Everett Elzy
Everett Eugene Elzy was born in Ripley County, Missouri to Delmar O. and Minnie Elzy March 6, 1932. He was the third of eight children. The family then moved to Illinois where Everett grew up in Moultrie County. Everett graduated from Sullivan High School in 1951. After graduating from high school, he joined the Army and was discharged in 1954. Read More
25 Years Ago This Week
Fern Mathias Schwartz of Sullivan Living Center, formerly of Bethany, was celebrating her 100th Birthday. She was born July 15, 1896, and was the eldest daughter in a family of ten. She had four sons, 21 grandchildren and eight great great grandchildren, according to relatives. Her birthday was celebrated with an open house at the Living Center.
The News Progress was the host site for a new and fully operational internet access service called Sullivan-Online. CU-Online based in Champaign, was offering the local internet access through the News Progress. Read More
•June 30, 2021•
Paige McLaughlin of Sullivan was named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester of the 2020-21 academic year at Illinois Wesleyan University. McLaughlin is a sophomore majoring in English - Writing. McLaughlin was among 801 students from 30 states and 15 countries named to the Spring 2021 Dean’s List. To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must earn a GPA of 3.50 or better during the semester, based on 4.0 for straight As.
Dear Editor,
Years ago, the Sullivan Community Education Foundation was created to support educational efforts within our community. We have awarded thousands of dollars to teachers in Sullivan Schools and to other organizations that educate area residents. For years we have held an appreciation banquet for teachers and staff in the Sullivan school district at which we have awarded grants to those whose applications were approved.
Sadly, last year and this year - just when people in our school system deserved to know even more how much their Herculean efforts are appreciated - we have not been able to hold this banquet due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Instead, we are writing this letter to share the amazing work done by Sullivan Schools during one of the most challenging times in the history of education in America. Read More
Rose Gordon
Rose Marie (Cochran) Gordon, 92, of Lovington, passed away peacefully at 6 a.m., Friday, June 25, 2021, with her daughter by her side. Read More
•June 30, 2021•
The Two Story Outhouse Festival in Gays will be held on August 14. They have released a tentative schedule of events. Windsor FFA will have a breakfast from 7 to 10 am. A Car show will be from Noon to 2 pm, contact Dean Hite at 217-273-4152 for more information. Food trucks from 10 am to 8 pm will be Slow Spark BBQ, SweetTeaz and Grandma T’s Pretzels, Vendor booths from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., dj, inflatables for the kids. There will be live entertainment from Noon to 4 pm with Altered Ego playing at 6 pm. Bessie Bingo will be $5 squares available for purchase the day of the festival. There will also be two outhouse bike rides, a 10 mile and a 20 mile. Contact Julie Miller for information and to register. At this time they are seeking crafters, small business and antique, food vendors and food trucks. They have had an overwhelming response for direct sales, so they are holding off on those at this time. Booth size is 12x12 and fee is $25 plus donation of a raffle item. Vendor must provide their own tables, chairs and tent. Electricity is limited. For questions contact Julie Miller at 217-460-0546 or Pam Jones at 217-294-3333.
•June 30, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Moultrie County Board election committee met last Wednesday to address revisions to the proposal for Sullivan Township election precinct adjustments. According to County Clerk Georgia England, this transpired because they have a couple of precincts that number over 800. “The first proposal we had last month was readjusting the precincts to level out the number of voters and to eliminate one precinct to reduce the cost to the county,” she said. “More machines will be needed, and this way we wouldn’t have purchased more machines, and it would be evenly distributed giving us 100 more voters growth over the next 10-15 years.”
England continued to say that after the county board meeting in June, they returned the proposal to Bruce Harris and had him do up another few examples, readjusting so the precincts would be down to 600. She indicated that they do not want to add cost to the county. England said, knowing the growths in the precincts, it shouldn’t increase that much in the next 10,15, 20 years. In the new proposed map, the majority of the precincts at their highest are around 590. Read More
Duane Beckett
Duane Allen Beckett 67, of Sullivan, passed away Tuesday, June 22, 2021, in his residence.
A service to celebrate Duane’s life was held at noon, Tuesday, June 29, at Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Home in Mt. Zion. Read More
Photo furnished
Moultrie County Retired Teachers
Association 2021 Scholarship Recipient
Carlie Towle, is the high school scholarship recipient for 2021 of the Moultrie County Retired Teachers Association Scholarship. She plans to attend college to major in Elementary Education this fall. Pictured is Carlie Towle (left) with Karen Edwards.
•June 30, 2021•
The Moultrie County Retired Teachers Association met June 2, at the First Christian Church in Sullivan. President Jane McKown opened the meeting by welcoming members both in person and via Zoom, as well as guests. She asked the members a few humorous questions about the time they spent at home during the Pandemic. She also read selections from the book, Apples of Gold, and the book of Psalms. She then led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Karen Edwards introduced Carlie Towle, the high school scholarship recipient for 2021, who spoke to the members about her plans to attend college and to major in Elementary Education this fall.
LaVonne Chaney spoke to members about several current topics of interest. The IRTA is now in partnership with the Illinois Principals Association. The Area 5 Conference will be held virtually. The recent state budget fully funds the pension fund. Primary elections are being moved, and Moultrie County may be affected by recent redistricti Read More
Renee Blickensderfer
Elizabeth “Reneé” Blickensderfer, of Dalton City, passed away June 28, 2021, at the age of 60, after a courageous battle with cancer.
Reneé was a caring wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, and friend. Reneé loved spending time with her family, shopping and tending to her beautiful flowers. Read More