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Memorial Day, the 'unofficial start of summer,' will be on Monday, May 25. Memorial Day Weekend is always packed full of activities and events all around the area. Here is our 2015 Memorial Day Weekend activity guide for the Quincy/Hannibal area.

There are a ton of talented local musicians in our area. Some have played for years, others are just starting out. Many of them have their own channels on YouTube, which makes discovering their music about as easy as it gets. Here is a directory of YouTube channels for local musicians that frequently play in and around Quincy and Hannibal.

The annual Gus Macker basketball tournament will take place in Quincy May 24 - 25. Registration is open for teams interested in competing in the tournament, which will be held on the streets around Washington Park.

A fun holiday tradition many families look forward to each year is going out to a farm to choose and cut their own Christmas trees. Most farms that provide choose-and-cut Christmas trees have traditionally offered a hayride, hot chocolate and cookies for their customers, which makes the experience even more special, but it seems like it is getting harder and harder to find these types of places. 

Hot dog! Smokey, a Labrador/Retriever mix based out of Station 2 in Jacksonville, Illinois, has been named winner of the NBC 'Chicago Fire' Top Dog Competition. Smokey will appear on NBC’s 'Chicago Fire' in a cameo role during an upcoming episode later this season. More than 100 firehouse dogs nationwide entered the contest. Smokey will also make an appearance on 'Today.'

Entries are being sought for the 6th Annual Veteran's Parade which will be held in Quincy on Saturday November 9. The parade, after a 35 year absence, started up again in 2008 and has been going strong ever since thanks to the Co-Chairmen Dick McKinney and Jim Ponsot. This year's parade will be held from 12th to 5th on Maine Street and will begin at 10 a.m. with the lineup beginning at 9 a.m. from

If the city of Quincy, Illinois, ever had an adopted child, chances are very good her name would be Ella Cain. Ask most anyone from Quincy about “Baby Ella” and their faces light up. Words like “miracle” and “courage” are usually brought into the conversation...