Photo Submitted
American Legion Fifty Year Membership Awards
American Legion Post 68 Sullivan made four presentations on April 16 at their weekly Friday evening meal event. Fifty year membership awards were presented by Commander Bob Sims pictured on the left to Hubert McCoy, Michael Keown, Stephen Jenne and Claude (Ben) Bennett.
Photo by Crystal Reed
Macie Fleshner uses a compass to measure on her corn hole board project during Sheri Bruyn’s calculus class at Okaw Valley High School. Bruyn was one of two teachers in the area to receive a grant from the Illinois Retired Teachers Foundation.
•April 14, 2021•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
Sheri Bruyn’s students are taking what they have learned in her math classroom and using it to build cornhole boards and bags in the shop at the high school. The creation of the bean bag toss game utilizes several math concepts.
Pythagorean’s theorem is used to make the board a perfect rectangle, surface area is used to calculate the amount of paint needed and volume is used for the cornhole bags which are filled with corn. Another math concept, a quadratic function, will be used to record the path of the bags when they are thrown. Students will measure the height and distance the bags travel, transfer it to a graph and then find the quadratic equation relating to the bag’s path. Read More
Photo by R.R. Best
The Miller Amish German Schoolhouse being moved by a team of horses to the Illinois Amish Heritage Center last Friday morning. The schoolhouse was moved using a tractor for part of the route and then was switched over to being pulled by a team of Belgian horses.
•April 14, 2021•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
Route 133 between Lovington and Arthur was buzzing with activity last Friday morning as the historical Miller Amish German schoolhouse was moved to the Illinois Amish Heritage Center. The schoolhouse was moved using a tractor for part of the route and at one point was switched over to being pulled by a team of Belgian horses. The 100-year-old schoolhouse was built around 1920 and was located two miles west of Arthur on Illinois Route 133. The school was moved in 2011 to the Miller farm two miles further west where it was preserved in its original historical condition by Karen Miller whose father and grandfather taught in the school. The Miller school served as a German school where Amish youth, after graduating from the eighth grade, went during the winter months to learn the German language. Read More
Photo submitted
OVHS Presents Spring Musical
The Tony Award winning musical comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” will be presented by the Okaw Valley Drama Club on April 15, 16, 17 at 7 p.m. and April 18 at 2 p.m in the OVHS gym.
Set in a middle school gym, SPELLING BEE takes a hilarious and heartwarming look at the pressures of growing up through the eyes of quirky yet lovable characters competing for the title of spelling bee champ. Throughout the Bee, each learns that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. At each performance, three audience volunteers will be selected and invited on stage to participate in the Bee, making each performance unique.
The cast features Hannah Durbin as Rona Lisa Perretti; Kayla Fleshner as Vice Principal Daphine Panch; Delaney Miller as Michelle Mahoney; Lincoln Dickens as Chip Tolentino; Peytyn Durbin as Logainne Schwartz and Grubenierre; Madeline Ray as Leaf Coneybear; Mikhayla Ward as Marcy Park; Savannah Hagerman as William Barfee; and Amelia Landreth as Olive Ostrovsky.
“It feels so good to have the students back on stage doing what they love, Director Jeni Yantis said. “This particular cast has been amazing and I cannot wait for audiences to see what they have been working on for the past two months.”
Due to limited seating, only a small number of tickets will be on sale at the door. Call the OVHS office at 665-3631 for more information and advance sales.
•April 14, 2021•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Sullivan City Council approved a lease agreement for 304 S. Hamilton St. during their meeting on Monday night. The premises are for the business purpose of housing city operations and administrative offices.
The terms of the lease are for a 12-month period for the sum of $16,800 that is payable in 12 monthly payments of $1,400 per month. “At this point I think we are going to be moving forward with different options for the old city building so we need to keep these offices for at least the next year,” Commissioner Abbey Sherwood said. Read More
•April 14, 2021•
The Little Theatre On The Square announced three shows slated to open in the fall of 2021. The King and Marilyn will run October 15 through the 24 for 12 performances. The Marvelous Wonderettes will run November 5 through the 14 for 12 performances. Both of these shows were originally part of the 2020 Summer Season and the Theatre is thrilled to be able to bring them to stage this fall. For Christmas, the Theatre will produce a brand new holiday revue called We Need a “Little” Christmas, running from December 3 through the 19 for 18 performances. Tickets for these shows will go on sale in August 2021.
Even though mainstage shows will not happen inside the Theatre during the summer of 2021, The Little Theatre is producing three free outdoor concerts. The First Friday Summer Concert Series at The Little Theatre will kick off June 4 featuring Lexie Dorsett Sharp and Friends (Jordan Cyphert and John Stephens). Read More
Photo submitted
Paige Robinson during the NCAA D2 National Championship game vs. Lubbock Christian on March 26 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH. Robinson was named to the NCAA D2 Elite Eight all tournament team.
•April 14, 2021•
Paige Robinson, a 5’10” junior guard from Bethany, helped lead Drury University girls’ basketball team to a 24-2 season that ended with a loss in the NCAA-II National Championship game. For her efforts, she was named NCAA-II Player of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew said “Paige has played an integral role in guiding her team to an outstanding season under extraordinary circumstances because of the pandemic. She is very deserving of this distinguished honor. The WBCA applauds Paige for her hard work, dedication, and contributions to the game during the 2020-21 season.”
The award is the latest in a string of honors for Robinson. She was also named Ron Lenz National Player of the Year by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association and an NCAA-II All-American by the WBCA. Earlier this year, she was named the Player of the Year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Most Valuable Player of the GLVC Tournament, and the MVP of the Midwest Regional Tournament. Read More
•April 7, 2021•
by Elizabeth Houser
Guest Writer
On Saturday, March 6, I was unknowingly exposed to Covid at an event out of town, with close friends. No one appeared that they weren’t feeling well. By Tuesday, March 9,I just was not myself, not sick, but tired. By Wednesday, March 10 I had cold/allergy symptoms & some stomach issues, enough to take cold medicine to get thru the day. On Thursday, March 11th I felt bad enough that I stayed home from work, and slept all day. By Friday, I thought I was a little better and took cold medicine and went to work. I was out most of the day, by myself, taking pictures of homes I was insuring. On Friday I found out that someone I was with on the prior Saturday tested positive. Had I known of any possible exposure, I would have been home that week. I had planned to be around family the next day, Saturday, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, so I decided to get tested at Carle in Mattoon Friday afternoon. I quarantined at home to be safe and waited for my results. By Saturday morning I had a Covid positive text on my phone. Read More
Photo by Crystal Reed
Consolidated Election
The consolidated election was held on April 6. For results visit https://il-moultrie.pollresults.net. Pictured above are election judges Jill Inman, Johna Sims and Kaye Wagner at the polling place the day of the election.
•April 7, 2021•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
In the last few weeks, new baskets for disc golf have been installed at Wyman and Tabor Parks in Sullivan. There are nine holes at each park for a total of 18 holes.
City of Sullivan GIS Administrator Blake Eggleston said that the markers for the holes are coming soon. This is not the first disc golf course in the parks, there had been one for awhile but it had fallen into disrepair which led to installing the new course. “We are now able to have a professional disc golf course,” said Eggleston “which means we will be able to have tournaments.” Read More