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Four Top Ten Finishes for Sullivan at Shelbyville Open

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•May 15, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

he Sullivan boys’ track and field team competed in the Central Illinois Conference meet and the Shelbyville Open last week.
At the Shelbyville Open Saturday, Sullivan placed 14th out of 29 teams.
Four Redskins had top-ten finishes.
Jadon Nuzzo won the pole vault with a height of 14 feet 3 inches.
Brodie Goss took second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.93 and eighth in the 110-meter hurdles at 16.95.
Leighton Burcham long jumped 19 feet 8.5 inches for fifth place and triple jumped 36 feet 8 inches for eighth place.
Ian Plank placed eighth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:57.47. Read More

Sullivan Girls’ Track Team Places in Sectional Meet

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Zoe Walton, Esther Miller, Natalie Drury and Emily White advanced to the state track meet in the 1,600-meter relay team.

•May 15, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan girls’ track and field team placed seventh place with 40 points in the 15-team in the IHSA Class 1A Central A&M Sectional at Moweaqua Thursday, May 9, and four Redskins competed in the News Gazette’s Honor Roll Meet meet Monday.
At the Honor Roll Meet Monday, Esther Miller took first place and broke the Sullivan school record in the triple jump with a leap of 35 feet 6.75 inches.
She also finished third in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.36.
Zoe Walton tied for second in the high jump at five feet, and Emily White tied for fifth at at 4 feet 10 inches.
The Redskins’ 1,600-meter relay team of Zoe Walton, Esther Miller, Natalie Drury and Emily White finished fourth with a season-best time of 4:20.90.
In the sectional meet Thursday, the same four Redskins advanced to the state track meet.
Miller advanced in three events.
She triple jumped 34 feet 9.5 inches to surpass the state qualifying distance of 33 feet 9 inches and place second. Read More

Early Memorial Day Deadlines

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•May 15, 2019•

The News Progress and The Fish Wrap have an early deadline for the Memorial Day weekend.
All advertising and news should be in by noon Friday, May 24 in order to be in the May 29 and 30 editions of the News Progress and The Fish Wrap.

ALAH Baseball Team Hits Away for a Win

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•May 15, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond baseball team defeated Sullivan last Tuesday and lost to Decatur LSA in a Little Okaw Valley Conference Northwest division game, Monday.
Against LSA, ALAH had seven hits but could not plate a run in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel.
LSA recorded only two its but scored the winning run in the fourth inning.
Jake Hollingsworth suffered the loss, pitching 2 2/3 innings and giving up one earned run on two hits. He struck out one. Read More

Recent Obituaries: John Tipsword

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John Tipsword

John E. Tipsword, 83, of Bethany, passed away 9:00 a.m. Monday, May 13, 2019, at his home in Bethany.
Graveside services will be held 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 15, 2019, at Greenhill Cemetery, Sullivan. McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Bethany, is in care of the arrangements. Memorials may be made to The Baby Fold: 108 E. Willow St. Normal, IL 61761
John was born October 20, 1935, in Bethany, the son of Arthur Dewey and Ethel Jennie (Trulock) Tipsword. He married Marilyn L. Smith on July 27, 1957, in Sullivan at the First United Methodist Church. He was a member of the Acacia Fraternity at the University of Illinois. John was born and raised a farmer for his whole life, he enjoyed outdoor activities such as, gardening, mowing and he was an expert in finding arrowheads while looking over the side of his tractor. John was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather; he will be dearly missed by all of his friends and family.
John is survived by his wife, Marilyn of Bethany; son, Michael John (Stefany Elen) Tipsword of Bethany; daughters, Tracy Lee (Doug) Hagen of Cambridge, IL, and Lisa R. Lee of Windsor. He is also survived by four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and two sisters.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mcmullinyoung.com

Recent Obituaries: Sandi Wirth

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Sandi Wirth

Sandi Wirth, 81, of Sullivan, passed away at 6:28 p.m. Friday, May 10, 2019 in Mason Point, Sullivan.
Celebration of Life services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Reed Funeral Home, Sullivan with Bob Vail officiating. Visitation will be from 5 - 7 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will be in Resthaven Cemetery in Mattoon. Memorials are suggested to the Mason Point Chapel Fund. Online condolences may be sent to the family at reedfuneralhome.net.
Sandi was born March 13, 1938 in Mattoon, the daughter of Verlis Robert and Veda Corinne Henderson Sefton. She had been a school bus driver for the Sullivan Public Schools. Sandi was a member of the Allenville Christian Church where she had been a Sunday school teacher and a bible study facilitator. Sandi had also been a VBS director for the Sullivan Church of God and had started a bible study group at Mason Point. Sandi was also a long time member of the Prairie Winds. She married Gene Wirth on October 16, 1958 in Mattoon.
Surviving are her husband Gene of Sullivan; daughters Theresa (Scott) Clarkson of Lovington and Julia (Jeffrey) McFarland of Worden, Illinois; sister Sherry (Starr) Adams of Elizabethtown, Kentucky; grandchildren Robert (Cecilia) Clarkson, Craig (Lindsey) Clarkson, David (Sara) McFarland, Kelsey (Matthew) Assel and great grandchildren Blake Clarkson, Landon Clarkson, Joey Clarkson and Alyssa McFarland.
She was preceded in death by her parents and a grandson Kyle Clarkson.

OV Bass Fishermen Win Pins

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OV Bass Fishermen Win Pins
Okaw Valley High School bass fishermen Isaac Tipsword and Eric Boomer finished fourth and received pins in the Shelbyville Bass Fishing Sectional. Their fourth place finish qualifies them as alternates for the State Series if a top three team is unable to compete. They finished just ounces behind third place.

Eagle Scout Completes Project for Sullivan Gun Club

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Eagle Scout Christian Hopper and his Sullivan Gun Club project.

•May 8, 2019•
By Ariana Cherry
for the News Progress

An Eagle Scout is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America program. Once a scout has reached this rank, they are to help train scouts under them within their area.
A scout has spent years within the program, usually from the time they are very young until they reach early adulthood. Since the Eagle Scout level was created in 1911, only about four percent of scouts have reached such a rank after a very lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2.5 million youth.
Eagle Scout Christian Hopper has taken his duty very seriously through his time spent in the Boy Scout program for the last 12 years.
“I started as young as you can start and stayed the course the whole way through. It was a great part of my growing up. I started as a Tiger Cub,” Hopper said.
A very important part of being an Eagle Scout is completing an Eagle project. The project must benefit the surrounding community and involve 100 hours of volunteer time to create and carry out. Once the project is completed, it has to have a sustaining impact and also continue to benefit the community for years to come. Read More

Lovington CTBT Show is Saturday

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•May 8, 2019•

A ‘Car, Truck, Bike and Tractor Show’ will be held Saturday, May 18 in downtown Lovington.
Sign-up will be from 10 a.m. to noon in the middle of town with the fee being a new unwrapped toy to be given away to a child this Christmas. Vehicles will line State Street, and several local vendors will be lined up on Broadway Street showcasing what Lovington has to offer.
Delicious food will be available from Possum Lodge 812, music will be pumped throughout downtown by DJay’s DJ Service and the Masonic C.H.I.P. program will be done by George A. Sentel Lodge 764 in Zancha’s building.
“Sparrows Organization provides assistance to families in need, primarily at Christmas providing warm coats, hats, gloves, boots/shoes if needed along with new clothing and toys,” explained current Sparrows’ president Pam Anklam.
“In addition we have provided support and assistance to families displaced by fire, tornado, etc. Sparrows delivers fruit baskets to the elderly as a way of saying thank you for being part of our community, and we also hold fund-raisers for various organizations and individuals when needed. I believe Sparrows is a fundamental tool/organization for our community,” Anklam said.
Sparrows Unlimited is a non-profit 501c3 organization in Lovington.
For more information visit sparrows-unlimited.com.

Obituary 5-8-2019: Bettie Davis

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Bettie Davis

Bettie P. Davis, 87, of Decatur, formerly of Sullivan, was born March 24, 1932 and passed away 11:15 a.m. Monday, April 29, 2019 in Decatur Memorial Hospital surrounded by her family. Bettie was the daughter of Paul and Mary Wilson. She married Kenneth K. Davis, Sr. January 14, 1955, and they enjoyed over 64 years together. Read More