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Library database change, Palms Grill and Lumi Bekteshi, Russel Allen Garden Day, blood drive, writing club, Lawnmower Clinic, Polar Plunge

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[March 04, 2013]  Library prepares for new online system

The Lincoln Public Library District will convert to a new online computer database this spring. The library will join 426 other member libraries in the Illinois Heartland Library System and become a member of the new Polaris online database.

The current library database will no longer be available after March 29, and the new database is expected to become operational on April 9.

Patrons who maintain holds or reading lists in the old database are asked to contact the library by March 15 to have that information transferred to the new database.

For more information, contact April Jensen, circulation manager, at 732-8878 or visit the library at 725 Pekin St.


Palms Grill & Atlanta awarded, recognized & promoted at Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism

ATLANTA -- Lumi Bekteshi, head waitress at the Palms Grill Café in Atlanta, has won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism in Rosemont Feb. 27 to March 1. The award is part of a series of new Illinois Office of Tourism "Lincoln Awards" given out this year at the conference. The awards were inspired by the Oscar-nominated Steven Spielberg blockbuster film "Lincoln."

"Everyone in Atlanta is very proud of Lumi and all her accomplishments, especially her pie baking! This has been a big year for her; first she became a U.S. citizen and now she's a best supporting actress. She's living the American dream, and we're happy she calls Atlanta home," said Bill Thomas.

Thomas, a longtime entrepreneur and promoter of tourism in the community, was instrumental in driving the reopening of the iconic Route 66 diner and adjacent Atlanta Museum in May 2009. This process included grant funding from the Illinois Office of Tourism and the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The diner is located on the original section of Route 66 at 110 SW Arch St. in Atlanta.

In addition, a promotional video featuring the Atlanta Route 66 tourism success story was featured with the conference's keynote address by Jen Hoelzle, deputy director of the Illinois Office of Tourism. Hoelzle emphasized the 43 percent increase in the city's sales tax revenue since the reopening of the Palms Grill. Atlanta and the Palms Grill are also featured by the state tourism office in new television and print media campaigns that were also unveiled at the conference.

The Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway and Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County congratulate Lumi Bekteshi, Bill Thomas, Atlanta Mayor Fred Finchum, the citizens of the community and traveling patrons to the Palms Grill and Atlanta.


Seating limited for Russel Allen Garden Day

Limited space is still available for attendance at Russel Allen Garden Day. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 9 on the campus of Lincoln College. The program features keynote speaker Dianne Noland, host and moderator of "Mid-American Gardener" on PBS.

Preregistration is highly encouraged. The registration fee is $10 before March 2 and $12 at the door. To view a brochure and register online, visit the Logan-Menard-Sangamon Extension website, http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lms/. For additional information, call 217-732-8289.


Blood drive Monday

To help ensure an adequate blood supply for the region, there will be a blood drive at the Lincoln Masonic Center, 2022 N. Kickapoo, on Monday, March 4, from noon to 6 p.m.

For your convenience, call Alexis to sign up toll-free at 1-866-GIVE-BLD (1-866-448-3253), ext. 5158, or schedule an appointment online using sponsor code 60057 at www.bloodcenterimpact.org. Walk-ins are also welcome and truly appreciated.

Central Illinois Community Blood Center, a not-for-profit organization, is the provider of lifesaving blood for 14 hospitals throughout central Illinois, including Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln and Memorial Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. CICBC is a division of the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, which collects over 180,000 units of blood annually and serves a total of 87 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.


Lincoln Writer's Club will meet March 12

Lincoln Writer's Club will meet Tuesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the Alumni Room of the Lincoln College student center.

Suggested writing topics: story about Easter; nicknames; to be 13 again; or springtime.

All are welcome. For more information, call 732-2723.


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Lincoln Jaycees Lawnmower Clinic

Have the Lincoln Jaycees get your mower ready for the upcoming season. Bring in your push mower (no riding mowers) and the Jaycees will change the oil, change the spark plug, sharpen the blade, clean the mower deck and check the air filter.

Mowers may be dropped off from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 9, at the Lincoln Jaycees Center, 325 S. Chicago St. Mowers may be picked up the same day from 3 to 5 p.m.

The cost is $30 at drop-off. (Save $5 if you prepay online at lincolnjaycees.com.) All profits help fund upcoming Lincoln Jaycees community projects.

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The Lincoln Jaycees are a not-for-profit organization serving Lincoln and the surrounding communities. The organization gives young people ages 18-40 the tools they need to build the bridges of success for themselves in the areas of business development, management skills, individual training, community service and international connections. Membership meetings are the third Friday of each month, 7:30 p.m., at the Lincoln Jaycees Center, 325 S. Chicago St., and are open to everyone.


Polar Plungers across Illinois will be freezin' for a reason Feb. 22-March 17

NORMAL -- It's not every day that people are willing to "go jump in a lake" -- particularly in the winter -- let alone do so with thousands of other people, including members of the law enforcement community. But that's exactly what will happen on various weekends in February and March as part of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Illinois presented by GEICO.

Any adventurous soul is invited to join law enforcement officers, as well as media and business and civic leaders from their community, by donning bathing suits, costumes or any clothing of choice (just no wetsuits!) to jump in a lake. Each plunger must collect a minimum of $75 in donations that will be used to support Special Olympics programs in Illinois.

The event has grown from one location in 1999 to 20 locations across the state this year. The Polar Plunge series will kick off with a Super Plunge -- where participants raise a minimum of $2,500 and plunge into Lake Michigan once every hour for 24 hours -- on Feb. 22-23 at Northwestern University's North Beach in Evanston.

The Logan County plunge will take place on Sunday, March 17, at 2 p.m. at Lincoln Lakes. Please note this is a change in both day of the week and time. Anyone wishing to know more about the local plunge can click on the "Polar Plunge" button on the Top Stories page of LDN or contact Joanie Keyes of Special Olympics Illinois at 217-428-9255.

Individuals and teams can register for the plunge on the Special Olympics Illinois website at http://www.plungeillinois.com/ or by contacting Keyes at the number above.

Plungers are encouraged to form teams to spread the fun. Each team member must raise the minimum of $75 in donations, and all team members' individual fundraising totals will be merged to form a combined team total. Teams are placed into divisions based on size and are awarded prizes for the most money raised.

All plungers will receive gifts, compete for prizes, and enjoy food and camaraderie with other chilly participants. The more money a plunger raises, the more chances he or she will have to win a four-night trip for two adults to Cancun, Mexico, with accommodations at Riu Peninsula, courtesy of Apple Vacations. For every $500 a plunger raises, he or she will get an entry into the drawing for this grand prize.

The Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run is the single largest year-round fundraising vehicle benefiting Special Olympics Illinois. The annual intrastate relay and its various fundraising projects have two goals: to raise money and increase public awareness for the athletes of Special Olympics Illinois. Each year, more than 3,000 officers in Illinois run more than 1,500 miles carrying the "Flame of Hope" through the streets of their hometowns and deliver it to the State Summer Games in Normal in June.


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