Category Archives: News Section

Memorial Fishing Derby Held at Wood Lake to Remember Big Jim

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photo submitted by Jim Wandmacher, AMBUCS secretary
A memorial plaque for Jim Bales was put up at the Inaugural “Big Jim” Fishing Derby at the Woods Lake handicap accessible fishing pier. The plaque was mounted by his son Scott and grandson Brock.

•June 21, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

This past Saturday at Wood Lake in Sullivan was a day not only for fishing and fun for local children but also a time to remember AmBuCs member Jim Bales. The inaugural Big Jim’s Memorial Fishing Derby was held at the ADA/wheelchair access fishing pier at Wood Lake. Bales was a lifetime Sullivan resident who taught in the Sullivan School District and was a member of Sullivan AmBuCs. Read More

Moultrie County Counseling Center to Mark 50th Anniversary

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Moultrie County Counseling Center will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary with an open house on Wednesday, June 28 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at 12 West Harrison Street in Sullivan.

•June 21, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

Moultrie County Counseling Center is getting ready to celebrate 50 years of service to the community. They will have a 50th Anniversary Open House 3-5 p.m., Wednesday, June 28 at 12 W. Harrison in Sullivan.
Moultrie County Counseling was founded June 28, 1973 as a non-profit corporation that provides mental health services to clients. Their professionals offer direct treatment, consultation, education and referral service to Moultrie County residents, organizations and agencies. Over the years they have had a few different locations including at the Fields Wright Medical Center.
They moved to their current site in 2006. Read More

City Council Discusses City Hall Project, Authorizes Rural Development Loan

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•June 14, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council held a regular meeting Monday, June 12.
Commissioner Abbey Sherwood shared an update on the city hall project. She gave a timeline of the project and the different locations they had explored. The former city hall was demolished in February of this year.
The first bid opening came in way over budget so council members went back to the drawing board. Sherwood noted that on May 23 she received a text message from Mayor Mike Mossman asking her to stop the further development of the building project . Sherwood said she respects the council’s decision, and they should definitely discuss it.
Mossman said before they can sign off on it, they need to know what has gone on with the project prior to the current council. Commissioner Doug Shook indicated he would like a chance to look at the plans for the building before he would be prepared to make a decision. He said he was concerned about ADA access. Read More

Marrowbone Public Library summer reading program

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photo by Crystal Reed
Children gather around Scovill Zoo volunteer John Arnold to pet a corn snake at Marrowbone Public Library during their first summer reading program of the summer. Volunteers Arnold and Sandy Bray brought several animals with them for children to see including a corn snake, kookaburra, turtle, guinea pig and tarantula.

St. Jude Dash and Bash

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photo by Crystal Reed
Andrews Family Magic Show
Andrew Anderson of Andrews Family Magic reads the mind of a child in the audience during a magic show at the Sullivan St. Jude Dash and Bash held on Saturday, June 10.

photo by Crystal Reed
Car Show for St. Jude
This vehicle was one of several that was on display during the St. Jude Dash and Bash Car Show. The Dash and Bash included inflatables for children, pedal pulls, raffles, pretzel and lemon shakeup sales, a duck derby and much more.

photo by R.R. Best
St. Jude Dash and Bash Duck Derby
St. Jude Dash and Bash co-chair Phil Ozier uses a hose to spray rubber duckies towards the finish line during the duck derby at Wyman Park on Saturday, June 10.

photo by Crystal Reed
Free Inflatables at St. Jude Dash and Bash
This year the inflatables at the St. Jude Dash and Bash were sponsored by Hydro Gear so children were able to play for free that afternoon. There were bounce houses, inflatable games, slides and more for children to enjoy.

Lovington Celebrates 150th Anniversary

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photos by Crystal Reed and submitted
Lovington Celebrates 150th Anniversary
Lovington celebrated their Sesquicentennial on Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10 with a variety of activities. Friday night the Lovington Alumni banquet was held and the band Identity Crisis played uptown. Saturday’s festivities started with the Fireman’s pancake and sausage breakfast at the Lovington Firehouse followed by a display at the Lovington Library on the history of Lovington provided by the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society. There was also a parade and bags tournament. In the evening at Tom Conn Park there was music, vendors and extreme sports/bounce houses. The Lovington Community Club also had a fish fry and at dusk fireworks lit up the sky above Lovington. The event was sponsored by the Village of Lovington and Lovington Community Club.

State Rep Brad Halbrook Holds Town Hall

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Photo by Crystal Reed
State Rep Brad Halbrook Holds Town Hall
State Rep Brad Halbrook held a town hall discussion to update local residents on the important issues debated and passed in Springfield during the spring session. The town hall was the first of several that he will be holding this month. During the discussion he noted that the budget passed by Governor J.B. Pritzker recently is one of the largest budgets in history at $50.6 billion and will include borrowing over $700 million. Other talking points included the sunset of tax holidays, equal pay act and ethics reform.

Thomas Houser Third Annual Memorial Golf Outing

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Thomas Houser Third Annual Memorial Golf Outing
The Thomas Houser Third Annual Memorial Golf Outing was held on Saturday, June 3 at the Sullivan Country Club. There were 17 teams at the outing. All proceeds will be used for the Tommy Houser Law Enforcement Scholarship Fund.

SONIC Drive-In Donates to Local Schools

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•June 7, 2023•
In honor of May’s Teacher Appreciation Month, SONIC Drive-In’s SONIC Foundation donated $1.5 million to match all public contributions made to requests on DonorsChoose, a national nonprofit that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom requests submitted by teachers.
As part of SONIC’s ongoing Limeades for Learning initiative, the $1.5 million donation matched 50 percent of each donation made to all teacher requests. SONIC helped fully fund nearly 15,300 projects from teachers and schools across the country.
The following are among the exceptional teachers who received funding: Read More