•June 1, 2022•

Moultrie County real estate taxes were mailed Wednesday, May 25, 2022. The first installment is due July 6, 2022 and the second installment is due September 7, 2022.
Please look over your tax bill and make sure all the information is correct. Please read the back of your tax bill. It is the responsibility of the property owner to report all address changes to the assessor’s office, 728-4951. Assessment and exemption questions should be directed to the Supervisor of Assessments office.
You may pay your taxes at any bank in Moultrie County, Scott State Bank in Mt. Zion, online at https://paytaxes.us/il_moultrie, or by utilizing the outside drop box on the west side of the courthouse. We accept postmark date of payment, so you may mail your payments to Moultrie County Collector, 10 S. Main Suite 10, Sullivan, IL. 61951. If you wait and mail your payment on the due date, you may want to have the post office hand cancel your stamp. We do not accept post-dated checks. If you would like a receipt when mailing payments, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope and the entire tax bill. You may also bring your payments to the County Collector’s Office on the 2nd floor of the Courthouse.
After the due dates, a penalty charge of 1 1/2 percent per month or any part of a month in which the installment remains delinquent.
If you receive your tax bill and the taxes are to be paid by a mortgage/escrow company, you must forward a copy of your bill to the company for a timely payment.
Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve a taxpayer from their tax liability. If you do not receive a tax bill or have any questions, please call the treasurer’s office at 728-4032.

•May 25, 2022•

Lyndsey Herring of Atwood, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Herring was initiated at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Herring is among approximately 25,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of undergraduate student Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 325 campuses in the United States, its territories and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”

•May 25, 2022•

The Amish Country Tractor Cruise is set for Saturday, June 18 in Arthur. A 46-mile cruise will take riders on a picturesque drive through the Heart of Illinois Amish Country.
Registration for the cruise will begin at 6:00 a.m. CDT at Yoder’s Kitchen, located on IL 133, and then departs at 8:00 a.m. A 9:45 a.m. CDT rest stop will be at the Rudy Huber Farm at Galton and lunch will be served at the Vernon Yoder Farm/Tri-County Auction Facility at Arcola. The cruise is expected to return to Arthur by 2:30 p.m.
Each year, the cruise takes riders on a different route throughout Amish Country. This year the cruise will visit the communities of Chesterville, Galton, Kemp, Filson, and Arcola Major sponsors for this year’s cruise include CHI, Farm Credit Services, The Equity, Kuhns Equipment, Yoder’s Kitchen, and Yoder Seed Company.
Cruise Director, Jim Fleming expects a record crowd this year. “We have received national exposure from Heritage Iron magazine as one of the premier tractor cruises in the Midwest. I think we could hit 200 tractors,” Fleming said. The first cruise was held in 2010 and is held on the Saturday preceding Father’s Day to encourage good family and Dad time. Many families plan activities around the cruise.
Funds raised from the cruise fund scholarships to agriculture students at ALAH High School.
For more information and to request a registration form, please contact Jim Fleming at 217-791-1026 or by email at fbjf1964@consolidated.net

•May 18, 2022•

The Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library is preparing to kickoff summer reading with a part on June 3 from 10 am to 2 pm. This is free and open to the public. There will be an inflatable obstacle course and slide, sno cones, s’more making and a craft.
This year’s summer reading theme is Read Beyond the Beaten Path. Summer reading officially starts on Wednesday, June 1. Participants can start registering on Tuesday, May 24 and there will be open registration on June 3 at the party.
The library is looking for volunteers to help at the kickoff party. Volunteers will help monitor the inflatables, the craft table and the sno cones and s’mores. Volunteers can be in sixth grade and up and adults may help as well.
There are 10 weeks of summer reading. This is 10 weeks of earning prizes. Every week they meet their reading goal they can get a new prize. Reading logs will be kept at the library this year and the kids will get stickers to put on their log as they progress.
YA (young adults) will have activities on Thursdays at 2:00 in June. YA is for kids entering 6th-12th grades. They will be making things for the letterboxing activity, fairy lights, and more.
For kids entering kindergarten through 5th grades activities will be held August 1-5. It will be held in the mornings. Exact times will be announced closer to the dates.
They will have a letterboxing activity throughout the summer for the entire family. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching, but no coordinates are given. Instead you will follow clues and solve puzzles to find them. You do not leave a trinket behind. Instead there will be a stamp inside a small waterproof box that you use on a premade card you can get in the library. When you find them all you can come back for a prize. This will start in June also.
In July they will have a free family friendly movie every Friday at 1:00 pm. Popcorn and water is provided. Guests can bring other snacks if they wish along with blankets and pillows to sit with. Chairs will be provided for adults.

•May 18, 2022•

The Moultrie County NewsProgress is seeking local Veterans to share their stories in our publication. Interviewees should be willing to be interviewed and photographed. For more information call us at 217-728-7381.