•October 8, 2025•
The Okaw Valley High School Student Council will be hosting the upcoming Homecoming Parade on October 17th at 1:00 pm. All local and surrounding businesses and social club entries are welcome to participate. No registration is required. Parade lineup is at 12:15 at the high school in Bethany, and the theme is “Hollywood Movie Premiere”.
•October 8, 2025•
SAIL (Soyland Access to Independent Living) is having a ‘Health Screening and Testing Fair’ on Friday, October 10th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Shelby County Senior Center located at 325 E. North 9th Street in Shelbyville. This event is open to the public.
The fair will provide various types of testing such as balance testing, eye pressure testing, pulse oximetry, and blood pressure testing, etc. Different screenings are available for depression screening, indicators of substance abuse screening, Narcan screening, and sleep apnea screening. The fair also offers flu shots and Pneumonia shots. The Shelby County Health Department can bill Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance for the shots. Health screening and testing are free unless a cost is listed. For information call Betty Watkins, SAIL Rural Outreach Coordinator, at (217) 774-4322.
•October 8, 2025•
The Bethany Senior Citizen Potluck will be held on Wednesday, October 15th, at 11:00 a.m. at the Bethany library, located at 216 W Main Street. Soup and sandwiches will be provided. All are welcome.
•October 1, 2025•
The Illinois Amish Heritage Center invites you to celebrate the richness of the harvest season at Harvest to Home: A Fall Harvest Experience, held Friday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, October 11 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., just off Route 133 in Arthur, Illinois.
This immersive two-day event offers a rare opportunity to step into the past and experience farming the way it once was - powered by steam, gas, horses, and hard work. It’s a celebration of rural heritage, agricultural roots, and the community spirit that defined the harvest season for generations.
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•October 1, 2025•
Photos by DM Williamee
The Sullivan Fire Protection District held its annual ‘Pancake and Sausage’ breakfast on the morning of Saturday, the 27th. Last year’s turnout was around 600, and this year was even better, serving 735 at the firehouse plus 140 to go orders. With something for everyone, much laughter and compliments to the chef could be heard as community members caught up on current events as they enjoyed their breakfasts.
by DM Williamee
With the theme, “Rio” this year, the Homecoming Parade in Sullivan last Friday had a wide variety of floats with their interpretation of the theme, as well as the homecoming court hopefuls. The weather helped facilitate a large turnout, with children lining the streets to get candy and proud parents taking photos. Both community and school spirit were tangible.
Photos by DM Williamee
•October 1, 2025•
by DM Williamee
BASO, in conjunction with the Okaw Valley PTO, is sponsoring a “Safe Trick or Treat’ for Bethany residents on October 25th, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Trick or treating will be done in downtown Bethany. There will be a costume parade as well as judging for this event, so be sure to wear your best if you plan to compete. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to the Okaw Valley Elementary School. Call (217) 665-3232 with any questions.
•October 1, 2025•
Cadwell will host a Community Blood Drive with ImpactLife, the provider of blood components for local hospitals. The blood drive will be from 3:15 to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14 at 1533 CR 1900N, inside Donor Bus. To donate, contact ImpactLife Urbana at (800) 747 5401 or visit www.bloodcenter.org and use code 70636 to locate the drive. Appointments are requested. Potential donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 with parental permission form available through www.bloodcenter.org) and weigh more than 110 pounds. A photo I.D. is required to donate. For questions about eligibility, call ImpactLife at (800) 747 5401. Donors who last gave blood on or before 8/19/25 are eligible to give at this drive.
•October 1, 2025•
On Tuesday, October 7th, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Lake Land College will be holding its ‘Career Day’ at 5001 Lake Land Boulevard in Mattoon. Lake Land College Career Day is designed for high school juniors and seniors to learn about local, rewarding career pathways. Every year, Lake Land welcomes approximately 1,200 high school students across 25 school districts to campus for the event. At Career Day, high school students throughout the Lake Land College district can choose from more than 150 sessions to attend that cover a wide range of career fields. Sessions are offered in various lengths of time, spanning either 20 or 50 minutes to provide basic or in-depth looks at high-demand careers in agriculture, health care, business, information technology, cosmetology, humanities and arts, communications, math, science, engineering, education, criminal justice, human services, psychology, sociology, political science, history, automotive, construction, technology, leadership, success in college and more.
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Sullivan Blue Dolphins and the Sullivan Civic Center celebrated their 60th birthday on Sunday, September 21st. SBD invited the EIU swim team to come in and work with some of the Silver, Gold, and Titanium swim groups. The SBD enjoyed their time and learned a lot from the EIU swimmers.
The community was there and enjoyed open swim, the Sullivan High School boys’ basketball team, bounce houses, and the many vendors. The local Boy and Girl Scouts pitched in by selling food at the event.