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Pastor Gene Godfrey Retires from First Baptist Church

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Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Pastor Gene Godfrey and wife Jackie are Cleveland bound.

•May 22, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

After nearly 18 years of service Pastor Gene Godfrey will retire from the First Baptist Church Sunday, May 26.
The public is cordially invited to attend the May 26 10 a.m. Sunday services which will be conducted by Pastor Gene’s son, Pastor Vincent Godfrey of O’Fallon.
An open house reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. in the church’s Fellowship Hall and is also open to the public.
Pastor Gene grew up in Ohio near Cleveland and attended the same church where his grandfather and parents were faithful parishioners.
When his church needed a new pastor, he was part of the search committee that traveled to Colgate-Rochester Seminary for interviews.
“The buildings and grounds were so beautiful,” he recalled, “I knew that one day I would return there for study.”
He went to college and served in the Army. He met his wife, Jackie, in a bowling alley where she worked. They became a blended family with his two sons and her two daughters. He readily admits, “Jackie convinced me to go to seminary.” First Baptist Church has been his first and only ministry. Read More

Spark Housing Committee Unveils Housing

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Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Spark Housing Committee representative Bill Burger told Senior Center visitors about a goal of the committee to revitalize houses utilizing local talent.

•May 22, 2019•
Maintenance Initiative
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Seniors, veterans, the disabled and widows will be the primary beneficiaries of the new housing initiative proposed by the Spark Housing Committee to a large group of seniors gathered in Sullivan.
The Sullivan citizen action group spokesperson, Bill Burger, told the crowd at the Senior Center the goal of the committee is “to revitalize houses in Sullivan utilizing local talent and volunteers to improve the quality and sustainability of our community.”
These volunteers will undertake home improvement projects needed by seniors, veterans, the disabled, and widows - projects that they are unable to do themselves. Tasks could include trimming shrubs, mowing lawns, cleaning gutters, painting, building ramps, repairing porches/steps and other small home repairs.
Burger emphasized that projects such as electrical or plumbing repairs would require professionals and are not within the scope of the initiative. Read More

Big D’s Back

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Photo by Mike Brothers
Big D’s Back
Big D’s Dogs is serving all beef hot dogs and Johnsonville brats across from CVS Pharmacy in Sullivan on Fridays. The food cart will be at the intersection of Hamilton and Jackson streets every Friday when weather permits. Owners Dennis and Judy Ozier are introducing three new items in addition to the Moultrie Monster and Cluckburger. New this season is the Sullivan Burger, Kitchen Sink Nachos and The Elvis “Dog”. Big D’s Dogs is also available for birthdays, anniversaries, reunions and more.

SES Students Bring Wax Museum Characters to Life

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Photo furnished
Walt Disney, a.k.a. SES fourth grader Chance Schoonover, explains how Disney grew from the success of Mickey Mouse.

•May 22, 2019•
Sullivan Elementary School students turned to wax Thursday, May 16.
Fourth grade students became famous people from history during the annual wax museum held in the elementary school gym.
The Wax Museum included four fourth grade classes of Drew Campbell, Kurt Friese, Nichole Hendry and Kay Lehman. Two classes presented in the morning and two in the afternoon.
“The students first selected their characters three to four weeks ago,” Lehman began. “They had to research and prepare a report of the person.”
The work was just beginning as students then developed a slide show on iPads to incorporate into the wax museum display. A presentation board was created along with an authentic costume and a speech.
The weeks of speech writing and practice, costume making and research paid off as the gymnasium filled with wax figures was activated for students, parents and the general public.
“Each student is to stand still like a wax figure until the star in front of their display is stepped on,” Lehman said. Read More

Remember When? 5-22-2019

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25 Years Ago This Week

The village of Lovington was named a winner in the 1994 Governor’s Home Town Awards Program. Roger Brust, president of the Lovington Area Development Committee, said that the honor from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Community Affairs was given in recognition of the village’s success in establishing the Lovington Community Health Clinic.
Julie Wilkerson of Sullivan traveled to Rome, Italy with the St. John’s Catholic Chapel Choir from Champaign. The choir served as the principal choir during a solemn Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and sang a selection during a Papal Audience with Pope John II.
Three Sullivan students won first or second place awards for work exhibited at the Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth. David Seeley won second place in sculpture, Jamie Jent won first place in drawing and Kris Garner won first place in painting. Art created by Sullivan students was displayed at Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library. Ribbons were awarded in painting, drawing and three-dimensional work. Blue ribbon winners were Natalie Wright, Terri Dodd, Shannon Scheer, Jamie Jent, Brandi Pauley, Steve Green, Jody Nolen, and Kristy Palmer. Red ribbons went to Lesly Donoho, Heather Hector, Amber Weger, Nikki Larkin, Jeremy Piper, Natalie Wright, Jason Fleshner, Angie Husketh, Jody Martin, David Seeley and Sandi Pauley. White Ribbons were given to Richard Grice, Amber Weger, Jill Wilcoxen, Cuyler Robinson, Josh White, Sean Jenkins, and Lesly Donoho. Read More

Recent Obituaries: Marilyn Hoback Bone

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Marilyn Hoback Bone

Marilyn Hoback Bone, 81, of Decatur, formerly of Bethany, passed away 3:07 a.m. Thursday, May 16, 2019, at her home in Decatur.
Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 18, 2019, at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Bethany. Visitation will be held an hour prior to the service Saturday at the Church. Burial will be in Marrowbone Township Cemetery, Bethany. Memorials may be made to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. McMullin-Young Funeral Home, Bethany, is in care of the arrangements.
Marilyn was born November 13, 1937 in Bentonville, AR; she was the daughter of John Dale and Ona Lucille (Heagerty) Hoback. She married Jack D. Bone on August 7, 1955, in Bethany. Marilyn retired from St. Mary’s Hospital, where she worked as a nurse. She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Bethany. Marilyn loved cats, history and sewing. She made quilts for each one of her great-grandchildren.
Marilyn is survived by her husband, Jack D. Bone; sons, Dan (Mary) Bone of Seattle, WA, Jim (Barb) Bone of Atlanta, GA, George (Tanya) Bone of Bethany, Andrew (Jill) Bone of Mt. Zion, and Jeff (Renee) Bone of Bethany; daughters, Melinda (Randy) Richards of Mt. Zion and Melissa (Scott) Turnbull of the United Kingdom. She is also survived by 22 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mcmullinyoung.com

Obituaries 5-15-2019: Lola Horn

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Lola Horn

Lola Horn, 101, of Sullivan, passed away at 9:20 a.m. Monday May 13, 2019 in her residence.
Celebration of Life services will be 10 a.m. Friday in Reed Funeral Home in Sullivan with John Plummer officiating. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Greenhill Cemetery in Sullivan. Read More

Menu 5-15-2019

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Senior Peace Meal

For additional information or for reservations, please call 1-800-543-1770

Monday, May 20 - BBQ pork sandwich, lemon pepper peas, wax beans w/pimento & onion, bun, apricots
Tuesday, May 21 - Baked ham, corn casserole, brussels sprouts, whole grain wheat, applesauce
Wednesday, May 22 - Chicken broccoli alfredo, mixed vegetables, dinner roll, peaches
Thursday, May 23 - Goulash w/beans, veggie cheese bake, dinner roll, mandarin oranges
Friday, May 24 - Country fried steak, mashed potatoes w/gravy, Harvard beets, dinner roll, graham crackers, banana

It Was A Single Loss Season for WSS Softball Team

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

The Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg softball team’s 32-game winning streak ended in the last regular season game against Mt. Zion, Friday.
The Hatchets finished the regular season with an overall record of 32-1-1.
Earlier in the week, WSS defeated Cowden-Herrick/Beecher 20-0 on Thursday and Cumberland last Tuesday 4-1.
Against Mt. Zion Friday evening, the Braves plated five runs in the first inning and four runs in the second inning for an early 9-0 lead.
The Hatchets answered with three runs in the third inning and two runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 9-5.
The teams traded runs from there for the final 12-8 score.
Megan Schlechte suffered her first loss of the year, lasting only 2/3 inning. Read More

St. Jude’s Dash & Bash Returns

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•May 15, 2019•

The 5th Annual St. Jude Dash & Bash is Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at the Sullivan American Legion.
The event kicks off Friday with a softball tournament, food, huge indoor raffle, a kids’ bags tournament, and beer tent with music provided by Ten-Seventy Entertainment.
Two new events have been added to Friday evening; power wheels derby for kids ages 3-9 and a kiddie tractor pedal pull.
Saturday starts off with a softball tournament, bake sale, 50/50, indoor raffle, 5K at 8 a.m., 1 mile fun run at 9 a.m., and a safe tot trot. All of this is followed by the Kid’s Corner from 1 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Enjoy inflatables, a dunk tank, carnival games, and a magician.
St Jude’s 3 on 3 basketball tournament kicks off at 10 a.m. Earth Scrapes is back with their car show starting at 11 a.m.
The duck derby is returning to Sullivan after many years. Rubber ducks will be dropped into Wyman Lake at 3 p.m. The first three winning ducks will receive cash prizes.
Plus don’t forget the delicious grilled food cooked by Sullivan American Legion’s own SAL. They will have the grill going all day starting with breakfast sandwiches.
St. Jude Dash & Bash Director Stephanie Helmuth emphasized the Sullivan event has been able to raise more than $50,000 for St. Jude in four years at this event.
The best part about this whole event is that 100% of all the proceeds will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.