The public is invited to Dove’s 13th Annual Candle lighting Ceremony, “Why It Matters.” At this service, participants will mourn those who have suffered and died through domestic violence and celebrate with the survivors and those working to end the abuse. This ceremony takes place in October as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The ceremony will be held October 24 at the First United Methodist Church, 210 W. Jefferson, in Sullivan. The service will begin at 7 p.m.

The ceremony will include remarks from coordinator Mary Hughes, music, and the lighting of the candles. Following the ceremony there will be refreshments.

Deafness has no respect of age, wealth or rank it strikes people of all economic, social and age categories with equal frequency.
To help protect the hearing of the public through an early alert system, to increase public awareness not only of the problems of the deaf, but also the capabilities of the hearing impaired. The Lions Clubs of Illinois every year sponsor free hearing screenings for persons 18 and older and 10 17 years with written parental consent, in communities all over the state.
As part of that program, the Sullivan Lions Club is sponsoring a screening from 9 AM to 12 Noon on Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at The Sullivan United Methodist Church.
Hearing loss is probably the single most common chronic disability in the United States, occurring nearly four times as often as blindness. There are nearly 720,000 hearing impaired persons in Illinois alone. Of these, 106,000 are deaf, 26,000 of these were deaf before the age of 19. Unfortunately, the problem is made worse since the deaf are least understood of all handicapped populations.
“For many years,” said Lynn Reed, Sullivan Lions Club President, “many associated deafness and stupidity together, even though deaf and hearing impaired people have IQ's equal to those of the hearing population.
The deaf have shown to be just as qualified as the hearing for job opportunities. They should be shown, and deserve every consideration, "said Reed, Club Hearing Chariman.
He noted that hearing loss takes many forms. In some, the problem is simply that they feel like the sound has been turned down. Others may have trouble in understanding various pitches or sounds. The causes, too, vary a lot, and there are many medical and mechanical treatments to help people with hearing loss.
Since protection of our hearing is so important, we hope that the people of our community will take full advantage of these hearing screenings," said the hearing chairman. "The screening will take but a few minutes and persons who fail the screening are referred to hearing professionals for further evaluation and treatment."
The Mobile Hearing Screening activity is conducted through cooperation of the Lions of Illinois Foundation, the charitable arm of the state's more than 700 Lions Clubs, and is funded primarily from Candy Day, held statewide on the second Friday of every October.
For further information contact:
Publicity Chairman: David Reed
Club Name: Sullivan Lions Club
Daytime Phone: 217-728-2355 Evening Phone: 217-433-0488

A benefit, “Debbie’s Day”, has been scheduled  Sunday, October 13 at the Sullivan VFW beginning at 1 p.m. to raise money for Debbie Jent, who was diagnosed with stage 4b uterine cancer in March of this year.

A lineup of bands will be featured including Shovelhead, Neon Rounders, Autumn Zero, and the Melvin Reynolds, Jr. Band.

Raffles, 50/50s, as well as silent, basket, and live auctions will also be featured along with a bake sale, gun raffle, bags and horseshoe tournament, and a spaghetti dinner. Donations will be voluntary but encouraged.

An account has been set up at First National Bank in Sullivan under “Debbie’s Day.”

For more information, visit the Facebook event page “Debbie’s Day.”

Sullivan High School has updated the procedure for visitors entering the building. All visitors must report to the main office immediately upon entering the school building. All visitors, including parents and siblings, are required to enter through the front door of the building and proceed immediately to the main office.Visitors should identify themselves and inform office personnel of their reason for being at the school. Visitors must sign in, giving their name, the date and time of arrival, and the classroom or location they are visiting. Approved visitors will then take a visitor tag identifying themselves as a guest and place the tag on their outer clothing in a clearly visible location. All visitors must return to the main office and sign out before leaving the school.

For more information or questions, contact the high school office at 728-8311.

Photo by Keith Stewart
The bumper off of Debra Yowell's Pontiac sits to the side of Route 121 Tuesday afternoon.

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Debra Yowell of Bethany was transported to St. Mary's hospital Tuesday afternoon after sustaining injuries in a two-car collision at the intersection of New Hope and Route 121.

Occurring around 2:20 p.m. Yowell was heading north on 121 when she began to brake with the intention of turning left and heading west on CR 1775. She was then rear-ended by Brian Ganz of Arenzville, Ill. a small village in Cass County located approximately 30 minutes northwest of Jacksonville.

Yowell's black Pontiac suffered damage to its rear bumper, which was separated from the vehicle. Ganz's Hyundai Elantra received severe damage to its anterior.

A spokesman with the information desk at St. Mary's hospital told the News Progress that Yowell was in emergency as of 4:35 p.m. No other information was given.

Moultrie County Sheriff's department responded to the scene as did Bethany Fire and Ambulance.