Moultrie County Beacon to Celebrate 55th Anniversary July 15

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•July 12, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Moultrie County Beacon will celebrate their 55th Anniversary with a celebration called Jeepin’ for the Moultrie County Beacon on Saturday, July 15 at Sullivan American Legion Post 68. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will include a jeep run with registration beginning at 10 a.m. and departure at 11 a.m. The run is $10 per person. Also available will be food vendors, a bake sale, activities and crafts for the kids, 50/50 raffle and silent auction and musical performances by Shawn Dawson at 4 p.m. and Pizzazz at 6 p.m. Admission for the bands is $5. All proceeds go to Moultrie County Beacon.
Beacon Director Susan Rauch said the beginnings of the organization can be traced back to November 1966 when House Bill 708 was passed by the Illinois General Assembly which allowed tax revenue to be used for services for individuals with developmental disabilities and mental health issues. A group of local business people began working to establish funding within Moultrie County, and on February 28,1968, the Moultrie County Beacon, Inc. was established. Read More

Moultrie-Sullivan Fair Held 2023

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photos by Crystal Reed
Moultrie-Sullivan Fair Held
The Moultrie-Sullivan was held on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24. The fair included a cattle show, goat show, poultry and rabbits as well as a swine show. There were also non-livestock categories such as arts and crafts, clothing and foods. Results from the fair will be printed in a future edition.

Sullivan Students Become National Champions at UTA Taekwondo Championships

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Austin and Annika Kelley of Sullivan with the hardware they came home with from the UTA Taekwondo Grand National Championships.

•July 5, 2023•
Five students from Taekwondo Master Roberts in Mattoon traveled to Plano, TX from Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 to compete in the UTA Taekwondo Grand National Championships. All 5 students won a National Championship title in their age/rank division while competing down there. Among these 5 students were 2 of our very own Sullivan residents, Austin and Annika Kelley.
Annika Kelley, a 3rd grade student at Sullivan Elementary is the 2023 National Champion in Creative Weapons and Traditional Weapons (in the 5-8 year old Intermediate weapons division). This was her first time competing in Nationals, and she took home 2 National titles for weapons. Annika was introduced to Bo staff techniques by Master Roberts in class and has continued to expand and create her own routines and work on new techniques at home. Read More

Bike Blessing and Freedom Ride

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photo by Crystal Reed
Bike Blessing and Freedom Ride
Motorcycle riders pray before departing on a freedom ride on Saturday, July 1 in the parking lot at New Life Church.

Sullivan Resident Inducted into Wyotech Hall Of Fame

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•July 5, 2023•
Zeth Key, a Sullivan resident and Sullivan High School alumnus, was recently inducted into the inaugural Wyotech Hall of Fame. He was one of six Wyotech grads to be inducted. Wyotech is a trade school located in Laramie, Wyoming.
The six that were selected for the honor were picked out of students from as far back as 1966 when the university started and were chosen out of 60,000 graduates over the entire history of the school. Graduates had to be nominated by someone or multiple people then the selection committee deliberated regarding the qualifications of each nominee which included success, integrity, work ethic, giving back to the trade industry and your community.
Key first started getting interested in working on cars when he bought his first car, a 1977 Chevy Nova, and started working on it with his dad. In high school he took automotive technology classes with Joe Scribner and mentored at a GM/Chrysler dealership called HPR automotive. Read More

ALAH School Board Approves $0.25 Increase to School Lunches

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•July 5, 2023•
by Ariana R. Cherry

After several years of not adjusting lunch prices, the ALAH School Board approved a $0.25 increase at their school board meeting held Wednesday, June 21. The school district is currently looking at a loss of $17,000 due to unpaid lunch bills, increases in food and operating expenses. With the new increase, the cost of elementary student lunches will be $3.15, and the cost for junior high and high school will be $3.25. There also is a $0.10 raise for the cost of breakfast. Superintendent Shannon Cheek stated that for the district to break even, they should be charging about $3.80, but with the $0.25 increase, it should at least get the district moving in the right direction.
Along with approving an increase to school lunches, the board also approved the final year for its Aramark food contract. The district has been in contract with them for five years. Next year, there is a plan to take bids to see what other companies are available. The cost to this year’s Aramark contract was raised 11% due to inflation.
Other items discussed/voted on include: Read More

The Buzz About Honeybees

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photo by Crystal Reed
The Buzz About Honeybees
Marrowbone Public Library Co-Director Lisa Spracklen presented “The Buzz About Honey Bees” on Thursday, June 29 as part of the library’s summer reading program. Attendees learned about the equipment and tools used by bee keepers and other facts about bee keeping.

Arthur Village Board Hears about Dementia Friendly Moultrie County

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•June 28, 2023•
by Ariana R. Cherry

“Dementia is a symptom of a disease,” stated Sheila Greuel, an independent consultant with the East Central Illinois Area on Aging who gave a presentation about a Dementia Friendly Moultrie County at the Arthur Village Board on June 19. It is a symptom of other diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. According to the Illinois Department on Aging, there were about 220,000 people living with Alzehimer’s disease in 2018, and that number is expected to increase by 18.2% by 2025 (260,000).
Greuel has been working with Moultrie County to do a community wide assessment of dementia. There are about 26 states that are now considered “Dementia friendly,” with Great Britain being the first country to be labeled as such. Illinois is now on its way to becoming a “Dementia Friendly” state also. A person who is considered “Dementia Friendly” has been trained professionally or casually on how to interact with someone who has dementia. Read More

City Council Tables Invitation of Bids For City Building Project

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•June 28, 2023•
by Crystal Reed

The Sullivan City Council tabled the possible approval and issuance of an invitation of bids for the City Building project during the Monday, June 26 meeting. Commissioner Abbey Sherwood said she was touching base to see if there were any additional questions in regards to the project. Commissioner Doug Shook said that even though the basement has been eliminated from the bids he noted they would still have to excavate down.
“Even though the basement is not going in the contractor will have to do a significant amount of excavation into the existing rock to get that soil bearing pressure,” he said. He said they would potentially need to go down 8 to 10 feet. Shook had ADA questions but they were cleared up with the plans. Shook estimated they would be in the 4-5 million dollar range to get that building built.
Commissioner Mike Kirk said he is not opposed to a new city building, he is opposed to the timing. He noted there a numerous projects that are upcoming that they don’t know the cost of. Commissioner Chuck Woodworth brought up the possibility of withdrawing some of the Titus funds and use them for the new city building. Commissioner Sherwood said she can’t get on board with using Titus funds for this purpose. Read More