Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals

•September 19, 2018•

By Mortemer Snerd
for the News Progress

Sullivan Spark Community Planning kicked off the first of five sessions with a large crowd gathering in the Sullivan High School Commons Thursday, Sept. 13.
Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University representatives Gisele Hamm and Linda Blaine gave an overview of the sessions designed to enhance Sullivan’s growth by building on its assets.
Information gained through introductions, surveys and an exercise in naming significant historical events since the 1960s in Sullivan will be analyzed by Blaine to determine the individual planning groups into which Spark volunteers will be divided for the next phase.
Hamm explained the key successes enjoyed by surround communities such as Mattoon and Strasburg were generated by proactive volunteers with positive attitudes. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
Which animal do I want? 22 month old McKinzie Ray asks as she sifts through the bag of stuffed animals offered free to children visiting the Moultrie County Courthouse. McKinzie was accompanying her mother Autumn Ray of Sullivan who was in the courthouse paying real estate taxes.

Employees show generosity

•September 19, 2018•

Children visiting the Moultrie County Courthouse are getting free stuffed animals thanks to the generosity of those working in the county offices.
Funds collected on blue jean Fridays is helping finance a new program by courthouse security aimed at helping children feel a little more comfortable in a large public place.
“When these kids come in, they don’t know what to think,” courthouse deputy John Love began. “They see a guy in a uniform and a badge and it scares the little ones.”
He noted that sometimes the children are there with parents who have to wait for court proceedings, and it can be a test of patience to be stuck in a strange place for a long time.
Love recalled when he was chief of police in Sullivan, children waiting at the station could receive a toy from Secret Santa to give them something to occupy themselves during the wait. Read More

•September 19, 2018•

By Mike Brothers

Moultrie County Board members approved a plan for a new website which could provide online forms as well as the ability to accept online payments.
At the Thursday, Sept. 13 meeting website adhoc committee chair Neil Bryan recommended approving the $10,900 website update proposal from government website developer Revize.
Bryan and committee member Mike Barringer noted Revize. presented a professional proposal of a branding website for Moultrie County and, with a staff of 20, provides 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. support seven days a week.
Bryan noted in addition to development cost, Revize. would charge $2475 annually for maintaining the site. He moved the proposal be accepted and work start immediately since it is a project that will take several months. Motion was seconded by Tim Rose with unanimous approval of Moultrie County Board members attending.
Chairman Dave McCabe reported on personnel committee recommendations for salary increases in the absence of committee chair Billy Voyles. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
The rebar sculpture of an Eagle holding on to a fish while perched on a branch is located at the entrance of Tabor Park in Sullivan. St. Joseph Sculptor Tim Summerville (left) set the Eagle up at its new home with some help from Park Supt. Herb Bricker Jr. and City Commissioner Mike Mossman. Not only did the sculptor deliver and set up the Eagle, he has agreed to wait for the $4000 payment until the next city budget year.

•September 12, 2018•

Tabor Park has a new sentry with impressive credentials.
An American Eagle sculpture was placed in the center lawn at the entry of the park on August 30.
Park Supt. Herb Bricker Jr. explained he was planning a feature for the entrance to Tabor and local sculpture Tim Summerville had the rebar constructed eagle sitting on a branch with fish in talons on display in a downtown Champaign museum.
“Tim was best man at my wedding so we’ve known each other a while,” Bricker began. “We were discussing plans for Tabor while having dinner with our wives, and he mentioned the sculpture in Champaign might be what we were looking for.”
Summerville explained he had just completed a rebar sculpted bison commissioned by the city of Decatur for the Sculpture Park near Scovill Musuem.
“He took me over to Scovill to see the rebar bison sculpture which fit the look I was after,” Bricker continued.
So he went to Champaign to check out the eagle perched on a tree branch with the fish in its grip. Bricker noted it was like a scene you could see from the Findlay Bridge on Lake Shelbyville.
An artist all his life, Tim Summerville’s rebar sculptures are standing in central Illinois because of a vacation to North Dakota where he first saw a rebar Buffalo. “While everyone else was admiring the art, I was busy looking inside to see how it was put together.” Read More