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First Time Voters
Beth Slabaugh (center) was with her daughters Annika (left) and Shae (right) when both girls registered and voted for the first time last Wednesday. Annika also had the honor of being the 1,000th early voter.
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A sign in the Sullivan IGA promoting the 9th Annual Round Up which benefits the Moultrie County Food Pantry.
•November 4, 2020•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
It’s Round-Up time at Sullivan IGA from now to Nov 7 giving every customer a chance to help buy turkeys for Moultrie County Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving.
“It’s amazing how quickly it adds up,” IGA Manager Pat Stinson said of the ninth annual fundraising event for the food pantry.
“The most you can donate is 99 cents and even a penny makes a difference” he continued, noting the week long event contributes some $1,200 annually to the food pantry’s Thanksgiving meal giveaway.
Over the course of the week, Stinson explained, some 6,500 transactions at Sullivan IGA check out counter raise the funds a few cents at a time for the food pantry. Read More
Photo by R.R. Best
Students use laptops in the Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library’s IDEA Lab.
•November 4, 2020•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library held an open house for their new IDEA Lab on Oct 22. IDEA stands for Imagine, Design, Engineer and Achieve. The lab is available to students in kindergarten through 12th grade and has a wide variety of activities.
According to Library Director Michelle Nolan, the lab is being made possible by a Project Next Generation grant from the State of Illinois and a donation from 100 Women Who Care. The area features a gaming computer with the Minecraft education edition and that students can use for homework and printing. Read More
Photo by Crystal Reed
Mid-Illinois Senior Services, Inc. held their annual senior expo on Oct 23. This year’s event was a drive-thru expo and they served 160 people. From left to right: Kiley Rodrick, Kathi Garvey, director of Mid-Illinois Senior Services Inc., Tawnya Marshall and Kathy Hawbaker of Green Gardens.
•November 4, 2020•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Mid-Illinois Senior Services Inc. held their annual senior expo on Oct 23 but it was a little different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s event was a drive thru experience where those who had registered drove down the alley between the Senior Center and Thrifty Boutique. Read More
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Accepting Check
Mayor Richard Glazebrook accepts a $100 check from Moultrie County VFW Finance Officer Harry Woolen. These checks were issued by each of the veterans organizations to purchase the two additional POW-MIA signs that were presented to the City of Sullivan by Patrick Freesh of the Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum. These two signs along with the original sign that was awarded to the City will eventually be displayed near the Welcome to Sullivan signs on the three highway approaches into Sullivan, but for the time being, Mayor Glazebrook asked each of the two veteran groups to display them at their facilities.
Photo by Crystal Reed
One Book Presented Check
Sullivan Rotary presented a check for $3,000 to One Book, One Sullivan at last week’s meeting. One Book, One Sullivan will announce this year’s community reading selection on Friday, Nov 20. From left to right: Mike Walters, Blake Eggleston, Rikki Ray, Claire Welch, Linnea Graham and Annie McClellan.
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Accepting Check
Mayor Richard Glazebrook accepts a $100 check from the Sullivan American Legion Post 68 Commander Bob Sims.
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Check Presentation
The Arthur Community Foundation, represented by James Aikman, is seen presenting a check to the Illinois Amish Heritage Center, and President of the Board of Directors, Wilmer Otto. The Foundation provided the Center with a Community Grant of $5,000 to help in the cost of the construction of the Visitor’s Center at the campus of the Living History Farm and Amish Museum. The Visitor’s Center will be open year-round to teach visitors and Arthur-area residents about the history, faith, work, church, family and farming of the Amish. Area school children will visit to learn about agriculture and farm life in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Farming with horse, cattle, other livestock, gardening, food preservation, home life and small Amish businesses will be demonstrated on site for a full learning opportunity.
The Arthur Community Foundation was started as a way for people to give back to the community they call home. Funds received by the foundation are managed professionally and the earnings are used for local charitable projects such as the planned visitor center. Other projects that the Foundation has funded include the ALAH High School 1:1 device initiative, Arthur Police Force K-9 unit, Arthur Park District scoreboard, Douglas County CEO program, scholarships for dual-credit students at ALAH High School, and the Arthur Nursing Home/Eberhardt Village new bus. For more information, to make a request for a Community Grant, or to make a donation, contact James Aikman, Foundation President, at 217-259-9603.
•October 28, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Sullivan Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development and Moultrie County News Progress co-sponsored a candidate forum last Wednesday evening at the Little Theatre on the Square. The moderator for the event was Amanda Standerfer, and time keeper was Laurrie Minor. A video of the forum may be found on the News Progress Facebook page.
The first part of the forum was for Moultrie County Board. Gary Smith was the first to speak. He is a lifetime resident of Moultrie County and was raised on a farm south of Lovington. He went to school in Lovington and graduated from Lake Land College. Upon graduation he began working at the grain elevator in Lovington and finished his 45 years at the elevator, retiring in early October.
He has been mayor of Lovington for more than 20 years as well as the fire chief in Lovington and president of Habitat for Humanity of Moultrie County. Read More
•October 28, 2020•
By Crystal Reed
NP Writer
The Sullivan City Council heard from Pat Stinson, Sullivan IGA store manager about the city’s liquor ordinance. He wants the council to change the ordinance where employees have to be 21 to scan alcohol to 18 years old.
“Most nights I have one 21 year old employee in the building after 5:00 and they run back and forth all night scanning alcohol,” he said. Stinson said that he has an employee that just turned 21 that he schedules ever other weekend 4-9 just to scan alcohol.
He went on to note that there are cameras on every register, back room and service desk. They have 32 cameras in the local store.
The city attorney Andrew Bequette, was present to answer questions. He said that you can restrict the times that the younger person can scan alcohol or serve alcohol in a restaurant. Read More