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Hay Ride Joins Harvest to Home Activities At the Illinois Amish Heritage Center

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•October 17, 2018•

The Illinois Amish Heritage Center will hold its Harvest to Home event Friday and Saturday, October 19-20. The event will start at 9:00 a.m. each day and continue until 8:00 p.m. Friday and 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is per person or by vehicle load, children under 12 are free. All proceeds go to the development of the Illinois Amish Heritage Center.
On-going active field demonstrations throughout the two day event will include ear corn picking, corn cutting and shocking, disking and plowing, shelling corn with small and large shellers, harvesting and chopping of corn stalks, and grinding corn into corn meal using an early grist mill. Read More

SHS Hosts Blood Drive

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•October 17, 2018•

The Sullivan High School Student Council will host their first blood drive of the year on October 31 from 9:30-2:30 in the high school gym.
Contact Marsha Kirby at 217-728-8311 ext. 1280 to set up a time or walk-ins will be welcomed.

Big Plays Boost Bombers By ALAH Knights

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•October 17, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football team could not upset the undefeated Argenta-Oreana Bombers at Arthur Friday night.
AO, which stands atop the Little Okaw Valley Conference at 5-0, scored 38 first half points on mostly big passing plays.
“Argenta is a good team,” said ALAH coach Ryan Jefferson. “They have speed, strength, but I think the difference this year for most teams is their aggressiveness in the trenches, both offensively and defensively. It isn’t matched by many other teams. Most of their scores came from big plays where we had guys to the football, but we just didn’t tackle, and they broke it long.” Read More

Chili Cook-Off at First Baptist

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•October 17, 2018•

The First Baptist Church will host a chili cook-off following church service at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. Serving will begin at 11:45 in Fellowship Hall.
Bring your favorite chili to be judged or act as a judge and sample the entries.
The public is invited to attend.

Menus 10-17-2018

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Senior Peace Meal
For additional information or for reservations, please call 1-800-543-1770
Monday, October 22 - Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes w/gravy, green bean casserole, dressing, peaches
Tuesday, October 23 - Chili w/beans, mixed lettuce salad w/dressing packet, crackers, Waldorf salad
Wednesday, October 24 - Beef stroganoff over noodles, corn, broccoli, whole grain wheat, banana
Thursday, October 25 - Ham, frosted sweet potatoes, midair blend vegetables, dinner roll, cranberry gelatin salad
Friday, October 26 - Liver and onions, scalloped potatoes, buttered pears, graham crackers, whole grain wheat, dreamsicle gelatin

Obituary 10-17-2018: Elaine Craig

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Elaine Craig

Mary Elain “Elaine” Craig, 88, of Sullivan, passed away Thursday, October 11, 2018, in Lakeland Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Effingham.
Funeral services to celebrate her life will be 11 a.m. Thursday, October 18 at First Church of God in Lovington; visitation will be one hour before the service. Burial will take place in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan. Read More

SOV Football Team Recognizes Seniors on Victory Field

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Photo by RR Best
Cullen Dyer finds a hole in the line to run through.

•October 17, 2018•

By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan/Okaw Valley football team could not find its first win of the year on Senior Night against Clinton at Victory Field Friday night.
“Defensively we played better than we had the previous two weeks,” said Sullivan coach Jeff Myers. “Played better assignment football most of the time. The offense didn’t do the defense any favors by continually giving them a short field. Offensively, we continue to lose at the line of scrimmage.”
Clinton scored on a 36-yard pass in the first quarter and scored 14 more points in the second quarter to take a 21-0 halftime lead. Read More

Sullivan Spark Group Selects Improvement Areas

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Photo by Sonya Best
Sullivan Mayor Ann Short participates in the Sullivan Spark project rating the various projects identified by the eight person groups during last week’s meeting.

•October 17, 2018•

By Sonya Best
for the News Progress

“Sullivan Spark is a group of citizens from the Sullivan area bringing a spark to ignite the future of Sullivan.”
At the last meeting the 80 area residents attending were randomly divided into eight person groups. From the ideas presented by those groups, four areas were identified on which to focus.
The group as a whole voted on four areas which they feel can be improved upon in no specific order; parks and recreation, entertainment and tourism, retail and dining, and housing.
About 80 area residents have committed to developing a strategic visioning for community and economic development. Spark meets bi-weekly to discuss the challenges of the community and develop ideas to enhance the positives. Read More

Understanding Illinois: Illinois Higher Education—from Best to Bleakest

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•October 17, 2018•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

In 2000, a national group that knows about such things declared Illinois to have the best higher education offerings among the states for quality and affordability. Today, in contrast, nearly half all Illinois high school grads headed to college flee to institutions out of state. This can be turned around, but not without a renewed collaboration among state leadership on affordability, focus and understanding of the new realities.
Some background. Though not everyone needs a bachelor’s degree, every youngster who can benefit needs post-high school training and education. To meet these needs for three-quarters of a million of our citizens, Illinois offers four “layers” of higher education.
There are graduate research universities (think University of Illinois) and teaching universities (such as Illinois State University). And private colleges (e.g., Northwestern and Knox, which in total educate more four-year college students than the publics), and community colleges, which blanket the state. There are also for-profit colleges, which range from good to rip-offs.
There was dramatic growth and lavish spending on higher education and student financial aid post-World War II up to the 1980s, when student numbers boomed and the state had some money. Read More

Remember When? 10-17-2018

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25 Years Ago This Week

The 1993 soybean crop in Moultrie County shows signs of being a “bin buster” with yields of early beans exceeding 50 bushels an acre according to Sullivan Grain. A photo shows beans on the Melvin Wiley farm that were testing under 11.8 percent moisture.
When the pumpkin crop comes in, things get busy at Spencers’ produce. The farm, located south of Sullivan, owned by Clarence and Phyllis Spencer has been operating at its current location since 1975. Pumpkins at Spencers’ come in all shapes and sizes, and if you want, a variety of decorations thanks to the artistic flair of their daughter, Beth Cole. Cole has spent many hours transforming pumpkins and gourds into witches, ghosts, and other inspirations to sell to customers. Read More