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 In 2020, that rule of thumb held true for the
first couple of weeks. But when Fred Bird the Red Bird promised to
visit Lincoln and attend the January American Legion Breakfast,
about 300 local residents could not resist the urge to come out and
have a good time with the St. Louis Cardinal mascot.
On Sunday
morning, more than 300 people turned out for the monthly American
Legion Breakfast to benefit the Legion Youth Baseball program. In
addition to seeking out some really great food, guests were excited
to see the St. Louis Cardinal’s mascot Fredbird. The oversized bird
spent his morning teasing guests and posting for photos, including
this fun photo of Fredbird with a family of Cubbie fans he was
hoping to convert.
Chicago Cubs mascot Clark the cub was supposed to be at the Legion
on Sunday as well. However, volunteers said that the mascot was
unable to attend due to the severe winter weather that struck
Chicago over the weekend. Clark has rescheduled for the February 9th
breakfast, which would also be a fundraiser for the Legion Baseball
program and the Lincoln Community High School FFA.
Photos by Nila Smith
Fredbird plays to a large audience at the Sunday American Legion
Breakfast
Guests enjoy a morning with Fredbird at American Legion Breakfast
fundraiser - slideshow
On January 21st, Lincoln College hosted its annual Martin Luther
King Scholarship Breakfast with a good crowd attending.
Observing the legacy of MLK at Lincoln College
While there were not a lot of events or activities going on in the
first four weeks of the year, there were some interesting
developments in the business world around Lincoln and Logan County.
The first month of the year saw announcements about new businesses
coming into the community.
Law offices of Bolen Robinson & Ellis, LLP opens branch office in
Lincoln
New Wellness Center Opening in Lincoln
Dr. Dru Hauter of Central Illinois Direct Care to host ribbon cut
for new office on January 25th
On Saturday,
the community welcomed another new business to Lincoln. Dr. Dru
Hauter prepares to cut the ribbon celebrating the opening of his new
medical office, Central Illinois Direct Care at 1411 North Kickapoo
Street, Lincoln. A large crowd turned out for the ribbon-cutting,
then lingered to enjoy lunch with the Hauter family while learning
more about this new type of medical practice.
Photo by Nila Smith
Central Illinois Direct Care ribbon cut sees large turnout for Dr.
Dru Hauter
In January there were also a number of changes in personnel in local
organizations.
Logan County Park and Trails Foundation expresses appreciation for
Pat Bree upon her retirement
Jaylee Swinford named new Lincoln Park District Program Coordinator
Michael Starasta selected as new director of Lincoln Public Library
Caroline Kiest and April Jensen promoted to Assistant
Directors
The Lincoln City Council also made the news on a few occasions. The
discussions over whether to allow or not allow the retail sale of
recreational cannabis continued and some decisions were made.
Lincoln aldermen continue preparations for resale cannabis business
Lincoln Aldermen set cannabis license fee
The city also made the decision to drop the Nixle emergency alert
system because it was a duplication of services between the city and
county EMA program. At that same meeting the aldermen discussed a
new city seal that was more historically correct. Alderman Ron
Keller and Police Chief Paul Adams said that when Abraham Lincoln
frequented the town, he bore no beard. So, while the previous city
depictions had included a President Lincoln with facial hair, the
appropriate depiction should be Lincoln the lawyer with no facial
hair.
Alderman Ron
Keller and Police Chief Paul Adams presented a new design for a city
seal to aldermen at the Tuesday night meeting of the Lincoln City
Council. If approved, the design would first appear on the city seal
and be phased in over time as the city runs out of current paper
products containing the old seal. If it can be worked out with the
manufacturer, the same seal maybe used on the shoulder patches of
the Lincoln Police Department in the future. Aldermen spoke in favor
of the new design that features a beardless Abraham Lincoln. Keller
noted that this photo image is a much better representation of
Lincoln in the days when he frequented Logan County than a bearded
image. Aldermen will vote to approve the new seal next week.
Photos by Nila Smith
City briefs:
Lincoln to drop Nixle, not require permits for Uber and Lift, new
city seal design, elevator repaired
And, Chief Bob Dunovsky shared with aldermen the purchase of a new
heat sensing camera for rescue work during fires.
At the Monday
evening meeting of the Lincoln City Council, Fire Chief Bob Dunovsky
passed around the new heat-detecting camera for the fire department.
The camera will assist firefighters and rescue personnel in locating
persons in conditions where visibility is hindered. The city
utilized a donation made in October 2019 in honor and memory of Jake
Lessen to pay for the camera.
Alderman Steve
Parrott was one of the first to check out the new camera (right),
which shows (left) clearly all the heat-generating objects or life
forms when pointed at a specific location.
Photos by Nila Smith
Logan County was recognized at a Lincoln City Council meeting on
January 16th by the Illinois National Guard. Father Jeffery Laible
presented the city with a plaque in appreciation of the support of
the entire community for our local veterans.
At the Lincoln
City Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday evening, Father
Jeffery Laible representing the 183rd Wing of the Illinois National
Guard presented a certificate of appreciation to the citizens of
Lincoln and Logan County. Lincoln Mayor Seth Goodman accepted the
certificate on behalf of the entire community.
Photos by Nila Smith
Airmen of the 183rd Wing express appreciation to citizens of Logan
County
In other developments around the community, on January 31st it was
announced that the Logan County Tourism Bureau would take over
ownership and management of the Mill on Route 66 Museum in Lincoln.
This week the
Logan County Tourism Bureau held its January meeting and voted
unanimously to take over the ownership and management of the Mill on
Route 66 Museum. The Mill offers an essential piece of Route 66
history in Logan County in its own right, and also houses pieces of
our past that reflect what our community was like in the heyday of
the Mother Road.
Photo from LDN archives
Logan County Tourism Bureau to take over ownership and management of
the Mill on Route 66
[to top of second column] |
 In January, Lincoln Daily News introduced a new
project. The Community Champion Award was born from the creativity
of the LDN staff and the gift of a six foot trophy from the former
Award Shop. As it would turn out, the trophy needed a little work
and Kathie Williams of Small Town Creations was called upon to fix
the trophy as she had purchased the Award Shop and merged it into
her existing business. Little did she know when she was carefully
rebuilding the trophy that she would be the first recipient of the
award.
On Wednesday
morning, Lincoln Daily News awarded the first Community Champion
Award of 2020 to Lincoln business owner Kathie Williams. Williams
was recognized for the award because of the work she did this year
to enhance the holiday spirit in Lincoln and bring the community
together for the Winter Wonderland Christmas Trees on the Logan
County Courthouse lawn. Her contribution in holding a successful
Small Business Saturday shopping experience in the downtown area
this year was also noted.
Community Champion Awards will happen monthly and are aimed at
recognizing those local people, businesses, or organizations that go
above and beyond to make our community better and stronger.
Williams was pleasantly surprised by the LDN six-foot tall traveling
trophy and a lovely combination planter bedecked in beautiful tulips
gifted by Debbie’s Downtown Floral.
Left to right: Roy Logan and Karen Hargis of Lincoln Daily News,
Williams, LDN's Nila Smith and Jim Youngquist.
Photo by Lisa Ramlow
Kathie Williams named first Community Champion for 2020
LDN recognizes those who go above and
beyond to make Logan County a great place to live
Several other fun and interesting things were
published in January in Lincoln Daily News, including this story
about the Logan County Airport, courtesy of Curtis Fox.
Reminiscing on
the popular old television show M.A.S.H., Heritage in Flight Museum
President Rick Kidd had an idea for something new at the Logan
County Airport. In the t.v. show there is a sign with arrows giving
direction and distance to cities all over the globe. Kidd brought
the idea of making a similar sign to HIF members and they were all
in favor. So now the sign post sits outside the HIF hangar along the
taxiway pointing the way for world travelers in search of their next
adventure. “A mile of highway will take you a mile. A mile of runway
will take you anywhere!” – Author unknown
Photos by Curtis Fox
New Logan County Airport sign post points every which way
Other January news depicted in pictures
After reading
a story about a $1,000 donation for clothing for kids in need at the
Junior High School that was made to the School Resource Officer
(SRO) Christy Fruge, personal friend Amy Gallagher and her husband
Tom decided that they wanted to help Fruge do more for those kids.
The couple organized a party bus fundraiser. All guests paid to ride
on the bus and a portion of that fee went to the fundraiser. In
addition, the Gallaghers sold Christmas Koozies. The couple raised
an additional $425.
Fruge has long been the head of the Lincoln’s D.A.R.E. program and
in the last year also took on the position of SRO at LJHS. She has
established a D.A.R.E. Clothing Fund to purchase sweatshirts, jeans,
and shoes for students at LJHS.
"I want to personally thank each and every one of you who donated to
this cause. Every pair of shoes, every hoodie, pair of jeans, every
package of socks, and so on that brings a hug my way also brings a
hug to you," said Officer Fruge.
The SRO Office is a collaborative effort between the Lincoln Police
Department and District 27 Schools.
Photo provided by Christy Fruge.
In early
December, these large shipping containers and other hardware (left)
were spied sitting on the north side of the Lincoln College Lincoln
Center. Dr. Dennis Campbell had posted on his social media that
everything was there to begin the installation of the college's
solar garden.
This week, just one month later, those containers are all gone.
Taking a look to the north and slightly west of the Lincoln Center,
behind the baseball fields, one can see the solar garden. It looks
like there has been some remarkable progress made in the last 30
days.
As a refresher, here is the original article on the project
published in LDN on September 22, 2018.
Photos by Nila Smith
It appears
that the extension of Stahlhut Drive connecting the road to Woodlawn
Road on the north end in Lincoln is nearing completion.
Stahlhut Drive was originally built as the only entrance into
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. It came into the hospital from
the east and Lincoln Parkway. The new extension wraps the road
around the hospital and joins it to Taylor Court at the Chrysler
Dodge Lincoln Jeep dealership.
The new road will also include a connection to Castle Manor Drive.
With the link to Woodlawn Road as well as Castle Manor Drive, the
new road will speed up access to the hospital from the west side of
town as well as from Castle Manor Supportive Living and St. Clara's
Rehab and Senior Care.
Photos by Nila Smith.
"You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel!" Actually, in this
case, it is only a tire, but none the less the impact would have
been about the same. We don't know the back story, but regardless,
when you see a semi-tractor sitting at an intersection with no front
tire, you can't help but take notice.
Photo by Roy Logan
On Tuesday
morning Lee Schall awoke to a large gaggle of geese taking a break
on the pond behind her country home in Logan County. While it would
be almost impossible to count them all, she guessed that there were
possibly as many as five hundred. The big birds camping out on the
ice-encrusted pond certainly makes an impression regardless of the
number.
Photos by Lee Schall
In summary, 2020 began with the community doing well and going
strong. There were a few more newsworthy items in the first month
versus years past, and it looked like Logan County was in for a
really good year.
February would tell much the same story, then along would come
March. Be sure to check out the February and March reviews in future
editions of Lincoln Daily News.
[Nila Smith] |
