News from the Heart of Amish Country

Vol. 109, No. 3
News from the Heart of Amish Country
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Serving Eastern Moultrie, Western Douglas, and Southern Piatt Counties
School board tours
Lovington Grade School,
enters into contract
to resurface HS track
By ROGER W. BONHAM
Managing Editor
The January 14 meeting of the Arthur Community Unit 305 Board of Education was held at Lovington
Grade School.
Prior to the meeting,
board members toured areas
of the building where asbestos materials were replaced
during the summer.
Superintendent
Kenny Schwengel reported he
is continuing to work with
Grunloh to resolve a problem with floor tiles in the
new junior high wing at Arthur Grade School.
Board members directed the superintendent to
continue pursuing student
interest in the “LakeLand
Academy” program proposed
by LakeLand College.
The program allows high
school students to enroll in
a college vocational course,
such as auto mechanics, and
receive college credit and
credit towards high school
graduation.
Principal Buck Condill
feels five to eight students
might be interested in the
program although results
of a quick survey indicated
lower interest.
It has been seven years
since the all-weather track
at Wilson Field was resurfaced. It is time again. The
board authorized paying
Midwest Tracks $44,000 to
resurface the track.
Superintendent Schwengel said the expense can be
paid over two years. Sales
tax money will be used to
pay for the expense.
“It has to be done,” commented Jake Kamm. “It’s
used by the community as
well as the school. A lot of
people go out there to walk,
even people from Lovington.”
Resurfacing will begin in
July after the fireworks.
The board authorized relocating the “Rajah” sign in
a stone that formerly was located at the site of AtwoodHammond High School to
the property known as the
“Pea Patch.” The property
was given to the Village of
Atwood and will be used as
a small park. The sign will
be located at the entrance to
the park.
The board authorized
hiring J.D. Graham to be
head soccer coach at the
high school and Zach Freed
and Kendall Huffman to be
co-directors of the school
play, also at the high school.
Arthur Grade School
Principal’s Report
Kindergarten pre-registration will be held February
3-5 during regular school
hours in the grade school office.
Pre-school
screening
will be February 17-19 at
First Baptist Church. Parents may register their 3- to
5-year-old children at the
same time they come in for
kindergarten pre-registration.
Police Chief Mike Goodman will begin the Drug
Abuse Resistance Education
(DARE) program in February. The DARE class is for
sixth graders.
He will conduct an informational meeting with parents at 6 p.m. on January 26
in the grade school cafeteria.
Students are less than
half way towards meeting
their reading goal of 50,000
books. They read 22,846
books through first semester. They need 27,514.
Atwood-Hammond
Grade School
Principal’s Report
The drama team, coach­
(Continued on Page 14)
County Fair Queen Pageant
held over the weekend at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel in
Springfield.
Meyer is the 18-yearold daughter of Dan and
1.00
Arthur, Illinois 61911
News
Briefs
Woman’s Club
scholarship
applications
available
PERFORMANCE HALL GOING UP. Graber Building employees work on constructing the
exterior walls of the new Penn Station building on East Progress Street in Arthur. The
facility will be the new home of the Gunny Sack Revue. Photo courtesy of Bob Doan.
Fourth Annual Outdoor Expo
to feature vendors, exotic animals
By KENT A. STOCK
Staff Writer
The Fourth Annual Central Illinois Outdoor Expo
will be held Friday and Saturday, February 13 and 14.
The venue for the show will
be the Otto Center located
on County Line Road onequarter mile south of downtown Arthur.
The Fourth Annual Expo
will have a full list of vendors
ranging from hunting, fishing, archery, and taxidermy
to hiking, camping, boating,
bird calls, lures, generators,
and chainsaws as well as information on conservation of
our natural resources.
The list of vendors has
grown each year and 2015
is no exception with over
70 coming to exhibit at the
show.
If you and your family like to spend time in the
great outdoors, the Outdoor
Expo will be a great way to
preview all the latest equipment and information to
help you do just that.
Seminars will be held
both days of the event by
area outdoor experts. Jim
Crowley, North American
fishing expert, will be in
Saturday for one of his entertaining and informative
seminars.
Dave Shadow, champion fisherman and popular
outdoors writer, will be on
hand both days to talk about
hunting, fishing, and the
great outdoor opportunities
we have here in central Illinois.
Seminars on deer hunting and management by Real World Whitetails of Casey,
sponsored by Kitchen Seeds,
will be open to Expo attendees as will talks by experts
from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
(IDNR).
Also on hand will be experienced dog handlers from
The Quail Shed to talk about
training and upland game
hunting.
Miss Moultrie-Douglas Maria Meyer
named Third Runner-Up in state pageant
Maria Meyer, 2014 Miss
Moultrie-Douglas
County
Fair Queen, was Third Runner-Up after being named
one of the Top 15 finalists
during the 2015 Miss Illinois
$
Dena Meyer of Tuscola. She
is a senior at Tuscola High
School.
Miss Richland County Sadie Gassmann was
crowned 2015 Miss Illinois
The 56th Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Pageant was held as part of the annual convention of the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield
January 16-18. Pictured are Meredith Timmons, 4th Runner-Up (Clinton County); Maggie
Schlindwein, 2nd Runner-Up (Henry County); 2015 Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Sadie
Gassmann (Richland County); Brianna Klein, 1st Runner-Up (Morgan County) and Maria
Meyer, 3rd Runner-Up (Moultrie-Douglas). Back row are Summer Robins the 2014 Miss
Illinois County Fair Queen (Montgomery County) and Ron Meyer, president of the IAAF.
Photo was submitted.
County Fair Queen; Miss
Morgan County Brianna
Klein was First Runner-Up;
Miss Henry County Maggie Schlindwein took Second
Runner-Up; Miss MoultrieDouglas Maria Meyer was
Third Runner-Up; and Miss
Clinton County Meredith
Timmons was named Fourth
Runner-Up.
Other Top 15 finalists included Miss Montgomery
County Shayla Grosenheider, Miss Stark County
Emily Pasker, Miss Schuyler County Melissa Ervin;
Miss
Marion
County Morgan Belcher, Miss
Okawville County Kelsey
Zapp, Miss Iroquois County
Brittany Fischer, Miss Vermillion County Amie Harvey;
Miss Clay County Tia
Rinehart, Miss Coles County Lacey Solomon, and
Miss Perry County Melaina
Harsy.
Non-finalist
awards
win­ners included FarmerCity/Dewitt County Lauren
Skarupa
(Communication
Skills); Pana-Tri County Abigail Burgener (Personal Interview);
Marshall-Putnam County Elizabeth Rice (Beauty and Physique), and Jersey County Lauren Knight
(Stage Presence).
The Ruby Crum award
went to Miss Perry County
Melaina Harsy.
Sponsors and organizers are excited about the
return of exotic animals
from Maple Lane Wildlife
Farms from Topeka, Indiana. They will again have
live animal displays, which
this year will feature new
animals such as a bull elk,
grizzly bear, two alligators,
ring-tailed lemurs, squirrel
monkeys, blue macaw, and
an exotic species of sheep
called the Aoudad which is
native to North Africa. The
popular white tiger will return as well. The exhibit is a
great addition to this family
friendly event.
Each day there will be
numerous giveaways as well
as door prizes supplied by
event vendors and others.
Millrich Custom Graphics
will be on hand selling souvenir T-shirts for the Expo,
and food will be available
on site at the exhibition. On
Friday and Saturday both,
there will be a grand prize
drawing for a $250 Cabela’s
gift card.
“We still have a few
spots open for exhibitors,”
according to one of the event
organizers, James Aikman.
You can obtain more information on the event sponsored by the Arthur Association of Commerce by visiting
www.arthuroutdoorexpo.
com, or you can call Millrich
Outdoors at (217) 543-3848.
Central Illinois Outdoor
Expo will open at noon on
Friday, February 13, and
continue until 8 p.m. that
evening. Saturday, February 14, the hours for the exposition are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There is a $5 admission fee
for adults. Kids 12 years old
and younger are admitted
free of charge.
UMC youth
to sell subs
for the ‘Big Game”
Arthur United Methodist Church youth will once
again be selling sub sandwiches for the Big Game on
Sunday, Feb. 1!
The sandwiches are
made on La Gondola bread
and are made of ham, turkey, and cheese. Subs are $6
each.
Please see one of the
youth group members, call
the church at 543-3159, or
send e-mail to aumchurch@
consolidated.net to place
your order.
Pickup time is 1 p.m.
on February 1. Please pay
for your order at the time of
pickup. Funds raised go toward special mission trips
and summer camps. Thank
you for your support!
Arthur
Woman’s
Club will award educational scholarships for
Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond students.
Any interested graduating senior or continuing education student
may pick up an application at the high school
guidance counselor’s office. Applications must
be completed and returned to the counselor
no later than Wednesday, April 1, 2015.
Anyone with questions about the scholarship or application process should call Tish Farris at 543-2146 or Woman’s Club Scholarship
Committee chair Cheryl
Hilgenberg at 543-3272.
Scholarship winners
will be notified in May.
Sunnyside
to host guest
speaker Jan. 28
Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Chesterville will host a presentation by Deaniel Yoder
from Ransom Ministries
at 7 p.m. on Wednesday,
January 28.
Everyone is welcome
to attend. For more information about the speaker, contact Loyd Gingerich at (217) 273-0751.
Ransom Ministries
is located in Chiang Mai,
Thailand. The goal of
Ransom Ministries is to
bring pleasure to God by
rescuing women at risk
or in prostitution in the
red light district of Chiang Mai.
Come out and hear
how God is working on
the other side of the
world in the lives of
women who are hurting.
EMTs to host
annual chili
supper Feb. 7
Arthur EMTs will
sponsor their 10th annual Chili Supper on Saturday, February 7, at the
firehouse on Route 133
West.
Serving begins at 4
p.m. and continues until
8. The evening includes a
live auction beginning at
5 p.m. It features items
donated by area merchants.
Menu includes all
you can eat chili, peanut
butter and cheese spread
sandwiches, drinks, and
homemade desserts.
Proceeds will be used
for training purposes to
allow the emergency responders to provide high
quality service to the
community.
Anyone having questions concerning the
chili supper and auction
should contact Stephani
Poe, event chairperson.
Mackville
Mackville, a bluegrass group from Atwood, will sing at Arcola First Church of the
Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. on
Sunday, January 25.
The church is located at 418 East Madison
in Arcola.