•May 7, 2025•

How one Sullivan family revolutionized senior safety

Submitted

In the quiet town of Sullivan, Illinois, an idea was born that would eventually change the lives of hundreds of thousands of seniors worldwide. Ralph Kirk, a former English literature student, never imagined he would become a pioneer in medical alert technology. But his career and calling took a meaningful turn when he discovered how the developing field of computers could improve lives.

After college, Kirk accepted a position as Manager of Electronic Data Processing (computers) at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Computers were new then, and he found them fascinating. There, he and his wife worked together and discovered a shared passion. “We were captivated by using computers to help people,” Kirk recalled. “It was much more fulfilling than anything we’d done before.”

When they were expecting their first child, the couple returned home to Sullivan, but Kirk stayed with the idea that technology should be able to make life safer for seniors living at home. That spark would soon ignite a national movement.

•May 7, 2025•

by Cheri Burcham
Family Life Educator 

Gardening season is almost here. It is a great family activity and beneficial to get children interested when they are young. Have you wondered if gardening outdoors with preschoolers would be too challenging? The Illinois Early Learning Project (IELP) has a tip sheet about teaching children to garden using planters/containers that I would like to share with you. 

According to IELP, growing plants in containers of clean topsoil can be safer and easier for children than gardening in “plain dirt” on the ground. Here are some tips for gardening with children in a classroom or group setting or at home—from teachers who have tried it.

•May 7, 2025•

Fiction: “2 Sisters Murder Investigations” (2 Sisters Detective Agency series #2) by James Patterson & Candice Fox; “25 Alive” (Women’s Murder Club #25) by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro; “Blood Moon” by Sandra Brown; “Bridal Shower Murder” (Lucy Stone series #31) by Leslie Meier; “Bury Her Twice” (Carolina McKay series #7) by Tony Urban and Drew Strickland; “Caught in a Trap” (Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm series #12) by Beth Adams; “The Chow Maniac” (Noodle Shop series #11) by Vivien Chien; “Dead Broke, Colorado” by William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone; “A Dragon of Black Glass” (Moon Fall #3) by James Rollins; “Fight or Flight” by Fern Michaels; “Fortunate Harbor” (Outer Banks series #1) by Davis Bunn; “The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits” by Jennifer Weiner; “Hard Men to Kill” by William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone; “High Tea and Misdemeanors” (A Tea Shop Mystery #29) by Laura Childs; “Hope’s Enduring Echo” by Kim Vogel Sawyer; “Into the Gray Zone” (Pike Logan series #19) by Brad Taylor; “The Keeper” (Murphy Shepherd series #4) by Charles Martin; “Lethal Prey” (Prey series #35) by John Sandford; “Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney” Mystery series by Claudia Gray; “The Murder Machine” by Heather Graham; “No Roast for the Weary” (Coffeehouse series #21) by Cleo Coyle; “Nobody’s Fool” (Detective Kierce series #2) by Harlan Coben; OverKill (Ali Reynolds series #18) by J. A. Jance; “Rogue Frontier” (Shadow Strike series #9) by Jason Kasper; “Sealed with a Hiss” (Mrs. Murphy series #33) by Rita Mae Brown; “The Second Sun” by P.T. Deutermann; “Silent as the Grave” (Molly Murphy series #21) by Rhys Bowen & Clare Broyles; “So This Is Christmas : Hart’s Ridge Book #11” by Kay Bratt; “Strangers in Time” by David Baldacci; “The Summer Guests” (Martini Club #2) by Tess Gerritsen; “Summer Light on Nantucket” by Nancy Thayer; “Till Death Zoo Us Part” (A Bought the Farm series #21) by Ellen Riggs; “Tilt” by Emma Pattee; “A Will and a Way” (Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm #11) by Johnnie Alexaner; “The World’s Fair Quilt” (Elm Creek Quilts series #23) by Jennifer Chiaverini, and” The Writer” by James Patterson & J.D. Barker.

Nelson Ford

•May 7, 2025•

by Janet Roney

Murphy’s Law was alive and well in our family in 1988. I had several items on my “Oh, no!” list that year. At the top of the list were some family members’ illnesses and my little brother’s death. Then, there was the Drought of 1988. 

City folks don’t like water rationing, high temperatures, and brown lawns during droughts. For farmers like us, who can only stand idly by while their crops shrivel in 90 to 100+ degree temperatures and weeks of no rain, droughts are catastrophes. The Drought of 1988 was a catastrophe for central Illinois farmers, the worst drought since the record drought of 1954.