4-H Oral Communications Contest results announced

    Logan County 4-H recently held its annual Oral Communications Contest.  State Fair delegates selected included Kelly Dowling (Original Works), Lincoln; Emily Bakken (Illustrated Speech), Lincoln; Abrigail Sasse (Original Works), Beason; and Amanda Davison (Illustrated Speech), Beason. Selected as State Fair alternates were Andrew Fulton (Illustrated Speech), Lincoln; and Natalie Coers (Illustrated Speech), Emden.  All were blue award winners.  Also receiving a blue award was Mathew Runyon, Broadwell.   Emily Bakken was selected as the top oral communicator and received a plaque sponsored by Logan County 4-H Foundation. 

Judges for this year's contests were Sara McCawley of New Holland and Kathy Litherland of Atlanta.

Oral communication is a life skill taught and practiced in 4-H.  To find out more about the program, contact the Logan County Extension Office, at 122 S. McLean St. in Lincoln or call 732-8289.

Choirs hit the road; Bible Bowl teams hit the Book
    The junior high and senior high choirs of Lincoln Christian Church are hitting the road this summer to spread the Word of God through music. And to help raise money for their tour, the choirs are offering a pancake and sausage breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in the Fellowship Center at Lincoln Christian Church, 204 N. McLean St. Tickets to the breakfast cost $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for students 12 and under.

The senior high choir, known as the Good News choir, is directed by Tim Searby and will leave Friday, June 9, and return Sunday, June 18. They will perform at seven churches throughout Illinois, Florida and Georgia. Upon their return to Lincoln, the choir will perform at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Christian Church. HeartSong, the junior high choir directed by Karen Gerdts, will tour June 1 through 4, performing at several churches in Illinois and Southeast Missouri.

This marks the 27^th year that the youth choirs have gone on tours around the United States. Tracy Thomas, youth minister at Lincoln Christian Church, says the purpose of the choir tours is “to bring the message of the gospel to people in a unique format, and show that young people are committed to the gospel.”

Also starting at 7 a.m. in the Fellowship Center is a yard sale to raise funds for the Bible Bowl teams. The teams will be traveling to the national Bible Bowl Tournament, which will take place during the North American Christian Convention July 10 though 14 in Louisville, Ky.

The teams have been studying texts from Acts chapters 13 through 28, 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. During the yard sale, the students will participate in a “studyathon” to prepare for the event. At the tournament, they will compete against approximately 250 teams from across the nation. Last year, the top team from the church placed 14^th.

For more information about the yard sale or breakfast, contact the church office at 732-7618.

[Katherine Heller]

Lincoln College Music Department will present its annual Spring Concert on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m. at the Johnston Center for Performing Arts on the campus of Lincoln College. The concert is free and open to the public, but reserved seating is required. To reserve seats, people should call 735-5050, extension 280.

This year’s program, "Spring Sound Explosion," features music performed by the Lincoln College Jazz Ensemble, the Sophistikatz (women’s choir), Lincoln Harmony (men’s choir), Lincoln Express (show choir) and Lincoln College Dynamics (men’s and women’s choir group). Lincoln College music professor Bill Buffington will direct the show. Musical selections will range from upbeat love songs to the patriotic "America the Beautiful."

Garage and bake sale will be Saturday at Faith Lutheran Church

Faith Lutheran Church, 2320 North Kickapoo in Lincoln, will have a garage and bake sale Saturday, April 29, from 7 a.m. to noon. A Buck-A-Bag sale will be from 11 a.m. to noon. There will be many items for sale. The event is sponsored by Dorcas Guild, the church choir, AAL and Lutheran Brotherhood.

A sale of material suitable for craft projects will be Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, at the Oasis Senior Center in downtown Lincoln. Times are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. The sale will be in the craft room, which has its entrance on Kickapoo Street. Items on sale include yarn, craft squares, craft remnants, quilt blocks and quilt remnants, loom warp, crochet thread, upholstery squares, pins, thread, hoops, zippers, buttons and crochet fans, bells, umbrellas and baskets.

Rural loan program awards State Bank

Jill Apell, Rural Development state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was in Lincoln recently to present the State Bank of Lincoln with a “Certificate of Merit.”

Rural Development makes loans and grants in rural Illinois to create jobs, provide needed services to communities and make home ownership possible for hundreds of families. There are 128 full-time employees in 20 local offices, and the total assistance provided in Illinois during the last fiscal year was $214,226,440.

One of the most used programs is the Guaranteed Rural Housing loan program. Rural Development currently has 6,861 Guaranteed Rural Housing loans in Illinois, for a total of over $348 million. The current budget for this program is $3.2 billion dollars. The program allows eligible families to obtain 100 percent, 30-year fixed rate loans.

When the program started in December of 1991, the State Bank of Lincoln was the first bank in Illinois to agree to participate. Since then, State Bank has been a leader in the state of Illinois in making and servicing Guaranteed Rural Housing loans. Illinois now has over 275 lenders that process these loans.

State Bank made loans totaling more than $5 million the last 12 months. State Bank of Lincoln also buys loans from 80 banks throughout Illinois and has a portfolio of 1,325 Guaranteed Housing Loans totaling over $61 million. This represents the largest volume of Guaranteed Rural Housing loans serviced by any bank in Illinois. With the help of banks like the State Bank of Lincoln, Illinois has the largest volume of Guaranteed Housing loans of any state this fiscal year.

Volunteers needed to protect nursing home residents’ rights

I CARE, a Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, is conducting initial training for prospective volunteers to become certified ombudsmen. The training is Saturday, April 29, at the Lincoln Public Library (Keys Room), from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. People can take the training and then decide if they want to volunteer.

I CARE, a Department of Aging program, is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of residents’ rights in long-term care facilities. A resident within a long-term care facility maintains the basic constitutional and civil rights assured to all citizens. Fundamental rights guaranteed to every resident are these:

• The right to choice and autonomy to the maximum extent possible;

• The right to safety and good care to assure that residents achieve the highest practical level of functioning and well-being possible;

• The right to clear and complete information about medical conditions and treatment; and

• The right to participate in the care plan conference that specifies what care the facility will provide.

For reservations for the training session, please contact Erin Strotheide by phone at (800) 842-8538 or by e-mail at icare@i-care.org.

Zonta Club of Lincoln reports on April meeting

The Zonta Club of Lincoln met Tuesday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Elks Club in Lincoln. The speaker for the evening was Doug Clemins, representing the "Wings of Hope" organization. "Wings of Hope" is a volunteer, non-sectarian, apolitical organization whose mission is to save lives and to improve the quality of life for people all over the world. The group works with international health organizations and with missionaries of all faiths. "Wings of Hope" is headquartered at Lambert Field in St. Louis and has 122 airplanes, seven of which work in the remote areas of the United States, such as Appalachia and the Southwest.

The Zonta budgets for the 2000-2001 fiscal year were presented by Kay Bauer, chairman of the operating budget, and by Pat Shay, chairman of the service project committee.

Members were reminded of the spring workshop April 29 at Charleston.

The next Zonta meeting, with the installation service, will be Tuesday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Elks Club.

Blood donor update

Lincoln Christian College will be the site for an American Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, May 2, from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

Mitchell-Newhouse Lumber Company will sponsor the Red Cross blood drives at the Lincoln Sports Complex on May 3 and 17. Hours both days will be from 12 to 5 p.m.

During April, the following persons reached goals in their blood donations: Gary D. Liesman, 13 gallons; Roger Alberts and Guy Wands, five gallons each; Marilyn Wheat and Sandra Wilmert, three gallons each; Tim Smith, two gallons; and Ruth D. Freeman, one gallon.

First-time donors are always welcome. All donors may call 800-728-3543, extension 1441, to schedule an appointment to give blood or to receive more information.

ALMH accepts applications for summer teen volunteers

Applications are currently being accepted for this summer’s teen volunteer program at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital.

Teen volunteers work throughout the hospital, performing a variety of duties in many different departments. To be eligible for the program, teens must be an eighth grade graduate and must complete an application form that includes personal references. All teen volunteers must also complete the training session scheduled on Friday, June 9, from 9 a.m. to noon at the hospital.

Applications are available at ALMH from Barbara Dahm, director of volunteer and special services. Applications should be filled out and returned in person to the volunteer office as soon as possible. A brief interview will be conducted at that time. For more information, call 217-732-2161, ext. 184.

New vice-president and trust officer at Logan County Bank

Logan County Bank is pleased to welcome Michael J. Kelly as their new vice-president and trust officer. Mike worked for a community bank and farm management department in Macomb for nearly 12 years. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1987 and has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture economics. He is a member of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers and has been an accredited farm manager since 1994.

Mike, his wife, Mary, and their two children will be relocating to Lincoln in the near future.   Logan County Bank’s Trust Department offers a full range of services including estate administration, farm management, guardianship, IRAs, trusts, management of custodial accounts, pensions and retirement funds, employee benefit plans, and financial planning. Logan County Bank is located at 303 Pulaski St. in Lincoln.

Citizens in Lincoln will join thousands of individuals around the country as part of the National Trust’s Historic Preservation Week celebration. "Taking the Past Into the Future" is the theme of the week, with events scheduled May 7-14.

Citizens in Lincoln will join thousands of individuals around the country as part of the National Trust’s Historic Preservation Week celebration. "Taking the Past Into the Future" is the theme of the week, with events scheduled May 7-14.

"The millennium is a time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. "This year’s theme celebrates that link between past and future, challenging us to plan for the issues that will confront us in the years to come. It is essential that we be vigilant, flexible and well-informed in order to deal with the rapid changes that are sure to have an impact on our irreplaceable historic treasures."

Students in grades four through eight are encouraged to write a one-page paper on the "Most Historically Influential Lincoln Resident." One winning entry from each grade will win an entertainment package and be recognized on May 7 at the Taste of Lincoln. Entries must be submitted by May 1 to the Main Street Lincoln Office on the second floor of the Union Planters Bank building, 303 S. Kickapoo in Lincoln.

As a prelude to Historic Preservation Week, the "Lincoln Legacy Quiz" will begin in The Courier May 1 and run daily through May 6. Readers can answer the five questions posted each day and send the results to the Main Street Lincoln office. The participant with the highest number of correct responses will win dinner for two at a local restaurant and will be recognized May 7 at the Taste of Lincoln.

A May 3-14 drive by tour of architecturally significant homes, sponsored by the Logan County Board of Realtors and The Courier, will be featured in a special insert on May 3. The insert will include a brief description of the homes and a numbered map so the public can enjoy a leisurely look at all of Lincoln’s treasures.

Mayor Joan Ritter will present the annual awards for Historic Preservation at 11:45 a.m. Sunday, May 7, on the north lawn of the Logan County Courthouse during the Taste of Lincoln. Awards are available in both residential and non-residential categories for preservation, exterior rehabilitation and sympathetic addition. For more information or to make a nomination, call the Main Street Lincoln office. Homes included in the drive by tour are not automatically nominated for an award.

[Lincoln City Hall --
The LaFrance fire truck shown was purchased
by the city in 1924 and retired in 1970.]

Historic displays will be in the windows of many downtown businesses May 6-14 for Historic Preservation Week. Some windows will feature Western Illinois Regional History Fair entries by junior high students from Zion Lutheran School and New Holland/Middletown.

"More Love Than Money Restoration" will be the theme of a workshop to be held Wednesday, May 10, at 7 p.m. in the Union Planter's Bank Conference Room on the second floor at 303 S. Kickapoo. Mike Fak will share low-cost tips on how to renovate your home and give examples. There is no fee and pre-registration is not necessary.

Also that evening, Ruth Sloot from Lincoln Community High School will showcase the project on historic homes compiled by civics classes this year. This will be the first opportunity for residents whose homes were included in the project to see the results.

Another historically based event, the Elkhart Chatauqua, will be May 21 on Elkhart Hill from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on the Chatauqua, call 217/947-2323.

Historic Preservation Week is based on the 29-year-old tradition of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is sponsored locally by the city of Lincoln and Main Street Lincoln with financial support from Beans ’N Such and the Blue Dog Inn. For more information on the activities, people can call the Main Street Lincoln office at 732-2929.

[LDN ed.]

Free dance lessons begin April 27 in Mason City

The Mason City Historical Society is sponsoring free dance lessons for the next four weeks so that people can  learn to "strut their stuff" for the Civil War ball and band performance at the park pavilion Saturday, May 27, for Mason City's Living History Weekend . The society feels that more people will enjoy themselves at the ball if they are familiar with a few period dance steps.

The free dance lessons will begin Thursday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Mason City Civic Center, 120 N. Main St. People of all skill levels with or without a partner are invited to sign up.

Baby-sitting clinic scheduled Saturday

A free baby-sitting clinic will be offered Saturday, April 29, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Young people in sixth, seventh and eighth grades who are interested in learning how to be safe and successful baby sitters are invited to attend.

The clinic, sponsored by the Lincoln Junior Woman’s Club and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, will cover numerous topics such as basic and emergency first aid, safety while baby-sitting, and basic child care for young children. Participants will also learn about the business of baby-sitting and how to do a professional job. Speakers will include professional paramedics, nurses, police officers and parents.

The clinic will be held in the basement Conference Room A at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, 315 Eighth St. Registration is required, and the clinic is limited to the first 40 who sign up. Registration can be made by calling 217-732-3118 or by writing to the Lincoln Junior Woman’s Club, Box 152, Lincoln, IL 62656.

Relay for Life raises money for cancer research

It is said that love makes the world go around. And with love, comes service. This past weekend the Logan County Unit of the American Cancer Society held its third annual Relay for Life at the Lincoln Park District facility. About 55 teams participated in the local event. Kathy Blaum and Mary Ellen Martin, co-chairs, spent countless hours planning, preparing and participating in this year’s walk-a-thon, which raises money for cancer research. Both women are cancer survivors.

The funds raised are divided in this way: research, 22%; detection and treatment, 13.6%; prevention, 18.5%; information and patient services, 17.8%; fundraising, 22%; administrative expense, 6.5%.

Last year's Relay netted over $51,000.00, used specifically for an updated Cancer Information Database; Reach to Recovery, a support program for newly diagnosed women; Tell-a-Friend, a phone-tree program to help women get baseline mammograms; and other programs and services to encourage early detection and prevention.

"Being a cancer survivor, I wanted more people to understand how early detection saves lives.  By raising money for research–soon we will find a cure.  Until then we need to support the best programs," says Kathy Blaum.

Local volunteers like Kathy Blaum and Mary Ellen Martin join people such as Dr. Gordon Klatt, who in 1985 took the first step of his 24-hour marathon in a Relay for Life and raised $27,000.00 for the American Cancer Society.

The community can help support the Relay for Life next year by volunteering their time in the walk-a-thon or by donating items for the silent auction.

Mary Ellen Martin, the event co-chair, says, "The community benefits from the money raised at  ‘Relay for Life’ because it is an investment in their future."

[Jeaneen Ray]

[LDN ed.]

[Kathy Blaum at the microphone]

(See also: "Relay for Life" chart on
By the Numbers page)

Atlanta 4-H club invites youth from town to join

The members of the Atlanta Town and Country 4-H club invite eligible youth from town to join. Jeff Jones, the club reporter, says, "4-H isn’t just for people who live in the country. There are lots of things for a guy or a girl from town to do." Activities include cooking, growing flowers, woodworking, small engines, arts, crafts and herb gardening. For more information, people can call 217-648-2973.

Panel tells impact of drunk driving

    “Drunk driving is not an accident.  It is 100 percent avoidable.  My daughter was killed by a drunk driver,” George Murphy of Jacksonville told a group of about 40 Tuesday night at a Victim Impact Panel at the Lincoln Recreation Center.

    The panel of four, all members of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), told their stories, three from the point of view of victims and one from the other side of the issue, the experience of a young man convicted of drunk driving.

They also told those present, especially the dozen young people, not to drink and drive, and urged them to let their state and local representatives know how they feel about drunk drivers being allowed on the road.  The panel was sponsored by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Task Force of the Healthy Communities Partnership of Logan County in recognition of Alcohol Awareness Month and Victims Rights Week, April 9 through 15.

 “Don’t think it can’t happen to you,” Murphy told the audience.  His daughter, Kellie, died on July 4, 1984, after being struck by a drunk driver.

Kellie and her husband and 14-month-old son had gone out for a bicycle ride.  The young mother had gotten off her bicycle to attend to her son when the “town drunk” came around a corner and ran over her as she was standing by the side of the road.  The driver didn’t stop.

“He didn’t know he had hit a human being,” Murphy said.

In the emergency room, Murphy was thinking of the time 12 years ago when his daughter had ridden her bicycle into a car and sustained a broken leg.  He was expecting to hear the same kind of news.  When the family priest walked in, he learned that his daughter was dead.

He spoke of his frustration trying to sue the tavern that sold the driver liquor when he was already drunk.  An appellate court ruled that his daughter’s life was of no monetary value under the dram shop law because she was not a wage earner.  Thirteen years later, he said, a bill named for his daughter, the Kellie Wheatley Bill, changed the law so that even if the deceased person did not earn a paycheck, the family could sue for damages.

Murphy, the only paid staff member of MADD on the panel, whose job is to help victims through the criminal justice system, told the audience that drunk drivers kill 44 persons per day.

“When I see a drunk driver, I dial 911.  I want you to do the same.  I want you to take the keys away from your friends if they have been drinking and want to drive.  We are not opposed to those of you who are of age consuming alcohol, we just don’t want you to do it and drive.”

“I will never have grandchildren,” Cheryl Beard of Rochester told the group.  On March 7, 1990, she and her husband had breakfast with their 17-year-old son Jeff, their only child.  That evening they were called to a Springfield hospital emergency room because they were told their son had “totaled” his car.

A chaplain was waiting for them at the hospital, and they learned that their son had serious injuries.  He died before they could see him.  Only the next day, when she read the newspaper, did Beard learn that another car had been involved.

“The driver ran a stop sign and hit Jeff.  Because he was drunk, his reaction time was slower.  He said he never saw the stop sign or Jeff’s car.  If his reaction time had been faster by even one second, he might not have killed my son.”

She remembers what she thought when she and her husband went to the funeral home to pick out their son’s coffin.  “You think of all the things you buy for your children.  Now the only thing left to buy him was a coffin.”

Jim Jones of Middletown, a convicted drunk driver, told the group he started drinking when he was 14 years old and thought it was “real cool.  Nothing bad ever happened.”

When he was 17 he was picked up for having beer in his car and lost his license for 30 days.  “It should have been longer,” he said.

When he was 21 he thought, “It’s okay to stop at a bar and have some drinks, because nothing bad happens.”  Then he woke up three days later in a Springfield hospital.  The doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.

He is now 28 and has not driven since that time.  “I’m glad I was taken off the road.  I very easily could have killed somebody.  When you’re drinking, you don’t think at all.”

Because he can’t drive, he said, he has a “low-paying job,” but he does not feel he is ready yet to reapply for a driver’s license.

Steve Zimmerman of Mason City was hit by a drunken driver and lived to tell about it, but he has lost his trucking business, suffered a great deal of pain, still walks with a cane and faces at least another three surgeries.

“On May 29 last year we came to Lincoln High School for my niece’s graduation.  On the way home a driver came around a curve in the road at 85 or 90 miles an hour and hit our van.  It took two or three hours to get me out.”

He said it was the fourth time the driver who hit him had been arrested for drunk driving.  “I thought, ‘What is this guy doing on the road?  Why isn’t he in jail?’”

He said he believed the police, the state’s attorney of Logan County and the judge who gave the man the maximum sentence did a good job, but he pointed out that the 12-year sentence would probably be reduced to six, or possibly less.

“If a man gets six years, every day he serves of good time he gets a day off.  That’s the way it works in Illinois.  Then, because the Safe Neighborhoods act was recently overturned in that rigmarole about gun control, this guy can appeal the sentence and may serve only three years.  I’m real aggravated at everybody.”

Still, he says, he can forgive the driver who hit him.

The driver wrote him a letter of apology, which Zimmerman read to the audience.  “I’m writing to tell you I’m really sorry.  I’ve been wanting to do this ever since the day of the wreck.  I know that saying I’m sorry won’t take away the pain and suffering.  I’m sorry you and your family had to pay for my mistake.”

“At first, I thought this guy was looking for some kind of reprieve,” Zimmerman said, “but right now if I could walk up to the man I would probably forgive him.

“This is a two-sided tragedy,” he added.  “Nobody wins.  The driver, even if he walks away, still has to live with it.”

In closing, Zimmerman told the audience that every year 1,600,000 people are arrested for drunk driving.  “How many are on the road that are not arrested?  If you’re not scared when you get on the road of meeting a drunk driver, you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Kristi Simpson, chairperson of the education subcommittee of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Task Force, said that some of the young people who attended the meeting were students at Lincoln Junior High School earning extra credit for writing a paper about the experience.  At least one other person attended because of a court order.  Lincoln Police Chief Rich Ludolph and two officers also attended, “to hear the panel and support the program,” Chief Ludolph said.

                                                             [Joan Crabb]