Category Archives: News Section

Senior Expo Held In Person for First Time Since 2019

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photo by Crystal Reed
Senior Expo Held In Person for First Time Since 2019
Mid-Illinois Senior Services, Inc. held their Senior Expo on Friday, September 22 at the Sullivan American Legion. This year’s expo was the first in-person expo since 2019. In recent years it had been a drive thru event due to COVID. The event was attended by 130 people this year. The Senior Expo had 23 tables representing different service organizations and businesses, a bake sale, bingo and prize drawings. Griffin’s Barbecue served brunch to attendees. Agri-Fab and HydroGear donated money towards the cost of the meal. Sullivan High School Student Council served food, delivered plates and drinks to participants, cleaned up and ran bingo cards and prizes.

photo by Crystal Reed
Bingo!
Jonathan Boyd, branch manager at First Mid Bank and Trust, calls out bingo at the Senior Expo on Friday, September 22 at the Sullivan American Legion.

Agri-Fab Employees Volunteer at Habitat Build

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photo by Crystal Reed
Agri-Fab Employees Volunteer at Habitat Build
Agri-Fab employees have been volunteering their time at the newest Habitat for Humanity build in Sullivan. They have done a variety of tasks at the site as the Moultrie County Habitat for Humanity gets closer to finishing the home. Other outreach that Agri-Fab does in the community include food drives and monthly blood drives. Pictured are a few employees at the build site: Brianna Buttrey, Stephanie Collins, Chris Schaefer and Nicholas Brown.

Storyteller Visits Arthur Library

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photo by Crystal Reed
Storyteller Visits Arthur Library
Storyteller Kathleen Brinkman of Champaign visited Arthur Library on Saturday, September 23. She has been telling multicultural stories for 20 years. Prior to retirement, Brinkman worked at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana as the Director of Career Services for the biotechnology center. She likes to incorporate interesting stories for children into her programs while mixing in jokes that adults would like as well. Brinkman said that she has always told stories and that she is part of a storytelling guild. She noted that being a member of a storytelling guild has helped nurture her storytelling skills. Brinkman is pictured using a limber jack to tell one of the stories during the program.

Council Awards Bids

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•September 27, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council awarded the bid for the Wyman Park Splash Pad and Sports Courts during Monday night’s regular meeting. The bid was awarded to Building Systems for $479,407. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood said that the total project cost is $763,612.00 and half of that is coming from a matching grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. They received $20,668.85 in donations from Becky Ogle and the SPARK initiative. 

In public comment, Nancy Barker addressed Commissioner Doug Shook, who was attending the meeting via phone, in regards to his mileage report that he submitted to the city. She noted that the report was very thorough but she would like to know the places he has traveled in the city for that type of mileage. Barker noted that on the Fourth of July he recorded 15 miles. 

Shook said that he drove around prior to the parade to check on projects. She said there was another for 21 miles and said that she would like to know where he went in the city. Shook said he was looking at projects to advise his crew and the council.  Read More

Sullivan-Okaw Valley Football Team Helps With Move

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photo furnished
Pamela Browning had a moving team to help her move out of her three story home in Sullivan on Sunday. She noted that she had nobody to help her initially but that members of the SOV football team volunteered to help her out. Browning said that her group of helpers were an answer to prayers for help.

•September 27, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

Pamela Browning moved out of her house in Sullivan on Sunday, September 24 so that she can live closer to her daughter who lives in Southern Illinois. Something that weighed on her mind though was how was she going to get everything moved out of her three story house all on her own. Browning said that she prayed for someone to help and she not only had help she had a whole team, a football team that is.

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Sullivan Fire Chief Retires After Over 26 Years Of Service

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photo by Crystal Reed
A walk out ceremony was held for Sullivan Fire Chief Larry Edwards on Friday, September 22 at the Sullivan Fire Department. He had over 26 years of service to his community through the Sullivan Fire Department. He is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and family.

•September 27, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

Sullivan Fire Chief Larry Edwards noted in a speech he gave last Friday that it had always been a dream of his to retire on his 50th birthday. Last Friday that dream came true for Edwards as the department held a walk out ceremony for a fire chief who had dedicated more than 26 years of service to the Sullivan community.

Edwards said he is retiring from a career he fell in love with. At the age of 22 or 23 he recalled driving by a wreck and thought that being a firefighter might be something interesting to do. He stopped by the Sullivan Fire Department to get an application. Edwards noted that about a year later he got a call asking whether he was still interested in being a volunteer. He started his career volunteering for the department but was hired on full time on July 18, 1998. Over the years he moved up through the ranks and was promoted to Fire Chief in 2022 after the retirement of Mike Piper. Read More

Sullivan Elementary School New Addition Includes 16 Additional Rooms

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•September 20, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

Sullivan Elementary School hosted a grandparents’ event, book sale and open house to showcase the new addition to the community Thursday, September 14, . According to Sullivan Elementary School Principal Leslie Guyot, until the new high school is built, the school will be housing students from Pre-K to sixth grade. When the new high school is completed, the sixth-grade students will be moved to the middle school, and the elementary school will permanently become PreK through fifth grade. Read More

County Board Hears how Local Fire Departments Utilized ARPA Funds

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•September 20, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

The Moultrie County Board held a regular meeting on Thursday, September 14. Board member Scott Buxton attended the meeting via phone. During the guest speaker portion of the meeting, the board was able to hear from representatives of Sullivan Fire, Lovington Fire and Bethany Fire Departments and Moultrie County Habitat for Humanity in regards to how the organizations utilized their ARPA funds. 

Sullivan Assistant Fire Chief Chris Wright reported they received a ARPA grant in 2022. He noted they were operating a 2008 Ford ambulance that was experiencing many mechanical problems to the point where it would not run. They had another ambulance that was out of commission due to striking a deer. 

The department made a request for $245,000 to purchase a new ambulance to replace the 2008 one. Several options were explored including mounting the box on a new chassis. They found a demo ambulance at a reduced cost of $208,000.  Read More

Hometown LOVE Reveals Latest Project to the Lovington Community

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photo by Crystal Reed
From left to right: Dennis Garmon (mayor) Tracy Garmon, Westin Perrero (artist) and Hometown Love board members Stephanie Leinard, Jamie Franklin, Kelly Cree, and Pamela Anklam.

•September 20, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

Hometown LOVE revealed their latest project to the Lovington community on Saturday, September 16. Over the past couple of years they have helped multiple families with their yards, partnered with the food pantry and brought a blessing box to the town. The group put in hours to add the planter box to the Lovington Fire Department property. 

Going into 2023 Hometown LOVE knew that they wanted to do a big project that would benefit the whole town and beautify it. They asked Gary Smith if they could use his building to help do that.  Read More

Illinois Amish Heritage Center to host program on quilting techniques

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•September 13, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

The Illinois Amish Heritage Center will host Sharon K. Jack of Country Home Quilting and More on Saturday, September 30, at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on their campus. Cost is $10 which includes admission to the campus and the program. Jack will be doing a techniques demonstration on the evolution of quilting techniques from how her grandmother made quilts and how she makes quilts. She will have samples of the different tools used as well as display boards. Read More