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One Flower at a Time

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Photo by RR Best Pictured is Kim Warren with her newly planted display at Wyman Park in the background. The display serves as a memorial for Warren’s father, mother, and brother-in-law, all of whom lost their battles with cancer. The memorial was completed just in time for this past weekend’s Relay for Life.

Photo by RR Best
Pictured is Kim Warren with her newly planted display at Wyman Park in the background. The display serves as a memorial for Warren’s father, mother, and brother-in-law, all of whom lost their battles with cancer. The memorial was completed just in time for this past weekend’s Relay for Life.

New Wyman park display arrives in time for Relay for Life

June 17, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Close to five years ago, Kay Aldridge arranged for a memorial in Wyman Park for her late husband Harris after his fight with cancer. The memorial, three crabapple trees and a stone plaque in the middle, was placed just south of Wyman Lake near the north parking lot pavilion.
Kay herself passed away last August, she too after battling cancer, but her memory was commemorated and the chance seized to raise awareness about the awful disease that took her life when her daughter Kim Warren decided to expand on the memorial just in time to debut for this past weekend’s Relay for Life.
“When we knew they were going to move the Relay for Life out here, I decided I was going to plant it,” said Warren. “Anything with flowers, wildlife, animals, she was all about that–in fact when I went to go do this Kory (Wiley, parks superintendent) said, ‘This is the perfect place Kim because she always came out here. She always parked here. She always picked persimmons over here.’ She chose the site for my dad’s memorial so I worked furiously all week last week and did it all in the pinks, purples, and fuchsias like the American Cancer Society colors.” Read More

Elzy Performing Mentorship at Oklahoma School

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Hilari Elzy of Sullivan is performing a mentorship at Mustang Public Schools, Mustang, Okla., June 6 – July 18 through a fellowship she received at Eureka College.
Elzy’s mentorship is with the school district’s coordinator of special education programs and with the director of student services. Read More

Pedal and Garden Tractor Pull July 11 at Tabor Park

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Free family event from the Christian County Tractor Puller Association

June 17, 2015

by Ariana Cherry
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

The Christian County Tractor Pullers Association is pulling in some family entertainment for everyone to enjoy come Saturday, July 11, at Tabor Park in Sullivan where the association will be putting on a free pedal and garden tractor pull.
“We are a family-based group from kids to 88-plus year-old guys and gals,” explained Ed Righter, a member of the association. “It is family-based club. We even have some ‘groupies’ that follow us.”
The association actually began 30 years ago and was started by the Jackson family of Taylorville, Ill. Christian County Tractor Pullers are a pulling garden tractor club that consists of 50 members from mostly central Illinois who pull competitively. They have classes that range from Stock 10 horse-power to NQS (National Quarter Scale) 50.5 cid alcohol burning tractors. Not long ago, they added stock twin classes and a pro-twin class to their options of tractors to compete. Read More

Coles-Moultrie Sponsorship

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Submitted Coles-Moultrie Sponsorship Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative and CoBank recently donated $6,000 in sponsorship funds to Sarah Bush Lincoln’s 26th annual golf benefit scheduled for Friday, June 12, at Meadowview Golf Course. Net proceeds from the event will benefit the construction of Sarah Bush Lincoln’s new Regional Cancer Center. “We are delighted to support Sarah Bush Lincoln in its efforts to enhance cancer care for community members with a new modern facility,” Coles-Moultrie President and CEO Kim Leftwich said. “Coles Moultrie’s $3,000 donation was matched dollar-for-dollar by CoBank, as part of its ‘Sharing Success’ program designed to benefit cooperatives and the charitable groups they support throughout rural America,” Leftwich said. Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative has been a sponsor of the SBL Golf Benefit since 1990, with donations totaling more than $76,000 over the 25-year period. For more information or to register for the golf benefit, please contact Kim Lockart in the SBL Foundation office at 238-4765. Pictured are: (front, left to right) SBL Golf Committee members Patty Hedges and Linda Neeley; (back, left to right) Mary Bovard, Becky Taylor, Sam Adair, Coles-Moultrie President and CEO Kim Leftwich, Tim Kastl and Kim Lockart.

Submitted
Coles-Moultrie Sponsorship
Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative and CoBank recently donated $6,000 in sponsorship funds to Sarah Bush Lincoln’s 26th annual golf benefit scheduled for Friday, June 12, at Meadowview Golf Course. Net proceeds from the event will benefit the construction of Sarah Bush Lincoln’s new Regional Cancer Center.
“We are delighted to support Sarah Bush Lincoln in its efforts to enhance cancer care for community members with a new modern facility,” Coles-Moultrie President and CEO Kim Leftwich said. “Coles Moultrie’s $3,000 donation was matched dollar-for-dollar by CoBank, as part of its ‘Sharing Success’ program designed to benefit cooperatives and the charitable groups they support throughout rural America,” Leftwich said.
Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative has been a sponsor of the SBL Golf Benefit since 1990, with donations totaling more than $76,000 over the 25-year period. For more information or to register for the golf benefit, please contact Kim Lockart in the SBL Foundation office at 238-4765.
Pictured are: (front, left to right) SBL Golf Committee members Patty Hedges and Linda Neeley; (back, left to right) Mary Bovard, Becky Taylor, Sam Adair, Coles-Moultrie President and CEO Kim Leftwich, Tim Kastl and Kim Lockart.

Motorcycle Pursuit Ends in Crash in Allenville

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Suspect wrecks, suffers minor injuries

June 17, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A 23-year-old man was arrested in the early morning hours last Wednesday after he fled police on a motorcycle.
Chris Tomasello, 23, of Decatur, was arrested last Wednesday morning for not only driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured vehicle, but for also exceeding the speed limit by as much as 35 miles per hour.
According to Sullivan police officer Adam Collins’ report, at approximately 12:53 a.m. June 10, county deputy Clint Walker advised Sullivan PD that a motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed was not pulling over and was headed westbound into Sullivan. Collins began to make his way east on Jackson and as he approved Madison Street observed a single headlight approaching. The officer then activated his radar and heard a “loud pitch.” Shortly thereafter, the radar then clocked the motorcycle at 98mph before the suspect turned north onto Calhoun. Read More

2015 Moultrie Douglas 4-H Fair

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•June 17, 2015•

With over 500 exhibits to view, the Moultrie and Douglas county 4-H’ers would like to invite the general public to attend the 2015 Moultrie Douglas 4-H Fair’s following days/events:

Wednesday, July 1
Otto Center
All Foods, General Projects & Public Presentations
Judging 5:00 p.m.

Monday, July 6
Moultrie-Douglas Fairgrounds
Rabbit Show 8 a.m.
Poultry Show will start one half hour after the conclusion of the rabbit show. Read More

Annual Lovington Fish Fry June 26

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June 17, 2015

WCIA TV will air daily stories about Lovington during its Our Town coverage on the Morning Show and the 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. newscasts from June 22 to June 26. The stories will feature people, places and events that make Lovington unique.
The community will culminate this celebration at its annual fish fry in Tom Conn Park on Friday, June 26, from 4:15 to 7 p.m.
Local singers Steve Fleming, Dennis Garmon, and Dawn Stevens Hawkins will entertain the crowd from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Each performs for half an hour. They will serve as the opening acts for performer Tammy Renee Harris. Read More

Burch Pleads Not Guilty

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Former OV coach requests jury by trial

June 17, 2015

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A former Okaw Valley middle school coach pled not guilty Monday to counts related to the sexual abuse of an underage girl.
Wade T. Burch, 25, of rural Shelbyville appeared before Judge Dan Flannell Monday afternoon along with his attorney Sean Britton for a preliminary hearing where a plea of not guilty was entered in regard to the two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault he faces. Read More

Understanding Illinois: Animal Fat May Be Good For You

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NowlanJune 17, 2015

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

A crusty dairy farmer friend recently barged into my office and unceremoniously plopped a thick book on my desk. He then harrumphed: “Now you can go out and eat a big steak and have lots of real cream on your strawberry shortcake!”
The 500-page book is The Big Fat Surprise (2014) by Nina Teicholz, an accomplished writer who studied biology at Stanford and Yale and has a graduate degree from Oxford University.
This is not your run of the mill, breezy diet book. It has 335 footnotes and lists almost 1,000 scientific books and articles in the bibliography.
After eight years of research, Teicholz concludes that the low fat, low cholesterol diet, almost deified since the 1950s, was based on inadequate science, which never proved that saturated fat and high cholesterol cause heart disease.
Among those who have apparently changed their perspectives on saturated fats and health is Ronald Krauss, MD, PhD, a giant among nutrition scientists. Krauss concludes, in Teicholz’ words, that eating saturated fat is healthier than eating carbohydrates.
In other words, says Teicholz, “Cheese is probably healthier than bread. And eggs and bacon better than oatmeal.” Read More

LTE: 6.17.15

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A Helpful Community

Over the past 6 months (and many years of research), three cousins started planning a family reunion that we weren’t sure could be done. When I first started contacting the community of Sullivan, we had no idea we would receive all the help that would be given for us to coordinate the 187th Waggoner Family Reunion that was held on May 9 and 10. We started with the American Legion who put up with my many phone calls-then the Chamber who helped with phone numbers. We then sought the Moultrie County Genealogical Society who gave us their time for a full day to allow our families to come and view our Waggoner history at their building and have kept those records available on a daily basis. The Parks Department helped in setting up a location for taking our historic family photo (weather being a concern) and the Elementary School offered their auditorium in case of bad weather. The high school also made arrangements for us to use the track field grandstands for an outdoor picture. Read More