News Progress

•November 1, 2017•

Members of One Book One Sullivan read diligently all summer long, reading a book from the Rebecca Caudill book list each week. The group’s goal was to choose a book that would be enjoyable to readers of all ages in Sullivan and the surrounding communities. The students will be announcing their 2017-2018 communitywide book Tuesday, November 21 in the middle school gym.

The following is a brief view of the top five selections:

“All Rise for the Honorable Petty T. Cook” by Leslie Connor

Eleven-year-old Perry T. Cook has grown up in the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility, but he is no criminal. Perry’s mother, Jessica, is the inmate --- or resident, rather, as they say at Blue River. Blue River is a minimum security correctional facility in the tiny town of Surprise, Nebraska. And with the warden as Perry’s foster care provider, Perry is allowed to live inside the facility with his mother. Read More

•November 1, 2017•

SBL Lincolnland Home Care and Lincolnland Hospice will conduct a free blood pressure clinic from 8:30 to 9 a.m. Thursday, November 16 at the Senior Center in Sullivan.

For more information, call Lincolnland Home Care at 1-800-879-3212.   Read More

Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Pictured is Peggy Hargis holding the king size Illini quilt that will be featured Saturday.

•November 1, 2017•

Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

An Illini quilt will keep some lucky winner warm and will be presented at the First Christian Church Holiday Market Saturday, Nov. 4.

The bright, orange and blue king-size (102” x 80”) quilt creation has quite a history.

In April, Peggy Hargis sent out a request for U. of I t-shirts, and donations came from Sullivan, Shelbyville, Watseka and even Georgia.

Thirty t-shirts from different U. of I. athletic departments and eras were used to create the quilt. A family of Amish ladies (grandmother, daughter and granddaughter) were contracted for the task. The daughter and granddaughter cut the fronts from the t-shirts and pieced the design together. The grandmother hand-sewed the entire quilt using scrap pieces for the fringe. It is one-of-a-kind, never to be duplicated. Read More

•October 25, 2017•

Smyser Christian Church is hosting “Trunk or Treat” 4-6 p.m. Sun. Oct. 29 on the Sullivan American Legion parking lot at 8 E Strain St. in Sullivan. Church members will be handing out candy from their decorated trunks to the “trunk or treaters.” There will be pony rides, photos, hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks. All children and their families are invited. There is no cost to participate. For more information call 217-752-6896 or go to www.smysercc.org.

Photo submitted
Pictured is Anieta Trame.

•October 25, 2017•

Sewing has been part of Anieta Trame’s life for as long as she can remember, but she had given it up for years.

“I was a home economics teacher at Mattoon Middle School, and when I finished that gig, I thought I would never sew again because I taught it all day long for 19 years. I sold my sewing machine and got rid of everything, and then I had granddaughters,” she said.

Trame purchased a new sewing machine and started teaching her oldest granddaughter Ellie to sew the same way her mother taught her to sew years ago. “Ellie immediately fell in love with it,” Trame said. She now has three granddaughters ages 9, 4 and 18 months and one grandson, age 6, and they all love to sew and create with grandma. “I now have two sewing machines and three sergers which is more than I ever had before,” Trame said.  Read More