SSM Health Monroe Hospital and SSM Health Monroe Clinic Medical Group recently collected over 3,000 diapers to benefit community members served by Care Net Pregnancy Center in Monroe and Madonna Renewal Center in Freeport. Both organizations provide pregnancy support services, family support services, development of child nurturing skills, self-sufficiency life skills and more. This donation is the result a Community Diaper Drive led by SSM Health Monroe Hospital's Marketing & Communications,...

Forreston Regional Mon., Oct. 28 Stockton 25, 25 Dakota 16, 13 Pecatonica 25, 25 Pearl City 16, 22 Tue., Oct. 29 Lena-Winslow 25, 25 Forreston 14, 18 Durand 25, 25 Orangeville 22, 21 Wed., Oct. 30 Stockton 25, 25 Pecatonica 18, 20 Durand 27, 25. Lena-Winslow 25, 17 Thu., Oct. 31 Stockton 25, 25 Durand 23, 26 Serena Regional Mon., Oct. 28 Parkview Christ Acad 25, 25 Earlville 20, 14 Tue., Oct. 29 Aurora Christian 25, 25 Leland 22, 16 Serena 25, 25 Somonauk 18, 19 Wed., Oct. 30 Newark 25, 23, 25...

Dan Stevens

There are two ways to score in volleyball. You either earn a point on an ace serve, a kill, or a mean stuff block ... or, your opponent hands you a point on an unforced error like a call for being in the net, or hitting the ball out of bounds, etc. In their opening round match against Forreston in the Class 1A Regional, the Lena-Winslow Panthers were below their normal kill statistics ... but it didn't matter because Forreston was handing them points in droves. "They did that the last time we...

Dan Stevens

Pearl City was coming into their Regional opener as an underdog to begin with, but then players started dropping. Sophomore sensation, Danica Sager, came down on a player's foot in practice on Friday – severely twisting it. And Serving, and outside hitting stud, Maya Boyer, was home in bed with a fever over a hundred. "We had to make a lot of changes on the fly," said head coach Tammy Stephan. "We never even had a chance to practice the new rotation." That alone would make playing well...

Dan Stevens

About a month ago, following a Lena-Winslow victory over Durand on their home floor, Durand head coach, Molly Kelsey, pointed out how many players were still missing from her lineup. "I really wish I could play them when I had my whole team," she said at the time. Wednesday night, after stunning the Panthers with a 27-25, 25-17 victory in the Regional semi-finals, coach Kelsey was quick to remind us of that comment. "I told you I wanted to play them with my whole team, Dan. Well tonight, we had...

Dan Stevens

Exactly eleven years ago on Halloween night, Stockton head coach Maddie Pontius was on the Blackhawk team that won the Regional title under coach Colleen Fox. But it had been eleven years since the Blackhawks won the Regional crown. So, on this past Halloween, as they squared off against a very strong Durand squad ... yeah, they were motivated. It became obvious from early on that Durand was not the world killer's they had shown in their semi-final win against Lena-Winslow. Stockton charged out...

Dan Stevens

Pecatonica brought their 'A' game to the Regional semi-finals against Stockton, and pushed the top seeded Blackhawks with strong offensive numbers. But, in the end, Stockton never flinched, remained calm, and let the game speak for itself as they pulled out the 25-18, 25-20 victory to advance on to the Regional Championship. The Blackhawks were actually the first team to call a time out in game one after a lengthy rally cut their lead to only one at 15-14. But the time out was not for reasons...

Dan Stevens

The typical advantage of going into the IHSA playoffs with a 9-0 record is that your first round opponent is often a tad on the weaker side. That was pretty evident before the game started when overhearing the Clifton Central head coach's "pep talk". "No matter what happens today, we play as hard as we can," he told his kids. The Comets came in with a 5-4 record, but had only beaten one team with a winning record (Salt Fork) and that was in a squeaker 28-27. So, yeah, the Panthers were a bit...

Dan Stevens

All season long, Stockton volleyball coach, Maddie Pontius, had been preaching to her players the importance of being mentally tough – not letting any outside influence affect your game. But Tuesday night in Polo, that was seriously tested by a strong Newark squad, and incredibly weak line judge. "They've never played in front of this many people before," Pontius said before the match. "I've just been telling them to just go play, it's just another game." But it wasn't just another game, and...

Dan Stevens

It’s been an exciting volleyball season, with some special marks being set that most people don’t know about. Lena-Winslow’s Alyssa Daughenbaugh reached 2000 assists for her career early in the season, and was close to 2500 the last time we checked. Meanwhile, Jaiden Schneiderman of Forreston set a new school record for kills in a match with the 28 she recorded against Orangeville, and also broke the school record for career kills. The old record was 1313 set by Katie Erdmann in 2018, but...

Dan Stevens

Normally, a questionable call in any sport might happen, but is not worthy of mention because one call typically does not decide the outcome of a game. I've also come to realize that while things might appear one way to me – sitting in my corner of the gym – a referee typically has a better angle, or viewpoint – so, again, I never mention it. But Tuesday night in Polo, the teams fighting in the Sectional were exceptional, while the officiating – specifically one line judge – had a...

Dan Stevens

I like cottage cheese – always have. As a kid, my brother, dad and I always fought over the last serving out of the container – a fight I typically lost – but I was the one to point out that adding pepper in addition to the salt we always added, made it even better. Now, as an adult, I get all of the cottage cheese servings. My wife doesn’t dislike it, but she’s not enamored the way I am. So, I was in no way, shape or form ready for the sudden “fight” that took place last weekend....

Victoria Hansen

Friday, October 25 was a big day around northwest Illinois. First, the excitement kicked off with Lisa Corp being announced the 2025 IAITC Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Corp is a 2nd Grade teacher at Open Bible Learning Center, Freeport, Stephenson County. Not only does Mrs. Corp shine in the classroom integrating agriculture, she also is an avid learner attending multiple professional development workshops at the local, state and national level. She is also an integral part of the Stephenson...

Kevin Cernak

My wife and I took the opportunity to get away last week for a little R & R on the beach. The beach is always our favorite destination. It is such a beautiful place to be. It’s not only the warm weather and the beauty of the sun on the water and the waves lapping up on the shore, but also the fact that God gave man the challenge to go forth and subdue the earth He created. As one looks out across the surface of the water, it boggles the mind to consider and imagine all the marine life in the...

Ever wonder what happened in Neverland after the Darlings left? Lena-Winslow students will answer that question on the Panther Den stage on Fri., Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. and Sun., Nov. 10, at 2 p.m. when they present the fall play, Generation Pan. Reese Austen (Cienna Kerr) is the newest arrival to Neverland, and she discovers that the Lost Cubs are running low on both hope and fairy dust. Meanwhile, the dastardly Captain Patch (Josiah Randecker) is hording fairy dust and dark secrets about Peter Pan...