We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 283
Local Mediacom employee Kyle Maurer was recognized as one of the company's top-performing employees who demonstrated outstanding efforts to serve customers during the past year. Maurer, a Winslow resident, was named "Area Operations Employee of the Year" in recognition of his service to customers. He is a broadband specialist assigned to the tri-state area, and he has been a Mediacom employee for two years. Companywide, Mediacom employs 4,500 people, and Maurer was one of 183 employees...
Paula Morhardt has another book out on Amazon. Widow’s Tears of Sorrow is a companion volume to her first Amazon book, Widow’s Walk. Morhardt says of her new book, “This companion book to "Widow’s Walk" contains all the poems I wrote from the first day–when I found my husband of 42 years dead in his chair–to almost three years later. There are 45 poems in total–42 to equal one for each year we were married and 3 poems for my mother, who died the day after my husband. These are not happy poems; they are not poems about light and flowers and l...
The Eagle Nature Foundation, ENF, will be sponsoring a fund-raising Fall Bird Seed Sale on Nov. 14th. They will have 26 different varieties of wild bird seeds and pet food with various bag weights and 8 varieties of suet cakes available. Anyone interested in getting their bird seed supply or pet food supply for the winter should contact ENFs office to get a list of the different seeds and pet foods available and the prices of each variety and size of the bags. Any and all purchases help ENF raise needed funds for its ongoing research,...
The Illinois Department of Public Health requires retail food establishments to have a person-in-charge or a food establishment manager obtain an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certification. This requirement helps to ensure the safety of consumers when eating away from home. Those receiving this certification have specialized training regarding the safe handling, preparation, and storage of food to help prevent foodborne related...
As a kid, we all played with dominos at one point or another. Not the actual game, but lining up the tiles on end to make a long trail, then knocking the first one down to watch the chain reaction. And while it may not have been anticipated, a long chain reaction – sparked by Covid - is making every home in our region much more valuable. Now, the main domino in this chain reaction is something that we would never think of as becoming rare and valuable – lumber. Yes, the simple lumber cut fro...
Sometimes subtle reminders of summer blend with bold colors of fall to complete an overall perfect picture. Such is the case with the yard of Brian and Pat Mauer, 708 Virgina, Lena. The couple began developing the unique space in 1984 and they continue to add unusual finds from trips near and far. No corner is spared a dash of color, sculpture or unusual plant. Pathways in the back yard are graced with fish seemingly swimming on grass, solar sunflowers and cactus. Ground cover fills in shady...
The Board of Directors of The State Bank of Pearl City is pleased to announce the promotion of Scott H. Helms to President and CEO of The State Bank of Pearl City, effective April 1, 2020. The son of Howard and Virginia Helms, Scott is a 1987 graduate of Mount Carroll High school and attended both Cornell and the University of Wisconsin. He and his wife Stephanie have three children - Abby, Caroline, and John. Scott joined our staff in 2007 as Executive Vice President and has 27 years of...
Apple River State Bank announced the appointment of Sandy Frank as manager of the bank's Scales Mound office. "We are pleased to have Sandy manage our Scales Mound office," said Joel Holland, the bank's Chief Executive Officer. "As a local resident, Sandy is well acquainted with the area and will provide expert advice to fit the financial needs of our customers." Sandy started with the bank in 2001 as a teller in Scales Mound and Apple River. In 2005 she moved to the bank's bookkeeping...
Robin Wilhelms Saar, President & Chairman of the Board at First State Bank Shannon-Polo-Lake Carroll, announced Allen Woessner, Senior Vice President of First State Bank Shannon-Polo-Lake Carroll was recently promoted to Chief Financial Officer. Allen started his career with the bank in Shannon in 1981. He has performed various duties at the bank including Trust officer, Compliance Officer and Loan Officer. He also prepares the bank's financial reports and completes the regulatory reporting....
Nationwide Inbound Inc. of Freeport, IL has been honored with the exclusive ATSI 2020 Award of Excellence for the 12th year. This award is presented annually by the Association of TeleServices International (ATSI), the industry’s Trade Association for providers of telecommunications and call center services including telephone answering and message delivery across North America and the UK. Nationwide Inbound, Inc. was presented with the award at ATSI’s 2020 Virtual Awards Presentation. Independent judges were contracted by ATSI to evaluate mes...
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of First Community Bank of Galena. The story began in 1995 when Bill Wubben, President of Apple River State Bank, and Rick Weis, Executive Vice President of Today's Bank (formally First National Bank of Galena), were discussing the future of banking. At the time, Galena was being served by two well-regarded and successful banks, who had been recently acquired by large multi-bank holding companies. The result was Galena was without an...
The 2020 Highland Community College 2020 Virtual Job Fair will be held Tuesday, Nov. 17 located on the second floor of the Student/Conference Center (Building H) room H-201 Highland Community College, 2998 W. Pearl City Rd., Freeport, Ill. “Due to the unknowns of COVID-19, we chose to make the job fair virtual, which was originally scheduled in April this year,” said Anthony Musso, Career Services Coordinator. “We hope that this platform makes it easier for businesses, students, and the public.” Highland plans on having on-campus compute...
Although Wall Street would make you think our economy is doing great, ask any business owner in the region and you’ll hear a very different story. If, that is, they are willing to admit it. You see, the problem is that many owners keep their business to themselves. Sometimes, it’s pride, while I know of others who fear that if word got out that they were struggling, it might make matters worse. “People think I’m in trouble, and they’ll start looking for someone else to do business with. I can’t...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is standing up a new team that will lead a department-wide effort focused on serving beginning farmers and ranchers. To institutionalize support for beginning farmers and ranchers and to build upon prior agency work, the 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create a national coordinator position in the agency and state-level coordinators for four of its agencies – Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Rural Development (RD). Crystal Zwilli...
Citizens State Bank, with locations in Lena, Stockton and Freeport, awards $500 college scholarships to locally graduating high school seniors who have displayed excellence in academic achievement, community service and extracurricular activities. “We’re honored to recognize these graduating seniors with scholarships this year,” said Citizens State Bank President and CEO Amy Baker. “We know this wasn’t how they imagined finishing high school but we’re excited to see what success comes next for them and the rest of the 2020 graduates....
Although mired in the midst of a business nightmare for some, two new enterprises celebrated their ribbon cutting last week as they formally opened for business. Barrel & Brie at 7836 US Highway 20 West in Eleroy, specializes in locally produced meats, wine and cheeses, while Accurate Art & Framing at 128 W. Main Street in Lena provides custom framing along with several other services to help spruce up that bare wall in the house. Members of the Greater Freeport Partnership held the ribbon...
Monroe Clinic Oncology is excited to welcome a new nurse practitioner to the team, Mia McDermott, APNP. Mia earned her Master of Science degree in Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. As a Certified Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner (APNP), she brings an expertise in treating patients with solid tumors and both benign and malignant hematologic disorders. Patients can make an appointment with Mia in either Monroe or Freeport. To learn more...
The Greater Freeport Partnership is pleased to announce the award from the Freeport Community Foundation for its Downtown Freeport window display, #FreeportReflections. FreeportReflections is a program to enliven vacant storefronts in downtown Freeport with art installations. Beginning July 30, 2020, a select number of vacant downtown storefronts will be transformed into works of art. The majority of the $5,796 grant award will be used for artists’ honorarium. Less than $1,000 will be used for equipment, signage and promotional materials. ...
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced an initial list of additional commodities that have been added to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), and that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made other adjustments to the program based on comments received from agricultural producers and organizations and review of market data. Producers will be able to submit applications that include these commodities on Monday, July 13, 2020. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting through Aug. 28, 2020, applications for CFAP,...
Devin Patterson, Apple River State Bank Trust Officer, was among 60 professionals who attended the Cannon Trust School offered by Cannon Financial Institute (CFI). CFI's School is a three-year program, consisting of 38 hours of classroom instruction each year. Diplomas are awarded upon completion of the entire sequence. Additionally, Patterson completed the Cannon Trust School with the Honor Graduate designation, Cannon's highest academic distinction. This award is given to those students who...
Yes, there have been government programs like PPP, and locally generated grants to help businesses get through this whole pandemic – we understand that. But if you talk to any business owner, they will be quick to point out that what is helping them survive this who situation are their customers. Throughout this week's issue, you will see a host of ads from businesses that all carry a very similar message – "thank you". And you need to understand, those sentiments are very real – so much so, t...
Country Financial Representative Steve Rothschadl is pleased to announce the Lena Fire Protection District as a 2020 recipient of a COUNTRY Financial Operation Helping Heroes donation. Rothschadl recently presented the donation for $2500 to the department officers and directors to assist with the purchase of new portable radios and charges for them to carry. "It's nice to share in the company's vision to 'enrich lives in the communities we serve'," said Rothschadl. "I'm so proud to give this...
The Stephenson County Visitor Center will be featuring the Holiday Gift Show on the main floor from November 20, 2020 – January 10, 2021. This year's show will feature both handcrafted items as well as merchandise from local stores. During these warm summer months, the holidays are the furthest idea from the minds of most. However, as someone who sells merchandise for holiday gift shows, we know you are already preparing your inventory for what you will have available to sell to tourists and r...
As Monroe Clinic marked one year in its new Medical Office Building on June 10, additional construction projects continue to be underway to complete the Monroe Clinic campus renovation. Beginning June 15, initial work began on the take-down of the skywalk, currently connecting the new Medical Office Building to the St. Clare Center, and will continue for the next few weeks. Completion of the skywalk removal is set to occur by mid-July. The demolition of the skywalk will allow the current Clinic...
The plan to make the move was made over a year ago, but with a daughter getting married the timing just wasn't right – so it waited a year. (But I think it was worth the wait.) The latest home improvement to sweep the country right now is the installation of solar panels on a home, and my wife and I made the move ourselves this past weekend with Stateline Solar – owned by Ethan Fiene here in Lena. The first question everyone has is the cost, and for our home we were looking at an initial out...
