No More Pining Away at OVMS

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Photo by RR Best Pictured are those who volunteered to replace the treeline at Okaw Valley Middle School two weeks ago. From left to right: Roger Kirkwood, Lillian Beckett, Nannette Ramsey, and Mike Cummins.

Photo by RR Best
Pictured are those who volunteered to replace the treeline at Okaw Valley Middle School two weeks ago. From left to right: Roger Kirkwood, Lillian Beckett, Nannette Ramsey, and Mike Cummins.

Tree donation replaces those removed last year

by Jake Dilley
Reporting in Findlay

Okay Valley Middle School received a donation from the Findlay Planning Committee two weeks ago in the form of 50 white pine trees.

With a $250 donation to the project from the Findlay Planning Committee and trees from Roger Kirkwood, the task was underway. The original windbreak, planted in 1943, had contracted a disease last year. With the trees literally falling over, they had to be cut down. Mike Cummins, the Okay Valley Middle School principal, was then approached by Kirkwood with a proposal on the new windbreak. 

“Mike was really receptive,” said Kirkwood. “Everything has gone smoothly. Phil Ozier brought in his stump grinder to take care of all the debris after the trees were cut down. Then with the help of Suzi Nolan and Carl Spencer, we got 50 white pine trees in the ground. I was happy to help.” Read More

Benefits to Help Family with Daughter’s Rare Condition

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Only 200 known cases of Trisomy 14 Mosaic known since 1970

by Jake Dilley
Reporting in Sullivan

Faith Lutheran Church will sponsor medical benefits for Sullivan’s Wagner family in the next two weekends, following Presley Wagner, six month old daughter of Andy and Shelbi, being diagnosed with the rare disease Trisomy 14 Mosaic. With only 200 known cases in the world since 1970, it is a lifelong syndrome in which Presley has already taken on some traits, such as cleft hand, conductive hearing loss, slow respiratory development and short/little stature. And while Presley currently sees doctors in Decatur, Springfield, Champaign, and St. Louis, the family doesn’t know what additional traits she may exhibit in the future. Read More

Army Veteran Gets Surprise Thank You Saturday

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Submitted Pictured, center, is Tosha Duzan, an Arthur native and soldier of 22 years who after speaking to a crowd at Church House Treasures in Bethany was surprised with gifts as a thank you for her service.

Submitted
Pictured, center, is Tosha Duzan, an Arthur native and soldier of 22 years who after speaking to a crowd at Church House Treasures in Bethany was surprised with gifts as a thank you for her service.

Arthur native attends, thinking it just a speaking engagement

by Jake Dilley
Reporting in Bethany

With the sun shining, the churchyard and sanctuary festooned in star-spangled ribbons and flowers and service and awareness flags dancing around in the breeze, this was the alluring scene set before  those in attendance Saturday at Natalie Elliott’s Thank-A-Veteran program held at Church House Treasures in Bethany.  Read More

A Hidden Treasure in Bethany

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Photo by Keith Stewart Owner of Church House Treasures, Natalie Elliott, is prepared for her business to enjoy a full second year of operation in Bethany having reopened this month.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Owner of Church House Treasures, Natalie Elliott, is prepared for her business to enjoy a full second year of operation in Bethany having reopened this month.

After difficulties, Church House Treasures looks to a new year

by Emily Scott
& Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Natalie Elliott first opened her antique store, Church House Treasures, last May after reading about the property being for sale in a local publication. Elliott, a St. Joseph native, had never previously been to Bethany, let alone known where it was.

“It was something I wanted to do for a long time,” she said.

Located in the former Presbyterian Church in Bethany, the store featured hundreds of items from clothes to jewelry, to holiday decorations and dishware and anticipated more offerings throughout its first year of business.

But just a few weeks after opening, her husband Dave was involved in a motorcycle accident, putting a halt to the store’s ambitions.

“Everything changed that day,” said Elliott of her husband’s wreck. “Everything.”

Though it remained open off and on last year with the help of Elliott’s friends, the store re-emerged this month, a year old in reality, but truly just beginning. Read More

Perkins Nationally Recognized For Classroom Reading Progress

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Submitted Pictured is Arthur second grade teacher Kirsten Perkins and her class, which was recently recognized for outstanding achievements in reading. Front Row (left to right) Jesus Corona, Amy Otto, Selene Rohr, Samantha VanMeter, and Jaydon Yoder. Back Row (left to right) Malachi Gutierrez, Chris Miller, Hunter Grant, Isaiah Sawyer, Evanger Wiley, Ayla Condill, Kayden Bontrager, and Kirsten Perkins. Not Pictured: Darren Miller, Martha Herschberger, Lacey Knox, and Jaylon Herschberger.

Submitted
Pictured is Arthur second grade teacher Kirsten Perkins and her class, which was recently recognized for outstanding achievements in reading. Front Row (left to right) Jesus Corona, Amy Otto, Selene Rohr, Samantha VanMeter, and Jaydon Yoder. Back Row (left to right) Malachi Gutierrez, Chris Miller, Hunter Grant, Isaiah Sawyer, Evanger Wiley, Ayla Condill, Kayden Bontrager, and Kirsten Perkins.
Not Pictured: Darren Miller, Martha Herschberger, Lacey Knox, and Jaylon Herschberger.

Second grade teacher’s savvy use of software helps students be more proficient readers

by Ariana Cherry
Arthur Reporter

While reading can open up doors to virtually any type of world, it also can lead down a path to a rewarding future. Arthur Elementary School second grade teacher, Kirsten Perkins, is instilling the passion of reading and helping her students set goals that will help them excel in the future by using a program known as Renaissance Learning, a cloud-based educational software based in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin that is used for benchmark testing and supplementary reading assessment. Another subsection of the software, widely known as The Accelerated Reader Program, is also implemented by the school. By using Renaissance Learning, teachers can personalize reading habits and monitor students’ comprehension to optimize growth. Read More

Miss Arthur Pageant Saturday

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The Miss Arthur Pageant will be held this Saturday at the Arthur-Lovington High School beginning at 7 p.m. There will be three categories this year, pre-teen, Jr. Miss, and Miss. The following will participate in the pageant: Read More

OVHS Drama Club to Present “Afternoon of the Elves”

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Submitted Pictured are Hillary (Brianna Creviston), left, and Sarah Kate (Gretchen Macklin), right, exploring the wonders of the Elves Village during the OVHS drama club’s production “Afternoon of the Elves,” which will be on stage at the high school May 9 and 10.

Submitted
Pictured are Hillary (Brianna Creviston), left, and Sarah Kate (Gretchen Macklin), right, exploring the wonders of the Elves Village during the OVHS drama club’s production “Afternoon of the Elves,” which will be on stage at the high school May 9 and 10.

The Okaw Valley High School Drama Club will present “Afternoon of the Elves” at 7 p.m. May 9 and 10 in the OVHS Gym.

“Afternoon of the Elves” was adapted by Y York from the Newbury Award Honor book by Janet Taylor Lisle. The play addresses the power of imagination, the need to fit in and be popular as well as the stigma of mental illness.

Just as fourth grader, Hillary Lenox, finds herself being accepted as part of the “mighty three” with popular girls Jane and Allison, next door neighbor and outcast Sarah Kate invites her to share in the wonder of the elf village that has mysteriously appeared in the Connolly’s backyard. Hillary discovers that Sara Kate’s backyard hides not only an elf village but a terrible secret that takes on a life and horror of its own. Read More

Not Your Ordinary Clothesline 

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Photo by Keith Stewart Tiffany Hammer (right), owner of the new consignment shop the Clothesline in Sullivan, is seen next to her employee Donna Scheffer in the former Goldie’s Front Porch restaurant building, which now sits full of clothing and other accessories for sale.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Tiffany Hammer (right), owner of the new consignment shop the Clothesline in Sullivan, is seen next to her employee Donna Scheffer in the former Goldie’s Front Porch restaurant building, which now sits full of clothing and other accessories for sale.

Sullivan’s newest consignment shop opens

by Ariana Cherry
Sullivan/Arthur Reporter

As a child, Tiffany Hammer didn’t receive clothes from consignment stores or garage sales.

“I was spoiled growing up. I always had new name brand clothes. It wasn’t until I grew up and had a family of my own, that I realized how expensive things are and how fast my daughter goes through clothes. But now my mother and I both love to go garage sale shopping together.” she explained.  Read More

Marrowbone Library Addition Nears Completion

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Ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday

by Emily Scott
Bethany Reporter

After more than 20 years of saving, planning, and applying for grants, co-directors Sally Ascenzo and Lisa Spracklen of the Marrowbone Library in Bethany are finally seeing their dreams, and no doubt the public’s, come true.

“Finding out we were getting the addition after so many years of dreaming about it was very exciting,” Spracklen said. Read More

Sullivan Family Farm Earns 150 Year Status

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Photo by Keith Stewart Daniel Terzo Jr. stands next to the official placard designating his family farm a sesquicentenial farm, located off of Patterson Road in Sullivan.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Daniel Terzo Jr. stands next to the official placard designating his family farm a sesquicentenial farm, located off of Patterson Road in Sullivan.

Oldest family farm on record in Moultrie at 178 years

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

James Patterson, along with his son James and his grandson Levi, first came to Sullivan in 1832. Six years later, the family farm was established through a land grant just off of present-day Patterson road (no coincidence). Through eight generations the farm stayed in the family–all 178 years–eventually finding its way to Daniel Terzo Jr. and sister Leslie Coretti, the great grandchildren, five times over, of the first James Patterson. And more recently, in light of this fact, the family farm was honored through the Illinois Department of Agriculture sesquicentennial farm program. Read More