Photo by Mike Brothers
Harold White of Lovington has spent the past 30 years inside an ambulance, but only been a passenger one time.

Lovington Paramedic honored

•October 14, 2015•

By Mike Brothers

Harold White is a 30 year volunteer with the Lovington Ambulance Service, and on Saturday, October 17 his service will be recognized.

From 10 a.m. until noon Saturday everyone is invited to stop by the Lovington Fire Station, have a snack, a drink and thank him for his service.

White has touched a lot of lives over the past three decades, but it wasn’t exactly part of his original plan.

“Guess you can say I backed in to this,” he began. “When I started, my kids were small, and I just wanted to take the course for the knowledge.”

He was still working at Caterpillar in Decatur then but has since retired from manufacturing life.

“I do something I enjoy,” he said. “If you enjoy doing something, it isn’t a job.”

Community needs overshadowed the pursuit of knowledge, and Harold became one of the most devoted EMTs in the area. He still serves double duty in Lovington and for the Decatur Ambulance Service.

By 1997 White started training other EMTs and still teaches courses throughout the area.

He has taught at Richland Community College, Decatur, Arthur, Bethany and he just finished a class in Lovington.

“There are times I’ve had three classes going at one time,” he said, explaining one of the biggest challenges is finding people to staff volunteer operations such as Lovington. Read More

Photo by Darian Hays
Butterflies are illusive creatures but Francis Seelow of Lovington has found a way to attract them to his garden.

Harvest time

•September 30, 2015•

By Nick Fiala
Reporting from Lovington

To everything there is a season...A time to plant, and a time to harvest - Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

A sunny sky looks down on a yard full of beautiful plant life, a kind of raw oasis in the middle of endless squares of concrete road running through the town of Lovington.

Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, all fly around in a symphony of colorful motion and calming ambience. The habits of each of these creatures are well known to the man who runs the garden they enjoy so.

“They go clear down to South America in the winter.” the man says, pointing at the hummingbirds. “You know, That’s a long ways.”

Hard work over a long distance is something this man, Francis Seelow, knows well. His talent for prolific gardening has earned the attention and gratitude of his friends and neighbors.

Seelow’s talents were honed over a lifetime spent farming endless acres in local counties. His first teacher was his father, who farmed provincially for a living, himself the son of a hard-working immigrant.

“Dad farmed all his life. My grandfather came over here from Germany after World War 1. He was a blacksmith and railroad worker.” Read More

RR Best's drone shot of Saturday night's search.

•September 23, 2015•

By Mike Brothers

Andrew Bathe’s three county tour in a stolen car Saturday ended with him inside the Moultrie County Jail Sunday. His Moultrie County charges include fleeing to elude and disobeying a traffic device.

Sullivan Police Chief John Love explained the chase began at 3:33 p.m. Saturday, Sept 19.

“The officer on patrol observed a vehicle reported stolen from Shelbyville,” Love said, noting this was on Hagerman St. in the north end of Sullivan.

The gray 2007 Ford Focus turned onto N. Market St. running a light and a couple of stop signs as it was heading north toward Lovington.

After the Focus turned onto Market St. the patrol car started pursuit with lights and siren.

Continuing north out of town, the Focus skidded at a T intersection and ended up in a ditch.

The patrolman observed a white male exit the Ford Focus into an adjacent corn field. After a brief foot pursuit, the Sullivan patrolman called for assistance.

Chief Love said that included the Moultrie County Sheriff’s Dept., Sullivan Fire Dept ladder truck, Bob Best and the News Progress drone and Johnny Bill Durbin’s airplane. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
Tom Gregory’s antique tractors form a line behind him and along Highway 121 in Bethany to honor the Farm Progress Show in Decatur. Gregory returned the tractors to the shed after the show and replaced the display with some of his favorite Model A Ford cars and trucks.

•September 9, 2015•

By Mike Brothers

Tom Gregory honored the Farm Progress Show in his own way.

For the past six Progress Shows in Decatur Gregory rolled out his antique tractor collection for display at the south entrance to Bethany.

“It takes a bit of doing, but if I can, I honor farm progress in my own way,” Gregory said of the units ranging from 1929 through the early 30s.

As he walked the line beside Highway 121 Gregory stopped at a tractor that looked like a car. It was a Model A “Doodlebug”. With a tractor kit, a “shade tree mechanic” as he put it, he converted a Model A fire truck into this pulling tractor.

“I bought it from a guy in Wisconsin and entered in the Arthur slow pull contest last year,” he recalled. “I only had it about a month. It wasn’t running right, and I didn’t even know for sure what gear I was in, but I won the contest.” The winning Doodlebug was built in 1939.

On down the tractor line is a mini Caterpillar. He got this 1929 Cat 10 from a guy in Canada and is one of the smallest trak Cat’s ever manufactured. It was used primarily for pulling road graders in the early 30s. Gregory got to display it during a Decatur Caterpillar open house.

A 41-year employee of Caterpillar, Gregory was invited to display this rare tractor in front of the plant.

Included in the tractors are some John Deere Johnny Poppers that are for sale, but one 1936 John Deere Model D that is sentimental.

“That tractor was built the year I was born so I’ll probably just hang on to it.” Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
Walking in the park is the same today as it was 100 years ago except the lake is a little bigger and the trees are mature. Sisters Martina Emrick and Teresa Ingram are taking a morning stroll around the lake on Wyman Park’s 100th birthday.

A century old gift to the city

•September 2, 2015•

By Mike Brothers

It’s a good day to take a walk in the park. And for the people of Sullivan Wyman Park is the best place to take that stroll.

On Sept 1, 2015 the 45 acre Wyman Park at the north edge of the city turned 100 years old.

It was the vision of German immigrant and shoemaker Albert Wyman, a frugal man who took five mile walks every day.

Local resident and Wyman historian Joe Pound got interested in the shoemaker’s life after he and wife Joan returned to Sullivan to retire.

“What intrigued me at first was how a man who came from Germany in his twenties ended up in Sullivan,” Joe said, noting wife Joan, who passed away in July, was his researcher who traced Wyman’s journey along with help from local historian Janet Roney.

Pound, who is also of German ancestry, discovered that Wyman came to Sullivan from Effingham County in 1870 with 65 cents in his pocket.

By the time he gifted the city of Sullivan with $33,000 to establish a park, he was worth more than a million dollars in present day currency value. Read More