Category Archives: Top Stories

Honor Drive for Shoni Anderson Nov. 15

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•November 9, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Shoni Anderson, 7, is the daughter of Jeff and Becky Clayton-Anderson, and on Tuesday, November 15, there will be an honor drive for her at the Sullivan American Legion from noon to 6 p.m. Shoni was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2021. According to her mother Becky, this will be the third blood drive held in her daughter’s honor.
The first indication that something was amiss was when she started having severe foot and leg pain. It got to the point where the pain was waking her up at night. Becky said in November 2020 she took her daughter to an orthopedic doctor for lab work and x-rays. The next month they saw a pediatric orthopedic doctor and ruled out osteosarcoma which is a bone cancer. Read More

Illinois Amish Heritage Center Holds Barn Raising Event

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Dan Huebener, of Brighton, uses a large mallet to drive a peg into the wood during the Miller-Herschberger barn raising at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center on Saturday, October 29.

•November 2, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Illinois Amish Heritage Center located between Arthur and Arcola had a big event over the weekend-- a barn raising for the Herschberger-Miller barn which was constructed three miles from Arthur in 1879. The barn was dismantled this past spring by Firmitas, formerly Trillium Dell Timber Works.
Besides removing the barn from its original site, the 143-year-old structure was tagged, labeled and dismantled piece by piece. Last weekend that barn was raised on the IAHC grounds along with other activities including blacksmithing, rope making, petting zoo and buggy rides. Due to OSHA regulations, the barn was raised using some modern equipment. Read More

SHS Junior Collecting Items for Kemmerer Village for Eagle Scout Project

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Aston Johnson, a member of Boy Scout Troop 142 and junior at Sullivan High School, is collecting items to support the foster care program at Kemmerer Village for his Eagle Scout project. His project is called “Welcome Home” A Community Shower.

•October 26, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

A Sullivan High School junior is working toward his Eagle Scout rank and has chosen to work with Kemmerer Village to support their foster care program. Aston Johnson has been involved in scouting for almost 10 years and is a member of Boy Scout Troop 142 at Stewardson-Strasburg. To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout a person must have a minimum of 21 merit badges and Johnson has 32.
He has titled his project “Welcome Home” A Community Shower. Johnson has decided to work with Kemmerer Village because, through scouting, he has gained a bonus family and wants to give back to the communities he has had the opportunity of which to be a part. “Every child deserves to have a place to call home and a family to call their own,” he said. “With your help we can provide the resources families need to help them thrive.” Read More

LTOTS to Host an Evening with John and Julie

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•October 19, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Little Theatre on The Square will host An Evening with John and Julie on Friday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 30 at 2 p.m. The show was staged by Executive Producer John Stephens and Decatur native Julie McClarey-Smith. McClarey is the undefeated national Ragtime Piano Playing Award winner.
She will play a little bit of everything from Ragtime and the Bumble Boogie to classical music and praise hymn favorites. John will bring some of his past favorite roles back to life and also visit a medley of songs from roles in which he wishes he had been cast as well as some classic pop and country hits. Read More

House Blessing Held for Newest Habitat Home in Lovington

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Moultrie County Habitat for Humanity board members, volunteers and care-a-vanners outside the newest Habitat home in Lovington.

•October 12, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

On Friday, October 7, the Franklin family was finally able to see what their new home looked like and receive the keys. Jennifer, Abbey and Maddox were presented with a Bible, American flag and house keys during the house blessing ceremony. According to Cheryl Thomas, Family Support sponsor, there were six or seven families interviewed this year in the process of determining who would partner with Habitat on the home. Read More

Sullivan Fire Department Cadet Program Celebrates First Graduates

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Konnor Randol and Landry Still graduated from the Sullivan Fire Department Cadet Program on Wednesday, September 28. The next session of the cadet program will start in January with the application process opening in November or December.

•October 5, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

The Sullivan Fire Department Cadet Program celebrated its first graduates on Wednesday, September 28. Konnor Randol and Landry Still were given helmets with new shields bearing their last names and certificates of graduation. They also signed the back of their cadet shields that will be used on the helmets of future cadets. Read More

Ground Breaking Held in Preparation for Barn Raising

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Ground is broken at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center, located between Arthur on Arcola on Route 133, during a ground breaking ceremony held on Friday, September 23. The ground breaking is in preparation for a two day barn raising event to be held in late October.

•September 28, 2022•
On Friday, September 23 a ground breaking was held at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center (IAHC), at their campus between Arcola and Arthur, in preparation for a two-day public barn raising that is scheduled for Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29 from 9 am to 5pm. Ground was broken using a horse drawn slip scraper and a plow, which was very common during the era of the original barn usage. Several board members of the IAHC operated the plow as well as descendants of the Herschberger-Miller family. Read More

The Sandwich that Changed Steve Jenne’s Life

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Photo by Ellen Ferrara
Steve Jenne (far left) and Scot England (far right) talk to those who attended the Moultrie County Historical and Genealogical Society presentation on Thursday, September 15. Jenne talked about his book “The Sandwich That Changed My Life!” that he wrote with Scot England.

•September 21, 2022•
by Ellen Ferrera
NP Writer

On September 22, 1960, then Vice President Richard Nixon came to Sullivan to address a crowd at a Buffalo Barbeque Festival. He took one bite from his barbeque sandwich and then left to greet the crowd. In that instant, 14-year-old Steve Jenne grabbed the sandwich and the plate, raced home on his bicycle, had his mother put the sandwich in a plastic baggie, then into a Musselman Applesauce jar, and then into the freezer. Little did he know the sandwich adventures that would follow in the next 60 years.
On Thursday, September 15, 2022 some 30 people gathered at the Moultrie County Historical Society building to hear Jenne recount his story of the famous sandwich and promote his book with publisher Scot England, “The Sandwich That Changed My Life”. Fourteen of the attendees had been at Wyman Park on that famous day in 1960. Read More

Habitat Care-A-Vanners Travel to Build Homes

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Photo by Crystal Reed
Habitat for Humanity care-a-vanners recently visited Lovington Grade to visit with students and talk about volunteering and building homes. Standing (left to right): Marla Graham (Principal), Joelyn Kempf, Bill Kempf (Milan, Illinois), Jennifer Franklin (Homeowner), Gary Smith (Lovington), Ramona Conques (Woodworth, LA), Joe DeLosa, Debbie DeLosa (Celebration, FL), Gene Mueller (Bethany), Judy Fox, Tom Fox (Davenport, IA). Kneeling (left to right): Bob Gillespie (Stevensville, MI) Richard Conques (Woodworth, LA), Chuck Ostrander (Battle Creek, MI)

•September 14, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Recently, construction began on the latest home for Habitat for Humanity in Lovington. A large portion of the labor used to build these homes year after year are care-a-vanners. Care-a-vanners are people who, in some cases, travel all over the country to build homes for the organization. The group that is working on the newest home recently visited Lovington Grade School, ate lunch and answered questions from students about volunteering and building houses. Read More

Bethany Man Finishes Rookie Racing Season

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•September 7, 2022•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Eric Boomer of Bethany, known at the race track as E21, recently finished his rookie season of street stock car racing with a race at Jacksonville Speedway. His ranking before Friday’s race was fifth place in the Midwest Big Ten Street Stock standings, tenth place in points at Macon Speedway, eighth in points at Lincoln Speedway and 23rd in national points in DIRTcar Series. Before he started racing this year, he spent five-seven years racing go carts at Piatt County Speedway. Read More