Category Archives: News Briefs

Breakfast in Bethlehem 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Taking Part in the Christmas Story
Every child that attended the event was able to choose a part that they would act out during the telling of the Christmas story at Breakfast in Bethlehem. There were angels, stars, shepherds and wise men but also the main characters Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Making Blessing Bags
Livie and Sadie Lane make blessing bags during Breakfast in Bethlehem held at Sullivan First United Methodist Church.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Games and Activities
Wade Wilson colors a picture during Breakfast in Bethlehem on Saturday, December 10.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Candy Cane Game
At right, Kyler Smith plays a candy cane game at Breakfast in Bethlehem. The concept was to stand on the chair and drop a candy cane so that it would catch on one of the red ribbons below. Other activities included activity sheets and making items for parts in the Christmas story that was read at the end of the program.

FCCLA Breakfast with Santa 2022

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Photos by Crystal Reed
Sullivan FCCLA with Santa
Sullivan High School’s FCCLA hosted Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 10. Pictured are FCCLA members and advisor as well as Miss Sullivan Kaitlin Kirby and Little Miss Sullivan Lydia Cummings.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Visiting Santa
Reese, Alexis and Gabrielle Pullen enjoyed visiting with Santa during Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 10.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Breakfast with Santa
Waylon and Fallon Vincent wore matching pajamas to enjoy some pancakes and visit with Santa at Sullivan High School.

Shine for Makenna Day

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Shine for Makenna Day
Windsor High School students were encouraged to wear neon on Wednesday, December 7 to honor “Shine for Makenna Day.” The high school student council also collected funds to take to Stewardson-Strasburg High School. Makenna was the granddaughter of varsity boys basketball coach Shane Smith. She passed away on Friday, December 9.

Christmas event hosted by BASO 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Grinch Game
Aidyn and Kate McBride had a game where children could shoot a nerf gun at balloons bearing the image of the Grinch.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Festive Face Painting
MacKenzie Kidwell has glitter applied to the candy cane that was painted on her face during the BASO event at Okaw Valley Elementary School.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Visiting with Santa
Maximus Tranten and Mike McBride visited with Santa in Bethany on Saturday, December 3. Children who attended were encouraged to bring donations for the Bethany Food Pantry. Children who donated were entered into a prize drawing.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Playing Christmas Games
Adelyn Doty plays while parents Michael and Jessica look on. The game she was interested in involved tossing soft characters through the cornhole ramp. The event brought together children of all ages and those young at heart.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Bethany Celebration Royalty Meet Santa
Bethany Celebration royalty passed out stocking filled with treats to children visiting Santa at Okaw Valley Elementary School. From left to right are Junior Miss Lydia Webner, Little Miss Khali Creek and Miss Madalyne McPheeters. Not pictured is Young Miss Livie Lane.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Royal Game
Little Miss Bethany Khali Creek plays a game during the Christmas event hosted by BASO at Okaw Valley Elementary School on Saturday, December 3.

English Students Express Opinions in Letters to the Editor (Continued from Last Week)

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•December 14, 2022•
Editors Note: The following letters to the editor were submitted by Cami Badman’s honors English students at Sullivan High School. Studnts picked a debatable topic of their choice and used the techniques they learned in class. Several letters were provided to us and we have chosen to print the following letters. These are a continuation from last week’s edition.

Dear Editor,
Throughout recent years, standardized testing has become more prevalent across the United States. Millions of students are forced to test long hours and told to try their best. However, these tests fail to accurately measure the students of America. All things considered, there should not be standardized tests in schools. Derrick Meador, an education expert, exclaims,“ Students are tested on grade-appropriate material but they are not retested to determine if they have learned information they tested poorly on the year before.” If students are not retested, how would anyone know whether they have improved or not? With inaccurate tests, there should be no point in requiring students to take the tests in the first place. Read More

Federal REAL ID Deadline Extended

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•December 14, 2022•

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced last Monday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the federal REAL ID deadline an additional two years, from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025. With this extension, current standard Illinois driver’s licenses or ID cards will continue to be accepted at airports for domestic air travel until May 7, 2025.
Illinoisans interested in applying for a REAL ID are encouraged to visit REALID.ilsos.gov and use the interactive document checklist. This checklist is designed to help ensure REAL ID applicants gather all the documents required by the federal government to obtain a REAL ID before visiting a Driver Services facility. First-time REAL ID applicants are required by DHS to visit a Driver Services facility in person. Read More

Don’t Get Apostrophe Happy for Holidays

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•December 14, 2022•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

If you haven’t gotten around to buying, addressing or mailing holiday cards yet, odds are you either aren’t going to or you are waiting to see who is sending you one before you decide in whom you should invest SIXTY CENTS in postage.
If you’re one of those sentimental types, the least you can do is address the card properly. Especially if the only ones you’ll send them to are your bosses.
What follows will look familiar if you’re the type to clip and laminate all of my columns.
This isn’t about greeting card etiquette but rather punctuation.
If my mailbox is a sign, it’s clear a reminder is in order.
Before you send your photo card to the printer or fill out that first envelope, a few words of caution: Unless your addressees are Irish or French, chances are they don’t have an apostrophe in their surnames.
If you’re addressing a card to Reggie and Gertrude Jones and the nine children in their blended family but don’t want to name them all, don’t write The Jones’ family, The Jones’ or The Joneses’. Read More

Remember When? 12-14-2022

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25 Years Ago This Week

David England won first prize in the annual city lighting contest in Sullivan. The England family received $100 off of their city utility bill. Second place, $50 off their utility bill went to the Carl Christensen residence and third place, a $25 gift certificate from the Sullivan Area Chamber of Commerce went to Leon Briscoe.
Lynn Maxedon of Sullivan purchased the Rutledge Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac dealership. Manager Frank Hutchcraft who had been with the dealership for 32 years remained as well as the rest of the staff. The new business was called Maxedon Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac Inc. Read More

Winter Wonderland in Windsor 2022

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Windsor Royalty Enjoys Windsor
Wonderland
2022 Little Miss Harvest Picnic Brystol Wiltermood spent time at the Windsor Wonderland event on Saturday, December 3.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Writing to Santa
Kaysen Shaw put his letter in Santa’s mailbox on Saturday, December 3 in Windsor. In addition to writing Letters to Santa earlier in the evening children could visit with him at the Windsor Storm Memorial Public Library.

Sullivan’s Downtown Christmas Celebration 2022

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Photo courtesy of Molly Tenuto
Dove, Inc. Hosts Santa’s Little Helper Workshop
Staff from Dove, Inc. hosted Santa’s Little Helper Workshop during Sullivan’s Christmas activities on Friday, December 2. The indoor activities were quite popular. Activities included cookie decorating, Letters to Santa and a variety of crafts. They also served hot dogs, chips and hot chocolate. Pictured from Dove, Inc. are Jennifer Tolladay, Becky Comstock, Andrea Kocher and Jamie Houchins.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Making Christmas Crafts
Marlee Weaver shows the necklace that she was making at Santa’s Little Helper Workshop on Friday, December 2. Activities included making necklaces, decorating cookies, writing letters to Santa, coloring pages and more.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Writing a Letter to Santa
Lyla and Cade Nadler wrote Letters to Santa at the Masonic Temple in Sullivan as part of Santa’s Little Helper Workshop which was organized by Dove, Inc.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Sullivan Singers Jr. Sings Christmas Carols
Members of the Sullivan Singers performed Christmas songs during the Christmas festivities in Sullivan. Sullivan Dance Studio dancers also performed as well.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Visiting with Santa
Cooper, Waylon and Tucker Atchison visited with Santa during Sullivan’s Christmas festivities. Children were able to share their Christmas wishes with Santa throughout the evening with a short break in visits during the Christmas parade.

Photo by Crystal Reed
Free Christmas Ornaments
Lori Poorman of Agri-Fab gave out free Christmas ornaments during the Sullivan Christmas activities on Friday, December 2. The ornaments have the word Joy with a manger scene and star in the “o” of the word.