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 Then, the table began to turn in November. In
thirty days the county saw five additional covid related deaths and
a whopping 838 additional positive tests making for a year to date
total of 1,475.
The problem was not unique to Logan County. State wide numbers were
soaring and the true holiday season was just around the corner. The
governor and the state department of public health was concerned for
what would happen when we saw families getting together for holiday
celebrations and early in the month began promising additional
restrictions would be placed on businesses as a means of reducing
incidents of the disease.
Bars and restaurants were the first to feel the blows of the
restrictions in their businesses. At the end of October, the
Illinois Department of Public Health and Governor JB Pritzker
announced that Tier One Mitigation for coronavirus would go into
effect on the first day of November.
Statistically speaking the IDPH released information about contact
tracing for the disease that clearly showed that bars and
restaurants were not the main culprit for the spread of the disease.
However, the tier one mitigation meant those establishments were to
close their doors to indoor service. To survive they would have to
figure out how to serve guests outside or return to pick-up and
delivery orders only.
In today's
edition of Lincoln Daily News is an announcement about contact
tracing data by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The public
can now view graphical information about where cases are spreading
within a given region.
The graphic to the right is specifically for Region 3 that includes
Logan County. Note that the largest percentage is coming from
community events. According to the interactive chart online
community events make up 20.8 percent of the outbreak origins. Bars
make up 4.17 percent, retail and restaurants are not on the list.
Statewide, bars are at 5 percent, restaurants just above 4 percent,
and retail is sitting at 2.5 percent of the total outbreak
locations.
Photo copied from IDPH website
Early in the month, Lincoln city government and Logan County
governing bodies met with a group of bar and restaurant owners to
discuss what was happening.
Tuesday
evening, approximately 15 to 20 owners of Lincoln area bars and
restaurants gathered at Sorrento's Pizzeria to meet with Lincoln
Mayor Tracy Welch, Alderman Kevin Bateman and Logan County Board
Chairman Emily Davenport.
The topic was what to do about the current Tier 1 Mitigation Plan
set forth by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Several business owners
said that they did not shut down their indoor serving areas on
Monday, and the majority say they will not shut down in the future.
Most feel they are following the guidelines of the Phase Four
recovery plan for corona virus and say they will continue to follow
those guidelines, but cannot afford to close their doors.
Welch, Bateman, and Davenport were supportive of the businesses and
said the city of Lincoln and the local police department would not
be monitoring the situation. However, the Logan County Department of
Public Health is required to follow the rules of the Illinois
Department of Public Health. At the same time, Welch said that at a
meeting with LCDPH administrator Don Cavi, the administrator is
sympathetic to the issues Tier 1 Mitigation brings to local small
businesses. Welch recommended that the owners reach out, as a
unified group, to the health department and try to develop a
workable compromise that will help restaurants and bars keep their
doors open.
It was noted that there are numerous communities within the state
that are not going to adhere to the Tier 1 Mitigation. This includes
large cities such as Springfield and Chicago and smaller communities
such as Galena.
Photos by Nila Smith
Welch, Bateman and Davenport meet with Lincoln restaurant and bar
owners facing Tier 1 mitigation
For many, it was no surprise to learn that closing bars and
restaurants did not do the trick in the war against covid. Just a
week before Thanksgiving it was announced that Region Three which
included Logan County would move into tier three mitigation.
Coronavirus Tier Three Mitigation to start Friday
Retail businesses to remain open with
restrictions
Citizens to stay at home and work from home if possible
Schools may remain open
Avoid social gatherings and stay home for the holidays
Tier Three Mitigation Guidelines - Pdf
While businesses worried about the impact this would have on their
holiday shopping, they also tried to stay optimistic. Plans moved
forward for the annual Lincoln Holiday Express and many were looking
forward to the second year of Winter Wonderland around the
courthouse lawn in Lincoln.
In the meantime, the community moved forward with doing the things
that were important and celebrating good people who have done great
things for our community.
Among those good people was Bill Gossett. Gossett was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Lincoln College. Gossett is
a very popular person in our community, highly regarded by many.
Having a closed ceremony was not what anyone wanted, especially
officials at Lincoln College. Therefore, it was time to once again
think outside the box and host an event that could include members
of the community.
Honk your horn for Rotarian Bill Gossett at Lincoln College on
Wednesday!
William “Bill” Gossett to be Honored at Lincoln College Convocation
Virtual Presentation of Honorary
Doctorate of Humane Letters
On Wednesday
evening, Bill Gossett was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters by Lincoln College President Dr. David Gerlach. After
the presentation, Gossett (center) and his wife Jean, exited the
doors at Lincoln Center, where a vehicle procession of well wishers
greeted them.
Photo by Nila Smith
Lincoln College awards Bill Gossett with Honorary Doctorate
Caravan honors Dr. Bill Gossett - slideshow
Honoring and remembering our veterans is also an important November
activity in Logan County. Typically local VFW’s and other military
organizations in every community would have held a large gathering
on Veteran’s Day.
In Lincoln, the annual event held at the Cronin Brothers VFW Freedom
Hall would have filled the hall to standing room only. This year,
the VFW was determined to move forward with a recognition even if
the number of guests had to be fewer than 25.
Lincoln VFW remembers our veterans on Veterans Day
St. John’s United Church of Christ also annually held a celebration
for veterans, but in 2020 there was no such celebration. In a letter
to veterans published in Lincoln Daily News Veteran Celebration
Committee Chair Jan Hahn wrote, “Each year we look forward to
hosting the celebration so we can say thank you in person; but this
year has been an interesting and challenging year. Please know that
we appreciate your service to our country.”
LETTER
A heart felt thank you to our Logan County Veterans
Another sacrifice to covid came at the expense of the young athletes
in the community, when Apollo Conference superintendents announced
that school sports for the conference would be “put on hold.”
Apollo Conference superintendents put winter basketball season “on
hold”
In business news it was good and bad, a new business came to the
community, a long standing one left and an existing business added
something new for guests.
Lincoln CBD celebrates downtown grand opening this week
Lincoln Family Video Store Closing
Paresh Patel,
owner of the Quality Inn in Lincoln, shows off the new electric car
charging station he has installed for travelers.
With continued advancements in all-electric and electric hybrid
vehicles, the need for charging stations is becoming more common.
Patel is hoping that having the charging station for overnight
guests will add to the convenience he offers and will encourage more
travelers to stay the night in Lincoln instead of traveling on to
the larger cities.
Photos by Karen Hargis
Local businesses also continued to do good for others.
Edward Jones Advisor Christine Short hosts annual diaper drive for
Community Action
State Bank of Lincoln contributes to Workcamp for Lincoln
Nancy Schaub
(center) and Kelly Gleason (right) of the R. W. Garrett Agency
recently presented $520 to the Friends & Family Relay Team. Team
Co-captain Karen Hargis accepted the donation. The money will be
forwarded to the American Cancer Society and earmarked for breast
cancer support services in Logan County.
R. W. Garrett hosted a Pink Challenge fundraiser for breast cancer
awareness in October. The agency put together a fabulous "His and
hers gift basket" and sold raffle tickets. Teresa Pourchot of Lake
Fork was the owner of the lucky winning ticket.
Photo by Lisa Ramlow
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Representing
the Friends and Family Relay Team, Lisa Ramlow (center) recently
accepted the proceeds from a "Pink Challenge" fundraiser held in
October in the District 27 Elementary Schools in Lincoln.
Superintendent Kent Froebe (fourth from the left) presented the
check for $550 the schools raised by hosting blue jean days
throughout the month. Staff were permitted to dress casually on
specific days in exchange for a donation. Froebe was joined by
principals of the schools within the District 27 network.
The donation will be forwarded to the American Cancer Society and
earmarked for breast cancer support in Logan County.
Photo by Karen Hargis
This week
Vanessa Komnick (far left), owner of Blade's in Lincoln, and two of
her staff presented a check for $418 to Lisa Ramlow (second from
left), representing the Friends and Family Relay Team.
Blade's took the Pink Challenge in October, pledging to donate 10%
of the receipts from products sold throughout the month to the
American Cancer Society.
The money donated will be passed along to the ACS and earmarked for
breast cancer support in Logan County.
Photo by Karen Hargis
Lincoln College also made the news in November. Again with some very
good news and then with some that was somewhat discerning.
Lincoln College Bachelor of Law under way
New students join Law Program
Lincoln College Warns of Malicious Email Scam
Scammer Creates Job Postings on
Indeed Job Site
Early in the month the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Community
Health Collaborative joined with the Logan County Department of
Public Health to host a very successful drive through heath expo in
the parking lot at the Oasis Senior Center. Vendors lined the
parking lot in organized rows. Motorists were reminded to stay in
their vehicles and were given lots of free gifts and information
about general wellness. At the end of the drive through motorists
had the option to receive their annual flu shot while sitting in
their cars.
Drive through health expo well received on Monday night
In other news:
A controlled burn near Interstate 55 got out of control quickly in
windy conditions, posing quite the challenge for area firefighters.
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On Tuesday,
one small fire quickly turned into two large firefighter events
along the southbound lane of Interstate 55 just north of Lincoln.
The Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District was dispatched for a
brush fire that had gotten out of hand on the interstate's west
side. Soon after arriving, the fire jumped the interstate and
ignited in the median at the I55/155 split. Multiple units from
around the county responded to assist with putting out the dual
blazes. Dry conditions and swift breezes contributed to the fire.
Photos by Nila Smith
Dry breezy conditions turn controlled burn into a quickly spreading
blaze
Lincolnite Mario Canon won a special award.
Lincolnite Mario Canon wins Best Actor award in Chicago film
competition
The Zonta Club took a stand against gender based violence.
Zonta Club of Lincoln to take a stand against gender-based violence
The young conservatives officially launched their organization.
Young Conservatives of Logan County has launched
The community also said good-bye to another good friend. Quentin
Sparks passed away in November and his good friend Bill Bates wrote
a lovely tribute that was published in Lincoln Daily News.
A tribute to Quentin Sparks
by Bill Bates
On the lighter side
As Thanksgiving approached, there were some fun things going on in
the community. Lincoln Daily News got wind of a styrofoam statue of
Abraham Lincoln that was appearing in front of local businesses
around the community. The statue was a bust of Lincoln, but it
looked familiar. After some “investigative reporting,” the full
story of the statue was revealed and published.
On Tuesday
last week, Karen Hargis spied this styrofoam statue sitting outside
at ME Realty. She grabbed a shot and the search began to figure out
first, why the statue looked a bit familiar, and secondly, what was
it doing at Seth Goodman's place of business. Today, as the late
Paul Harvey would say, LDN is happy to bring you "the rest of the
story."
Photo by Karen Hargis
The saga of the styrofoam statue
#lookingforlincolninil
Winter Wonderland in Lincoln for 2020 was significantly larger than
its debut in 2019. With 60 live Christmas trees temporarily planted
around the Logan County Courthouse lawn, all decorated to the hilt,
the night of the lighting ceremony was perfect. The temperatures
were right for a stroll around the square. Guests were asked to
comply with covid restrictions for social distancing and wearing of
masks and most all did so. It was an excellent kick off to the
Christmas season that left all feeling hopeful that the Christmas
spirit could be salvaged even in the midst of a pandemic.
Christmas trees sprout around the courthouse
Winter Wonderland - Trees are in place and ready to decorate! -
slideshow
These
youngsters enjoyed all the sites on Friday evening at the second
annual Winter Wonderland Tree Lighting in Lincoln. They were
especially taken with this tree featuring Mini Mouse. The tree was
decorated in memory of Sophia Marie Fletcher-Lambert. Sophia passed
away in 2018 at the age of 17 months. The tree in memory of the
sweet little girl is one of many this year decorated to pay tribute
to a loved one lost.
The night view of the trees is beautiful and LDN is featuring
slideshows of all the trees in today's edition.
The daytime views are also extraordinary and will be featured in
future editions of LDN all this week.
Photo by Nila Smith
Second annual Winter Wonderland kicks off the Christmas season in
Lincoln
Friday night lighting ceremony sets tone for the season - slideshow
Beautifully decorated trees outline the courthouse lawn - slideshow
Christmas Express takes off on Small Business Saturday in Lincoln
Shoppers hop on board the Christmas Express on Small Business
Saturday - slideshow
Downtown businesses have so much to offer this holiday season -
slideshow
And, finally, remember the story posted in June about the beautiful
vintage airplane that limped into the Logan County Airport? In
November, that beautiful plane returned to the skies. Roaming
reporter Curtis Fox was there, and caught it all in his lens, then
wrote a great “rest of the story” piece for Lincoln Daily News.
Readers may
recall a story published by Lincoln Daily News in June about this
beautiful vintage airplane. The plane had limped into the Logan
County Airport suffering from a mechanical ailment that would leave
it grounded for several months while the engine was rebuilt by
specialists.
This past Friday, the airplane once again took to the skies.
The owner of the 1937 Stinson Reliant, Mark Reidl, was excited to
have his newly purchased baby back in working order, and grateful to
the Heritage in Flight Museum who made room in their hanger while it
was grounded.
Read more in today's edition of Lincoln Daily News.
Photo by Curtis Fox
Logan County Airport visitor, historic Stinson Reliant heads home
In spite of the concerns for the holiday season, people around the
community remained optimistic. There were some tough decisions that
had to be made about religious services and other get togethers that
typically happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But in spite of
the toned-down version of Christmas, again our community found ways
to be united and to celebrate from a distance. Even Santa Claus
became an expert at working around the rules to the delight of
children all through the community.
In December good things would continue to happen in Logan County,
and the generous giving spirit of our people would show the many
efforts to bring the year to an end on a high note.
[Nila Smith] |
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