News from the Heart of Amish Country Vol. 109, No. 8 Wednesday, February 25, 2015 Serving Eastern Moultrie, Western Douglas, and Southern Piatt Counties Second Annual Celebrate Agriculture Breakfast set for Saturday, March 14 The second annual Celebrate Agriculture Breakfast will be held on Saturday, March 14, at Arthur Community Building located at 120 E. Progress. A breakfast of biscuits, gravy, sausage, milk, juice, and coffee will be served from 6 to 10 a.m. A short program will be held at 9 with remarks from Philip Nelson, director, Illinois Department of Agriculture; Cody Morris, president, Illinois Association FFA, and Ryan Wildman, District IV program advisor, FCAE. Members of the ArthurLovington/Atwood-Ham- Everyone is invited! Home, Garden Expo March 13, 14 With almost 50 vendors representing over 1,000 products, the Arthur Home & Garden Expo is bigger and better than ever. The show will run two days: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 13, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 14 at the Otto Center, approximately one-half mile south of the intersection at Illinois Highway 133 and County Line Road in Arthur. Plenty of free parking will be available. Show is open to the public. Vendors will offer the very latest products, services, how-to clinics, and innovative solutions at this year’s event. “Our focus this year is on custom kitchens, cabinetry, and furniture,” noted Joe Kauffman, owner of Kauffman’s Custom Wood Interiors and spokesperson for the Woodwright’s Guild of Central Illinois. “This year we have even more vendors representing almost every sector of the home improvement industry. If you are looking for it, you’re sure to find it.” For more information, please call (855) 944-8453. 1.00 Arthur, Illinois 61911 News Briefs mond FFA chapter will be on hand as well. This is a great opportunity for you to come out and meet the FFA as they kick off National Agriculture Week and Celebrate Agriculture! The breakfast is sponsored by the Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond FFA Alumni chapter. Donations are encouraged and accepted. All funds raised help support the agricultural education program of Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond High School. $ White Elephant Bingo to be held in Lovington COUNTY SPELLING CHAMP! Arthur Grade School student Meredith Schrock (third from left) showed her spelling “expertise” (the championship word) on Wednesday, February 18, by winning the Douglas County Spelling Bee. The competition was held in the Tuscola Middle School gym with students from Arcola, Tuscola, Villa Grove, and Arthur vying for first place. Students from Arthur in the competition were (above) Madison Collins, Kierra Herschberger (alternate), Schrock, and Jack Rollyson. Meredith advanced to the regional spelling bee which will take place Saturday, March 21, at Eisenhower High School in Decatur. Photo by Kent Stock City negotiating to sell water, sewer plants, infrastructure to Aqua Illinois, a national firm By ROGER W. BONHAM Managing Editor Arthur Village Board on Monday, February 16, accepted a letter of intent from Aqua Illinois to purchase the water and sewer plants with existing infrastructure. COLOR GUARD. Arthur Boy Scout Troop 74 color guard presented the flag during the Douglas County DAR-SAR Luncheon February 14 at the Methodist Church in Arthur. The scouts also presented a brief program of flag facts during the luncheon. Scouts serving as color guard are Benajmin Matheny, Clayton Disher, Aiden Stewart, and Ryan Krustinger. Photo by Roger W. Bonham As explained by Mayor Matt Bernius, the action is an initial step in the procedure for selling the village utilities. He told Nolan Lee and about six other concerned residents who attended the meeting that public hearings will have to be held before the city can authorize and close the sale. According to Bernius, the water and sewer systems are showing their age. Expensive repairs and replacements will need to be made that the village cannot afford. Aqua Illinois is a national company that specializes in operating city utilities. The company has the capital to invest in the infrastructure, make repairs, and replace what needs to be updated, the mayor explained. “We are in the early stages of looking into the sale of the water and sewer plants,” Bernius said. “As we get farther along in the process, we may decide it is not for us and decide to do something else.” A representative of Aqua Illinois said that his company could purchase a fire hydrant that would cost the City of Arthur $2500 for $900. Mayor Bernius thanked the residents for attending the meeting and invited them to return when the village conducts the hearings on the proposed sale. Turning to other matters, the board denied a request for a zoning variance that would have allowed construction of a six-foot fence at a residence at 425 South Union. In addition, the resident will be assessed a fine because he put up the fence without obtaining a building permit. The request was presented to the board at its February 2 meeting. At that time, the resident was directed to obtain letters from his neighbors stating how they felt about the fence. The resident presented three letters all stating no opposition to the fence, which extends from the house to the sidewalk. The board voted 3-2 to deny the variance. Terry Clark, Larry Smith, and J.D. Kuhns voted to deny. Karen Good abstained because she was absent on February 2. James Aikman voted against the motion to deny. Dave Tiffan was absent. The board authorized public works director Grant Corum to decide whether to rent equipment and use village personnel to tear down the remainder of the old street and alley department shed or hire a contractor to do the work. Based on estimates presented by Corum, the difference in cost was about $1,000. Police Chief Mike Goodman reported he would begin teaching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) class later in the week. The DARE Graduation will be held at 7 p.m. on May 12. Next village board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 2. Meetings are open to the public. The board meets in the Board Meeting Room at the Municipal Building, 120 East Progress Street. Millrich Outdoors offering office products sales, delivery JUNIOR HIGH KNIGHTS WIN CONFERENCE. Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond eighth grade volleyball team won the championship of the Junior High Okaw Conference by defeating Okaw Valley in two games. The match was played at Walsh Gymnasium in Bement. The team is shown above. First row, left to right: Nisa Asghar, Meredith Schrock, Makenna Green, Marissa Herschberger, Maria Garza, Kierra Herschberger, and Madison Thompson. Second row: Coach Gina Campbell, Kara Yoder, Shelby Frederick, Emma Harris, Taylor Powell, Marcy Petersheim, Tyra Wingler, Taylor Nichols, and Coach Emily Crossman. Photo by Marty Yeakel Millrich Outdoors is offering a new office product delivery service to the local area. You can order office supplies, janitorial supplies, restaurant supplies, as well as any kind of office equipment or furniture. “We will offer next day availability in almost all cases,” said Millrich Outdoors owner Matt Schlabach. “We will also offer free delivery of the product in the Arthur ar- ea if you choose that option.” Schlabach indicated they will build up inventory based on the needs of local businesses and customers. “We can get you the best price, and it will be very convenient.” You can place your order by stopping at their retail location, 1059 East Columbia (Route 133 behind La Cascada Mexican Restaurant), or by calling (217) 543-3848. Lovington Public Library is hosting an adult “White Elephant Bingo” on Friday, February 27, from 1 to 3 p.m. Please bring a “White Elephant Bingo” prize to contribute for the prizes to be won. The library would like for persons interested to pre-register by calling the 873-4468 in case the event would have to be cancelled due to bad weather. “This is a great way to visit with people in your community, take home a prize, and have some fun!” said Darlene Barlow, library director. Kindergarten pre-registration March 5 at LGS Pre-registration of kindergarten students for the 2015-2016 school year will be held on Thursday, March 5, in the Lovington Grade School office between noon and 5 p.m. Any student who will be five years of age by September 1, 2015, and resides in the Lovington Grade School District is welcome to attend. Parents are asked to bring the child’s birth certificate to pre-registration. Preschool screenings to be held in Atwood If your child is between the ages of birth to five years old, the Atwood-Hammond Grade School and Project H.E.L.P. (Helping Educate Little People) will offer free Preschool Screenings March 26 and 27 at Atwood First Baptist Church, 231 North Illinois, Atwood. The free preschool screening is to see how your child is developing in the areas of concepts, motor, speech and language. The free developmental screening lasts about one hour. Call Beth Cornwell at 5782229 for an appointment or more information. Come join in the fun! Shimkus seeks art entries Congressman John Shimkus (R-Illinois-15) is accepting entries for the 2015 Congressional Art Competition. The contest is open to high school students in the 15th Congressional District. Entries are due by April 18. Entry forms and a full list of guidelines are available at shimkus. house.gov/art. The winning artist will be invited to participate in a ceremony in Washington, and Southwest Airlines will fly him or her and a guest to Washington for free. Participants may contact Deb Detmers, at (618) 288-7190 or via email at deb.detmers@ mail.house.gov, for more information.