Ready and willing

摘要

Visitors to Thomson, Illinois, are welcomed by one sign that announces the village's population, 600, and two that proclaim its glory: the 2009 girls' softball team came fourth in its division, and another team came third in a state music competition. With the cold comes basketball season, when the village president referees local games. Snow blankets the cornfields. Soon the bald eagles will arrive, as they do each winter, to catch fish from the nearby Mississippi river. And if all goes according to plan, Thomson will prepare for another batch of visitors, too.