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CEO Trade Show April 26

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•April 20, 2022•

The CEO class annual trade show at the Tuscola Community Building will be held Tuesday, April 26 from 5-7 pm . All nine students will present their own businesses. Come show your support for Urban Benefits, Kelly’s Kosmetics, Glotion: Candles by Kenzie, Tyson’s Lawn Care, Kuhns Employment, ZRO Promotional Content Creation, DSF Hauling, Kenzie’s Authentic Aromas, and Thomas Browns: Basketball Basics Camp. There will also be a food truck on site. “We have all worked very hard to put together this trade show and would love all the support from surrounding communities.” -Makenzie Herschberger. For further information please contact Hannah Myers or Mac Condill at hmyers@illiniprairieceo.com or mcondill@illiniprairieceo.com.

Sullivan Nurse Honored

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•April 13, 2022•
Brett Poorman received the DAISY Award for Nursing Excellence at Decatur Memorial Hospital. Poorman, of Sullivan, is a three-time DAISY Award recipient. He was nominated to receive his most recent DAISY Award by a patient’s family member, hospital officials said.
In the nomination form, the patient’s daughter wrote, “Brett was a great comfort to me and my siblings when our father died [following serious illness]. Brett was with my dad, holding his hand, as he passed away peacefully. There are no words to express what that meant to us, knowing our dad was not alone.” Read More

LLC Foundation Receives Largest Cash Gift to Date

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The Lake Land College Foundation recently received its largest cash gift in the amount of $1.7 million, donated to benefit Shelby County students from the Cecil Paul and Marjorie Wilson Davis Estate. Pictured are Cecil Paul and Marjorie Wilson Davis.

•April 13, 2022•
The Lake Land College Foundation recently received its largest cash gift in the history of the organization. The $1.7 million gift was donated to benefit Shelby county students from the Cecil Paul and Marjorie Wilson Davis Estate.
“This transformative gift will positively impacts hundreds of students’ lives from Shelby County through traditional scholarships, dual credit and dual enrollment opportunities,” Executive Director for College Advancement Christi Donsbach said.
Cecil Paul and Marjorie Wilson Davis were very involved in their communities and professions and wanted to be able to give back by creating opportunities for Shelby County residents to pursue a college education. Read More

Grooms Sisters Compete in DeKalb

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Grooms Sisters Compete in DeKalb
Gabby and Grace Grooms competed in the USA Gymnastics Illinois State Meet in DeKalb, IL on March 27. They are the daughters of Nick and Heidi Grooms and train at Mattoon Academy of Gymnastics, Mattoon. In order to qualify for state, a gymnast must receive an all around score of 34 or higher in earlier gymnastics competitions. Gabby received a third on floor in Level 3 Senior D age 10. Grace was the Vault Champion for Level 3 Junior E age 9.

Benefit For Olivia Dunker

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•April 13, 2022•
A benefit for the family of Olivia Dunker will be held on Saturday, April 23 from 11 am to 9 pm at VFW Post 99, 3920 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in Decatur. Olivia Dunker, 10, is from Decatur and currently fighting osteosarcoma at St. Jude’s. Cost is $15 for adults and $5 for kids 5+. Entry will include entry, food, nonalcoholic beverages and live entertainment. There will be a bags tournament from 1-? and it is $20 per team. Max 20 team registration. Must be registered by Noon. To preregister to guarantee a spot call 217-413-7416. Winner will receive half of profits from the event. A silent auction will be held all day. There are several great prizes from local companies to bid on. Final offers must be in by 7 pm. Winners will be announced that night. There will also be a live auction from 5 pm-6 pm for big ticket items. 50/50 and alcohol barrel raffle will be drawn at end of the night. There will be live entertainment all day featuring local artist Silver Lake Band from 6 pm-9 pm, DJ Club Dub from 11 am to 6 pm and kids bingo, games and entertainment from 1 pm-5 pm.

Singers Dinner Theatre 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Sullivan Singers Jr.
Sullivan Singers Jr. performing their competition show during the dinner theatre. That show included “Breakthrough”, “Grace Kelly”, “Come Together” and “Trying Too Hard”.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Sullivan Singers
The Sullivan Singers performed their competition show as part of the dinner theatre that was held on Saturday, April 9 and 10 at Sullivan High School. Sullivan Singers and Singers Jr. performed their fall shows and competition shows. There were also senior spotlight performances.

Girl Scout Troop Donating Cookie Proceeds

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Girl Scout Troop Donating Cookie Proceeds
Okaw Valley Girl Scout Troop #3642 is donating all of their cookie proceeds to Olivia Dunker of Decatur who is fighting cancer at St. Jude’s. From left to right: Gabby Totten, McKenna Connelly, Alaynah Brown, Adalyn Brown, Mattie Pence, Sophia Tice. Not pictured Kira Lutz.

Preston Gregory Receives Amtryke

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Photo furnished by Jim Wandmacher, Sullivan AMBUCS
Preston Gregory Receives Amtryke
Preston Gregory with his new Amtryke. His family Amy, Dave, and Miles in middle, with AMBUC members Jason Drury, Mack Young, Scott Bales, Derick Eation and Dave Hudspath aside. Preston enjoyed a couple of rides on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and lots more to come in the future. The Sullivan AMBUCS chapter is one of 150 chapters nation wide giving away 3,500 Amtrykes each year. In addition, the local AMBUCs build wheelchair ramps in Moultrie County and provides scholarships for physical therapists.

Five Tips for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

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•April 13, 2022•
Cheri Burcham
Extension Educator
University of Illinois Extension

Often grandparenting means a weekend with grandchildren every now and then, an evening babysitting, a summer vacation, or chats on the phone and Facetime here and there. But when life circumstances change, grandparents often assume full- or part-time responsibility for their grandchildren. Here is another great article from Eastern Illinois University Graduate Student Kayli Worthey:
Many grandparents are now taking on the parenting role for their grandchildren, changing the traditional grandparent/grandchild relationship. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 2.5 million children were living with grandparents who were responsible for their care in 2005. In 2015, that number rose to 2.9 million (Wiltz, 2016).
There are many different reasons grandparents assume the primary parenting role, including family crises like disability of child or parent, death, divorce, deportation, incarceration, or military deployment. Others may raise their grandchildren due to state removal from parental care because of parental substance abuse, abuse, and neglect, unemployment, mental or physical illnesses, or child abandonment (Wiltz, 2016). Read More

Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Day 2022

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Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance Receives Award
An award was given to the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance (LSFHA) from The Corps Foundation in recognition of an outstanding and valuable partnership agreement between the LSFHA and the Corps of Engineers. This was a pretty big deal because this partnership between the Corps of Engineers at Lake Shelbyville and the LSFHA was selected out of all of the Corps Projects Nationwide, which number close to 460. The award was actually for the year 2019 but due to Covid-19 and finding a suitable time to present the award, it was just now formally presented to LSFHA. Approximately 650 Christmas trees and 160 artificial fish structures were dropped in the Lake on Sunday, March 27. From left: Mike Mounce - Former IDNR Fisheries Biologist, Bob Kearns - Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance, Chip Christensen - Chip’s Marine & Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance, Phil Manhart - Lake Shelbyville Assistant Operations Manager.

Photo furnished
Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Improvement Day
Lake Shelbyville cubes are prepared to load onto boats where they were taken into the lake and placed on Sunday, March 27. The cubes are 4 feet square and 5 feet tall and give small fish cover in the lake. The cubes were placed by the Lake Shelbyville Fish Habitat Alliance and volunteers.