need to reduce your image count or talk less about each image. You certainly don’t want to fly through your presentation, so think about editing down your image count. Pick your best images and don’t over focus on multiple images of the same thing.
Write it down: Improvisation may be great for comedy, but doesn’t work well for novice presenters. Write your dialogue down, your explanation for each image. Practice it without the presentation and see how well it flows, then practice with it. A well-paced presentation will keep the audience’s attention. Your images are only half the show, your dialogue and how you present it is the other half.
60 to 90 minutes in length. There is a break at midpoint during the evening for a 20 minute raffle. This raffle helps defray the cost of renting the meeting facility.
Will I be compensated for my presentation?
No, the Blackhawk Chapter does not provide monetary compensation to presenters nor any reimbursement for expenses incurred. We will provide a one-year complimentary Chapter membership to non-members. A meal at a local restaurant may be provided to presenters who travel longer distances. This is at the discretion of the Chapter. If you are traveling from outside the Chicago area and need lodging information we will gladly assist you if you need it.
What type of presentation equipment is available?
We provide a laptop computer (Windows), a digital projector and a large projection screen. Presenters may bring their own computer, but we normally run programs from flash drives or CDs provided by the presenter. We also have a Kodak 35mm Carousel slide projector available, but presenters should bring their slides in Carousel trays. We will not load slides at the meeting. Speaker audio is provided with by two handheld wireless microphones. A computer remote control with a laser pointer is available.
How should I present my images?
Some types of presentation software, like PowerPoint, are ideal but not necessary. We can run images from your files in File Explorer, but please save all the images you wish to present in one distinct file folder.
What sort of presentations are of interest to our members?
We are a railroad history group. If you have an idea for a presentation regarding some aspect of railroad history, we are interested. We welcome authors, producers and artists promoting their work. You are welcome to offer your work for sale to our members with no charge or fee from the Chapter. We are equally interested in programs about contemporary railroading, including representatives of the industry. We welcome programs from railfan photographers interested in showcasing their work.
What do you do if you’re interested in presenting a program?
E-mail our Program Director with a short explanation of your idea. You can include sample visuals if you wish. We like to include an image in our email flyers for our programs, so sending us something helps.
Time your presentation: Run your show and time it as if you would be giving your presentation. Practice the oral part of your show at the same time. You will probably find that you have more images than the 90 minute maximum allowed presentation time. You either need to reduce your image count or talk less about each image. You certainly don’t want to fly through your presentation, so think about editing down your image count. Pick your best images and don’t over focus on multiple images of the same thing.
Write it down: Improvisation may be great for comedy, but doesn’t work well for novice presenters. Write your dialogue down, your explanation for each image. Practice it without the presentation and see how well it flows, then practice with it. A well-paced presentation will keep the audience’s attention. Your images are only half the show, your dialogue and how you present it is the other half.