East central Illinois

I'm from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and went to school at the U of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, so I might be able to help a little. I'm assuming you're talking about "Lake Shelbyville" (no "i"). I'm not familiar with that area specifically, but a couple of general comments about Illinois.

Accents differ between different areas in Illinois. The further south you go, the more of a drawl you'll encounter. My college roommate was from Mt. Pulaski (near Springfield). To me, she sounded like she had a Southern drawl, but according to her people from further south had even more pronounced accents. She even went so far as to put a map on the back of our door with her home town circled to emphasize she was from Central, not Southern Illinois.

If some of your action is still in Indiana, remember that Indiana has different rules about daylight savings time. Some counties go onto daylight savings, some don't. Last year my niece missed a friend's wedding ceremony because she forgot about the time change.

Any particular reason for choosing Shelbyville? You might be able to get more information about Champaign-Urbana since it's a college town. Most of Illinois is flat and covered in corn fields (at least between Chicago and C-U). The U of I website might give you more information (www.uiuc.edu).

Hey there! I am originally from Peoria, Illinois (many moons ago). I went to college in Bloomington-Normal. Don't ask my why they list the college towns like that.
I have heard of Lake Shelbyville and was there once. Lovely hills, forest around the lake. Large lake with boating, a lot of fishing and docks. It is known as a party spot.
The area has sloping hills with soft river bluffs and plenty of hardwood trees, mostly oak. So pretty, the live limbs lay on the ground. They turn a deep copper in the fall. I miss the forest there, can you tell? I have a few pictures stored in my computer and could e-mail them to you if you think that might help.
The area is strong farmland with old barns and plenty of pasture, corn and wheat fields.
Four inches of snow will give the kids a snow day and they do all the sports you listed, especially sledding. We used to hang out at old deserted buildings and around the creeks all year long.
PM me for any other info you need.
Paint