With the Fourth of July holiday, there will be no farmers market in Findlay this Saturday, July 4.
However, market activities will resume Saturday July 11, at which F.L.I.P. will be hosting a Flea Market in addition to the regular farmers' market activities. Scott Buxton of Bethany will also be in attendance serving Belgian waffles in the morning and polish sausage and burgers in the afternoon. Read More
James Dodd
Funeral services for James William Dodd, 68, formerly of Cerro Gordo, will be held at 11 a.m. July 2 in Brintlinger & Earl Funeral Home in Decatur. Burial will be in Cerro Gordo Cemetery.
He died June 27, 2015 and was born July 31, 1946, the son of Raymond and Helen Ofield Dodd.
He was retired from PPG Industries in Mt. Zion.
Surviving are his wife Sherry; daughter Carly Ferguson; stepchildren Lisa Barnes, Will Davis and Ben Davis, all of Decatur; two grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.
Memorials are suggested to the athletic program of the donor’s choice.
Bob Patient
Robert E. ‘Bob’ Patient, 89, of Sullivan passed away at 8:16 a.m. Monday, June 29, 2015 in Mason Point in Sullivan.
Celebration of Life services will be 11 a.m. Friday in Sullivan First Baptist Church with Pastor Gene Godfrey officiating. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday in Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan.
Caitlyn Cordell and Joanne Lange, both of Sullivan, are 2015 spring graduates of Parkland College in Champaign.
July 1, 2015By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist
My home office is in what decades ago was the dressing room for the Toulon Independent Order of Odd Fellows, adjacent to the old IOOF lodge hall (members wore gowns and regalia to lodge).
With a lineage that goes back to the guilds in 16th Century England, the Odd Fellows (which did not mean “odd” as we think of it), now mostly defunct, comprised a fraternal organization such as the Masons, and later in the U.S., more of a service club.
I am active in my local Lions Club, [another club] that does good works for our community.
But our numbers have dwindled precipitously. From a hundred members when chartered in 1948, we now gather but a handful for our monthly meetings, mostly old duffers like me.
Where have all the Lions gone, and does it really matter?
As early as the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that America was a nation of joiners, “forever forming associations.” Read More
July 1, 2015
More than 700 candidates received their degrees and certificates after the completion of the spring semester 2015. Degree abbreviations are as follows: AS-Associates of Science; AAS-Associates of Applied Science; AA-Associates of Art; Associate in Liberal Studies.
Area graduates included:
Bethany
Gene-Austin Birch, AS, Bioscience Non-Teaching; Ashton Doty, AS, Elementary Education; Leah Oathout, AA, Art; Taylor Piper, AAS, Nursing; Tamra Sims, ALS.
Findlay
Katelyn Coleman, AAS, Early Childhood Care and Education; Slade Keller, AAS, IT-Network Administration.
Gays
Cole McKimmy, AAS, CET/Advanced Technical Studies.
Lovington
James Bates, Certificate, Management; Nicholas Day, AAS, Agriculture Business & Supply; Brody Elder , AA, Liberal Arts; Colin Franklin, AS, Business Administration; Read More
Beulah Lacey
Funeral services for Beulah Lacey, 97, of Sullivan were held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan. Burial was in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan.
She died at 1:45 p.m. Monday June 15, 2015 in Sullivan Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.
This year when approached by Jamie Crosier of the Moultrie County Relay for Life to help her team with a food drive, the Sullivan Blue Dolphins saw the chance to help two groups instead of one.
The challenge?
Raise 500 cans in four weeks. Kristy Dawson of CEFS met with the swimmers and explained to them how the need for food increases in the summer months due to kids being out of school.
The cans would first be used to hold the luminaries at Relay for Life and then be delivered to the food pantry to feed the hungry. Read More
Cindy Dobbs
A funeral service in honor of Cynthia “Cindy” L. Dobbs, 58, of Mattoon was held at 2 p.m. Friday in Mitchell-Jerdan Funeral Home in Mattoon with the Reverend Travis Spencer officiating. Interment was in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan.
She passed away at 5:50 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2015, in Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Coles County.
The American Legion in Bethany will host a beverage alcohol sellers and servers education and training class (BASSET) July 9 beginning at 1 p.m.
The class is mandatory for those selling or serving alcohol in Bethany per village ordinance. Upon completion, the certificate is good for three years.
The class will train participants on how to spot fake identification cards as well as how to determine whether a patron has consumed too much alcohol and how to legally deny further service.
Preregistration is not required for the class, but it is strongly encouraged. To preregister, call the Bethany village hall at 665-3351. The class, which will be conducted by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission office, is free. For more information, call the village hall or mayor Bill Ashley at 737-5899 or by visiting the Illinois Liquor Control Commission at www.illinois.gov/ilcc.