7th & 21st - Needle Night from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. If you would like to learn to crochet, knit, needlepoint, or even how to sew, we have people who can help teach you. If you already know how and just want to hang out, come join us.
8th - Summer Reading from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Macon County Conservation District will be here to present an Astronomy Program.
11th - Story time from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. Kids craft from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
14th - Adult Craft Club from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Bring whatever project you are working on and join us for the fun.
Story times: Every Wednesday, July 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th at 10:00 am. The bounce house will be available after the story and craft.
Every Monday at 9:00 a.m., ETML hosts a Memory Café: This is a social gathering for individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Helpful information and support is available from others who also have loved ones who struggle with memory loss.
Last Friday, on June 20th, the State of Illinois’ “Mobile DMV” drew in a crowd at the Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library, meeting the needs of locals with everything from driver’s license renewals to road tests. Nearly every chair was filled, but the mobile DMV team met every challenge with humor and grace. The overall atmosphere was one of humor, and there’s something to be learned from listening to neighbors catching up. Overheard by a patron, “I am so glad I don’t have to go all the way to Mattoon for this. That takes up half of my day!”
Travel leads to new perspectives, they say. It causes travelers to drop their prejudices and see the world around them with a new perspective. Our family hike along the old Charleston Road in the summer of 1982 did that for us, but not in ways I had expected. Our hike did not transform our children into eager students of local history, as I had hoped.
Rick Atkinson is one of America’s most highly acclaimed historians. Known for both his scholarly rigor and his narrative skill, in the field of military history, he surely has no contemporary equal. He is perhaps best known for his widely-praised liberation trilogy — his three books which tell the story of the Allied invasions and campaigns in Europe during World War II: North Africa, Italy, and Normandy.
Atkinson is now well into his next trilogy, which tells the story of America’s battles for independence from Great Britain, as well as the related political and military struggles in Europe involving France and Spain. The first of these volumes, published in 2019, The British Are Coming, received high praise for weaving the large picture of events and strategy with the day-to-day lives of soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict. The second volume, entitled The Fate of the Day, was published two months ago and has already received equally enthusiastic praise from reviewers. The New York Times called it “great history … compulsively readable … There is no better writer of narrative history than the Pulitzer Prize-winning Atkinson.” This new volume covers the middle of the war, 1777–1780, from Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston.
The Sullivan Bakery returned! Two hours after opening its doors, they were sold out. The bakery was owned and operated by the Risley family - JoBeth Risley, her daughter Danielle Risley LaBarbera, husband Jerry Risley, and daughter Drew Zbinden.
Sullivan High School baseball team held their awards banquet, recognizing the following individuals: Nick Frerichs-offensive award and first team all-Central Illinois Conference; Matt Sparrow-Redskin award and second team all-CIC; Drew Harris- most improved; Zach Hrvol- pitching award and second team all-CIC; Dylan Hart- offensive award and first team all-CIC; and Jacob Piper- defensive award and all-CIC honorable mention; Levi Nadler-Redskin award and all-CIC honorable mention.
On Saturday the 14th, locals turned out despite iffy weather for Sullivan American Legion Post 68’s Dash n’ Bash fundraiser for St. Jude’s, despite the Car Show cancellation due to an early morning drizzle. Festivities included a raffle, beer tent, food and beverage services, duck derby, 5 K walk/run, slow-pitch tournament, and a late afternoon ‘Kids Korner’, which consisted of inflatables and a dunk tank.
Pictured above is Harley Turner, whose money was well spent as she hit the target, sending good-natured SES 5th-grade teacher Mrs. Hendry into the water at the dunk tank. “It’s cold while you are in it, but you warm up pretty fast once you are out,” she shared as she came up from the water and gave a thumbs-up of approval.
Pictured is Emmalynn Crafton, 11, enjoying her slide down one of the inflatables in the ‘Kids Korner’.
On Monday, June 9th, two individuals broke into Panther’s Pride Gaming Parlor in Lovington at approximately 12:30 a.m. and attempted to remove money from the gaming machines, but were unsuccessful. No machines were damaged, but this is the fourth such break in they have experienced this year. Both front glass doors were damaged beyond repair, requiring extensive cleanup and replacement of the doors. The two individuals responsible are described as riding bicycles and wearing white Nike tennis shoes. Anyone having information is encouraged to call the Moultrie County Sheriff’s Department at (217) 728-4386.
Free laundry days in Moultrie County at Sullivan Wash n’ Fold, presented by Moultrie and Shelby County’s ROSC and individual sponsors, are as follows: Thursday, June 26th from 9:00 a.m. to noon, sponsored by Ace, and Thursday, July 24th from 9:00 a.m. to noon and sponsored by Ace and the Couve family. If you would like more information or to sponsor, contact Skyler Miller at skylark@hourhouserecovery.org, or call (217) 549-7427. Funding for this project is provided in whole or part by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery.